The Normandy Stone in Vivary Park, Taunton, Somerset.

In a secluded corner of Vivary Park in the centre of Taunton stands the Normandy Stone.  It commemorates those who took part in the campaign which began with the Normandy Landings on 6th June 1944 and ended on the 20th August when German efforts to thwart the invasion finally collapsed into a rout.

The Normandy Stone in Vivary Park, Taunton, Somerset.

The Normandy Stone stands in a secluded corner of Vivary Park, Taunton, Somerset.  The three trees represent the D-Day landing beaches of Sword, Juno and Gold.

As the keep of Jellalabad Barracks, once the depot of the Somerset Light Infantry, still towers over Vivary Park I think it is appropriate to remember the role played by the SLI in the Normandy Campaign.  Two battalions of the regiment, the 4th and 7th, were part of the 43rd Wessex Division which, although not involved in the D-Day landings, had completed its assembly in Normandy by June 24th and entered combat the next day.

As well as those from the SLI, the Division included battalions from the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, the Glosters, the Royal Hampshires, the Dorsets, the Wiltshires, the Worcesters and the Middlesex Regiment.

During the entire north-west Europe campaign, which ended on May 5th 1945, the 43rd Wessex Division fought with great courage and distinction from Normandy to Bremerhaven.  Sadly, this victorious crusade cost the Division 12,484 casualties, of which 1,587 were killed.  The Somerset Light Infantry suffered 2,493 casualties, of which 468 were killed.  

The Campaign for an English Parliament exposes European Union plot to regionalise England!

Reproduced below is part of an article from The Campaign for an English Parliament. 

“Regionalisation exposed by the CEP as a devious EU tactic to destabilise the UK (& England!)

 
Many initial responses to hearing that there is a Yorkshire independence movement and a Yorkshire Party is to pour scorn on the idea as being fiscally irresponsible or plainly unworkable. This is because it is obvious that without the British government’s subsidies Yorkshire Services wouldn't function properly.

However, to simply dismiss these two organisations that have the same Liberal Democrat leadership is to underestimate the manipulation and the devious actions of the EU in supporting a new sounding name for the old EU Regionalisation project for Britain and for England. http://www.e-f-a.org/about-us/

First it is important for any patriots to realise that the EU is supporting the Yorkshire Party as it belongs to an EU umbrella organisation, called the European Free Alliance (EFA). That EU organisation gathers together 45 “Progressive nationalist, regionalist and autonomist” parties throughout Europe. This grouping can only be conceived as an EU attempt to break-up and digest those nations that the regionalist organisations work within. This is because the EU supports the Regionalisation agenda because it makes resistance to their EU federalism agenda difficult if the nation state is fighting on two fronts. (the EU commission and EU supporting regionalist voices within).

The structure in Catalonia and Spain is a good example showing how devious the EU truly is:- The EU has openly distanced itself from those Catalonian parties that have called for full independence but it fails to mention that some of these parties are also included in their EU, European Free Alliance organisation. In effect, they are funded encouraging Regionalisation behind the scenes but are publicly slapping down independence. That is because the regionalist within the nation state is an EU regionalist patsy!

Once you accept that Regionalisation is all about pushing the EU Federalist agenda then you realise that The Yorkshire Party is not about benefiting the people of Yorkshire but about promoting EU federalism. This makes the Yorkshire party dangerous because it is about creating internal divisions and arguments within England and the UK whilst the British Government are engaged in full Brexit negotiations.”

Here is a link to the whole article:

http://thecep.org.uk/c-e-p-news/regionalisation-exposed-as-a-devious-eu-tactic-to-destabilise-the-uk/

I suspect that the British Political Establishment is just as keen to see England destabilised and regionalised as the European Union.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland now have their own devolved governments; any such recognition of English nationhood would be anathema to the Westminster elite who much prefer to vaingloriously cloak themselves in British nationalism while ruling over their last remaining “colony” – England. 

 

Be that as it may, it seems the Yorkshire Party has joined Mebyon Kernow as the two foremost county/regionalist parties in England.  Here in the West of England the Wessex Regionalists still persist, but have fielded only a handful of candidates in elections this century.  In the last General Election Jim Gunter stood as the Wessex Regionalist candidate in the constituency of Devizes, in Wiltshire, receiving 223 votes (0.4 per cent).  Mebyon Kernow, formed as a pressure group in 1951, did not field any candidates in the 2017 General Election saying its timing made it impractical to do so, but the Party does have four local councillors at present.

