One that I was unaware of until this week was that of the 335 year war between the Isles of Scilly and the Netherlands! Today, April 17th, is the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Peace Treaty in 1986 which ended this unlikliest of rivalries!
Isles of Scilly
Republic of the Seven United Netherlands
Vs
It apparently all began during the English Civil War. Cromwell's Parliamentarians had taken control of mainland Britian, forcing the Royalist Navy to retreat to the Isles of Scilly, which lie off the Cornish coast and which were under the ownership of Royalist John Grenville.
The United Provinces of the Netherlands had been supported by the English in its Eighty Years War against Spain. Having finally gained official independence from Spain in 1648, they therefore sought to maintain their English alliance and sided with Cromwell's Roundheads.
The Dutch Navy suffered losses at the hands of the stubborn Royalist Naval fleet based in Scilly and on March 30th 1651, Admiral Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp arrived in Scilly to demand reparation from the Royalist fleet for the Dutch ships and goods taken by them.
According to Whitelocke's Memorials (cited in Bowley, 2001), a letter of 17 April 1651 explains:
"Tromp came to Pendennis and related that he had been to Scilly to demand reparation for the Dutch ships and goods taken by them; and receiving no satisfactory answer, he had, according to his Commission, declared war on them".
As mainland Britain was under Parliamentary control, this was therefore a Declaration of War on the Scilly Islands themselves and themselves alone.
Royalist Defeat
Just months later in June 1651 and without a shot having been fired, the Parliamentarians forced the Royalist fleet to surrender. The Dutch Navy left as a result but did not officially declare peace with the islands.
Peace at Last!
In 1985, Roy Duncan, a historian and Chairman of the Isles of Scilly Council, wrote to the Dutch Embassy in London to dispose of the "myth" that the islands were still at war. Embassy staff found the myth to be accurate and Duncan invited Ambassador Jonkheer Rein Huydecoper to visit the islands and sign a peace treaty.
Peace was declared on 17 April 1986, 335 years after the "war" began.
The Ambassador joked that it must have been harrowing to the Scillonians "...to know we could have attacked at any moment".
In the run-up to this year's 2011 Snooker World Championships, I've been looking back at the history of a sport of which I am a big fan and have chosen my personal top 3 snooker matches of all-time.
I blogged here and here a few weeks ago of my 3rd and 2nd choices, so here now, on the morning of the opening matches of the 2011 World Championships, is the match which for me is the greatest in snooker history.
1985 World Snooker Championship Final
For those who are avid snooker fans, it'll be no great surprise to find that I've chosen the epic that occurred in 1985 between 3 time and current World Champion Steve Davies, and the Northern Irish favourite and 1979 losing finalist Dennis Taylor.
It is of course regarded not just as a seminal moment in the history of snooker but also I would like to think, one of the greatest sporting moments of the 20th century. I would like to explain why in my humble opinion, it is well deserving of this recognition.
Davis was the snooker machine of the 1980s. He had won 3 consecutive titles running into the 1985 final and was the favourite to win a 4th against Taylor who's only previous final appearance was a losing one to Terry Griffiths in 1979.
The final seemed to be going the way of the form book. Davis swept all before him as he white-washed Taylor in the first session 7-0. He then moved 8-0 ahead before the plucky Northern Irishman clawed his way back admirably into the match by winning 6 straight frames in a row to reduce the overnight margin to just 7-9.
There was little between the two during the second day's play but Davies nevertheless opened up a 17-15 lead to leave Taylor needing to win the final frames to win the match. Taylor won the first two of those to force a 35th and final frame.
It would prove to be one of the most dramatic climaxes imaginable. The tension was at fever pitch as both players missed opportunities. Taylor, once again playing catch-up in this crucial decider, pulled out a great long pot on the final brown and then potted the blue and pink to bring the final frame of the final and championsip, down to the very final black ball.
The final frame lasted 68 minutes and in the end, famously of course, after the safety play and the misses on the final black, it was Taylor, to the raturous delight of an enthralled Crucible Theatre crowd, who sunk the black to win a famous and immensly popular first and as it would turn out, only World Championship.
