13th Dec.: Lord Mayor at Stone Point
The Lord Mayor of Southampton, Councillor David Shields, visited NCI Stone Point on Friday, 13th December. The Lord Mayor is also the “Honorary Admiral of the Port”. From the Southampton Council web site:
Southampton is where, it is said, the first admiralty courts were held, soon after Henry VI’s specific grant in 1451.
These honours were bestowed to acknowledge the tremendous contribution the port had made to the country by “the eminence it had attained in overseas trade” and the Lord Mayors “Admiralty Jurisdiction” extended from Hurst Castle in the West to Langstone on the East – and included Portsmouth. Power was given to the mayor to exercise all the functions of Admiral of England within the town and port of Southampton.
As Admiral of the Port, the Lord Mayor also has their own flag, a traditional Admirals Flag of red St. George’s Cross on a white background with a black anchor motif in the canton.
I took the Lord Mayor on a “NCI Beach Walk” past the large pylon base at Stansore Point which marks the boundary of the jurisdiction for the Southampton Port Authority. In contrast, the Lord Mayor’s ancient “Admiralty Jurisdiction” extends all along the Solent from Langstone on the east to Hurst Castle in the west.
Fortunately, despite the inauspicious date of the visit, the afternoon watch proceeded smoothly without any incidents out on the water, and the Lord Mayor performed the station’s closing broadcast on the NCI VHF channel 65. After we had closed the station I provided a lift back to Southampton.