I imagine it could well be in Yorkshire, due to its size and economic clout, where a regional or county based party has any hope at all of gaining any sort of "regional" electoral success.

In my opinion, if the British Establishment succeeds in breaking England into regions we may as well return to the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy and rebuild the nation state of England from that starting point, as it was originally.

A watery winter sunset on the Wessex Coast.

Yesterday's watery winter sunset on the Wessex Coast.

St. Andrew's Church in the village of Aller in South Somerset where the Danish King Guthrum was baptised after his defeat by Alfred the Great.

At this time of year I thought posting about notable churches in South Somerset might be appropriate!

The village Church of St. Andrew in Aller has Saxon origins and is where the Danish King Guthrum was baptised after his defeat by Alfred the Great at the Battle of Edington in 878AD and the subsequent Treaty of Wedmore.

Today the village rambles along the A372 below Aller Hill midway between Othery and Langport in South Somerset.  The Church is on the fringe of the village, alongside the Victorian Aller Court, looking out over Aller Moor. 

Over one hundred years ago Edward Hutton in his Highways & Byways in Somerset (Macmillan & Co., 1912) wrote of Aller: “Its little church stands firmly upon a rising ground well out of the marsh, and, wonderful to relate, within is the very font in which Guthrum was made a Christian more than a thousand years ago.”

St. Andrew's Church in the village of Aller in South Somerset.  

Aller is also noteworthy as being where Parliamentarians under the command of Fairfax captured the remnants of the Royalist forces after their defeat at the key Battle of Langport in 1645.

Today is Somerset Day. Celebrate and be thankful for all that is great about our wonderful County.

Not only should we celebrate our County on Somerset Day we must also treasure it.  Who could disagree with the sentiments of Bryan Little in the final paragraph of the penultimate chapter of his Portrait of Somerset (Robert Hale,1969):

"What is vital for the character and good standing of Somerset is the continued existence, and enhancement, of such urban beauties as those which can be found in Georgian Bath, in the Barchesterian ambiance of Wells, along the main street of Chard, pre-eminently in Bruton and Dunster, in Frome, Somerton, Crewkerne, and in many other large villages and towns.  Out in the countryside I hope that we shall long see and appreciate the steeps of the Mendips, the Quantock ridge and the combes below it, the whole sweet countryside down by the Dorset border, the varied, unspoiled charms of the Dundon and Somerton hills, Avalon, Brent Knoll and the lesser hills and isles which rise above the central plain.  We must treasure the rhine-crossed flats and the willows of the moors, and above all the manifold, proud pre-Reformation glory of Somerset's noble church towers."

The quote below is taken from the Visit Somerset website.  Here is a link:
http://www.visitsomerset.co.uk/whats-on/somerset-day-p2030723

" . . . celebrate Somerset Day and everything that is great about our wonderful County.

In early 2015, 8,000 people voted in an online poll to choose King Alfred to be the theme for the new 11th May annual Somerset Day celebration.

On 11th May 878, Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, gathered ‘all the people of Somerset’ to march against and defeat the invading Danish army. By the time of his death he had become the dominant ruler in England and is the only English monarch to be accorded the title "the Great".

The Inaugural Somerset Day Celebration was held on Monday 11th May 2015 at the Museum of Somerset in Taunton, attended by His Grace the Duke of Somerset, Patron, and many Mayors and dignitaries from across the historic County of Somerset. Other events were held across the county."

The Battle of Cynuit near Combwich in Somerset. Key to King Alfred's decisive victory over the Danes at Edington.

My interest in Combwich and the Battle of Cynuit was aroused in a rather roundabout fashion which began with a newspaper article on an aspect of Cornish nationalism.  Apparently Cornish nationalists have come up with the idea of place names on signposts being in English and Cornish in order to promote the Cornish language.  The thought struck me that something similar could be done here in Somerset in order to preserve and promote the Somerset dialect.  So, I consulted my copy of Roger Evans’ Don’t Tell I, Tell ‘Ee!  An affectionate look at the Somerset dialect (Countryside Books, 2008).  In the chapter on the pronunciation of Somerset place names, alongside the more well-known Weston-super-Mare pronounced “Wessun” and Crewkerne pronounced “Crook-urn”, was Combwich pronounced “Cummidge”.

