Photo: Harry Arnold 'The last of the Inland Waterways Association Bulletins I bought at Foxton last summer is the issue for March 1973. Taken from it, this photograph shows the Montgomery Canal at Welshpool. Below is a photograph of the same scene I took in 2014. My plan had been to return my IWA Bulletins to Foxton Locks, where I bought them, and come away with a new batch. That plan will have to be postponed.
Our week at Bonkers Hall continues, and we find the old monster ensconced in front of the Library fire again. You may imagine spaniels at his feet if that helps. Wednesday Here is an Edwardian volume of Liberator - an era when Radical Bulletin was already long established as a favourite item with the magazine's readership. Opening it I find a cutting anecdote about the Master of Elibank and a particularly amusing item about the Duke of Rutland being seen jumping from an upper window sans trousers as an irate husband bounded up the stairs of a cottage on his ...
Last week the Liberal Democrats' Federal Board voted to postpone the party's leadership election until May 2021. It's not clear what constitutional basis they had for doing so, and there had been much criticism of the decision. Some see it as a way of excluding the party's members from the choice of leader, at least for a year, to ensure the establishment's favourite son retains the post for as long as possible I worry because the idea the public will be impressed that we have stepped back from the political fray and reward us at the ballot box in due ...
The pandemic lockdown has had an unintended consequence: empty streets in towns and cities around the world are being reclaimed by wild animals. I've seen videos of wild boars, seals, antelope, lynxes and deer happily walking down streets that are normally congested and polluted with vehicles. The wild goats on the Great Orme at Llandudno have grabbed the headlines. I used to work in North
It's been one of my longer periods of silence on the blog, and I'm still not ready to post at my old rate. I owe my readers an explanation. Covid-19 is today's excuse for everything. It has been an important part of what has been happening to me, but it isn't the reason that I ... Continue reading Why I have been offline
Sat 4th
18:47
More information on Coronavirus scams - this time from the Financial Condut Authority (FCA)
The text below is taken directly from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) website. You can read their website directly though this link. What tactics to look out for Exploiting short-term financial concerns, scammers may ask you to hand over an upfront fee - usually between £25 and £450 - when applying for a loan or credit that you never get. This is known as loan fee fraud or advance fee fraud.'Good cause' scams. This is where investment is sought for good causes such as the production of sanitiser, manufacture of personal protection equipment (PPE) or new drugs to treat ...
Barely more than two weeks old, Pulling Together Ludlow has put together a fantastic operation to support the residents of our town during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been receiving 150 calls a week to its helpline (01584 817 250). There have been 2,000 views a week of its Facebook page, which now has over 1,100 members. Pulling Together Ludlow is a dedicated team of volunteers working flat out to cook meals, collect prescriptions, shop and befriend people. The team wants to give its thanks to all the businesses around town that have donated food and all the volunteers who ...
I have a confession to make. I have been stockpiling. Unintentionally, but the evidence is there. The order I had placed with a food wholesaler finally arrived, four days late, but nevertheless very welcome. The main item was a veg and fruit box, which was extremely good value at £19.80. They had even thrown in some surplus mozarella. To reach their minimum spend I had also ordered a few other things, including two catering tins of tomatoes. But the photo shows what arrived. I checked the invoice and it was indeed what I had inadvertantly ordered, forgetting that this was ...
I blogged recently about the Moss Side Pond/Grotto which still exists on the presently being built Poppy Fields Estate or as some will know it the Ashworth South Site or Moss Side Hospital site. Here's my original posting:- The photo I used in that earlier posting was not the best as I could only take it through a building contractor's fencing. However community activist and Maghull councillor Frank Sharp has provided me with 2 far better shots of the pond that he took in 2010 before the site was cleared for the new housing. The two photos are the ...
Britain has now overtaken China in respect of the number of deaths from coronavirus and yet unlike China and South Korea we had three months to prepare. China and South Korea went into immediate "lock down" with widespread public testing, tracing and isolating contacts and the wide use of Personal Protection Equipment and, in particular, masks. In consequence China has all but stopped the spread of the virus with 3,322 deaths or just 2 per million population. The death rate in South Korea has also slowed with just 174 deaths or 3 per million population. In Britain deaths are still ...
Over the past few days there has begun to be a serious discussion about how we share out the considerable resources that this Country has more fairly. It hasn't yet become a rational debate but has certainly begun as an ... Continue reading →
Sat 4th
12:55
We will work constructively with everyone who shares our progressive aims: Davey on Starmer's electi...
