An Ausfisher's travels

[kingcobe]

I recently toured the Uk with my mum and dad and brother in a campervan. I took my Ausfish hat to fly the flag Dad bought mum a new camera so I got mum's old one. The weather wasn't great but I did my best with the pics.

Josh


Polperro, Cornwall




Polperro again






Dad went in the pub





The he went for some jellied eels





Charlestown, Cornwall





St Michaels Mount, Cornwall





The most Easterly point of England...............The Lizard, Cornwall





The small entrance to Boscastle Harbour. This is the village that made world news 4 yrs ago when it was nearly wiped out in a flood




The lighthouse at The Lizard





Buckfast Abbey




Blackpool Pleasure Beach



Inveraray castle




A waterfall in Glencoe. To see the true scale there is a man kneeling top left of the fall

[kingcobe]

Applecross Peninsula Scotland



Again



The most Northerly Point



John o'Groats, often mistaken as the most northerly point. Look at the sign



Couple of crabs and lobsters we caught



Loch Lomond




A piper and Nessie



London Bridge




An eel fisherman getting in on the act



Armour in the Tower of London




Buckingham Palace



Imperial War Museum, the 15" guns

The 15-inch GunsProbably no weapon is more representative of the great era of British battleships than the 15-inch gun. Designed in the days when modern naval gunnery was still in its early stages, the 15-inch gun was finally directed by extremely sophisticated fire control techniques. The battleships and battle-cruisers that mounted these great guns, two in each turret, were the final arbiters of sea-power. Each floating steel castle was screened by cruisers, escorted by destroyers, guarded by mine-sweepers, covered by aircraft, fed by auxiliaries, and hunted by torpedo craft. When all the skirmishing by lesser vessels was done, it was the nation which still had the most battleships afloat that controlled the seas. This was the meaning behind the Battles of Jutland, Narvik, Calabria, Spartivento and Matapan, the Bismarck action and the surrenders of the German High Seas Fleet in 1918 and the Italian battlefleet in 1943.

Yet although the 15-inch gun was built for sea-fights between opposing battlefleets, its first action was bombarding shore positions at Gallipoli in 1915. Thirty years and two major reconstructions later, the same Queen Elizabeth was providing heavy artillery support in the Indian Ocean. In two world wars 15-inch guns bombarded the coasts of France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Africa and Madagascar, supporting Allied troops on the beaches, wrecking enemy installations and thwarting a hostile invasion of our shores.
Twenty-two ships of the Royal Navy were armed with 15-inch guns: Abercrombie, Barham, Courageous, Erebus, Glorious, Hood, Malaya, Marshal Ney, Marshal Soult, Queen Elizabeth, Ramilles, Renown, Repulse, Resolution, Revenge, Roberts, Royal Oak, Royal Sovereign, Terror, Valiant, Vanguard and Warspite.
The 15-inch gun was not cast in one piece, but was built up as a series of tubes. These tubes were heated until they expanded and were then shrunk over each other. The centre tube was known as the Inner A Tube. It was replaced when the 76-groove rifling was worn. Then came the A Tube, around which 170 miles of wire were wound. Over that was fitted the B Tube, which, together with the Jacket, formed the visible exterior of the gun.
The left-hand gun (Gunbody No. 125) of the pair situated outside Imperial War Museum London was made by William Beardmore and mounted in HMS Ramillies in 1916. It was first fired in action against Turkish shore targets during operations in the Sea of Marmara in 1920. Apart from practice shoots, it was not fired again until 17 August 1940, when when a British force bombarded Bardia in North Africa. HMS Ramillies also fired several salvoes during the Battle of Spartivento in 27 November 1940. The Italian warships were out of range and no hits were scored. The gun was removed from HMS Ramillies in 1941 and stored. The tampion badge is taken from the arms of the Duke of Marlborough, and translates as 'Faithful but Unfortunate'.
The right-hand gun (Gunbody No. 102) was mounted in HMS Resolution from 1915 to 1938. It saw service in the Sea of Marmara in 1920, but was not fired in anger again until 1944, and then in another ship, the monitor Roberts. This ship was an important unit in the naval forces assembled for the invasion of Normandy. On D-Day itself, HMS Roberts bombarded Houlgate Battery, east of Sword Beach. During the succeeding weeks her guns shelled enemy positions several miles inland near Caen. On 1 November 1944 she supported the assault on Walcheren and attacked a German battery north of Westkapelle.
This gun was made by Vickers, Son & Maxim. It was stored from 1938 to 1944 and again from 1945 onwards. The breech mechanism on this gun was originally used for instructional purposes at Woolwich Arsenal. It was fitted to the barrel by Museum craftsmen with help from the Arsenal. The tampion badge - a charging knight - symbolises 'Resolution'.



The Tamzine

In May 1940 the German invasion of France led to the encirclement of much of the British Expeditionary Force around the port of Dunkirk. An evacuation scheme, Operation Dynamo, was quickly organized, using an array of warships, ferries, trawlers, yachts, and pleasure craft. The operation began on 27 May and, helped by ideal weather, continued until 4 June. Despite fierce enemy action nearly 340,000 British and French troops were evacuated to safety across the English Channel.

This 14 foot(4.4m) fishing boat, the Tamzine, was built in 1937 at Margate, Kent. During the Dunkirk evacuation it was the smallest boat used to ferry men from the beaches to larger vessels lying off shore.

