Spring
Floreat Ver
THE LOVELIEST OF TREES
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
A.E. Housman from the collection A Shropshire Lad1
Spring starts tomorrow. Became a 60-something a few weeks ago. Never bothered about turning 30, 40 or 50 - but 60 is a different number. I am certainly counting my springs, and have determined to make the most of them.
It’s finally stopped raining and the sun is poking through; and so comes to an end - one hopes - perhaps the wettest couple of winter months that anyone in the South-West can remember for years. It has not been a cold winter, but Lord! it has been wet.
I go with the calendar, so for me, spring starts tomorrow; but within the natural, astronomical cycle, it won’t be with us for a wee while - the vernal2 equinox3 will be on 20th March. It does feel like spring though. The air smells sweet in the evenings, I have already made two forays into the garden to tidy up the refuse of winter and when the sun appeared it felt warm and pleasant on my back. It was still light well after 6.00p.m. yesterday, and our days are lengthening by roughly fifteen minutes per week. Within a month, it will be British Summertime and it won’t get dark until well after eight. So there is every reason to be cheerful.
PIPPA’S SONG
The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn:
God's in his heaven -
All's right with the world!
Robert Browning from his poetic drama Pippa Passes4
Anyway, the purpose of this note - news about what will be published in 2026. See in particular part-D. A year on Substack has taught me a lot. I allowed myself to be lured into writing ‘Photo of the Week’ features that required extensive research and hours in production. I did realise this after six months, but once started, I did not feel able to stop until a whole year of them had been completed - so no holiday and nothing got done around the house last year. Ultimately, it was a valuable diversion though.
Here’s what I aim to do in 2026.
A. Anniversaries - both ‘General’ and ‘Royal Navy’ will continue to appear on a monthly basis until the end of the year. In 2027, the ‘General’ will likely cease, but the latter may continue, dependent on how much material I have in the vault.
B. Feature of the Month - the running order will be roughly as follows:
January: Bicentenary of Thomas Telford’s Menai Suspension Bridge
February: Cancelled - too busy - to be exchanged for three pieces in April
March: Centenary of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Fire
April: (i) The Battle of Epping Forest (ii) John Brew’s Two Careers (iii) Kurt Waldheim
May: The West Indies Federation Dissolves
June: The Somerset Case - the Condemnation of Slavery in Britain
July: The Rum Ration and Black Tot Day
August: Jim Laker’s 19-90 at Old Trafford
September: The Life and Times of Sir Charles Elliott
October: The Kowloon-Canton Railway Commences Operations
November: (i) The Unknown Warrior (ii) Sir Fabian Ware and Britain’s Monuments Men
December: The Pointless Death of Malcolm Caldwell
C. Thoughts on Rugby and Cricket - this frustrated sports journalist will continue to make comment on England’s ‘progress’ in the planet’s two greatest games. At the moment, the XV are struggling badly, there will be a Six Nations round-up in a few weeks. The XI have a shot at glory in the fast food business, they are in T20 World Cup semi-finals, but seem certain to be defeated by South Africa or India.
D. Serial Posts - the original idea of creating the Substack was to publish material written over the past ten-odd years. However, as previously mentioned, ‘Photo of the Week’ seriously hampered this objective. Hopefully, this reduction in workload will allow more time to edit and publish the longer stuff.
The first parts of Monte Rosa and Windrush and Ordered from the Field of Play were published early last year - they are linked below to facilitate getting up-to-date.
Expect to see the publication from the following projects:
The Monte Rosa and the Windrush - the Full Story and Other Tales
The title speaks for content. The Preface was published last January, and the Introduction - in two parts - appeared in March, and shortly afterwards the fourth and fifth (which was an other tale). These parts described the vessel’s German history. There are quite a few more parts to publish about the British and Caribbean aspects, about the vessel’s demise and ultimate reflections on the whole saga and the narrative that has been manufactured.
Ordered From the Field of Play
A continuation of the history of sendings off in rugby union. The first part, The Mortified Invincible, and second The Lonesome Pine were published in January 2025. The third, Mad Dogs and an Englishman and a fourth The Trickle will hopefully appear by Easter.
The Boys Are Back in Town
As advised back in early-December, spring and summer 2026 will have strong flavour of corium and salix alba - leather and willow. There will be 20-30 posts to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the 1976 Wisden Trophy series. It was the one that saw the reinvention of the art of fast bowling - as a backdrop it had one of the longest and hottest British summers ever. We will examine the deeds of Sir Clive Lloyd’s men against England that summer, and share details of other cricket series of the 1960s and 1970s that shaped his thinking.
Overlooking That Last Remark
A project commenced in early-2020 after learning the about the sinking of HMS Charybdis and HMS Limbourne on the night of 22nd-23rd October 1943, after which scores of British bodies began to wash up on the shores of the Channel Islands and France. The work examines how it came to pass: how RN ships came to be sunk off the French coast, how a torpedo hit a cruiser, how navies developed and how Germany and Britain - each nation headed by families with the same blood - came to be fighting one another.
The Wood Tiger
The story of corruption in post-war Hong Kong and how it was dealt with. Quite a bit of material is written, but there is still much research to be completed. Nothing will be published before the end of summer. In fact, I am in two minds about publishing it at all.
The Lad From Henley Street
The first project to commence after I finished with rugby. Talk about biting off more than can be chewed. Plenty of work done, but undoubtedly, it will be the last project that I complete……..if God gives me sufficient time.
Lastly, a note about subscriptions. No, a pay-to-read scheme is not being introduced. I am very happy to share my research and scribblings on a gratis basis. However, the Substack software can tell me who does, and who does not, open and read each piece of my work. As each one takes many hours to complete, it is dispiriting to discover that some people don’t really bother to read the stuff.
Consequently, please be advised, that from the end of March, subscribers with no ‘yellow stars’ will be culled…….even family members!
The two poems quoted evoke spring as a time of new life and hope. Japanese poet Buson said it this way "Earth wakes from her rest, tender shoots break through the soil, Life stirs in the ground".