All At Sea

Having not blogged for a while I thought it was about time to write something else, but when I try to come up with something I find my mind goes blank.

So, ..….hmmm……, OK, well, ……

Right, so what do the British talk about most? Ah yes, the weather. What do many British people enjoy? How about a trip to the seaside. How is our nation’s history typically defined? As a nation of seafarers perhaps.

So then the ideal subject matter would seem to be the shipping forecast. The shipping forecast is something that perhaps escapes the attention of many, despite it’s regular broadcast, but is essential to those who use it. As a cricket fan it is something I have been aware of for many years as it always interrupts Test Match Special at six minutes to six on Radio 4 long wave.

The BBC broadcasts the shipping forecast four times every day on Radio 4. For those who are interested you can hear it at 0048, 0535, 1201 and 1754. The seas around Britain (and a little further afield) are divided into 31 regions which all have their own forecast.

The forecast begins with a general synopsis and then the regions are always broadcast in the same order, in a clockwise fashion, although if forecasts are the same in consecutive regions they will be grouped. For each region there are four elements to the forecast: wind, seas state, weather and visibility.

So, for example, today’s forecast (from 1130) would include: Dogger. Southerly or southeasterly, veering southwesterly later, 5 to 7. Slight or moderate, occasionally rough later. Occasional rain. Moderate or poor.

For completeness sake, and for those who think it might come up in a pub quiz, the 31 regions (in order) are: Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire, Forties, Cromarty, Forth, Tyne, Dogger, Fisher, German Bight, Humber, Thames, Dover, Wight, Portland, Plymouth, Biscay, Trafalgar, FitzRoy, Sole, Lundy, Fastnet, Irish Sea, Shannon, Rockall, Malin, Hebrides, Bailey, Fair Isle, Faeroes, South-east Iceland.

There is an excellent book by Charlie Connolly in which he takes a trip around the regions. The first chapter or two explain the traditions and history of the forecast itself before then becoming a travelogue of places within each area. For those interested it can be picked up quite cheaply now, and it is called Attention All Shipping. Oh, and his book Stamping Grounds is a good read too.

There we go, don’t try too hard, just search your national psyche and a post will appear!