Not on this day

I was not going to mention yesterday's celebrations of the two hundredth anniversary of Trafalgar, simply because it was no such thing: the battle was fought on October 21st 1805.

But Adam Nicolson's thoughtful article in The Guardian sets out more serious reasons why a pleasant day out on the Solent should not be associated with "one of the most blood-soaked naval battles ever fought". He quotes a British midshipman, who boarded the captured Santisima Trinidad after the battle:

"She had between 300 and 400 killed and wounded, her Beams were covered with Blood, Brains, and pieces of Flesh and the afterpart of her Decks with wounded, some without Legs and some without an Arm; what calamities War brings on."

Listen again

I don't know how long this will last, but for the time being, you can still hear my brother playing guitar on the Today programme, in an item about the effect of current legislation on live music: Has the government been too complacent about the new Licensing Act?.

As Neil tells it, he and Pete turned up at the pub, and since no-one told them what else to do, discussed what songs they could play that they both knew. Eventually, Pete began to play one, Neil joined in - and at this point someone whipped out a microphone. So it's not the most polished performance. On the other hand, it's probably the first time he's opened for Eliza Carthy!