Not right, not fair, not guilty

Hundreds turned out in Exeter on Saturday to show their condemnation and outrage at the Government's disastrous badger cull policy.  The Badger Army has been noisily making its way around the country, and finally came to the Devon capital, to Belmont Park, a stone's throw from our flat.

Owen Paterson blamed badgers for moving the goalposts - it looks like he's finally proven right!

Those who know me will know I am vociferously opposed to this cull, which has no basis in science or ethics.  The badger cull is nothing more than a cynical attempt by the current administration to dangle a carrot in front of dairy farmers, in a last-gasp attempt to be seen to be doing something.  They know, as well as we know, that this policy will not reduce TB in cattle.  This blog believes the Government should take a modern, forward-thinking and holistic approach to the problem of bovine TB, one that actually delivers benefits to both our wildlife and struggling farmers.  As is overwhelmingly demonstrated by the science, there can no place for a cull of badgers in tackling this problem long-term.

Badger Army in Belmont Park

But in a much larger sense, this is not simply a badger issue.  The obsessive, state-endorsed demonisation of the badger over the last 12 months should send a chilling feeling down the spine of any wildlife lover.  In our countryside, we have the last, best, greatest resource on earth.  On our doorsteps we can enjoy, for no financial cost at all, the thrill of spotting deer in a forest, the pleasure of bird-watching in a meadow, the joy of feeling summer butterflies come flapping by your face on a warm August day.  If we allow the persecution and obliteration of one iconic native species, who knows where the madness will take us, next time a creature is blamed for another of man's mistakes in the agricultural industry.  It's not like the industry doesn't have form when it comes to cutting corners and compromising on bio-security - we all remember mad cow disease, we'll never forget foot-and-mouth.

Marching down Sidwell Street

I remember the first time I saw a badger - I was 17, and on a late-night wander to the kitchen, noticed the security light spring on outside.  I tentatively peeked, expecting to see a cat, but to my surprise I witnessed a badger, on its hind-legs, peering gingerly over the top of a low-standing bird table.  The same badger visited for some months after that, and each time I would follow it from within the house, clamouring room-to-room for another peek of this magical creature.  It was an experience I will never forget, a memory of the natural world that will stay with me forever.  Nobody has the right to deny our children that same pleasure.

Marching through the Cathedral Green

The Government will not win this fight - we cannot let it, because if it does, nothing in our beloved countryside is safe from the sheer exploitation and cynical short-sighted politics of those who view our greatest natural resource only in terms of profit.  British wildlife is not ours to own.  It is not ours to abuse.  It is not ours to scapegoat.  It is not ours to kick around like a cheap political football.  It is ours to enjoy, ours to care for, ours to nurture, and ours only so we can pass it on to the next generation.  Stop the blame.  Stop the lies.  Stop the cull.

1000, not out!

So tomorrow Arsene Wenger celebrates his 1000th game in charge of the Arsenal.  Whilst I cannot believe it has been 18 years, it's an exciting opportunity to have a look back over nearly two decades of top-class, first-rate, magical football.  There are far too many moments to make a definitive "best of" list, but here's five brilliant memories from the Wenger era that are bound to live long in the minds of all Gunners fans:

1.  Tony Adams scoring the fourth against Everton, Sunday 3 May 1998

Wenger's first full season in charge of Arsenal saw the Gunners win the League and FA Cup double.  But what stands out even more was the emphatic way they chased down Manchester United, brushing them aside and sealing the title with a 4-0 thumping of Everton.  Adams' late goal was the perfect way to sum up the season - and the perfect way to start a new era.

Tony Adams scored against Everton, May 1998 (source: Arsenal.com)

 2.  Bergkamp scores the greatest goal ever?  Saturday 2 March 2002

Hot on the trail of another league title, Arsenal made the long trip north to St. James' Park, home of Newcastle United. The Gunners won the match 2-0, but it will always be remembered for Dennis Bergkamp's absolute ingenuity.  In what the BBC described as "ballet dancer's grace", Bergkamp, with his back to goal, received the ball from Robert Pires, before flicking it backward past the right-hand-side of defender, Nikos Dabizas.  Bergkamp went around Dabizas's left, picking the ball up and slotting past Shay Given into the Newcastle goal.  Unbelievable football.

