All posts by Bernard Gallivan

About Bernard Gallivan

Born in Wales; living in Edinburgh. Interests include reading, writing (short stories and novels) and keeping fit and active.

Another Fell Running Experience

Sporting Recollections

A few months after the 4-Peaks race, I was in the Lake District reconnoitering routes up and down Helvellyn. I belonged to the Lancaster Rambling Association at the time and it was my turn to lead a group up a mountain of my choosing and I had chosen Helvellyn. Actually, I had to rece two routes; one for the young, strong walkers and another for the older, less able walkers. I had decided the strong walkers would actually climb Helvellyn while the less able would do a shorter, valley walk.

When I arrived at the start of the White Stones route, mentioned in an earlier piece, I was surprised to find it thronging with people. It so happened that another Fell race that was being sponsored by a well know brewery at the time, Friary Meux, was in full swing and climbing Helvellyn was on the menu. Friary Meux, a Guildford based brewery, finished making beer in 1969 but its name was revived in 2016 and it now sells it brand through various selected outlets. I had my dog with me at the time, an English Setter called Beannie, (more of her later) and after parking my car I set off.

The Fell runners were quite well spaced out so I knew I wouldn’t be in anyone’s way as I began climbing. I might add, it was a beautiful, sunny day and I was dressed for a gentle walk. I was in no hurry. I have no idea where the start of the race was but Helvellyn was obviously somewhere along the route. As I walked I noticed two fell runners about 100 metres ahead of me. It was also apparent that I was gradually catching them up. When I did eventually catch them, to my great surprise who should they be but the two fell runners I had met when doing the 4-Peaks race. They recognized me immediately. ‘Thank god it’s you,’ one of them said. We could see that the person behind was someone just out for an afternoon’s walk with his dog and we would never have been able to live with ourselves if a Sunday afternoon stroller had passed us on the way up Helvellyn.’ We had a little chat together and then parted. I’ve never seen them since.

A few weeks later, I arrived at Helvellyn with a coach load of walkers. I could have saved myself the effort of planning out a valley walk because everyone wanted to climb Helvellyn. It was going to be tricky looking out for such a wide variation of ability levels. Conditions were quite different from those of a few weeks earlier when I had done my rece and that day a thick mist shrouded the top of the mountain. For the first half an hour or so of the climb I wandered up and down between the fast walkers at the front and the stragglers at the back. Mike Hutchinson, the friend who had overtaken me in his running shoes in the last mile or so of the 4-Peaks race was a deputy leader and was keeping an eye on the fast walkers way up ahead. Indeed, by this time we were spread out over about a half a mile of the route and I was trying to encourage a group of younger stragglers to lift their pace. I can’t remember how the conversation went but I was challenged to be the first to the cairn at the summit where I had told Mike to wait until everyone had reached it. As I said, the leading walkers were easily half a mile ahead by this time and realizing the tail-enders were actually seasoned walkers and could be relied on not to do anything foolish, I accepted the challenge and set off. There were over forty walkers ahead including some who were very proficient on the hills but gradually, I pulled them all back until only Mike remained ahead. I actually caught him just as he arrived at the flat of the summit. The mist was thick as we walked/ ran towards where we thought the summit cairn might be. Suddenly, there it was. Unfortunately for me, it was on Mike’s side not mine and he reached it ahead of me with half a step to spare.

Helvellyn Summit on a good day

While we waited for the final member of the group to arrive, the straggling group who had challenged me also arrived. They wanted to know who had reached the cairn first. I told them Mike had. After waiting a further five minutes we were still minus one member of the group. I told everyone to stay put while a small group of us went to find the straggler. We knew who was missing and those who knew him better than I did remembered him being in the middle of the group so he shouldn’t have been the last to arrive. The top of Helvellyn is part of a quite dangerous ridge walk with sheer cliffs over which the unwary could fall. I was in an absolute funk by this time. I remembered the person who had gone missing when I had led a group to Spain years earlier. I could only pray this one had not come to any harm. He was nowhere to be seen so, either he had fallen over the edge or he had ignored the instruction I had given that everyone had to wait at the cairn. I opted to believe the more palatable option.

Striding Edge – just one of Helvellyn’s hidden dangers

We descended to the car park where our coach was waiting only to find the lost walker there already. After reaching the summit, he had seen a cairn but couldn’t see anyone next to it so he had assumed we had left him on the mountain. There are a few small cairns on the summit of Helvellyn but only one really large cairn where we had all gathered. In the mist he had not seen us but not being very bright had assumed we had all done the unforgivable thing of leaving him on the mountain to fend for himself. What can you say?

Bernard Gallivan

February 2019

Running in the Four Peaks Race

Bernard Gallivan - at work and play

The Four Peaks race used to be held in the Lake District on a weekend as near to the longest day as is possible. I don’t think it is held any longer because when I tried to look it up on the Internet it was not mentioned. Instead, there is now something called the Lake District 4 Peaks challenge which is an 18 mile event held over three days. I suspect this new challenge is not as tough as the old one when all four peaks had to be climbed in one day and comprised running or walking 60 plus miles and climbing the equivalent of Everest but without the altitude. The four mountains needing to be navigated in the challenge were the four Lake District peaks that are over 3,000 feet. These are Skidaw, Scarfell, Scarfell Pike and Helvellyn.

In fact, you didn’t have to be a fell runner to take the challenge. When I did it, there was a field of perhaps 350 taking part of which probably only thirty or forty of which were fell runners. The rest were walkers. I was betwixt and between.

