Ridge and furrow

When I was a boy I lived about a half mile from the village where I went to Primary School. From about 7 years I walked alone to the school along the lane passing my house. After a short series of curves the lane led straight to the village. I could follow the road and often did so. However there was a short cut I could take. This crossed a large field, entered the churchyard at a stile and then to my school immediately by the church.

Crossing the field it had corrugated appearance with ridges every 15 metres or so about a metre high above the depressions between them. The ridges were even across the field and ran for its full length parallel to the road. I used to wonder what these were. I have since found out they are the legacy of the village farming system used before enclosures.

A village arable land in defined large fields near the village was divided into strips. These strips were typically 15 metres wide and ran the length of about 200 metres. Villagers would farm these strips with a villager often having several strips spread between several large fields. The strips were cultivated by single sided ploughs so the ploughman would follow the outside of the strip around always throwing soil to the inside of the strip. Over centuries, and this system was used between late Roman and late medieval times, the strip grew large and the furrow between fell. This inefficient system fell into disuse after enclosure. We see surviving effect today occasionally as a corrugated grazing field.

This feature is only preserved in the landscape where the land is used for grazing and is destroyed by modern cultivation. It is still possible to see this vestige of ridge and furrow farming although fewer every year. Thus the field I crossed which is now used for arable farming and the corrugations have disappeared. I was often rather dubious about using the short cut. Often there would be a bull in with the herd. I had enough country knowledge to know a bull in a herd was probably safe. Nevertheless I would take a wide circle around it keeping my eye on it all the way.. More troublesome would be young bullocks who would investigate out of curiosity rather than aggressive intent. I found this rather frightening. Even cows could be disconcerting in their curiosity.

Looking back I am surprised that I used the short cut. I wasn’t a very venturesome boy. I would certainly carefully assess the livestock before entering.. I knew well enough that mature bulls not in a herd were to be avoided.

There were compensations to walking by the road particularly if it was muddy, If I encountered the road sweeper he would lean on his broom and say “Have you had the cane today?”. I never had but I gave some silly answer.

It seems odd to recall now but as I walked I talked to imaginary friends. This was usually OK but sometimes a cyclist would come up behind me quietly and must have wondered about a small boy walking along muttering to himself. I was an only child and the only other child nearby moved away when I was 8.

The hazards of this walk would preclude it these days. However I was carefully taught; I always faced the oncoming traffic, I refused lifts unless I knew the driver and in extremis I was to say my Dad was just over the hedge .At that time the traffic was sparse. In a fairly enclosed community not long after the war I knew most people I encountered , at least by sight.

In the way of memory I have no recollection of bad weather but rather walking back in spring or summer musing at the profusion of growth in verge and hedgerow. One memory I have is getting utterly confused about time one day and walking back at lunchtime. Fortunately I met my dad who was cycling to work ( he worked afternoon shifts ). He put me right and gave me a lift back on his crossbar.

In that post war period ( 1947-53) the road was improved. In the early fifties it was kerbed by brick shaped edging. The edging was however more like granite setts in appearance and because of their irregularity I would guess from some natural source. The road was surfaced by the old fashioned molten tar followed by a layer of chippings. I notice that this method has enjoyed something of a comeback as a cheap surfacing. The problem is the large number of loose chippings which gradually accumulate in the gutters.

Although mainly the verge was wide, in those days of little traffic I walked in the road. It 

Britain, Russia and Democracy

I can’t say I was more than slightly surprised by the recent publicity around the Commons Security  Committee report. Perhaps the only mildly surprising thing was that so little attention has been paid in the past to Russian interference and propaganda. How Putin must chuckle at the lack of British response when his murder teams attack in the UK. The Litvinenko killing was particularly poignant as the man lay dying knowing, killed by Russian agents, his death was inevitable after poisoning with Polonium. He had ingested the stuff which slowly over days would kill him. Having ingested it there was nothing to be done.

As regards the lack of investigation into the Brexit referendum there is no mystery. Johnson knows very well, as did Theresa May, that a fraudulent referendum could hardly become much more fraudulent if Russian manipulators were at work. Still it would be embarrassing  Any investigation would suffice to bring Johnson’s wrath down on any security service daring to ivestigate. Since he believes the BBC is biased; he lives in a world of paranoia. It certainly was very much in Russian interests that the Brexiteers won as they figure any damage to the west is worthwhile. Apparently his anti BBC propaganda is having an effect in BBC self censorship if nowhere else

Interference in the Scottish referendum is also unsurprising. Clearly Scottish independence is very much in Russian interests but then Johnson is making the case stronger now than ever it was six years ago..