In this case, actions speaks louder than words so watch here, the final stages of that incredible final frame...
Here, watch both Davis and Taylor reflect, years later on what was an incredible match. The comments of those who remember it at the time adds to the fact that this was a moment in sport which had the country hooked to the TV set.
Indeed, the climax of the final in the early hours of that Monday morning was watched by 18.5 million people - which remains a record for BBC2, and also remains a record post-midnight audience for any channel in the United Kingdom.
Full credit for Steve Davis for being able to look back in retrospect and for taking the result in good heart.
That celebration of Taylor's is now almost as famed as the winning pot itself. It was just a delight to watch the emotion after the tension of the proceeding frame.
World 1985 Final - Rematch
Finally, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that titanic encounter, the two rivals played out a re-match at the Crucible Theatre. The match was played with great humour and it was in itself, a joy to watch!
The total match time of 14 hours 50 minutes was the longest ever recorded for a 35-frame match.
It will surely, never be bettered and will for years to come keep its place in snooker history as the greatest match ever played - no contest!
This is the fourth and final blog post installment of my top 20 greatest sporting commentary moments countdown.
My first three blog posts which can be viewed here, here and here, gave my countdown from No.20 down to No.6. Here, we countdown through my Top 5 to the big one - my No.1 Greatest Sporting Commentary Moment of all-time!
But before we move into the Top 5, a reminder of the 15 that came before it...
At No.20 - Ian Botham’s 'Leg-over'(Agnew and Johnston)
At No.19 - Tiger Wood's 16th hole chip at the 2005 US Masters (US commentary)
At No.18 - Sally Gunnell "Gets the Gold" at Barcelona '92 (David Coleman)
At No.17 - Steve Davis Vs Dennis Taylor in the 1985 World Snooker Final ('Whispering' Ted Lowe)
At No.16 - "Dessies done it" - Desert Orchid wins the 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup (Peter O’Sullevan)
At No.15 - "What a Goal! Radford the Scorer!"(John Motson)
At No.14 - "Where were the Germans? But frankly, who cares?!" - The 1988 Seoul Olympic Hockey Final (Barry Davies)
At No.13 - "YOU'VE WON IT KELLY, YOU'VE WON IT!" - Kelly Holmes wins 800m Olympic Gold in the 2004 Athens Olympics (Steve Cram)
At No.12 - "...With All this Mayhem, Foinavon Has Gone off on His Own" - The 1967 Grand National (Michael O'Hehir)
At No.11 - "...Maggie Thatcher, can you hear me? Maggie Thatcher, Your boys took one hell of a beating!" - Norway 2-1 England in 1981 (Bjorge Lillelien)
At No.10 - "...and I've got to stop, becuase I've got a lump in my throat" - Damon Hill wins the 1996 F1 World Championship (Murray Walker)
At No.9 - "...and Emlyn Hughes left" - The Hillsborough Disaster (Peter Jones)
At No.8 - "...and I don't think Foreman's going to get up...AND HE'S OUT. Oh my God, he's won the title back at 32" - The Rumble in the Jungle (Harry Carpenter)
At No.7 - "...its only 12 inches high, solid gold, and it means England are the world champions" - 1966 EnglishWorld Cup (Kenneth Wolstenholme)
At No.6 - "...its up for grabs now" - Liverpool Vs Arsenal 1989 League Championship Decider (Brian Moore)
So now, this is it. The Top 5, or as I'm going to re-name it (because I've left one out which I forgot!), my Top 5.5!
Please do leave your comments as I genuinely like to know my readers thoughts on the choices that I have made. No doubt you will like some more than others. Hopefully, some have refreshed a far and distant memory whilst for those who may be viewing some of these clips for the first time, I hope this is proving to be an enjoyable educational experience!
So, here we go...
No.5.5 - "IT'S LINFORD CHRISTIE" - 1992 Barcelona Olympics 100m Final (David Coleman)
One of only two commentators to achieve two entries in my chart, the first is David Coleman. As mentioned previously, Coleman had a natural ability in the greatest sporting events, to encapsulate the need to provide information whilst imparting drama into his commentary at the same time.
