Cohen's scrapyard at Cransley was located on the former Midland Railway's ironstone branch from Kettering to Loddington. It used to be possible to spot the track to it curving off the main line just south of Kettering station. Houses now occupy the trackbed. This atmospheric photograph, taken in February 1967, shows a former LMS shunter waiting to be broken up.
The BBC has the story on its website – see link below:- www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-46499143 Well, what can I say other than I have never been taken in by the Northern Powerhouse, referred to as Northern Poorhouse by those of us who have always thought it has been nothing more than political spin. So my query is why's it taken you so long to realise this Joe? If the appalling rail service offered across the north by Northern Assist has not been enough to show that the Northern Powerhouse is a waste of space, in terms of influencing decisive outcomes, I don't ...
Sun 9th
21:05
WATCH: Vince Cable speak at People's Vote rally in London, slams "insane, inflammatory and dangerous...
After all the earlier discussion about the People's Vote campaign, Vince actually ended up speaking at their big rally at the Excel Centre this afternoon. 2500 people turned up at the rally which was co-hosted with Best for Britain. Vince called Jeremy Hunt's comments that there would be riots if we didn't leave the EU "insane, inflammatory and dangerous." He said that we were moving closer to a People's Vote, which was now even been talked about by Cabinet Ministers as a possibility. Watch the whole event here – Vince is on at 8 minutes in. Uplifting to speak to ...
ECJ ruling expected to make clear it is the deal or remain Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake has called on Theresa May to "stop scaremongering about a no-deal Brexit" ahead of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on whether the UK can halt Brexit by unilaterally revoking Article 50. The ECJ ruling on this case, which Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake and Labour MP Chris Leslie were parties to is expected to come at 8am tomorrow morning (10th Dec). The Advocate General for the ECJ, Campos Sanchez-Bordona, told the ECJ last week that it should allow the UK ...
Delivery of our latest Focus for Sunniside, Streetgate, Marley Hill and Byermoor is now completed. Key issues covered included: approval of house-building in Sunniside and Streetgate; arson attack on Marley Hill bowling club pavilion; birds of prey at the Whinnies in Sunniside; repairs to Ravensworth Castle; improvements to Sunniside Methodist Hall; flytipping removed from Byermoor Sunniside
Championed by John Peel, Hefner were a British indie band who flourished at the end of the last century. I Took Her Love for Granted reached 136 in the UK singles chart in 1999. It deserved to get several places higher. Hefner's lead singer Darren Hayman sounds fun: I read in an interview from three years ago that you don't like touring much due to the organisation involved. Is this still the case? Yep, touring is shit, only idiots and drummers enjoy it. It has very little to do with why I chose music as my profession. I like to ...
To keep up to date with Brexit developments these days it is best to have social media on a drip-feed. News of resignations, plots, and leadership bids leak out there first. It was no surprise, then, that social media was the first to pick up last week on an apparent split between the Lib Dems and the People's Vote campaign. The 'split' was a small disagreement over the best way to maximise the prospects of securing a Final Say on the Deal through a People's Vote. But social media's unsurpassed ability to pick up stories as they break is matched ...
I'm tracking Retro-Hugo winners (and in due course Hugo winners) of Best Dramatic Presentation along with the Oscars for best Picture, and having done Dorian Gray a few weeks ago that naturally takes me to Destination Moon, which in 2001 beat off Harvey, Cinderella, Rabbit of Seville and Rocketship X-M for the 1951 Retro Hugo. (Of the others, I have only seen Cinderella.) The entire film is currently available on YouTube here, but if you don't have the energy here's a trailer: As you would expect from the title, it's about the first trip to the moon, based on a ...
Following concerns from Formula 1 team bosses, reported by Autosport magazine, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson Tom Brake has warned that Brexit would "put Britain into the gravel trap". Seven of the ten current F1 teams, including world champions Mercedes, are based in the UK. Jonathan Neale, Chief Operating Officer of the Woking-based McLaren team, told Autosport that after Brexit "It would cost us more time and be more difficult to recruit" and that border restrictions will mean higher costs, as well as "more paperwork, more administration". Toto Wolff, team principal of Mercedes, which has its F1 factories in Northamptonshire, described ...
Congratulations to Kate Pothalingam (Islington South) and Nick Wakeling (Islington North, home of Jeremy Corbyn).
Politics ought to be synonymous with good governance, but it's not. It's a game you have to play to get into a position where you can practise good governance. Politics doesn't seem to have any room for nuances or counterintuitive positions, as the case of the Eastbourne MP Stephen Lloyd has shown. Lloyd is a classic liberal hero. He can thank the NHS for the fact that he can hear anything - indeed that he's alive - because it saved him when his hearing and his life were seriously threatened as a toddler. He therefore believes in public services through ...
First, there's YouGov's backward-looking questions about the European referendum...
The Tree That Owns Itself in Athens, Georgia is well known. The other Tree That Owns Itself in Eufaula, Alabama, really isn't. It's the same story in a different place. Why?
Yesterday, I was at the Whickham Volunteer Library for their Christmas fair. I was there to sell my preserves. Around £200 was raised for the library's funds.
