September 2023 - Part Two - The Hovercraft Museum & The Felling of Sycamore Gap

If you're not from the South Coast, then you might be confused by the regard we have for Hovercrafts. Well some of us anyway. For some, the Hovercraft was not only a feat of engineering, but were famous for their speed, design & ease of use. And where better to appreciate and see them than at the Hovercraft Museum, in Lee-On-Solent. What makes it really special, is that it's the only Hovercraft Museum in the world. And it's right on our doorstep!

Here you can see some of the smaller craft on display

The concepts for the Hovercraft had been in the design phase for many years, but it wasn't until Sir Christopher Cockerell perfected it in the early 1950's was the potential noticed and it took until 1959 that the first prototype to make it's journey across the English Channel. I will be completely honest with you, I do not understand the mechanics or how they make it work, and I'm not even going to try. If you're intelligent & find engineering things fascinating, then I suggest you do some reading about it. It's so interesting, especially how the skirt works to create the ability to skim the surface of the land or water.

The museum is a homage to the ingenuity & technology that was created & developed. The staff there are friendly and knowledgeable, and are happy to explain and talk specifics about the craft on show.

I think this advert is proof that cheeky & sexualised advertising has always been in operation! The idea to link a ladies skirt with a hovercraft was a choice one! I was also shocked to see that crossings used to only cost £1.40 for a return. Now you need to remortgage the house in order to finance a crossing to the Isle of Wight, it's more expensive than the ferry to France or Spain!

Now the highlight of the museum comes in the form the Princess Anne, which was the largest civilian use Hovercraft ever built. And with it, comes a story from me (apologies). Many years ago, when I was a child, I came to the Hovercraft Museum with Biddy (my nan) and Grandad Pete, who is sadly no longer with us. I don't think I was yet in double figures, and we came because it was the last time the craft was going to inflate before being made into a static exhibit. I remember being stood with Grandad, amazed, and slightly frightened by the craft, as it rose on it's skirt. It was noisy, the wind was blowing about, and I was enthralled. I couldn't understand how it was doing it. I still don't to this day!

I can't remember if it was the Princess Anne, or the Princess Margaret (which was unfortunately scrapped a few years ago) that inflated, but the Princess Anne is still on display, although it seems she needs a lot of work to make her go again. But she is fully open to look around, and it's surprising how much of an airplane feel they were designed with.

You can see here in the passenger cabin the aircraft style of seating, and there was even a little bar in the middle to gets drinks and snacks. Not that you needed it, trips only took half an hour to cross the channel and land in France! No wonder it was called Hoverspeed!

The museum also contains a little cafe, and it situated not far from Portsmouth, and is well worth a visit. The museum relies on donations from visitors, and you can see it runs on a shoestring budget. But what makes it so special is it's uniqueness. No where else in the world will you find what they have here, and whether you spend 15 minutes or 4 hours visiting, I think you'll really enjoy it. 9 year old me loved it, and 29 year old me loved it just as much! 

We also got to enjoy a nice view of the solent, just before the heavy downpour came and drenched us as we raced back to the car. Bloody typical! 

September also brought news of further events across the world, a catastrophic storm named Daniel hitting Libya, killing thousands of people when a dam collapsed due to the incredibly heavy rains, and tensions yet again flared between Armenia & Azerbaijan, in an event that caused Azerbaijan to take over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh and causing over 100,000 Armenians' to flee, mostly into Armenia, in what was possibly the biggest movement of Armenians since the Armenian Genocide. It seemed that with Russia preoccupied with it's invasion of Ukraine, areas where Russian Peacekeepers were stationed were becoming more volatile, although you could also argue that the tensions between Armenia & Azerbaijan have never really settled. It was concerning to see that there was yet another area of the world that was on the brink of war, and we can only hope that a peaceful settlement can be reached before too many lives are lost.

I also had another day in London, spending it with Shakira & her kids. We took them to the British Museum, as they had been learning about the Egyptians in school. But first, we had to get there. I don't have kids, so I often don't realise the logistical nightmare of getting them places, but trying to take the kids on the busy tube was a nightmare I don't think I'll ever forget. We had one kid each, and I was trying my best not to squish them or lose them in the crowds. Not something I would ever feel comfortable doing by myself!

