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| Rockall, the guano-stained speck that continues to exert an allure | Rockall, the guano-stained speck that continues to exert an allure |
| (4 months later) | |
| We sped across the planet To find this lump of granite One rather startled Gannet In fact, we found Rockall – Flanders and Swann | We sped across the planet To find this lump of granite One rather startled Gannet In fact, we found Rockall – Flanders and Swann |
| Last week the conditions around Rockall were average for the time of year. The wind was gusting at 34 knots and the Atlantic swell would have been 30ft (9 metres) or more. | Last week the conditions around Rockall were average for the time of year. The wind was gusting at 34 knots and the Atlantic swell would have been 30ft (9 metres) or more. |
| Anyone who tried to land on its slimy, guano-stained flanks would have been dashed against its granite sides. Rockall repels boarders but attracts adventurers, governments, sailors, environmentalists and explorers. According to the Rockall Club, there have been under 30 recorded landings on what is known as one of the most isolated specks of rock surrounded by water anywhere on Earth. | Anyone who tried to land on its slimy, guano-stained flanks would have been dashed against its granite sides. Rockall repels boarders but attracts adventurers, governments, sailors, environmentalists and explorers. According to the Rockall Club, there have been under 30 recorded landings on what is known as one of the most isolated specks of rock surrounded by water anywhere on Earth. |
| St Brendan saw it in the seventh century but of the 75 or so people thought to have landed since, fewer than 60 may have stood on its 70ft high peak, and under 12 may have spent the night. It compares with the moon, on which only 12 people have walked and a handful have spent more than 24 hours. The easy way on to what the Labour peer Lord Kennet in 1971 called the most "desolate, despairing and awful" place in the world is by helicopter. | St Brendan saw it in the seventh century but of the 75 or so people thought to have landed since, fewer than 60 may have stood on its 70ft high peak, and under 12 may have spent the night. It compares with the moon, on which only 12 people have walked and a handful have spent more than 24 hours. The easy way on to what the Labour peer Lord Kennet in 1971 called the most "desolate, despairing and awful" place in the world is by helicopter. |
| Ben Chilcott led a Royal Navy landing in 1974 to establish for Trinity House why the navigational light installed on the rock by army engineers a few years earlier had failed. "The sea was calm and there was little wind, but the navy, for safety reasons, wanted two Sea King helicopters. Myself, a photographer and two technicians from HMS Tiger were winched down and quickly found that giant waves had smashed the light. We had to be very careful," he said this week. | Ben Chilcott led a Royal Navy landing in 1974 to establish for Trinity House why the navigational light installed on the rock by army engineers a few years earlier had failed. "The sea was calm and there was little wind, but the navy, for safety reasons, wanted two Sea King helicopters. Myself, a photographer and two technicians from HMS Tiger were winched down and quickly found that giant waves had smashed the light. We had to be very careful," he said this week. |
| Rockall's fascination, says the retired lieutenant commander, lies in is its utter remoteness and strategic importance. "It's a long way from nowhere. It's the only pinnacle above sea level for hundreds of miles in any direction. Ships have crashed on to it and killed people, so there was a rationale for putting a light on it. But to my mind [this] was pretty stupid. The greater rationale was the UK's annexation of Rockall in 1955," says Chilcott. | Rockall's fascination, says the retired lieutenant commander, lies in is its utter remoteness and strategic importance. "It's a long way from nowhere. It's the only pinnacle above sea level for hundreds of miles in any direction. Ships have crashed on to it and killed people, so there was a rationale for putting a light on it. But to my mind [this] was pretty stupid. The greater rationale was the UK's annexation of Rockall in 1955," says Chilcott. |
| That landing by marines, possibly Britain's last act of imperial expansion, has proved far-sighted. Ireland, Iceland and Denmark, on behalf of the Faroes, had all previously claimed the rock but no one had ever formally raised a flag. Britain's excuse for grabbing Rockall is still clouded in mystery, but it was early on in the cold war and there were fears that the Soviets would somehow use it as a spy station. | That landing by marines, possibly Britain's last act of imperial expansion, has proved far-sighted. Ireland, Iceland and Denmark, on behalf of the Faroes, had all previously claimed the rock but no one had ever formally raised a flag. Britain's excuse for grabbing Rockall is still clouded in mystery, but it was early on in the cold war and there were fears that the Soviets would somehow use it as a spy station. |
| According to a letter from the Foreign Office last year, Britain maintains that no one now disputes its claim of ownership. But Denmark has lodged a formal claim with the UN for thousands of square miles of the seabed surrounding the rock, and the four countries each claim the oil and gas rights – potentially worth billions. Rockall would be Scotland's farthest-flung territory should the Scots gain independence. | According to a letter from the Foreign Office last year, Britain maintains that no one now disputes its claim of ownership. But Denmark has lodged a formal claim with the UN for thousands of square miles of the seabed surrounding the rock, and the four countries each claim the oil and gas rights – potentially worth billions. Rockall would be Scotland's farthest-flung territory should the Scots gain independence. |
| Its history is as colourful as the skies above it are mostly grey. It has been mistaken for a German submarine (and nearly rammed), an iceberg, a sailing ship and a whale. A merchant ship, thinking it was an enemy vessel, ordered it to surrender in the first world war before opening fire. Its nearby reef has claimed hundreds of lives. | Its history is as colourful as the skies above it are mostly grey. It has been mistaken for a German submarine (and nearly rammed), an iceberg, a sailing ship and a whale. A merchant ship, thinking it was an enemy vessel, ordered it to surrender in the first world war before opening fire. Its nearby reef has claimed hundreds of lives. |
| Greenpeace, which occupied the islet for 40 days in 1997, renamed it the People's Republic of Rockall as a protest against oil and gas exploration in the surrounding seas, and its climbers are believed to have removed the 1955 brass plaque claiming it for Britain and placed it on Nelson's column in Trafalgar Square. | Greenpeace, which occupied the islet for 40 days in 1997, renamed it the People's Republic of Rockall as a protest against oil and gas exploration in the surrounding seas, and its climbers are believed to have removed the 1955 brass plaque claiming it for Britain and placed it on Nelson's column in Trafalgar Square. |
| The adventurer Ben Fogle failed to land but stuck a Post-it note on it claiming it as his fiefdom, while many bands, novelists, cartoonists and comedians, including Tony Hancock, Flanders and Swann and Steve Bell, have referred to it more rudely. | The adventurer Ben Fogle failed to land but stuck a Post-it note on it claiming it as his fiefdom, while many bands, novelists, cartoonists and comedians, including Tony Hancock, Flanders and Swann and Steve Bell, have referred to it more rudely. |
| On Friday, the chances of a Rockall landing are improving. According to the shipping forecast for sea area Rockall, the islet could expect wind "west or south-west four or five, rain or showers moderate or good". | On Friday, the chances of a Rockall landing are improving. According to the shipping forecast for sea area Rockall, the islet could expect wind "west or south-west four or five, rain or showers moderate or good". |
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