Interference in the US Presidential election was far larger ( or certainly investigated further ). Trump is the Manchurian candidate and he must have Putin chortling with glee. In a sense British elections reliant on pencil and paper are less at risk than online counts. The nonchalance about hacking is frightening but shared by business and individuals.

Anyone who takes the slightest interest in modern computing and internet usage ought to realise by now that the scale of online hacking is immense. I must admit that for myself the realisation has been slow coming. Simple things like changing default passwords I manage although it is too much hassle for many. Awareness has come slowly. At my last job my boss was wonderful at sniffing out scams. After nearly falling for some at that time I’ve learned to be very cautious.

I should have learned from simple frauds long before the internet age. It was probably the early 70’s when I had a visit from two burly ex policemen. They enquired about the small boat I had bought on hire purchase and then neglected payments. The fraudulent buyer had a worrying amount of detail about me although I was rather insulted that he described himself( ie. Me)  as a technician. I managed to persuade them it wasn’t me although not without a bit of difficulty and embarrassment. This was all long before the expression “identity theft” entered the language. This experience did serve me well when another investigator contacted me about a car I had supposedly bought.

As have most computer users I have learned to be careful. I have suffered from a virus attack and it was very irritating although apparently a hackers “joke”. Some more serious scams I have spotted. In one recent case not involving computers I’m still puzzled what the motive was. I was approached by a ( supposed ) legal firm in New York looking to buy a small quantity of shares I had inherited from my mother in S&U. They were fraudsters but as they were planning to pay me money,  more than their worth, what was the motive? I guess it didn’t evolve far enough for the real motive to be apparent.

I’m similarly slightly baffled by the Russian attempted hacking of Covid vaccine research. I can only suppose the intent was to copy but since the intention is to make vaccines ( if successful ) widely available what is the point. Prestige seems the only possibility but hardly likely with a copy I would have thought.

Russia as a state seems none too stable. Putin as an ex Cold Warrior ( ex KGB now FSB ) is doing his best to return to Cold War attitudes. He regards the freedom of former Soviet satellites as a tragedy and the faltering democracy in Ukraine as a big threat. He has surrounded himself with cronies whose wealth he makes very sure is reliant on himself. He plays the Russian nationalist card at every opportunity. It interesting that the most power hungry and unscrupulous politicians talk most about patriotism- Trump is the same.

What’s to be done. On the individual level be suspicious and cautious. I’m less than happy at being forced to use “cloud” storage. Beware fake news as in the RT TV channel. As far as Russia is concerned ( and this goes for China also ) trade but don’t be naïve. The German natural gas deal with Russia  with a monopoly pipeline is simply stupid and putting a hostage in Russian hands. Under their present leadership these countries want to enslave us.. Computer security must be taken far more seriously. The monster losses of data suffered by businesses are extremely worrying. The recent stiff rise in penalties for data losses may help to ensure proper security.

I am pleased that online banks have moved to “two factor” security with codes sent to mobile phones. Even with all this I recently wasted half a day altering all my personal information and passwords after an attempted scam. I suppose my attitude that the time was wasted reflects the common attitude that increasing security is a bore and I need to stop thinking like that. Internet convenience and speed should more than compensate.

New Cold War- China

New cold war-China

The Chinese economy has performed remarkably well. The economic growth rate is much higher than any Western economy. Under Deng some 30 years ago the economy was opened to all kinds of enterprise although state controlled companies are still a major feature. China also gradually opened towards international agreements. There was an implicit assumption in the West that as the Chinese economy grew and adopted Western style business practice that the Chinese state would gradually change also to become more open and democratic. This has not happened; indeed the regime has become more repressive..

Crudely put the Chinese state functions under a sort of implicit agreement. The citizen is allowed considerable freedom particularly in business and financial affairs and in exchange the Chinese state controls all political and legal matters. The ordinary citizen probably doesn’t realise the extent of censorship which is all pervading. For example there is no access to the wider internet. The great Chinese firewall has become well known outside but not inside China.

With perfect hindsight we can see that China has partly gained its fantastic economic momentum by using Western originated technology ( sometimes stolen, sometimes transferred willingly by investors hoping to profit from the large market ) and making maximum use of worldwide free markets to build a great export business

In 2020 this no longer applies. The Chinese technological base is vast and Chinese technological and scientific development is second to none in some areas. In some areas such as 5G telecommunications Chinese technology leads the world. What is of concern is that the Chinese government explicitly demands that all outside investors transfer their technology to Chinese entities.

