Friday 26 June 2009

Sports Minister, Gerry Sutcliffe is the embarrassing one.

He clearly has not been following the progress of tennis over the last year.

It is he and the ignorant British public that are letting the side down in putting phenomenal pressure on our tennis players particularly the women.

They are not 'underperforming' except at Wimbledon. Everywhere else in the world they have steadily been climbing up the rankings and Sutcliffe does not appear to know this. With the insensitive reception at Wimbledon, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them quit!


" 'Embarrassing' results must improve, says Sutcliffe

Sport England will later this year consider the future funding of grassroots tennis following government warnings that the sport could see a cut if more elite talent does not emerge.

The sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, said the Lawn Tennis Association should look to success stories in cycling, rowing and swimming for lessons on how to bring talent through the system. The familiar post mortem on British failings at Wimbledon, with nine of 11 players in the singles draws crashing out in the first round, was given added legs by Sutcliffe's suggestion that the LTA could see its funding cut if matters do not improve.

Sutcliffe said the failure is "embarrassing" but also sought to clarify his remarks"

Thursday 25 June 2009

Who let the dogs out in Ford Park on Christmas Day

At last I've finished this promised celebration of great fun event!




This gathering - the first of its kind in Ulverston brought together dogs for frolic. Their human mates enjoyed themselves as well.

Doggy people are great to chat with and responsibly help keep this threatened park for everyday people.

They are the main users of this expanse of grass and keep it in prime condition (picking up litter and other people's dog shit) !

Why not join them one Saturday morning around 9.30 am at Ford Park for a romp?

Nothing formal : maybe see you there!

Simple Philosophy

Less haste, more speed.

If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well!

I can still hear my mother repeating these!

Have you got some!

Roads becoming more dangerous

Hearing the welcome comeback of Woolworths - on the internet.

Should we be cutting back on our on line shopping?

Drivers of delivery vans tell me that they are witnessing a big increase in accidents.

Can we go back to the days of rail haulage and better still - the use of the canal.

The UK is just the wrong place to be using our roads more and more.

What can we do to lessen their use?

I 've not been thinking about this and will be cutting back on on-line shopping where possible if it involves the use of delivery vans. However the use of the post is a different matter isn't it, as movement by roads is better organised using large trucks and hence fewer vehicles.

Similar lines of thinking lead to buying local produce and a different charging structure in supermarkets where goods are priced depending on how far they've traveled to the store.

Wednesday 24 June 2009

Councillors in Ulverston

Frankly they don't make a very good impression in my view which is why Ulverston lags behind other towns in spite of an enormous range of talent here. Grange used to be a town for the oldies but now it comes across as far more go ahead than Ulverston.

The South Lakeland District Councillors, here, make out that they can't do anything because they are outnumbered by Kendal which initially seems true until you take into account that if the non-Kendal councillors got together they would outnumber the others. However none of the Ulverston councillors would ever try this - they're too defeatist. There's nothing that we can do - they bleat. Meanwhile Grange over Sands forges ahead.

SLD Councillors: -

In order of preference!

Norman Bishop-Rowe Also Town council (present Mayor) Highly thought of by many in his ward at Croftlands. One of only two that were mentioned as visiting them at home and working hard on their behalf when I visited door to door in note the East half of Ulverston. Attends a lot of meetings. Has a mind of his own, sits away from other Cllrs at meetings and makes shrewd and worthwhile comments. Has been known to be a pain in the neck at SLDC meetings by going on over some silly point he wanted to be recognised. Is Now Mayor (and can't help thinking "Mr Maaayor" as in Larry the Lamb of old). Likes to claim credit for things where possible and comes across as pompous and wordy but not a fool. Won't reply to emails.

James Airey A quiet one. The only one I feel comfortable with as he relates to me as human being. When he says something in meetings it is very much to the point and concise - great contributions. Somewhat of a doer - look forward to seeing more action from him as a County Councillor. Good email correspondence and one meeting for a chat.

Mark Wilson New and keen. The other cllr that received accolades from his flock for the work he had done on their behalf. One resident immediately mentioned him but in the context of a broken promise. Other councillors of all parties have a high regard for him and seek to work with him. Can't escape the feeling that I'm talking to a politician. Fairly good email contact (improving).