Berkamp dances through the Newcastle defence, March 2002 (Source: Daily Mail)

3.  Thierry Henry spearheads the destruction in the San Siro, Tuesday 25 November 2003

Two months earlier, Inter had come to Highbury and won 3-0.  In the return fixture, an injury-hit Arsenal squad did the unthinkable, and put five past the Italian giants in their own back yard.  Inspired by a breath-taking Henry display, the travelling fans were chanting "Five-one in the San Siro" long into the night.

Arsenal obliterate Inter Milan in the San Siro, November 2003 (Source: Arsenal.com)

4.  Sylvain Wiltord scores the winner at Old Trafford, Wednesday 8 May 2002

There can be no greater joy in the world of football than to win the League title at Old Trafford.  That's exactly what Arsenal did in May 2002, when Wiltord pounced on a save from United keeper Barthez, steering the ball home, to spark championship celebrations in the face of 60,000 Red Devils.

Sylvain Wiltord scores the Championship-winning goal at Old Trafford, May 2002 (Source: Daily Mail)

5.  49, 49 Undefeated.  May 2003-October 2004

On 7 May 2003, Arsenal thrashed Southampton 6-1.  Little did anyone know at the time, that this match would kick-start nearly a year-and-a-half of unbeatable football from the Gunners, which would see them waltz to the 2004 Premier League title.  A first in the modern era, Arsenal would best Preston North End's historic record of 18 wins, 4 draws, 0 losses, when they won the inaugural English football league competition in 1888-1889.  Arsenal's run extended to 16 October 2004, when Aston Villa were beaten 3-1, and eventually came to an end following a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United.

Arsenal fans celebrate their unbeaten run at Highbury (Source: Arsenal.com)

Congratulations Arsene Wenger on this fantastic footballing achievement!  And here's to another thousand!

Wenger roll of honour

Matches: 999
Wins: 572
Draws: 235
Losses: 192
Win ratio: 57.3% (compared to 56.4% in Alex Ferguson's first 1000 matches)
Goals scored: 1855
Top goal scorers:  Bergkamp (107), Van Persie (132), Henry (228)
Red cards: 100 (shared between 50 players)
Worst red card offenders: Martin Keown (7), Patrick Vieira (10)

Honours:

Premier League titles: 1998, 2002, 2004.  Runners-up in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005
FA Cup: 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005.  Runners-up in 2001
League Cup: Runners-up in 2007, 2011
UEFA Champions League: Qualification for 16 consecutive years.  Runners-up in 2006
UEFA Cup: Runner-up in 2000

A space for contemplation

There are few places in the whole county more suited to a little thought, contemplation and reflection than Buckfast Abbey.  On a Sunday spent soaking up the rays on the South Devon coast, Lizzie and I lurched in-land to pay a visit to this gem of a site, nestled in the foothills of the Moors.

Beautiful Buckfast Abbey

Part of a Benedictine monastery, the site was first recorded as having an abbey in 1018, and was believed to have been founded by either Aethelweard (Aylward), Earldorman of Devon, or King Cnut.  In the 1130s, King Stephen granted Buckfast to the French Abbot of Savigny, and a newly established abbey was home to Savignac monks.  The Savignac congregation merged with the Cistercians following financial difficulties, and thus Buckfast Abbey became a Cistercian monastery - at this time, the abbey was rebuilt in stone.

Buckfast Abbey's Cistercian Guest House may have looked like this (source: Buckfast.org)

The abbey became rich during the medieval period, through fishing and the wool trade, and Buckfast was known to be one of the wealthiest abbeys in the southwest.  By the turn of the sixteenth century, however, it was in decline, and when Henry VIII's infamous Dissolution was put into effect, Buckfast only had ten monks in residence.  The abbey was surrendered for dissolution on 25 February 1539, when the monastic buildings were left for ruins, and the monks granted pensions.  Following this, the Crown passed the land to Sir Thomas Dennis of Holcombe Burnell, and was then bought by Samuel Berry, who constructed a mansion house there in 1806, on the site of the abbey's former west cloister.  The house and grounds passed on to Dr. James Gale in 1872, who sold the site ten years later, advertising it as "a grand acquisition which could be restored to its original purpose."  The advert worked - in 1882, the site was purchased by a group of French Benedictine monks who had been exiled from their own monastery.  A temporary church was constructed, and between 1907 and 1938, the new abbey church was built.  Buckfast Abbey was consecrated on 25 August 1932, six years before building work was complete.

