Two of Britain's foremost authorities on the life of Admiral Lord Nelson, Anna Tribe and Andrew Helme, were guests of honour at a Commemorative Lunch, held at Pengethley Manor on Tuesday, 26th April. The event was quite unique, involving strong local connections. Anna, who lives in Raglan, is the eldest descendant of Admiral Lord Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton, their daughter Horatia being her great, great grandmother. Andrew is Curator of the 'Nelson Museum' in Monmouth, which was the first ever museum to display Nelson artefacts and memorabilia.

Interest in the lunch event was sparked with this year seeing the 200th anniversary of Lord Nelson's death at sea during England's famous victory over Napoleon Bonaparte and his Spanish allies.

Admiral Lord Nelson visited the Wye Valley in 1802, taking a scenic cruise along the River Wye from Ross-on-Wye to Monmouth. Along with the Lake District, the Wye Valley was just coming into its own as a tourist attraction at the time. This was the reason Lord Nelson, along with Lady Hamilton and her husband, Sir William came to Ross, visiting Merton House whilst in town. They were actually en route for Pembrokeshire.

During his most interesting pre-lunch talk, which included a slide show, Andrew passed around a 'figure of eight' cutlass, explaining that this was standard issue to ships' boarding parties during battle. He also passed around an eight pound cannon ball for guests to handle and gave a fine demonstration of the 'talking trumpet', explaining that, as mobile phones were not available at the time, the 'talking trumpet' was an aid used for issuing commands or communicating with other ships.

Over the excellent three course lunch, Anna spoke of some of the exciting adventures on which she has recently embarked, including a Caribbean 'Nelson Cruise' on the 'Oceana'. Along with Jo Calo and Martin Downer, author of 'Nelson's Purse,' Anna and a friend were invited to take the cruise in exchange for giving two lectures and taking part in a 'Question and Answer' session.

After lunch, Anna told the dramatic story of Nelson's relationship with Emma Hamilton and what happened to Emma and their daughter Horatia after Nelson's death. Anna also traced the family line and fortunes from her great, great grandmother Horatia to the present, including the latest addition to the family, Emma, her grandchild.

Although I do have my own views on the subject, I have always made a point of not making them public by bringing Government politics onto this web site. I have in the past been unsure myself of which person represents which party, so just so that you know which person to vote for, here are photographs of all of your local Parliamentary candidates.

No, it wasn't Karaoke Night at the 'Pig & Whistle' - I took them at the public meeting held at John Kyrle High School last Thursday, 28th April. I am not sure if they enjoyed being asked to stand together and smile, but they kindly did so. Nice to see, actually!

At another non political event I attended recently, Paul Keetch asked me where he could see the rest of the photos I don't usually publish, so I have added both that event and this to the gallery for viewing.