Janette Jenkinson One of 'the bunch' Very courteous indeed. Brilliant at guiding meetings and formulating proposals. Works hard but I have no knowledge of how effective she is. A great figurehead. Little email contact.

Colin Hodgson One of 'the bunch' Fulfils my caricature of a politician. Always friendly and tries to appear helpful and on your side only to find he sides with the opposition. Good at getting a proposal voted on and taking the initiative at meetings. Occasionally works well on my behalf. Poor at replying to emails.

Brian Wilkinson One of 'the bunch'. Can say things that make a lot of sense but quite belligerent. I admire him for being a Doer. Not approachable and his allotment was hardly touched last year at Lund Road (here I am told by his wife that this is wrong and that this is her responsibility- if she's still unhappy with this assessment, could she clarify her view with a comment here - emails to me are difficult to understand - alternatively I could publish our correspondence in full. As she says she can be far more belligerent than her husband). Tries to ridicule my criticism of the Council's and SLDC web site for Ulverston. No email -" leave me alone"

Jamie Samson Know very little about him - could be because he's from Dalton. Seen occasionally at public meetings. Wise comments in the paper. A low working cllr as far as attendances at SLDC meetings. No replies ever, even to letter by post.

Maureen Nicholson Very friendly and has Ulverston and young people close to her heart though represents Holker area. Would be very Green. Good email when working!

Jane Carson Difficult to gauge what she thinks as with me she seems to play her cards very close to her chest. Also very Green. Good email.


Town Councillors: -


Colin Williams Great guy for thinking. Good creative ideas though takes extreme positions sometimes. Queries things . Good email

Judith Pickthall. Very friendly - has a gift for coming alongside of people and winning their confidence. Sensible and a doer - organised the high successful Ulverston in Bloom but not , as far as I can tell, a major influence. Good email

Jack Rice Comes across as very friendly and a "real person" but little contact so far.

Tom Watson Friendly appears to come alongside you and be sympathetic. No reply to email.

Brenda Marr Difficult to communicate with. Not a listener. Self important - which describes most of them.

Phil Lister. Far too self important and tends to witter on. Comes up with good proposals and work on Ulverston's behalf. Has let his constituents down in their view.

Dawn Wright. Not highly thought of in much of the Honeypot. Only come across in a negative light.

Margaret Hornby She made an offer regarding Skateboarding and then never followed it up.

Helen Irving. Could be impressive but know little about her

Jan Hancock Nothing of note

Pat Jones Not impressed so far

Jim Prosser Says little of import

Amanda Rigg Says little

Note : The Bunch tend to sit close to each other like penguins at meetings as if to protect each other - keep each other warm.

Coming up soon : my assessment of our officers.

Discipline with children

At a time when I am enjoying contact on a regular basis with young people doing an excellent job of bringing up their children, the subject of discipline is causing me to reflect.

These parents show a fair bit of wisdom but mostly confidence and strength of character as they take on their youngsters and teach them what they are not allowed to do.

I can see that distracting them can be a useful strategy but setting up rules that are to be adhered to takes a lot of hard work. One has to cope with the children's frustration of not getting their own way. However not getting your own way is a lesson we all need to learn to cope with.

Parking children in front of tele can be a way of distracting them and getting the children "out of your hair". I wonder whether this is overused in many households, this could move on to computer games and chat rooms.

Teaching children that they can only watch tele for a limited time is asking for conflict. Never-the-less is this not a very valuable lesson for them to learn?

How many parents are giving in most of the time then with great relief they are sent off to school. This follows the mistaken belief that schools are there to teach the kids discipline.

I would argue that this is not the case. Parents are the ones to teach discipline so that the children go to school ready to be inspired to learn 'stuff'. This is the job of the teacher: to be able to inspire but this is not the same as to be able to distract. It is true that lessons need to excite the kids so that they want to get involved but underlying this needs to be the discipline learnt at home.

I'm reading in the paper
that The Education Department confirmed that in 2007, 40 thousand children were excluded temporarily from primary schools - a rise of 10% on 2004 . Four thousand of these were under the age of five years old being excluded from schools, the majority for violence against other children or a member of staff.

