Ice climbing on the North Yorkshire Moors

Not too far from Whitby are the North Yorkshire Moors a venue not known for it's ice climbing. But here up at Fryup Dale there is a lengthy crag which with a few days of freezing weather comes into condition.

It's a long slog from the car parked just above Lealholm, deep snow North Yorkshire Moors.

Nowhere is the climbing above 20' to 30' but it's almost all vertical and can provide an hour or two fun 'sport' routes. Protection is limited to trees or stakes above the crag. But ice climbing on the North Yorkshire Moors is possible! And this is only three days before Christmas!!

Jilly the Dog

8 years ago Trish drove myself and the two grandchildren who were staying with us, to; ”Pick up my Christmas present”. An unknown destination and present lay ahead. “You’ve always wanted one”, she said, “You’ll really like it” (Case of wine or whiskey?)

Later, as we drove away from the address, I stared at the little blond puppy that was crying on my lap. I know I’d gone on about wanting a dog – but a dog’s for life not just Christmas, I didn’t mean it!. It was an aspiration perhaps. Too much trouble perhaps? Maybe I only liked the idea of owning one?. It might cramp my style. I couldn’t go climbing, canoeing, skiing, mountaineering, could I? After all a dogs for life not just for Christmas, isn’t it?


Driving home the subject of names came up. Trish said it was called Lily. Number two Grandchild sitting in the back, coincidently called Lily, burst out crying indignantly; “I don’t want to be called the same name as a dog” she wailed. With my newly acquired alter ego now asleep on my lap I announced it would be called Fang. Or Killer, or Ripper.  Lilly & Georgia  in the back seat protested vocally and persistently. “Anyway she is a girl and you don’t call girls that kind of name”, one of them observed. Georgia suggested that as the previous owner called her Lily, a simple change to Jilly would suffice and would not offend the sensibilities of her sister. This was greeted by a loud, “Yes” from Lily. .

As we drove home I suggested to them that Jilly would do for dinner and asked them which bit they would like for the weekend joint, suggesting that we could have a leg each, which was an improvement on a chicken shared between four after all. More protests from the back followed loudly.

Jilly was whining on my lap and I gave her some gentle strokes. “Well”, I thought, she’d live outside in a kennel. End up being a tough dog and perhaps make a tolerable companion on my forays into the outdoors and nights in Igloos, snow holes, canoeing trips and so on., If I had to go to places where dogs were excluded, I could always tie her up with extra helpings of dog food!

I couldn’t let her outside that night as it was pointed out I didn’t own a kennel and without one she might be eaten by a fox. A large cardboard box was placed next to the Stanley and the children put her in and showered her with good night kisses and hugs.

Christmas morning dawned cold and bright and we’d ignored the odd crying from the kitchen during the night Carefully hidden dog food and treats appeared from cupboards and quickly disappeared down Jilly’s mouth.. I could see that the dog wasn’t going to starve to death. She could stay another few days anyway.

I needed a walk. Jilly, no doubt deciding I was a food source, decided to follow and ran at my heels. This was fine until we got to the Bog Field and she didn’t know that the bright green bits were wet. Very wet! Not wanting to upset the grandchildren too much by leaving her I pulled her out of the deep black water where she was struggling and let her go. She gamely ran at my heels over every obstacle I put in her way. I was suitably impressed by her spirit. A few minutes later she stopped and whined. Clearly she was going to be a liability! She was shivering. Mmmm? Ok, she was rather small and wet, and it was rather chilly. I picked her up and tucked her into my jacket. A few minutes later and she wanted to be down and off again, exploring and running and sniffing at everything and anything as she ran alongside me. A few minutes later and she ran out of steam and ground to a halt. I picked her up and ran back to the house wondering what was wrong with the present.

”Where did you go and how far was it”, I was asked when we arrived home.

“She’s tired”, Trish announced, after I told her where we’d been. Jilly was now fast asleep in her cardboard box. Outside would clearly have to wait!

As her stamina increased, our forays into the hills got longer and longer. The landscape I looked at obtained new meanings as she quickly spotted where the fox, badger, mice and the hares lived or passed, her nose following the scent trails across the fields and though the hedges.

Scrambling up a steep rocky gully to the summit of Ireland’s highest mountain proved she was quick and fast over the steepest rock and followed me along the narrowest of cliff ledges sometimes in deep snow. She helped in map work when I struggled in cloud and darkness along rocky mountainsides quickly noticing that she picked the best routes. She proved she had an excellent memory and could retrace exactly the route we’d trodden months before when revisiting climbs and walks. She proved equally adept at canoeing and wasn’t put off by the biggest or wettest rapids spending the trip testing the air and enjoying the views.

One spring night sleeping under the stars with no sleeping bag and only a bivvi-bag as shelter I shivered with cold. Outside, so did Jilly. With little prompting she joined me under the shelter and we soon warmed up together.

But I really knew who was the real softy when hedge-laying on a wet, windy, cold day in Co.Kerry. Soaked to the skin she shivered in long grass uncomplaining. I took a fleece jacket and covered her. Eating my sandwiches later I realised I’d forgotten her lunch. We shared my sandwiches that day!

Jilly has become my companion on long walks and runs, birdwatching trips and other excursions into the outdoors. And I wouldn’t have it any other way either. Dogs are not just for Christmas!

Dry Stone Walling & Google

The Good, Bad, Ugly and the unexpected from Google

This was going to be easy. I'd been asked to write an article on Dry Stone Walling and Google for Sean Adcock of the North Wales Branch of the Drystone Walling Association's magazine Stonechat.

