The line from Darlington to Penrith via Barnard Castle and Kirkby Stephen East was the highest passenger railway in England. This film was shot in December 1961, a few weeks before it closed, For more on the line, watch Snowdrift at Bleath Gill,
"Manchester is my capital city. I love Manchester" - Tim Farron MP.
Today the old boy remembers a March visit to the banks of the Ouse and the Foss. Friday Were you in York for the Liberal Democrats' Spring Conference? Perhaps I met you there? It is always a pleasure to visit that historic city, take tea at Betty's and enjoy an Old Peculier in one of its many public houses. I also think of Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate whenever I am there. What a scandal that was! Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South West 1906-10. Previously in Lord Bonkers' Diary At the top of my hawking towerA hard borderFreddie and Fiona at ...
Embed from Getty Images This month's county elections left Cornwall with 46 Conservative councillors, 37 Liberal Democrats and 30 Independents. As the largest party the Conservatives had first go at putting together a ruling coalition. But, reports BBC News, their proposal was rejected by the Independents unanimously. Instead: The Liberal Democrats and independent councillors have regained joint control of Cornwall Council following two weeks of uncertainty. Adam Paynter from the Lib Dems is the new leader following a secret ballot by councillors on Tuesday. Independent councillor Julian German is to take on the role of deputy leader.The council was run ...
The murder of an innocent eight-year-old girl sets a raging fire within me. I want every Islamist extremist and their sympathisers lined up on their knees in front of me. I was to shove a cold steel barrel of a pistol into their mouths and hear them speak in vowels. Watch them stare up at me as I pull the trigger and prove to them that those virgins are not waiting for them. They had their one chance at life. These people spent it worshipping a death cult religion and stealing life from those who simply loved life. They are ...
Wed 24th
18:38
Lydiate – An NHS back water with little in the way of public transport to get to major NHS fac...
There are no GP's or dentists in Lydiate, the only dentist closed not so long ago. That in itself is unfortunate but if you look at the direct public transport links from Lydiate to the major local NHS facilities the picture is also poor. [IMG: This is me with the Lydiate & Maghull resident's petition in 2015 at a 311 bus stop in Lydiate. The petition was not collected by me I would add but by the hard work of locals concerned about the loss of this Arriva route to Ormskirk. The battle was sadly lost.] This is me with ...
Embed from Getty Images Our tenth and final update from the LDV Fantasy Football League. Congratulations to Alain Desmier, our runaway winner this season. His 'Mountgrove Maulers' have amassed a huge 2,417 points, over a hundred ahead of his nearest rival. That places Alain in the top 500 world-wide, no small achievement given there are over 4.5 million players. And on top of that, he's the Lib Dem canididate for Islington South and Finsbury, aiming to oust Emily Thornberry. Congratulations and good luck, Alain! Well played, too, runners-up Andrew Hydon (2,314) and Christopher Morgan (2,272). Here's the final top 10 ...
This is Welsh Lib Dem leader Mark Williams' statement on the Manchester attack. I am deeply shocked and saddened by the events that took place in Manchester last night, which took the lives of at least 22 people and has injured 59 more. This attack is an act of utter barbarity that was aimed directly at thousands of our children and young people." I praise the brave action of our emergency services, who acted quickly to tend to those at the Manchester Arena. As a parent myself, I can only imagine the anguish that many are feeling, and my thoughts ...
So, on Saturday, after being down in That London watching the Beach Boys and meeting up with friends for a couple of days, I decided I needed a few days without seeing any people or doing anything. Since then: I ... Continue reading →
What's this to do with? There's been a lot of talk about schools facing financial pressures and, of course, Peterborough City Council, in recent months. Sadly, the City Council and many local schools, still spend far too much time sending PDFs, "trying" to arrange meetings, acknowledging apologies and trying to get awareness for events. So, [...]
On the Times Red Box, Tim Farron has been writing about the Manchester attack: Music brings people together, often in joy, and Ariana Grande's music in particular is that infectious pop loved by children and young people. Monday's concert will have been a rhapsody of happiness, laughter and unadulterated joy. The fact that anyone would look at that and see a target for their anger and hate is monstrous. That is why this attack is of a different order, because of who the victims are. Who the attacker hoped his victims would be. It is not by chance that so ...
This is from the Letter From America of 15th March 1996, and has some pertinent things to say about responses to terrorist acts. The reference to the World Trade Center of course comes before the devastating attacks by air five years later. About the Scottish obscenity, the one certain thing I think we can say, which I admit offers bleak comfort to the parents and friends, is that absolutely nothing can be done about such sporadic horrors which are happening all across the globe. They always did, but to know about them you had to take a daily paper interested ...
The conclusion of my previous post, written a week ago, that . . . . Mrs May, far from being strong, consistent and a safe pair of hands, is a vacillating opportunist, quick to change her statements to the advantage of her party and herself. . . ., and skilful in the "dissembling and cloaking" against which she was warned in her Prayer Book upbringing is amply borne out by her volte- face on payment for social care. (For those unaware of the details, the Conservative Manifesto promised that people would have to pay in full, without limit, for any ...
