But in about ten days time I will be travelling across the water to the beautiful island of Ireland, to stay with my friends Michael and Andrew for the weekend of Belfast Pride. Not my first time travelling to Northern Ireland - I spent a few days there several years ago for work, and about all I saw was the drive from Belfast City Airport to Londonderry/Derry and back (but out in the countryside, wow!!!).
So it will be nice to see something of the City itself (hint hint!) and even better to have the opportunity to call on a very old family friend who was one of my late Mum's Bridesmaids and who I only recollect from photos of me (as a very young baby) and then from her coming over for our celebrations for Mum and Dad's 30th Wedding Anniversary in 1994.
It's something I'm looking forward to with great anticipation - I'm going by coach from Milton Keynes, overnight, and then the ferry from Cairnryan to Belfast at sparrow's wotsit in the early morning but what's life without a challenge? A few good books and the iPod to keep me going, its all part of the fun!
Michael has already blogged about the preparations for my visit - but just so long as there's a sofa for me to put the sleeping bag on and I don't fall over the books on the stairs, don't worry about the 'Elf 'n' Safetee jobsworths... :)
On the Friday and Saturday evenings I'm really looking forward to the Faith and Pride events at St George's; Fifteen Minutes with Christ - fifteen minutes of quiet reflection, prayer and meditation during all the hustle and bustle of Pride, reassuring ourselves that being Gay and Christian (in my case Catholic) are not incompatible.
24 July 2012
17 November 2011
Objections start rolling in
A couple of weeks ago, Bedford Borough Council published the planning applications for change of use and conversion of the Civic Theatre to a "Council One Stop Shop". The Theatres Trust has objected in the strongest possible terms:
"The Trust objects to the change of use of the Bedford Civic Theatre to a new borough council ‘One-Stop-Shop’ facility because a valuable theatre facility will be lost and there is no replacement provision provided within the catchment area. We were disappointed to receive this application, which proposes the demolition of all the theatrical facilities, despite our objections at the pre-application stage. Although we are pleased that the applicants will retain the existing theatre shell, and we appreciate the gesture to retain the proscenium arch and first floor gallery within the new design, we cannot support the loss of the stage and associated wings without a clear understanding of theatrical needs of Bedford, nor any reasoned justification for the loss of the theatre as a cultural asset."The document goes on to say:
"In your Development Plan Document, Core Strategy and Rural Issues Plan dated April 2008 one of the Plan Objectives 14 (page14) is to ‘Protect and enhance the Borough’s built, cultural and community assets’ as a ‘destination for cultural tourism’. Policy CP2, Sustainable Development Principles, states that the development and use of land will ensure that (vi) ‘important cultural features are protected’. Furthermore, we note that objective (6) of the Milton Keynes & South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy aims to ‘create sustainable communities by ensuring that economic, environmental, social and cultural infrastructure needs are met’ and that a key priority for Bedford is to ‘Revitalise the town centre of Bedford and enhancing retail, cultural and leisure facilities.’ We therefore fail to see how the loss of the Bedford Civic Theatre without alternative provision in the catchment area can be justified or meet the aspirations and ambitions within your Core Strategy."A pretty damning vindication of what the Campaign to Save the Civic Theatre has been saying all along. The full document will soon be available on the Theatres Trust Website in due course.
9 August 2011
Its not often I come over all Daily Mail but .....
Watching the events of the last three evenings has left me sickened and totally disgusted with the behaviour of a minority of thugs.
Witness the young masked yob interviewed on Sky News who took great delight in swearing live on air, and when asked why he was engaging in the violence replied "because I can". He admitted that he had gone into the City Centre of Manchester just to take part in the "riot" and thuggery.
What has annoyed me even more has been the reaction of some of the bleeding heart woolly liberals who are trying to make excuses for this lawlessness by trying to put the blame onto government cuts. Trying to claim that it is all down to the fact that these poor lambs have nothing to do because youth centres and what have you are having to close down because funding is apparently being cut.
Complete and utter nonsense. There is no excuse at all for smashing up a shop and making off with a 50" plasma TV under your arm. There is no excuse at all for torching somebody's business premises, robbing them of their livelihood. My heart went out to the family in Croydon who's furniture business - in existence for 140 years - which had survived two World Wars, the Great Depression of the 1930s and the recession in the 80s only to be totally destroyed by mindless arsonist criminals.
To quote my buddy Scott: "I left School with ZERO exams; I done alright for myself but I dont go looting and blaming the 'system' for the things I aint got.. I just work harder..."
At a guess I would say that the majority of the young scrotes are the offspring of parents who were at school when the rot began to set in in the mid 80s - I refer of course to the time when thanks to the interference of Brussels and the efforts of a load of bleeding heart liberals teachers lost the main tool of keeping discipline in school - namely the cane.
From that point on, kids knew that teachers couldn't touch them - without running the risk of being done for assault. We are now reaping the seeds of that whirlwind where we have a breed of feral youths who think they can do what they like, where they like and when they like
The Police need to have their hands untied - all too often when they appear to be standing around watching trouble kick off, they are bound by the damned "Health and Safety Rules" and having to carry out umpteen risk assessments - time to get rid and let the Police get on and do their job without them being hidebound by ridiculous red tape.
We also need to get rid of the attitude that we don't carry out our Policing in a certain way. The Police should have access to the fullest possible range of tools to assist them and if that means baton rounds, plastic/rubber bullets, water cannon and so on then so be it.
Time as well for more effective penalties - particularly against the feral kids. ASBOs were a waste of space, more often than not they were seen as a "badge of honour", with young thugs competing against each other to collect as many as they could. Fines, tagging, Police Cautions and whatever are ineffective.
