Hatfield Heath, Essex Walk (& The Great British Bake Off )

For various reasons I haven't posted any walks lately. I know some say they enjoy my posts on walking more than the ones on politics or trade unions! To me, my walking or running (very slowly) in the countryside is my "hinterland". 

This walk last month was a delight. A bit overcast but quiet and peaceful. Started off with a coffee in local village cafe and a pint in a local pub at end.

I found this 5.9 mile circular walk in the Ordinance Survey website (subscription) and it was provided by Country Walking magazine (which also a subscription but is free for certain walks if you subscribe to OS but you only get very limited details - see below).

Description

Gently sloping fields, streamside paths and small woods make up the quintessentially English landscapes around Down Hall, the hotel where this year's The Great British Bake Off was filmed. The cross-country Stort Valley Way and Forest Way meet to form a circuit that passes Down Hall (where you could have a fancy tea on the terrace) and runs through the pretty village of Hatfield Heath with its bakery, pubs and cafés. By Phoebe Taplin ROUTE Start/parking: Holy Trinity church, Hatfield Heath/roadside parking, grid ref TL523150, CM22 7EU Is it for me? Easy country paths and tracks, but mud all year. Seriously muddy in winter. Steps can be slippy. Some road walking Stiles: 3 PLANNING Nearest town: Sawbridgeworth Refreshments: Two pubs, several cafés, takeaways, good bakery and shops in Hatfield Heath, including Tea on the Heath. Down Hall serves afternoon tea (01279 731441) Public toilets: In Marriage Feast Hall, Matching Public transport: Buses 5 from Bishops Stortford to Stansted Airport and 59 Harlow-Chelmsford stop hourly near start/end Maps: OS Explorer 183; Landranger 167

Denis Healey: the Labour Giant who did the dirty work for socialism

I was at home today recovering still from this weeks Labour Party conference, when I saw on the news that Denis Healey had died this morning in his sleep aged 98.

Which is a good age by any standards, so some of the reporting I have seen that his death is a "grave loss to Labour" is a little misplaced. Instead we should be celebrating his long life of public service to the Party and to our Country.

He was a brave soldier who saw active front line service in North Africa and Italy in the Second War and a brave politician who did what he thought was right regardless (or in spite?) of opposition or abuse.

Our Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has described the former Chancellor, Defence Secretary, Shadow Foreign Secretary and Party deputy leader as a "Labour Giant".

I heard our current Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, say he had "towering intellectual" and although they disagreed politically, he was the "kindest" (that word again) of people privately and completely loyal to the Labour Party in its time of need. 

I only ever saw Denis in person once at the "Stand Up for Labour" event at the Labour Party conference in Brighton 2013. He read out his limericks to the audience. He looked a little frail but he went down very well with the audience who sang "Happy Birthday" to him (it was 30 August).

Bearing in mind the current fuss and bother over Jeremy Corbyn's remarks that if he ever became Prime Minister, he would never authorise the use of British Nuclear weapons. The BBC reminded me that Denis, the archetypal multilateralist cold war warrior, had said in an interview that he would have done the same. 

The BBC obituary claims that Denis prided himself on doing "the dirty work for socialism". Which if true (and I can't find any other source for this so far) is a fair reflection of the man who stood up to a hostile Labour Party conference and spoke what he thought to be uncomfortable truths. As far as I am aware Denis was very loyal publicly to Labour leader, Michael Foot, while he was his deputy. I have no doubt that he spoke his mind to him. I hope (and frankly have no doubts) that our current deputy leader, Tom Watson, will do the same to Jeremy.

Denis was famous (and wise) for having a "hinterland" away from politics - photography, music, poetry. At a Memorial Poetry Reading in  2005 he read out this marvellous verse about a Royal Navy Fleet Arm pilot which I assume he related to his own war time service.

"Fleet Fighter

Olivia Fitzroy

"Good show !" he said, leaned his head back and laughed. 
"They're wizard types !' he said, and held his beer 
Steadily, looked at it and gulped it down 
Out of its jamjar, took a cigarette 
And blew a neat smoke-ring into the air. 
"After this morning's prang I've got the twitch; 
"I thought I'd had it in that teased-out kite." 
His eyes were blue and older than his face, 
His single stripe had known a lonely war, 
But all his talk and movements showed his age, 
His jargon was of aircraft and of beer. 
"And what will you do afterwards ?' I said. 
Then saw his puzzled face and caught my breath. 
There was no afterwards for him but death".