Furthermore the schools are finding that social services are so stretched that they can't offer support to the head teachers that seek assistance.

It seems to me that it isn't just the MPs that need to reform. Some people could do with looking in the mirror.

New pottery workshop- August 1st

From Saturday 1st August and then fortnightly people living in the region of Neville Street Church will be welcome to do pottery at a local centre from 2-4ish pm.

The first few visits to these workshops will be free, the only costs being for materials and firing of pots on the basis of £1 per pound weight.

Just turn up!

Children are welcome with their parents !

More details here soon!

Monday 22 June 2009

Car Parking in Ulverston

Tonight, Cllr Tom Watson presents a report on Car Parking to the Town Council.

At a time when Ulverston is suffering from a lack of space for car parking:

Why is Stockbridge Lane Car Park always empty?

Here is a story of mindblowing inaction on the part of our Councillors at all levels of Government: Town, District and County.

Will our new County Councillors, James Airey and Peter Hornby make a difference ?



Lastly the view of the Town Traders and the inaction of their representatives.



I apologise for the quality of the filming and the length of the report. I would do it differently a second time - however I have other things in my life that are important!

Though I did produce several edited versions, no matter how many different ways I submitted these to Youtube they were rejected "for unknown reasons". However this original version, though over the regulation 10 mins went through without a problem.

Any advice on uploading to Youtube from vodeo from a (bloodyminded) Sony Camera, Gratefully accepted!

Saturday 20 June 2009

Candidates for the next MP election

Barry Rabone will be standing for the Liberals - I haven't been impressed with his performance since the last election but what does anyone know about John Gough who is the Conservative candidate?

Or are we going to be kept in the dark and have to vote with very limited information?

I'm writing to James Airey the conservative agent to find out about him.

Something excitingly danced

Something beautifully sad

Friday 19 June 2009

Refugees - welcome

These two articles in the Evening Mail impressed me.

I suddenly realise that I want more refugees here and fewer 'lazy whites'

The former have so many qualities that I'd like to ship off the latter to the extremes of the planet.

Is there a party for the opposite extreme to the BNP?

Gordon Brown

Anyone who claps his hands by tapping one hand over the back of the other, as Brown did when Speaker Martin gave his farewell speech, deserves to loose his job, in my opinion.

What a yukky disgraceful affair.

Makes you dispair of politicians having a soul!

I'd like to call the lot Hippos but that would be an insult to a noble beast - and to a very few non-hypo-politicians. Yes there are some but they don't get far in the present system!

What a pathetic institution we have in place at all levels of government.

Watching channel 81 - live parliament this is endorsed.

Michael Mates MP managed to stay calm and sane as he watched his private members Bill disappeared into oblivion. He made a very valid point that the business of the house was very wasteful of MPs time. His speech was interesting, easy to follow - in complete contrast other speeches meandered along saying next to nothing for literally hours at a time.

How are we ever going to get things done?

This system is at completely the other end of a spectrum to the small businessman that has an idea and is out putting it into effect within the week! With politicians we're heading for oblivion. Why do the rest of us go along with it? Why do we consider this to be Democracy?

Time for a change - as they say!

As for me, I'm going firmly down the route of Do-It-Yourself Getting Things Done.

Registered charity here I come.

Thursday 18 June 2009

Barrow Academy

The OSANFS & Barrrow Parents Action Group are having a protest tomorrow:

4.00pm-5.30pm between the Town Hall and Forum 28 Friday 19th June.

The BBC are covering it for the local news and the Politics Show.

The ordinary people in Barrow are standing up against the political manipulation and hypocrisy that has been going on.

One day we in Ulverston will have had enough too!

Tuesday 16 June 2009

The need for us to talk

An article on social behaviour has encouraged my thinking.

It seems to me that different groups in Ulverston have polarised and we are on a downward slippery slope.

On the one hand we have those that are self-satisfied with their material wellbeing and see no need for change, vote for the status quo and Conservative.

On the other we have the young people who are thronging at the Roxy in the early hours.

Different groups living in their own worlds with little thought for the other.

If the Roxy gets closed down, which is on the cards,there will be a large angry resentful group roaming around town.

