The Shire Horse is a Kettering pub that sells good beer at competitive prices. What more can you ask? Its old sign can be found propped up in its unexpected beer garden. Examination by a team of passing archaeologists showed that the pub was a Mann's house before it was a free house. Earlier, wandering the town's back streets, I came across a house with C.W. on it. That must stand for Charles Wicksteed. His company, which has made playground equipment for generations of children, still operates a factory in that part of town. And then there's Wicksteed Park.
Embed from Getty Images Mark Pack wrote an illuminating post at the start of this year: Particularly in the aftermath of a general election, you hear lots of Liberal Democrats saying that the party needs to more radical or more distinctive. Or, as this views are often played out on the internet these days, MORE RADICAL!!! The problem is what often comes next: the favourite policy idea of the person making this call. Now Rob Parsons has asked whether we should try to be radical at all. Or rather, whether we should present ourselves to votes as being radical: I ...
Embed from Getty Images We will fund 200 all-postal primaries over this Parliament, targeted at seats which have not changed hands for many years. These funds will be allocated to all political parties with seats in Parliament that they take up, in proportion to their share of the total vote in the last general election.Recognise this? It comes from the 2010 Coalition agreement, but we never heard anything about its being put into practice. Which was rather a shame. Joe Zammit-Lucia returns to the subject of open primaries in an article on Radix:Such an approach would force candidates to take ...
Research by Liberal Democrats in 2018 identified over 11,000 homes that were empty for over ten years. Vince Cable called it a "national scandal", at a time when "the homelessness crisis is worsening". Statistics also show that across the country houses empty for six months or more equate to more than 200,000. Every now and then we have governments making promises to do something about this, but in practice, they have done little to tackle this problem. MP's reported, last year, that more than 78,000 families were living in temporary accommodation in England alone. The Liberal Democrats have taken the ...
Wed 4th
20:21
Another night of damage at Ludlow's Eco Park. Enough is enough. Shropshire Council must act
Last night, young racers caused significant damage to the surface of the Eco Park park and ride site. There was also much spinning of vehicles on the Eco Park over the weekend. This is not new. But neither the police of Shropshire Council seem interested in tackling the problem. In Ludlow, we have a long term problem with young racers. The police seem to prefer them to be at the Eco Park where they do not disturb town centre residents. We had a clampdown on young racers last year but this now seems to be off the police's radar. Viv ...
At one point during last night's match the commentator remarked 'if you're old enough to remember Euro 96 and Italia 90' when I realised that I remember both of them very clearly and I am now officially Getting Old. One thing I do remember from then, though, is that there was a time when we weren't singing 'football's coming home' whenever England did well, and where that phrase comes from and what it (originally) meant. By the 90s, football — and particularly English football — was in the embryonic stages of becoming the sporting and marketing juggernaut it would become. On the pitch, the ...
Second paragraph of third chapter: The very nature of society in the eighteenth century meant that women were unlikely to become active designers, either professional or dilettante. However, the care and creation of their own gardens was something deemed an appropriate arena of action in a country increasingly dominated by the mores of the 'polite society'. The garden could thus bring both cultural and artistic fulfilment to complement the more traditional releases of embroidery, drawing, music and conversation. For some women, such as Henrietta Knight, or Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, the garden could also act as a release or ...
Since the Brexit referendum media and politics seems to have turned anti-European but it seems that the public opinion is slowing starting to shift towards being more pro-European. There is increasingly despair among the public about the lack of leadership and success with the Brexit negotiations. Two years on from the referendum vote and we really don't know where we will be and what will be agreed over the next 5 months. A YouGov poll has consistently found that about two thirds of those polled feel the negotiations are going badly. Below I have collected a number of YouGov polls ...
I've had a look at quite a number of scarecrows across Maghull and Lydiate on my cycle rides and I've taken photos of 3 of them:- Bob the Builder near Lydiate Village Green Outside Harding's Flower Shop in Liverpool Rd Nth Maghull. At Lydiate Village Center wearing a Lydiate Parish Council T-shirt It seems that our first Scarecrow Festival has gone really well as there must be many, many more of them that I have not photographed. Congratulations to the organisers and all those who made the effort to create a scarecrow.
Today, Dutch VVD (NatLib; car driver-liberal) prime minister Mark Rutte, the only statesman who while visiting Donald Trump in his Oval Office dared interrupt a Trump rant against the EU during the press & photo-op moment, is receiving British Prime Minister Theresa May in the garden of the Catshuis, the The Hague meeting point and residence of Dutch coalition cabinets. At the same time, D66, the Dutch version of the Lib Dem Social Liberals, is publishing a Facebook video of the visit Kees Verhoeven MP, our EU/Brexit and ICT/Privacy parliamentary spokesman, recently made to the doorstep of Downing Street 10; ...
