The event has been organised by North Tyneside Council in honour of Collingwood’s role in directing the British fleet to victory at the 1805 battle against the French and Spanish as his commanding officer and best friend, Horatio Nelson, lay mortally wounded.

Proceedings will start at 11.40am and will include a short address by Captain Stephen Healy; the toast will be held at noon.

Featuring the Trafalgar captains (Old Cuddy can be seen on the left), this is a must-have for any naval aficionado. And of course, no celebratory birthday supper would be complete without “Admiral Collingwood” – Doddington’s truly heroic cheese!

Tea or cheese or rum or port: here’s to the most formidable Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, “that noble fellow Collingwood”: may he never be forgotten and always remembered with greatest fondness and admiration!

“Collingwood’s Northumbrians”

in the Parish Centre of Berwick.

Dr. Barrow will speak on the men from Tyneside and Northumberland who had social and family connections with Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood and how the latter supported them (or otherwise) in their naval careers.

Great subject, everyone is welcome,  admission is free and refreshments are available – so what are you waiting for?

Not-so-old Cuddy

( Source )

Admiral Collingwood’s sarcophagus probably doesn’t inspire such elaborately customised copies; you can’t even see his name unless you walk up the steps and read the inscription. We laid the flowers and held a minute of silence.

The flower arrangement was lovely, with red roses and red berries.

Next year, we’ll go for Brassica oleracea and chewing bones… ;-)

As discussed last year, Old Cuddy will again get flowers on 7 March, and we hope that this can become a bit of a tradition. A yearly “thank you” from the people whom he still inspires, over 200 years after his death.*

In the meantime, please have a look at the beautiful pastel portrait of Admiral Collingwood by Rum Inspector. Just click the thumbnail:

* Donations are not necessary, all costs have been covered.

I’ve been informed that the Official Collingwood 2010 Website will stay online for the time being. Please do check back once in a while, new pictures have been added to the gallery and new reports.

And now for some really exciting news: there are talks about the formation of a Collingwood Society! I think we can all agree on a very loud “AYE!” here, but there’s something each of you can do to contribute to this cause:

Please e-mail your views and ideas regarding the formation of a Collingwood Society on this temporary address:

collingwoodsociety at yahoo.co.uk

Your mail will go to the people behind “Collingwood 2010″.

I’m absolutely in favour of a Collingwood Society (big surprise there). While Collingwood’s military achievements were outstanding and changed the course of history, I still feel that the fact that he was a decent, honourable man in a time which was neither nor is just (and to me, even more) important. Because it’s decent and honourable people we need today as role models. Because the Gods know, we got far too many of them.

So please, do write, do share your thoughts and spread the word!

Thank you.

And as I’m already thanking – thanks a ton to Nana for giving Old Cuddy a Bounce for Christmas!

As you can tell, he’s very happy about it – for his personal taste, this household has far too many cats!

Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood to his officers, before engaging in battle

(…) Such a battle could not be fought without sustaining a great loss of men. I have not only to lament, in common with the British navy, and the British Nation, in the fall of the Commander-in Chief, the loss of a hero, whose name will be immortal, and his memory ever dear to his country; but my heart is rent with the most poignant grief for the death of a friend, to whom, by many years intimacy, and a perfect knowledge of the virtues of his mind, which inspired ideas superior to the common race of men, I was bound by the strongest ties of affection; grief to which even the glorious occasion in which he fell, does not bring the consolation which, perhaps, it ought: His Lordship received a musket ball in his left breast, about the middle of the action, and sent an officer to me immediately with his last farewell; and soon after expired. (…)

In Euryalus, off Cape Trafalgar, October 22, 1805

CLICK HERE TO HAVE A LOOK AT THE AUCTION

Letter from Vice Admiral Lord Collingwood to Captain William Hoste, 1808

As most of us very likely don’t have that amount of money to spend on letters, I recommend you purchase

THE OFFICIAL FESTIVAL BROCHURE

instead. It contains articles, never-before seen pictures and commentaries.

The price is £5.00 + £0.60 p&p in the UK, £5.00 + £2.00 p&p in the rest of Europe and £5.00 + £3.35 p&p if ordered from elsewhere in the world. Credit card orders may be placed by telephone 0191 – 2650040 (from overseas +44 191 2650040) or send an email directly to the publisher, Powdene Publicity, on info @ powdene.com – thanks!

This is a must-have item for all Collingwoodites!

From the written word to music: has anybody attended the event with The New Scorpion Band in Collingwood’s honour on the 9th October? I haven’t found any reviews so far; Ylla was there and commented on it, but if anybody else should have been there, please yell and let us know what it was like.

UPCOMING EVENTS

21st October is coming closer, and the good people of North Tyneside Council have organised

Toast the Admiral!

At 1200 midday on 21st October 1805, the opening salvo was fired in the Battle of Trafalgar as Vice-Admiral Collingwood’s Royal Sovereign came within range of the French ship Fougeaux. At 12.00 midday on this year’s Trafalgar Day, we will “raise a glass” to Collingwood’s memory at the monument in Tynemouth. This forms the last public event of the Collingwood 2010 Festival and everyone who is a follower of Collingwood and the Festival is welcome to attend.

