Wednesday 28th September

My daughter wrote this on her blog as an assignment for her school

Henry Blogg

Henry lived all of his 78 years in Cromer. He was born on 6 February 1876 in a cottage in New Street on the cliff top opposite the pier. Young Henry spent several years in the care of his grandmother before moving to the home of his stepfather, John Davies, in Chapel Street, which was a fishing family (John was Second Coxswain after his father, James Davies, who was in charge of Cromer’s second RNLI lifeboat). At the age of 11, Henry didn't need to stay at school as he was always top of the class. His stepfather needed him to help in the family crab boat. So Henry swapped reading, writing and arithmetic for his stepfather’s lessons about baiting, hauling, rowing and seamanship. He learned how to use an oar, handle a sail, and learned about tides, currents, rocks and shoals. (This knowledge was later put to such good use in his rescue work that it was said of him: ‘He knew what his boat could do and, as nearly as a man may, what the sea could do.’) In 1894, when Henry was 18, he joined the lifeboat crew. Although he joined in January, it was not until 28 December that he journeyed on the lifeboat Benjamin Bond-Cabbell for his first service.In 1902, Henry was voted in by the crew as Second Coxswain, as his stepfather was forced to retire due to bad health. This was an impressive achievement at the age of 26 after only 8 years of service.

 Silver medals

From 14–16 October 1932, Henry and his crew rescued 29 crew from the Italian vessel, Monte Nevoso, which was stranded on Haisborough Sands.Henry received his first RNLI Silver Medal, a Silver Medal and a diploma from the Italian Government and a Canine Defence League medal for saving the life of a Tyrolean sheepdog that had been on the ship.Henry liked dogs, and the captain gave him one, which he named Monte. .On 13 December 1933, Henry and his crew were called out to the 65-tonne barge Sepoy. Henry described this as the worst journey in his then 24 years as Coxswain.Henry had made several attempts to go alongside the barge but it was impossible to hold the lifeboat in position because of the wind and tide. He then ran the lifeboat’s bow onto the deck of the Sepoy. One of the casualties was seized by the crew and, when Henry repeated the manoeuvre, the other man was rescued. The two men and the lifeboat crew had all suffered terribly from exposure.He received a silver medal for this.On 13 December 1933, Henry and his crew were called out to the 65-tonne barge Sepoy. Henry described this as the worst journey in his then 24 years as Coxswain.Henry had made several attempts to go alongside the barge but it was impossible to hold the lifeboat in position because of the wind and tide. He then ran the lifeboat’s bow onto the deck of the Sepoy. One of the casualties was seized by the crew and, when Henry repeated the manoeuvre, the other man was rescued. The two men and the lifeboat crew had all suffered terribly from exposure.He received a silver medal for this. On 9 October 1939, Henry took part in the rescue of the 29 crew of the Greek-registered vessel SS Mount Ida, which was wrecked on the Ower Bank in a gale with very heavy seas.On 26 October of the same year, the SS English Trader of London ran aground on a sandbank on the other side of Haisborough Sands. A full gale was blowing with a very heavy sea. After brave efforts that afternoon, 44 of the crew were rescued by Henry and his crew the following morning.

                                                                                    Gold medals                                                                                                                                                                               On 9 January 1917, one of the bravest and most spectacular services ever undertaken saw 11 crewmen rescued from the shattered ship the SS Fernebo. Despite having already carried out one launch that day, Henry and his crew, whose average age was over 50, battled through a gale to reach the wreck 350m offshore. The service was performed in an open boat, powered only by oars and the strength of the crew. By the time they pulled alongside Fernebo, the crew had been fighting the elements for nearly 14 hours. Henry was awarded a Gold Medal for this service.On 22 November 1927, Henry rescued 15 people from the Dutch tanker SS Georgia, which had halved on Haisborough Sands. The lifeboat had been on duty for 28 hours. This service got Henry his second Gold Medal. On the night of 5 August 1941, in gale force winds and heavy breaking seas, six vessels in a southbound convoy were wrecked on Haisborough Sands. The following morning the two Cromer lifeboats, along with the Sheringham and Gorleston lifeboats, were launched and 88 men were saved, he also received a gold medal for this. 

