Class 37 diesels already seemed ugly and old-fashioned by the 1970s, yet they have outlasted pretty much every other class of locomotive that was around in those days. There is at least one passenger service (Norwich to Great Yarmouth) still hauled by them. I also came across a preserved one on the Great Central at Loughborough a couple of Saturdays ago.
Today, I walked into The Range store, looking for cardboard boxes because I am planning on clearing my bedroom and office of clutter. I walk up to a shop assistant and ask if they sell any. Her response was rather short: "We used to." Now you may say that this is all she needed to say. I disagree. That single statement was helpful in that I discovered that The Range no longer sold cardboard boxes. It was not helpful beyond that. She did not inform me that there were fabric or plastic boxes available. She didn't try and discover what ...
The 2017 general election was not exactly a glorious episode for the Liberal Democrats. But it was nearly much worse.
In the lead up to the General Election, Gina Millar raised over £400,000 to support certain MPs that were, in her own words, 'candidates who will fight for a real choice on the final deal, who are fighting a winnable seat but not a dead certainty, have an immaculate track record in terms of personal conduct ... Continue reading Gina Millar, your 'anti-Brexit list' needs revising for the future
In an article in today's Observer, former Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, describes Brexit as an "unparalleled act of economic self-harm", and thus becomes the latest in a long line of senior politicians from both the Labour and Conservative parties to urge a rethink, in sharp contrast to the policy of their leaderships. The dissidents (whom [...]
At first She turns the corner running, a teenager sporting hurry He stands entranced, pushing at his screen (one finger at a time) They walk behind my back, while I am cautious at the ATM In the pharmacy I eschew a basket, and still fumble at the shelves beside him who's wanting the same space; [...]
One of Vince Cable's claim to fame is that he accurately predicted the 2007 financial crash. Ten years on, he recently wrote an article for City AM in which he said that our economy was again at risk because of high debt levels. Debt, in itself, isn't bad. He talks about his own experience: Indeed, my own youthful borrowing included buying my late wife a grand piano on an overdraft, a decision that underpinned 33 years of happy marriage. (And I paid off the debt after a struggle.) The issue with debt is one of limits and sustainability, for both ...
The great British summer - don't we just love them!? Well, no actually! I went along to the Swalwell Community Fayre yesterday along with 2 of my goats (Pinkie and Snow), set up our table to sell our preserves and then watched as the rain came down. We sheltered under trees to keep dry. The goats proved popular with the visitors to the fayre. They also chomped their way through brambles growing
On the Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside, in the bottom end of one of the old allotments, was a huge pile of sticks, branches and tree trunks. It was a bit of a hindrance to get into our Farside allotment. Over the past week, I have been helping the volunteers to shred branches and chop logs. The end result is a large new space that can be used by the volunteers in the future and a heap of
There has been a meme going around Twitter inviting people to confess their unpopular opinions. I was going to tweet that I regard the Beatles as no better than half a dozen other British bands of their era, but I am not sure how unpopular that would be today. So let me say instead that "The Beatles" was a really lame name for a band. I could also say that I listen to Elvis Costello often but never list to Elvis Presley, but I suspect I am not alone in that in my generation. And people much younger than us ...
Sat, 14:08: Hugo Administrator's Reports 2017 - All the information you want. Probably more than you want. #TheHugoAwards https://t.co/eqWii0oas0 Sat, 18:29: RT @bbcdoctorwho: Ron Grainer, the composer of the #DoctorWho theme, was born 95 years ago today! Why not do your best 🎶Doo-wee-woo🎶 in tri... Sat, 18:30: RT @CoraBuhlert: At the Digital Hugo panel with Nicholas Whyte and Kristina Knavig. Clipping couldn't come, but we had a great panel anyway... Sat, 18:31: RT @Books_Pieces: Nicholas Whyte informs us that two games were in the ballot this year within Max Gladstone's series. Wasn't an issue to i... Sat, 18:35: RT @jonlis1: ...
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David Miliband backs referendum on the deal and argues for social and political benefits of EU - how...
It's one of the great what -ifs of our time. Would we still be in the same mess if David Miliband had won the Labour leadership in 2010? We'll never know and there are arguments on both sides. His Blairist approach might have propelled a bigger drift of Labour supporters to populist UKIP but he might also have had a big enough impact on the arguments to shift us away from Brexit or even having a referendum on the EU in the first place. Of course, his leadership might well have stopped Cameron from getting a majority at all in ...
I am sure that David Miliband will not see it this way, but his 'impassioned call for politicians from all parties to work together to avoid the Tory high command driving the country "off a cliff"', is precisely what the Liberal Democrats have been saying for over a year. According to the Guardian, the former Foreign Secretary and Labour leadership contender, has warned that Brexit is an "unparalleled act of economic self-harm". The paper says that he suggests that it is up to MPs of all political colours to fight back against its worst consequences. Crucially, he argues that the ...
Those creative digital types at LDHQ have come up with a good idea – a Twitter summary of key Lib Dem activities over the past week called The Week in Politics. That was the week that was. And what a week it was! "The Week in Politics" https://t.co/v1EngsQFcA — Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) August 12, 2017 It covers everything from Vince's article on how the young have been shafted by Brexit to Lorely Burt's period poverty action to our contingent at Leeds Pride. It's good that it looks beyond the activities of the parliamentary party, too. It just shows how hard ...
The demise of our traditional high street bank branches is writ large in this notice recently placed outside Maghull's RBS in Liverpool Road North. Following the loss of Barclays, HSBC and Nat West from the Town how long will the RBS survive now its down to opening just 2 days per week?
I have previously raised residents' concerns about pedestrian safety near the Roseangle playpark since the playpark was improved and footfall significantly increased. Having have received more concerns, I again contacted the City Council's roads and transportation division about this and have received the following feedback from one of the roads engineers : "Myself and three other colleagues visited this location to assess the situation. As you are aware, our road safety budget is prioritised by identifying accident cluster sites within the city and providing improvements to reduce the likelihood of recurrences. At the location in question, there have been no ...
