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Talk of Barton Broad brings me to matters of Nelson, as it’s known that he stayed in the area in his youth, and would have sailed there. Legend even has it that he lost a chain and locket in the Broad’s depths.
And thinking of Nelson reminded me I’d taken this photo of a painting produced in 1805 by Louis Phillipe Crépin depicting the brave French ship Redoubtable in action at the Battle of Trafalgar. It hangs in the Paris Musée de la Marine.
One account of the role of the Redoubtable can found at the Wikipedia , but it’s interesting also to see Captain Lucas’s account here.
I think Turner painted the same scene several times, but I doubt he ever depicted the Victory’s Ensign hanging symbolically in the water from a broken flagpole.
An elderly retired Admiral comments: ‘Those bally Frenchmen never miss a trick when they have an opportunity to have a go at us Brits! Tried to keep us out of the Common Market several times. Of course I don’t mind going there on holiday and I’ll drink their wine, but there is a limit and these Froggies haven’t a clue where it might be… Pshaw!”
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