Regret the Error

The caption to a photograph in G2 (Say cheese!, page 6, July 29) of the Labour politician Clement Attlee, who subsequently became prime minister, and his wife Violet on holiday in 1938, said it was “a nice touch” to have the wife at the helm. The phrase “at the helm” implied she was steering, whereas in fact, as the picture showed, she was wielding the oars, propelling the boat rather than steering it. The steering would have been entrusted to one of the women in the bow of the boat, possibly the one in the picturesque hat. Link

A follow-up correction:

More jolly boating: the caption to a photograph in G2 (Say cheese!, page 6, July 29) showed the Labour politician Clement Attlee and his wife Violet on holiday in 1938. They were in a boat, and the caption said it was “a nice touch” to see her at the helm. A correction in this column on July 31 said that since she was rowing rather than steering she was not “at the helm” and the steering appeared to be in the hands of one of two women in the bow of the boat. These two women were in fact in the stern, not the bow. It has also been pointed out that boats of this kind frequently had no rudder, so perhaps Violet Attlee was, after all, steering simply by using the oars. Link