In 2014 I travelled on the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway. After doing so I posted an old video of the lost line from through the streets of Welshpool that once connected the line's Raven Square station with the town's mainline station. Click on the photo above to go to the BFI site and view film shot in 1960. It shows the whole line, including that abandoned section. There you will also learn about the man who shot it: Footage shot by Ion Trant, originally from Dovea Farm, Tipperary, Ireland. He farmed Maesmawr farm, Welshpool (plus the adjoining farm, Cefn ...
Earlier in the year I blogged here about the Conservative Government's controversial plan to allow fracking in the Bury area, including Whitefield. I note that our Prestwich-based Conservative candidate in the upcoming Unsworth ward local election has not said anything about this, and presumably he supports his party in their decision to allow fracking in Whitefield and perhaps even under Unsworth. Unsworth and Bury Liberal Democrats are firmly against fracking anywhere in Bury and you can still sign our petition here. With regard to building on Green Belt land in Unsworth (in particular Hollins), all three of the main political ...
What happens to MPs who lose their seats? Yesterday I blogged about a paper by Dr Peter Bull on Jeremy Corbyn and prime minister's questions. A second paper in the symposium looked at the effects of electoral defeat. Dame Jane Roberts from the Open University, a psychiatrist and former Labour leader of Camden, and the psychologist Dr Ashley Weinberg from the University of Salford, set out to answer this question. After each of the last three general elections Dr Weinberg has asked MPs from the previous parliament to complete a standard questionnaire about their psychological wellbeing. Out of 88 respondents, ...
Just a quick follow-up to the water leak I reported on Langdale Drive at the weekend. I see today that United Utilities have been out and started repair work on fixing the leak. I'll be sure to report back again once the repairs have been completed. Once again, I'd like to thank UU for their quick response and attendance.
Earlier in the month was the regular meeting of Bury's 'Full Council'. The Lib Dem Group asked our full allocation of four questions: (summaries below - full answers here) - Children in Residential Care Mary D'ALbert asked about the recent report that "Thousands of police visits 'criminalise' children in care homes", and could we be assured that children from Bury that are placed in residential care homes outside of the Borough are monitored, and are not the subject of such action. Answer: We currently have 23 young people in residential care out of approximately 300 children and young people in ...
The Government has agreed a Liberal Democrat amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill, which protects vulnerable tenants from being wrongly evicted.Under the Housing & Planning Bill, landlords get faster access to a property if they believe the tenant has abandoned it. The successful amendment requires a landlord to get in touch with a third party such as a charity, local authority or individual who has helped to pay the tenant's deposit. If the landlord gets a response that the tenant has not abandoned the property they can't change the locks and reclaim it. [IMG: Screenshot 2016-04-19 09.24.30] Lib Dem ...
Greater Manchester Waste have announced a change to the waste permitted at service Changes at the Recycling Centres (tips). From Sunday 1st May, all Recycling Centres in Greater Manchester will no longer accept cement-bonded asbestos and plasterboard/gypsum products. Alternative facilities will be provided at weighbridges. According to GM Waste, this change in service is required to ensure that these types of waste are collected and managed properly. By allowing householders to dispose of these materials at weighbridges only, we can target any potential misuse from commercial and trade activity. When the service change takes effect on 1st May, residents can ...
Embed from Getty Images Here are some paragraphs from the best case I have seen for Britain's continued membership of the European Union: In 1973 my parents held a Common Market party. They'd lived through the war, and for them it seemed a good idea to form closer ties with our endlessly troublesome neighbours. For me, however, it was a chance to make flags out of coloured felt and to eat exotic foods such as sausage and pasta. I felt very European that night, and I still do. Whether I'm sitting in a railway concourse in Brussels or pottering down ...
Police have launched a formal investigation into the election accounts of North Cornwall MP Scott Mann. A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesman said that following complaints from "a small number" of members of the public, officers had launched an inquiry into allegations that Mr Mann's declared election expenses did not portray an accurate picture of his spending. Mr Mann has vigorously denied any wrong-doing but has conceded that he did not know any details of how some of the Conservative Party campaigning in his constituency had been accounted for. The national party sent campaigners to North Cornwall in a touring ...