Congrats to drplokta, huskyteer, trepkos and vilakins for calling both of yesterday's matches correctly. Scores on the doors: ✔ N % nwhyte 32 56 57% johnny9fingers 25 50 50% vilakins 24 50 48% trepkos 23 42 55% redfiona99 22 42 52% coughingbear 15 24 63% drplokta 12 26 46% hano 11 21 52% sevenorora 11 24 46% po8crg 10 14 71% mount_oregano 10 20 50% yiskah 8 13 62% busarewski 7 10 70% huskyteer 7 17 41% pseudomantid 6 9 67% arwel_p 5 7 71% dave_gallaher 3 3 100% tournesolavande 3 7 43% slemslempike 3 9 33% infinitemonkeys 2 3 ...
Tue, 13:59: World Cup, Second Round, Day Five https://t.co/i3Z82Z0djV Tue, 18:14: Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, by James Finn Garner https://t.co/Cn643sGiMe Wed, 08:10: Something's up with the trains this morning... https://t.co/dj89sp0JLq Wed, 10:45: Awww! https://t.co/yNWXuS2MHI
The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians passed on through generations, says that "When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount." Ministers are under pressure to spell out the type of relationship we should have with the European Union. The crunch summit at Chequers is for the Tories to settle their differences although they are strong views on both sides, this Tory summit is supposed to provide an agreed way forward. Michael Gove has alleged ripped up a document that explained the customs partnership proposed by Number 10. The Defence Secretary has ...
Greater Manchester Council Leaders have signed off plans for a network of cycle routes across Greater Manchester called 'Bee Lines'. The plans were drawn up as a report drawn up from a team led by professional cycling champion Chris Boardman. The plan would create 64 miles of new cycling and walking routes, as part of a proposal for Greater Manchester to create the UK's biggest network for people travelling by bike or on foot. For Bury five miles of Dutch-style segregated cycling lanes (the A56 from Bury to the bottom of Prestwich) and 71 new or upgraded crossing points are ...
More major roadworks this month – for the full list see the GM Roadworks site here The major roadworks in July are: – Heywood Road – continuing British Gas (Cadent) works in various places right through to next year also 2 ways signals just south of Heys Road (Virgin Media) 30 July – 1 August. – Hilton Lane – 2 way signals 18-20 July (near Headlands Drive) – Bury New Road – lane closures near KFC 23 July – 3 August (Electricity North West) – Works on the Motorway Roundabout continue until November..........
Get free expert advice on how to market your business at Bury Library on Monday 16 July (10am to 4pm). Organisers say: "Do you need a Facebook page right away? Is Twitter a better platform for you? Have you made a website for your business, and do you need to? Where are you selling your product? Have you tried selling online and is this working?" Professional marketer Adam Whittaker will take you through the 'Marketing Mix' so you can see which tools work best for you. This course is delivered by PeoplePlus. To book your free ticket go to ...
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service has issued a reminder to the public of the dangers of swimming in open water after being called to a search for two young people in a river in Radcliffe last Saturday (30 June). Fire officers say: "With such hot weather it's very tempting to have a swim to cool off but the water can be as cold as 12°C, quickly causing even the strongest of swimmers to get into difficulties." For more details and advice see here.
At Radix, we have long argued that many people are quite fed up with the politics of the parties and long for a politics of the people. Whenever we argue that, a very reasonable question emerges – what on earth does that mean? One obvious answer is politicians behaving (and voting) in the public interest [...] The post We need to open up the selection of candidates appeared first on Radix.
Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Christine Jardine has called on the Conservative Government to give the American people a "proper birthday present" by standing up to President Trump on human rights. Ms Jardine made her plea as the US celebrates Independence Day on the 4th of July. The Liberal Democrat MP wants the Conservative Government to use President Trump's visit to the UK next Friday to "promote the shared values between British and American people" and "condemn Trump's treatment of migrant families and his comments on torture." Ms Jardine said: "The British and American people have a long history of ...
Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Judith Jolly has called for cannabis to be legalised for recreational use following news the Government have commissioned the second part of a review into cannabis-related medicinal products. Judith Jolly said: "The benefits of medicinal cannabis for those with chronic illnesses is clear, but even William Hague recognises the strong case for legalising cannabis for recreational use too. "Only the Liberal Democrats are campaigning for radical drugs reform and a regulated cannabis market in the UK, with robust and responsible licensing, as opposed to an unregulated criminal market. "The war on drugs just simply isn't working. ...
Today Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust launched a six week consultation on the future of rural maternity services. It has kept this very quiet. The review follows the extended closure of MLUs in Ludlow, Bridgnorth and Oswestry. Tracey Huffer, Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow East, says: "It's almost a joke. It is so typical of the way that SaTH is working." [More...] Tracey continues: The midwife led maternity units have been closed for births for weeks. Now SaTH has launched a consultation intended to make the closure for births permanent. SaTH may try to pretend that the closure of MLUs for ...
