The 1805 Dispatches #20.04 December 2020 3 of 4 ‘The Masque of Alfred’ Never forget to keep an eye on The Trafalgar Way at www.thetrafalgarway.org Saving Lives At Sea On 13 October the esteemed topsail schooner, HMS Pickle appeared as the unwitting star of BBCTV’s series ‘Saving Lives At Sea’ (Series 5, Episode 4). Pickle had set sail from Dover en route to Harwich at first light on 19th August 2019. She faced rough conditions and her engine room began to take on water. The crew alerted the coastguard and Frinton and Walton Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) (see the article on the right), assisted by Harwich RNLI, responded. Dale Steggles (31) who has been one of the F&W crew for ten years, said, “There was a lot of wind that day, not the roughest I’ve ever seen but the conditions were unusual for that time of year; we were called pretty far out to sea, this wasn’t just off the beach, it took about 45 minutes to get there.” It turned out that a ruptured pipe from the engine room pump was letting in more water than it was expelling – fixable. Thanks to the RNLI, Pickle continues to serve. The episode can still be seen on BBC iPlayer at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000nghc/saving-lives-at-seaseries-5-episode-4 Left: HMS Pickle, (Historic Motor & Sail) Right: Frinton & Walton Lifeboat, the Tamar Class Irene Muriel Rees (East Anglian Daily Press) A message came from member John Gwyther: “Idle hands during a health crisis turn to the trivial. Hence, a London auction house catalogue caught my eye with a section of Nelsonia and in particular an item for sale of His Lordship’s coat of arms shown in colour. This was photocopied, framed and given to the manager of the Lord Nelson pub, Pasquale Pirina, in Porto Cervo marina, Costa Smeralda, in Northern Sardinia, a familiar summer retreat. This was to add to the pub’s replica mementoes, as Pasquale already has a copy of a Nelson’s portrait painted in oil by myself. In normal times, the pub is a thriving venue for yachties when the seasonal calendar is full of world class regattas. Nelson would have enjoyed their company as he had shared the same local waters during his eight visits there. Let’s hope this popular venue soon gets back to normal.” (John has since been persuaded to enlarge uopn this – see The Kedge Anchor in the spring) Our Chairman is keen to organise/facilitate a performance of The Masque of Alfred (Britons never shall be slaves and all that). He’s not the only one excited by the prospect, as this message from member Jenny Hutchinson testifies: “You really have brought back some memories! I trained as a professional oboist, and in my student days, was engaged to play principal oboe in an outdoor performance of this masque, in the Verulamium parks in St Albans. It was a lovely setting, even with the crickets which kept hopping on us, and the ad lib accompaniment of the ducks on the nearby lakes! It was all part of a music festival and we wore period dress. Naturally, the women in the orchestra had to wear male dress to be more authentic for the times.” Anyone who would like to see the vocal score, go to: https://imslp.org/wiki/The_Masque_of_Alfred_(Arne,_Thomas_Augustine) The copy deadline for the next Kedge Anchor is 21 March 2021 For overseas readers, the RNLI is an entirely voluntary organisation in which volunteer lifeboat crews provide a 24-hour rescue service in the UK and Ireland, and whose seasonal lifeguards look after people on busy beaches. Their Flood Rescue Team helps those affected by flooding. RNLI crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives since 1824 but they are more than a rescue service. They influence, supervise and educate people too. Their Community Safety teams explain the risks and share safety knowledge with anyone going out to sea or to the coast. And their international teams work with like-minded organisations to help tackle drowning in communities at risk all around the world. https://rnli.org
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