"Punch “drystone walls” into Google and go through them – see what is out there – good and bad".

Page 1 until ? Well, I gave up the careful prowl at around page 20 of google results and started page hopping until I gave up at page 35 when my browser refused to open any more sites.

.

So what did I discover? Well,, most surprisingly was the fact that most sites I turned up were entirely as you would expect in that they were relevant and mostly quite good. Along the way I discovered a few odds and ends. I discovered that in answers at Yahoo.com a thread which stated a stone wall would cost to build anything from £30 to £300 per metre depending on who you believed. I also found a wall costing only £4.99. I found out you could attend a drystone walling course in Switzerland for £435 including 3 nights full board & breakfast at www.myswiterland.com. I also discovered the Catalan for drystone waller is “Margerer”

As you probably have already discovered, a search on google produces mostly waller’s own websites, several dswa pages, amazon books and rather amusingly a few portal sight which lists areas with drystone wallers in it. Swiss Cottage in London was listed and isn’t known for it’s walling traditions so I couldn’t resist a quick visit. It listed three walling sites, one of which was a quarry in the Black Mountains an address in Armagh which is in Ireland so I had a look to see what was going on there. (Nothing). An address in surrey turned out to be a builders merchang so I’m still trying to work out the link with Swiss Cottage. I pressed the back button.

The first interesting site was “Sticks and Stones’, http://www.omlxi.com/sticks_stones/index.php a Tasmainian site by two gents. One a waller, the other a hedgelayer. Yes, both are practised in Tasmania even if only by these two and you can see their work.

By page 5 some odd drystone walling sites appear. Attracted by www.opendemocrfacy.net and it’s appealing, ‘Reshaping The Dry Stone Wall of Irish history’ title I gave it ago. After all I’d lived there for 10 years and never, ever come across this book. The book’s description was as follows:, “This book of twenty-five chapters is a selection of papers presented at a conference organised by the British Association for Irish Studies held at the University of Salford in September 2005. An additional commissioned chapter deals with the fortunes of the two major Unionist parties since the Belfast Agreement of 1998, in particular tracking the transition of the Democratic Unionists from opposition to the ‘Trimble-Adams Pact’ to miraculous support for a Robinson-McGuinness Executive. Appropriately, the book retains the diversity of the papers’ subject matter and, in keeping with recent academic...” Back space again!! I eventually worked out the relevance of the title with help from Trish. I’ll leave you to work it out too. Good luck.

On page seven I turned up http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/412167 an animated video of “Old Man Pie” building a wall. Stupidly I expected an instructional video but it turned out to be an animated video almost showing wall building. Don’t bother but good if you like watching or listening to something pointless. “I build a wall around my home, It keeps out enemies and friends”. Oh, go on I suppose it was a bit of fun after all!

In total contrast and well worth looking at is the video by Mick Soft at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIHc09Z5hvw. It’s a good micky take at wallers who talk about walling in some kind of hushed and referential manner. .The man does not confine his wit to us wallers either. If you follow the links watch his take on tree surgeons too.

A site known to many is Norman Haddow’s blogspot

http://wallswithoutmortar.blogspot.com and is a simple blog containing many excellent pictures and articles on walling from many countries. Well worth the visit. This site is an education in itself.

Another interesting site http://www.astoneuponastone.com/ the home of the Drystone walling association of Australia. Lots of pictures of.....errr,,, Australian Walls!

The first techno site I found with an extensive report on the strength of drystone walls, conducted by the University of Bath, can be found at http://www.bath.ac.uk/ace/dry-stone-2/

Of real interest to us wallers and probably well know is The National Stone Centre, especially the Millennium Wall at http://www.nationalstonecentre.org.uk/vs_millenniumwall.html. Numerous walls from around the UK built in regional styles using stone from around the UK and of course built by many different wallers from around the UK.

For those wallers who actually turn up to give an estimate then this site http://www.lowimpact.org/products_dry_stone_walling.html offers a solution. Just send them as many details as you can and they’ll give an estimate of the cost for them to build. This company would be a welcomed contributor to regular enquiries on the DSWA forum when it comes to questions of costs and speeds.

On the web you can also buy a complete Flexible drystone wall from JAVIS-JSTONEOOS-FLEXIBLE-DRY-STONE-WALLING and it will only cost a pound or two. But before you get excited it turned out to be the sort you get in a plastic bag and use on model railways and the like. I found another one advertised as, ‘suitable for model railways’ at £4.99.

The MPs have also been claiming for stonework. Janis Anderson Rossingdale MP paid several hundred pounds for walling on her home. (I’m not sure which one!) read more here in the Manchester Evening News http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1121367_janet_andersons_dry_stone_wall

As we go further into google some new and unexpected stuff comes up This University of Huddersfield page http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/4729/ provides us with an extract from a thesis entitled, “Tacit knowledge, learning & expertise in drystone walling” (Farrar, Nicholas Stewart 2006) Reading the extract was interesting and one day I’ll get around to reading the whole thesis which can be read by clicking the link. At 277 pages you’ll be doing a lot of reading – in fact you’ll get to page 134 before you meet a wall or even a waller. On page 243 there are some useful lessons in support of the DSWA walling qualifications.

If you want an expensive book on stonewalling try Colin Sowerby’s http://www.thedrystonewaller.com/products.htm 6 pages for £5, an e-book claiming to be a concise guide to walling. Obviously some of us know far too much for our own good.

