The English Channel
After several days of boisterous seas, our arrival at the continental shelf might have been expected to make for an uncomfortable approach to Portsmouth, with seas shallowing ahead of us. The reverse was the case. The seas calmed, the clouds cleared and the sun shone. We passed the Isles of Scilly late in the morning, an archipelago that is an interesting example of a drowned landscape, an event that took place as recently as the sixteenth century. The islands also have a prominent place in the history of navigation, for it was here at the beginning of the eighteenth century that Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel erroneously directed his fleet onto the rocks, leading the British government to announce, in 1713, a competition for the invention of a scientific method of determining longitude. That competition was eventually won by John Harrison with the invention of his magnificent chronometer, the original of which can be inspected at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
In the early afternoon, we saw the coast of Cornwall, of which the Isles of Scilly form a part. There are still many Cornishmen (and women) who would deny that Cornwall is part of England. Until the late-eighteenth century, the language of this peninsula was Cornish, a sister language of Welsh and Breton, in the Celtic language group. England proper begins to the east of the Tamar and, by late afternoon, this is where we found ourselves, very much in the English Channel.
Of course, the French know this stretch of water by another name, the less proprietorial La Manche (The Sleeve). No one can deny that this narrow stretch of water marks a real cultural divide. For centuries, the French and the English were at each other's throats, “Frogs” on one side, “Rosbif” on the other. The English sometimes looked across the channel with undisguised disdain: “Fog in the Channel, Continent Cut Off!” ran a famous headline in the London Times. When the British Expeditionary Force landed in Flanders at the start of the First World War, the BEF saw the French on their west flank and opened fire. A telegram had to be sent from London to explain that, this time, the French were allies. Since 1973, France and the United Kingdom have been united in the European Union. With the daily consumption of French wines and cheeses in British households, French culture is now widely respected. Indeed, France is the number one holiday destination for UK citizens. History remains the playground of the victors, however, and this year Portsmouth, our final port of call, is celebrating the bicentennial of the Battle of Trafalgar (1805). At the port's Historic Dockyard Museum, close to our final berthing, Nelson's flagship HMS Victory is splendidly preserved.
After several days of boisterous seas, our arrival at the continental shelf might have been expected to make for an uncomfortable approach to Portsmouth, with seas shallowing ahead of us. The reverse was the case. The seas calmed, the clouds cleared and the sun shone. We passed the Isles of Scilly late in the morning, an archipelago that is an interesting example of a drowned landscape, an event that took place as recently as the sixteenth century. The islands also have a prominent place in the history of navigation, for it was here at the beginning of the eighteenth century that Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel erroneously directed his fleet onto the rocks, leading the British government to announce, in 1713, a competition for the invention of a scientific method of determining longitude. That competition was eventually won by John Harrison with the invention of his magnificent chronometer, the original of which can be inspected at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.
In the early afternoon, we saw the coast of Cornwall, of which the Isles of Scilly form a part. There are still many Cornishmen (and women) who would deny that Cornwall is part of England. Until the late-eighteenth century, the language of this peninsula was Cornish, a sister language of Welsh and Breton, in the Celtic language group. England proper begins to the east of the Tamar and, by late afternoon, this is where we found ourselves, very much in the English Channel.
Of course, the French know this stretch of water by another name, the less proprietorial La Manche (The Sleeve). No one can deny that this narrow stretch of water marks a real cultural divide. For centuries, the French and the English were at each other's throats, “Frogs” on one side, “Rosbif” on the other. The English sometimes looked across the channel with undisguised disdain: “Fog in the Channel, Continent Cut Off!” ran a famous headline in the London Times. When the British Expeditionary Force landed in Flanders at the start of the First World War, the BEF saw the French on their west flank and opened fire. A telegram had to be sent from London to explain that, this time, the French were allies. Since 1973, France and the United Kingdom have been united in the European Union. With the daily consumption of French wines and cheeses in British households, French culture is now widely respected. Indeed, France is the number one holiday destination for UK citizens. History remains the playground of the victors, however, and this year Portsmouth, our final port of call, is celebrating the bicentennial of the Battle of Trafalgar (1805). At the port's Historic Dockyard Museum, close to our final berthing, Nelson's flagship HMS Victory is splendidly preserved.
