https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Hoe
As well as enjoying celebrating Tom's hard work over the last three years and looking forward to his travel and life plans to follow, I was able to take a bit of time to observe the view.
Naturally my eye is always drawn to the military, modern or historic. Plymouth and Devonport is the historical home of the Royal Navy and the place where Sir Francis Drake, observing the Spanish Armada entering the English Channel, remarked that there was still time to finish his game of bowls before leading his ships out to battle.
The Hoe overlooks the entrance to the main harbour at Plymouth and saw the arrival in 1815 of HMS Bellerophon, more affectionately known as the "Billy Ruffian", with its very famous guest on board, General Napoleon Bonaparte, the ultimate celebrity of his day. This very famous stretch of water hasn't changed much, only the ships look a lot different.
Plymouth is still a very active base today and whilst enjoying the surroundings and festivities I grabbed a few shots of the activity going on around and above us as we nibbled at the canapés.
Tom is now preparing to set off on his trip to Australia and the Far East whilst his younger brother Will is now back from Paris and has started at Plymouth to study medicine. So for Carolyn and me, its a case of one in and one out!
Next up the 1/54e Regiment de Ligne
My congratulations to Tom & to you the proud father.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! One down and one to go.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to all! I remember thinking there was nothing better than seeing all those years of effort and hard work rewarded (and I suppose it has to be said the kids do put a fair bit of effort in too).
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments chaps. Tom put in a lot of hours study in his final year, and the Roman project bears testimony to that, but I am hoping he might get the third cohort of auxiliaries done before he goes off to Australia.
ReplyDeleteHey Lawrence, good shout, I got the feeling the dons on stage were enjoying the moment before getting back to it with another crop of freshers that had started the same week!