Embed from Getty Images Including a link to a podcast on Dickens' story The Signalman in a recent Six of the Best led me to this one. Professor Stephen Gill from Lincoln College, Oxford, gives an approachable talk about the influence the railways had on Charles Dickens' writing. The photograph above shows the aftermath of the 1865 railway accident at Staplehurst in which Dickens was himself involved. Despite my experience in the same county, I have yet to become a great novelist.
"You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think" These are the words of Marcus Aurelias, the Stoic Emperor of the Roman Empire. The words sit on the back of a coin I own from The Daily Stoic with the words "Memento Mori" on the opposite side. The idea of considering that I could leave life at any moment is a present thought for me because for me death knocks on my door once a week. I suffer from anxiety and depression and am on medication for these illnesses. But there is no ...
Mark Pack suggests 11 things to do with new Liberal Democrat members. "Militant has returned. Of course, not quite the same people. Many of the people who have joined the new Militant - Momentum - were not born then. But some are the same people with less hair and even less imagination!" Richard Kemp sees the resurgence of an old opponent in Liverpool. Carne Ross, diplomat turned philosophical anarchist, is profiled by Andrew Anthony. Michelle Sowey says teaching philosophy to children is a great idea. "'How are we Flat Earthers supposed to explain to our friends the solar eclipse in ...
Another one for the 'no things aren't far worse than they've been, you just need to remember to check the past before making claims about it' file.
OK, so I know the event last weekend at Donington Park celebrated 60, rather than 760 years of the Seven, but it's how I keep reading the logo. Sorry. In the end I only managed to attend the Friday evening event and joined a run out to Bakewell on the Saturday morning, but very enjoyable it all was. Even the ... The post 760 years of the Seven appeared first on ten pence piece.
Second paragraph of third chapter: 'Good sir', he said, 'Tourists are my friends. Permit me to welcome you to Turkey.' Another birthday present, again from Bob Hall (as part of a private joke), this was a book I had read many years ago; I must have been in the same room as the author on occasion when we were Cambridge students in intersecting circles, but don't recall ever meeting him. Since then I've read three of his other books (two hits and a miss) so it was interesting to return to my first encounter with him twenty-five years ago. We've ...
Tue 11th
17:12
Allan Knox welcomes Taylor Review but warns of Brexit threat to workers' rights and jobs
The Liberal Democrats have broadly welcomed the recommendations of the Matthew Taylor Review, but warned that the government's Brexit plans pose a threat to workers' rights and jobs. Liberal Democrat Allan Knox commented: "These proposals are broadly sensible, they would both improve workers' rights in the gig economy and maintain flexibility for those who want it. "We now need to stamp out abuse of zero hours contracts by giving people the right to request fixed hours, a proposal the Conservatives opposed during the coalition. "Workers rights underpinned by EU law must be protected from an extreme Conservative Brexit. "Ultimately, the ...
(For some reason this didn't autopost on Sunday. I only just noticed) Even during a war unlike any that had been seen in the history of the world, the business of government still had to continue, and in Britain part ... Continue reading →
Last week I had to go into the Royal London Hospital for a major hernia repair. It was meant to be a daycare job, but proved more complicated than originally hoped so I was an in-patient for a couple of days. Hats off to all the wonderful staff at the hospital (only one of whom [...]
With party leadership currently in play, and in an effort to acquaint myself with our history, I took a look at Liberal/Alliance/LibDem results of general elections since 1950. Here's what I found. YearLiberal SeatsParty LeaderLeader's Age 1950 6 Clement Davis 66 1951 6 Clement Davis 67 1955 6 Clement Davis 71 1959 6 Jo Grimond 46 1964 9 Jo Grimond 51 1966 12 Jo Grimond 52 1970 6 Jeremy Thorpe 41 1974 14 Jeremy Thorpe 44 1974 13 Jeremy Thorpe 45 1979 11 David Steel 41 1983 23 David Steel/Roy Jenkins 45/63 1987 22 David Steel/David Owen 49/49 1992 20 ...
Mon, 12:56: John Betjeman, 1934. He changed his views! https://t.co/GSBX9tWOFD Mon, 16:05: Writers on Munro https://t.co/gkcWaP4XvN An old link, but it's Alice Munro's birthday today. Mon, 16:16: RT @worldcon75: Five days to go! Online voting in #TheHugoAwards closes at 23:59 Pacific Daylight Time on 15 July 2017! https://t.co/ZbsOL... Mon, 16:33: RT @RotaryEndPolio: Rotary's PolioPlus Program: Lessons Learned, Transition Planning, and Legacy | The Journal of Infectious Diseases | ht... Mon, 18:49: Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind, by Yuval Noah Harari https://t.co/JQ9uxCrmOZ Tue, 09:30: Replacing Juncker: A centre-left struggle https://t.co/0bZLFjKpQE How difficult is it for the PES to beat the ...
Watch Your Mouth Around My Kid | Kansas City Moms Blog Weight Training for Women: Strength Training Is Important | Time.com Also: weight training is WAY more fun than the bloody treadmill The 10 ways recipes are undermining your cooking This is useful reading for anyone who ever reads (or writes) recipes. I always use recipes as a springboard and mess about with them, and I hope I show that in my increasingly sporadic recipe posts... Bish, bash, bosh: Putting Jamie's 30 Minute Meals to the test As in, is it physically possible for even professional cooks to do them ...
