Maunsel Lower Lock on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal in Somerset.

Today I had reason to visit Taunton after which I decided to drive up to North Petherton and follow the signs to the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal’s visitor centre at Maunsel Lower Lock.  Without any wrong turns, after wending my way along narrow country lanes, I arrived at the car park which is pleasantly shaded amongst trees just opposite the visitor centre.  

Maunsel Lower Lock on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal in Somerset.

The information board at the entrance to the car park is very informative.  As well as suggesting local walks it tells us that the 15 mile long Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, part of an ambitious plan to link Bristol and Exeter, opened in 1827.  Cargoes were carried in barges or small tub-boats until commercial operations ended in 1905 after the opening of the Bristol to Exeter railway.  The restored canal - restoration was completed in 1984 - is now an “important recreational resource”.

In sunshine and a gentle breeze I took the footpath south alongside the eastern bank of the canal and spent a peaceful afternoon enjoying the scenery, taking photographs and also coming upon reminders of World War Two, but more of that in another post.  

A view to the south west from the bank of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal just south of Maunsel Higher Lock.

Maunsel Lower Lock is a convenient point from which to further explore the canal.  On my next trip there I will follow the canal north toward Bridgwater, and I must make time to drop in to the visitor centre.

Looking north from the bridge at Maunsel Lower Lock on the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal in Somerset..

Bees in decline? Not in my South Somerset garden!

I have read numerous articles this year reporting that bees are in decline, yet in this particular corner of South Somerset there does not appear to be a noticeable reduction in their numbers.  The lavenders in my garden seem to be a particular favourite for bees, as they have been in previous years.  Even though the flowers on some of the lavenders seem to be fading they are still attracting pollinators.  Yesterday evening at 8pm the bees were still busy, so I took some photos with a clear blue sky as background.  

A bee among the lavender on the evening of 23rd July.

A bee working on the lavender on the evening of 23rd July.

I remember watching a TV programme some years ago on which someone who grew lavender as a crop said: “They don’t like to get their feet wet”.  Those in my garden certainly haven’t got their feet wet this summer!  My south facing hillside garden usually gets a battering from rain and constant wind, the wind sometimes subsiding to a breeze, but for the last couple of months it has had a real scorching.  In such conditions I had one lavender plant six years ago whereas now I have five; all survive and prosper.

Returning to the bees, The Royal Horticultural Society website informs us that: “There are often more pollinators in our nation’s gardens than in surrounding agricultural land.”  The website is very informative and gives advice on how to help our indispensable little friends.*   

*    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=528

Council by-election results show no UKIP surge after Brexit shenanigans.

Last Thursday’s six council by-election results were entirely unexciting and gave no sign of a UKIP surge in response to the recent Brexit shenanigans from the British Political Establishment.

The only result of interest was that of Besses ward in Bury.  The Conservatives had a 16.2 percent increase in their vote when coming second to Labour.  Stephen Morris of the English Democrats came third with 3.7 per cent, a drop of 7.8 per cent, but any disappointment must have been soothed by receiving more votes than the Liberal Democrats, Greens and UKIP.

Curious council by-election results. Straws in the wind for Democrats and Veterans, For Britain and UKIP.

Among the council by-elections which took place on 12 July appeared three results which, on closer inspection, seemed a little curious.  Pakefield, in Waveney, Suffolk, saw a Conservative gain from Labour, but UKIP received 7.9 per cent of the vote while Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens all saw their vote decline.  At Cockerton in Darlington, where there was no UKIP candidate, Anne Marie Waters’ For Britain Movement received 5.8 per cent of the vote, ahead of the Green Party – quite respectable for a party less than a year old. 

The most curious result of all was in Old Town, Barnsley, where there was no UKIP candidate.  Unsurprisingly Labour won, but the Democrats and Veterans Party came second, with 27.3 per cent of the vote, finishing ahead of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens, the Yorkshire Party and the BNP – quite remarkable.

These results occurred only days after ministerial resignations over the Prime Minister’s Brexit proposals.

