The first day of Meteorological Spring

This week: First day of Meteorological Spring; A week of work; Research, research, research; Recipients of the Sir James Reckitt Police Medal;

It is Saturday morning and as I write this, it is raining again.

We have had six days with rain this week. Not constant rain, not much heavy rain, just six wet days, with enough precipitation to make outside work impossible.

So this week’s blog will be shorter than normal.

Not because I’ve done nothing, far from it, but because I’ve really not got a lot to report on.

I’m reminded of a very old saying, “Tis better to say nothing and be though a fool, than open your mouth and remove all doubt!”

I’ve been rewarded by a lovely display of colour outside my kitchen window as the Crocus I planted at the end of September last year (planting spring bulbs) have flowered.

I did remark then that I was hoping for spring colour, and I have not been disappointed.

There are still more bulbs and flowers to appear. It would be just nice to see some sunshine.

Today, the 1st March, is also Saint David’s Day, which is always celebrated with a host of golden daffodils. Only a lot of my “host” have not flowered!

The clay bowl I planted last autumn is also at its best at the moment and the outside planter has many more flowers than the one which has been inside and has been “forced”.

I clearly do not have the “hot house” conditions needed to persuade bulbs to flower early and in profusion.

First day of Meteorological Spring

There has to be international standards so that there can be some comparison, however there is a huge difference in plant development, even over short distances.

In the northern hemisphere, Meteorologically speaking, the 1st March is the first day of Spring. The 1st June is the first day of Summer, the 1st September, the first day of Autumn and the 1st December, the first day of winter.

But therein lies the difference. Here in Dol, we are at the very northern edge of what is a “tropical” climate. So I can grow bananas, oranges and passionfruit alongside apples and pears.

My Strelitzia (Bird of Paradise) plant survives outside, but doesn’t flower much because the winters are just a little too cold.

Conversely, my Buddleja (butterfly bush) survives but doesn’t flower much because the summer’s are too hot and dry. So we are also on the edge of the “temperate” climate zone too.

Spring started here in January and is already well advanced. My plum trees have finished flowering this week, and the ground around them looks as though it is covered in snow as all the blossom petals fall.

The 50 mm or 50 litres per m² of rain this week has been most welcome, even if it has prevented outside work.

The Mediterranean “cool and wet” winter season runs from November to March, so we are approaching the end now. The previous few winters have been extremely wet in November and December and then dry in February and March, leading to a very long, dry late spring and early summer.

This year the wet February with 132 mm is well over recent years. As we go into the 2025 growing season, my soils are waterlogged which for once is no bad thing.

Even so we are still below the winter average precipitation amount.

Looking at the temperature charts, February has been cold too, but the temperatures are at last rising…

A week of work

This week I’ve been able to lay some more cardboard in the orchards, as weed suppressant matting, between the showers.

For a while I have been storing cardboard in the courtyard. The effect of this has been two-fold.

Importantly, it has made my courtyard resemble “Steptoe’s Yard”, those infamous TV ‘rag and bone’ men.

Secondly, while the courtyard has not looked at all pretty, in fact completely the opposite, it has formed a useful storage area.

I want to clear the courtyard, but to do that I need some nice weather. Not necessarily warm (although that would help), but dry weather is essential.

I have made some progress and did a run to the recycling centre with plastic which I have also been storing in the courtyard, so at the end of this week, I can see progress. BUT (note my capitalisation!), there is a lot more that I need to do…

Research, research, research

Not everyone is interested in history, however regular readers of this blog know my interest in history generally, but also specifically police history.

The rain has allowed me to do some lengthy research into some of the items in my memorabilia collection.

Several followers of this blog also share this interest, so please indulge me and let me share some of what I have discovered this week.

Some of the results have been published on the Yorkshire Police History and Virtual Police Museum group .

One item I have is a small maroon case containing a medallion awarded to Detective Sergeant John Prince in 1909.

I only had some vague knowledge about these medallions. However after a lot of reading, I’ve found most of the information, including a lot of newspaper clippings from the British Newspaper Archive.

Medals were awarded retrospectively for the previous year. On 21st September 1910, the first medal was awarded to Detective Inspector John Prince. This is his medal.