Flikr interestingly didn’t come up until page 20 and there are thousands of pictures which I’ll let you trawl through at your leisure.

The stone foundation www.stonefoundation.org an american site worth a visit even if I found the navigation a little confusing.

There are a number of good sites describing how to build a wall. But by far the worse is this one http://homeideas.howstuffworks.com/walls-and-boundaries/how-to-approach-building-a-dry-stone-wall.htm. If you are a knew nothing before looking at this site you’ll still know nothing afterwards.

You can even watch a stone wall being repaired. By invisible people no doubt at http://www.byrdir.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/stonewall.gif

Way down the listings on page 18 or so was this european site http://www.conselldemallorca.net/mediambient/pedra/pedraensec.php?idioma=ing&opcio=1 A Mallorca based site, of which a large portion is devoted to the rebuilding and conservation of their drystone walls and structures and is available in several languages which perhaps is a reflection on the recognition of the world wide interest in drystone walling. Conservation isn’t just a British thing!

And so on. I got to page 34 on google before my PC started to have a bad internet day but not before I noticed, “Taylors Master Guide to gardening which stated that “Drystone walls are ideal for gardening as they give when the ground moves as it freezes in winter.”

I’ll end my tedious tour here as the last paragraph could promote some discussion amongst anorak clad wallers. Oh, and if anyone does discover some really truly awful walling sites please let Sean know, because I couldn’t find them!

Canoeing the River Esk North Yorkshire

Monday 1st December.

A clear but frosty morning after a day of continuous rain on the Sunday and it looks like a good day to go for a paddle. I'm soon at Grosmont, several miles upriver from Whitby.
I drop the canoe off next to the bridge, drive back to Sleights where I leave the car and jog the few miles back to the canoe. It takes just over 40 minutes and I put my paddling boots on and a warm fleece as I'll soon cool down.

A paddle of about two hours downriver to Sleights or beyond looks on the cards. The section between here and Sleights is varied paddling through woods and fields and passes under the Esk Valley railway a number of times. It's a quiet paddle and well sheltered. There's plenty to interest paddlers. It's fairly straighforward and is the best section on the river Esk for an open canoe. Between Lealhom and Grosmont there is plenty to interest the keen Kayaker

The put in at the ford in Grosmont. The river has been very high, look at the debris hanging in the tree top right! It looks line fun.



Plenty of grade II makes for an interesting paddle between here and Sleights about two hours paddling away, through a mainly wooded valley and past a few interesting man made structures.



The first one being a fishermans shelter partially built into a cliff. The air temperature is hovering just above freezing and I'm having difficulty keeping my hands warm.



Plenty of small drops, some easier than others but enough to keep you interested. Gravel bars, and twisting turns.



And for those of you old enough to remember, this is the actor Ian Carmichael's house, camera shake notwithstanding - but I was paddling aswell!



My bowman, Jilly, with canoeing & mountaineering experience in Ireland and England. She's fine at the bow but only knows doggy paddle.



Some of the river passes by undercut cliffs but none of this interests her



There's some interesting wildlife to be spotted. These are (I think) otter tracks, we see kingfisher, dipper, a little grebe, several goosander and a pair of red breasted mergansers and numerous grey wagtails. The odd deer scurry away from the bank Jilly jumps ship at one point and dives overboard on seeing a squirrel and chases it along the bank requiring me to go ashore.



A good chance to stretch the legs!




And so the river continues, passing through woods, ravines, twists and turns, the odd island, and here, demonstrating the height the river reached at the weekend by several log jambs



The first take out point is easily noticed by a huge metal bridge (The road to Pickering) replacing one, previously washed away in floods in the 1930s.



And here's the take out point at Sleights Weir. It's an awkward carry out to get to the car park next to the Salmon Leap pub, but you can carry on to Whitby or another take out just before Ruswarp boats, where beyond that is the only other weir which involves a carry over.

I've heard of people paddling over Sleights weir in kayaks, but there is a strong undertow in high conditions and I'd not chance it in any condition!. At extremely high conditions there is only a foot drop but who knows what lies underwater.

In the many years I've lived here I've never seen another paddler on this or any other stretch of the Esk other than below the Dam at Sleights which is heavily used by a couple of local outdoor centres.

And here's the same dam taken Monday 26 November 2012 after heavy rain.  The river level was at 2.88 meters as recorded by the Environment Agency.     __________________

Ian Bailey (2)

We never told any of our visitors about the murder. Nor did we tell them that the only person arrested for it, and the only person who confessed to it lived up the road. Ian Bailey sued several papers claiming they said he murdered Sophie du Plaintier.. He lost. It was around this time that Mr Bailey's behaviour towards me changed alarmingly. 

 For several years I had walked across the fields bordering Mr Bailey's property (actually it belongs to Jules Thomas, his partner, but never mind). More recently I'd used the fields for walking our dog. The fields belonged to my good friend Richard Connell. Then one day I was crossing the fields and Bailey appeared at his boundary shouting and screaming. I don't know exactly what as it was windy and i could hear.. I thought I'd give the police this information as he was rather an odd character. Too late, I was informed by the Schull team. "He's made a complaint about you". 

 And so came to pass numerious episodes of Ian Bailey complaining about me walking the fields where I live and had permission to walk. More upsettingly the country police/Garda manning the 'barracks', as Irish police stations are known', were out of their depth and had no experience of this type of offence - or of handling such high profile publicists as Ian Bailey.. 

 On one occasion I had one of them, an unpleasant overweight man,  Guarda Kellihier, come to our house to interview me under caution as Bailey had accused me of making, "Obscene pig noises outside Ian Bailey's house on the public road". 