Our Magistrates and Judiciary need to be able to deliver a short, sharp shock to these feral thugs. Obviously, nobody is going to have the balls to stick two fingers up to the ECHR and bring back the birch but I think it needs to happen. Before the Isle of Man was forced to give up the punishment in 1983, nobody ever went back for a second dose or reoffended as an adult.
Borstal Training submitted young offenders to a strict disciplinary regime - which is exactly what most of these feral young thugs need.
And while we're at it, maybe a stint of proper National Service wouldn't do them any harm either.
Like I said, its not often I come over all Daily Mail but .....
Witness the young masked yob interviewed on Sky News who took great delight in swearing live on air, and when asked why he was engaging in the violence replied "because I can". He admitted that he had gone into the City Centre of Manchester just to take part in the "riot" and thuggery.
What has annoyed me even more has been the reaction of some of the bleeding heart woolly liberals who are trying to make excuses for this lawlessness by trying to put the blame onto government cuts. Trying to claim that it is all down to the fact that these poor lambs have nothing to do because youth centres and what have you are having to close down because funding is apparently being cut.
Complete and utter nonsense. There is no excuse at all for smashing up a shop and making off with a 50" plasma TV under your arm. There is no excuse at all for torching somebody's business premises, robbing them of their livelihood. My heart went out to the family in Croydon who's furniture business - in existence for 140 years - which had survived two World Wars, the Great Depression of the 1930s and the recession in the 80s only to be totally destroyed by mindless arsonist criminals.
To quote my buddy Scott: "I left School with ZERO exams; I done alright for myself but I dont go looting and blaming the 'system' for the things I aint got.. I just work harder..."
At a guess I would say that the majority of the young scrotes are the offspring of parents who were at school when the rot began to set in in the mid 80s - I refer of course to the time when thanks to the interference of Brussels and the efforts of a load of bleeding heart liberals teachers lost the main tool of keeping discipline in school - namely the cane.
From that point on, kids knew that teachers couldn't touch them - without running the risk of being done for assault. We are now reaping the seeds of that whirlwind where we have a breed of feral youths who think they can do what they like, where they like and when they like
The Police need to have their hands untied - all too often when they appear to be standing around watching trouble kick off, they are bound by the damned "Health and Safety Rules" and having to carry out umpteen risk assessments - time to get rid and let the Police get on and do their job without them being hidebound by ridiculous red tape.
We also need to get rid of the attitude that we don't carry out our Policing in a certain way. The Police should have access to the fullest possible range of tools to assist them and if that means baton rounds, plastic/rubber bullets, water cannon and so on then so be it.
Time as well for more effective penalties - particularly against the feral kids. ASBOs were a waste of space, more often than not they were seen as a "badge of honour", with young thugs competing against each other to collect as many as they could. Fines, tagging, Police Cautions and whatever are ineffective.
Our Magistrates and Judiciary need to be able to deliver a short, sharp shock to these feral thugs. Obviously, nobody is going to have the balls to stick two fingers up to the ECHR and bring back the birch but I think it needs to happen. Before the Isle of Man was forced to give up the punishment in 1983, nobody ever went back for a second dose or reoffended as an adult.
Borstal Training submitted young offenders to a strict disciplinary regime - which is exactly what most of these feral young thugs need.
And while we're at it, maybe a stint of proper National Service wouldn't do them any harm either.
Like I said, its not often I come over all Daily Mail but .....
7 May 2011
Another Election Over
And although nationally it was a good day for the Conservatives and a very bad one for the LibDems, for some reason Bedford saw fit to reverse that trend with the Mayoral Election. In Bedford the Conservatives gained 5 seats and the three main parties are now on an equal split of 12 Councillors each with 4 Independents.
To my utter surprise - and horror - Dave Hodgson managed to get himself re-elected Mayor of Bedford. When we thought that the Civic Theatre would be safe, it isn't so now the battle has to start afresh.
Now wouldn't it be great if the Conservative and Labour Groups on the Council could come to some sort of arrangement to provide some proper opposition to Hodgson? Somehow I don't think that's going to happen, do you?
To my utter surprise - and horror - Dave Hodgson managed to get himself re-elected Mayor of Bedford. When we thought that the Civic Theatre would be safe, it isn't so now the battle has to start afresh.
Now wouldn't it be great if the Conservative and Labour Groups on the Council could come to some sort of arrangement to provide some proper opposition to Hodgson? Somehow I don't think that's going to happen, do you?
9 April 2011
Another Year Older
..... with the added distraction of being as close to 50 now as I was to 40 two years ago ..... Oh sod it, I think I'm just going to grow old disgracefully! Jake Kwan I hope you've got plenty of Guinness in for tomorrow night at The barley mow! Oh, and by the way, Birthday Fairy, or Birthday Returning Officer or whatever you are calling yourself these days, I demand a recount!!
A ringing endorsement!
I was absolutely delighted to read on Thursday that John Guthrie has been endorsed in his Candidacy for Mayor of Bedford by Cllr Apu Bagchi who is one of my two Independent Councillors here in Castle Ward in Bedford. I have only got to know Apu in the last year, but I regard him as one of Bedford's Elder Statesmen, if he won't mind me using that description. Apu has been a pillar of support for the Save Our Civic Campaign, and I have found him to be an absolutely solid and top class gentleman. I've only got to know him in the last year or so, but some people make an immediate impression. Thank you Apu.
19 March 2011
Oh Dear ...
I shouldn't need to of course, but it looks as though I am going to have to make it crystal clear for the benefit of anybody who starts getting any silly ideas about the content of my blog and any local activities I take part in.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in and published on this blog site are my own, personal opinions and thoughts and have nothing whatsoever to do with any organisation or body with which I may be involved or associated, neither do they seek to represent the opinion of any such organisation or body or its members.
There we go. Clear enough?
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