ebook img

This England PDF

101 Pages·2017·47.467 MB·English
by  
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview This England

For all who AUTUMN 2017 love our green Quarterly and pleasant land £5.25 NORMAN BROWNE The Historic Homes of England Michelham Priory, Sussex Encircling this 800-year-old priory near Hailsham is one of the country’s longest water-filled moats, from which Thomas Becket was allegedly rescued after being thrown from his horse. Many believe this to have been an inspiration which spurred on his future career before his murder in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. The property later fell foul of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1537 and was the first monastic site to be awarded to Thomas Cromwell. After he was executed the estate reverted to the Crown following which Henry Vlll gave part of it to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. After passing through various hands it was bought by Thomas Gwynn who began renovations in 1905. It was subsequently improved by the Wright family but a disastrous fire in 1927 destroyed much of the original Tudor structure. Nevertheless, part of the building hosted evacuees during the Second World War. Subsequently presented to the Sussex Architectural Society, the priory is also a member of the Historic Houses Association and is open daily from February to October. Further information: Tel 01323 844224 or visit www.sussexpast.co.uk/michelham . Autumn 2017 ... is a quarterly journal published in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, for all who love our green and pleasant land. Annual subscription rates: (4 quarterly editions, inc. postage and packing): U.K. addresses £21; Overseas addresses £29 (by Airmail) Personal dollar cheques accepted from USA at $41.18 per subscription; Canada $56.55; Australia $54.81; New Zealand $58.58. Next four UK Publication Dates (approx): Page Contents AUTUMN 2017 Source/Contributor Winter 2017: 1st Nov.; Spring 2018: 7th Feb.; Summer 2018: 9th May; Autumn 2018: 8th Aug. 12 The Historic Homes of England: Editor: Stephen Garnett Michelham Priory, Sussex Norman Browne Deputy Editor: Angeline Wilcox Assistant Editors: Susan Kelleher, 14 The Royal Oak William Southwood Peter Worsley 10 The Editor’s Letter Stephen Garnett Media: Edmund Whitehouse 12 A Royal History of England: Charles II Paul James Production: Ann Augur, Keren Bowers Music Editor: Percy Bickerdyke 16 English Excursions: Askrigg and the Yorkshire Dales Steve Roberts Recording Engineer: Eric Holmes 19 It’s A Snail’s Pace in Twickenham Morgan Penn Advertising: Bryn Piper 20 In England — Now!: The Fishermen of Selsey John Periam Editorial Secretaries: Christine Freeman Angie Mulcahy 22 Literary Landscapes of England: Elihu Burritt: An American’s View of Victorian England Brian Conduit Head of Publishing: Maria Welch 26 Notes from a Cottage Garden Rosemary Pettigrew SALES/SUBSCRIPTIONS: 28 Reaching for the Skies John Greeves This England, PO Box 814, 32 Poets’ Corner Susan Kelleher Haywards Heath, Sussex RH16 9LQ. 34 Somerset’s Feast of Flavours Andrea Cowan Telephone: FREEPHONE 0800 074 0188 (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, Sat 9am-5pm) 38 Nelson’s Column: Keeping an eye on the nation George Nelson Overseas +44 1382 575052 40 England’s Last Revolution Glyn Jones E-mail: [email protected] 42 Taking to the Skies with Bradshaw’s Alan Thomas Internet: www.thisengland.co.uk 44 Post Box: Letters to the Editor — EDITORIAL: 45 Silver Cross of St. George: Richard Meyer Peter Worsley This England, The Lypiatts, Lansdown Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 2JA. 50 Forget-Me-Nots: ‘Before the War’ Brian Bone Telephone: UK 01242 225780 51 The Day My Father Raced a V1 Flying Bomb Adrian Cooper Overseas +44 (0) 1242 225780 52 No Mod Cons Suzette Mizen E-mail: [email protected] 53 Harvest Memory Lesley Pardoe Articles and photographs submitted for publication must be 54 Beautiful in Black and White Christopher Nicholson accompanied by a stamped addressed e nvelope for return if unsuitable. Whilst all reasonable care will be taken, the Publishers 58 Portrait of a Village: Sticky Toffee Cartmel David McVey do not accept responsibility for loss of, or damage to material sent in for consideration. Address all submissions to the Editor at 60 All the Fun of the Fair Bernard Bale This England’s Editorial Office. 