On Guard

Today I drove to Spurn Point, the easternmost extremity of Yorkshire. I went to take photographs of wildfowl and other local fauna. They must have known I was coming because I saw a couple of bored-looking black-headed gulls and that was it.

On the way back, I spotted a defensive bunker from the early days of the Second World War, placed here to defend Spurn against a possible Nazi invasion force in 1939-40. Time and tide have taken their toll, yet still it stands (just), faithfully looking out towards the Humber estuary as it was designed to do all those years ago.

It is comforting to think that we no longer require such structures, nor will we in future; these days, we welcome our European visitors, including The Ones The Daily Mail Warned You About.