I walked from Ellesmere canal basin to The Mere through the centre of the town, which made them seem further apart than they are. So I took the direct route on the way back, which took me up Church Hill. When I reached a sign indicating there was a bowling green on top of an overgrown mound, I remembered Clun and Bishop's Castle, which both have greens among the remains of their old castles, and reasoned that the mound was probably once the motte of a castle. I was right - there's a brief entry on Ellesmere Castle on Wikipedia. ...
"In a sacred ceremony dating back to time immemorial, a researcher from a poverty charity or housing campaign group raises their mournful head from the Budget small print and confirms to their line manager that no, there is no money assigned to raising Local Housing Allowance in line with rents and yes, that means housing benefit for private sector tenants in all but the cheapest homes is being cut. Again."Chaminda Jayanetti says John Healey's "breathing space" Budget has ensured the noose around the neck of the poorest private renters gets ever tighter. Daniella Shreir reports on the unrest in France: ...
A site devoted to the band says: The Ethiopians (originally The Ethiopian Children) were one of Jamaica's most influential vocal groups during their heyday. Not only did the original quartet (Leonard Dillon, Wally Booker, Harold Bishop & Neville Duncan) spearhead the transition between Ska and Rocksteady, Dillon's heavily Rastafarian lyrics also paved the way for the socially conscious roots reggae era that was to come. The Reggae Museum adds that they were among the first Jamaican groups to tour widely in Britain. This single from 1969 records a wave of public-sector strikes- a sort of Jamaican winter of discontent.
Ed Davey was interviewed on Sky News this morning The first question was about whether we should apologise for our role in slavery. He said: If you have done something wrong, I have no problem in apologising for it. That's what normal people expect to do. I think Tony Blair started this about 20 years ago and I think if the PM wants to consider it in a bit more detail, we should have that debate. I don't think reparations is the right approach. We've been doing a lot about it in terms of supporting poorer countries. It showed we ...
The Independent reveals the conclusions of a new report that the prime minister's promise to oversee the 'biggest council housebuilding drive since the postwar period' risks falling short if more funding is not delivered. The paper says that unless a further £7bn of extra funding can be found then Burnham is at risk of failing to deliver his flagship pledge to oversee the "biggest council housebuilding drive since the postwar period": The prime minister promised a "historic council housebuilding comeback" shortly after he returned to parliament in the wake of his victory in the Makerfield by-election. He has since pledged ...