A drawing by W. Gaucci, 1830, depicting the gothic mansion with
the old abbey ruins to the left (source: The Dartmoor Trust)

There's a definite air around Buckfast Abbey.  It's an air of peace, simplicity, and spiritual contentment.  We wandered around its beautiful interior, which is surprisingly light and airy, and includes the stunning Blessed Sacrament Chapel, added later to provide a place for quiet prayer.  The stained glass here depicts Christ at the Last Supper; it measures eight metres (26 feet) across, and was designed and made by the monks in the Abbey's workshops.

Blessed Sacrament Chapel window (source: Wikipedia)

Back outside, we strolled through the lavender garden, sweet and subtle-scented even in early spring.  As we sat with a drink (and a tasty homity pie) overlooking the grounds, I quite fancied that I could throw it all in and live there. Essentially, it has everything you need - enough food to eat, a roof over your head, religious fulfilment, and a relationship with nature and people that is pure, untarnished and innocent.  So you can keep your internet, playstation and 24-hour news channel; In a weary world of unrest, a visit here is an enlightening little glimpse into another way of looking at the world.

The Abbey's lavender garden

Sunshine and Sunfish

The first sunny weekend of the year, and time to get out and see what’s on offer following the crazy weather of late.  These sorts of weekends, rare though they are, can be a joy in Devon – the sun is shining, everywhere is being readied for the holiday season, but as it’s still too early for the tourists, we find we have the county more-or-less to ourselves.  We’ll hop on a train to Plymouth then…

We’re not regular Plymouth-goers – it’s a little out of our way from Exeter – but the city is well worth a day every so often and, if you can look beyond its harsh post-war architecture, there lies a city steeped in history.  They call Plymouth “the Ocean City”, a nod to the sea from which it shares a unique, intrinsic bond.  Quite fitting, then, that one of the first things we should run into is an art installation celebrating the ocean.  Lined up off Royal Parade in the city centre, fifteen ocean sunfish sculptures, each designed by local apprentices, and decorated by local artists and students, stand dazzling against the concrete.  Their existence is down to a project called Making Waves, which aims to encourage young people into apprenticeships, as well as raise awareness for marine conservation.  We’re lucky to have caught them all in one place – in a few days, they will be shipped off to locations all around the city, forming a public art trail, the likes of which gripped locals in Torbay and Exeter in 2013.  There's no space in this blog to show you all the designs I liked, but I'll get back to you later about which was my favourite.

Ocean sunfish (source: Wikipedia)

A short stroll from the city centre brings us to Plymouth Hoe, where the breeze hits you straight off the sea, and I fancy you can taste the maritime history.  This is home to Plymouth’s fantastic, humbling war memorial, bearing the names of several thousand sailors who lost their lives in war, a testament to the city’s naval heritage and bravery.  Beyond the memorial, Plymouth’s most famous son, Sir Francis Drake, looks out on an ocean from which he made his fortune (and a green, on which he payed his bowls), whilst across the way, Smeaton’s Tower provides perhaps the city’s most famous landmark.  The lighthouse was finished in 1759, cost £40,000, and was largely the work of Cornish tin miners, who built the tower out on the dangerous Eddystone Rocks.  The Douglas Lighthouse superseded Smeaton’s Tower in 1882, and the people of Plymouth paid for it to be dismantled and reassembled on the Hoe, so grateful were they for the countless lives saved.

Our stroll along the Hoe gives way to the massive naval defenses of a once-mighty empire, and we descend down to the Barbican and our destination, the National Marine Aquarium.  Locals will remember when this aquarium first opened, and I recall how excited I was on my first visit, wide-eyed and fascinated as I was taken on a journey from the marine life of Plymouth Sound, around the coasts of Britain, through the deep Atlantic and into the tropics.  Today, the aquarium has lost none of its charm, and the life contained within its walls is simply stunning.  There are no sunfish, but the sharks, rays, octopi, seahorses, crabs, lobsters, and jellyfish make for a vibrant couple of hours.  

The star of the show, the beautiful Loggerhead Turtle named Snorkel, punctuates our visit to the aquarium.  Washed up on Sennen Cove beach, Cornwall, in 1990, it was discovered that her eyesight was so poor that she could not hunt for food, and a decision was taken not to release her back into the wild.  At 25, she should have many years ahead of her, a life that could have been cut so short had she not been found 24 years ago.  She's everybody's favourite, and you can see why - her serene, peaceful presence is mesmerising.

A day in Plymouth - well worth it if the weather's good, and if you like your maritime history, marine wildlife, or just a good old bask in the early Spring sunshine.  And as for which sunfish was my favourite... Well it could have been any of them, but I think this one just captures the spirit of our day in the city.