WISHFUL THINKING ?...

I haven`t travelled abroad very much. A school trip to the south of France 65 years ago;  a week in Portugal when one of my sons was working in Lisbon;  18 months in what was BFPO 16 in West Germany during my National Service defending western civilisation from the threat of communist invasion.  That`s about it really - I don`t suppose a couple of weeks in Wales counts, so I haven`t seen that much of the `wider world,` not that it bothers me unduly as I`ve discovered there is so much to see in and enjoy around this sceptred isle.

Now as the corona virus lock-down took hold it was impossible to get to a bookshop, so I began to re-read some from my own eclectic bookshelves.  Some of the books I have collected over the years are really quite old - I like reading about how things were all those years ago and since most of my `travel books` are about this country I have been reading again some about Cornwall back in the 1940s and the history of the Isles of Scilly.

And the books about those islands reminded me of a memorable day we had about 30 years ago when we were staying in a remote area of far west Cornwall and took the helicopter from Penzance to Tresco, the second biggest of the Isles of Scilly.  And what a day to remember it turned out to be.  The helicopter journey afforded spectacular views of the far reaches of the Penwith peninsula - Mousehole, Land`s End and out beyond the coast across the 26 miles of sea before landing on Tresco.

And us being us, we left the other visitors behind and wended our own way to explore quite a lot of the island, past New Grimsby and followed the footpath along the island coast until we came to Cromwell`s Castle, pictured above, which looks out across the narrow channel between Tresco and Bryher.   Throughout our wanderings around the island I was in awe of the quiet tranquility of the place, the white sand beaches, the tiny flower fields hedged with escallonia, the unhurried way of life and the sights and sounds of what must surely be one of the most beautiful of places to be found in the whole of the United Kingdom.

Eventually we made our way back to `downtown` Tresco and enjoyed a visit to the famous Abbey gardens before reluctantly having to get back on the helicopter and return to the mainland.   

But reading my old books about the Isles of Scilly again and, thanks to Talking Pictures TV, once again watching `When the Whales Came,` has produced a bit of a longing to go back there and recapture that feeling of being in a foreign country, even if I`m not.  The same goes for Cornwall too - a country apart with its own language, history and traditions.

Maybe one day....... wishful thinking?

AN UNMARKED ANNIVERSARY.....

Of course, I may have missed it, but I saw very little yesterday to mark an event which took place 300 years ago to the day, but one which gave rise to a real sea change in maritime history. In fact, the only reference I caught was on the local regional news for the south-west of England. What was it then?

It was a shipwreck off the Isles of Scilly at about 8.00pm on 22nd October, 1707. Not just any old shipwreck, but the loss of five ships and over 2,000 lives, including Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel (pictured) when his fleet returning home from an abortive attack on Toulon fell victim to a combination of two deadly factors.

The first was the weather, which can be lethal in the western approaches as it was that fateful evening. The second was the problem of navigation at the time. Now, north-south navigation was no problem, using the stars, but east-west navigation (longitude) was very hit and miss and Shovel and his comrades were far off course when they foundered on the deadly rocks off the Scillies. This massive loss of life and ships, which included the flagship `Association` gave rise to the Longitude Act, by which a prize was offerred for the invention of a reliable instrument to provide accurate longitudinal bearings at sea in all weathers.

After years of painstaking work, the prize was won (after a lengthy stewards inquiry) by John Harrison - another story in itself. There is little doubt that the incentive to resolve the longitude problem came directly from the events of 300 years ago yesterday and led on to securing Britain`s maritime supremacy for years to come.

Harrison`s H4

As to Shovel himself, it is said that he was alive, at least barely, when he reached the Scilly shore but was murdered by a woman for the sake of his priceless emerald ring. The murder came to light many years later when the woman, on her deathbed, confessed his murder to a clergyman and produced the stolen ring which was returned to Shovel's heirs.

Now, I have always enjoyed reading the novels of Robert Goddard and it was quite by chance that I saw his latest book on the shelves of a local shop about three weeks ago. Strange to say that `Name to a Face` uses the tale of Shovel`s ring, its history since the events all those years ago and spins a fascinating yarn around the effects it had on the lives of those involved. The fiction is fascinating....but the truth is stranger still.

Such a shame that the anniversary of the events of 1707 seem to have been passed over, for they were the catalyst for a turning point in maritime history which should not be forgotten.