64 Centenary of the First World War: Passchendaele Tonie and Valmai Holt 68 Cornucopia — 72 English Books — 76 English Diary — 100 Goodnight World Iris Hesselden Cottages among the fells at Little This England — read by two million patriots all over the World! Langdale in the Lake District, a beautiful corner of England Printed in England by Webmart Ltd, OX26 4UL recently awarded Distributed by Marketforce (UK), 2nd Floor, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HU. EXPORT DISTRIBUTION (excluding AU and NZ) Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT Unesco World Tel: +44(0)20 7429 4000 Fax: +44(0)20 7429 4001 Email: [email protected] Website: www.seymour.co.uk Heritage status. TOM RICHARDSON © 2017 This England Publishing Ltd. This England, ISSN 0040-6171, is published quarterly (Feb., May, Aug., Nov.) by This England Publishing Ltd., Stonecroft, 69 Station Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1EY, UNITED KINGDOM. The US annual subscription price is $41.18. Airfreight and mailing in the USA by agent named Worldnet Shipping Inc., 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Application to Mail at Periodicals Postage Prices is Paid at Jamaica NY 11431. US Postmaster: Send address changes to This England, Worldnet Shipping Inc., 156-15, 146th Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jamaica, NY 11434, USA. Subscription records are maintained at This England Publishing Ltd., Stonecroft, 69 Station Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1EY, UNITED KINGDOM. 3 Air Business Ltd is acting as our mailing agent. THIS ENGLAND, Autumn, 2017 The Royal Oak by William Southwood (1889 –1944) The noblest of trees of old England! I linger to gaze at thy might, And think of the name that men gave thee, And know in my heart they are right! Majestic, ancient oak trees in Windsor Great Park on the Surrey/Berkshire border. JOHN BLAKE I see in thy grand noble bearing A triumph of nature indeed; It dawns on me now — what a marvel, To rise from so tiny a seed! How splendid thou art at this moment All blending with soft mystic light The gold of the glorious sunset With gloom of the oncoming night! Cattle grazing peacefully in the late autumn sunshine at Enville in Staffordshire. GRAHAM GOUGH The smoke of industrial city Ne’er masks thy own glorious pride; Just pure rustic breezes of nature Can ripple thy leaves into sighs. Years have crept on, aye and centuries, Ye counted them all, one by one: Thou’st braved many cold piercing winters And countless times courted the sun. And still at th’ appointed of seasons Ye robe, as ordained thou should’st do, And bow to the message of autumn Retaining the whole winter through. If blessed with a tongue, though would’st tell us Thy mighty ancestral line; How Druids of old came to greet thee And claim with their worship thy shrine. AAuuttuummnn’’ss aarrbboorreeaall sspplleennddoouurr aabboouunnddss aatt KKiillvveerr CCoouurrtt GGaarrddeennss iinn SShheeppttoonn MMaalllleett,, SSoommeerrsseett.. CCHHRRIISSTTOOPPHHEERR NNIICCHHOOLLSSOONN Those Hearts of Oak — Britain’s past glory, The walls of wood, fashioned of thee; Thou would’st surely speak of Trafalgar And deeds of those sons of the sea? Their ensign thou carried to victory And bravest of sailors afloat: O grand thou art! Grand in our history! We knight thee — our Sir Royal Oak. TTThhheee EEEdddiiitttooorrr’’’sss LLLeeetttttteeerrr Herbert Morrison — the decision was made to organise a Festival of Britain. Rather than being an international exhibition, the festival was planned as an ambitious celebration of British achievements in the fields of the arts, architecture, industry, science and technology. It was also seen as a good way of lifting the doom and gloom from the shoulders of a weary nation and showing the people of Britain that, for all the hardships they were experiencing, the future was bright and exciting with British scientists, designers and inventors leading the world. A t the time of writing it is a word that is on many Following the result of last year’s Referendum and the vote people’s lips and the subject of numerous articles by the majority of the people in the UK to leave the European in the national newspapers…austerity, the term Union, there has been a lot of doom-mongering among some of that has been given by politicians and the media to describe the those who opposed the verdict and continuing predictions of the government’s policy of freezing public-sector pay and reducing dire consequences that will follow our departure. Negotiations expenditure. There is much debate about whether, following their are clearly going to be difficult and there is bound to be a period worse-than-expected