Proceedings will start at 11.30am and the toast will be at 12.00 noon.

For more information, please consult the Official Collingwood 2010 Website.

“This forms the last public event of the 2010 Festival” – what about the future?

My health has unfortunately forced me these last months to cut back drastically on my time spent in front of a computer, TV set or anything else that’s flickering and blinking. So, until very recently, I’ve planned to stop updating this blog on Trafalgar Day and leave it up as a part of the 2010 celebrations; an archive, so to speak.

And then I thought: there are 8089230582395238 blogs in honour of Lady Gaga, but only one exclusively dedicated to Old Cuddy (to my knowledge, maybe there are 8709089080 others out there I haven’t found yet), get over yourself, woman!

So I’m very happy to tell you that not only “Old Cuddy” will stay, it will also be updated whenever I come across  something interesting and Collingwood-related.

Furthermore, I can confirm that laying flowers in front of Lord Collingwood’s grave at St. Paul’s Cathedral will become a yearly event.

Our dear regular reader ShipRat has posted a lovely excerpt recently from the correspondence between Collingwood and his wife, which I just have to share:

Queen, off Carthagena, Dec. 20, 1805.

“… The editors of the Naval Chronicle have written to me for the history of my life and progress, for which they are pleased to say the world is very impatient. Now this rather embarrasses me, for I never could bear the trumpeter of his own praise. So, to get rid of it as well as I can, I have employed _____ to write a history for me. For my birth and parentage he has selected two or three chapters of Bamfylde Moore Carew*: for my service in the ‘West Indies and on the Spanish main, he has good assistance in the History of the Buccaneers; and for my shipwreck he has copied a great deal out of Robinson Crusoe: all which, with a few anecdotes from the Lives of the Admirals, a little distorted, will make, I am inclined to think, a very respectable piece of biography.”

*i.e., “The Life and Adventures of Bampfylde Moore Carew, the noted Devonshire stroller and dogstealer“  (1745) a.k.a. “The Accomplished Vagabond”

He didn’t like to trumpet his own praise, but I think he can live with one wee blog. ;-)

THE NANASCRIPT: “CUDDY’S CORNER”

which is simply the most amazing Collingwood-tribute I’ve ever seen online; if you love miniatures and dolls, this is a must-look-at! Huzzah!

And now it’s time to fill our glasses, my friends:

HAVE YOU ALREADY BEEN TO COLLINGWOOD’S BAR?

I hope they’ll throw a big birthday party there tomorrow, but for now, let’s have a look at the

UPCOMING EVENTS

Please always check out the diary at the Official  Collingwood 2010 Festival Website first; they have the latest news when it comes to events.

2nd October, 2010, 2.15pm, West Park United Reformed Church, Stockton Park, Sunderland

CUTHBERT COLLINGWOOD

Friends of Sunderland Old Parish Church, The Rector Gray Society present Cuthbert Collingwood.  The North East’s Heart of Oak. A concert of Patriotic and North Country music to mark the Bi-Centenary of the death of Admiral Collingwood (Nelson’s second in command at Trafalger).

9th October, 2010, The Sage Gateshead, Gateshead, in association with the Collingwood 2010 Festival

THE NEW SCORPION BAND: THAT NOBLE FELLOW COLLINGWOOD

The New Scorpion Band present songs, poetry, prose and music written to commemorate the great historical events in the time of Collingwood and Nelson and marking the 200th anniversary of the death of Collingwood.

There will be various events and activities for Trafalgar Day, but that will be covered in a separate entry.

ODDS AND ENDS

TRAFALGAR WOODS

We all know of Collingwood’s habit of planting acorns; this is an article about him and the “Trafalgar woods” planted in College Valley to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar (please scroll down the page).

LONGHIRST HALL HOTEL

have planted an oak in honour of Old Cuddy. They’ve already named their bar after Collingwood some months ago (see top of this page). This leaves us with one question: what about that Bounce Castle for the kids…?

Talking about hotels: there’s also beautiful Grade II Listed, Georgian

COLLINGWOOD ARMS

in Cornhill-On-Tweed, Northumberland. And yes, there’s a Collingwood-connection! I really think I’ll have to stay at the “HMS Sovereign” room one day. And oh, they welcome post horses!

CUTHBERT COLLINGWOOD TINLING

(better known as Ted Tinling) wasn’t a relative of Admiral Collingwood and had no connection with him, but I thought this blog could do with a bit of fashion. Thanks so much for your designs, Ted; the tennis world owes you a lot.

WORDSWORTH HOUSE IS FOR SALE

The obvious link to the poet aside, it also has a distant connection with our dear admiral:

Reginald was succeeded by his son, also named Reginald, whose daughter married Cuthbert Collingwood, and their son was the famous Admiral Collingwood. Mrs. Collingwood sold the property to Richard Wordsworth, Attorney at Law, Clerk of the Peace for Westmorland and Steward at Lowther from 1723 to 1738.

So if you should have a spare £785,00 stored under your mattress: click the link above for further information.

That’s it for today, read you tomorrow!