I caught a train south from Rushcliffe Halt. The Great Central - Nottingham runs to Loughborough, but as they have no station there the train stops and reverses. Just before the end of the line, you get a good view of the mighty Brush electrical engineering works.
"The United States, long accustomed to thinking of itself as the best, most efficient, and most technologically advanced society in the world, is about to be proved an unclothed emperor." Anne Applebaum on the politics behind the inadequate US response to the coronavirus. Stephen Parsons looks at the Church of England's response to the John Smyth scandal: "The way that so many individuals were part of the story, not just as bystanders, but sometimes as active colluders, is striking. Together they have, with varying degrees of culpability, conspired together to suppress the truth about a pernicious evil." "The story of ...
Today, around fifty people came to the Methodist Church on Broad Street to discuss the escalating coronavirus crisis. It was a very unusual meeting. Many people were wearing gloves. Hand gel, possibly the rarest commodity beyond toilet rolls, was available. People sat well apart unless they worked or lived together. It was a great debate with Drs Catherine Beanland and Caron Morton on the panel and professionals and volunteers in the audience. Our Local Democracy Reporter Keri Trigg was noting the meeting. We will see her reports, which are pooled across local media, in the next day or so. The ...
A list of good ideas to fill the time - please share it, and send me things to add.
Whilst I was away on holiday last week a Melling resident contacted me regarding the removal of what looks to me and indeed the resident like a perfectly good and substantial bus shelter yards away from the Pear Tree Pub. This is it:- The poster advertising the potential removal is on the bus stop sign and this is what it says:- I took the photos today when I went to have a look at the shelter. Apart from perhaps a bit of pointing the sandstone built shelter is in excellent condition and it's one of a number of similar shelters ...
We went for a walk today on Box Hill. What? Is that allowed under the rules of self-isolation? There are two types of self-isolation – quarantine and extreme social distancing, although the media haven't been very helpful in distinguishing between the two. As we all know, people should go into quarantine if they have symptoms of coronavirus or have been in contact with someone who has. Whole families are now being asked to quarantine themselves for 14 days if one member needs to. There is full advice on quarantining here. People like us, who are vulnerable because of age, pregnancy ...
After so much rain this winter it was beginning to feel like the ground might never be dry enough to start working in the garden. But finally, some sunshine, some dry days and some spare time. Getting the grass cut to a sensible length has taken several sessions of mowing, a week or so apart, using the highest blade setting to take off the top and allow the grass to dry out underneath. The lovely soft ground has meant weeding is easy and so is digging. Unfortunately the dog has found the digging good too and we now have a ...
This is the second of two articles looking at last week's budget. The focus of this article is the action the government announced to deal with the coronavirus. In the budget there is a further £12 billion, if required, to deal with the Coronavirus: a further 0.535% of GDP. If the effect of the Coronavirus on the economy is to reduce economic growth to zero for one quarter or half of the year this total amount should be enough. However, the economic effect is likely to be much worse. The government's plans to help business deal with the Coronavirus are ...
Yesterday the government announced a range of measures to protect the public from the Covid-19 pandemic. As a former Assistant Headteacher, parent and more importantly son, I am concerned that this has not extended to schools. Here's why: 1. The statistics. Today the UK has 55 deaths. Yesterday we had 35. This is similar to the rise in deaths in Italy and in Spain, which saw 34 deaths on 1st Mar, then 52 deaths on 2 Mar (Italy) and 36 then 55 on 10-11 March for Spain. Despite assuring us last week that we are not like Italy, so far ...
Tue 17th
12:30
The problem with school closures and general shutdown - it's more complex than most people are assum...
There are intense calls to shut down schools in the wake of people being urged to avoid pubs and theatres. If the kids can go to school, why are grown ups being asked to stay away from large groups of people? Schools have another problem in the form of teachers either getting ill or self-isolating. Closing schools could become unavoidable. There is the science to discuss – the fact that kids may still spread the virus amongst themselves, school or no school – but I want to avoid that. I don't know enough about it to tell you anything meaningful. ...
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[IMG: Ear] Listening out for updates... After the Government update last night on the Coronavirus / Covid-19 pandemic, there have been a number of anouncements and changes locally. I can't comment on if the Government advice is right / adequate (I'll leave that to experts!) but I am hearing a lot of updates from across our local community, and thought it might be helpful to bring them together here. The below updates are from emails I have received / updates I've had as a Councillor (last updated 15.30 17/3/2020). I'll continue to update it below as I hear more from ...
This is the first of two articles looking at last week's budget. Looking at the headlines of the budget there is much to welcome and support: £12 billion to deal with Coronavirus, of which £5 billion is for the NHS and social care Increasing the National Insurance threshold from £8,632 to £9,500 About £640 billion to be spent on investment over the next five years £5 billion for broadband in the hardest to reach places Doubling the £2.6 billion money for flood defences £2.5 billion for fixing potholes and resurfacing roads An extra £10.9 billion to achieve one million new ...
Today's Coronavirus tip - blindingly obvious, but worth restating. Apart from using soap and HOT water to wash your hands frequently, the virus can live on metal surfaces like door handles for a while (expert views differ about the exact time, but long enough for you to pick it up. Do you need to use your hand to open the door? Wash your hands frequently (and wash door knobs frequently in public places)
Coronavirus, covid-19 will indiscriminately impact the most vulnerable people in our communities, leaving them isolated. Today I am asking all of us, as Liberal Democrats, to put our values into action. We can use our local knowledge and networks to help those who need it the most. We can make a difference that might mean saving lives. Many of you will know elderly people who will struggle to keep food in their fridge or suffer from loneliness if they, or we, are forced into isolation. From today, my local party are reaching out to some of the local groups who ...
The wars of the 1640s, which are taught in England as the Engish Civil War, began in Ireland in 1641, when a co-ordinated rebellion by Catholic aristocrats and peasants established control over a large part of the island. Many of the Protestants from England and elsewhere who had settled in Ireland over the previous decades were forced from their homes and property, often by their own neighbours. Trinity College Dublin hosts an archive of first-person accounts from about 8000 of them, an incredible set of first-person accounts from a seventeenth-century conflict. One of them is particularly interesting, the story told ...
Electric cars still have huge problems, not least the cost, weight and longevity of the batteries (and that is before I mention the precious metals dug up in important wildernesses to make them), but for me and many others living in terraced housing, the biggest issue has to be how we can regularly recharge them overnight. That is why I am intrigued by the pilot scheme in north west London, where an "electric avenue" has been developed by converting lamppost into chargers for battery-powered cars. The Times says that, in what is thought to be the first of its kind, ...
I recently had complaints from residents about potholes at the entrance to the south car park in Union Place and reported this to the City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership. I have received the following postive response : "Bailie Macpherson Thank you for your email. Pothole repairs have been ordered by the Road Maintenance inspector."