  I asked this representative of the Irish Guarda what an 'obscene pig noise' sounds like. He couldn't tell me. "So I can't really comment, can I", I replied. 

"Will ye sign this?", he asked me, after having written out his statement of our meeting.   I refused to sign it.  Not wanting to leave empty handed he asked me to sign it again.  I refused. And he realised that he'd spent the last 5 minutes of writing out his account of his interview for me to sign was wasted.   He then wrote on another official form words to the effect that Mr Perry refused to say anything.  He then asked me to sign that.  I refused to sign this too.

He then told me I was being unreasonable. I told him that if you come to someones house, tell them they have been making obscene pig like noises, they can hardly be called unreasonable if the person making the complaint cannot tell me what they sound like in the first place. 

 I also reminded him that I'd called the the Guarda in the first place, not to complain about Bailey but I thought they may want to know his behaviour was rather odd - I was trying to be helpful.   Guarda Khellihier left our house.  The next phase now involved threatening letters from Ian Bailey's defence lawyers and more visits from the Guarda as Ian Bailey started to make numerous complaints about me walking over fields near his house &, spying on him and various other 'complaints' about me.

Living next to a suspected Killer

On December 23rd 1996 French film maker Sophie du Plantier was brutally murdered at her West Cork home in Ireland. The killer was never convicted and there was only one suspect, Ian Bailey who lived with Jules Thomas. (You can google "Ian Bailey+Schull and you'll get dozens of links!)

Ian Bailey lived with his partner Jules Thomas about 150 meters up the road from us. He beat here up a number of times, sometimes enough to hospitalise her.

I have been asked many times what it was like living next to these two. And many times I've been asked, did I think he was the murderer? I'll answer the first question only, although it is public knowledge he beat Jules up a number of times, once so badly she had to be rushed to hospital in Cork City some 65 miles away. You can make up your own mind whether he you think he murdered Sophie.

Although my relationship with Ian Bailey was initially cordial he soon showed an unpleasant streak and was prone to angry outbursts.

Although later we bought the house from them, initially Jules let me rent the place until the contracts were signed. My first brush with them occurred after the water supply broke down. Ian Bailey brought a litre bottle of water round. "we are getting someone to fix it" he said, as he bid me a jolly goodbye. No one came, that day. Or the next. So I got someone to fix it myself. A couple of weeks later Jules came round demanding the rent. I told her I had no money at hand but perhaps she'd like to settle this, and i handed her the bill for the water repairman. "You just can't win' she said as she threw the bill on the floor, and that was the last time I spoke to her.

Some weeks later just prior to the contract being signed I put outside one of the rusty old fridges that were rotting and rusting in the corner of what was left of the kitchen and stood it outside. I couldn't believe anyone would have wanted it anyway it was so rusty and dirty. Ian and Jules saw it and came immediately knocking at the door. Ian was tense and obviously angry. Jules sat quietly in the background. "You being here is costing me money" he frowned at me. I asked why and in reply he said that this was his studio where he wrote his material!! - I felt like telling him that he needed to ask Jules why she was selling the house to me then!. But he was angry and it was obvious there was no reasoning with him. Beads of sweat formed on his brow. He was clearly angry.

There were one or two unpleasant exchanges but nothing untoward until some time after we bought the house he approached me angrily swearing and shouting about me spying on him. Obviously he didn't like me birdwatching in the vicinity of his house.

Other than that we never spoke much as he was always rather sullen. But it all got worse once he'd taken the many newspapers to court for liable, claiming they had wrongly accused him of the murder.

Upset and angry that he'd lost his legal challenge and not liking the fall into obscurity he took some of his anger out on me.

His behaviour towards me changed dramatically. I'll post future posts about his outbursts, complaining to the police, my neighbour and of the numerous solicitors letters I received. Slightly more worrying he was collecting pictures of me whilst I was out walking!.

NATO Naval Communications Competition

At the invitation of the Italian Navy, the first NATO Naval Communication Competition was held in Rome from 2-6 July, 1963, and the following nations were represented: Belgium; Canada; Germany' Italy; Netherlands; Norway; United Kingdom' USA.  Apart from improving efficiency the aim was to give an opportunity for personnel of different NATO countries to meet and discuss the various communications systems and training methods  in their particular countries.  It was also a reward for  outstanding operators.  The competition ran each year until  1974 when it was discontinued.

However Canada continued with a more varied  national competition until 1993, when morse code was finally dropped from their training needs.

(ref;  "morse in the 1980s (Royal Canadian Navy) 

1) David Blazenko 
2) Bob Canning 

Each nation was invited to send three operators with less than six years service to enter the competition of their choice.  The UK sent LRO(G)  J A Burgoine, LRO(G) I M Crozier and LRO(G)  J C Robertson.  The competition was divided up into four categories.  Morse Transmission, using only a straight key (MTX)    morse reception, (MRX)  teletypewriter transmission (TTX)and Flashing light reception. (FRX)

There was normally a team quiz on communications; A team communications relay with a signal/message sent from one team member to the other - teleprinter then sending morse to another operator, then to flashing light.  I also remember there was also a military/naval  skill such as shooting and also swimming!! 

To give some idea of the standard achieved in that first competition the operators competing  morse reception had to achieve  a 30 minute test of receiving random groups of 5 letters plus groups of numbers and groups of  special signs at over 30  wpm and with over 98.5% accuracy, or you were eliminated from the competition.