I was working in Lancaster University at the time and was living with my wife, two small children and a dog in a small village called Burton-in-Kendal 14 miles north of Lancaster. Burton is mentioned in the Doomsday book so it has been around for a long time. It was once the most important village in the area and even had a corn exchange. At that stage it was more important than nearby Kendal but the new canal between Lancaster and Kendal built to transport corn and coal bypassed Burton which lost its importance. It was only rejuvenated when Lancaster University was built in the 1960’s. Burton is now an attractive little village in easy commuting distance of the Lancaster University and many members of staff lived and, I’m sure, still live there. The area is rich in natural beauty with two fells (mountains) of outstanding natural interest immediately next to Burton. I used to take my dog to walk and run for hours over the fells.

After work on the Friday immediately before the fateful weekend, I went home where I had a meal and a rest before setting out at about 10 pm to drive the 50 or so miles to Keswick where the the start of the race was due to start to start. It was actually scheduled to start at or 2 am in the early hours of of Saturday morning. It was high summer but it was drizzling rain and was cold. Around me fell runners stripped down to shorts, running shoes and light day sacs for the race while walkers checked that they were carrying the obligatory water, warm clothing and emergency life support aids, which were all loaded into large rucksacks. We also had on big, heavy boots for the expected tough terrain. For reasons of safety, we all had to show we were carrying the various essential food, drink and equipment when we checked in at the Moot Hall in the centre of Keswick.

We started on time at 2 am as scheduled. It was very dark because of a heavy cloud cover and it was still raining. The fell runners immediately raced off leaving the walkers lagging far behind. I used to be a very fast walker and I quickly found I was in no man’s land. I could not run under all the equipment I was carrying but I was faster than the other walkers. As I mentioned, it was very dark and I was without a torch. It was also the first time I had attempted the challenge; I was not very familiar with the Geography of Keswick; and I was in danger of getting lost before I had hardly started. I didn’t know which way to go and if it hadn’t been for the occasional glimpse of a flashing torch from the fell runners, by now a long way ahead of me, I would have been lost. I followed those lights as best I could and gradually I left Keswick behind.

I began to feel more confident that I was going the right way when I could feel I was beginning to climb. Soon, there was no doubt about it. I was definitely on the steep, wide, deeply eroded path up Skidaw and the lights of the fell runners were now plain to see. It is about five miles from the centre of Keswick to the top of Skidaw and, of course, it’s all steeply uphill. I was an excellent climber and even though I was far more heavily laden than they were, I was gradually beginning to reel in the fell runners. Indeed, I had actually caught and passed most of them just before we reached the summit where we had to check-in to prove we had actually climbed Skidaw. To my surprise, I discovered I was in 7th place.

I had spent a great deal of effort getting to where I was and I was sweating profusely. Nevertheless, my arms and hands were absolutely frozen. My heavy rucksack was restricting blood flow to them. Also, there was only a very thin layer of the fabric of my light-weight waterproof top protecting me from the wind and rain and because the fabric was soaked on the outside from rain but was also soaked on the inside from my sweat, most apparently on that area that was trying to give protection to my bare arms, it was as if I was climbing with no arm protection whatsoever. So, despite the freezing cold, the driving wind and the rain, at the summit I had to take my waterproof off – a slow, difficult task with frozen hands and arms – in order to put my sweater on to make a small barrier between my arms and the outside elements . While I was occupied with my clothing change, quite a few runners passed me. Eventually, satisfied I was better protected from the elements, I started on the long descent.

At that stage, I found myself in the company of two friendly fell runners who, compared with me, seemed remarkable lightly weighted down . ‘Where are your rucksacks?’ I inquired. They just smiled and tapped the side of their noses wisely. Quite clearly, I had just made the climb carrying at least 40 lbs more than they were carrying, if you included my heavily laden rucksack, my boots, my heavy outdoor clothing and my water, etc. I wondered how they had managed to fool the race officials who were supposed to check on these things. I found out at the base of the climb.

On our descent we overtook no one but also, no one overtook us. The climbed and then the descent of Skidaw is a distance of some ten miles but eventually we found ourselves on the road back into Keswick. Then, just as we were on the outskirts of the town, my fell running friends stopped and climbed over the wall that guards the town’s cemetery. There, snuggled against the wall, next to a small water tap used by visitors to water the plants and flowers they had brought for deceased friend and family, were their two small daysacks. ‘We always check in with all the regulation gear but once we’ve completed the check we give everything to our wives to hide here in the cemetery. It makes no sense to carry everything up Skidaw and then bring it all back down again,’ they told me. I wondered if I was the only idiot who was obeying the rules.

As you might imagine, after Skidaw, the jog into Keswick was relatively easy and when we checked-in at the Moot Hall again I found I was now in 12th position. I had lost five positions while changing into my sweater.

After checking-in, we were faced with the 15 mile trek along Borrowdale where we were heading for a small settlement called Seatoller, reputedly the place with the highest rainfall in the whole of England. That morning, it was already light at 4 am ish and, thankfully, it was no longer raining.

It was quite a long slog to Seatoller along the road and my fell running friends were able to outdistance me as, with all the kit I was carrying, I could only jog and walk whereas they couild jog all the way. I probably reached the large barn at Seatoller where we were next supposed to check-in about 5 or 10 minutes behind them. And this is where I made my first and biggest mistake.

