Puckington and its Church of St. Andrew. A South Somerset village having "an old world look".

The charmingly named South Somerset village of Puckington straddles the B3168, or The Curry Road, between Ilminster and Curry Rivel.  Puckington appears in the Domesday Book as Pochintone.  However it appears to be derived from puc and tun; puc being the Old English word for Hobgoblin and tun meaning enclosure, farm or smallholding.  One could say that Puckington was once The Hobgoblin’s farmstead!

The South Somerset village of Puckington viewed from the south. The tower of St. Andrew's Church can be seen above the treetops in the centre of the photo.

Kelly’s Directory of Somerset (1914) tells us:

“Puckington is a village and parish, on the River Ile and on the road from Langport to Chard, 3 miles north-east of Ilminster Station on the Chard branch of the Great Western railway and 7 miles south west from Langport.”

Today the railway to Ilminster and Chard is no more, a victim of the Beeching cuts, and the River Ile is more commonly spelt Isle.

Kelly’s also informs us that:

“Viscount Portman is Lord of the Manor and chief landowner.  The soil is partly sand and partly sand and clay, and the subsoil is limestone.  The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, beans and roots.  The acreage is 774; rateable value £1,001; the population in 1911 was 136.”

The Portman family also held estates around Durston and Hestercombe, including Hestercombe House, but by 1976 the family had disposed of their land in Somerset and the 9th Viscount Portman had moved to Portman Square in London.

Puckington, with its thatched cottages, farmhouses, and Church of St. Andrew is described by Arthur Mee in his The King’s England – Somerset (Hodder and Stoughton Ltd. 1968) as having “. . . an old world look, especially about its 15th century church, with a chancel 200 years older in which is still the original piscina and the triple sedilia added when the church was 100 years old.  In the sanctuary are two old carved chairs.  The font has the Norman mason’s cable moulding around it, and in the tower is still a bell which rang out before the Reformation.”

Church of St. Andrew in the village of Puckington, South Somerset. 

I came across this interesting tomb in the churchyard at Puckington in July 2015, but could not decipher the inscription.

The Church was restored in 1857 and again in 1910, when a new organ was provided.

February flora and fauna in South Somerset. A stroll on the fringe of Ilminster with my camera.

At the start of February I went for an afternoon stroll without my camera.  Needless to say I saw something interesting, a great spotted woodpecker, within range of my 300mm lens, but as I said – no camera!

On the 6th I took another stroll in Dillington Park Drive on the eastern fringe of Ilminster in South Somerset, and had my camera with me, but no woodpeckers this time.  However, there were quite a number of squirrels around and one stayed still long enough for me to take a photo.

As usual there was a lot of evidence of badger setts, and signs of fresh digging beside, and over, Sustrans’ cycle track.

Evidence of badgers at work alongside the Sustrans cycle track through Dillington Park in South Somerset

In Dillington Park itself the leafless branches of the oak and beech trees made an interesting photo, one of the trees is dead and its white bark stood out against the blue sky.

Dead or dying oak or beech in Dillington Park, South Somerset.

More squirrels were scampering around on the ground beneath a huge evergreen holm oak - if my tree recognition is correct - the branches of which were almost touching the ground.


I have been reading Arthur Conan Doyle’s Hound of The Baskervilles and recalled Dr Watson’s sighting of hart's tongue ferns as he journeyed by wagonette with Sir Henry and Dr Mortimore along the banked Devonshire country road leading to Baskerville Hall.  On my return along Dillington Park Drive, which is steeply banked in places, such ferns were a common sight.

Hart's tongue ferns in Dillington Park Drive, South Somerset.

Not a lot of colour in the photos I took that day, but the weather was quite tranquil – the lull before the arrival of Storm Ciara!

"The Great Armada Myth" proclaims BBC History Magazine. Was the Spanish Fleet hit by a Kamikaze?

In 1274 a Mongol invasion fleet heading for Japan was dispersed by a major typhoon which the Japanese later gave the name Kamikaze, or Divine Wind.

Just over 300 years later, in 1588, another invasion fleet, this time the Spanish Armada attempting an invasion of England, also fell foul of the weather.

Lucy Worsley writing in BBC History Magazine (The Great Armada Myth, February 2020) informs us that the Spanish invasion fleet “. . . faced disease, rotting provisions and bad weather.”, before it even reached the English Channel.  When the Armada eventually reached France and was anchored awaiting further invasion troops it was attacked by English fireships. The Spanish panicked and sailed for the North Sea.

Ms Worsley tells us: “. . . what was left of the Armada was on its way home, running up around Scotland and Ireland to get back to Spain.  And there, in the north, the death knell was dealt to Spanish plans: not by Drake, Elizabeth l or brave English sailors – but by bad weather.”

So it seems it was not the ships of Francis Drake, John Hawkins, or Martin Frobisher that did for the dastardly Spanish and their Armada, but a hit by a Kamikaze!

