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It seems that the self-important civil service grandees whose lot it is to decide what our children should know have decided that it is politically correct so to do. Now we know our country of origin is in the hands of lunatics, whereas before we only suspected that might be the case.

Including African tribal chiefs in the school curriculum is a great idea. We are all for it. History should be taught in terms of  world history, rather than jingoistic national history, to give our youngsters the wider picture and prepare them for the diversity of the world.  Surely that does not mean we should exclude national history from their education?! 

Horatio Nelson's sea-battle tactics rank highly in the opinions of naval historians across the world. 
British seamanship has always been held in esteem by the wider sailing community, in part because it is built on a platform of great historical figures, such as Horatio Nelson, admired the world over. 

We humans are, by nature, creatures inclined to view our own interests as paramount and all others as being of less importance. Evidently our educationalists, having been romanced by the modern 'ethnic' cultural fashions so much in evidence in Britain these days, have decided that all that went before is irrelevant. 

If history is to be subject to fashion, why not abolish the subject altogether? Why not just slash the whole topic from the curriculum and have Ethnicity as a subject instead? History is not supposed to be subject to alterations. We cannot un-happen the past. To mention more of the known facts about a subject is to enhance knowledge but to suppress one set of facts in favour of another is to warp knowledge. 

It is a fact, for instance, that in May 1794, at the Siege of Calvi, in Corsica, an enemy shot struck the battery near which Lord Nelson was standing, driving sand and gravel into his chest and face and blinding him in his right eye. 

This may be of no interest to modern 'historians' but it seems , to us, a poor show when a chap is maimed in the service of his nation and, within a mere couple of centuries, it is deemed irrelevant in comparison to the daily life of the chief of a village, somewhere in another country, whose activities bore no influence whatsoever on either Britain or the world.

In the second week of June 2000, we were lying at anchor, preparing for our voyage back to Europe, in English Harbour, Antigua, in the West Indies, overlooking the wonderful architecture which housed Nelson when he was stationed here, maintained  faithfully by the Parks Department for tourists and historians from every part of the globe to see and enjoy. 

The beauty and sense of antiquity all around us was breathtaking.
If his own country no longer considers Horatio Nelson worthy of inclusion in its history, why on earth should Antigua continue to feel any obligation, or desire, to invest in the upkeep and restoration of their part of it, at no little expense to the taxpayers of the country? 

Whilst the Royal Naval Tot Club of Antigua & Barbuda are very active, with the help of a few volunteers, in clearing paths to allow visitors to reach sites of interest, they are not able to offer restoration or preventative maintenance. 

The Parks Department does what it can with the funds available but, in a great number of cases, buildings gradually succumb to a lack of funding, Nelson's Dockyard being a notable exception, a triumph of dedicated and sympathetic restoration.

Perhaps those of us who have an interest in the preservation of all things connected with Horatio Nelson should try and organise some funding to help Antigua maintain and restore the buildings that are not totally beyond salvation? 

We would love to be able to offer help from our readers with the restoration of the beautiful arched Officers Accommodations at Shirley Heights which finally collapsed after hurricane Lenny because the structure had weakened over time and there were insufficient funds to meet the cost of maintenance, let alone restoration.

It was a shock to see the front and one side of what was once a  roofless but otherwise fabulous ruin reduced to so much rubble and fenced to prevent injury to sightseers. If you feel able to help in any way, either by contributing funds personally or organising  fund-raising activities of some sort, perhaps sponsorship of a project, do get in touch with the authorities of Antigua or with us by e-mail to MarineZine_editor@linnetwoods.com . We will be very happy to liaise with the relevant organisations on the island on your behalf. Perhaps we could help by offering a trip to Antigua aboard Leopard Normand III as a prize in a raffle, or something like that? We don't have any funds to fall back on but we will be glad to do what is within our capacity. Before we cut our painters*, we'd like to feel we had done our bit for history...

You may like to see what the Royal Naval Tot Club of Antigua and Barbuda are all about too, maintaining one of the more commendable of the traditions in which Nelson himself participated...

If you are interested in biographies and other books relating to the life of this extraordinary man and other naval heroes, you may like to take a look at the History and Biographies section of The Library Bookshelves...

We'd love to hear from you, whether you want to share your interest in history, pose a question, tell us about a good website pertaining to the topic or whatever - drop us a line!

*To cut one's painter: an old sailor's expression for death - the painter is the rope that keeps the tender (small boat for getting ashore in) tied to the ship. If it gets cut, the tender drifts away...