As I've already said, I am biased in that the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was one of the seminal 'coming-of-age' sporting occasions of my childhood. I was only 10 at the time, but the vivid recollections of sounds and images from that glorious celebration of sport are still with me, burning bright.
The one that burns brightest, is Coleman's wonderful commentary of Linford Christie's victory in the 100m final. His delivery increased in tone as the race progressed before he reached the epic crescendo as Christie crossed the finishing line to win the Gold Medal.
Wind forward to 4m 05 seconds for the commentary in question.
Bloody brilliant!
No.5. - "Good luck mate" - Cliff Thorburn's 147 at the 1983 World Championships (Jack Karnehm)
It all began with a fluke on the first red.
Little were we to know that that piece of good fortune for Canadian Cliff Thorburn would result in the first ever maximum 147 break in the Snooker World Championships. Thorburn, the World Champion in 1980, diligently made his way through the 15 reds and as he closed in on the final colours, the tension in the arena built-up as all who were watching realised that they were on the verge of watching a historic moment in snooker history.
With only the final black to be potted, the commentator Jack Karnehm captured the mood by simply saying: “Good luck, mate". He was speaking for everyone watching.
When the black found its target, Thorburn gave the moment the visual image that matched the tension and drama that had built-up over the previous minutes. He raised both arms, dropped to his knees and on rising was embraced by Terry Griffiths and Bill Werbeniuk, a fellow Canadian. A wonderful scene of joy and Karnehm's commentary played it's role to the full.
No.4 - "...double 12!" - Paul Lim's 9 Dart Finish in the 1990 World Darts Championship (Tony Green)
As a child and teenager, I'd always watch the world darts championship from the Lakeside on the BBC with my father. For the last 2 years, I've been fortunate enough to have visited the 'Home of Darts' and watch it for myself.
But every year without fail, they will show the footage of Paul Lim's 9 dart finish from 1990. It was the first time that this 'Holy Grail' of darting excellence had ever been witnessed in the World Championships. It has of course been replicated many times now in the break-away PDC World Championships over the past decade and more but incredibly, Paul Lim's achievement in 1990 has still not been matched on the Lakeside stage in the BDO World Championship, over the past 21 years.
Tony Green, BBC's voice of darts, gave the commentary that this piece of sporting history deserved. What amuses me is that he alludes to the fact that Lim had had a chance of a 9 dart finish in his previous match after he threw his first three 180s - little was Green to know when he said that how wonderfully prophetic his words were to prove to be!
No matter how many times I watch it, it still sends the shivers down my spine!
No.3 - "...AND SOLSKJAER HAS WON IT!" - 1999 Champions League Final (Clive Tyldesley)
I'm not much of a Clive Tyldesley fan I'll happily admit to you right now, but when Manchester United turned their 1999 Champions League final against Bayern Munich on its head in injury time, his words blended in with the drama like sausages blend with mash, like Morecambe blended with Wise and like I blend with ridiculous similies.
There are times when commentators sometimes over-egg the pudding and make sweeping predictions that then rebound on them when they fail to materialise, but when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer poked in that incredulous second injury-time strike to land what would be the Red Devils' first European Cup since 1968, we all knew that when Tyldesley yelled out those immortal words, he was right.
No.2 - "RED RUM IS GOING TO WIN THE NATIONAL!" - 1973 Grand National (Peter O'Sullevan)
Peter O'Sullevan joins David Coleman as the only commentators to achieve two entries in my top 20 and this effort has really stood the test of time. Only a few others date back further than the famous words uttered by racing's favourite commentator when a certain Red Rum overtook a tiring Crisp in the final few yards to win what would be the first of a historic 3 Grand Nationals.
It was an incredible finale as Crisp, who had led by such a distance for so much of the race, saw his lead evaporate as Red Rum clawed his rival back in. It was one of the greatest finishes to a Grand National and O'Sullevan's authoritative commentary lent itself to the unfolding drama.
Truly one of the greatest pieces of commentary in sporting history.
