Last night BBC2 screened the latest of Mark Kermode's Secrets of Cinema programmes - this one was on pop music films. I was looking forward to it, but had sadly concluded that he would not find room to mention the Spencer Davis Group film The Ghost Goes Gear. I was wrong. Let's be honest though: it's not a good film. As I blogged when paying tribute to Nicholas Parsons a few years ago: According to Parsons' memoirs, the weather in which they had to film was so bad that he assumed the project had been scrapped. He was surprised there ...
Second paragraph of third story ("The Monster in the Woods", by Paul Magrs):Ange was upstairs in her bedroom painting her younger brother's face for Hallowe'en. Terry was ten and amazingly patient as she finished off his David Bowie lightning flash.This is a set of twelve Doctor Who short stories for YA readers, themed around Halloween, each of them featuring a different Doctor, usually with an old enemy (the Celestial Toymaker appears twice). The six authors are all well established - Jacqueline Rayner, Mike Tucker, Paul Magrs, Richard Dungworth, Scott Handcock and Craig Donaghy (was not sure of the last, but ...
Crochet keyrings using British Wool, featuring flower or wheel motifs. Handmade cards, each one is individual, using a block printed Hamsa motif in watercolour. Click on images to go to my Etsy shop, opens in a new browser window.
[IMG: Microscope (Acagastya, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons From : "Folkestone & Hythe District Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee is planning its programme for 2021/22 and seeking suggestions for district-wide matters which are important to your community." The most important thing about the Covid Vaccination roll-out locally is that it happens as quickly as possible, and I'm going to do nothing that gets in the way of those trying to roll it out. However, when that it up to speed, there are reasonable questions to be answered on why the vaccination roll-out was around a month quicker in Hythe ...
The Electoral Commission lists these UK elections which are due to be held in May this year: Local council elections in England Local and Combined Authority Mayoral elections Mayor of London and London Assembly elections Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliamentary election Scottish Parliamentary election That's with any required by-elections on top. That is a huge slate of elections covering the whole of the UK except for Northern Ireland, which may well have the odd by-election or three. Is it going to be safe to have millions of people trooping in and out of ...
[IMG: Roadworks sign] Kent Highways have notified that It will be necessary to close Granville Road East, Sandgate from 18th January 2021 for up to 8 days. The road will be closed outside 9 Granville Road East. The one-way system on Granville Road East has been suspended to allow access. The alternative route is via Sandgate High Street and Parade Road. This is to enable emergency gas escape works to be carried out by SGN. A copy of the traffic notice is available on the Sandgate Parish Council website. Published and promoted by Tim Prater, 98a Sandgate High Street, Folkestone, ...
Our reliance on new build to solve the housing crisis fails us. Walk through most new housing estates and you will discover cheaply constructed flats that are unsuitable for families and children or houses that are largely unaffordable, whose price is inflated by a shortage of supply and not by the cost of house building – but credit availability. New build comes at a huge environmental and social cost, with implications for the well-being of our communities. The conventional response is to set targets for new build, ones that are never met; a case of setting the wrong measure to ...
The Chief Executive of the Suffolk Association of Local Councils, Sally Longmate, is on a mission to improve the way the organisation works, improving accountability, engagement and our relationships with other parts of the architecture of local government and the voluntary sector across the county. As part of that, it was suggested that the Board might like to contribute a photograph and a paragraph or so about ourselves for the website, so that our membership might get to know us better. I'm keen on that as a concept, although less keen on the idea of having a photograph of me ...
Liberal Democrat Newswire #145 came out last week, looking at the wrong, and the right, question to ask about Brexit.
Tue 19th
10:06
Layla Moran writes... Liberal Democrats stand with others today to oppose trade deals with countries...
The UK should not sign trade deals with countries committing genocide. A statement I hope we can all agree on. Unfortunately, the Government seems to disagree. They're refusing to accept cross-party amendments to the Trade Bill that would put human rights at the heart of our trade policy. This is particularly important because of what is happening to the Uyghur people in Xinjiang and across China. The Foreign Secretary last week described the mounting evidence to the Commons: Internment camps, arbitrary detention, political re-education, forced labour, torture and forced sterilisation—all on an industrial scale. And yet he refused to call ...
Liverpool's Liberal Democrats have written to the Home Secretary asking for a two-month deferment of the elections due on 6 May to the first Thursday in July instead. In my letter I said "to have the elections on the current ... Continue reading →
Today is the last full day of the Trump presidency. It is easy to take his loss in November for granted, forgetting how likely his re-election seemed at the start of 2020 (and which the thinness of Biden's wins in crucial states bears out). It is also easy to underestimate how much worse Trump's presidency, as bad as it was, could have been. I could start almost anywhere but I'll begin with North Korea. At the start of Trump's term, I thought the potential for the situation on the Korean peninsula to go in a horrible and possibly devastating direction ...
Forgive me if I get the popcorn out for this one, but according to the Guardian, Jeremy Corbyn's supension from Labour has reached the high court. The paper says lawyers for Jeremy Corbyn have accused the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, of making "inflammatory and disingenuous" attacks on his predecessor following a row over the party's handling of antisemitism. At yesterday's high court hearing, Corbyn's lawyers said documents would help prove there was a deal with Starmer's office to readmit him to the party, and Corbyn's suspension "went behind an agreement to reinstate" him to Labour "at all levels". The paper ...
i) births and deaths 19 January 1957: birth of Roger Ashton-Griffiths, who played Mr Garret, Eugene's teacher, in Random Shoes (Torchwood, 2006) and Master Quayle in Robot of Sherwood (Twelfth Doctor, 2014) ii) broadcast anniversaries 19 January 1974: broadcast of second episode of Invasion of the Dinosaurs. The Doctor and Sarah coordinate with the Brigadier, not realising that Mike Yates is part of the conspiracy. Once again the Doctor is threatened by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. 19 January 1982: broadcast of second episode of Four to Doomsday. The Tardis crew discover more about the plans of Monarch and the Urbankans; the ...
During the recent wintery weather, residents highlighted to me that it would be helpful to have an additional grit bin in Millhall Crescent and also have one at the west end of Newhall Gardens. I am pleased to say that the Roads Maintenance Partnership agreed to my request for these. The additional one for Millhall Crescent has since been delivered and I hope the additional one for Newhall Gardens will be in place soon.
Most of you will have heard a vaccination centre is to open at Ludlow Racecourse. This will be in early February and we hope to announce the date next weekend. The centre will serve a wide area. We understand that transport will be provided from Ludlow but we don't have details yet. This will be run by Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group. Local GPs will not be involved. Many of those registered with GPs in Ludlow will be able to be vaccinated at the surgeries. Those housebound will received home visits. There have been confusing reports about the vaccination centre at ...
