About thirty yers ago I was shooting in Hampshire and met Miles Clark. Having established that we were both brought up in Ireland, albeit on different sides of the border, he told me rather diffidently about his passion for sailing and only later I discovered he had written High Endeavours. Miles Smeeton was his godfather after whom Miles is called.
I didn’t think to read it at the time. I didn’t have much time for reading in those days and it sounded a bit specialist. I have now read it – it is a present from my co-host at the shoot. First, I think the title smacks of interference by the publisher. Like having “Sunday Times Best Seller” on the cover which always puts me off; much too Lowest Common Denominator. Secondly, It is a very good biography of this couple and their lives and adventures are extraordinary but no need to put it on the cover. It is one of the best travel books I have read to boot. Miles Smeeton’s life might have been of interest but it’s his marriage to Beryl that kick starts it. Sir Francis Chichester: “that unquenchable spirit of Beryl Smeeton comes from we know not where and goes we know not whither. It is granted to only a few in any century. One is filled with wonder and admiration and a kind of exaltation that such women should exist in our time.”
The title – the bit I like – is taken from Character of the Happy Warrior by Wordsworth. He wrote it in 1806 after Nelson’s death.
I only had the privilege of meeting Miles Clark a few times. A remarkable man. He had a great Irish story. Whilst a serving officer in the British Army, he was on leave in the family home in the North. He saw no reason to obey the rules that forbad him from crossing the border. He took himself off to walk one of the magical Donegal beaches. He thought he was alone on the five miles of sand. In the distance, another figure approached. Miles recognised the 3rd most wanted man on the RUC list of IRA terrorists. As they came closer, Miles was certain that he was identified as a British Army officer. They passed with a cordial Good Morning, a fine day. Neutral ground.
High Endeavours is a favourite book of mine.
Miles Clark made his own epic voyage in his yacht Wild Goose to the Arctic then from The White Sea through the canals and rivers of Russia to The Black Sea.
Unfortunately he suffered from depression and died young, by his own hand I believe.
Miles was a good friend and is much missed. He taught me about the “bubble of awareness” – something that we all have but the extent of that bubble varies so much. Miles’s bubble was extraordinarily large. That made him such a such good friend and so loved by all that knew him.