Scarfell with Scarfell Pike Beyond

I didn’t want to get stiff by resting for too long so, after accepting the hot drink the organisers provided, I set off again to climb Scarfell while my fell running friends were still resting. I realized my over-confidence had caused me to make a big mistake when, after travelling a further mile or so, I found myself in a dense mist. I had never before climbed Scarfell and I knew if I kept blundering about in the mist, I was in serious danger of getting lost. Fortunately, another competitor caught me up as I was contemplating my next course of action and I tagged along with him. Sadly, he proved to be a really miserable, uncommunicative fellow but at least he knew where he was going. He clearly resented me walking along with him so I fell back and just tagged along behind him.

All went well until we reached the Summit of Scarfell. There is what looks like a large cairn on the summit but as I walked to one side of the cairn and my ‘companion’ walked passed on the other side, I didn’t see anywhere to check-in. When we had gone a further twenty metres I said to my companion, ‘I thought there would be a check-in post back there.’

‘There was,’ he replied.

He had checked in without even breaking his stride while, I, on the wrong side of the cairn, had failed to check in. I had to return to the cairn, which was more of a small shelter open on one side, but not the side I had passed it. After I had checked- in, my ‘friend’ had completely disappeared into the mist. I suppose it takes all sorts but I know I would never have done that to anyone. In my opinion, it was a mean thing to have done. Unfortunately, I really was lost now. I knew Scarfell Pike was comparatively close but I had no idea in which direction it was and the thick mist shrouded everything.

I now realize I was operating on automatic and my brain had become disconnected from my body. The obvious and sensible thing for me to have done was to have taken shelter and to have waited quietly for the next man to come up and to have teamed up with him. But I wasn’t thinking straight. Instead, I panicked and went racing off like a headless chicken and immediately got well and truly lost. I then spent the next 30 minutes racing up and down Scarfell trying to find my way. Eventually, I met up with a group of competitors who were on their way up Scarfell for the first time that day. Not so me, I had been up and up and down three or four times and was now completely knackered. At last common sense prevailed and I fell in behind the group and climbed Scarfell for possibly the fifth time that morning. Gradually I regained my composure and my strength and I stayed with the group until we had also climbed Scarfell Pike.

The sun was now shining, which had caused the mist to disappear and knowing I now had to strike off north east towards Great End and then High White Stones, mountains that are not quite 3,000 feet high but are not far off it, I said goodbye to the group that had helped me through the difficult mist covered bit and set off towards Great End. I was now trying to regain some of my lost time and I again missed the track and descended too far. So, instead of a decent track along the side of the mountain, I found myself wading through bogs, which was hard work. But at least I knew I was going in approximately the right direction. Also, because I was desperately trying to make up lost ground, I was going much quicker than my body could sustain and eventually I passed out jon the side of High White Stones. Fortunately, the sun was shining brightly so I came to no harm. I was probably unconscious and semi-conscious for some time. and a group of my friends who had come to High White Stones to watch the event found me. I was on the point of giving up at that stage. One of them gave me a life-saving drink of hot Ribena. As well as being hot, it was also full of sugar and was exactly what I needed. Somewhat restored, I set off again to climb Helvellyn which was then about 6 miles ahead of me.

Helvellyn from Red Tarn

The climb was long and hard but the weather was clear and I managed it fine. Nevertheless, when I was on Helvellyn’s summit, I made my next big mistake. Instead of taking the clearly marked White Stones path down to the road below, stupidly, I reckoned it would be quicker and would enable me to catch up some of the time I had lost if I went straight down. Somehow I thought that taking a straight line down to the road far below would be quicker than jogging down the well established White Stones route that I knew so well. Of course, I was not exactly thinking clearly by this time. Indeed, nothing could have been more wrong. Not only was it a much slower way to get to the road, I was also a much more dangerous way to do so.

The descent was tricky in the extreme and my toes inside my boots were hit black and blue with every step I took. So much so, by the time I reached the road, after my legs and feet had taken such a sustained pounding, I was in a very bad way again. I could now only limp slowly along the long road back to Keswick where I was passed by another friend who was also in the event. He had given his rucksack and boots to another spectating friend who was driving a car, and had then changed into his running shoes. I had spoken to the car owning friend earlier when she had warned me that Mike was by that time about half a mile behind me. She wanted me to give her my rucksack as well because she could see I was in a pretty bad state but I was determined to complete the entire event legally. Of course, I was eventually overtaken by Mike.

I finished in 35 place in just a smidgen over 15 hours. I reckoned I would have been at least an hour, possibly 2 hours quicker had I not made so many silly mistakes that not only had cost me time but also masses amounts of energy as I had tried to rectify them. I had also probably run five miles more than I should have. It had been quite an experience and one I had no intention of ever repeating.

I then had the job of driving 50 miles home. I was dead beat, I ached all over and I didn’t know if I would make it. Fortunately, I did. My dear wife was waiting anxiously for me and carefully helped me out of my boots and clothes while I moaned and groaned at each and every movement. When my feet were revealed, we were both shocked; they really were quite literally, black and blue. Strangely, although they were sore, they were not as sore as their looks suggested they should be. Then I realized what I was looking at. My feet from my ankles down had been dyed a dark blue by all the peat bogs I had walked through. They really weren’t as bad as they looked. That said, they really were in a sorry state and over the next couple of days I lost about 6 nails from my toes. Fortunately, they did eventually grow back. I had been operating at a high physical level all that day and even though I had been continually sipping water, my water loss was at a much higher rate than I could replace it. The fact was, I was severely dehydrated. I had weighed about 11 stone at the start of the race and was very fit without an ounce of fat on me, or so I thought. When I weighed that evening, I was shocked to discover I weighed a mere 9 stone. I had lost two stones in weight in 15 hours. The truth was, medically speaking, I was actually in a critical state. Bodies switch off when they lose as much water as I had lost and it was surprising my body had not shut down again as it had done on the side of High White Stones. I kept drinking glasses of water every hour throughout the night and I never once needed to urinate. After 24 hours I had regained a stone of that lost weight and after a week I had regained another half stone but it took me another month before I was back to 11 stone. I swore I would never do the race again.

