Leaving the bus this afternoon, having sweltered away in the Surrey History Centre and on Woking station, the sky suddenly turned black and rain fell in great torrents. By the time I reached the house I was soaking, gloriously wet. The most comfortable I’ve felt in weeks.
I did laugh at the woman on the other side of the street under her umbrella and the other person running to avoid getting wet. Really? Some people are just bizarre. Nature heats us up and then gives us the means to cool down but there are a lot of humans who would rather suffer.
To be fair, it wasn’t that bad at the Surrey History Centre today. The air con is just enough to make it comfortable to work. Mind you, leaving the building afterwards was a reminder of what it’s like walking into an oven-baked day having sat in a fridge for a few hours.
Not that I had a lot of time to consider the weather while I worked away, chipping out little bits of hidden history from the vast open cut mines of information. Sometimes it’s a lot of work for precious little but at least it is something. It’s the times when you find nothing, leaving names to remain merely anonymous letters and nothing more than an epitaph without flesh.
Today I had a couple like that; two young man who joined up and went to fight for the country then, in dying, have their names included on the town cross only to be forgotten. Fortunately, those times are rare.
Today I researched a cook’s mate who set sail on HMS Hampshire unknowingly taking Lord Kitchener to a secret meeting in Russia. The Hampshire had just survived the awful Battle of Jutland and was now assigned for the secret mission. William John Garrett was aboard as she slipped away from Scapa Flow late in June 1916 with two escort destroyers.
The weather, it would be fair to say, was appalling. Gale force winds, lashing rain, heavy, scary seas, it was not easy going. The Hampshire was slowed down having to keep pace with the two escorts. Captain Savill of the Hampshire decided they may as well go back to Scapa Flow as he doubted any enemy submarines would survive the beating waves. They gladly turned around and returned to base.
What Captain Savill hadn’t counted on was a bloody great German mine which had been left in the sea sometime earlier.
The Hampshire hit the mine and she went down very quickly, taking not just Lord Kitchener and his ‘team’ but also nearly the entire ship’s crew and passengers. 737 people died when the Hampshire went down; among them was William John Garrett.
Without the aid of social media, rumours almost immediately sprouted and flourished. It was the work of a spy! The Germans had infiltrated the British mission! Kitchener’s moustache was fake! The mine was from outer space and guided by intelligent aliens from Mars! Brexit was to blame!
Films were made: How Kitchener was betrayed (1921) and Fraulein Doktor (1969). The latter featured a female German spy who manages to find out which ship Kitchener would be on and helped a U-Boat sink her. Though completely made up, it sounds like a jolly good spy romp.
Anyway, that was my day except one other thing. When I first started coming to the Surrey History Centre, I noticed a corner shopfront with nothing in it but for a series of small signs advertising the imminent arrival of ‘The Hockey Museum.’ Now, call me silly, but I figured it was going to be a museum endowed by someone called Hockey; like Joe, the former Australian parliamentarian, now American ambassador…but, of course, from Woking.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
A while ago the small road it is on the corner of, was repaved and prettied up. It now looks lovely with automatic bollards instead of the three bar gate that was there before.
The Hockey Museum is on the left
And now, the Hockey Museum is ready and (drum roll) it’s a museum about…wait for it…HOCKEY! Yep, the game you play with a cricket ball and hooked sticks. This museum is going to be a must-see destination some time in the future. I think I’ll wait for the crowds to diminish a bit before going in.
Before leaving this post, I spotted this poor fellow perched on the park entrance sign this afternoon when I went to pick up the dogs. Looks a little forlorn. He was also a bit wet.
Hopefully his owner will rescue him from his uncomfortable position.
I must have missed this blog wow that about Kichener was great but what a shame he turned around and came back. Why was there passengers on there if it was a working ship. love mum xxxx