Simon Hird

Congratulations @simon_schama for your win of a @BAFTA: Specialist factual •WINNER: Simon Schama: The Road To Auschwitz (BBC Two) @BBCTwo

1/72 @finemolds_news F-4J Phantom with @Reskit_official armament. This was a lovely kit to build #JustForFunScaleModels

WHAT A WIN THAT IS 👏👏

@soave1000 @LydiaJane13 @April_1970s @Katieci @KatieMagnet @burbridge_stu @KenWargames @simes2020 @oerdunn @Karl_Reid @adiebond46 @CeriTho25683386 @Gliderpilot44 @njg330 @AlanTaylor168 @RedFiveModels @AntonyRowntree @HistoryPegg @peterfinch46 @Franksaunders21 Curry tonight, a good friend’s wedding tomorrow and they now have sunshine ☀️ forecast after fearing rain all week. Have a great weekend everyone

This is Serious Jockin @LydiaJane13 @April_1970s @Katieci @KatieMagnet @burbridge_stu @KenWargames @simes2020 @oerdunn @Karl_Reid @adiebond46 @CeriTho25683386 @Gliderpilot44 @njg330 @AlanTaylor168 @RedFiveModels @AntonyRowntree @HistoryPegg @peterfinch46 @Franksaunders21

@SeaSpitfires Tartan battle dress ‘trews’ - that’s a new one

😭

My monologue from today’s The Times at One with Andrew Neil @TimesRadio ROYAL NAVY RIP While US destroyers duke it out with Iranian navy fast boats over the Strait of Hormuz, we learned yesterday that the Royal Navy’s HMS Iron Duke, a Type 23 frigate, was being withdrawn from active service, despite a recent £100m five-year refit, which suggests that was largely a waste of money.  More important, it underlines the stark reality that we no longer have a functioning navy.  That’s right. The country of Rule Britannia, which once had the most powerful navy in the world, capable of protecting an empire which covered a quarter of the globe, no longer has a navy worthy of the name.   For the factual basis of what I’m about to say, I am indebted to Britsky, who posts important naval data on X and has become the reliable go-to source for information on our disappearing Navy.  HMS Iron Duke joins another ageing Type 23, HMS Richmond, in retirement. Leaving the Royal Navy with just five frigates to monitor Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic and other Russian activity in the Channel.  Even that doesn’t reveal the full, desperate picture. Of the five frigates still supposedly available for service, one, HMS Kent, has been almost 750 days in refit and is not available for service. HMS Portland and HMS St Albans have also been laid up for some time.  Only HMS Somerset is currently deployed and HMS Sutherland could be, pretty quickly. So the Royal Navy can call on the immediate services of only two of the five frigates we have, all dating from the 1990s.  What about the more powerful Type 45 destroyers? Sad to relate the picture is even bleaker. There are only six. One, HMS Dragon, has been deployed to the East Mediterranean to protect Cyprus, though that took some time.  Another, HMS Daring, has been in refit for 3,260 days and still not available for duty. HMS Defender has been out of action for over 1,000 days, HMS Diamond for just under 700 days. HMS Dauntless is in maintenance. Other than Dragon, out of our six destroyers, only HMS Duncan could be deployed quickly.  What about our hugely expensive, powerful Astute class submarines? Better you don’t ask. We have only five — and only one, HMS Anson, is on active service somewhere in the Indian Ocean.  The other four — Astute, Ambush, Artful and Audacious — have been laid up for a total of 4,000 days. That’s right 4,000 days. HMS Ambush alone has been inactive for 1,400 days. It’s currently laid up on the River Clyde.  So the currently deployable, conventional Royal Navy, excluding the ancient, creaking subs carrying our nuclear deterrent, amounts to two frigates, two destroyers and one sub. That’s not a navy for a maritime nation. That’s a joke.  Yes, we have two big aircraft carriers too. They also seem to spend a lot of time in maintenance, which is where they are at the moment. But both could currently be deployed pretty quickly, which is an improvement. But we don’t have the frigates or destroyers to form a carrier fleet. So they can only be used in concert with better equipped allies.  We might be short of fighting ships. But we’re not short of admirals. We currently have around 30 rear admirals or above, which works out around four per deployable ship. That’s admirals. Not captains.  None, of course, of this bloated top brass has been held accountable for the near disappearance of our naval power. Nor have any Tory politicians who for 14 years presided over our navy’s degradation. Nor is the current Labour government in any apparent hurry to put matters right. Our airforce and army are in no great shapes either. But it is the state of our non-navy, an integral, vital part of our island history, which is the real national scandal.  And, as is so often the case in modern Britain, nobody is held to account. Nobody forced to carry the can. Nobody making it their mission to put it right. And that is the real national disgrace.

@simes2020 I hope you had snorkers for lunch

Sink the Bismarck on Film 4 at 1445hrs this afternoon. Think I will have to wear the proper attire whilst watching. Marvellous!!

#bbcf1 more JPM please!

@Alscalemodels @GoodwoodMC @GoodwoodRRC Or would sir prefer it in red?

@uk08462 @GoodwoodMC @GoodwoodRRC That delta 😍

The first #BreakfastClub of the year at @GoodwoodMC My little Elan in some very exotic company @GoodwoodRRC

Thank you @AndrewMarr9

Remembering the late Alex Zanardi ❤️ Andrew Frankel - “Not just a fine racing driver, but a simple extraordinary human being.” (November 2020, Motor Sport) Damien Smith - “The most impressive man I’ve ever met.” - October 2016 issue of Motor Sport Magazine Zanardi not only won two IndyCar (CART) titles in 1997 and 1998, he bagged six Paralympic medals (four gold, two silver), 18 Para-cycling Road World Championship medals (12 gold, five silver and one bronze) and scored four World Touring Car Championship victories between 2005 and 2009. Legendary.

@NoContextDutch1 I did and loved every minute of it

If you could live in Amsterdam for one year, would you ?

The incomperable #alexzanardi

His two stints in F1 disappointed, but he was awesome in an Indycar. His accident in Germany was horrific, but he rose above his disability to win Olympic gold medals in both London and Paris. A truly inspiring man, RIP Alex Zanardi

I am very sad to hear this. I knew his last accident was bad as he’s not been seen in public since. A truly inspirational man who I deeply admired #alexzanardi bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1…

@Gliderpilot44 Time for a brew then 🫖

Off to remind the Americans that DUKE forces didn’t always stop fighting to drink tea. Little miffed about the weather. Really? 😡 second day of May and it’s 41F.

Superb customer service from @Reskit_official who replaced both Sparrow and Sidewinder sets FOC. Thank you #SlavaUkraïni

@Reskit_official help! I am having major issues with my AIM-7F parts. I’ve tried using a craft saw and a knife but the parts keep breaking. I thought the R2 parts were difficult but the R3 parts have been a disaster. What can I do?

@chrisshipitv @BeaverWestminst How wrong was I. King Charles was a tour de force throughout the visit.

@chrisshipitv @BeaverWestminst The King should cancel the visit now

Donald Trump says he will raise ‘everything’ with King next week, including Iran war, digital services tax, Falkland Islands. (Perhaps someone should remind the President that King Charles has no executive power & is not in charge of the government 🤷‍♂️) itv.com/news/2026-04-2…

@simes2020 @WeHaveWaysPod What a fabulous duffle. Always wanted one

The recent focus on the senior service by the @WeHaveWaysPod team has led to an important purchase..... Not quite Cruel Sea weather tho!