This North Wales line opened in 1858. It was closed to passengers in 1955 and to freight in 1962. You can read its history on the Rhyl History Club site and on the Corwen station page on Disused Stations.
If you didn't already know, February marks LGBT History Month. The idea behind the month is to reflect on the history of the LGBT community but also to celebrate the community's diversity and how it has evolved from a small movement to now a global phenomenon! The guys at Carvaka have decided to mark the month by producing an infographic celebrating all that is great about the LGBT community. As you will see, it features some of the community's most successful members, inspirational quotes and even LGBT monuments. So take a moment and enjoy the infographic which really does highlight ...
Fri 10th
21:01
Conservative councillor in "Donald Trump-style rant" says "I'm not giving my pay rise back"
Note to local councillors: do not get on the wrong side of the local paper. Here is the Surrey Comet: Councillor David Barnard, who received a basic allowance of £4,500, along with a 'Special Responsibility Allowance' of £7,875, as well as claiming 'Travel and Subsistence' expenses of a further £1,426.65 for the tax year 2015/16 derisively slammed public opinion tonight calling for him and fellow Conservative councillors to return the money in Letchworth. In an astonishingly angry diatribe Mr Barnard, who represents the ward of Hitchwood, Offa and Hoo, shouted loudly, pointed aggressively and threateningly during his rant - stunning ...
Fri 10th
19:09
Train Guards – No not another rant about their proposed loss on Merseyrail but an amusing asid...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAByjomVFvw Click on the link above to see the video Yes I realise that the youtube video is in fact an advert but have a go and watch it; it will make you smile. And it reminds me of the train guard who used to work on the Liverpool – Southport Line and who would make amusing announcements, read out a bit of news etc. He was, I thought, a one off but maybe not. It goes back a few years now but I also recall that the Merseyrail franchise operator of the day tried to have him shut up ...
If the plan was going to work, then it was going to happen sooner rather than later... and sure enough today the first deliverer came back. "I have just had a mouthful from a resident complaining about the number of leaflets from the Liberal Democrats." We have we think reached the tipping point of recognition from the electorate. Dr Zulfiqar Ali is a former City councillor here in Hanley, Etruria and Shelton, he knows the city well and lives in it, and he has a strong and positive recognition amongst voters here. Now our literature and canvassing campaign has broken ...
Our sixth update from the LDV Fantasy Football League. Congratulations to Richard Morris, our Manager of the Month for January. His Armchair Villa scored an impressive 257 points, just edging out David Cape's Rose United (256) and Nick Davies's Wenger's 2nd XI (255). Here's the overall league table: There are 201 players in total and you can still join the league by clicking here. * Stephen was Editor (and Co-Editor) of Liberal Democrat Voice from 2007 to 2015, and writes at The Collected Stephen Tall.
It has been a bit of a train wreck so far, hasn't it? However, whilst the air of chaos that surrounds the new incumbent in the White House shows no signs of abating, he is getting a worrying amount done. And, if you're a European or even British, what he has done so far is cause for some perturbation. On trade, whilst there are perhaps grounds for axing the Trans Pacific Partnership, in doing so the way he has, he has undermined key relationships in a volatile region, where China seeks to maximise its power, soft and hard. If the ...
How much should a political party set out who it would and wouldn't work with after an election? And is too strict a statement ultimately disrespecting the wishes of the voters?I was prompted to wonder this following a packed public meeting in Lewes last week at which I shared a platform with Caroline Lucas, Sue Goss and the Guardian columnist Rafael Behr. We were discussing how Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens could work together to offer a progressive alliance as a genuine compassionate alternative to the Conservatives.Right at the end of the meeting, Caroline Lucas chastised Tim Farron for failing ...
Fri 10th
14:30
The national treasure that is the British Library - all done in the best PAASSIBLE taste
Embed from Getty Images A few years after broadcasting genius Kenny Everett died, I remember reading that he left his tape collection to the National Sound Archive. This sounded wonderful, but I didn't envisage having the time to ever sample these tapes and I imagined that it would involve a trip to a chilly warehouse in Sutton Coldfield. After a little Googling, I found that the National Sound Archive is part of the British Library. Their large building is just next to St Pancras Station in London, coincidentally just a stone's throw from where Kenny Everett broadcast much of his ...
What's this about then? On the 8th of February, Labour MPs backed the Conservatives in voting to trigger Article 50, the start of the formal process of Britain leaving the European Union. So what? Well, they did so even though Theresa May has chosen to pursue a hard Brexit, which will mean ripping Britain out of [...]