I got a quick look at some of the Hittite exhibits, with this beautiful example of Hittite Cruciform. I find it fascinating, it's such an interesting looking language. To my untrained eye, it looks similar but less decorated than Hieroglyphics, but more stylised than Hebrew or Greek. It almost looks like a language that should be read by touch, similar to Braille today. I'd never heard of the Hittites before, until I went travelling in 2017, and was amazed by this new, yet ancient empire. I've brought several books on it, but they remain in the pile to be read, a pile which seems to only ever increase in size!

       

Shakira's kids also wanted to see and touch the Rosetta Stone, something we could indulge in because there is the replica in the museum. They were fascinated by it, and asked to use my phone to take some photos, which I dutifully agreed. Until I was handed my phone back, and I discovered than in just a couple of minutes there was over a hundred pictures, in various levels of blurriness! I kept the best few, and am posting them here. I'll let the kids know if you guys like their photos of the stone! 

We then grabbed some lunch, and I was left in charge for a few minutes while Shakira got drinks. It was an eventful few minutes, with one of them falling off the stool and banging her head on the table, and the other making friends with a random man on a laptop. When I advised they we shouldn't be talking to strangers alone, he told me "this is Omar, he's my new friend", causing laughter from both myself, and from Omar. Quite how they were on first name terms is beyond me, I only had my back turned for less than a minute while I dealt with the other one falling off the stool! But anyway, we had a drink and something to eat, and then headed up to the Egyptian section, which they had both wanted to see. 

There is something so mystifying about the ancient Egyptians and their burial practices, I think that's why even thousands of years later we are still obsessed with them! I don't know if it's the intricate details, the gory processes or the promise of eternal life, but it's a fascinating process to learn about. Egypt is on my list of places to visit, but I feel like you could spend your lifetime there and still not get to see everything! 

Other news inside the UK was the announcement of the fact that a large amount of schools, hospitals & other public service buildings had been built with a type of concrete that was now crumbling, putting the buildings at risk of collapse. The news was shocking & unheard of before in the UK. Yes we all knew the dangers of the cladding of buildings from the Grenfell disaster, but now the very fabric of our buildings was being called into question. Things like this always amaze me here in the UK. We are one of the world's richest nations, yet our schools & hospitals are literally crumbling around us. Please make it make sense? 

There was also reports of the XL bully dog breed being banned, after a spate of attacks across the country resulting in several fatalities. I think this was a valid concept, but it failed to take into account an importance factor, the failure of people to look after animals properly. Several attacks had reported the fact that these dogs had been brought in the lockdowns, and received little to no proper training from their owners. At the end of the day, the owners should be held responsible for dog attacks. If you can't control your dog, then it shouldn't be around people. And as the owner of the animal, you should be held accountable for it. 

We also had news that the last untapped gas & oil field in UK territory had been given a license to drill. The Rosebank field will now be punctured & pumped, in a move that seems to go against the gradual move to green energy that seemed to have accelerated during the last few years. In a more positive note, Scotland announced its first ever drugs consumption room, where people who are using hard drugs like cocaine & heroin can do so safely under medical supervision. I think this is the way forward, in two ways. First of all, it means that health care professionals can intervene instantly if something goes wrong, and by providing a clean & sterile environment, can help to reduce secondary infections from reusing needles & bacteria from dirty surroundings. Secondly, I think it could help support people, both physically & mentally and could hopefully lead to them using less & eventually coming off drugs. It's a three year trial, and should be interesting to see how successful it is at the end. If you want to read more about it, have a look at this news article bbc.co.uk/66929385

I think though, the worst news for me came about the tree in Sycamore Gap. I, like the rest of the country awoke to find the news of it having been sawn down in a wanton act of destruction. I couldn't believe what I was seeing in front of me. How could anyone go and cut down one of the most iconic & famous trees in our country? It was senseless and evil, and I was devastated by it. Perhaps when the perpetrator is found we should chainsaw off their feet & ankles. I think that would be a fitting punishment. I was lucky enough to have seen the tree only two months earlier while walking Hadrians Wall.

I was flummoxed as to why someone would do such a thing, and potentially cause damage to the two thousand year old Roman wall behind it. There was such an uproar and outpouring of frustration and anger, that the whole country seemed to come together for a moment, which seems to be something that happens very infrequently at the moment.

And finally, here's Husky with his new Halloween bandana I brought for him. Doesn't he look smart! 

Halloween had gone from a thought in the summer to now rapidly racing towards us. I'd better start getting everything ready, there was a lot of prep work to be done!