Its time for some moderates to get talking to everyone they can and bringing groups together.

I continually come across some very negative people on this blog with comments that I ignore.

When people start to protest like at the recent Roxy meeting, negativity also thrives. "The police are useless" "Why doesn't someone do something"

What's wrong with getting out there at 2-3 am and talking to these rowdy kids rather than deal with them remotely. I'm sure that in the long term this will be a lot less painful than a cold 'official' approach.

Having been out there on the streets at this hour , I have a certain affinity with this rebellious lifestyle. In many senses it is good and positive it just is lacking in consideration of other people's viewpoint.

Watching the Isle of Wight Festival on TV reminded me that there are a lot of people that are reveling in negativity. Many may have a very limited experience of the society they live in. A complete contrast in my view to the atmosphere at the recent Hewitt classical music series of concerts in the Coro.

However I wonder whether I've got blinkered vision.

Can some (balanced considerate!)young people help?

I feel lost on this one.

Monday 15 June 2009

Big Lunch anyone - Sunday 19th July

I've signed up for this event.

There's already one or two others involved. Plenty of time to get organised.

Seems like a great way of getting to know and joining in with the neighbours (and their dogs?).

I've got Kite Flying and Making Pottery as possible side shows!

Primary school catchment areas in Ulverston

Click on the maps for added detail!



NOTE : Sir John Barrow is, I understand, oversubscribed with spaces available at Croftlands.

Primary SATS under the Conservatives

What is needed here is the scrapping of SATS altogether at this age (11 years) and not transferring these to the secondary schools.

The Conservatives are avoiding a hot potatoe that has support from Primary School Heads. The discontinuing of these tests for young children.

90% of teachers agree that these tests get in the way of delivering good education because Heads feel driven to get good results rather than allow teachers to educate their children by inspiring them to want to learn.

What is needed is for children and students to get excited again about learning. This will happen when we have inspiring teachers, supported by enthusiastic parents who take a big interest in their child's learning and are full of praise and encouragement over their children's efforts.

When I look at the body language of students walking through our streets in Ulverston they don't look as though they are having the time of their lives - learning.

It's time to say no to learning soley for the purpose to get through exams.

Now with the internet giving us the ability to learn whatever we want, the most valuable thing is the motivation of our children to want to learn and a lot of that can come from parents.

In fact there's a very good case, these days for parents ignoring schools and guiding their children through education themselves. If we get more unemployed parents - this could happen!

Sunday 14 June 2009

Reflections

Am I right in thinking that people who occasionally read this blog prefer to preserve their distance.

There are very few who will identify themselves.

A lot of the contributions on the comments are quite negative as though these kind of people are the ones that have the enegy to say anything.

As I plan my next activities, I've decided to make contact with people directly - face to face where at all possible - here I find people very positive though again some are very wary of stating where they stand. Is there an inherent fear in a place like Ulverston of upsetting anyone. We just make sure we avoid contact but would never say anything to upset. Are we all too cliquey ? All in our little groups doing our own thing.

Or are we ready to form new groups the minute there is a purpose for doing so?

There was a great activity going on at Ford Park this afternoon - about ten to twenty families had gathered with their children at about mid-day and were spread out on the grass in the sun sharing picnic food. I inquired whether this was a Ford Park activity and was told not. This was a group of families with friends who were celebrating together the birthdays of children from three different families.

Looked fun.

They had booked the room at Ford House as a back up if it rained. - An activity I had been part of myself in the past.

Politics

Everyone is having a lovely time blasting the politicians.

How about blasting the stupid voters for a change?

Sour grapes?

Or do we get the representatives we deserve?

Pay peanuts - get monkeys.

We pay MPs only twice as much as a London Tube Driver.

We're quite happy paying footballers/entertainers ridiculous amounts - fifty times as much.

People expect MPs to be altruistic but first ask ourselves why politicians at a local level do their job . . Does Altruism actually exist - certainly not with me - I do it because I think its fun - better than tele!

Rather than helping get things done, many people I talk to, genuinely think that we'd be better without them.

I've certainly started thinking this way and am beginning to operating as though they and local government don't exist.

It worked getting the cobbles partially repaired . . .