Incidentally, BBC History Magazine has previous form with regard to debunking English naval victories.  In the August 2019 edition the cover has the headline Trafalgar – A Futile Victory?  And it is subtitled Why Nelson’s triumph didn’t turn the tide on Napoleon.  The article featured, by Sam Willis, is entitled Trafalgar: An overrated victory?  Mr Willis asks if the claim that Trafalgar was Royal Navy’s greatest triumph stands up to scrutiny.  More on this in a future blogpost!

Royal potatoes and mumbling actors. Humour from The Week.

In recent years it seems to me as if many TV drama series are filmed in the dark or half-light while the actors mumble their way through the dialogue, or speak in whispers, to such a degree that they are practically incomprehensible.

For Example, I found SSGB a perfect example of this type of production.  Only the actors playing bombastic German characters, speaking perfectly clear English, were audible, but I found the whispered English of the British characters so difficult to follow I gave up watching after the first episode!

The Week (Jan 25) reported Martin Deacon writing in The Daily Telegraph.

Mumbling actors.

“Perhaps it was bound to happen to us eventually.  The other evening my wife and I watched Martin Scorsese’s film The Irishman.  Right from the start, we found ourselves straining to make out the dialogue.  After five minutes we gave up and switched on the subtitles.  Much of the dialogue was strangely indistinct as, as if the cast had arrived on set after a painful encounter with a dentist.  ‘Whur hur a hur hur,’ one gangster would sternly say to another.  ‘Hur whur a whur HAR!’ the other would indignantly reply.  If I ever meet Mr Scorsese, I’ll make a polite suggestion about his mumbling actors.  ‘Mur bur a hur mur?’ I’ll ask.  ‘Hur mur bur a whur mur?’  I’m sure he’ll understand”

I sympathise entirely with Mr Deacon’s sentiments!

Meanwhile, in the same edition of The Week this brief letter, originally published in The Times, made me smile.

The royal spud.

“Sussex Royals” sounds like a variety of potato.  Fits in nicely with Jersey Royal, British Queen, Duke of York and King Edward.”

Andrew Harrington, Brompton, North Yorkshire.

Now I wonder who Mr Harrington could be thinking of!?

A view, during a lull in storm Brendan, from the sea front at Seaton in the neighbouring county of Devonshire.

It has been a wet and windy start to the New Year and I have not had much opportunity to take my camera anywhere.  However, on January 15th there was a break in storm Brendan so my wife and I drove down to Seaton.  It was a very sunny afternoon but still blowing a bit.

The flood defence barriers were closed, nevertheless there were quite a few people enjoying a bracing stroll along the sea wall.  Unsurprisingly not many ventured onto the beach. 

I took some photos looking east to the mouth of the River Axe, and west toward Beer.

The afternoon of 15th January 2020 at Seaton in Devonshire, looking east toward the mouth of the River Axe.

The afternoon of 15th January 2020 at Seaton in Devonshire, looking west toward Beer.  The scene is a little hazy due to the wind-blown spray.

Thoughts on the performance of some of the minor parties in the UK's 2019 General Election.

I must admit to being surprised at the result of the GE.  The Conservatives' 80 seat majority was far larger than I thought it would be as I was expecting one of 20 seats or less.  I did not expect the Labour vote to drop 8 percentage points or the Liberal Democrats to do as well as they did, I had expected the Labour Party to squeeze their vote.

Be that as it may, the minor parties I have been following recently did not retain any of their deposits, and one did not stand at all.

Anne- Marie Waters’ For Britain Movement did not stand any candidates as far as I can see, although they have won a smattering of council seats during the year.  Perhaps the leadership of this fledgling party were wise not to risk their money until it has made further progress. 

William Clouston’s SDP stood a respectable 20 candidates, but they only managed, on average, around 160 votes each.  The Party is centre left and believes in Nationhood and an English Parliament, so it will be interesting to see if they can make a bigger impact as a result of Labour’s disinterest in patriotism.

Robin Tilbrook’s English Democrats stood in only 5 seats and received around 2,000 votes in total. An average of about 400 votes per candidate looks like its norm for General Elections over the past 10 years.  They seem to have plenty of money and more members as a result of the publicity garnered from pursuing Brexit through the courts.  Now Brexit appears certain to happen perhaps the Party should focus on campaigning for an English Parliament and promoting and protecting English culture, heritage and traditions.. 

The Yorkshire Party stood 28 candidates in the county from which it takes its name, and garnered around 30,000 votes.  I suspect it may do well in regional elections if the Conservatives decide to break up England into regions.

With the Conservatives’ massive majority it will be some considerable time before the next General Election.   In such circumstances it will be interesting to see if any of the minor parties flourish at sub-national level, or simply wither and die for lack of electoral opportunities and the publicity that gives them.

Beautiful wispy cirrostratus clouds over South Somerset on 14th Dec. A week of very wet and windy weather followed!

I am not sure whether the clouds I photographed, posted below, on December 14th are cirrus or cirrostratus.  Cirrus clouds are supposed to indicate fine weather while cirrostratus indicate changeable weather and approaching rain.

At first I thought they were cirrus as their wispiness looked a lot like "mares' tails".  However, as they were followed by a week of very wet and extremely windy weather I assume they are cirrostratus.