Here's how Liberal Democrat interim co-leader Ed Davey has responded to Keir Starmer's election as Labour Party leader: Congratulations to Keir Starmer. We all now have an opportunity to move forward and away from the divisive politics of recent years. Lib Dems will always work with whoever we can to pursue our liberal values, build more caring, just society, tackle #ClimateEmergency. In this crisis, progressive parties must explore common ground, as we work with the government to save lives & defeat #Covid19UK threat. Starmer was a crucial voice in moving Labour towards more pro-EU position; his internationalist instincts chime more ...
At the time of writing, we have no idea who the new Labour leader is. Whoever it is, I wish him or her well in their task of holding this most incompetent and mediocre of Tory governments to account. It shouldn't have taken this long for Labour to choose their new leader, of course. The contest has been interminable. The hustings have been tedious. The debates have been largely dull. But at least they've managed to get a new leader in post in 2020 - something which, apparently, is beyond the wit of our own party. Instead, we've to wait ...
As a liberal I find myself in a quandary about the restrictions placed upon us while we have Covid-19 running rampant throughout the world. I am not in favour of the state controlling normal activity, and I think our Prime Minister is hanging on to his last few vestiges of liberalism by advising us of the restrictions. And I say advising us rather than telling us as while it is advice many members of the public are flaunting the advice. Yes, there are laws, but the Police are interpreting them loosely across the land. Where does the law say I ...
So we can't have the Yate Town Council / Friends of Kingsgate Park easter egg hunt and easter bonnet competition in Kingsgate Park this year - but that hasn't stopped the Friends of the Park and the Town Council. They have organised an on line easter bonnet competition Why not hunt round the house and see what you can make?
Sir Keir Starmer (Photo: New Statesman) Sir Keir Starmer has emerged victorious in the race to become the new leader of the Labour Party, winning in the first round with 56% of the vote. His priorities as leader include replacing Universal Credit, the abolition of tuition fees, investment in lifelong learning, developing "a new green deal", reviewing UK arms sales, clamping down on tax avoidance and supporting "common ownership" of utilities. I have not been a Labour member for over ten years, but I should congratulate Keir Starmer on his victory. We need a strong and effective opposition at this ...
Fri, 12:56: RT @samhawkewrites: My friends I have just, through an extremely confusing email conversation in which both of us thought the other must be... Fri, 14:20: RT @IanMoore3000: It's time to actualise those synergies. #FormalFriday #WorkFromHome https://t.co/DSxYivhIYO Fri, 16:05: Europe's coronavirus lockdown measures compared https://t.co/DRFKqV2ka4 Country-by-country comparison, in case you were wondering. Fri, 19:09: RT @Emily_Rosina: 🌟 BRAND-NEW #DOCTORWHO! 🌟 The Raggedy Doctor by Amelia Pond ✨ Watch this short story here: https://t.co/EoLjOnyQSK #Fi... Fri, 19:20: Strategic Europe, ed. Jan Techau https://t.co/G1Nkcnbofa Fri, 20:03: RT @StevenWMoffat: Ah, this opening. Matt hanging out the TARDIS like Harold Lloyd! It wasn't ...
The advice this week is to ignore the sunshine and the good weather and stay in to stay safe. Well, there is always gardening I suppose. But if you want a view of what is going on in the world you could do no better than go to this BBC site where they have collected together some of the great CAM views including from Venice, Times Square, New York, Lapland, a Thai Beach, Gorillas in Africa, Tokyo and even earth views from the space station. All in real time and most of them as deserted as the streets outside our ...
There's much good to be said about how key Liberal Democrats use Twitter effectively to reach the media, opinion formers, members, supporters and the wider public.
It's the weekend, and my day differs in that I don't walk across the garden to the office. I might even have a lie-in. What are you all up to today? 2 big stories A new leader for Labour If the predictions are true, at 10.45 this morning, the leadership of the Labour Party will move across the borough border from Islington to Camden, but the change from Corbyn to Starmer is rather more dramatic than the change in scenery from Islington North to Holborn and St Pancras. What it means for Liberal Democrats is to be seen, but what ...
I recently received complaints from residents about potholes in Speed Street. I reported these to the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership who advised : "An order has been raised to repair two potholes in Speed Street." The work here was undertaken immediately before the current COVID-19 health emergency which has meant non-essential works are being delayed.
The restrictions and advice about what to do under the Covid-19 are being adhered to reasonably well here in Blyth. It has been difficult for me to change my habits, but so far I have managed. The shop has been closed for about a fortnight, but we are still doing mail order and internet sales so the business is ticking over a little bit. I am limiting my visit to the shop to a couple of times per week, to check it, check for 'phone messages and collect stock. It is easy for me to do this within social distancing ...
There is one meeting scheduled for Blyth Town Council this month. Governance Committee, 30th April at 6:30 pm at Arms Evertyne House I doubt very much whether it will take place with the Covid-19 restrictions, but I haven't heard that it is definitely postponed / cancelled