When I’m Gone

Today was an interesting one.  On Wednesday mornings I look after the kids after my wife leaves for her work.  I take them to school (though normally she has fed them) after looking after them for a bit.  However, on the way to school, we realised that my son had left his glasses at home (again).  Fortunately, we were walking, and what we have been doing was walking on a different route to school, one which the kids can take themselves if needed if they have to go to school alone.  So, as I was walking with my bike, I cycled home, got the glasses and then cycled back to find the kids further down the road, as instructed.  But, my son now was feeling low and down, and had told my daughter that he wanted to die.  Well, it was an interesting conversation on the way to school talking about death, especially as a friend of his had a relative die that had affected him.  My son is amazing, and earlier in the week, when the boy broke down crying, gave him a hug.  But after school the kids were back to normal.

On the bright side, Arsenal are back to winning ways after escaping with a draw last week in the European Cup.  It was sad to see Jack Wilshere give away a free kick when playing for Bournemouth against the Manchester Team that rhymes with City from which the first goal in a 4-0 defeat occurred.  Maybe we can survive without him afterall.

And with chess, as you can see, I have won a game against a better opponent.  They had tried a gambit with a knight, but after it failed to checkmate me, I was left with the advantage, and for once, I was able to use it.
The update on tournaments won and lost includes
5th Friends & Family - won.
32nd Chess.com Quick Knockouts (1401-1600) - lost but I surprisingly gained tournament points in this despite finishing last in my group!
Two knights defense - finished joint second.
Episode 2 - finished joint 5th.
Wallyjacks 200th Anniversary Of Waterloo 18/6/1815 - 1302-1402 - 17th placed finish.

Blakeney Point

This is a post by my daughter on her school blog

Seals

Blakeney Point seals are what draws many to Blakeny. The colony at Blakeney Point is made up of Common and Grey seals and in the Winter of 2014/15 became the biggest colony in England. This is because common seals have their young between June and August, and the Greys between November and January. Both suckle their pups for about three weeks during which time they grow very quickly.The seals are very inquisitive and often pop up and swim around the boats which can usually sail close to the basking seals on the beach.There is a significant colony at Horsey and you might also see seals turning up in the water or on the beach around the Norfolk coast, in Wells harbour or on the sandbanks at Holkham, or you might spot them bobbing around at Sea Palling and other beaches on the eastern coast. The seals travel on land at just 3 or 4 miles an hour but can reach 30 to 40mph when swimming submerged!

Birds

All year round there is plenty of wildlife to see, whether the nesting Sandwich Terns or rarer Little Terns, oyster catchers, the pink-footed geese, barn owls, birds of prey such as Hen and Marsh Harriers and Peregrins.  The list could go on and on.  Whether you’re an avid bird watcher or not, there’s always something of interest to see at Blakeney Point.On the sands you might also see Oyster Catchers, Ringed Plovers, Turnstones and Dunlin. During the winter months, you might see numbers of duck and geese including Mallard, Widgeon, Teal, Pintail, Pinkfooted Geese. Greylag and Brent Geese usually arrive from October onwards. In the summer you might see'll Common Terns, Sandwich and Little Terns and also Arctic Terns. Many of them begin to arrive from West Africa in April and breed into the season. They make a small scrape in the shingle where they lay their eggs.On the sands you might also see Oyster Catchers, Ringed Plovers, Turnstones and Dunlin. During the winter months, you might see numbers of duck and geese including Mallard, Widgeon, Teal, Pintail, Pinkfooted Geese. Greylag and Brent Geese usually arrive from October onwards.

