The Jordan is Market Harborough's second river. It rises near Desborough, flows through Braybrooke and Little Bowden, and joins the Welland near Market Harborough railway station. In summer it can dry to little more than a trickle, but you should have seen it today. The photo above shows the Jordan entering the Welland. Between them they have flooded the commercial car park across the road from the station. And the photos below, I hope in the correct order, show my walk to the station from my house this afternoon.
Embed from Getty ImagesThere is a quotation that gives the best summing up of the Conservative view of the world I have ever come across. I think I saw it first in a tweet or blog post by James Graham, It runs: Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. That encapsulates the instinctive approach of both our current government and of the small-town Tories I tangled with in my days as a councillor. An article on Slate ...
The latest edition of my weekly political polling round-up, The Week in Polls, is out. As it says: Welcome to the 95th edition of The Week in Polls, which takes a swerve from looking at opinion polls to looking at the real polls and asks: do Parliamentary by-election results foretell general election outcomes? Throw cynicism at the question and you get the answer yes if you've won and no if you've lost. Luckily, we can also throw data and graphs at the question too. Find out more by reading this edition of The Week in Polls here, and you can ...
Sun 18th
17:44
I am asking Shropshire Council why it has not repaired the Tollgate play area after 3 months
The state of the popular play area on Tollgate, Ludlow is a disgrace. More than three months after fencing collapsed in a storm, it still has not been repaired. Safety barriers have also been blown down. The entrance to the children's play area is a safety hazard. Children must squeeze past the debris to get into the play area. The council is ignoring its responsibilities to protect the health and safety of children that use the play area. On Wednesday, I will be asking the council's cabinet what safety assessments it conducts on play areas and when the Tollgate play ...
The brave bully boys of the Russian forces love to attack ambulances like this one which carry no weapons. Today I had the privilege of listening to listen to inspiring talks from three front line medics from the Ukraine forces. ... Continue reading →
There were a couple of great results in this week's local government by-elections. In the Four Marks and Medstead ward of East Hampshire District Council, Roland Richardson held on to the seat with 62.2% of the vote! Thanks to ALDC for compiling the results. Also in Hertfordshire, Caroline Smith-Wright held the Tring West and Rural ward on Dacorum District Council with an even greater vote share. DACORUM DC; Tring West & Rural Ward [IMG: 🔵] Con, , 21.1%, -3.0% [IMG: 🔴] Lab, , 7.6%, -0.3% [IMG: 🔶] SMITH-WRIGHT, Caroline, LibDem, , 62.7%, +12.8% [IMG: 🟢] Green, , 8.6%, -9.6% EAST ...
As if sub-postmasters had not suffered enough, the Guardian reports on claims by Henry Staunton, a former Post Office chair, who said that he was told by a senior civil servant to stall compensation pay outs to post office operators so the government could "limp into" the general election. The paper says that Staunton, who was sacked by the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, last month amid anger over the Horizon scandal, said the request came soon after he took up the role in December 2022. They add that he also alleged that Nick Read, the Post Office chief executive, tried ...
This was probably something that would have been kinda popular in 1993 says a comment on YouTube. I suspect 1993 is the earliest year the writer can conceive of, because this would have been popular two or three decades before that. Yet it's a new single. The Lovely Eggs are a duo - Holly Ross and David Blackwell - from Lancaster who have been around since 2006. They've been quiet lately, but Monorail Music explains what they've been up to: It's been four years since the world heard any new music from our heroes in psych-punk-power duo The Lovely Eggs. ...
The first time I ever met Lord Bonkers he warned me against the Dahrendorf lager, yet it remains a fixture at the Bonkers' Arms. Having seen some of the film he refers to here, I would certainly recommend a stiff drink of something before you attempt to watch them. Friday I watch the aforementioned Talking Pictures TV from time to time in the hope of catching one of my own Rutland Studios productions. They were, if I say it myself, made in full knowledge of the latest developments in Continental cinema - "if not nouvelle then certainly vague," as one ...
Residents recently pointed out to us that a bus stop on Milnbank Road's north side near Polepark Road has the sign on it saying 'Clepington Road'! The pole/stop has clearly been re-used from a redundant bus stop elsewhere and we have asked council transport officers to have the sign on it corrected.