Anarchy here we come!

Saturday 13 June 2009

Pole Vaulting

"Well, pole vaulting for height rather than distance was pioneered in the town of Ulverston – by members of the Football and Cricket Club in Cumbria in 1843."

I came across the link of Ulverston with Pole Vaulting when I was involved with the Town Mill Project in about 1976. The owner of the Mill in the past became a regular pole vaulting champion and I assumed he would have practiced by vaulting over the Town Beck in The Gill.

I hadn't realised he vault up as well!

Friday 12 June 2009

What next? Continued, continued!

What I am finding is that the people that want to get things done can't be bothered reading blogs . . . or if they do, wouldn't dream of leaving a comment!

So it's full steam ahead regardless of bloggers!

Thursday 11 June 2009

What next? continued.

I am enjoying being free from responsibilities.

For the most part this means that I will stop "pushing the boat out" with action.

I see my role as supporting others in what they want to do. If nobody sees anything that they want to do then I shall be inactive other than to ask lots of questions !

Raising issues that you may want to get involved with, will continue to be my major role so watch this space to see if there is something that is of concern to you!

One issue that I continue to be involved with is the future of the Roxy and I was at a meeting tonight of local residents and can put you in touch with them if you are also concerned.

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Brilliant photos of Tony Worrall


This is one of the beautiful pictures taken in Ulverston by Tony Worrall which can be seen here on Flikr

It's true - I'm bloody nosey

And I've been close to getting one, on one occasion.

Comes from enjoying living dangerously!

Many local councillors, and officials for that matter, resent anyone showing them up.

The cry often comes up

"You're not on my ward; go get stuffed"

It comes across as though they don't want to be exposed as doing nothing (or very little)

Jamie Samson has maybe walked unwittingly into a hornet's nest.

He got in as I remember by a very few votes over Colin Williams as SLDC Councillor for Town Ward last year.

You will see from the SLDC web site (It's not easy - change the 2009 to 2008 and press "Go" - are they hiding?) that Cllr Samson has only joined one relatively inactive committee - that for licensing, and that he has attended this only twice. Furthermore he has missed two meetings of the Full Council. An attendance of 8 out of 11.

Now contrast this with Cllr Mark Wilson also new to the SLDC and

WOW what a difference :

Mark attends three important committees as well as the Full Council with a near perfect record having only missed one meeting out of a massive 29.

So who would you vote for in the next election - Labour (Mark) or Conservative (Jamie)

This is of course biased reporting as Cllr Janette Jenkinson (Conservative)- an old hand at the game - attended 33 out of 35 meetings and is a member of the demanding Planning Committee and two others.

Furthermore it is important to note that you can attend a lot of meetings and do nout (absolutely nothing other than breath and listen).

It can be difficult to find out exactly what they do do without going to the meetings oneself (yawn).

As this blog is attracting comments from several noteworthies like Cllrs Jenkinson, Kolbe, Samson, Wilkinson,Williams with some very quotable phrases ... I leave you to delve . . . using the label "Councillors comments" below:

Isn't this internet lark fun sometimes!

Monday 8 June 2009

27 Princes street update

The disgrace of inaction by councillors and council over a 12 year period was reported on here on May 11th

This issue has now been to the cabinet meeting on May 27th

The next door residents still haven't been told the outcome.

As far as I can tell Jamie Samson their Conservative SLDC Cllr is not keeping them informed and doing very little to help.

I have just phoned SLDC and talked to Mr Tummie who is the officer dealing with this case and he has guided me through to the report that is included in the document on the internet page below

See Agenda and report

Here it says on page 21:
RESOLVED – That
(1) the strategy as detailed in the report be approved;
(2) Officers be authorised to enter into negotiations with the current
owner to voluntarily acquire the property with a view to selling on to a
Registered Social Landlord;
(3) a report be provided to Cabinet on 9 September 2009, regarding the
details of negotiations and approval for further actions be sought,
should negotiations prove unsuccessful; and
(4) Council be recommended that consideration be made of allocation in
the Capital Programme (Single Housing Capital Pot) to fund the
purchase, if it proves feasible.
Reasons for Decision
To return the property into satisfactory housing accommodation.
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected
Alternative options detailed in the report.