They say time heals and a year later I was once again seriously considering attempting the race for a second time. I was confident that, armed with the experience I had gained from the year before, I would easily better my last time. Indeed, I was hoping for a time of better than 13 hours. But, because I had lost so much water the previous year I decided to let my doctor make the final decision for me. I explained to him about losing 2 lbs of weight while doing the challenge the previous year and was surprised that he seemed quite sanguine about it. ‘You can lose that much weight while sleeping,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry. If you want to do it, go ahead and do it.’ It was only when I was driving away from the surgery that I realized I had said pounds, not stones. No wonder he was not surprised. In the end I decided that because I was someone who sweats quite profusely when indulging in high effort activities, it would be unwise to repeat the experience, which I never did.

Bernard Gallivan

February 2019

The Height of Folly

Sporting Recollections

This is a cautionary tale. That I am still alive to tell the tale is down to good luck, nothing more.
When I was in the armed forces at RAF Shawbury, near Shrewsbury, two friends and I decided to travel across to Snowdonia on the weekend to do a spot of rock climbing. None of us what you would call an experienced rock climber but we borrowed the necessary equipment from friends and, full of confidence, set off. Our journey to Snowdonia was uneventful – in those days the roads were relatively free of traffic – and we arrived at our intended camp site before dark.
The next morning, after breakfast we set off to find our first challenge of the day. Snowdonia has been the preferred choice for mountaineers, rock climbers and scramblers for many years and, at the time of our adventure, many books had already been written about the many rock climbing routes that could be tried, together with the degree of difficulty of the climb. Unfortunately, being such innocents, we had consulted no such books prior to our climbing outing so we arrived at the faces not knowing what to expect. In fact, we were somewhat overwhelmed by the choices before us but eventually we settled on our first climb. It seemed to have many jug-handle holds and appeared quite easy. Nevertheless, no one was keen to be the first to attempt it but as I was the youngest and the one with least imagination, I volunteered. I should have been warned in the first six feet of the climb because what, from below appeared to be beautiful jug handles were, in fact, nasty downward sloping bits of rock that were quite unusable as holds. I should have gone back straight away but I was still a teenager and lacked imagination for what could go wrong so I continued up carrying the rope someone was holding at the bottom. The rope was supposed to be my safety backup. By belaying into crevices and attaching the rope to the belay, if I fell I would only fall twice the distance between the belays. Unfortunately, none of my belays were holding. It might have been the way my friend at the bottom was holding the rope that encouraged the belays to pull out or it might have been because I had not made them secure enough. Either way, I was now climbing free.
If anything, the climb was getting harder the higher up I went and on many occasions my toe holds were so precarious the nerves in my toes and lower legs were threatening to throw me off the face. By this time I was over sixty feet high and was beginning to get concerned that there would be insufficient rope to allow my companions to make the attempt. I also knew I had to keep going to the very top because retreating would now be impossible. After climbing about 90 vertical feet I eventually reached safety. Needless to say, even though they would have had the protection of the rope, neither of my two companions dared to attempt the climb.
When we returned to our RAF base, we consulted the catalogue of climbs and discovered that the one I had done was rated extremely severe. There are harder levels but extremely severe is still a very highly rated climb.
Without, doubt, I was extremely fortunate to have survived that climb. I was stupid to have attempted it which I put down to the stupidity and innocence of being a teenager. Every day on YouTube and You’ve been Framed we see teenagers doing ridiculously stupid and dangerous things. We see them come croppers but we never see the full aftermath. Be warned, the human body is a very fragile organ especially when falling almost 100 feet onto solid rock.

Bernard Gallivan August 2019

Letters to the Prime Minister and other Ministers about Brexit

Brexit
This first letter was written to the Prime Minister in January 2017, six months after the Brexit referendum had taken place and when we still believed she was intending to honour the terms of the referendum.

Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London WC1A 2AA

Dear Prime Minister

Brexit

I write to wish you a happy and successful 2017. I realize what pressures you have been and continue to be under but I am confident you will remain firm and committed despite the constant negative mutterings issuing from the opposition, the media and even from some of your own colleagues who, by now, should be showing full solidarity with their Government and their country. May I also say, the resignation of Sir Ivan Rogers is no great loss since, clearly, he had been irresponsibly feeding negative thoughts to the press for far too long. It will be much better to have someone trustworthy in post even if that someone is somewhat less experienced in the workings of the E.U. than was Sir Ivan. I was delighted to hear your recent statement reaffirming your position of wanting the very best trading agreement with the E.U. after we leave the E.U. at which time we will properly become a sovereign nation once again. We joined a free trading area as a sovereign nation and that is what we would like to see continue. Unfortunately, that no longer seems to be on offer. It is the E.U. and not us that is changing the rules of participation and some of those new rules are not acceptable to us. It is also a fact that the free movement of people across the E.U. can only damage the U.K. since we are probably the most attractive country as far as those newly joined members countries are concerned. Many of their citizens speak some English; we have almost full employment; we provide the sort of health service they can only dream of; and we don’t even have identity cards. Is it any wonder that most eastern European member states wish free movement to continue. It is unfortunately the case that the least skilled migrants seem to want to come to us while the more skilled go to Germany.
On a slightly more negative note, I am disappointed that those tasked with driving Brexit forward seem to be overly reticent about rebutting the many distortions the media and the opposition parties constantly put out. One recent example is that the U.K. will still have to pay the 50 billion Euros we have already committed to the E.U. before we can be allowed to leave. Those commitments, presumably are in areas such as scientific research though not exclusively so. In which case, they surely will be honoured because the U.K. will, presumably, derive benefit from them. Why wouldn’t we continue to pay? Of course, if we are simply asked to pay but are denied access to the fruits of those commitments there would be no reason to continue paying. Such clarifications would do much to placate the academic communities who are very concerned about this matter. It might surprise you to read that a full professor of Psychology at one of our universities was under the impression that research establishments in Britain actually receive more back from the E.U. than we pay in. He seemed unaware that as a net contributor to E.U. funds, that could not be the case. Such clarifications would also reveal the E.U. negotiators and the many other home-grown nay-sayers in their true colours.
Then there is the Scottish question. Scotland’s First Minister talks a lot of nonsense about second referendums if the U.K. leaves the E.U. when there is no stomach in Scotland for another referendum. All except die-hard SNP supporters realize that Scotland could never thrive outside the U.K. particularly when they almost certainly would not be welcomed into the E.U. for many a long year, if ever. In the U.K. they have the opportunity to influence policy. They would have no such opportunity in the E.U. I am sure you, as I, realize it is just an empty threat but have decided not to embarrass the First Minister by calling her bluff.
I briefly mentioned Identity Cards above. I was disappointed the scheme to issue all British nationals with identity cards fell through. The main argument about losing one’s privacy surely would no longer apply with everyone on Facebook or Twitter telling the whole world everything about themselves. If the problem is one of cost, could the scheme be reintroduced for those willing to pay for their cards in the first instance before being made freely available to everyone? We definitely need identity cards if only to control the employment of illegals. Speaking of which, far more stringent penalties must be imposed on employers using illegal immigrants. A small fine is not enough. They should lose their businesses as well as being fined.
Finally, this constant demand from Remainers on both sides of the channel for you to reveal all, is simply a desperate attempt to embarrass you into weakening your bargaining position. When the British public voted to leave the E.U. it made no conditions or ifs or buts about the matter and it is ingenuous of anyone to pretend that we would only have voted to leave if we could have been guaranteed continued unfettered access to the single market. I guarantee, the single market was way down the priority list of the average voter. Give those who wish to thwart your efforts nothing until you are ready.

I wish you continued success.

Yours sincerely

Bernard Gallivan

This second letter to the PM was written in April 2017 when the Remainers were beginning to cut up rough. My letter was to show some support, little realizing just how much she was enjoying/appreciating the negative vibes issuing from Parliament, the EU and the press.

The Rt. Hon. Theresa May. MP
10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA

Dear Prime Minister

On Leaving the E.U.

Unless the information has been destroyed in the same way that Tony Blair’s expenses claims were so unfortunately destroyed, it should be easy to do the calculation. Nevertheless, I believe that over the 44 years Britain has been a member of the Common Market/E.U., we have been a net contributor to the tune of €3 billion or so per annum on average, accumulating to over €100 billion. In addition, there must be many assets littered about Europe to which Britain has made a small or even a large contribution and from which we will walk away. These assets will also amount to a considerable sum, I am sure. I also believe it is still the case that the E.U’s annual accounts have never been audited because they have never been competed which will make it difficult for them to make an accurate estimate of what they think we owe. Nevertheless, E.U. Brexit administrators as well as E.U. leaders continue to make wild, unsubstantiated claims that we owe €60 billion or more. At the same time they tell us they do not want to punish Britain for leaving their wonderful club. If it is so wonderful, why are they so fearful that other members will follow Britain’s lead? Is it possible that they know just how flawed it has become? It is also the case that we never actually joined the E.U. as many of the existing members did. We joined the European Common Market which, against our wishes, has been transmogrified by those with their own agenda into a complicated federation of different states with even yet grander ideas in the wings.

In a divorce, there usually follows a redistribution of assets. It is never the case that one party gets to keep everything as well as receiving a massive fixed penalty from the other party simply because they initiated the divorce, especially when it can be proved that one party (the E.U. in this case), has so dramatically altered the terms of the union that it has become unacceptable to the other party. Which is, of course, the case here. We even tried our best to make the E.U. modify some its rules that particularly and unfairly penalise the U.K. but to no avail. We did what we could but it was the E.U. leaders’ intransigence to modify anything that precipitated Brexit.

You have done everything by the book because I know you want as smooth an exit as is possible. I am also aware that all your negotiators are trying hard not to take offence and to keep smiling in the face of extremely bad behaviour from the other side – not to mention the many British fools who seem determined to ensure you get as bad a deal as is possible. They are now even using Gibraltar as a weapon. How low will they sink? Frankly, the sooner we are shot of this bunch of silly, playground bullies, the better. Ordinary people in the various E.U. countries must also be learning an important lesson from what is presently going on. They must also be wondering at the vehemence with which the E.U. negotiators are pursuing their task. It must be becoming clear to them that the E.U. is a club from which there is no escape.

