An impressive endorsement for the work of Clive Jones and his colleagues.
The great novel of London's bombsites just after the war is Rose Macaulay's The World My Wilderness. I read it years ago and recently bought a copy, which is now on my pile of books to read. Luckily, you don't have to wait for me, as I've found an essay on the novel by Lucy Scholes for The Paris Review. The novel opens in France in 1946, where 17-year-old Barbary and her younger step-brother Raul have grown wild from running with the Maquis. Their mother decides to send them to live, separately, with relations in London in an attempt to ...
I have some practical experience of trying not to get malaria and supervising rules to help prevent others catching it. Malaria is endemic in the coastal (ie hot) areas of Papua New Guinea so when I went to teach in Port Moresby in the early 1970s I was warned to start taking the then standard prophylactic, chloroquine, a couple of weeks before l left the UK, and to continue to take two tablets weekly as long as I was there. This I did religiously. The local people didn't need to take prophylactics because they had built up immunity during childhood. ...
Yesterday I tweeted the Independent's account of the Westminster altercation between Andrew Bridgen and Lee Anderson. In it, one wtiness described Anderson as "aggressive and out of control". In the interests of balance, here (via GB News) is a very different view from Nana Akua: The altercation was in fact initiated by Andrew Bridgen, who came over to our table opening the conversation with what I thought was a warm welcome. He stood beside me, leant over and put his arm around my side in a welcoming gesture. However, it was anything but that, it was in fact a rouse ...
I have an interest in chalk streams, or one in particular, the Hogsmill, which lies less than a mile from my home; its tributary, the Bonesgate, runs through my ward. The Hogsmill rises in Ewell and flows for 6 miles to the Thames at Kingston, having passed by the Coronation Stone where seven Saxon kings were crowned and gone under the 12th century Clattern Bridge. Its name derives from the water mills that lay along its length, and specifically one belonging to someone called Hogg. The mills were used for several purposes, from grinding flour to providing gunpowder for the ...
Sup up your beer and collect your fags, There's a poll going on down near Slough. i News is getting excited about one ward in particular: The Eton and Castle ward in Windsor - which covers the college - is a key target for the Liberal Democrats who believe that if things go their way they could wipe out all three conservative councillors there. Such a move would certainly lead to some schadenfreude, but it would also point to a wider problem for the Conservative party: the threat to the blue wall. BBC News has been in Berkshire too: All ...
Wed, 13:32: Andr�e Tainsy, 1911-2004 https://t.co/7vKdcRoeLS Wed, 15:32: RT @Megintransition: Thinking about attending glasgow 2024* then grab your membership now and on a instalment plan to get the most affordab... Thu, 10:45: Sinn Féin to attend King Charles' coronation in sign of changed times - POLITICO https://t.co/6zz2ORhrOM Thu, 11:16: RT @niallodoc: Insightful & entertaining talks by 4 great speakers Brenda Maher @UnaClarke @KevinKeary @nwbrux on diverse career paths & jo...
All solar farm applicants stress that the land use is temporary and the land will be improved through fallow use during the forty years. That is questioned in a submission by Shropshire Council to the planning appeal on the Ledwyche solar farm, on the east side of Squirrel Lane. In a significant clarification of planning officers' position on whether solar farms are temporary, they say that none have yet been decommissioned and it is not known if the land can be fully restored. They also say that 40 years is a long time to take land out of production. Ledwyche ...
A great result on candidate numbers There's been a big increase in the number of Liberal Democrat candidates for this May's local elections. We've got up to 60% of seats having a Lib Dem candidate (up seven points on last time around). It's our best showing for this part of the local elections cycle compared with Labour since 2011 and compared with the Conservatives since 2007. That's important for our credibility with voters. It means so many more people will see the Liberal Democrat name and logo on their ballot papers. It also matters for our credibility with the media, ...
Gambling reforms: Stop dithering and implement now In response to the publication of the long-delayed Gambling White Paper, Liberal Democrat Peer, Lord Foster said: Reforms to protect people from gambling harms are long overdue. The families and communities affected need real action now, not another round of government consultations. This Conservatives promised reform all the way back in 2019, but this white paper has been delayed again and again by their chaos and infighting. During that time, hundreds of problem gamblers have committed suicide and many thousands of lives have been devastated. These proposals are important steps in the right ...
From Blackness Library : "Rest and Reflect is a free meditation group at Blackness Library, come along for some peace from life's chaos, and enjoy a little 'me time' in the comfort of our cosy Carnegie library! Saturday 29th April: 10am-11am, and every second Saturday thereafter."
Do the authors of this volume of the Cambridge Urban History know how gloomy a book they have written? Pessimism suffuses these pages from start almost to finish. That was Andrew Saint, reviewing volume 3 in that series for the London Review of Books in 1981. But things looked up later on: It is often a corrective as well as a relief to read about local experience and activity. Thus Stephen Royle's chapter on small towns, heavily based on Leicestershire, seems at first to paint a picture of stagnation (Hinckley's 'stinking state' in 1840 etc) and cultural decline. Then abruptly ...