Embed from Getty Images On Monday night, the National Liberal Club was the august venue for the AGM of the Liberal Democrat History Group, followed by a talk by Ronald Porter entitled "Jeremy is innocent". The full title of the talk, which was presented personal views from Ronald Porter (who is an obituarist and food/wine writer for the Independent and other outlets) was: The life and times of Jeremy (1929-2014) and Marion Thorpe (1926-2014) by Ronald Porter with some splendid help from Duncan Brack. Michael Steed chaired the talk and Duncan Brack helped provide photographs for it. All in all, ...
I arrived late for the January Lydiate Parish Council Neighbourhood Planning meeting but in time to hear a Labour Parish Councillor giving Independent Sefton Councillor Pat O'Hanlon (who represents western Maghull & Lydiate) the benefit of his advice. Incidentally the Labour Parish Councillor giving the 'advice' lost in last May's Sefton Council elections to the very person he was advising. The thrust of the advice, as I heard it, was all about why Labour-run Sefton Council had to have a Local Plan and why that plan had ended up meaning that Green Belt and high grade agricultural land would end ...
I have now had a chance to read the Brexit White paper. I've read hundreds of these things in my time (not healthy I know!) and this one appears to me nowhere near as bad as the press reports would have led me to believe in terms of its general structure or presentation. More clarity does indeed emerge and some objectives can be gleaned amid the bland generality and optimistic objectives. Unfortunately the paper suffers from four major weaknesses: – The tendency to suggest that because there is a mutual interest in succeeding between the UK and the EU, say ...
[IMG: C4QjoSZWYAImS21] Oh what a night! Two more gains for the Lib Dems on huge swings in Norfolk and Gloucestershire alongside a very creditable result in Essex where we hadn't stood last time. In Fairford North, Cotswold District, Lib Dem Andrew Doherty gained a seat from the Tories on a massive 30% swing. This follows hot on the heels [...]
What is Trump's Aim? Alright he has answered the question. So has his press secretary Sean Spicer. It is the slogan on the baseball cap: To "make America great again." But for the life of me I can't understand how he is going to achieve that aim, especially as America already is the world's only superpower, produces the lion's share of the world's wealth and has one the world's highest standards of living. How great can a country be? Setting all that aside, how does the slogan translate into policy? What is required in the Trump playbook to re-achieve American ...
Why Diane Abbott was right to tell David Davis to fuck off Nobody seems to listen when women say this, so here's a man saying it. Rupert Murdoch sat in on the Gove/Trump interview is anyone really surprised by these things any more? [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
When Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party, despite not liking his politics I thought it would be genuinely exciting to have a real maverick heading the opposition. I figured having someone who spoke their minds freely, a sort of Farage of the Left, would introduce an interesting dynamic into British politics. Not that it isn't before time, but surely now everyone can drop the pretence that Corbyn is a deeply principled chap who just can't help but follow his heart. The guy has triangulated like mad since September 2015. Just because you do something really, really badly does ...
So following my last post about Rt. Hon. Heidi Allen's rather poor (IMO) response to concerned constituents, the Article 50 bill and her intentions towards it things have moved on and we now know how the Commons reacted. So where do we stand in relation to what I had said before? Firstly, lets get the good bit over with. Heidi, thank you. True to part of your word you voted for parliament to be
On Wednesday there was the announcement that we would not take any more child refugees. Noticeable that the government released this statement the same day of the Brexit vote! And this story was not even on front pages yesterday. Lib Dems had campaigned for the UK to take 3000 unaccompanied minors. Many others lobbied, including Lord Alf Dubs, and this resulted in the so-called Dubs amendment to the Immigration Act 2016. Where is our compassion? Should we not be taking in the most vulnerable victims of horrendous conflicts that have caused children to flee their own country? This saga has ...
One of the more bizarre outcomes of this week's Brexit vote in the House of Commons is the number of Tory MPs lining up to threaten the existence of the House of Lords, despite their previous diehard defence of the second chamber in the face of many attempts to reform it. The sort of reforms that democrats have been arguing for over decades have suddenly become attractive to the Tories, not out of principle but because they may not get their way. Their previous championing of this bastion of privilege and patronage has come back to bite them. Thus in ...
At the request of residents, I have asked the City Council's Rapid Response Team to remove graffiti at the south end of Douglas Street - see below :
My campaign to be the first regional Mayor of the West of England has got off to a flying start. After the selection of weak and inexperienced candidates by the Conservatives and Labour, I've been heartened by the reaction of people saying that they are glad the Liberal Democrats have put forward a strong choice. [...]
China Woos Ivanka, Jared Kushner to Smooth Ties With Trump Adapting to the new system! (tags: Uspolitics China ) Brexit: the launch of Article 50 (PDF) More good analysis from Andrew Duff. (tags: eu ukpolitics brexit ) Ten Years of the European Research Council How Brexit is harming British science. #takingbackcontrol (tags: eu brexit ukpolitics ) Taibbi: The End of Facts in the Trump Era Brilliant as ever from Rolling Stone. (tags: )