UKIP and its offspring, For Britain and the Democrats and Veterans, seem to be picking up a not inconsequential number of votes - straws in the wind perhaps?

Furthermore, an opinion poll from Opinium for The Observer (July15) shows that the Conservatives have dropped six points with UKIP up five points to eight.  In consequence Labour, although unchanged on 40 per cent, now have a four point lead over the Conservatives.  Seems like Theresa May’s shenanigans over Brexit stirred up a gale which could turn into the storm which blows the Tories apart.

French Rafale jet fighters of the Aeronavale over South Somerset.

July 7 saw the annual Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton International Air Day in Somerset.  The evening before, as I was about to watch the World Cup,  I heard a roar of jet engines, so dashed out into the courtyard to see what was overhead.  Approaching from the southwest was a formation of five aircraft; two were Rafale Ms of the French Aeronavale, two others I could not identify and, bringing up the rear of the formation, another Aeronavale jet in the shape of a Falcon 50M.  The five jets disappeared from view, but a short while later the two Rafales returned and spent the next twenty minutes or so circling low over South Somerset in the general area of RNAS Merryfield.  I grabbed my camera and managed to get some shots of them. 

Presumably they were rehearsing their routine for the International Air Day when, according to the organisers information, after a "thunderous formation take-off the display showcases both present day frontline naval tactics and the exceptional performance capabilities of the fast, powerful and agile Rafale M." 

French Rafale jet fighters of the Aeronavale over South Somerset on July 6th.

French Navy Rafale M jet fighter over South Somerset on the evening of July 6th.

A Rafale M of the Aeronavale over South Somerset on July 6th.

Putting British soldiers on trial. The Week's letter of the week.

Consider the treatment of these three servicemen.

Sgt Alexander Blackman, Royal Marines, spent 1,277 days behind bars for shooting a mortally wounded Taliban fighter in Afghanistan.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5426377/Freed-Royal-Marine-Alexander-Blackman-gets-new-job.html

Major Robert Campbell, Royal Engineers, faced eight investigations into the death of an Iraqi 15 years ago.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-5424699/British-major-face-eighth-inquiry-Iraqi-teen-s-death.html

75 year old former Guardsman Dennis Hutchings faces court over a death in Northern Ireland 44 years ago.

https://www.forces.net/news/tri-service/retired-british-soldier-face-trial-over-deadly-1974-shooting

Little wonder that Johnny Mercer MP, a former captain in the Royal Artillery, commenting on the British Government’s approach to such matters said: “The current system is perhaps the worst betrayal of servicemen by the political leadership of any country anywhere on earth, and it is happening in Britain today.”

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/worst-betrayal-of-soldiers-in-world-1-8542459

Now reflect on this letter in The Week(June 30), which first appeared in The Daily Telegraph, and decide if the three pillars of the British Political Establishment; the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats are guilty of “double standards” and “betrayal”. 

Putting soldiers on trial.

To The Daily Telegraph

Another soldier is to be prosecuted for events that took place in Northern Ireland decades ago. 

I served in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and 1980s, and recently added my name to a petition addressed to the Government entitled “British soldiers who served in Northern Ireland must have immunity from prosecution”.  The Government’s written response stated that prosecutions were a matter for the police and the prosecuting authorities, who acted independently of the Government.  The paragraph ended: “We do not support amnesties or immunity from prosecution.”

This sentence encapsulates the double standards that exist in dealing with immunity: the government of the day acted contrary to the present policy when it made a political decision to allow an amnesty and immunity for hundreds of convicted felons under the Good Friday Agreement.

This is what people in the military find impossible to swallow.  How could any British government do a deal to draw a line under the conflict without ensuring that their own servants, who had given them enough breathing space to achieve a political peace, were treated in the same way as the criminal protagonists?

It’s time for this Government to put the matter right once and for all.

Col Anthony Snook (retd), Petworth, West Sussex

Starlings and sparrows cooling down.

It has been rather hot and dry in South Somerset recently, temperatures of 80+F.  Here is a photo of starlings and sparrows using my garden bird bath to splash about and cool down.

Starlings and sparrows splashing around and cooling down.