The Chinese military is large but its use of modern equipment while growing is relatively limited. Having said that its military sophistication is growing rapidly. Backed by a large and vibrant economy it can be expected to become both larger and more effective..

The Chinese government has harnessed the nationalist feeling very effectively. By and large the Chinese are proud of their incredible economic achievements and ready to accept the political restrictions. Many restrictions are increasing with state surveillance at East German levels and beyond with face recognition cameras.

China presents different faces around the world from sweetness and light in many distant developing economies while a hectoring, even bullying, approach among its immediate neighbours. It was very high handed to place an oil exploration rig in Vietnamese waters for example over riding local protests.. The Chinese state has annexed and colonised Tibet many years ago. They are using concentration camps for the minority Uighurs and have their sights set on annexing the South China sea and Taiwan. The Taiwanese have just demonstrated their contempt for re-unification in free elections after seeing how Hong Kong is being treated.  

While China’s communist government should be treated with great caution it is unlikely they plan any massive adventurism. They feel world conditions are moving their way. Whether Chinese citizens will wake up and decide to press for greater political freedom is unclear; they appear content at present. The communist leadership has so far been very clever in harnessing nationalist sentiment into its objectives.

The Chinese leadership aims to establish its totalitarian approach as a world model. The threat to free democratic norms is very large in the long term. The political leadership is becoming increasingly aggressive. While an aggressive move, say against Taiwan, is unlikely it certainly cannot be ruled out. China’s adventurism needs the kind of firm opposition backed by military forces that Trump is unable or unwilling to provide. His half hearted trade war while backing away from military guarantees is precisely the wrong policy. It would be right to sanction Hong Kong and stop treating it as a separate entity. The Chinese government has made its contempt for Hong Kong, its laws and its status amply clear by imposing its “security” law.

The right reaction is to be clear eyed, to trade but not be naïve, to recognise that technology needs to be protected and valued, to continue to promote liberal values, to be ready to counter Chinese propaganda.

Sons new house

Way back in December 2019, which seems an age away now, Martin and Lindsey decided to buy a new house. Not only a bit larger it had a chunk of land which they very much wanted. As they were going through all the legal details Covid 19 struck. The legal process wasn’t straight forward as there were some puzzles over access rights. The existing owners insisted they had a right of access over their neighbours land but couldn’t prove it so eventually it was dropped. Martin was unconcerned about this but was worried about a right the existing owners wanted to retain. This was down a private drive past his new house to gain access to land they wished to retain. They wanted unlimited rights including potential contractors machinery if ever they gained building permission.

While these negotiations were proceeding everyone shut up shop for the lockdown. Marin became very pessimistic as nothing happened for several months. Eventually things have been resolved and they have just taken possession. One final complication is that exchange of contracts and completion had to occur on the same day. This was to avoid the possibility that the contract could not be fulfilled If one party was struck down by Covid 19.

We have just had a Zoom tour of the new property. Martin is obviously so delighted as he led us over the land, garden, outbuildings and house. Alison, Frances and their families also participated. The house is situated in Robin Hoods Bay but at the top of steep descent into the old village and adjacent to the disused railway station now used as a car park with the village hall at one end. The situation gives views over the old village and to the sea from the upper floors.

The house is semidetached and is two former houses of a short terrace combined into one. This means two kitchens, stairs etc.

The land all in front and to the side of the house is divided into two parts. One part is a small field formerly used for grazing,; the other is the large garden. This garden contains an old caravan used for storage. The outbuildings are in mixed condition; mainly good including a garage but some tumbledown. All the outbuildings are stone as is the house  which has a slate roof. The garden is separated from their neighbour by a massive hedge both wide and tall. Wide enough that a mini arbour has been cut into it.. The garden has a number of trees including an old fashioned style apple tree.

We are delighted that they have this property. They had been looking for several years but nothing had become available. They plan to keep Alpha House, their old property, as a holiday let.. One slight issue is that Martin made a very nice conversion of the old wash house into a home office. He works from this but clearly living a half mile away it won’t be very convenient.

One feature is a tumble down pig sty which as present houses their hens. The hens are not happy at their new home but a fully blown hen house and run has not yet been constructed.

The builders they used at Alpha house who managed wonders particularly in the attached cottage have become personal friends. I’m told Dave the builder in chief has been seriously ill but is now convalescing.. His part time assistant Keith is semi retired devoting time to his camp in his wood. I have written before of his marvellous ingenuity  in this camp. Martin had been making something much less ambitious nearby.

