This is wonderful stuff. As the blurb on YouTube explains: Donegal was once served by 225 miles of narrow gauge 3' 0'' railways but of this nothing survives, apart from the three mile long Fintown Railway. In July 2014, while on holidays in Donegal, I visited many of the old railway sites hoping to capture some of these locations on camera, before they disappear forever.And it goes on to identify the sites visited in the video.
In common with many Remainers I am still in a state of shock following the EU Referendum of June 2016, though Brexit pain has been slightly assuaged by the fact that although formally Britain left the EU on 31 January we are in a transition period scheduled to last until the end of the year, [...]
Tue 5th
17:44
April 2006 books, and reflections on Alexander Hamilton and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire
This is the latest post in a series I started last November, anticipating the twentieth anniversary of my bookblogging which will fall in 2023. Every six-ish days I've been revisiting a month from my recent past, noting work and family developments as well as the books I read in that month. I've found it a pleasantly cathartic process, especially in current circumstances when we are all somewhat distracted. If you want to look back at previous entries, they are all tagged under bookblog nostalgia. No Crisis Group papers in April 2006, but I did publish a piece in Interationale Politik ...
Layla Moran has written an article for Left Foot Forward setting out the measures she wants government to take so that we emerge from the current crisis as "a more equal and compassionate country". She repeats the call she made a few days ago for the introduction of a universal basic income, better wages and benefits for key workers and investment in public services. And adds: To rebuild a progressive, liberal society, the measures above would need to form part of a more extensive package. We also need radical changes to the education system to create equal access to high-quality ...
Like many of you I had banned single use plastic from my kitchen. The public campaign to reduce plastic shopping bags had been highly successful. We had all got into the habit of taking our own fabric, jute or reusable bags with us when we went shopping – although I tried not to acquire long life plastic bags, because they do fall apart eventually. But I wanted to take it further. Clingfilm was the first to go. I tried bees wax wraps, which can be used to cover anything kept in the fridge in a bowl or cup. They are ...
It became apparent very early in the COVID-19 pandemic that there was going to be a problem with the supply of PPE. All eyes at that point were understandably on the NHS and our hospitals in particular and available supplies of PPE were directed their way. But, as City of York's Executive Member for Health and Adult Social Care, I was very aware that there were other front line workers who also needed PPE, although of a different specification from that used in hospitals. Regular reports came to me about supplies in care homes and home care organisations and I ...
People have really liked having a clear environment and especially the cleaner air in a city which is one of the Country's most polluted. Cllr Kris Brown has written to the Mayor asking him to look at ways in which ... Continue reading →
Morrisons Crossing flooding to be tackledStation Road closed outside MorrisonsAfter a hard fought campaign, with members of the Focus Team pushing officers on a regular basis to get something done, we are delighted to announce that on Monday 11th S Glos is going try to do something about the flooding on the crossing when it rains. its a complete mess on a wet day with people wading through water and getting splattered by cars. Because it means closing the road we have been pushing S Glos to do it now, during lockdown, when the roads are a bit quieter. They ...
Government and public opinion have for most of the last few decades described deep societal injustices as a matter of inevitability and described government action - or inaction - as the morally right thing for government do to. We've been told, and most largely believed as a general public, that it's inevitable that the economic cycle will see huge numbers of people out of work, huge numbers of people experiencing the worst forms of homelessness as inevitable, inevitable that some of the most deprived and marginalised will live with in poorer health, with less housing and income security and less ...
Those of us interested in these sorts of things lost confidence in government statistics during the years Mrs Thatcher was prime minister (1979 to1990). i In the early years of her premiership the measure of people unemployed rose to 3 million. This figure was alarming so the government set about manipulating the figures. I can t remember all the details now and long ago threw away my notes, but there were something like 17 changes in the way the counting was done, and the effect of something like 14 of them was to reduce the figure. Some of the devices ...
Helen Burton was elected as a new councillor in Eastbourne last year. In this moni-series, she explains what led her to run in the first place... I can't believe it was a year ago I was elected as an Eastbourne Borough Councillor, the time has absolutely flown by. Who could have imagined a year ago that I would be writing this during lockdown in the middle of a pandemic, a crisis affecting local councils across the country? My path to becoming a councillor in Eastbourne started with my volunteer role in the local community. I had already been a Parish ...
