Hogan plus Vowles

The jib is the sail that extends from t he foretopmast head to the jib boom or bowsprit. A sailor could judge the performance of a sailing vessel by its appearance, its cut, and then function. This is comparable to saying " you can judge a book by its cover" - in this blog I take a look at this aphorism taking torn jeans into consideration. My wife, who's opinion I value greatly, says that you can often judge a book by its cover. She then often adds a codicil to that statement by affirming that it isn't always true and you do get some surprises. Let us examine this from a somewhat nautical angle and let you form your opinion. I see someone in jeans with holes in them and I am immediately irate. I revert to type according to my wife. She can tell the temperature is rising and takes appropriate action to get me calmed down. I usually see someone in these jeans as some numpty who still has the cradle marks on his arse, someone who hasn't done a decent day's w...

This blog has been prompted by Mum talking with Velia and the fact that Maureen Mercer, a very good friend, is a teacher at a Catholic School. I believe that primary education can be as important as secondary education; it was certainly the case for me when we went to Bath at the latter part of the War. I went to St. John's School in the city just across the river from the Recreation Ground. The School was run by some lay teachers and nuns from La Sainte Union des Sacrés Coeurs, a French order of nuns with a convent and girls' school across the Pulteney Bridge. [The famous MP and TV personality, Anne Widdecombe, went to this school at the age of eleven.] Two of these nuns were called Madame Lucy Margaret. One was called Little Madame and the other Big Madame. Little Madame was a very tiny lady, like a thistle down, she appeared to glide across the floor and one never saw her feet, and with her face framed in a wimple she seemed the very epitome of holiness and calm. She maint...

In October 1963 I joined the new vessel "Dido" in Bristol as Chief Officer. She was outfitting in the very dock now occupied by the s/s " Great Britain". This old dock was built by French prisoners in the Napoleonic Wars. The ship was really well equipped including a Supertyfon ship's whistle manufactured by Kockum's of Sweden, this is the Rolls Royce of ship's whistles; it is loud, very deep, vibrato, and can be heard for miles. All cruise ships have this type of whistle. Navigating the River Avon depends on tides and tides are determined by the moon so the time of the tide changes daily. The river to Bristol can only be entered on the flood. i.e. a rising tide twice per day. If you look at the picture of the ship approaching the Horse Shoe Bend then you will see why it is appropriate for port regulation's to require a vessel to sound a prolonged blast. There is a nice residential area of Bristol called Sea Mills close to the Horse Bend, a kind ...

This past week saw the passage of the autumnal equinox, the time of large tides particularly on the Rivers Severn and Avon where there are the second highest tides in the world. [The highest tides are in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.] And so on 23rd September I remembered my time sailing out of Bristol down the Avon and this particular story that I hope will make you smile. I sailed with Bristol Steam Navigation Company from 1962 to 1966 as Chief Officer on their coastal liner fleet going to Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, and Spain. The unique fact with these ships was that with their size was that they went up rivers to the main cities - a great experience. The Captains were all very competent pilots to do this and famous among them was one Captain who we will call Captain Cobon for this story. He was a fine seaman, he was a fine man, and he had two distinctive traits that made him even more memorable. He ha...

This will seem an odd title for a blog but do read on and all will become apparent. When we moved to Bath during the War I resumed my primary education at St.John's Catholic Primary School on the South Parade in the center of the city. When my Father was home and serving at the Admiralty on Lansdown I went with him on the bus in the morning. My Mother would meet me after school and we then caught the #5 bus by the Abbey to go home. If the weather was fine then my Mum would come into the city early to enjoy the walk and the attractions of the city. Bath is a lovely city and my school was virtually in the center. One day my Mum decided to browse in a lovely antique shop that was on Manvers Street and just opposite the building the houses George Bayntun, one of the world's most famous book binders; it is a beautiful building quite close to Bath Station. My Mo...

