yushi

Today i was supposed to go to Manchester but the guy behind the window with the tickets wanted 40 for a cheap day return from Carlisle. 40 fucking quid. So it was bollocks to that unfortunately so i had a whole day to kill so i went to Whitehaven to check out the harbor as they just had a maritime festival and i haven't been for ages so i had a look around some lovely boats like this one below...



Anyway, some interesting history... did you know the US has invaded Britain in the past?
Well actually, they've done it a few times but this instance is an interesting one...



^ Meet "Long Tom" - "Long Tom" is a cannon that was mounted along side some 24 other cannons on Whitehaven's Half Moon Battery, he was recovered from certain destruction in 1963 by a Regiment of the British Army - why? Well, on April 23rd in 1778 John Paul Jones of the American Navy raided the port of Whitehaven, England.

The reason why they kept the canons is because John Paul Jones led a bunch of man around the Battery and spiked the cannons before bringing his ships into range and then legging it before the Royal Navy could catch up with him in the Solway Firth/Irish Sea. Hence the statue below honoring his cheekiness...



Anyway, he was pardoned on the 27th of June 1999 by the Commissioners of the Harbor on behalf of the people of the town, a ceremony which was attended by both Royal Navy and US Navy officers.

Ironically, John Paul Jones was apprenticed in Whitehaven as a Merchant Marine (probably how he know how to get onto the Battery) before he went to the colonies where he got into all sorts of shit...

Anyway, he's a interesting fella - check him out - wikipedia.org