H.W. 'Bill' Tilman Remembered

Arranged with great tenacity and dedication by my good friend - and friend to many - Nick Parker, the fiftieth anniversary commemoration of Major H. W. 'Bill' Tilman’s final departure aboard his Bristol Pilot Cutter 'Baroque' proved to be a memorable and deeply enjoyable weekend experience. The event brought together former crew members, admirers of Tilman’s achievements, and friends old and new in a spirit of companionship, shared remembrance, and adventure.

A Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter

The event, May 15th to May 18th, centred around the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter 'Letty', with two separate southbound and northbound passages out of Barmouth. Former Tilman crew members, including Andrew Craig-Bennett, John Shipton, Nick (the organiser) and Alex Ramsay, accompanied one or both of these trips, offering participants a rare opportunity to share first-hand recollections of sailing in Arctic waters during Tilman’s later expeditions.

On Friday evening, the programme at the Dragon Theatre in Barmouth provided both historical depth and personal reflection. Bob Comlay, who travelled with two of Timan's voyages, traced Tilman’s remarkable life from the trenches of the First World War to the Himalayas, wartime operations in Europe, and his celebrated Arctic and Antarctic voyages aboard Mischief and Sea Breeze. Bob's talk captured Tilman’s characteristic simplicity of approach, summed up in the famous observation that “any worthwhile expedition can be planned on the back of an envelope". Bob also shared some of the letters Tilman had written to him which demonstrated a no-nonsense approach to recruitment planning.

The interval allowed attendees to mingle socially while viewing exhibits of traditional navigation and photography from the pre-GPS era, alongside reprints of Tilman’s books. The second half featured John Shipton’s perspective on Tilman through the experiences of his father, Eric Shipton, followed by warmly received recollections from surviving members of Tilman’s crews from the Baroque years between 1971 and 1975.

Saturday’s sailing aboard Letty gave participants a practical sense of the type of vessel and seamanship associated with Tilman’s voyages, while Sunday’s minibus excursion to Bodowen, Tilman’s former home above the Mawddach estuary, provided a fitting conclusion to the weekend. The kindness of Bodowen's current owner, Chris Harrison, in welcoming visitors to the house was greatly appreciated. His hospitality extended to a fine buffet spread, cocktails in beautifully presented goblets and a souvenir gift for all. Several participants completed the weekend with a guided walk back to Barmouth via the Panorama, enjoying fine views of the estuary and coastline that Tilman himself knew well.

Throughout the weekend there was a strong sense not only of commemorating an extraordinary explorer and seaman, but also of celebrating the enduring fellowship, curiosity, and spirit of adventure that Tilman inspired in others. The occasion combined history, storytelling, sailing, landscape, and friendship in a way that would probably have bemused Tilman himself, but was nevertheless a humble and fitting tribute to his memory.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Ordered Loves, and the Shape of a Life

I just heard Aung San Suu Kyi and her Desert Island Discs. I enjoyed the choice of Here Comes the Sun, and of Pachelbel’s Canon. I was intrigued by her choice of a Tom Jones standard, which actually she had not heard before (!). I was not so happy with John Lennon’s Imagine – sadly becoming more of a dirge which has not stood up to time, I think. 

I was very struck by her assertion that her father was her “first love and best love”. She was two years old when her father was assassinated, so I am fairly sure her memories of him are all received ones. I then think of her reasons to “love the army” – which essentially centre around the fact that this is “his” army, her father’s army. 

Her life and drive thus seem to me to be a powerful meditation on all-pervading presence of an invisible, absent father ( who, moreover, was sacrificed in blood for the sake of a people) from whom she feels blessed by an unconditional love. 

Maybe because of this, those Bible readings she did for her ailing Grandfather spoke to her in equal measure to the teachings of Buddha. Either way, what also comes through – and her voice betrayed this often – is a hardness against sentiment and familial love, which, in her life, has had to play second fiddle absolutely. I wonder how her sons are doing.

The spiritual life which Aung San Suu Kyi embraces is one which puts the whole business of family life and personal relationships in a second-place perspective. 

The programme is here

Confucius, China, and the Question of Influence: A Reflection Six Years On

 In the second half of one of my 2020 lockdown pieces, ( Churchill and the World as a Struggle against Totalitarianism (link opens in new tab)) I wrote about China’s influence in the UK — particularly through its education system and the pressures placed on Chinese students studying abroad. 

At the time, my concerns were framed in fairly robust terms: ideological conformity, academic freedom under threat, and the long reach of a totalitarian state. Looking back now, six years later, I can see that my instinct was not simply geopolitical – it was closer to Confucius than I realised.