What I understand this to mean is that no final decision has been made.

The SLDC have come to their own valuation of no 27 . They are now going to negotiate with the owner to voluntarily sell his property to the council.

They would then buy it if it is the same at or less than their evaluation.

However he doesn't have to do this in which case it would go back to cabinet on the 9 September when they would again decide what to do!

The residents will need to put further pressure on the SLDC at this time if the negitations have failed.

Sunday 7 June 2009

The beginning of the end

Andrew Marr this morning.

We have a disaster close upon us which must surely wake us all up.

The sea is running out of fish because of intense "farming" of the sea.

When the general public realise this, they may wake up to the reality that our planet is doomed through our lack of thought about what is happening.

As I went throughout the town, knocking on doors, I found that many people didn't want their cosy self-contained existence disturbed - many were watching television. I could see the sets on and often the people inside watching them - I made sure I pounded their knocker hard - no reaction. They didn't know who I was but I hadn't walked in through the back door and hence couldn't be important.

They then go out to vote and perform like thoughtless robots.

Is this democracy?

When will the real world register with these people?

When they feel the need to leave their fantasy existence and face reality?

When the neighbourhood dogs come and crap on their doorstep?

When the neighbours party all night?

When they can't park their car outside their house?

When drunks wake them in the night?

When their precious cars are vandalised and ruined?

When their children are run over by boy racers ?

When the old people cease to be able to walk along our streets/pavements?

When will the "I'm all right Jack" attitude start to whither?

What are we going to do about it?

What next?


I thought I could start by leafleting this area to see what interest there was for people getting together.

It consists of three separate areas :

  • The town shops, with flats and houses hidden in amongst them.
  • The ABC area - Ainslie, Burlington, Casson/Clarence streets with Ford Park nearby for meetings both in the building and the grounds .
  • The Neville/Lightburn street/road with The Methodist Hall for under cover and Lightburn Park for open air gatherings
The Town Councillors are:

  • Cllr Col
  • Judy Picthal
  • Helen Irving
SLDC Councillor:

  • Jamie Samson
Some interesting activities:

  • The mix of trade and residents especially at present - the impact of The Roxy.
  • What's happening to the near derelict 27 Princes Street which has for so long plagued nearby residents.
  • The use of the open spaces of Lightburn, Ford Parks, Rose Garden, County Square and Market place.
  • Crowded Parking in the streets while Stockbridge Lane Car Park stands empty.
  • The state and look of the roads and ginnels - the cobbled Market Street, Upper Brook Street and Weint with it's new proposed uplift
  • The use of the meeting places of Methodist Hall and Ford Park House
  • The use of the pubs and cafe´s
  • Some green policies in our shops and the attitude to Tesco
I wondered about a meeting at the Methodist Hall to kick off at 7.30 one weekday evening!

Should anyone be interested in setting up such a meeting either in the writing of the leaflet or its distribution, their participation would be welcome.

Any costs would I anticipate be covered by those attending the meeting and I'm happy to "carry the can" if required. I think this kind of thing is fun and is a very cheap form of pastime!

This blog - some statistics

First - your interests:



To read this lot , click on the image. My browser shows an enlarged image.

Below shows information about visitors:


The top two graphs show the number of visits per day in blue with the maximum touching 80 and buff, the % new visitor. This latter figure shows that over the past month we have about 80% returning to keep in touch.

The bottom blue graph shows the number of different visitors returning to the site over the month is close to 400. The number shoots up every Monday as people return to work - I suspect a number of these are civil servants!

I can get emails almost immediately from self conscious 'servants' when I mention their name!

In my opinion this information indicates that a blog is an interesting way of discussing topics to do with Ulverston. What I would like is for the blog to be run by several different people rather than just me and I'm willing to change its name and focus away from "Geoff Dellow" - any interest?

Saturday 6 June 2009

Analysis

1. Most people voted along party lines.

2. Given the choice for the first time for many years of several different parties other than Conservative or Labour then Conservative won out.

3. If people voted for the person, they didn't think much of Wendy.
With a track record over twenty years; the membership of Ford Park that knew her well; with her work for Dale Street School and her following in the Honeypot; she could only achieve some 400 votes.

