On Wednesday last week, I stood down as a trustee of Whickham Voluntary Library. I have been a trustee since the voluntary organisation was set up 5 years ago to take over the running of the Library from Gateshead Council. The reason for this retirement is simple: I need to rationalise what I am doing as I am spreading myself too thinly. I need to concentrate on fewer tasks. In addition, having
Whickham Library fair was held yesterday and I brought Ramesses with me. He is one of our billy goats and he was there to be cunningly disguised as a reindeer and attract donations for the Library and visitors to the event. He certainly got a great deal of interest (and lots of carrots). The video shows it all.
This is fun. The Whitewicks ferret around at Alderbury Wharf, which is supposed to be as near Salisbury as the Salisbury and Southampton Canal ever got. Was there an attempt to tunnel through the hill beyond the wharf, or did the builders begin digging a line to take the canal around the hill? Or both?
On Wednesday, Sunniside History Society met for the last meeting of the year. We had a quiz on the historic buildings of Newcastle. 20 photos taken at least decades ago (some over 100 years ago) and members had to identify the buildings and share some memories. Meanwhile, the buffet went down well. I have passed on the comments to the caterer!
I was invited to switch on the Christmas tree lights at Sunniside Methodist Church recently. The church hall is an important facility for local residents and many groups meet there are activities take place there. So I was really honoured to be asked to do the switch-on.
Such has been the refrain ever since the referendum result, and this week has been no exception. In the one week the government which last year presided over the COP26 conference to tackle the climate crisis has sanctioned the creation of a new coal mine in Cumberland, despite the promises made to reduce the use of fossil fuels and the sanctimonious demands to poorer countries to play their part. Then in the same week it is announced that the safeguards erected as a result of banking crisis of 2008 which brought the world's monetary system to the brink of collapse ...
We end our week at Bonkers Hall with the old boy paying tribute to one of his peers. Of course, all his peers are peers. Sunday The heartiest of congratulations to our own Baroness Benjamin as she becomes the first member of the original London cast of Hair! to hold the Order of Merit since Lord Jenkins of Hillhead. I was perhaps a little too old to be a regular viewer of Play School, though if I had no pressing business then pretending to be in a rowing boat or whatever was a pleasant enough way of passing the time, ...
Recently we've seen a Yougov poll putting support for Brexit at new lows, with just 32% of the British public overall and 70% of those who voted Leave thinking it was the right decision. We've seen stories of both the Tories and Labour denying that they have plans to rejoin the Single Market and/or Customs Union — with the implication that there is something to deny. For a while I've thought the opposite on the grounds that people who voted Leave might find it easier to change their minds if we're not telling them they were wrong. But, if 30% ...
At some time before or during a General Election Keir Starmer will have to come off the fence and talk about the big changes in the way we run our public and private sectors that are being shown up by ... Continue reading →
Sun, 01:50: Daily Duotrigordle #284 Guesses: 35/37 2️⃣2️⃣ 2️⃣3️⃣ 2️⃣4️⃣ 2️⃣5️⃣ 2️⃣6️⃣ 0️⃣5️⃣ 2️⃣7️⃣ 0️⃣6️⃣ 2️⃣8️⃣ 2️⃣9️⃣ 3️⃣0️⃣ 0️⃣7️⃣ 3️⃣1️⃣ 3️⃣2️⃣ 1️⃣5️⃣ 0️⃣8️⃣ 0️⃣9️⃣ 3️⃣3️⃣ 3️⃣4️⃣ 1️⃣0️⃣ 0️⃣3️⃣ 1️⃣1️⃣ 3️⃣5️⃣ 1️⃣2️⃣ 1️⃣3️⃣ 1️⃣4️⃣ 1️⃣6️⃣ 1️⃣7️⃣ 1️⃣8️⃣ 1️⃣9️⃣ 2️⃣0️⃣ 2️⃣1️⃣ https://t.co/hh9bUoa7aM Sun, 09:13: Daily #301 0️⃣4️⃣⬛1️⃣2️⃣ 0️⃣5️⃣⬛1️⃣3️⃣ 1️⃣8️⃣⬛1️⃣9️⃣ 0️⃣6️⃣⬛0️⃣7️⃣ 1️⃣4️⃣⬛0️⃣8️⃣ 0️⃣9️⃣⬛2️⃣0️⃣ 1️⃣5️⃣⬛1️⃣6️⃣ 1️⃣0️⃣⬛1️⃣1️⃣ https://t.co/1E46GFXTgD #sedecordle Sun, 10:45: RT @BrianMaguireEU: The most bizarre detail of #Qatar #EvaKaili story: - very large sums of cash, in Brussels - Kaili's father reportedly...
Ukraine Drones are playing an increasingly important role in the Ukraine War, especially on the Ukrainian side. Russia may have more ships, men, missiles and tanks. But the Ukrainians are proving masters at producing drones to counter them. At sea they have pioneered the development and use of naval drones which have successfully attacked Russian ships and shore side storage depots at the Russian naval base of Sevastopol. The drones are equipped with a souped-up jet ski engine; a camera in the bow and one amidships, a satellite dish and 200 kg of high explosives. They are operated by a ...
The UK Government may think it is clever goading public sector workers into striking for better pay and conditions, but at present public sympathy is on the side of the strikers, and it is government ministers who are going to end up with egg all over their faces. Above all the public respects fair play, and if there is a dispute that our government will do all it can to resolve it. Yet, as the Independent reports, Ministers are somehow convinced that refusing to meet with trade unions in order to avoid disruption over the Christmas period, will win them ...
Ambulance performance in Shropshire, and in many areas of the country, has been unacceptable for too long. Ludlow health campaigner and town councillor Darren Childs has recently detailed his second experience of not being able to get a 999 ambulance promptly when needed. Susan told her story to me after being classified as a Category 1 emergency in South Shropshire a few days ago. BBC Shropshire reported earlier this week that in 2020 one person died because of ambulance delays in the county. This does not include deaths before the ambulance arrived. In 2021, the number of deaths rose to ...
Is this Christmas music? Well, King's College, Cambridge, did include it in their Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in 2013, which was Benjamin Britten's' centenary year. He was 16 when he wrote this As Britten Pears Arts explains: The text that Britten uses is by an anonymous poet and probably dates from about 1300. It appears in The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900, which he won as a school prize for music. It's a macaronic verse; that is, a poem in which one language is introduced into the context of another. The main body of the choir sings ...
The next Connecting Carers Café for the West End and Lochee is this Thursday morning at the Friary in Tullideph Road from 10.15am. All carers welcome!
