I was back at Market Harborough station today for the first time in ages. While I've been away new liveries have appeared on East Midlands Railway trains. The one above is distinctly stylish.
We've heard a lot about the problems of public transport operators since the pandemic set in - very few passengers, restrictions on those who do use it, and the financial crisis that an absence of fare revenue has wrought. Out here in rural Suffolk, there aren't that many trains, and the notion of commercial bus services is quaint, to put it mildly. Most services outside of the major towns require a subsidy from the County Council, and with local government finances ever more tightly squeezed, their future is shaky. Ros was chairing the ALDC Annual Conference today, and suggested that ...
After I blogged about Bob Dylan going ghost hunting with the Winwood brothers, a couple of readers told me that this wasn't the only time this ruined mansion crops up in pop history. For Procul Harum recorded the original video for A Whiter Shade of Pale there.
Government is working on changes to the Highway Code to make road use safer for cyclists and pedestrians so whether you're a pedestrian, horse rider, cyclist or driver (I wonder how many of you are all 4?) have a go at this quiz on the proposed changes to the Highway Code which is on the BBC website:- www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-54027461
Star Wars won the Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1978, and a special Nebula for Best Dramatic Presentation as well - the category had been discontinued, and was not revived until 2000. The other Hugo finalists were Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Ralph Bakshi animated film Wizards, the TV animated adaptation of The Hobbit, and a two-record album of Robert Bloch and Harlan Ellison reading their own stories with the title Blood! The Life And Future Times Of Jack The Ripper. The Hugo voters got it right, and Star Wars is rated the top film of 1977 ...
I did something today that I don't think I've ever done before in the best part of a quarter of a century of membership – attended an ALDC AGM. The Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners provides the heartbeat to which council candidates and their teams work. If you follow their advice, you are way more likely to win. The ALDC mindset is to be plugged into your local community and working hard for local people all year round. They usually have their AGM at conference and it almost always clashes with something else I have to do, but ...
In the latter stages of the Second World War the Allies managed to spirit out of occupied countries a number of scientists working in sensitive technological fields, notably atomic energy that could contribute to the Americans' Manhattan Project aimed at developing an atomic bomb. That is the context of the new Netflix film Enemy Lines [...]
If there is one appointment that shows how little regard Boris Johnson has for public opinion and common decency then it is making Tony Abbott an official UK trade advisor. The original proposal to give the former Australian Prime Minister this role had attracted plenty of controversy, including criticism from opposition parties, charities and LGBT and environmental activists. Abbott, a controversial and often unpopular prime minister of Australia from 2013 until he was ousted by Liberal party colleagues in 2015, once described abortion as "the easy way out" and has suggested men are better adapted than women to exercise authority. ...
Fri, 12:56: RT @sarahoconnor_: Eye-opening investigation by @DaveLeeFT into fake reviews on Amazon. With all the company's algorithmic prowess, it's su... Fri, 18:58: RT @Petrit: Mazel tov! 🇽🇰🇮🇱🇺🇸 #Israel's PM is to confirm imminently it has recognized #Kosovo as independent republic & established bilater... Fri, 18:58: RT @HashimThaciRKS: I salute the signing of agreement b/w #Kosovo & #Serbia, today in Washington. Grateful to @WhiteHouse, @realDonaldTrump... Fri, 20:10: Today's etymological thread was inspired by the utterly bonkers song "बंजारा / Wanderer" in the Bollywood film Ek Tha Tiger. India looks at Dublin. Our hero, in love with the mysterious woman who ...
Former leader Jo Swinson highlighted the ways i which the covid-19 pandemic could adversely affect gender equality in the workplace. She was giving a lecture on the future of work to Cranfield School of Management which was reported on Personnel Today. There are some inequalities there which might well be a lasting legacy of the pandemic, despite the fact that there are other elements which ought to make things better for people who have caring responsibilities, by making it more accessible to work flexibly and to work from home," she said. She set out her concern that marginalised groups may ...
Spending a year as an au pair in Berlin was one of the best years of my life. I made lasting friendships, learned a language and gained a lot of sympathy for the challenges of parenting. The experience of au pairing abroad at a young age has been enjoyed by young people for hundreds of years. Long before the Erasmus student exchange program was born, Europe's youth have been swapping their home for a year in Rome, Paris or London. At the same time, thousands of families benefit from the au pair program with affordable childcare and the opportunity to ...
i) births and deaths 5 September 1964: birth of Stephen Greenhorn, writer of The Lazarus Experiment (2007) and The Doctor's Daughter (2008). 5 September 1987: death of Bill Fraser, who played General Grugger in Meglos (Fourth Doctor, 1980) and Bill Pollock in K9 and Company. ii) broadcast anniversary 5 September 1964: broadcast of "A Bargain of Necessity", fifth episode of the story we now call The Reign of Terror. Ian is rescued; the Doctor attempts to rescue Susan; but is forced to cooperate with Lemaitre instead. A lost episode, sadly, but it has been animated. iii) date specified in-universe: 5 ...
Many thanks to the local resident for these photos - she adds : "I was pleased to find lords-and-ladies on Riverside. I thought we were too far north." Lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum) with its bright autumn berries, is a valuable perennial for shady borders.