performance in the recent General Election, of uncertainty, but for me the thought of the United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May (at the time of writing!) and the regaining its sovereignty after 45 years remains a glorious and Conservatives will have to alter their cost-cutting strategy to win exciting prospect and it is only because of those politicians over supporters from Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party: during who took us deeper and deeper into the EU during the last the election campaign they were promising to hand out four decades (either by signing treaties or passively money left, right and centre. Only time will tell. supporting those who did) that the task of disentangling Austerity…it seems a strange word to apply ourselves from all the ropes and chains is now such a to the United Kingdom in 2017 and one that I complicated one. associate more with the drab and grey-looking Once we do officially leave, regaining control of country depicted in newsreels in the years our borders, making our own laws, spending our immediately after the Second World War. money in a way that is in the national interest and Looking around at the expensive cars on the forging trading arrangements around the world, road, the sophisticated mobile phones that no matter what some people might be thinking I most people seem to possess, the exotic summer believe it will be a moment of great optimism and holidays many families and couples enjoy each opportunity for our country and one that is certain year, the universal access to the internet that is taken to stimulate the enterprise, ingenuity and invention for for granted and the wide range of food on offer on the which our nation has been known throughout history. In shelves of supermarkets, I have to admit that I see little which case, following the examples of 1851 and 1951, I evidence of it. Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place, but I’d think we should start making plans for another festival: to mark be interested to know what the men and women who grew up in our new-found independence in two years’ time and to celebrate the England of the Forties and Fifties think of the comparison. all that is best about, not only England as is customary on these Long after the defeats of Germany and Japan in 1945, the pages, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well. devastating effects of the war and the huge financial cost to I have already given the matter some thought and suggest that the nation continued to be felt. Many towns and cities — the “Festival of the United Kingdom” might be a good name. As particularly London — bore the scars of the conflict with ugly for location: my initial idea was for separate events to be held bomb sites of rubble and half-derelict buildings, while every in the capital cities of the four home nations, but quickly came family in the land was affected by shortages and protracted to the conclusion that a single, central venue would be more peacetime rationing: bread continued to be on ration until 1948, in keeping with the “United” theme, so perhaps a site in a city clothes until 1949; petrol rationing didn’t end until May 1950, somewhere in the heart of England might be appropriate. There confectionery and sugar continued to be rationed until 1953 and could, of course, be four corners of the festival ground set aside meat until July 1954. for each nation where exhibitions, displays, pageants, musical It was in 1943, looking forward to the return of peace, that performances and stalls selling traditional food and drink would the Royal Society of Arts had come up with the idea of an celebrate each country’s individual culture and history. event to commemorate the centenary of the Great Exhibition A large part of the showground would probably be devoted of 1851, a spectacular world fair that, as well as showcasing to stands and stalls representing great UK companies (“Made in the achievements of countries from around the globe, had the United Kingdom”), while there would also be representatives highlighted Britain’s position as a modern industrial nation at from our Armed Forces (including a flypast), the countries of the head of a vast Empire. Taken up by the post-war Labour the Commonwealth and, of course, attractions for children and Government — and in particular the Party’s deputy leader young people: a fun fair, perhaps, and a stage for a bumper Brexit 10 THIS ENGLAND, Autumn, 2017

See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.