What is clear is that it will not be possible to leave the E.U. in a friendly manner. That we have called into question their grand idea by refusing to be part of it is sufficient to make those with central roles in the E.U. try hard to make us suffer. You now face two years of no-holds-barred negotiations from the E.U. and you must be prepared to be just as ruthless and to use every one of our strengths to achieve a satisfactory conclusion.

If only the Cleggs and Farrons of this world, as well as that silly woman up here in Scotland whose name escapes me at present, could be as committed to Britain achieving the best deal possible or, at least, could stop their constant carping so that Britain could present a united front, your task would be considerably easier. Is there any chance of bringing the Tower of London into use again?

You must also make it clear that E.U. negotiators will allow nothing less than a Hard Brexit if we continue to refuse unrestricted migration into Britain. It is their intransigence that dictates the degree of hardness of our leaving terms and is not something we have chosen.

One final point. Every few days I hear someone complaining that Britain has set itself an impossible task by trying to complete Brexit in 2 years especially when both France and Germany have important elections coming up which will rob us of about six months of our 2 years. Please ask your spoke-persons to make it clear that the 2 year deadline is one imposed by the E.U. and is not one chosen by us. E.U. leaders believe it is almost impossible to achieve but just in case, there is no talk of extending it a little to compensate for those two elections, which again proves that while the E.U. is a club of equals, some are more equal than others.

Yours sincerely

Bernard Gallivan

The following letter was written to David Davis when he still was Brexit Minister. That was before he was stabbed in the back by Mrs May and her secret Whitehall team headed by Olly Robbins.
4 May 2017

The Rt. Hon. David Davis, MP
DExEU
9 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AS

Dear Mr Davis

Brexit and our European “Colleagues”

If you haven’t already got one, I suggest you get yourself a punch-bag in order to take out your anger and frustration after a difficult day in the office. It beats kicking the dog!

Seriously, I am amazed you can appear so relaxed in the face of such silliness and nastiness from your counterparts in Europe. Each week they think up yet another schoolboy “wheeze” to frighten the great British public. If it isn’t a massive exit fee, it’s the Gibraltar difficulty, then it’s the Irish border problem before they go back to the exit fee which they almost double. Isn’t it time we did some frightening ourselves?

As a start, I recommend we go on the offensive regarding the position of E.U. migrants. One of the E.U’s claimed priorities before we can begin talks about trading relations is their anxiety to secure the rights of E.U. citizens living here in Britain. I believe this can be resolved quickly in two sentences.
“The issue of E.U. migrants wherever they reside in the E.U. is important to Britain so we will guarantee to give to established E.U. citizens living here in the U.K (those having lived here for at least five years and having had a job that covers all their expenses or alternatively, having the means to fully support themselves) exactly the same rights as the E.U. gives to U.K. citizens living across the E.U with the same or similar qualifications to those outlined above. If this is unacceptable, we will return the 3 million E.U. migrants living here in Britain and will take back the 1.5 million British migrants living across Europe.”
Providing a reasonable and fair carrot as well as a nasty little stick should get the job done, at least as far as that priority is concerned.
We could also suggest that unless the E.U. begins to take the subject of Brexit seriously and stops making silly unsubstantiated statements that fool no one but do give artificial succour to the so-called Remoaners here in Britain, we will remove our troops from Europe’s eastern border with Russia and relocate them to Gibraltar and to Northern Ireland where it seems, according to the E.U., there might be problems. We might also threaten to reduce our payment to NATO to the E.U. average or even to cancel it altogether. This would immediately cause the USA to threaten to leave as well and would force everyone to pay the equivalent of Britain’s 2.5% of GDP towards NATO. If we want to do so, there are many ways we can make life difficult for our European “Colleagues” so I say, let’s go on the offensive.
Next we come to the matter of the exit fee. I’m pleased to read that you will agree to pay whatever Britain legitimately owes but not a penny more. The fact that Britain (and, of course, Germany) is only one of two E.U. nations that has never been anything but a net contributor into the E.U. In the 40 years plus we have been members, I calculate that over and above what we have taken back from our membership fee in terms of farm subsidies and so on, we have made a net contribution in the region of €100 billion. How can they claim we owe them anything? I realize they will be almost €10 billion p.a. worse off when we leave which money has to be found from somewhere but I can see no justification for that somewhere being the U.K. You might also point out, and with some force, that we in Britain offered up in sacrifice horrifying numbers of our young men and women as well as paupering ourselves when, twice, in the last century we went to the aid of our European colleagues when they were in danger of being overwhelmed by Germany’s desire to grab more land for itself. Twice we lost a generation of young men and women when we went to war to help our neighbours and not for us was there the luxury of being rebuilt out of a war reparation fund. No one has ever come to our aid or offered to help pay off the huge war debt we built up with the USA while fighting for our neighbours and nor have we every asked for such help. We stand on our own two feet and it’s about time the E.U. did the same.
It should also be pointed out, and with equal force, that we would never be in this position of leaving the E.U. if the E.U. had not changed so much since we joined the Common Market; changes that might have been good for Europe but which have been detrimental for Britain. The E.U. had the chance to help us when David Cameron tried to persuade E.U. representatives either to modify those damaging (to us) rules or to allow us an opt out. Neither was given, which forced us into Brexit.
If the huge sum identified by the E.U. as our exit fee comprises our subscriptions for the next two or three years while we continue to be members, provided we are treated as full members and not as pariahs during the coming period, I am happy for us to make such payments (less our rebate of course). We might struggle to get back any of that rebate if the full subscription is paid in advance unless we receive a written guarantee it will be repaid in full. I can see no justification for paying out a single euro more. Membership fees for 2018, 2019 and possibly 2020, should we still be a member in 2020, must be the full extent of our commitment to the E.U. and just to repeat, they have forced us to leave so we owe them nothing. It is also interesting that both of the remaining French candidates in the forthcoming election, either want to leave the E.U. or has threatened to leave if the E.U. doesn’t change. Lots of people across the E.U. are unhappy with many aspects of the E.U. and are calling for reform. So, we are not alone. But, wouldn’t it be a pity if, a year or so after Brexit, the E.U. is forced to change in a manner that would have suited us. If that should happen, and I feel strongly that it will but only if we leave, they will have caused us unnecessary disruption, anxiety and expense.
It might also be interesting to ask, what would happen, regarding an exit fee, should Germany wish to leave. Presumably, as Germany is an even larger contributor, it would be substantially more than they are asking us to pay. Which begs the question, if a member, like Ireland or Spain, both large beneficiaries from the German/UK pot, wishes to leave, as they have never ever made a single net contribution, will they be asked to pay back all they took out?
I have no recommendation on the thorny problem of Ireland so I will leave that one to you. Keep strong and get that punch-bag. I suspect my views simply endorse those you already have but I do think we should begin wielding the big stick as well as the occasional carrot.