Martin has become a tree lover being involved as regional co-ordinator of a tree survey group. I’ll bet he will be looking to make some plantings in his new plot. They will certainly have a lot of work ahead of them but hopefully very fulfilling and satisfying..

We have been plotting how to visit with maximum safety. At present we are thinking of possibly September travelling without stopping except to change drivers and taking all our food with us to avoid shopping. At the time of writing the death rate is still very high and there is every indication that it won’t fall but even become a second wave

Washington

Towards the end of my time with Castrol I went to Washington to a big international conference. I gave a paper on a technique of production cleaning which did not use CFC’s. At that time in the early 90’s there had been a lot of worry about chemicals harming the ozone layer in the atmosphere. The particular problem was with chlorofluorocarbons ( CFC ) which were widely used. An international agreement ( the Montreal protocol ) had agreed to phase out CFC. The Washington meeting ( officially the 1992 International CFC and Halon alternatives ) was part of that international effort. Like most companies in the cleaning industry Castrol were keen to play their part.

As I was head of the appropriate group ( which included production cleaning ) this replacement of CFC had taken up much of my time. The Washington meeting was designed to bring together scientists and others engaged in similar efforts. It wasn’t a normal sort of scientific meeting in that a lot of pressure groups and commercial interests were also present. Castrol, in addition to my presentation, had developed special lubricants for use with non CFC refrigerants. To promote these we had a stand at the meeting.

As I was fairly senior within Castrol I had some freedom to set my own itinerary. I chose to arrive a day early and to travel on to the US Castrol laboratory after the meeting. I used my first day to go to the Air and Space museum ( part of the Smithsonian Institute ) This was absolutely enthralling right from the Voyager round the world aircraft in the entrance to a full size Apollo capsule mock up. Voyager is gigantic but very light so its suspended from the ceiling of the entrance hall . The Apollo spacecraft is the training craft apparently exact in every detail. The special exhibition was of Startrek memorabilia. To my daughters disgust ( expressed on my return ) I only gave this a passing glance. As I write this I still have the museum poster on my wall showing a few of the many exhibits. These include the original Wright flyer, Spirit of St Louis ( Lindbergh’s aircraft ) and the Bell X-1, the first supersonic aircraft.

The conference was slightly overwhelming with thousands attending; I wasn’t used to an audience of hundreds.  I spoke in the early afternoon session on Tuesday. The session was chaired by moderator Jim Felty of Texas Instruments. Before my session I went to the Castrol stand where I was disgusted to be left manning it over lunch while the staff who actually knew about the details were at lunch. I hope I bluffed my way through successfully answering visitors questions.

I really wonder  how useful these massive shindigs are. I suppose they give some indication of the overall picture. I did not feel I gained much. I must confess I’m  cynical about the similar meetings on climate change being held today ( when lockdown permits ). I suppose they generally add to motivation although in my case the commercial pressure ensured that.

The pattern of these things is that all the papers are published. You are required to write them long before the meeting. I think I felt the spoken sessions were less useful than the preprints so a I had no qualms in bunking off on the final day.

I visited the Capitol ( the American parliament building ). It is a magnificent domed building freely entered at least on the day I visited. Freely insofar as the giant circular lobby was open. I was rather surprised to see a copy of Magna Carta on display although subsequent investigation shows this is a copy . This copy dates close to the original in the British Library. Americans set great store by Magna Carta as the first written document setting our Royal privileges and their limits. Unlike the UK the USA has a written constitution in which they great ( even exaggerated ) store.

After the meeting ended I hired a car and after carefully extricating myself from busy Washington drove north. On my journey through Pennsylvania I passed through Amish country overtaking one of their horse drawn buggies at one point. I also stopped in Oxford comparing that village with the Oxford where I was living at that time.

I took the opportunity to divert to Gettysburg where something of the giant area of battle has been preserved. The actual battlefield is some miles across and I took a bus tour after visiting the museum. It was notable that many of the roads are lined with cannon. The museum and tour is very carefully even handed toward Confederate and Unionist sides. The hurt of the Civil War is still present to this day Resentment in some southern states is still apparent. Gettysburg was a great Unionist victory but also famous for the later speech there by President Lincoln..

I then went to spend the night in Philadelphia before going on to the Castrol Research Centre and then later in the week to Newark for my flight to the UK. I was involved with Superclean a product which Castrol had just bought.. My contribution was small but I was flattered to later get a parcel of Superclean goodies. While in Philadelphia I took the city tour which I have written about before.