A new drama around Brexit is now playing out, post-election. A member of the cabinet says something fairly obvious like, we'll need to keep paying into the EU for a bit after we leave, or we'll be under ECJ jurisdiction for awhile, at the very least in the transitional phase, and then a bunch of Tory MPs go a little doolally. All of which causes me to ask: if the Brexiteer hardcores are really that upset about the drift towards a fudge on Brexit where we stay in the single market, customs union, ECJ, Euratom, everything, then why not just ...
As Theresa May plummets new depths of unpopularity in the polls the last thing she needs is to appear alongside a politician with even worse approval ratings. However, that is the fate the British Prime Minister now faces after an ill-considered invitation to Donald Trump at a time when both of them were doing better in the polls. Following the General Election and the disastrous unpopularity of both Trump and May, many of us thought that the idea of a state visit by the US President had been quietly dropped. It certainly appeared that way when it failed to feature ...
I have made passing references to the Grenfell Tower disaster – the tower block fire in a social housing estate in London's North Kensington district on the evening of 14 June, in which at least 80 people are thought to have been killed. It has been a highly significant event in British politics, but its implications ... Continue reading Grenfell Tower shows the poor state of British democracy →
Our lovely friends in the Lib Dem Press Office have been keeping tally. They have found twenty policies that the Government has U-turned on in the last year. And here they are: Northern Powerhouse: It was reported last August that Theresa May had decided to ditch the Northern Powerhouse from her plans for an industrial strategy, she later back-tracked and made clear she was fully behind it. EU nationals: Theresa May reversed her stance towards EU citizens living in Britain (£), after her rivals accused her of treating them as "bargaining chips" in exit negotiations. Hinkley Point: The PM paused ...
Councillor Mary D'Albert met with the team at Heaton Park, and with organisers of the Parklife weekend: Parklife The Parklife concert took place on the 10/11th June this year. The crowd attending was 500 more than last year (approx 79,000) Noise and traffic complaints from residents were up on last year. Noise level set to a maximum of 75(db) which is specified on the licence. This was not exceeded but wind direction and wind speed has an effect. Noise cannot be reduced by staff during concert even if they get complaints. There were a number of issues with parking permits ...
An extra meeting of the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee is taking place on 18 July 2017, to review the decision made by Bury Council's Cabinet to close 10 libraries across the Borough. The meeting will review the decision can agree to make recommendations back to the Cabinet. Please do feed any issues and ideas that you want us to raise to the Lib Dem representative on Overview and Scrutiny, Cllr Steve Wright. The papers for the meeting are here.
A community fund has been created to support local communities affected by the attack at the Manchester Arena on 22nd May 2017. The fund will assist local groups and organisations to host events and manage initiatives to counter hate and emerging unrest, and should look to promote cohesion within communities. Any events should be inclusive, with each aiming to bring together a broad mix of people from different backgrounds to learn more about their local communities. We would particularly like to see events that can bring communities together who do not normally meet on a regular basis to enjoy activities, ...
Today's Headline of the Day comes from the Leicester Mercury.
From the City Council : THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 - SECTION 14(1) THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of pedestrian refuge installation works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Glamis Road (southbound from Blackness Road roundabout to approx. 100metres south), Dundee This notice comes into effect on Monday 17 July 2017 for 5 working days. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Alternative routes are available via Blackness Road / Blackness Avenue / Perth Road. For further information contact 433082. Executive Director ...
There is a session being put on at Bury Library for people thinking about setting up in business selling online. Bury Central Library: 6:00 – 8:00pm – Tuesday 18 July 2017 – Free to attend. The session will include helpful hints and tips to get the best price for your items and beat the competition, and the most common mistakes to avoid. Speaker Maggie will cover safety issues, seller costs, business regulations, postage methods, feedback and completing sales. The main focus will be on Ebay which has 163 million registered users - other platforms such as Amazon, Etsy, and Gumtree ...
A 502 in LMS livery – They were constructed at the start of the 2nd World War! Sunday 9th July was the annual open day of Merseyside Transport Trust's huge warehouse type building in Burscough, West Lancashire. A couple of the vintage buses on display This is where they store their numerous old buses that previously operated across Liverpool and Merseyside but the draw for me was to check on the slow but determined progress to bring a Merseyrail Class 502 EMU back up to operating standard. Are you old enough to remember the trains that ran on the Ormskirk ...
UK shoppers are "completely in the dark" about the effect Brexit will have on their weekly shop, a former Sainsbury's boss has told BBC Panorama. Justin King, who ran the supermarket for a decade, said the "last thing" any current supermarket boss would reveal was their intention to put up prices. But he added it was "very clear" shoppers would face "higher prices, less choice and poorer quality". The main supermarkets declined to speak to BBC Panorama. Mr King, who ran Sainsbury's until 2014, said: "Brexit, almost in whatever version it is, will introduce barriers. "That makes it less efficient ...
Another one on Mindless Ones, this time on The Two Doctors.