The Dutch winner read his exercise at 32 wpm and was capable of transmitting (by straight key) at 30wpm which roughly corresponds to sending 3750 characters!!  

The winner of the teleprinter transmission averaged  60 wpm.   The operator who competed in the flashing light competition had to read 75 groups of letters including groups of figures and a special signs such as,  . : - / ( )  : at 12wpm and the winner of that competition, from Belgium made only 3 errors in  375 characters received!  

(Ref, Communicator Magazine Xmas 1963)

The rules and format changed slightly over the coming years.

The competition venues were:-

1963 - Rome

1964 - HMS Mercury (RN Signal school) Hampshire, England

1965 - Amsterdam, Holland

1966 - Flensburg, Germany

1967 - Halifax, Canada

1968 - Bergen Norway
1969- Amsterdam, Holand
1970 - Brugge Belgium
1971 -  Taranto, Italy
1972 -  Flensburg, Germany
1973  - HMS Mercury (Royal Naval Signal School) in Hampshire, England
1974 -  Bergen, Norway  = the final competition.

The following are some accounts from the various competitions.  Others will be added over time:-

1963  Rome - Italy

The United Kingdom team was composed of LRO(G) M. J. Bee, LRO(G) M. C. Duane, RO2(w) R. W. Southall and RO2(T) R. Palmer. They came fourth in teletypewriting, third in morse reception, sixth in morse transmission and eighth in flashing reception respectively, resulting in an overall fifth placing tbr the Good Communications trophy. LRO Duane put up a most creditable performance. Throughout the five days of the competition he scored one lst place, two 2nd places and two 3rd places, his average score producing the final third overall placing. His greatest opponents was CTI Young of the USA team who, for a little mental exercise, reads morse at 46 wpm.

RO2 Southall's sixth position in morse transmilting does not reflect the credit it deserves. He put up a very good performance against some exceedingly strong comlretitjon. To win this event a competitor has to make morse like a GNT1 15 auto transmitter at 24/25 wpm.  AB Brooks of Canada, who incidentally made his last and best exercise on an AP580-8558 morse key borrowed from Southall, made almost perfect morse. After evaluating the Canadian competitor's last exercise, CPO Toth of the USA was overheard to remark, "Not a single mistake. He only scratched a U".  One scratch in twenty minutes high speed morse transmitting is no mean feat.

Another feat was performed by Radioman 2nd class Olscn of the United States Navy. He took second place in the teletypewriting event. A very good effort particularly as he has only seven fingers.

 1964 HMS Mercury signal school

A report can be read in the summer edition of the communicator p70

'The Communicator' magazine can be found here:- https://www.commsmuseum.co.uk/communicator.htm

HERE:- The Communicator

1965 Holland  

A Report can be read in the summer edition of the communicator 1965 p 268

1966 Flensburg Germany

A report can be read in the Xmas edition of the Communicator 1966 p122 

1967 Halifax  Nova Scotia Canada

A Report can be read in the Summer edition of the Communicator  Summer 1968 p 231

1969 - Amsterdam in Holland

Article contribution by Steve Morris:-

In the 7th annual NATO Communications Training Competition, I was team captain of the 3rd place U.S. NAVY NATO Communications Team at Amsterdam in April 1969, finishing 4th individually (straight key sending) in the "CW" portion of the (then) 10 country NATO competition. The competition tests that year was for 5 consecutive days with a 30 minute 'test' each day. The test consisted of 5 letter/number mixed groups. On three of the 5 test days I managed to average just over 30 wpm for 30 consecutive minutes with the "straight key" (I ended-up with a 27wpm 5 day average)

I was stationed in Turkey (TA2ZZ) at the time & went to Rota, Spain for preliminary competition against other U.S. Navy CW operators. Upon winning the preliminaries, I was selected as Team Captain of the U.S. Navy team.

The team was comprised of 4 communications operators as follows; (all doing five 30 minute tests)
CW reception: RMSN M.W. ALLEN - NAVCOMSTA SPAIN - (finished 4th)
CW sending: CTR1 S.A. MORRIS - TUSLOG Det-28 - Karamursel, Turkey - (Team Captain) - (finished 4th)
Flashing Light reception: SM2 E.A. GRUBB - USS O'HARE - (finished 3rd)
RTTY sending: CYN3 D.R. FARRINGTON - NAVCOMSTA GREECE - (finished 4th)

U.S. Evaluation Group: (from NAVCOMSTA SPAIN)
LT. W.F. WHITEMORE - USN
RMC J.L. TOTH - USN

The competition was held in Amsterdam that year (1969).
"We were all young swabbies (I was the oldest at 22 years old) & more interested in the nite-life that Amsterdam provided than the competition. We managed to salvage a third place overall finish out of the 10 countries. I was in 1st or 2nd place (individually) for the first 3 days & then the nights we all spent "WINDOW SHOPPING" in Amsterdam, caught up with me !

I can still pound out 'round 25wpm or so for a few minutes on a Straight Key & then have to jump over to the BUG. 
I'm comfortable for extended periods right around 18-20 wpm with the Straight Key.

"In the 7th annual NATO Communications Training Competition  (Contribution by Steve Morris, W5BIB)

BTW; The finishing order of the competition was...
1) Italy
2) Netherlands
3) U.S.A. :)
4) Canada
5) Germany
6) Norway
7) Denmark
8) Belgium
9) U.K.
10) France

What a great experience."

 The RN team was Lt Brogan, team manager, CRS Jordon, Team Trainer  & the team Ro2s, Hamm,McBain, Ingram & Thelps.   