Developer Cotswold Homes is asking for local people's views on a proposed housing development at Trinity Lane, off St John's Way, Chipping Sodbury (Trinity Lane is the road that goes up to the golf course) They describe their scheme like this: "A total of 60 dwellings is proposed in a mix of detached, semi-detached and terraced housing; a small number of flats and bungalows are also proposed to address local housing needs for smaller affordable, and accessible lifetime home properties" The sorts of questions they are asking are: Do you consider that open market and affordable housing are required in ...
On BBC iPlayer, history broadcaster Dan Snow takes a look at Liberal Prime Minister from 1916-1922, David Lloyd George, who was his great-great-grandfather. It's an excellent documentary, drawing on photos and footage from the era of Lloyd George's life, as well as commentary from a team of excellent historians and biographers. The programme presents all aspects of Lloyd George: his undoubted charisma, his remarkable energy and drive, his unorthodox private life and corruption. Biographer Roy Hattersley credits Lloyd George with the most achievements in the shortest amount of time of any British politician, referring to his tenure as Chancellor of ...
When Wrong Goes Right: 30 Creative Museum 404 Error Pages I love a good 404 page - the Lib Dems one is usually pretty funny, and changes regularly. Holy Molluscamony by The Stairfall Institute for the Study of Phantasms and Simulacra (@stairfallinstitute) on Game Jolt My friend made a game. I'm no good at point and click adventure games, but even I enjoyed this with it's magnificent, affectionate renditions of Calderdale and her people (and beers). A haven for heathens, hoodies & hipsters. Hijabis & Hebrews. High brow intellectuals and however-you-sexuals. It's home to all. #Manchester Beautiful photo and beautiful ...
Some years ago, fourteen to be precise, I wrote a book called Authenticity. The subtitle was 'Brands, fakes, spin and the lust for real life', which had a kind of ring to it. I've since written more in a collection of essays called The Age to Come. I was predicting the rise of a consumer revolution - real beer, real experience, real shops - which involved bending the meaning of 'real' a little. Things and services could never be wholly 'real' because such things are about travelling hopefully rather than arriving. But with those provisos, I believe I was right. ...
Wed 24th
10:14
Why I now dread what Morrissey will have to say after every horrific event we encounter
I suppose I should have been more prepared. A monumentally horrific terrorist attack occurs in the centre of Manchester, dozens of children murdered – it was very unlikely Morrissey wasn't going to have something stupid/offensive to say about it. He's become as reliable as Katie Hopkins in this regard. "In modern Britain everyone seems petrified to officially say what we all say in private. Politicians tell us they are unafraid, but they are never the victims. How easy to be unafraid when one is protected from the line of fire. The people have no such protections." He was inundated with ...
Bury School Nurses have 'gone digital' by scanning 28,000 healthcare records. (The following information is from Pennine Care NHS Trust.) The nurses, from Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, have begun putting all child health records on a secure online system to make it easier for professionals to share relevant information and provide the best possible care. The service is using a company called Restore to scan information, which is then available to be viewed by school nurses on their mobile tablets. This will mean that school nurses can access records remotely when carrying out visits without the need to return ...
Following the truly awful bomb attack on Monday night, all political parties suspended campaigning for the general election. That was the right decision - and the only decision that could be made after such an appalling and incomprehensible tragedy. The national suspension remains in place until tomorrow night at least. Local campaigning for is resuming today but will be low key for the next few days. It is important that the democratic process continues regardless of the efforts of terrorists to disrupt our society through killing and maiming. The suspension has prevented UKIP from publishing its manifesto.[1] (Since writing this ...
My poor husband doesn't get a lot in the way of post. It tends to be bills, or adverts for stair lifts or begging letters from the Liberal Democrats. The latter do not please him so I tend to intercept them so he doesn't see them. He is of the not entirely unjustified opinion that his household has more than enough disruption because of his wife's involvement in the party that they don't need his money as well. The begging letters, 3 issues of Ad Lib a year and an absent wife sum up his membership experience. That and every ...
[IMG: Bee swarm] Being a Parish Councillor you get a fair range of enquiries, but yesterday offered a new one, when someone asked me if I could do anything about the bee swarm on Sandgate High Street.... Around 9am a swarm had arrived on the High Street and parked itself on the fence of Vine Cottage, right by the pavement in the centre of the village. We need bees, but that really wasn't the right location! By 10.30 is was clear they weren't about to move of their own volition, so I got in touch with the 6th emergency service ...
From Blether Tay-Gither : Our May Blether will be on Tuesday 30th May 2017 at 7pm in Madigan's Food Emporium and Bookshop, Castle Street. The theme this month is "The rites of Spring." Hope to see some of you there - all welcome!
There was an interesting article on Buzzfeed yesterday, which reported that UK and European intelligence officials are expressing concern over the fact that much of the information that emerged in the wake of the Manchester bombing has been sourced back to US officials. They say that the information first came in the hours after the attack, including a US official saying that the leading theory was that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, and culminated in a report by CBS News and the Associated Press that cited US officials claiming to identify the suspect who is believed ...
Gran who suffered heart attack at job centre was too scared to leave as she feared losing benefits Yep. UK government war on sick and poor continues. (tags: ukpolitics )
As Monday 29th May is a Bank Holiday, bin collections are put back a day next week So, if your usual collection day is a Monday, it will be put back to Tuesday ... etc Next week is a blue ( dry recycling ) and brown ( garden waste ) bin collection week Any questions, contact Northumberland County Council or your local councillor
