The other day we mourned the death of commercial theatre in Leicester with the closure of the Royal Opera House in 1960. The invaluable Arthur Lloyd website takes up the story, as the city council's theatre committee helped a group of actors set up The Living Theatre in the old St Nicholas School Rooms. These were situated between Holy Bones and Great Central Street in Leicester. This was to be a temporary arrangement as the School Rooms were already due for demolition in July of the following year, for a major road development scheme. In fact, the Living Theatre was ...
Christmas is always a good time to catch up with the family. I am Polish, however my wife comes originally from Croatia, a truly spectacularly beautiful country in the southern part of Europe. I had a chance to live in Croatia for a number of years between March 2001 and November 2004, when I was studying and conducting research for my Master's Degree. On 1st January 2023, Croatia joined the Eurozone and the Schengen Area. During the Festive Season, at least on a couple of occasions, this was one of the main topics of our conversations; would my friends and ...
Laura Gordon announced that she's standing down as the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) in Sheffield Hallam.
A bite-sized start to by-elections in 2023, with just two taking place. In Uttlesford, Essex, the Conservatives took victory over localist Residents for Uttlesford, beating them 375 to 238. Lorraine Flawn of the Lib Dems achieved 88 votes, where no Lib Dem stood last time! Excellent news, and congrats to Lorraine and the Uttlesford Lib Dems. Over in Cannock Chase, Labour edged the Conservatives by the cursed 52-48 margin, a testament to the binary systems of British politics. Labour and the Conservatives were helped – or were they hindered? – by a lack of third parties, with Greens, Independents and ...
I once derailed a train by taking the Powell and Pressburger film A Canterbury Tale lightly. I've no evidence that Margaret Mitchell, the author of Gone With the Wind, was similarly flippant about it. But ir remains a fact that she died after being knocked down by a drunk driver when she was on the way to see it. On the latest episode of the podcast American History Hit, Sarah Churchwell talks about the way Gone With the Wind whitewashes the horrors of slavery, while condemning those who abolished it. And, she says, it's not alone. This is something that ...
Thu, 12:56: Rishi Sunak's New Year speech showed how out of his depth he is https://t.co/Dnbx0TrgYR "Has the Prime Minister given up, or did he not have any ambition to begin with?" I'll go for both. #ukpol Thu, 19:26: The Romans, by Jacob Edwards (and Dennis Spooner, and Donald Cotton) https://t.co/zoCTH2aQyB Thu, 21:31: I had missed the news that @scott_handcock is the incoming #DoctorWho script editor. Very promising! Thanks to @DWMtweets for enlightening me... Fri, 10:45: Qatar corruption scandal: How Morocco manipulated the EP through Panzeri https://t.co/Mx4OEapDGI This was all happening in plain sight.
My 2nd history talk of the week will be taking place this afternoon, 2.30pm at Sunniside Church. The meeting is for residents who are suffering from loneliness. I will be speaking about the Roman fort at Washingwell, Whickham. I first gave a talk on this issue in October to the Mothers' Union and then a couple of weeks later to Sunniside History Society. Next month I will be speaking to the U3A
It is beginning to look as if this Tory government will do anything to avoid negotiating properly with essential frontline workers like nurses, junior doctors and ambulance drivers. Instead they are relying on a forlorn hope that the public mood will turn against the strikers. But what do they hope to achieve by introducing even more draconian anti-strike laws? Effectively decreeing that people cannot legally withdraw their labour is only going to garner more sympathy for those who wish to do so, especially when their cause is a just one, and is perceived as just by the public. According to ...
One of the contestants in the new series of The Apprentice, Gregory Ebbs, is a Lib Dem councillor on Whitchurch Town Council in Shropshire. According to his profile on the BBC he "owns an online antiques business and has previously worked as a professional cannon-firer". I'd love to know more about his time spent in Malta firing cannons. What we do know is that he is a dab hand with aphorisms. um, what he said [IMG: 👀] #TheApprentice #iPlayer pic.twitter.com/zmnrBFHwF9 — The Apprentice (@bbcapprentice) January 5, 2023 In the first episode last night, which took the contestants to Antigua, Greg ...
Whitchurch Town Councillor Gregory Ebbs is one of the contestants in the new series of The Apprentice. He's been putting his knowledge of military antiques to good use: When you're not firing on all cylinders and your colleague saves the day. [IMG: 🫢] Watch #TheApprentice on #iPlayer pic.twitter.com/m2wzof3Abd — The Apprentice (@bbcapprentice) January 5, 2023
Two principal authority council by-elections this week to kick off the year. One Liberal Democrat candidate rather than two in them, but that's one up on the last time these wards were fought. Great Dunmow South & Barnston (Uttlesford) Council By-Election Result: CON: 46.0% (+14.1) RfU: 29.2% (-27.3) LAB: 14.1% (+2.4) LDM: 10.8% (New) Conservative GAIN from Localists (Residents for Uttlesford). Changes w/ 2019. — Election Maps UK (@ElectionMapsUK) January 6, 2023
If you have a real Christmas tree requiring removal, the City Council provides a recycling service for this. To arrange for a pick-up of your tree please go to the following link - Remember to remove tinsel, decorations or any pots and stands before presenting your tree for collection. Alternatively you can take your tree to the recycling centres at Riverside and Baldovie for disposal. Please note, however, that the Riverside recycling centre has not been open the past couple of days due to flooding at the site.