Rest In Peace Denis.

#Lab13 Denis Healey and Stand Up for Labour

By Monday evening I needed a break from conference fringes and bought a ticket to see the "Stand Up for Labour". On the publicity for the show I had noticed that it had a "Denis Healey" billed to appear. I assumed that this was someone impersonating the former Labour Chancellor and deputy leader.

I never expected for a moment to see that it was actually the Denis Healey who was the first act. He read out limericks to the audience.

He was looking a little frail but appeared to be enjoying himself while performing. It was his 96th birthday recently so as he went off the stage all the audience sang "happy birthday to you".

The whole show was great fun and I would recommend Stand Up for Labour.  The show finished off with Andy Burham MP, who told a modified version of the classic joke about a man going into a pub with a parrot on his shoulder. I won't reveal the details in case he wants to use it again.

Happy 96th Birthday Denis Healey

Today is the birthday of former Labour Government Chancellor and Deputy Party leader Denis Healey.

This famous picture of Denis is entitled by the BBC as "Denis Healey in a defiant mood". 

Hat tip Comrade Rayner.

During the second world war he was the British Landing officer for the amphibious assault at Anzio.

V for Victory in UNISON London Labour Link Elections

Last night I received notification of the results. I was elected to the UNISON Labour Link (APF) National Forum.

Congratulations to the rest of the centre left slate in the UNISON London region Labour Link elections to the National forum and Labour Party conference.

Commiserations to the unsuccessful candidates (apart of course from the entryists)

It’s another convincing victory of the forces of light and reason following on from the recent UNISON London Regional Council election AGM.

I think the appalling behaviour of the Ultra left at this meeting helped us with our success. The aggressive and abusive behaviour by a minority of the so-called “United left” at that meeting has I think weakened them yet again. I have spoken to many who had attended the Council meeting who were just horrified at the behaviour of the extremists.

Supporters of United left who do not support such aggressive and nasty toy town revolutionaries need to ask themselves what on earth they are doing being associated with this lot?

Last year’s successful result was announced on celtic saint St Piran’s Day and the year before was on St David’s Day. Yesterday was the 33rd anniversary of the Harold Wilson 1966 Labour election victory. Will that do? A good sign for 2010?

Congratulations to Margaret Back, Lynn Bentley, Goria Hanson, Monica Powell and Kim Silver. Myself, John Gough and Ian Horrigan. Last but not least - Louise Couling.

A true band of Brothers and Sisters.

Many thanks to all those who supported us.

Letters of the very Last Resort

On the way home from work tonight I listened to “The Human Button” on Radio 4. It was a fascinating programme.

It was not necessarily a report into the pros or cons of the British Nuclear deterrent but a short history of those who job was (and still is) to carry out nuclear Armageddon if ordered and the politicians who would have had to make the final decision.

One of the first tasks that Gordon Brown would have carried out when he became Prime Minister would have been to have written in long hand letters to the commanders of the 4 British nuclear armed submarines.

In these letters (called "last resort")he would have ordered them what to do if he was dead and the country had been destroyed by an enemy nuclear strike. These letters are secret and destroyed when a new Prime Minister is appointed.

The programme carried interviews the only two British politicians who have indicated how they would have responded. Denis Healey made it clear that he would have not had ordered nuclear retaliation since deterrence had obviously failed and the deaths of 20 million Russians would have changed nothing. While Jim Callaghan indicated he would have probably done it but never forgive himself for doing so.

You might have thought that the famously aggressively minded Healey would have been the one to support retribution rather than “Sunny Jim”. Maybe we also ought to be cautious about politician's memoirs? But I suspect that with Denis it was always bluster and that he would not have done it. Jim would have because he would have thought it was his duty to have done so? Who really knows? I do wonder what Gordon Brown has written?

The modern day Royal Navy Commander of HMS Vanguard the Trident armed submarine on patrol in the North Sea as we blog made it perfectly clear that he would follow orders and launch an immediate strike if properly ordered to do so.

Here is also a visual slide show with excerpts from the programme. The programme is repeated on Sunday and available on the “listen again” facility for the next 7 days.

I appear to have upset someone

Oh dear, oh dear.. never mind he will get over it eventually.

Apparently this post has caused a most beloved comrade (here) to compare me to this.

He feels like he has been “Savaged by a dead sheep”?

Good to see Denis Healey being quoted approvingly I suppose.

I of course much prefer this image (left).