Hands off the Rock!

I made a brief excursion into the realm of politics earlier this week, an unusual thing for me, but I'm doing it again today.

Thirty-one years ago, Argentine troops landed on the Falkland Islands and a British task force was dispatched to eject them.  (The leader of the task force, Admiral John "Sandy" Woodward, died earlier this month at the age of 81.)  This week British warships have again sailed to a British dependency under threat from a large neighbour.  The helicopter carrier, HMS Illustrious, left Portsmouth a couple of days ago, followed by the frigate HMS Westminster a day later, and is heading for Gibraltar.  The Government say that the ships are heading for exercises in the Mediterranean which have long been planned, but it is quite a coincidence that Spain has been stirring up emotions, claiming that Gibraltar really is Spanish.  This despite the fact that the Rock was ceded to Britain 300 years ago by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and a referendum a few years ago in which 98% of Gibraltarians said they wished to remain British and not even consider joint sovereignty of the Rock.

I just hope it all dies down before anybody gets hurt.

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It was only on Monday this week that I watched the straw in this field being baled.  Usually the bales are left in the field for a week or more and I had entertained vague thoughts of going into the field to take some photographs.  However, as I walked the dog yesterday I spotted a farmhand arrive to start collecting the bales.  By the time I was coming back, just over half an hour later, the field was clear.  Methinks the farmer must have been anxious to get everything under cover before the rain arrived.