[This is the seventh of a series of articles giving a brief
description of each of the 26 ancient Anglican cathedrals coupled with a sketch
of a person, activity or institution connected to the area]
Salisbury Cathedral
in Wiltshire is one of the loveliest sights in England. Whilst most English
cathedrals are in a hotchpotch of styles, the main part of Salisbury was built in 38 years in the Early
English manner between 1220 and 1258. The glorious Decorated Gothic spire,
together with the tower, cloisters and chapter house, were completed in 1380.
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| Salisbury Cathedral |
Its artistic unity is apparent in the nave with pier after
pier of Early English arcading in Purbeck marble giving grandeur (though
critics talk of monotony) to the building.
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| The Nave |
The harmonious proportions of Salisbury are the key to its charm.
Externally too the old churchyard was swept away by Wyatt in 1790 and a vast
expanse of lawn laid down, hugely enhancing the setting with green space. The
cathedral has its treasures: the chapter
house, decorated by William Burges with biblical figures in 1855, holds the
best-preserved of four surviving copies of the Magna Carta of 1215. The
cathedral also has the oldest working example in the world of a mechanical
clock, dating from 1380.
The beautiful 80-acre Cathedral Close has fine medieval and
Georgian houses, among them Arundells, the
home of Sir Edward Heath for the last 20 years of his life.
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| Arundells at Salisbury Cathedral Close |
-----------------------------
“I have no small-talk and Peel has no manners” confessed the
Tory Duke of Wellington
in 1837, two accomplishments one would think any ambitious politician required.
Edward Heath (1916-2005) had neither
small-talk nor manners, yet somehow he managed gracelessly to climb the
slippery pole and became Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975 and
Prime Minister of Britain between 1970 and 1974.
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| Heath the politician |
To be fair, Heath was in his prime, a civilised, clever and
intelligent person. The son of a Broadstairs, Kent, carpenter, Heath progressed
from a grammar school to an organ scholarship at Balliol
College, Oxford, where he read politics, philosophy
and economics. A fine debater, he became President of the Union
in 1937. During WW2 Heath commanded an anti-aircraft and artillery battery,
seeing action in Liverpool and in NW Europe,
demobilised as a Lt-Colonel.
He entered parliament in 1950 as MP for Bexley, progressing
through the ranks to become MacMillan’s Chief Whip, later joining the cabinet
as Minister of Labour. He became Lord Privy Seal in 1960 charged with
negotiating Britain’s entry
to the European Common Market; de Gaulle’s veto of Britain’s application in 1963 was a
bitter set-back. Yet when Sir Alec Douglas-Home resigned the Tory leadership in
1965, Heath won the party election. He was seen as a modern figure after a
grouse-moor generation. Moreover Heath was cultivated; a keen musician, playing
the piano well and latterly conducting, less well; he also was a world-class
yachtsman. Despite these qualities, Heath lacked the common touch. His bonhomie
seemed feigned and satirists enjoyed his strangulated vowel-sounds where “out”
became “eout” and his yacht Morning Cloud “Cleoud”.
Against expectations, Heath won the general election in 1970
but his ministry had mixed success. The coinage was finally decimalised (to the
relief of bamboozled European and US visitors) and local government
with its borders were reorganised (breaking many prized historic links). Most
significantly, Britain at
last joined the European Economic Community in
1973. It was sold as simply joining a customs union: Heath and the political
classes generally played down or concealed the centralising and integrationist ambitions
of Brussels.
EEC entry was portrayed as a leap forward and was popular. In retrospect, many
now believe it went against the grain of British interests and national
independence.
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| Heath signs the EEC Accession Treaty in 1973 |
The management of the economy was inconsistent. Supposedly
the apostle of the so-called Selsdon programme of fiscal austerity, after an
early squeeze, Heath soon went on a welfare spending binge. On the sudden death
of talented Iain Macleod, Heath appointed Anthony Barber Chancellor (Harold
Wilson quipped that he never knew Heath had a sense of humour!) and there
followed the “Barber Boom”, a highly inflationary dash for growth, which soon
had to be curbed. The trades unions campaigned fiercely against new laws to
control them and two miners’ strikes were damaging, the second leading to the
Three-Day Week of national power cuts. Heath called and lost an election in
February 1974: Labour formed a minority government and narrowly won a second
election in October. In February 1975 the Tories chose Margaret Thatcher as
their Leader and Heath was dumped. He was 59.
The British dislike a bad loser and Heath forfeited any
residual public affection by embarking on “The Great Sulk” lasting at least
until Thatcher left office in 1990. He gave her no credit for her considerable
achievements, keeping up a cantankerous stream of criticism from the sidelines.
Bitterness, lack of generosity and imagined grievance possessed him.
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| Heath eyes Thatcher suspiciously |
Heath’s enemies made sure tales of his crassness circulated.
After his campaign bus had a minor accident, shaking up a lady media person,
Heath called for brandy; when it came he drank it all himself! He would pour
himself tea and eat biscuits but omit to offer either to visitors. His bachelor
misogyny was legendary; at a dinner party he would often talk across and
completely ignore the lady seated beside him. He never married although he was
a close friend of the distinguished concert pianist Moura Lympany; friends
expected them to marry but Heath never made a move. When another prospective
bride was asked if cold Heath showed her affection, she answered “He once put
his arm around me”. In the current Jimmy Savile feeding frenzy, wild
allegations of Heath’s predatory homosexuality and even paedophilia fill the
cyberspace. I give them no credence, believing Heath to have been asexual. He was
certainly a Grumpy, but probably not a Dirty, Old Man.
His treatment of Arundells was deplored. Granted a 21-year
lease, a legal error allowed him to buy the freehold for £700k. He long gloated
about how he had pulled a fast one over the Dean and Chapter. He did not allow
the house to revert to Salisbury Cathedral on his death but in his vanity appointed
trustees to open it to the public as a shrine to his greatness. Lees-Milne was
sniffy about the interest of the house, filled with marine watercolours and
photos of Morning Cloud and of Heath hobnobbing with the great (Castro, Saddam
Hussein and Mao feature). The public stayed away in droves and the house closes
to the public soon and will be sold.
Alan Clark’s verdict Ted
was a rude and arrogant flobbo without an ounce of patriotism in his body was an exaggeration. Yet his
story is a sad one. He came into public life a figure of hope and energy: he
left it a pathetic curmudgeon.
SMD
28.10.12
Text Copyright: Sidney Donald 2012
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