It's fair to say that some party members have been expressing concern on social media about a perceived detachment between the Liberal Democrats and the People's Vote campaign. Why is it that Caroline Lucas is representing the campaign on the Channel 4 debate tonight? Why was Vince missing from the petition event in Downing Street? It's not a great way to treat the party who kicked off the campaign for a final say on the deal in the Summer of 2016. Late last week, Liberal Democrat MPs were criticised by the campaign for putting down an amendment to Labour's amendment ...
... especially not after this recent tweet from Wesley Snipes. So I have drabbled. [IMG: comment count unavailable] comments
On Thursday evening the switch on ceremony for the Sunniside Christmas tree lights took place. Two of my goats - Coal and Perky - were there, cunningly disguised as reindeer. They overdosed on Christmas carrots!
Thursday morning required my presence in the Lib Dem office in Consett to do some printing - but not for the Lib Dems. I am helping the Lighting Up Sunniside group to raise the money for the village's Christmas tree. The switch on event was in the evening but I agreed to produce a leaflet that could be handed out to people to drum up support for the organisation. 200 A4 leaflets produced -
While all eyes are on a key vote on a proposal put forward by a minority government at Westminster this week, another political drama looms. On Wednesday the Finance Minister of a minority government at Holyrood will present his budget. Derek Mackay is going to have a hard time getting his proposals through. All Willie Rennie asked for as a preoondition to negotiaions for Lib Dem support was that they just drop the idea of an independence referendum in this Parliament, fulfilling a key part of our manifesto. It chimes with what we are hearing consistently on doorsteps – that ...
Northumberland County Council have published the arrangements for bin collections over Christmas and New Year For the week beginning 24th December ( a dry recycling week ) collections are put back two days. So for example our usual collection on a Tuesday will be on Thursday 27th For the week beginning 31st December ( a general refuse week) collections are put back a day, so our collection is put back a day from the Tuesday to Wednesday 2nd. HOWEVER, I think that the Monday collections those weeks ( 24th December and 31st December ) will be unaffected. If in doubt ...
purplecat | Random Doctor Who Picture A reminder that Jodie Whittaker, while awesome, is not the first lady Doctor. Brexit poses 'particular risk' to British people in poverty: UN independent expert Dolphin-like marine reptiles were more dolphin-like | Earth Archives Icthyosaurs had blubber like modern whales and may have been able to change their skin colour at will like chameleons! Doctor Who backlash shows why it's time to bin the phrase 'politically correct' Oh so very much this. A lovely skewering of an ill-advised tweet from the DWP on Universal Credit Identifying As Non-Binary Isn't About Being 'Special' - It's ...
Sat, 12:56: RT @crunchleaf: i am not taking questions at this time https://t.co/PM0E3RzUkS Sat, 14:34: @hofvanbusleyden Really disappointed to make the journey to Mechelen to see the Enclosed Gardens but they are not o... https://t.co/5wQu38CIFf Sat, 14:48: RT @adamfleming: Well, well, well. I honestly never thought I'd see the day - the publication of the infamous mapping exercise of areas of... Sat, 16:05: Why the Norway model won't work. https://t.co/T8OIdC6sSi Sat, 16:47: RT @RobotArchie: 2018 SMOFCon Fannish Inquisition: Dublin in 2019 ( @Dublin2019 ). Including @nwbrux expertly fielding the inevitable #Brex... Sat, 17:23: All About Eve (1950) https://t.co/Os7s1necw8 Sat, 20:48: ...
Some encouraging news in today's Observer, who report that Theresa May's new social mobility tsar, Martina Milburn, believes that cutting university tuition fees risks failing to help the young people most in need of help to access higher education. Instead, she has suggested restoring maintenance grants designed to help poorer students meet living costs. Unfortunately, the article is devolution-blind. It fails to acknowledge that Wales has already trail-blazed the way on this approach, having come to similar conclusions, despite the fact that just seventeen months ago, the paper's sister paper, the Guardian actually contained an article by the Welsh Liberal ...
I don't know what the Queen is doing today. However, I know for certain what she is not doing. Many months ago it was agreed that Crossrail (the Elizabeth Line) would officially be opened by the Queen today. The Elizabeth Line, will cover 100 km from Reading and Maidenhead to the west of the capital and Heathrow, through new tunnels under Central London to Woolwich and Abbey Wood in the south-east of the city and Shenfield in Essex. It will transform rail transport in London and the surrounding region, increasing passenger capacity by 10%, supporting regeneration and cutting journey times ...
Sun 9th
08:26
New development sites for Shropshire - housing proposals for Ludlow, Ludford and the area
Shropshire Council expects to build 28,750 new homes between 2016 and 2036. Of these, 1,175 will be built in Ludlow (including Ludford), Clee and Burford. After existing permissions and site allocations are considered, we are looking at space for another 268 homes by 2036. But there is a caveat to that. If any of the existing permissions and allocations is not built, we will have to find extra sites. Or we could find sites imposed on us by the planning inspectorate. Shropshire council is consulting on where new developments should go across the county as part of its local plan ...
I recently contacted Leisure and Culture Dundee about the state of the railings at Blackness Library, following residents saying that these badly need repainted. I suggested that Community Payback could be approached to undertake this and am pleased to have now been advised that this has been agreed. The railings will be programmed in to be completed in the spring.