And on the evening :-  Also by Steve Morris a story about our signalman and his American opponent :-   

"I don't remember his name, but he & our Signalman (SM2 Grubbs - USS O'Hare) had a helluva night to remember! 

Your Signalman & ours struck-up a friendship.  They had put the U.S. team & the Canadians in the same dormitory. They berthed the U.K. & German team together !!  (imagine that !!).  

One night, our guy wanted to switch uniforms with your guy for a night out on-the-town.  We all thought it was funny, & the switch was made.  Somehow, your guy & my guy got separated ! (Oh HELL !)  

Our guy caught-up with us in a bar (still dressed as a Limey) where were chatting with a U.S. Merchant Seaman on a "Bulk Coal Hauler".  The merchant guy was the chief cook on his ship & invited us back to his ship for a "Steak & Eggs" breakfast. 

It was really funny... the merchant guy couldn't understand how a "Limey Sailor" could have such a "Southern accent" (SM2 Grubbs was from North Carolina).  Grubbs laughed & told the Merchant guy that he was from "SOUTHERN ENGLAND"  (we just laughed & played along)

We had our chow & went back to the base to hit the rack.

I was awakened early the next morning by our Chief & the Officer-in-Charge of the U.S. team, wanting to know where SM2 Grubb was ???  I looked over at his bunk, & he was sacked-out still wearing your Signalman's British  uniform !! 

To cut a LONG story short,...  It seems that your bloke (wearing a U.S. Navy uniform) had gotten plastered in a bar & had stood-up on the bar & was pissing on anyone nearby.  When they tried to get him down, he lunged for a light fixture over the bar & swung on it until it came crashing down !!! 

He was arrested & taken into custody.

Luckily,... the Dutch Police had a sense-of-humor & there were NO charges filed.  BUT, there was sure some explaining to be done. (and I was the U.S."Team Captain") eek.

Our "Chief" & "Lt" (from U.S.NavComSta Spain) were both olde salts from WW-II Submarine service & had both been POW's in the Pacific towards the end of the war & they just rolled their eyes & shook their head! (boys will be boys)"

Steve,  believes this was the RN operator who did the clothes swap:--

RO2 Ham, McBain, Ingham or Thelps??

Steve Morris certificate :-   

Below - Steve Morris, now  W5BIB

The American team

1970 - Brugge, Belgium

Contribution written by David Perry

I took part in the competition!.   Here I am receiving a little prize (An engraved propelling pencil), from the CinC NAVHOME, Sir Horace Law  for taking part in the Nato Naval Communications Competition at the Naval Station of St. Kruis, in Brugge, Belgium. Just in case you are wondering why I look so young - this picture was taken in 1970.

This competition consisted of four operators from each of the NATO countries' navies, competing in morse transmission, reception, tele printing, & reading flashing lights. Those doing morse transmission also had to do morse reception at 36wpm which was the competition standard.  The test consisted 20 minutes of receiving 5 letter random groups.   The winner in Brugge was the Italian whose best score had only two or three errors.  There was, at least the year I took part a team relay - which was passing a coded message via, light, teleprinter and morse, the winning team being the one with the least mistakes and there was also a target pistol competition.

To have any chance in the morse sending you needed to send on a straight key more than 25wpm with 99% accuracy and points were deducted if your morse code was not sent perfectly.

Eight of us were recruited volunteers from across the navy we spent six weeks improving our skills in HMS Mercury before four of us were selected to go to Brugge, one of many venues used throughout the competition's history. I ended up doing morse transmission (MTX) for the competition which was scored using a combination of speed and accuracy of transmission.

Our Chief was CRS Mick Puttick (G3LIK) a keen radio amateur - and still is!

Here we are at the Belgian naval base, St.Kruis.

Left to Right:-

LRO 'Happy' Sadd - Zawada... MRX (Morse Reception)

RO2(G) 'Buster' Brown (FRX) (Flashing Light)

Sub Lt. COLLINS ( i/c)

CRS, Mick Puttick our team trainer and a long time amateur radio operator (G3LIK)  Now deceased 2022.

Me! (MTX = Morse Transmission)

Belgian senior rate i/c the Belgian team and was also a  radio ham too. (Now deceased).

Front, RO2 'Taff'  Welstead (TTX) (Teleprinter)

And here is where we practiced in the belgium training school.  (from left to right) One of the Italians, Myself at the front,  the German operator immediately behind me at the rear.  An American and the Dutch operator far right (or was he Danish?).  The competition was run over 5 days.  The key I'm using is a standard issue key made by P Edwards Ltd and Marconi Ltd - more info here:-
http://www.morsemad.com/nato.htm.  .


I didn't do too well - I guess I suffered from nerves during the competition and perhaps a bit too much of the Belgian beers on an evening.  But I did come  3rd in the pistol shooting competition which was included, as it was a 'military' skill.

Here's the certificste I got from the Royal Navy.  We also got an engraved propelling pencil each.  We were told the RN budget didn't run to engraved pens!

The competition was reported in The Communicator' summer 1970 https://www.commsmuseum.co.uk/communicator.htm

And on the evening run ashore  Off Duty:-:=  

"We obviously all got into ‘high spirits’, whilst we were not competing.  With great shame we went into Brugge with a some of the American and  Canadian team members.  The others (not me - I was easily scared!!), decided to take down a Belgian flag from outside some department shore.  Unfortunately it got accidentally torn off the flag pole.   Like a bunch of idiots we went into the first  bar holding our newly acquired trophy  between us.  Alas, in the bar was our Chief (G3LIK), the Dutch team trainer who was also a ham and one or two other of the chiefs/instructors.  Oh, dear!!  I clearly remember one of them asking us how we would have felt if someone had done this in our own country.  We took it back and that was the end of the matter."