With every best wish for a successful Brexit.

I remain,

Yours sincerely

Bernard Gallivan

It is at about this time that I began to suspect that Mrs May did not have the best interests of the country at heart.

October 2017
Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP
Prime Minister–
10 Downing Street+
London WC1A 2AA

Dear Prime Minister

What the U.K. must do next.

Like many people, I am taking a very close, hopefully intelligent, interest in Brexit. I voted for Brexit and I have neither seen nor heard anything yet that would make me change my mind. Indeed, the way the E.U. is intent on humiliating the U.K. and embarrassing you, both reinforces my earlier decision and makes me see red. Twice in the last one hundred years we have saved Europe from German aggression at a huge cost to ourselves in terms of lives lost , an Empire lost and almost bankrupting ourselves on both occasions. Not for us the luxury of a war reparations fund to help us rebuild. We did that ourselves with no outside help. In addition, in the 44 years we have been members, only we and Germany have consistently been contributors to E.U. funds. At today’s rate of exchange, I estimate we have contributed in the order of an extra £400 billion to help our European neighbours build such things as high speed rail systems, new roads and other infra-structure projects when our own infrastructure is in urgent need of cash. We have also acted as a moderating voice in the E.U. and have stopped smaller nations being frog-marched into situations that were not to their advantage. Nevertheless, our erstwhile “friends” have now all turned on us and seem to be taking a malicious delight in watching us squirm. I say, enough is enough. We are not supplicants and nor should we act like supplicants.
When we voted to leave, but only after David Cameron was treated with complete contempt and sent packing with nothing, even though his request was modest, there were no rules governing what should be done should a nation wish to leave the E.U. Those at the centre of the E.U. had never thought this was even a possibility. They have since been making up the rules as they go and we, stupidly, have gone along with their demands. Clearly, it would be better to leave without acrimony so we can continue to benefit from a good trading relationship, but the E.U. is making that impossible. Look at the way they have acted in the last 18 months since David Cameron returned with nothing. They exclude you from meetings and, only yesterday, they took just 90 seconds to agree to tell you the U.K. has to offer more money, ignoring everything else you said. I understand your need to put as good a gloss as possible on how they treated you, in the same way David Cameron did but the truth is they are only interested in getting their hands on our money and, at the same time crushing us as an example to the other members. We cannot do business with such people and nor should we wait until it is too late to come to that realization. We need all the time and money possible to make a success of Brexit so we must not make additional cash offers when I know, and I am sure you do too, that whatever we offer will not be enough because, while they want our money, they also want us to scream and squirm on their hook for as long as possible.
Stop playing their silly, expensive game. If they are unwilling to tell us what sort of trading relationship we will have post-Brexit and are also unwilling to tell us exactly how much they expect us to pay (having identified and costed each and every commitment) we must give them an ultimatum that by the end of this year, if the above information has not been provided, we will discontinue talks. Regardless of his personal reservations, the Chancellor must make sufficient money available to strengthen our borders and we must work hard to make more use of the Commonwealth while also seeking new countries with which to trade.
I believe, if you agree with my analysis and if you told the country what you intend doing and why, you will receive a warm response from the vast majority who can also see what is happening but, like me, are powerless to do anything about it. You will lose support if you seem weak and agree to whatever the E.U. feels fit to throw at you. You, as our representative, must stand tall and be firm. There will be those who refuse to see what is so clearly written on the wall and who have their own private reasons for wanting to disrupt whatever negotiating stance you choose to take. Such people are traitors to the U.K. and if nothing else, their names should be remembered (although dismembered might be a better alternative) and they should never be offered an honour.

Yours sincerely

Bernard Gallivan

At this stage, 2 years after the referendum and just before the awful Chequers Agreement was presented to and rejected by parliament, I detected a marked weakening in May’s resolve so I tried to stiffen it. Of course, her civil servants who interpose themselves between her and you (whoever you are) intercept and destroy letters like mine, factual and supportive though they might be. It was also only just becoming clear that Whitehall mandarins were actively seeking to destroy the Brexit cause. The ordinary man and woman must be allowed to communicate with the leader for democracy to work.