When I was a boy in Bath I became an altar-boy at St.Alphege's Church in Oldfield Park, our Catholic Parish Church. I would be about 10 years of age. The new parish priest was Father Kelly, an ascetic thin man who was real old Irish no frills Catholicism, no warmth in the man. The curate was Father O'Brian, a young red-headed Irish priest who did everything at top speed including talk in a thick Irish accent. Mass was conducted by Father O'Brian at a break neck speed. He was hilarious at times. The organist was called Miss Winterflood and often he would call her Miss Summerdrought, you never knew what he would say next! My Mum was very fond of Father O'Brian, all the women in the parish liked him. He cajoled my Mother to crochet decoration for vestments no problem. AND he had an AJS motorbike! I was taken under the wing of Kevin O'Shaughnessy, a boyhood hero, who played rugby on the wing for Bath and Somerset. He was a big guy for a winger in those days and he took ...

We lived on the Lower Bristol Road in Bath during the latter part of the War and until I went to sea in 1954. Next door to us was a shop that was a Tobacconist cum Sweet Shop cum Men's Hairdresser that was owned by a little lady called Miss Minnie Brinstone. She was a confirmed old maid of impeccable virtue with snow white permed hair and diminutive size. She dressed accordingly with a neat coloured pinafore in the shop and starched white coverall in the barber saloon. She did not brook rudeness or anything untoward, she was the epitome of primness and propriety. She was very friendly with my Mum and a lovely neighbour. Then the next door but one was the "Belvoir Castle", a public house that sold George's Bristol Beer and other beers, it was the local pub operated by a grumpy old man called Alfie. This was a meeting place for the local men particularly after the war, it was a club for guys to get together, socialize, and yarn. It was inevitable that stories about the...

We moved to Bath during the War and I later started school at St. John's Catholic School in town that was next to the Church. This was just off the South Parade across the River Avon from the Recreation Ground, the home of Bath Rugby. The teachers were Nuns from a French Order and lay teachers, mostly ladies. The boys and girls came from all layers of society the common denominator being Roman Catholicism but not the narrow bigotry of Irish Catholicism so there were all sorts in the pupils. I had two main friends at the school. There was Rob Elphick who suffered from epilepsy and would have petit mal attacks umpteen times a day. It did not worry me I just hoped that he didn't have an attack up a tree! [Actually I did cope with that.] We had fun; he was great at inventing stuff and he had dual nationality with his Dad and Mum being American. His Dad also worked with the Admiralty,and, as he spoke and wrote technical German, he worked on captured German Naval documents and later...

This blog is about Evacuees, Refugees, and "Spikers" but it could also be called the love of children during World War II. The word "spikers"? that will become apparent when I tell you of my story after Tina's recollections. In the beginning of the war in 1940, London was subjected to the most horrific blitz and over a third of the city was destroyed by German bombs and the docks were almost completely demolished. But the most awful facts of all were that 32,000 died and thousands were injured. The Government decided that evacuation of non-essential citizens and children, particularly children, had to be achieved and hundreds of thousands were moved to less dangerous areas whenever wherever possible. I did not experience this as we lived in dangerous areas or remote locations but Tina's Mum helped in this task as there was room in the home to help. Tina's Father was away in the Army. The first e...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Father was born on this day, the 14th of September 1898 and so it is fitting to remember that he had the great honour of hearing King George VI speak and reply to him. The letter from the Lord Chamberlain explains how this came about in June 1944 and the Ticket is the one issued to...

Tina and I are definitely children of the war, the Second World War. I was born in 1937 and Tina the following year 1938. The war started on September 1st 1939 and ended in August 1945 when I was approaching my eighth birthday and Tina one year behind. But everything did not really settle down with rebuilding and rationing etc until 1954 and by then we were teenagers. Here are some memories to give you a sense of being a child in those times. The first thing that comes to mind is that Fathers went away [many did not return] and Mothers were sad but brave and mo...