Lots of travelling and socialising these past few weeks. It started with a delightful long weekend with Ann and Mike in Beverley. It was quite a long drive so on the way up I broke the journey at Charlecote Park and coming back at Hardwick Hall. I like to get the maximum use of my NT card ! I must say, Hardwick Hall was stupendous – such a scale. I was so inspired that when I got back I started reading a biography of Elizabeth Ist which has been on my bedside table now for rather too long.
Once in Beverly wonderful companionship – so much to talk
about. It started well. I was admiring their great Welsh dresser and Mike said there
was a secret drawer in it. I wanted to see it, but when looking for it, Mike inadvertently
found a second one ! Inside there was a letter of the 1870s which neither of
them remembered ever having seen before. It was a sad letter of resignation on
health grounds of a local vicar. Fascinating!
Of course we found time for doing some local houses and churches and eating well. In particular an extraordinary series of embellished Victorian churches covered in wall paintings. Garton had an amazing roof and I was very pleased with this near perfect picture of it. I took it bending backwards as much as I could.
Sledmore House was interesting. Outside Mike showed me the Waggoner’s war memorial which showed the Germans being beastly to the Belgians in 1914. Fake news really with one or two exceptions of course. So Donald Trump didn’t invent that concept either.
But a real find was this picture of a dissolute young man, Henry Cecil Paget, 5th Baronet of Anglesey who just might have played rather a significant part in the family history. More research needed !
After this great weekend, it was time for a quick rush around of last minute jobs before packing once more for Singapore. This trip was very different from the last one since I spent most of the first week helping out with a Maritime Security course at the Navy’s Changi base. There were some 140 punters from a whole variety of countries, including Europe, the Gulf and Africa as well of course as lots of locals. An interesting bunch of people many of whom I got to know quite well. One of the highlights [apart from my lecture, naturally] was a visit to a glitzy shipping company in a really glitzy high-rise with stupendous views. They had real-time communications with the captains of their ships as they headed for the approaches to the Red Sea.
Tapping into these discussions comparing time and fuel costs, when set against the risk of attack, plus the details of their insurance packages was fascinating. I realised how tightly controlled their ship captains were. Nelson would have turned over in his grave had he heard, but he would at least have been pleased at the high priority being attached to crew safety.
During the conference, there was
a collision between two tankers and a fire just off shore in the Singapore strait – two of Russia and Iran’s so called
‘dark fleet’ of oil sanction-busters. Judging by the fact that one of them was
a hit-an-run merchant, later arrested by the Malaysians, they were up to no
good at night- probably a dangerous ship-to-ship oil transfer. It reminded us
all how important what we were doing actually was. Even though it’s behind the
scenes so most ordinary folk don’t realise how critical it all is. No shipping,
no shopping as they say .
But there were plenty of light-hearted moments too, with a lot of the wining and dining with the RSIS Maritime team
that is so fatal for the waist-line. No wine actually, generally local Tiger beer. The weekend I arrived saw a rehearsal of Singapore’s National Day celebrations and they had an open day at the Istana which I came across and went in despite the fact that it was midday and stinking hot. Nice English style country house grounds, appropriate as this used to be the Governor’s residence. Imposing.
It’s now used for state functions and decorated with gifts from around the world. Only two from Europe, the Dutch and us. Appropriate I suppose. The UK gift was a rather insipid watercolour of the UK High Commissioner’s current residence. But the clear winner I thought was this spectacular sand painting from Rwanda.
For me though a real highlight of that week was sitting outside No 5, Emerald Hill in the velvety darkness of an evening reading Anne’s excellent ‘Simple Dame Fairfax’ over a Tiger and four-cheese pizza. It was the back story of the housekeeper in Jane Eyre, totally absorbing. I shall do a review of it for Amazon
And then it was off to Jakarta for more visits and talks with defence colleges and research institutes, more meetings, the obligatory masses of photos. Here’s me in full flow in my batik (so much more practical than a suit) on Chinese strategy.
and also the ignominy of more or less having to perform at a Korean karaoke barbecue event with a spirited rendition of ‘Country Roads’ and less successfully ‘I did it my way’ (I hadn’t realised how damn long that song was !) There were about 50 of them and they all cheered when I finished, curiously just as a US warship appeared on the supporting screen. I hoped the cheering was a gesture of appreciation but fear it was just relief that I’d finished.
Jakarta has changed a lot since we first went there all those years ago. We stayed in two hotels there. In the first they’d run out of rooms so they gave me an upgrade. It was so big I got lost in it. Swanky shopping malls are popping up here and there and clusters of amazing mirror glass skyscrapers, right next to dirty narrow, dark little streets lined with tiny stalls selling everything under the sun . The medieval and the 21st Century sitting side by side.
Rather more head-scarfs around than I remembered ( and a few all over bourkas with even the eyes hidden behind sunglasses) but still plenty of mini-skirts and tank tops. I’m always surprised that there’s not more social tension than there is in Indonesia, They’ve just had an election there and a change of government, all very orderly. Much discussion about what it will all mean. An interesting indication of UK influence I spotted. But I think it was the Japanese who made them drive on the left not us.
And then, a week and two hotels
later it was a last pack, Singapore and home. Now a quiet summer awaits !
Hopefully getting everything back in order. Maybe.