Named after the eighteen-year-old wife of a sailing skipper, who was drowned off the Isles of Scilly in an eighteenth century shipwreck and is said to be buried in the churchyard at St. Mary's, Tamzine is the smallest surviving open fishing boat to take part in Operation Dynamo. She is clinker built, light yet strongly made and was designed for year-round fishing off the shore at Birchington in Kent. Her removable centre thwart - the oarsman's seat, - allowed five people to stand upright in her at anyone time and safely haul in the trawl net.

[kingcobe]

The Most Southerly Point




The famous Piccadilly



These coarse fishermen don't look like they'll be ballet dancing



Glen Orchy Scotland. Spot the trout fisherman



Spean bridge, scotland



The most photographed castle in the World, Eilean Donnan



A bridge on the Isle of Skye



Isle of Skye



The sign says it all. Mum had to drive and there is no turning back. It is a single track road with passing places. if you meet someone, you argue over who will reverse to a passing place In places there is a 100 ft drop with your tyres half a metre from the edge



Looking up the pass



The view back



The view on the other side going down



Ruins of Ardvreck castle with the dungeons below.
The castle is thought to have been constructed around 1590 by the Clan MacLeod family who owned Assynt and the surrounding area from the 13th century onwards. Indeed Sutherland, the area in which Ardvreck is situated, has long been a stronghold of the clan MacLeod. The most well known historical tale concerning the castle is that on April 30th 1650 James Graham, the Marquis of Montrose, was captured and held at the castle before being transported to Edinburgh for trial and execution. Montrose was a Royalist, fighting on the side of Charles I against the Covenanters. Defeated at the Battle of Carbisdale, he sought sanctuary at Ardvreck with Neil MacLeod of Assynt. At the time, Neil was absent and it is said that his wife, Christine, tricked Montrose into the castle dungeon and sent for troops of the Covenanter Government. Montrose was taken to Edinburgh, where he was executed on 21 May 1650, using the traditional method for traitors: hanging, drawing and quartering.
Ardvreck Castle was attacked and captured by the Clan MacKenzie in 1672, who took control of the Assynt lands. In 1726 they constructed a more modern manor house nearby, Calda House, which takes its name from the Calda burn beside which it stands. The house burned down under mysterious circumstances one night in 1737
The castle is said to be haunted by two ghosts, one a tall man dressed in grey who is supposed to be related to the betrayal of Montrose and may even be Montrose himself. The second ghost is that of a young girl. The story tells that the MacLeods procured the help of the Devil to build the castle and in return the daughter of one of the MacLeod chieftains was betrothed to him as payment. In despair of her situation, the girl threw herself from one of the towers and was killed.
The nearby ruins of Calda house are also supposed to be haunted. The legend says that the Mackenzie family organised a family gathering there one Saturday and that the celebrations continued past midnight into the Sabbath day. At some point a fire broke out, possibly caused by a lightning strike, and all the inhabitants perished as the house burned to the ground. The causes of the fire are uncertain, but inhabitants of the Assynt area state that it was a manifestation of divine wrath as the family had been merry-making on the Lord's Sabbath day. Indeed, stories are told that there was a survivor of the fire, a piper who was spared the flames because he refused to play the pipes past the midnight hour.
A number of ghost sightings have been recorded around the area of the Calda ruins, including that of a ghostly woman who haunts the site itself. Strange lights have also been seen there at night, and several people have claimed that they have seen car headlights approach them on the road there at night, but after waiting for the vehicle to pass, no car has appeared.

[revs57]

What a fantastic journey Josh! and thanks for sharing it with us. I thought I hadn't seen you or Dad around the boards for a while, now I know why. By the looks of it your cap was very busy, thanks for the history comment to. This has been one of the most enjoyable threads to read since being a member here.

Thanks again and give kingtin a G'day for me, i've missed you both around here

Cheers

Rhys

[Keechie]

awesome stuff mate, it was like where's wally but with the ausfish hat. thanks for sharing all those photo's. out of interest how long were you gone for?

regards,
keechie

[kingcobe]

awesome stuff mate, it was like where's wally but with the ausfish hat. thanks for sharing all those photo's. out of interest how long were you gone for?

regards,
keechie

We were away for 32 nights in total.

[kingcobe]

awesome stuff mate, it was like where's wally but with the ausfish hat. thanks for sharing all those photo's. out of interest how long were you gone for?

regards,
keechie

We were away for 32 nights in total.

Cheers,

Josh

[choppa]

welcome home mate,,,,,,, it was like being in a history lesson,,,,, absolutely great pics and read ,,,

good to see that you got a bit of fishing in,,,,,,

wonder if steve will make an offer to the the Queen on some sort of prime membership,,,lol

take care,,

choppa

[bdowdy]

Thats Awesome Thanks For Showing

[Outsider1]

Just amazing photos and scenery. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers

Dave

[blaze]

move over Kev, theres some young talent coming through there with the camera.
Well done Josh for the pics as well as the text.
cheers
blaze

[snasman]

That was a great read mate and the sense of humor runs well in your family ( Armor in the tower ,thats fantastic lol)

[el_carpo]

Amazing pics of what looks to have been one heck of an awesome trip! Thanks so much for sharing them with us! Outstanding! Wow!

[TonyM]

Fantastic trip, fantastic photos, and a fantastic write up Josh!

Very well written, and I espescially loved the quality pics, they reminded me of my journey over there some 20 years ago (showing my age)

The stories were very interesting too, and what a great little boat is Tamzine?

Haven't seen a better read in even a professional magazine for quite a while!

Cheers
Tony

[TimiBoy]

Boy, that sets a precedent. I'm off to Germany for Christmas, better do a diary for you guys 'n' gals!

And no, Wags, you can't have the boat while I'm away!!!

Cheers,

Tim