Just for reference, the histories are generally considered to include: King John Edward III (if counted as Shakespeare) Richard II Henry IV, Part 1 Henry IV, Part 2 Henry V Henry VI, Part 1 Henry VI, Part 2 Henry VI, Part 3 Richard III Henry VIII As previously reported, my favourite of these is Richard III. Apart from the excellent character of Richard himself, I think Margaret of Anjou is an interesting character, and it's the first history play in which we hear much from women at all. There are several remarkable scenes. The killings in the Tower, of Clarence ...
A camera shy bird in the buddleja... Self seeding bluebells from the woods... Hop vine starting to run... First signs of peony buds... New seedlings emerging (Sequoiadendron gigantea/California Giant Redwood)... Soft greens and spring sunshine... Saying goodbye to bare branches on the willow... Spotting more wildlife in the garden like this hungry wood mouse.
[IMG: In the second stage the ballots are separated by candidate] Why is it important to attend the count? Whilst your election campaign stops at 10pm on polling day, the work doesn't as there is one very important job still to do. Making sure the votes get counted properly. Election counts done so badly that the wrong result is declared are a fairly rare occurrence [...]
From the Council: Please be advised that contractors working on behalf of Transport for Greater Manchester will be undertaking maintenance work to existing road markings on A34 Kingsway, Cheadle, underneath the Etchells Road bridge. These works are scheduled to take place overnight from 8pm Friday 6th May to 5am Saturday 7th May and will require the use of temporary lane closures.
Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesman Jim Hume has said that by targeting support to GPs and mental health services, his party's ambitious plans for the NHS will make the health service in Scotland the best again. Mr Hume has criticised the SNP's boasts on their future plans for the NHS and past record, pointing out [...]
The Liverpool Echo has the latest on this rather bizarre story. Bring back Blaster Bates or Fred Dibnah? Must be a right old carry on for the poor Seaforth residents who have had their lives disrupted. [IMG: 17154559395_34a57ac232_o] By the way there's another block by Bootle Strand Railway Station that is due to meet a similar fate (see photo above – it's the unrefurbished one of course), but not too similar we all must hope?
The quote above was not actually made about the Hillsborough campaigners but I thought it was most apt when I came across it only this week when reading 'Against the Grain' by Norman Baker. The quote comes from Peter Oborne of The Spectator who reviewed the book but, as I say, I read it just as the the Inquest Jury was announcing the historic verdicts. I suppose it was just a coincidence of circumstances that I happened to pick up the book at the same time but none the less I feel that it sums up what the Hillsborough campaigners ...
Thu 28th
13:45
Even the Daily Mail thinks the Government isn't doing the right thing by child refugees
Who ever would have thought that the Daily Mail of all publications would come to the conclusion that the Government has got it wrong on helping the child refugees already in Europe? Today's editorial does repeat at length a good bit of its usual anti-immigration, anti-Merkel and anti-EU rhetoric, so you'll still need a shower after reading it. Even despite all that, it comes to this rather startling conclusion: But every sinew of our hearts tells us it's a gesture that must be made — while every child we take will mean a life of hope in place of despair. ...
The film of this came out in December 1995. I left school in September 95 and got my GCSEs in 93. The thing is I am dead set certain that Dr Liddle showed us this on video when we were doing GCSE English. Now, I know that the film is based on a stage production, and that sometimes films of stage productions are made available for use in schools - does anyone know if that happened with this? Because there are two other explanations: 1, I've gone nuts 2, Dr Liddle is/was/will be a time traveller ETA: googling for my ...
With one week to go until polling day, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie today said that the Liberal Democrat Holyrood campaign is breaking new ground as the pace of grassroots campaigning stepped up. In a change of emphasis on the campaign trail, Mr Rennie will take the election battle to Holyrood constituency seats never [...]
David Laws has been writing for Times Higher Education focussing on the worrying number of disadvantaged students dropping out of higher education: The UK government's target to double the number of disadvantaged young people going to university by 2020 is laudable. Access to higher education offers a platform for young people to succeed and is central to establishing a meritocratic society. Nevertheless, while access provides the foundations, it doesn't build the house. If we're really serious about meritocracy, we have to be ever vigilant about what happens to young people once they are at university too. The issue of retention ...
