The death of Robert Peel 1850

The death of Margaret Thatcher has resulted in heated debated about her 11 years in office. The divisive nature of her politics has split the nation ,but there can be no doubt that she was a transforming political figure. Her demise and the way in which the news has been regarded bought to my mind the death of another Tory Prime Minister 163 years ago.

In many ways there are many similarities between Robert Peel and Margaret Thatcher, gender aside. Both came from provincial towns, Grantham and Bury. Both were outsiders. Peel was a representative of the new industrial class- the family had made money in textiles. Thatcher was the daughter of a shop keeper. And bought success and eventual damage on their own party- the Conservative Party and both were driven from office by erstwhile allies. The issue that bought Peel down was him changing his mind on legislation that protected the price of bread, the Corn Laws. This policy was bought in after the Napoleonic Wars to protect the income of the landowners who were the backbone of the Tory Party. Peel repealed the Corn Laws in 1846 after pressure exerted by the highly successful pressure group the Anti Corn Law League. It split the Tory Party between those who supported protection and those in favour of Free Trade. The divide led to the Tories being out of power for 30 years. Repeal had a dramatic impact on food halving its price directly benefiting those on low incomes.

When Peel died in a riding accident in 1850 there was a universal sense of loss especially among the working class. This sense of grief was felt in Leek when a meeting was held in the Swan in September 1850 to consider what to do to honour Peel's memory who incidentally was a Staffordshire MP- he represented Tamworth.

Mr Doxey a working man spoke at the meeting said that as a consequence of Peel's Government “ We are in a state of peace, our trade was good, and we are blessed with an abundance with food and clothing within the reach of the working man. We have also our Mechanic Institute where knowledge was cheap and many excellent institutions, where the needy were carried for. He was an admirer of a great man , through whose influences the condition of the poor had so much benefited”

 A show of hands at the meeting proposed that money raised in Leek should go to the building of almshouses for the poor. Another view outlined in a poster addressed to the Working Men of Leek favoured public baths in the town as had been erected to Peel's memory in Macclesfield.

 I don't know what happened to the funds that were collected, but around the industrial north still exist memorials to the Tory Statesman. Peel Park's still exist in Bradford, Blackpool and Salford.

Werrington UFO

Watching the skies for unidentified flying objects was a trend that became more noticeable after the Second World War with reports of flying saucers cropping up everywhere. I was fascinated therefore of an early account of a cigar shaped object seen in the skies of the Midlands and Wales in 1909. It was described in the Tamworth Herald as a boat cigar shaped making a whizzing noise and travelling at great speed. At the time there were fears of Germany aggressive intentions. It was concluded that the mysterious airship was a secret weapon of the Germans.

 The real hysteria that gripped the nation about “flying saucers” started in the late 40s coinciding with the start of the space race and the developing Cold War between the Soviet Union and the West. The peak of such sighting occurred in the late 60s with accounts of many UFOs seen locally. A hot spot for such sightings seems to have been Werrington. In October 1967 a local saw through a window a glowing orange-red, cigar-shaped object hovering low in the sky, a bluish-green area visible on its underside. It was a clear night. The brilliant light from the object tended to conceal its outline and illuminated his room like the full moon. After several minutes, the object accelerated and sped away at speed, its front portion increasing in brightness until it appeared white

Two years later a police officer was driving a marked police vehicle in Werrington when he was advised by radio to look for an unusual object heading in his direction. Moments later he observed a ‘V’ formation of nine UFOs. There was no sound at all and they moved at an exceptionally high speed. The policeman thought the object had mother of pearl effect with colours swirling all around each other. It was a clear night with little cloud cover. He reported his sighting over the radio and heard another officer saying he too had witnessed the lights. The next day he visited Leek police station with another five officers who had witnessed the formation. They were told to keep quiet about their experience.

Of course the majority of these sightings can be explained by satellites, aeroplanes or celestial objects such as meteors. However the persistence and the variety of such incidents does make you wonder whether we are alone. In the manner of a narrator of a B movie from the 50s we should continue watching the sky