This England

101 Pages·2017·47.467 MB·English

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 [phone] 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):
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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 [phone] 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 [phone] 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
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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.
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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