May 2018
Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London WC1A 2AA

Dear Mrs May

An Open Letter to the Prime Minister

Your Premiership is at a crossroads. You can reject the frivolous, time-wasting efforts of the E.U., deliver the Brexit 17 million British plus people voted for and, along with Churchill and Thatcher, be remembered as a great, inspirational leader. On the other hand, you can roll over, accept all the insults the E.U. chooses to throw at us, embarrass both yourself and Britain and be remembered, along with Blair and others I could name, as weak and duplicitous. The choice really is in your hands.

We are a strong, wealthy and inventive nation so you can and must deal with the E.U. from a position of strength and not as the pathetic supplicant they have been led to believe we consider ourselves to be. Even if, personally, you don’t agree that Brexit is the best alternative for Britain and even if, at some time in the distant future, we, as a nation, decide Brexit was a mistake, no one will blame you if you have done what the nation asked you to do. However, if you don’t, and regardless of your personal opinion, you will be reviled for all time. You cannot now even escape because if you shirk your responsibility and hand over to someone else, your failure will still follow you to the grave.

But take heart. It need not be all that difficult, but only if you are strong, determined and willing to call the E.U.’s bluff. To do this, you must show you are prepared to go to the wire. You must also make it clear that all the time-wasting and preparations for a no-deal we have been forced to suffer come at a cost and that we will have to deduct those costs from our final payment to the E.U. They must learn, and learn quickly, that they will not be allowed to mess us about with impunity.

At the end of the day, however, it is much more likely that Brexit will prove to be a huge success just as the E.U. crumbles to its knees. So, there you have it. Make the right decision and be hailed as the greatest Prime Minister of the 21st century. Alternatively, make the wrong decision and forever be reviled.

Yours sincerely

Bernard Gallivan

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Brexit

Various Posts are included here, such as letters to the Prime Minister and other key Ministers re. Brexit. I have also relegated Posts about past incidents in my life to this place.

Brexit Posts

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The Liberals and Brexit

 

According to those high up in the Liberal Democrat Party, people like me are classed as stupid, misguided and only fit for the grave. The reason for this excess of hatred being directed towards us is because we had the gall to vote in the Brexit referendum when we should have realized we had no right to do so. The referendum was really only intended for those under 40 who have only ever known life in the E.U. There was a time when older people were often considered to have acquired some experience of life and whose opinions counted. No longer, it seems, at least as far as Nick Clegg is concerned. Vince Cable has another slant on the matter. According to him, people like me voted for Brexit because we are full of nostalgia for the past and because we want streets with only white faces. What utter insulting rubbish. I, and I am sure most others of my generation voted for Brexit because we can see how the E.U. has transmogrified from a simple communal trading group into an unelected, un-audited monster that is intent on turning itself into a super state with, amongst many other things, its own army. No one in Europe has ever been given the opportunity to vote for this course of action and nor will they.

In the last twenty months the unelected leaders of the E.U. have clearly demonstrated what a bunch of hypocritical, unelected bullys they are and I am even more convinced that the sooner we get out from under the E.U. jackboot the better off we will be. What saddens me most, however, is the realization that there are people in Britain who are so consumed by hatred, they would sooner see Britain go to the wall than they would admit that perhaps they got it wrong.

 

Bernard Gallivan

March 12 2018

 

Brexit March 8 2018

Brexit
Once again, yesterday, Donald Tusk, European Council President, reiterated his view that Britain must be made to pay for wanting to leave the E.U. He claims, rightly, that the E.U. will be considerably poorer after its second biggest net contributor leaves so there is no way the E.U. will allow Britain not to pay through the nose for its decision. Many Europeans agree with this view. After all, they say, Britain chose to leave the E.U. so why should we make it easy for them. What they and many other people fail to realize is that with its declared aim to convert the E.U. into a super state, it has changed from a simple trading group into an unelected, un-audited behemoth with rules that are very much not in Britain’s interest. For example, because of the way the U.K. funds the NHS and the way it is free at the point of access for all U.K. citizens as well as the many visitors who come to the U.K. specifically to make use of that free access, a form of health-care funding that is unique in Europe, we, as citizens, are penalized twice for the free-for-all the NHS has become; first because of its high cost we have to fund; and second because of the restricted access such high demand causes. We pay massively but we still have to wait for that live-saving operation.
I’m sure we can all remember David Cameron rushing to Europe to try to persuade the E.U. to modify some of its rules to limit the damaging effects they were having on Britain so that British citizens would not vote to leave. He was sent packing with nothing even though when he returned home he tried to pretend he had achieved his primary aim. The E.U. has consistently opposed any changes to its rules that would reduce the harm done to Britain. Even now, when it is clear that not only Britain will suffer by a strict adherence to those rules but the E.U. will as well, they still refused to make those changes.
I think it must be clear to any rational person by now that the idea some remainers put forward that it would be better to change the E.U. from within than to try to do it from outside, was whistling in the wind. The central clique within the E.U. is determined to make Britain suffer, even if it is to the detriment of the E.U.
If the last twenty months has shown anything, it has shown the E.U. in its true colours. If it was not clear to some twenty months and more ago what a mean-minded, mean-spirited bunch they are, it must be abundantly clear to everyone now, including many Europeans who must be watching the slow progress of Brexit with considerable interest, not to say incredulity.

Posted 8 March 2018

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