3 Chris Gray is now concentrating on raising funds for the conservation of Captain Thomas Capel’s (Phoebe) grave at Kensal Green, London; and Captain Henry Bayntun’s (Leviathan) tomb at All Saints Church, Weston, Bath. The Club will use its own funds to conserve the graves of Captain Sir Edward Berry (Agamemnon), at St. Swithins Church, Walcot, Bath; and Captain Richard Grindall (Prince), at St. Nicholas Church, Wickham, Hampshire. The total cost of the conservation work for all seven Trafalgar Captain graves amounts to £26, 835. The Trafalgar Captains and other legacies of the Trafalgar bicentenary will be ever present and Nelson will continue to be at the very heart of everything we do. Yet, we are fortunate that the Club’s charitable objects allow it to spread its influence and activity beyond Nelson and Trafalgar. We have been doing so for years of course, and few joined the Club solely because of 2005. Our shared interests go much deeper than that. Consequently, we shall build on our achievements attained throughout the Nelson Decade and harness not only the naval story during the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars, but also look at some of the key events of the era that influenced Nelson, such as the 225th anniversary of the Battle of the Saintes (1782) in 2007. Moreover, between now and 2010 we are in the ‘Collingwood Years’. Napoleon’s abandonment of plans to invade England and his stunning victory over the Austrians at Austerlitz on 2 December 1805 meant that the Mediterranean theatre assumed an even higher strategic significance just as Collingwood was taking the mantle from Nelson as Commander in Chief. In 1828, Thomas Creevey summed up the crucial role Collingwood played between 1805 and his death in 1810, when he wrote that: ‘Collingwood alone by his sagacity and decision, his prudence and moderation, sustained the interests of England and eternally defeated the projects of France. He was, in truth, the prime and sole minister of England, acting upon the seas, corresponding himself with all surrounding states, and ordering and executing everything upon his own responsibility.’ Indeed Captain Hugh Owen RN has proposed that Collingwood was the most important admiral in active service between the death of Nelson in 1805 and Jellicoe’s command of the Grand fleet in 1914. The Club will be looking more closely at this, Collingwood’s forgotten career. HMS Collingwood is one of the Club’s corporate members and in recognition of our work, including The Trafalgar Captains, and strengthening links with the establishment, Commodore Adrian Nance RN OBE, Commodore of HMS Collingwood, invited members of Council to join Collingwood descendents at a special dinner in the Wardroom on 9 February. This was followed (early!) the next morning by attendance at Divisions as over 100 young sailors passed out of one of the many intensive training courses run by HMS Collingwood’s Maritime Warfare School (MWS) The MWS is the largest naval training organisation in Western Europe. At any one time it is training 10 per cent of the Service and has an annual throughput of 35,000 officers and ratings, both regular and reserve, for the evolving navy. Such is the quality and reputation of its courses that it also trains officers from the navies around the world. Commodore Nance highlighted the similarities between Collingwood’s leadership approach and the spirit informing training at MWS today. The link the Club has with HMS Collingwood reaffirms the relevance of its conservation and research work to the contemporary world. In the coming years the Club expects to fortify its links with the Royal Navy, the Royal Naval Reserve and the Sea Cadet Corps. In my last Chairman’s Dispatch I asked you to send in pictures, details and reflections of your involvement in the Trafalgar bicentenary commemorations. Your response has been wonderful. We have gathered sufficient material, to produce an eight page special Trafalgar celebration supplement with this issue of The Kedge Anchor. Meanwhile, you are welcome to continue to send in your photographs and descriptions of your personal experiences of the events you organised or went to. May I remind you that the next Annual General Meeting of the Club is on Saturday, 22 April at the Old Royal Naval College Greenwich. This is one of the highlights of our calendar and I hope that we shall see you there. Among other things it will be an opportunity for you to discuss ‘Beyond Trafalgar’. I’m delighted to announce that after the meeting Commander P. Blanchford RN Retd. will deliver this year’s Cecil Isaacson Memorial Lecture. His subject is Lieutenant Lapenotiere’s journey from Cadiz to the Admiralty. It is based on a wealth of original and fascinating research and contains a few surprises! With all good wishes, Peter Warwick
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