Two flying displays

The lower reaches of the Ribble cannot be described as pretty, the banks are a mixture of flat salt marsh, some WW2 concrete bunkers, and a bit of industry. They are nevertheless home to thousands of birds. On Wednesday motoring down to the sea with the ebb tide I disturbed a huge flock of some sort of wader who put on one of those synchronised flying displays which we find so intriguing and appealing, making continually changing random patterns in the air before settling back on the mud again. Nearer to the sea is Walton airfield where the new European fighter is being built (or tested or something), it is frequently seen around Preston. That morning it was apparently flying circuits, the downwind leg bringing it directly over "Christabel and Sheila" at what seemed like mast height, lowering its strange undercarriage as it turned onto finals. There are conflicting opinions about the usefulness of this incredibly expensive project, but you can understand what a thrill it is for the young man lucky enough to find himself in the driving seat of a billion pounds of flying machine.

Nearer still to the sea off Lytham even the moored fishing boats were flying the England flag. When I arrived in Liverpool 12 hours later on the next high tide, the same flag was to be seen flying from the balconies. I concluded that England had lived to die another day. They were not going to be made to walk home after all!

From the outer buoy which marks the entrance channel to Liverpool, it is 17 miles to the city centre. The north bank is a more or less continuous parade of docks. The burghers of Liverpool must have contracted for the shifting of millions of tons of spoil to dig out all these basins. Alas, most of them are empty now or given over to various watery amusements. It seemed a little sad that the busy magnificence was almost gone. Imagine those docks full of hundreds of ships with their crews on the rampage ashore. No wonder Liverpool was considered a wide open city.

This modest mariner had a polite little rampage to Tate Liverpool to look at Picasso's work. I can't make my mind up whether he is a genius or a trickster but I spotted a couple I might buy if I had a few tens of millions lying about.