  

Do it anyway

It has been a while since my last post.  I am better now, as are the rest of the family after our weekend of being ill.  As it was, I was not back to 100% on the Monday which surprised me as normally, if I have a flu like illness I am normally back to normal within 72 hours.  The following weekend my son and I went to London as my mother was featured in a literary meeting.  Jeremy Corbyn was meant to attend, but with the leadership challenge that he is facing, he had to cancel.  Still it was amazing to be reminded just how amazing my mother is.  I forget her work as a feminist, nurse, author, midwife, grandmother, health visitor, political activist, film maker, single mother and human rights campaigner.



And this weekend, was a trip camping for my son, and for my daughter, the eleven plus.  My daughter has been amazing at working hard, though I imagine that there have been many times that she wished that it would just all end.  After our return from France, she seemed to have made steps backwards, missing out questions and making silly mistakes in the practice questions that she did.  But once she got to school, things improved.  And on Saturday, she sat the paper.  Her brother had left for camping on Friday, so we did our best to relax her the night before the exam.  In fact, I stayed with her in her room until she fell asleep.  We walked her to the exam in the morning after my wife made her an excellent breakfast, and then it was off to work for me.  After getting back to collect her, we had the after exam chat, and spoke to others from her school who sat it.  Or rather she spoke to them and we spoke to their mothers.  After this, it was a trip to an Italian restaurant later that day where she had one of her favourite foods.  It was not made exactly how she wanted it, but that is something that I may have to rectify tomorrow!



And last of all, a story about the children that made me smile.  As all parents know, there are times that the kids do something naughty that we as parents are proud of.  Well, yesterday after getting back from work, I found my wife having words with my daughter.  It turned out that she had 'sold' my son a small magnet and two rubber arrows for two expensive board games.  My wife, when she found out made them give back the items that had been traded, but it got me telling the kids of how I was when I was a child.  I used to sell my brother ten coins for one.  It would be that I would sell him ten pennies for a pound, but it worked for me, and he felt that he had lots of cash as he had more coins.  Explaining this to my son hopefully will stop him being taken for a ride by the older sister he trusts and admires so much!

The house of ill

We are not feeling well!  Well, my son who normally is the ill one, has been found to be immune, for now.  So my wife and I are aching and trying to rest.  My wife is better than I am having come down with this on Thursday, and therefore giving this to me to be ill when at work yesterday.  I guess it was to be expected as she had a very stressful day on Tuesday.  After work, she had a very stressful journey to Southend for an interview where she ended up arriving an hour late.  Fortunately, the people there were kind enough to wait for her, and even better, later we found out that she was successful.

Last weekend, we collected my mother on Monday.  This was after a trip to Ikea, which I found out, has been made even more child friendly.   A lot of the areas to show living spaces and ideas now have other passageways that the kids can walk through.  And of course, happy kids, means happy parents, which for Ikea is excellent as this means that we end up spending more.  Kids can be strange.

My Mum was invaluable as we needed her to look after the kids on Tuesday and Wednesday.  And on Wednesday, after work, my son and I went for a walk with her.  It was relaxing, and this is something that I guess as a family we could consider to do more often.

And as for today, well, my daughter and I are watching Once Upon A Time while we both are ill.

On the bright side, I have had another great and unexpected win in chess.  I did not expect to have a chance in this game but the use of the bishop pair helped me.  Unfortunately, this luck will not help in my other game against this opponent.

Since the last post, I have done okay in online chess tournaments however.
Top Of The Pops 19
Speed King #151 - Very fast players 3(2)->1 U1500
Kings Gambit Knockout Tournament

But while I have done better than expected in chess, I am uncertain that Arsenal are to do the same.  I can not agree with the decision to send Jack Wilshere to Bournemouth, I felt, when we were offered Cesc Fàbregas that it it did not matter as we had Wilshere. And although I wanted N'Golo Kante to join us, when he went to Chelski, we still had Wilshere.  And now we do not.  In Arsène we trust, and we are going to have to trust him a lot this season.