The Plymouth Sound: our regular round-up of what has caught our eye and ear
Flagpoles, a manhole cover, The Captain, and a neighbourhood plan. It's all here: with no annoying adverts or pop-ups. Monday November 18, 2024.
Hoe Neighbourhood Plan
It is, as they say, an auspicious day. After years of hard work today sees the launch of the Plymouth Hoe draft Neighbourhood Plan (as exclusively reported by The Beagle last week)
There is a new website to showcase the work, and most importantly the 16 draft policies. The plan sets out thinking on heritage and design; blue and green environment; pedestrians and transport; housing; infrastructure; culture, tourism, and economy.
You can read all about it here: http://www.hoeforum.org.uk/
A series of events is planned for you to find out more and to ask questions - the first is on Wednesday (November 20) between 10am and 4pm at the Plymouth Hoe Bowling Club clubhouse.
Mystery object revealed
Bomb experts were brought in. Work was halted on the site next to the Moxy Hotel for weeks. A school was closed for the day. The council warned us to pack overnight bags and prepare to leave our homes.
But today it was revealed that the mystery metal object causing all the chaos and expense was just an old manhole cover and a bit of metal. A man with a digger very carefully scraped the Council-owned site between Bath Street and Martin Street where Plymouth Community Homes social housing is planned.
And by midday the drama was all over.
Questions to be answered must include:
*Why did it take them so long? (Apparently the mystery metal was first noticed 12 months ago).
*Is it really difficult to distinguish a manhole cover from a bomb?
*Who pays?
The Beagle is literally doing some digging of his own.
TAXI!
Uber could be coming to Plymouth – but it will be up to the Council’s taxi licensing committee to decide if they will or not. The company has applied to the Council to operate services here, together with Smartzi, another app-based ride service. A taxi licensing committee will meet on Thursday (November 21) to decide whether to issue a private hire vehicle operators’ licences to both operators. The decision must only be made based on the council’s taxi licensing policy. Certainly if councillors asked the public, The Beagle feels the overwhelming majority would vote Uber-YES!
Generous folk
Plymouth is officially the most generous place in Britain!
Just over a fifth of people here (22%) have declared a charitable donation in the last year, which is the highest percentage in the UK, according to Charity Right’s research. On average, each donation amounts to £36 while, per 100,000 people, locals are making 151 monthly searches for places to donate food, clothing, and other items. The food aid charity analysed the percentage of people making donations in the UK’s 50 most populated cities and towns, the average donation amount, and general interest in charitable giving (measured by search volume).
Bids welcome
A reminder the Invicta Hotel in Osborne Place is up for auction tomorrow (Tuesday) by Savills with a guide price of £1.5million. 23 bedrooms. Restaurant and bar. Parking for 10 cars. And advance bookings for 2025 worth £250k.
Details here (NB to bid you must register in advance. )
Scene on the Sound - by The Captain
(The Beagle’s maritime correspondent keeps watch on the comings and goings in Plymouth Sound)
There will be two new foreign naval ships in the Sound this week. Federal German Ship (FGS) Braunschweig and His Netherland Majesty’s Ship (HNlMS) Mercuur. They are probably here to conduct training with Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) based in HMS Drake.
FGS Braunschweig is an ocean-going corvette – so a type of warship that is smaller than a frigate (like the Royal Navy’s Duke class, often seen here) but larger than a patrol vessel (like the RN’s Island class). Braunschweig was commissioned in April 2008 and is the first, and name ship, of her class. She has 4 sister ships and there is to be a second batch of similar corvettes in build. The Israeli Navy has a further 4 ships based on the same design.
Braunschweig displaces 1 1840 tons, is 89m long, has a beam of 13.3 meters & draws 3.4m. Her top speed is over 26 knots 2. Her propulsion is 2 MTU diesels, driving controllable-pitch. She also has a bow thruster. The ship’s company is 61 strong.
This class is not designed for anti-submarine warfare, so the armament consists of an Italian 76mm rapid fire Oto-Melara gun (forward), with launchers for the American RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) both aft or and above the 76mm and on the after end of the superstructure. The RAM is an anti-aircraft & anti-missile defensive system. Mounted between the two masts are the launchers for four Swedish RBS15 anti-ship sea skimming missiles. Braunschweig also has the ability to carry and lay up to 34 naval mines. Her flightdeck is big enough for a SeaKing helicopter, but the hanger can only accommodate two UAVs.
All these weapon systems are supported and backed up by the command system, radars, electro-optical sensors, electronic warfare systems and decoys that all modern warships have.
HNlMS Mercuur is a submarine support ship. She has the same name as all her predecessors in this role. She entered service on 21 August 1987 and was given a major upgrade in 2015-17. As the RNlN’s submarine support ship, Mercuur takes part in training exercises with the Dutch Navy’s three Walrus-class conventional submarines, often acting as their target.
She can test fire torpedoes and also has workshops onboard to service them. Her only armament is two 20mm Oerlikon cannons for self-defence. Mercuur displaces 1400 tons, is 64.4m long, has a beam of 12m & draws 12m. Her 2 MAN Diesels give her a top speed of 14 knots & her ship’s company is 39 strong.
1 The ‘tonnage’ of warships is measured by their displacement – the weight of the water that is displaced when they float. Merchant ship tonnage is measured by their cargo (or passenger) carrying capacity.
2 A knot is a unit of speed – a nautical mile per hour. So never knots/hour.
Flagpole
A couple of weeks ago The Beagle spotted a new flagpole being delivered to The Hoe. We note it is now proudly in place. But just one question - why is it somewhat taller than all of the others?