I had never come across Combwich before so I went back to the bookshelves for a little more research.  Combwich is mentioned in most histories and guides on Somerset.  However, in Ralph Whitlock’s Somerset (Batsford, 1975) and the Reverend E.H.Smith’s Happy Memories of West Somerset in 100 Pictures (1945) there is mention of the Battle of Cynuit.  Further reading revealed the significance of the fighting which took place in this quiet corner of Somerset over eleven hundred years ago.

Cynuit – the key to victory.  In the year 878AD the Anglo-Saxon campaign against the Danes begun in Somerset, and led by Alfred the Great, saved the Kingdom of Wessex and thus determined the future of English nationhood and western Christian civilisation.

It could be argued that the key to Alfred’s campaign and ultimate victory over the Danes at Edington (Ethandune) was the earlier battle of Cynuit (or Cynwit) near Combwich, a village on the west bank of the River Parrett.

A view of the harbour at Combwich on the west bank of the River Parrett.

Following his escape from Chippenham and flight to Somerset Alfred conducted a guerrilla campaign from his fortress on the Isle of Athelney against Guthrum and his Danes based in the Polden Hills.

Guthrum, unable to get to grips with Alfred’s forces because of the lakes and marshes around Athelney, sent for ships and men of the Danish fleet which had wintered over in Wales.  Consequently the Dane Hubba sailed with 23 ships and 1400 men for the River Parrett intending to force a passage upriver toward the Isle of Athelney.  However, Hubba’s progress was halted where the river narrows at Combwich, by Odda, Alderman of Devonshire, and his Saxons.  Hubba and his men disembarked and battle commenced. 

Under ferocious Danish assault the Saxons were forced to retreat inland to the hill-fort of Cynuit (the present day site of Cannington Park) one and a half miles south west from Combwich.  The Danes, confident of success, prepared to lay siege to the fort, but the next morning Odda and his Saxons, with nothing to lose, launched a counter attack.  Hubba and 850 (some sources say 1,200) of his men were slain, the survivors fled to their ships.  Odda and his victorious Saxons then made their way to Athelney to bolster King Alfred’s forces on his island fortress.



Cynuit hill-fort viewed from the east.  The hill, the present day site of Cannington Park, is 262ft high.

Guthrum’s Danes on the Polden Hills were now constantly harassed by Saxon raiders from Athelney.  Meanwhile, Alfred travelled to Egbert’s Stone on the east of Selwood in Wiltshire where an army of Saxons from Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire was gathering.

Alfred led his Saxon army west from Wiltshire to the Polden Hills then on along the ridge to Edington (Ethandune) where the Danes, demoralised and lacking reinforcements after the Battle of Cynuit,  were decisively defeated.

Evidence of battle.  There is, of course the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the writings of Asser, Alfred’s official biographer, to ponder.  Physical evidence has been found in quarries in the vicinity of Cynuit as the Reverend E.H.Smith reports: “As mute witnesses of the severity of the battle men’s bones are constantly being exhumed above the quarry now being worked on the site of the fight – in fact the writer has himself picked up and examined many, and at widely different dates, as fresh areas of quarry are opened out.”

An alternative history.  Yes, yes I know, Hubba could have been a Viking, Cynuit might have been in Devonshire at Contisbury Hill or Castle Hill near Beaford while Edington in Wiltshire is suggested as “Ethandune”.  However, in my view history is fifty per cent fact and fifty per cent opinion, so, especially as I was born in the county, I am happy to support the judgement that all the action took place in Somerset!

      

 

 

City-regions. A Trojan horse for the balkanisation of England.

Divide and Conquer?

Lacking an English Parliament to give them a collective voice, English city-regions and traditional shire counties competing with each other for funds allocated by central government provide the ideal background for a British Establishment determined to retain political control over England and the English.

Moreover, there exists the potential for conflict within a city-region as Prof. Robert Hazell states (The English Question, 2006): "There is a risk of urban dominance with the cities and their leaders being perceived as neglecting the separate identities and interests of rural areas." He also writes: "Finally, some of the arguments advanced against city regions are similar to those advanced against regional assemblies: that they are essentially technocratic, of interests to elites not ordinary people, and at best a patchwork solution." 

