The 51st anniversary of the Moon Landing comes around with the world in an even bigger mess than it was in twelve months ago.
We’ve also lost pioneering Russian cosmonaut & space walker Alexei Leonov.
Perhaps the most positive development has been the first crewed flight of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.
The “Mayflower” in Rotherhithe, east London is a classic British pub sited on the banks of the Thames. Its name commemorates the departure of the Mayflower from Rotherhithe in July 1620 (400 years ago this month, as it happens). The pub has this splendid sign, which I recognised instantly….
…the picture is identical to one in my “The Story of Ships: A Ladybird ‘Achievements’ Book’, which was published in 1961 and as a child, sparked my lifelong interest in ships.
But there’s a slight problem. The ship depicted on the pub sign is NOT the Mayflower….
…It’s Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hind. The Story of Ships was written by Richard Bowood and illustrated by Robert Ayrton. “Richard Bowood” was a pseudonym used by author, historian and journalist David Scott Daniell (1906-1965) and Robert Ayton (1915–1985) was a British comics artist and illustrator who worked for the Eagle and Ladybird Books. As far as is known, he did not make pub signs. Presumably somebody copied the book illustration and hoped that nobody would realise that it was the wrong ship. In fact, the golden hind on the vessel’s stern is a slight hint. As for the book itself, from a modern perspective is is quite amusing to note Daniell’s outrage that the Spanish should regard English privateers like Drake as pirates. How dare they!
The current owners of the Mayflower pub have been in residence for ten years, and apparently the sign was already there when they took over.
A spectacular sunset visible from my living-room window. Just minutes later, the effect faded out and the sky was a uniform grey.
The Knowledge Emporium 