1971  Taranto Italy 

More in The Communicator Summer 1971 p224

1972 Flensburg Germany

 Reports  can be found in winter edition 1972  of The Communicator p 292 

Reports can also be found in the Spring 1972 edition p 13

Report & Results can be found in the Winter 1972 edition of the Communicator p105

1973  HMS Mercury Signal School.  

Report can be found in the Summer  1973 edition of the Communicator p213 & 215.

I believe this was the first year WRNS could enter.

1974 Bergen Norway - the final competition

This took place at the Norwegiansignal training school at Mathopen Bergen.  Representing the RN were   RO2(G) Kenny from HMS Hardy.  Teletype Transmission.

RO2 (T) Laurie from HMS Ark Royal. Flashing light Reception.

RO2(G) Coke. from  HMS Ark Royal. Morse Reception &Transmission 

The Norwegians put a great deal of effort in the organisation of this event and social events included an official reception and a trip on a 35-knot fast patrol boat of the Norwegian Navy, probin deep into the Norwegian fjouyrds., Daily saunas followed ice cold showers were also taken.

The RN team came in third and also came first in two events; teletype transmission and flashing light reception.

Chris Kenny made the following comments:- 

"I  joined in 73, but was a Post Office Telegraphist prior to joining I also learnt to touch type at school, as I chose typing instead of tech drawing. It has served me well. I joined HMS Mercury the RN signal school, already doing 60WPM with 99 to 100% accuracy. So was chosen to represent the RN at the NATO Naval Communications Competition in 1974 in Norway at KNM TORDENSCOLD. I won the competition in TPX, and my oppo also won in flashing light. Sadly we did not do so well in morse. Needless to say having typed all my life, my handwriting is terrible.".  

The official report can be found in the winter edition of the Communicator p 116/117

Much more about the NATO  Naval Communications Competition (NAVCOMCOMP), can be found in communicator.htmwhich is the Royal Naval Communications Museum's website which has copies of the  the  Communicator magazine.   You can scroll through  the magazine until you find more details of the team for that year.  Plus lots of information regarding Royal Naval communications.

I'm now an amateur radio operator myself  =  M6GYU

If you have any memories of this competition you wish to share please add them to the comments.

Saltergate Gallows fell race

Lovely clear Sunday morning and decided to take part in a 8.5mile route with just about 1000ft of ascent at Saltersgate on the North Yorkshire Moors.

Only just made the start as I forgot my trainers and had to turn around to pick them up. Car park at the Hole of Horcum was jam packed full of runners, many of whom were warming up when I arrived. I only just managed to pin my number on before I got to the start!.

The route can be seen here.

I managed to run 99% of the course apart from a couple of up-hill sections. Not bad for a 59 year old!! I came 60th out of 120 runners and was 2nd out of 12 in may age group . Finishing time was 80 minutes. I may even partake in a few more!

Autumn visitors to Robin Hood's Bay

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From our home at the top of the bank I could see skeins of geese flying south, high in the clear blue skies un-noticed by the remaining visitors admiring the views from the top of the bank. And more came by that night calling in the moonlight in their thousands, unheard by customer sitting outside the Grosvenor Hotel.

The following day saw the first autumn gale and I noticed a pair of House Martins were still flying around houses along Mount Pleasant. Not all our avian visitors had left either. But these birds will make their massive migration south across the Sahara to southern Africa to join the swifts which left the village much earlier, a journey of several thousand miles without stopping!. But it’s nothing for a swift. One adult feeding young was ringed bird in the UK at it’s nest in a school belfry, was caught later the same day in Germany. Released a second time it was back feeding it’s young later the same day. A round journey of five hundred miles to feed it’s young.

When many of our human visitors go home for winter they are replaced by many thousands of other visitors, mostly unseen and ignored as they fly at night. Yet these birds have made some of the most dangerous journeys to get here. Even before they start some will have survived encounters with Wolves, foxes or Grizzlies in the great arctic tundra maybe only a week or two ago!

Brent geese, make the dangerous journey flying from Northern Canada over the Greenland icecap, across the ocean to Iceland and ending up in Ireland and the UK. A distance of over 4000 miles covering around 800 miles per day. It is a dangerous journey indeed. I wondered whether the geese overhead were the very ones we’ve heard Cree Indians in Northern Canada imitating to lure them within range of their guns whilst canoeing on a remote northern tundra river a couple of years back.

One radio tagged goose named Kerry was observed to have stopped flying near Resolute bay in the far north of Canada. Anxious to learn what had happened the trackers traced the signal to the home of an Inuit hunter. It was laid frozen in the freezer, food for winter, the tracking device still attached.

Geese have also been observed flying thousands of feet higher than Everest in air so rarefied and cold that would render us humans dead, and frozen in minutes.

Walking along the cliff path at Bay Ness I could see another visitor. Far below the walkers enjoying the late summer sun, a Red Throated Diver fished in the sea below. These too are visitors from the far north and one species even makes it to the shores around Ireland from it’s summer home in Canada. You’ve probably all heard these birds on TV as their eerie, evocative and haunting calls are often heard on programmes about Canada’s wilderness.