Mon, 12:56: RT @JeremyCliffe: The thing with prophesying the EU's imminent doom is: 1) it's as old as the European project itself 2) it can become rep... Mon, 16:05: What the Coronavirus Is Doing to Rural Georgia https://t.co/IVSYwwZKTC from 4 April: "nine Georgia counties, most o... https://t.co/r3cokqEeSd Mon, 17:11: RT @tweetheart4711: On 3 May 1374 BCE a solar eclipse was observed and recorded at Ugarit by Mesopotamian astronomers. "On the day of the... Mon, 20:33: The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood https://t.co/3PEUbsoWJP Mon, 20:48: Inside the Early Days of China's Coronavirus Coverup https://t.co/DrGRRwoNe6 Fascinating report which actually look... https://t.co/qmetIEEjL5 Mon, 22:24: ...
There have been lots of enquiries speculating the restrictions that came into force on 1st May. These restrictions still apply. "Dogs are not allowed on the section of beach from the access at Beachway to the access at the Links Road car park, between 1st May to 30th September" Most people honour this annual agreement but anyone breaching the ban will be issued with an on the spot fixed penalty notice of £100. If unpaid then Northumberland County Council will normally prosecute and the court can issue a fine of up to £1000.00. ( Copied from Blyuth Town Council's Facebook ...
From March 2020, South Glos Streetcare will be trialling a new verges management policy using a pilot in the Yate area. This involves using a new 'cut and collect' mower which picks up cut grass instead of leaving it in situ. Collecting and tipping the grass nearby, helps to reduce the soil fertility of verges, which will encourage wildflowers to grow and in turn attract pollinating insects to the area. Cut grass will be carefully tipped in piles to provide shelter for hedgehogs and other wildlife.
According to the Mirror, Nigel Farage has admitted that he was visited by police officers after travelling more than 100 miles to Dover to film a video rant about migrants during Britain's lockdown. The trip had sparked complaints that the politician had defied the UK's stay-at-home orders when he travelled to Pett Level, a south coast beach. He later travelled further down the coast to Hastings where he interviewed members of the public. Sussex Police confirmed they had been sent the clip, and issued a reminder of the lockdown rules in response to Mr Farage's seaside visit. The force asked ...
Our economy in Wales was already facing difficulties. The Welsh economy's long-term problems are well-documented; low productivity, a long-term lack of investment, a declining working-age population, significant public health issues. Add to that the likely effects of Brexit - especially a no-deal Brexit, which, on the basis of the OBR's own figures, would be likely to deliver a severe productivity shock to the UK economy - and the effects of February's floods, and even before the effects of lockdown are considered, it is clear that Wales was facing serious economic challenges. A recent report by the Centre for Towns and ...
The Daily Telegraph reports today that between furlough subsidies, benefit claimants, public sector workers and pensioners more than half of all adults are now bankrolled by the state As the prospect of an end to the easing of the lockdown draws nearer thoughts begin to turn to dealing with the fallout from the economic damage and what needs to be done to sustain households over the coming year. YouGov has undertaken a survey that finds strong public support for three economic policies – paying people a universal basic income (UBI) to ensure their financial security, introducing a jobs guarantee to ...
There's almost too much going on at the moment. Certainly, there's too much going on for the Government to cope with, given its evident bandwidth problems... 2 big stories Buzzfeed News is claiming an exclusive insight into the Goverment's proposed ideas in terms of relaxing the current restrictions and, on the face of it, they look fairly sensible. But, as I commented yesterday, are the British public willing to return to the 'old normal' so soon? My sense is that they generally aren't, but the Government needs to change that mindset if their desire to taper down the level of ...
I have called on Dundee City Council to ensure the significant improvements in air quality that have taken place during the COVID-19 lockdown and sharp reduction as vehicle usage is not lost when normality hopefully returns in the coming months. As residents know, I have long campaigned on air quality issues, particularly in relation to Lochee Road where, as recently as January 2020, I again highlighted my concern that, yet again, leading air quality campaigners Friends of the Earth had highlighted air quality concerns in Lochee Road in its Scotland's most polluted streets survey, with Seagate in the city also ...
