I was invited by residents to attend a meeting tonight in the Traveller's Rest in Sunniside. They want to set up a group that aims to plant up the village and keep it tidy. I was there to speak about the experiences of setting up and being part of a similar group in Whickham. My advice was to walk before trying to run - start with a limited number of objectives and grow to take on more over time.
I was the guest speaker at the U3A meeting in Sunniside Club last week. I turned up with my laptop to give a talk on what history taught me about self-sufficiency. The problem was that I had actually been booked to give my talk about the Washingwell Roman fort. Fortunately, my error was rectified as I had the Roman fort presentation on my laptop. A quick switch of files and problem solved. The
ONS figures: Families see pay squeezed by Conservative incompetence Two-week cancer diagnosis target missed by half of NHS trusts in every month last year Welsh Lib Dems Comment on Welsh Government Road Review ONS figures: Families see pay squeezed by Conservative incompetence Responding to the latest ONS figures showing a 3.1% real-terms fall in pay in October to December 2022, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said: This Conservative government has hammered families with soaring mortgages, rising energy bills and huge unfair tax hikes. Hard-working people are having their pay squeezed thanks to the incompetence of Rishi Sunak and ...
This is fun. Chris Green looks at the Service careers of John Laurie and of Private Frazer, whom he played in Dad's Army. Jimmy Perry and David Croft, it seems, gave all their characters a full backstory.
You see? They don't call the Wise Woman of Wing 'wise' for nothing. And I am indebted to Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch for the expression 'What-killed-Aunty'. (For some reason I omitted the hyphens and capital letters in the version I sent to Liberator.) It occurs in the opening chapter of True Tilda. So thank you, Q. Tuesday To the village, where I find the queue for Mr Patel's shop wrapped three times round the green before it disappears into the churchyard of St Asquith's and the fields beyond. Who should I find surveying the scene with satisfaction but my old friend ...
A technology glitch means that I'm a little further behind than expected. Normal service will resume shortly... Revealed: 12-hour A&E waits quadrupled in most areas of England last year Sewage: Lib Dems bid to block bill which removes clean water regulation Revealed: GP postcode lottery as number of registered patients soars Revealed: 12-hour A&E waits quadrupled in most areas of England last year Four in five areas in England saw the number of 12-hour waits at A&E quadruple last year, shocking new analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. The figures reveal a devastating rise in long delays to be ...
The Ross-shire Journal reports: A Highland councillor has announced that he is going to go up against sitting MP Ian Blackford in the next general election. Angus MacDonald has been selected to stand as a Liberal Democrat in opposition to the current SNP MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber. Mr Blackford was also, until recently, leader of the party at Westminster... Serial entrepreneur and philanthropist [Angus MacDonald] has in the past run and sold a variety of businesses such as Edinburgh Financial Publishing, Financial News and Helius Energy. However, he is now in the business of giving back having built ...
Childcare: Conservatives have turned their backs on families Sharpe report: Boris Johnson must now also face the music to answer questions Childcare: Conservatives have turned their backs on families Responding to reports that the Treasury is considering expanding its free childcare offer, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Munira Wilson said: Parents should never be forced out of work by a lack of affordable childcare. If the Treasury wants to help more parents back to work, it should simply implement the Liberal Democrat plan for childcare that is flexible, affordable and fair. Crucially, that must include raising the rates paid to providers ...
Mon, 17:11: So, a charming scene set in Cambridge one evening in 1844. Except that Memorial Court was not built until 1926! So Emily will have a long wait for Venus to appear over it! Even more pedantically, there was no evening in 1844 when Mars was rising when Venus appeared in the west. https://t.co/gh9hfh6G6k Mon, 18:22: Daily #365 0️⃣4️⃣⬛0️⃣5️⃣ 0️⃣6️⃣⬛0️⃣7️⃣ 0️⃣9️⃣⬛1️⃣7️⃣ 1️⃣8️⃣⬛1️⃣0️⃣ 1️⃣1️⃣⬛1️⃣9️⃣ 2️⃣0️⃣⬛1️⃣2️⃣ 1️⃣3️⃣⬛1️⃣4️⃣ 1️⃣5️⃣⬛1️⃣6️⃣ https://t.co/1E46GFXTgD #sedecordle Mon, 20:07: Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States�Capitol https://t.co/6l7kD8KRA6 Tue, 10:45: Your occasional reminder that the body of St. Valentine has ...
Liberal Democrats operate in a world in which we assume that those we talk to and work with are reasonable, open-minded, fair and generous, and share broadly the same assumptions about society that we do. Except, of course, that those in power don't. To an increasing degree, Conservatives who read the Telegraph, Mail and Spectator, watch Talk TV and GB News, follow research by right-wing think tanks and see US Republicans as their closest political soulmates live in an alternative reality. Liz Truss is a classic example of this. After her rapid exit from the Prime Ministership, she travelled to ...
The BBC reports that official figures show that regular pay has grown at the fastest rate in more than 20 years, but is still failing to keep up with rising prices. They say that pay, excluding bonuses, increased at an annual pace of 6.7% between October and December 2022, however, when adjusted for inflation, regular pay fell by 2.5%. Importantly, the gap between private and public sector pay continued, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) finding that private regular pay was up 7.3% annually between October and December, compared with a 4.2% rise in the public sector. Both figures ...
Residents will recall the information we posted back in June and September 2022 - see and - on possible environmental improvements in Perth Road at three locations - Pennycook Lane outside the police station, the Miller's Wynd car park and area around the West End Community Fridge and the Sinderins "triangle." These were simply 'concept drawings' and we insisted to the City Council that it provided detailed designs for public consultation and feedback before the final designs go to tender and these have now been provided - see below. We would welcome residents' feedback ASAP and this will ...