4. The number of people who vote for the person is low suggesting that people prefer to vote for mirages of what they hope will be rather the reality that ultimately it will be a person who does the work.

5. Cameron is doing the classical strategy for a politician of saying nothing while the Labour Party tears itself apart. This way we can imagine that the future with "change" will be bright and rosy. Any sane observer knows that whoever is in charge we have a bleak future and it will be particularly bad with a group of people who are policy- less and have the moneyed classes manipulating the system to their advantage. The Bankers and big businesses like Tescos are rubbing their hands with glee that they are off the hook and will soon be the power behind the throne with the puppet strings in their hands.

6. The general public perhaps needs to be helped to think what is the consequence of their actions and of their inactions.

7. Those of us that like doing, need to get together and get on with it.
This is where we will enjoy ourselves and feel the satisfaction of achieving something even against the odds.

Summer is coming - lets enjoy it - together!

Anyone for a bit of communal :

Kite flying

Dog walking together (in Ford Park)

Pottery - making on the Market Square

Filming motorists on their mobile phones and putting them of Youtube

Lantern- making

Walking along in the rain and catching rain drops in our mouths (and bumping into people)

Music making

Gardening in the park near you

Going a walk up Hoad and saying hello to some and winking at others

Sending irate emails to public officials who aren't doing their jobs well

Dancing in the Square

Breathing smoothly

Telling teenagers to behave

Walking across the sands in a group with our eyes shut

Telling adults to behave (at 3am in the morning)

Sitting together in silence

Marching down the street banging drums and shouting

Talking to the neighbours

Picking up litter and dog shit

Walking down the pavement without treading on the cracks (you could seriously injure your health if you fail !)

Looking up into the trees and composing poetry and publishing it

Identifying ourselves with real names on blogs so that others can talk to us in the street

Sitting on the doorstep with a coffee, talking to passers by.

Any more for the list.

No griping, whingeing and slagging others off, thankyou.

Friday 5 June 2009

County Councillor not to be!

Here are the results!

I thoroughly enjoyed the journey!

Meeting lots of interesting people - it was great fun.

Maybe - sigh of relief from some.

Looking forward to seeing how James Airey, Ulverston West, shapes up!

Sad to feel that things will be going downhill for much of Ulverston East with much alienation on the part of many people . . . . .

I shall still enjoy asking awkward questions here on the blog.

Politics at the moment is in a right state mainly because our lack of involvement.

Will we get a new breed of person getting involved?

What will the Hutton election throw up?

I'll be glad to have a break pursuing other interests.

This blog will continue in some form.

Any ideas for what I should do next?

Many of the replies will no doubt be unpublishable!

Tuesday 2 June 2009

We live until we die

Most of us live as though we have a right to life.

As though it will go on for ever whilst at the same time taking every precaution possible that we don't die in a way we don't want to . .

Two events in the news remind me to renew my thinking.

The first is the disappearance of a plane full of passengers - we forget and ignore that life can end at anytime.

Somehow we try to live as though death will never happen when a small part of ourselves needs to take account that life could end in the next second.

Do we occasionally stop and take account of the fact that there is a giant eruption ready to take place in the mid west of America at Yellowstone. So big that it will wipe out millions directly and nearly all of the rest of us through starvation.

Scientist cannot predict when this will happen other than tell us that it will - sometime - next second or in 20,000 years.

The second is the murder of a very brave doctor that has been gunned down in the U.S. for his stand and practice of abortion.

Both these events remind me that it's how I live my life that is important.

It's length is not.

But then this could be because I'm 74 and have lived a lot!

Life continues after the election !


Some thing to celebrate!

Starts this Friday.

.

Monday 1 June 2009

Roxy review

I have now talked to an increasing number of people regarding their experiences of what happens at, and in the nearby streets to, the Roxy in the early hours when they hold an event.

I have forwarded to Gary Robinson my concerns. Yet even after this, it would appear that the behaviour last Saturday night (30th May), Sunday morning, was as bad as ever.

If anyone else would like to share their views here or privately by email, they are welcome. I would especially like to hear from you if they are ready to make a signed statement.