John Prince was appointed as PC 237 in the Hull Borough Police on the 8th March 1887. Hull did not receive “City” status until 1897.

In February 1895 he was awarded a “merit stripe” for arresting some notorious burglars and placing them before the court.

PC Prince joined the Detective Department in April 1897 and in February 1904 he was promoted to Detective Sergeant. In April 1910, Detective Sergeant Prince was promoted to Detective Inspector.

During his career he received many commendations for excellent work from the Watch Committee, the Hull Stipendiary Magistrate and by Justices of the Peace.

John had been born in Thornton-le-Dale, near Scarborough, in 1865. He had joined the Hull Police aged 22. He lived with his wife Louisa, son and two daughters at 23, Albert Avenue, Anlaby Road. His home there still exists.

In the 1881 Census he is shown as a Farm Servant (indoor), at West Hesslerton, Malton. In the 1921 Census he is shown as a Retired Detective Inspector and is living at 31, Salisbury Street, Hull with his wife and son John and daughter Louisa.

He died at home at 1, Westfield Lane, Swanland on Saturday 23rd December 1939.

Recipients of the Sir James Reckitt Police Medal

In 1923 recipients were authorised to wear a silver badge on their uniforms, however no details of the badge or any examples have survived.

From the minutes of the Watch Committee it seems that picking out an annual recipient became more and more difficult, especially as the strength of the force increased towards 500 men. In 1908 it had been just 380 men.

At the Watch Committee meeting on 23rd June 1936, it was revealed that the Sir James Reckitt medal fund now stood at just £4. 16s 6d.

In March 1939, the Watch Committee discussed dispensing with the annual awarding of the medal and had approached Sir James’ son with a view to changing the presentation.

Later, on 25th August 1939, the Hull Daily Mail revealed that Sir Philip Reckitt had arranged for the transfer of funds from the medal account to the police sports club, to help fund the new pavilion which had been opened by Mrs. Arnold Reckitt. One of the rooms inside was named after Sir James Reckitt.

And so, the annual awarding of a solid gold medal ceased.

There have been 29 recipients of the medal, but there is no central register of who received it. The names have been obtained from period Newspaper articles, however five recipients are unknown. Three medals were awarded to members of the Police Fire Brigade (PFB) prior to 1916.
PC Michael Hynes was a police fireman in 1911, so probably the 1912 and 1914 recipients were also police firemen.

The Hull City Watch Committee minutes are not yet available on-line. The number of medals which still exist are unknown.

Year on the medal Name Number Date joined the force

1909 John Prince                PC237 08/03/1887
1910 Michael Hynes PFB    PC164 11/11/1895
1911
1912 G E W Mulford            PC331 30/09/1901
1913
1914 John R Danby             PC24     ??
1915
By 1916 three PFB men received the award
1916 Alfred Storr                  PC51 23/03/1899
1917 John Lynas                  PC223 22/11/1913
1918 Richard Cleveland       PC42 15/01/1900
1919 Arthur Featherstone     PC165 05/03/1909
1920 Francis George Benson Arton    PC368 10/06/1907
1921 Arthur Hopper               PC209 11/04/1902
1922 William Joseph Hunter  PC403 02/03/1912
1923 Sidney Brown                PC432 16/03/1914
1923 Wearing of silver badge on uniform was approved
1924 William Joseph Hunter   PC403 02/03/1912
1925 Edward Dobson              PC 325 30/09/1901
1926 George Ernest Rylands   PFB PC121 12/10/1903
1927 Bernard Gawar Robinson PC443 06/09/1920
1928 Harold Scarff                     PC191 02/04/1910

1929 Charles Henry Wright Dossor PC51 05/12/1914
1930 James Albert Armitage      PC291 08/08/1921
1931 William Ewart Kirby           PC241 10/09/1919
1932
1933 Walter West                        PC101 05/03/1919
1934 Frederick Barker                 PC 104 06/04/1915
1935
1936 Alfred Leonard Barker         PC283 06/03/1924
1937 Robert Johnson                   PC262 16/09/1919
1938 No further awards