Walking on the beach today I saw some other visitors, Dunlins, Redshanks, Turnstones & Godwits, waders from also from the far north, busy feeding on the waters edge, most refuelling before continuing south to winter on the Humber estuary. A visitor walking too close scared them into flight not knowing or caring that these birds were tired and very hungry, having lost a large proportion of their body weight to make it this far. High above the cliffs of Bay Ness a pair of Peregrine falcons searched for likely prey. Some of these waders won’t make it through the winter and many will never make it back to their northern breeding grounds. Many will be blown off course and perish unseen at sea.

Soon our hedgerows, fields and trees will throng with Fieldfares and Redwings, visitors from Siberia and northern Europe gorging on hawthorn, mountain ash and other berries, hungry after their long journey. I have no doubt that one clear night soon I’ll hear these calling above our house as they cross the North Sea to safety in our fields. Some of the Redwings may have flown from Iceland, which will have required a night time flight over the sea of 800 miles. Many other winter visitors cross the North Sea to avoid the harsh central European winters including Robins Chaffinches, Bramblings, and Starlings.

So next time you think all our visitors have gone just spare a thought for those visitors passing overhead unseen in the dark or resting on the beach or in the fields. And the next time you look outside remember that the Robin or Chaffinch you see may have just flown in from Siberia!!

Busy Week

Well, we've been busy getting the house done up. Almost everythings done. We have a functional bathroom, dining room one bedroom and a sort of office cum library.

Out with the Hawk and Owl Trust on Fylingdales moor on Friday and we saw a Merlin. As we returned through Maybecks a Goshawk appeared over the trees. In the car park I noticed that the Piri Piri which featured in several papers which reported on the park's efforts to eradicate this invasive New Zealand weed was unsuccessful. In the very area where several people had been pulling out, I found several more plants and seed heads. This was an area the size of a bed!!

Saturday I was out as voluntary ranger with my partner Trish. Our first outing in 'uniform' Very self conscious but a few people asked us questions, something which they normally do not unless you obviously look like a local. A small drama occurred when I noticed my magnetic badge dropped off un-noticed. Half an hours hunt for it and I discovered it where I'd lent over a fence!!

John Boddy - The Rake in the Trunk

A recent visit to John Boddy timber merchants of Boroughbridge reunited me with this treasure.
It is a trunk of a tree approximately three feet in width. Embedded in the trunk is a rake, part of which you can see. It was discovered around 25 years ago whilst it was being cut up. I believe it was an oak..

OK not too exciting perhaps but consider this. Perhaps 150 years ago, someone was out using the rake. Taking a break, they hung the rake from a small branch of a nearby tree. The rake forgotten was left in the tree. The tree continued to grow for another 50 or more years around it, until it could no longer be seen. Until it was cut down. The tree is much more decayed than I remember from former visits and it is a shame it will continue to rot until this interesting relic is no more. How many more secrets do the inside of trees still hold?

Coming Home to Whitby

Fifteen years away and ten of those in the South West of the real Ireland. Trish & myself are often asked why we left our quiet haven on the Mizen Peninsular, perhaps it was just too quiet?. Perhaps we got the seven year itch? Who knows? But where to move to next? So many places and choices, we discussed places in the UK and abroad.

Some weeks later we were sitting in a Yorkshire Dales pub talking to a couple opposite savouring my pint of real beer (an impossibility in Ireland!).

“Where are you from?”, I asked the man.

“I’m from here.”, he explained, “This is my home – it’s where I belong. It’s all mine”, as his arm swept around in an expansive arc to include all of the dales scenery too.

On the long drive back to Eire I felt envious of the dalesman who may not have travelled the world, may not have been to some of the most remote places on the planet, nor climbed alpine peaks or travelled unknown rivers hundreds of miles from anywhere. We wanted to live somewhere where we would feel we belonged too.

Driving back we thought about and later discounted Australia, Canada, Spain, Sweden, Croatia and various parts of the UK in succession. It later turned out we were too old to get into Canada and we decided we certainly would be by the time we learned to speak to the locals in Croatia or Sweden.

Some months later, en-route to visit mum in Whitby, our choice now narrowed down to Yorkshire, we decided to reconnoitre a Dales market town the right size and ideally placed. Plenty of climbing, walking, canoeing and birdwatching to keep me going and enough shops, all within an hours drive. It was the RAF flight trainers I heard first as we stepped out in front of the lovely Victorian terraced house we’d come to view overlooking the river that did it for us. The lady I asked, explained they droned on and on from 9am to 5pm, Monday through to Friday. We got back in the car and drove to another town, clutching another house brochure. A cold spring chill blew through the market place. Two pubs were for sale and a shop sign hung by a frayed bit of wire, creaking in the wind, the shop clearly unopened for many months. A string of racehorses walked up to the stables at one end of the square. No one else was in sight. Despite the evidence of our own eyes, this was a one-horse town. And so our quest for the perfect place continued on.

Later, driving over the moors, the abbey came into view like it always does and we drove down to mother’s. She told us the local news and goings on. Out shopping we bumped into old friends and told one of our house hunting efforts and travels. “Well Dave you’re home now”. He was right. This was where we belonged!.

Irish Drystone Walls

Just before I left Ireland I was asked to write a bit on Irish Stone Walls. Published by the North Wales Branch of the Drystone Walling Association of GB this is now available on-line by reading my article which starts at page 7 of 'Stonechat'. There's lots of other interesting stuff in the rest of Sean Adcock's publication too.

Just to give you a taste of the amazing treasures here's one I took not far from where I lived in Co.Cork.

Oh, yes, I build them too!