GOOD INTENTIONS..

Now I`m pretty sure I`ve seen this before.  Let me think.   Ah yes, it was whilst driving through Portsmouth that I noticed this spelling error on one of that great city`s roads and I don`t know why but I really wasn`t surprised.   For Portsmouth, or Portsmuff as it is known locally, has something of a history when it comes to grammar.

I suppose its most memorable episode was some years ago at the height of the paedophile scandals.   Never quite sure of their ground, nevertheless the good citizens of the enclave of Paulsgrove promptly attacked the home of a mild-mannered paediatrician, presumably on the basis that it sounded about right.

And today we hear that a memorial to the Cockershell Heroes, recently unveiled near Portsmuff seafront, contains unfortunate errors.   The memorial honours the exploits of 10 Royal Marines who paddled canoes for 75 miles up the Gironde River and attacked Nazi ships in Bordeaux in 1942.   Only two of the marines survived with two others dying from hypothermia and the remaining six being captured and executed by the Germans.

The plaque commemorates their "brave and audacious actions" but records that the attack was `canoe-bourne` and that the raid took place in WW11, rather than WWII.   Local Councillor Terry Hall explained that the memorial had been a private initiative by the residents of Cockleshell Gardens, less than a mile from Canoe Lake, where the Marines trained for their mission.   "Unfortunately there are spelling errors," said Hall.  "I have spoken to the residents and they are going to get it corrected."   

Something about the road to Portsmouth being paved with good intentions?