Here's the new film from the Liberal Democrats, an interview with Tim Farron talking about saving child refugees and community politics:
TIL the Hollywood sign originally read Hollywoodland 1.25 million people are destitute in the UK | JRF RT @jrf_uk: #UKdestitution - so poor you can't afford to eat properly, keep clean or stay warm and dry Twitter RT @Jack_Blanchard_: Statement from The Times: 'We made a mistake with our front page'. Never seen anything like that before Doctor's strike results in Daleks conquering the universe Still more compassionate than tories Instagram #wetnosewednesday #dogs #dogsofinstagram #sheltie #rescuedog #adoptdontshop #adorable The Dice You Never Knew You Needed - The New Yorker RT @andrewducker: The New Yorker manage to write nearly a thousand ...
WalesOnline reports some interesting comments from Jenny Randerson ahead of next week's Welsh assembly elections. Jenny said: The truth is that Labour voters can stop Ukip gaining large numbers of Assembly Members. The power, so to speak, is in their hands. Even Labour insiders know, in their heart of hearts, that it's unlikely that they will pick up regional Assembly Members. Therefore, Labour voters must consider lending their regional vote to the Welsh Liberal Democrats to stop Ukip. We are confident we can win constituency seats, but in some regions the battle for the fourth seat is between Ukip and ...
The perceptive-as-ever Rafael Behr makes a good, but subtle, point in his latest Guardian column. Many of the mistakes that the government is now making, Behr argues, are a function of the majority one-party rule that eluded David Cameron in his first term in No 10: So how is that working out? Unshackled from coalition, Cameron and George Osborne are now at liberty to find extra billions of budget savings from the benefits bill. Except in so doing, they managed to provoke conscientious rebellion on the Tory benches over tax credits, and drive Iain Duncan Smith into self-certified compassionate exile ...
One of the more ridiculous and contemptible things about Vox Day (and there are many) is that he waits to see what the results of his trolling are, and then whatever they are he says "that's what I wanted, you ... Continue reading →
By far the most amusing, and in many ways revealing, set of election interviews in the 2016 Holyrood campaign have been those carried out by Gary – Tank Commander (also known as actor Greg McHugh) for BBC2. He puts the party leaders through their paces in his own irreverent way and it is interesting to [...]
Scottish Labour are in a wee spot of bother, it is safe to say without controversy. Having been reduced from being the unquestionable top political force in Scotland to facing the prospect of coming third in the fast approaching MSP elections in a still astonishingly brief period of time remains, well, pretty astonishing. Kezia Dugdale is doing everything she can to turn the ship around, and few think anyone else could be doing a markedly better job as Scottish Labour leader (and no, Anas Sarwar would most definitely not be a step up). But the messaging mission she faces is ...
Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesman Jim Hume has said his party has a clear and costed prescription to boost primary care in Scotland after years of neglect by the SNP, as a new survey by the Royal College of GPs reveals 89% of GPs worry a lack of resources is putting patient care at risk. [...]
I'm late to the party; I was concentrating on other things Tuesday when the Hugo ballot was announced, and on the road yesterday (and have now woken early in nice hotel room). So for instant reactions, you can check out The Guardian reports; Gizmodo; John Scalzi in the LA Times; Scalzi on his own blog, and again; Jim Hines; Abigail Nussbaum; Aaron Pound; George R.R. Martin; Spacefaringkitten; Ampersand on Alas, a blog; and many more especially on File 770. Tom Mays has already withdrawn his story, "The Commuter" from consideration. "I cannot take advantage of a flaw in the current ...
The Botanic Garden is holding a garden advice clinic later today - all welcome. It takes place in the Botanic Garden's Education Centre between 2pm and 4pm. Normal Botanic Garden entrance charges apply.
Thu 28th
07:58
As doctors say that E-cigarettes should be offered to smokers will Welsh Ministers admit they were w...
Welsh Labour Ministers who tried and failed to ban e-cigarettes in public places at the end of the last Assembly term should take note of the verdict of the Royal College of Physicians before they try again after these elections. The Royal College say there is resounding evidence that e-cigarettes are "much safer" than smoking and aid quitting. In a new report they say that with the right checks and measures, vaping could improve the lives of millions of people. And as if to directly refute arguments put forward by Labour Ministers the Royal College add that fears that e-cigarettes ...