But, not in this humble sports fan's opinion, the greatest. For me there is one piece of commentary that blows the rest away...
No.1 - "THIS IS GARETH EDWARDS...A DRAMATIC START...WHAT A SCORE!" - Gareth Edwards 1973 Barbarians Try Vs New Zealand (Cliff Morgan)
It was, most will agree, the greatest try scored in the history of rugby football. It was blessed with having had the good fortune of being matched by the commentary that covered it.
The try scored by Gareth Edwards in the opening minutes of the friendly match between the Barbarians and New Zealand came from the Gods. The commentary by Cliff Morgan, in that distinctly Welsh voice, did likewise.
Ironically, Cliff Morgan's commentary would never have happened had the iconic Bill McLaren not conceded defeat to a bad bout of flu just two hours before kick-off. What would McLaren in full flow have made of it all?!
Of course we'll never know and indeed we don't need too because here we are, watching what in my opinion is the best piece of sporting commentary, ever.
So, there we have it. A countdown of my now 21 (!) top sporting commentating moments of all-time. I hope you enjoyed them and agreed with some of my entries, if not all of them!
It's been a busy week. Amongst all of the campaigning, we hosted the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg MP to Ceredigion last week when he visited our candidate Elizabeth Evans' hometown of Aberaeron to meet local representatives of the local business community.
Today, we were back in Aberaeron for the launch of the Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Manifesto.
Kirsty Williams, our popular Welsh leader, officially launched the manifesto this lunchtime in front of the TV cameras (and Newsnight's Michael Crick!) and a gathering of supporters. Our Elizabeth Evans introduced Kirsty and the assembled media pack to Aberaeron and Kirsty's manifesto launch went out (so I'm told) live on BBC News 24.
Kirsty Williams launching the Welsh Liberal Democrat Manifesto Today in Aberaeron
Kirsty Williams, in launching our manifesto said:
“This election is the chance for the people of Wales to set the direction of the Welsh government until 2016.
“My children are at primary school. By the time we next debate these issues at a Welsh election, by the time we next decide the direction of schooling in Wales, they will be kapproaching their GCSEs. For them and for thousands of other children, this will be their chance.
“This election is too important to allow the Labour Party to ignore Welsh issues. Labour and Plaid have left us with a weak economy, underfunded schools and an NHS that costs more but delivers less. The Welsh people deserve a proper conversation about how we in Wales address these issues.
“No more excuses. The Welsh Liberal Democrats believe that Wales can do better. That is why we are setting out a radical manifesto full of positive ideas to:
· Create jobs and improve our economy by offering companies £2,000 for staff training if they provide jobs to unemployed young people.
· Tackle the spending gap, providing more money for schools by targeting additional money at the 80,000 pupils who need it the most so that schools can afford to invest in the things that really matter, such as smaller class sizes or one-on-one teaching.
· Cut waiting times by cutting waste. We will improve healthcare by switching ineffective spending in the NHS to the frontline.
· Radically overhaul the energy efficiency of an extra 12,000 homes by doubling the money available for tackling fuel poverty.
· Make sure your council can deliver for you by cutting restrictions that stop them innovating and acting in the best interest of local communities.”
The fully costed manifesto gives the people of Ceredigion and indeed Wales more generally, an opportunity to support a party that wants to support enterprise and not hold it back. Here in Ceredigion, as the Deputy Prime Minister heard last week, that will be greatly welcomed.
It was great to have our launch, the day after Plaid Cymru had theirs, out in 'real' Wales. Plaid Cymru decided to hold theirs in the Cardiff Bay bubble but we rightly took it out into the country. Indeed, on asking the formiddable BBC journalist Michael Crick (who I can exlusively reveal, is partial to some victoria sponge), when did he last come to this part of the world, he answered by saying that this was the first time that he had visited Aberaeron and his last visit to Aberystwyth was some 10 years ago.
So it was nice to bring the media out of their comfort zone as well!
Now it's back to the door-steps to spread our message of optimism which can be read in the manifesto which Elizabeth and Kirsty launched today in the heart of Wales.