Still relevant today, this letter published in the Bristol Evening Post on October 10th, 2014 and in the Western Daily Press on November 6th 2014, was in favour of re-uniting and re-empowering England's traditional counties and argues against devolution in the form of city-regions.

City regions unwelcome and unwanted.

It appears that Bristol mayor George Ferguson is among those who are promoting the plan for city-regions. Would he like to have control over a swathe of England stretching all the way from Bath to the Bristol Channel?

Who knows what else a Bristol city-region might encompass – perhaps Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, possibly even Devonshire and Cornwall too?

Be that as it may, city-regions would be a Trojan horse for regional government, the eventual balkanisation of England and the perfect tactic for a British political establishment determined to prevent the creation of an English Parliament.

Rural areas and the green belt would fall under the control of dominant cities and eventually disappear under a shroud of concrete and tarmac as urbanisation of the countryside inevitably followed.

To buttress England against this unhappy future our shire counties, weakened and dismembered by the Conservatives’ Local Government Act of 1972, must be reformed and re-empowered to act as a counterbalance to the vigour of our great cities.

The administrative County of Somerset, for example, should be re-united within its time-honoured boundaries by combining with the unitary authorities of North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset.

As such it would be better able to obviate the threat of Bristol’s urban expansion south and west through the green belt at the expense of rural communities, farming and landscape.

Our traditional counties have been part of the geographic fabric of England, the cultural identity of its people and also the foundations of local government originating from the time of Alfred the Great and Anglo-Saxon Wessex.

Our cities and counties should, of course, co-operate but not be formed into invented or artificial regions to suite a British political establishment which also has those from Scotland and Wales influencing opinion within it.

Regional Government is unwelcome, unwanted and most certainly un-English.

S.W.

English Democrats, Somerset

Clive Lavelle commented in similar fashion.  Here is his letter published in the Western Daily Press on November 11th 2014 which opposes Westminster's plan to foist piecemeal devolution on England.

The absurd notion of ‘city regions’.

Steve Wright’s excellent letter in the Western Daily Press (November 6) highlights the absurdity of the notion of “city regions” in England. Coincidentally, the previous night, the BBC broadcast a debate, hosted by Points West’s David Garmston on the same subject. There were those who wanted devolution for ancient Wessex (a pretty hefty chunk of England), right down to those who thought that devolution should be at parish council level.

Predictably, local politicians were eager to protect their own town/county/unitary authorities and what was admirably demonstrated was that regionalisation in any shape would pit parts of England against others; something I suspect the Westminster elite want.

The truth is that the only “fair and balanced” devolution settlement for England would be the same package that Scotland enjoys – a Parliament and First Minister. This would render Westminster all but irrelevant; its elite know this and want to preserve their lucrative trough, so the “divide and conquer” approach is the one that they are pursuing.

Clive Lavelle

Weston-super-Mare English Democrats

Burrow Mump, near Burrowbridge, in South Somerset. Outpost of King Alfred's final redoubt in Anglo-Saxon Wessex.

Burrow Mump, near Burrowbridge and the confluence of the Rivers Tone and Parrett, was an eastern outpost of King Alfred the Great's fortress on the Isle of Athelney - the King's final redoubt in Anglo-Saxon Wessex.

Seen from the National Trust car park, just off the A361, Burrow Mump is certainly no Glastonbury Tor but a gentle climb to its 79 feet high summit is rewarded with some memorable panoramic views.


The ruined chapel dedicated to St Michael atop Burrow Mump.  On the south wall is a memorial plaque including the words: "That the men and women of Somerset who died serving their country in the Second World War may be remembered here in time to come."

To the north, 13 miles away across Sedgemoor, the upper slopes of Brent Knoll are visible, Glastonbury Tor can be seen to the east.  The Burton Pynsent Monument near Curry Rivel is conspicuous to the south, while  the Wellington Monument on the Blackdown Hills is discernible in the far south west.

Following the decisive Battle of Edington (Ethandune), King Alfred had the defeated Danish king baptised in the village of Aller which lies at the western foot of Aller Hill 2.5 miles south east of the Mump.  Edington, 6 miles north on the far side of the Polden Hills, is suggested by some historians to be "Ethandune", the site of Alfred's victory, rather than Edington in Wiltshire.  Being from Somerset, I am happy to support this theory!

The view south-east across Southlake Moor.  The western slopes of Aller Hill and the village of Aller are at the top left.