Someone striking out on his own

Since making this video, I am discussing the possibility of Matt painting my house.

There will thus be more to report here in the future.

* * * * * * *

The date is now Thursday 15th March.

Matt, the window cleaner, and I seem to have a misunderstanding.

"I don't ascribe to this particular brand of fascism"

A remark, I don't understand in this context.

Until this is resolved I am suspending dealings with him and have removed the video from public view.

What helps relationships work?

Here "relationships" means relationships of all kinds.

Relationships with:

• Partners
• Children
• Friends
• Acquaintances 
• People with responsibilities (leaders of groups )
• People at work (bosses, colleagues and 'subordinates'
• Others (?)

Are there philosophies  that are particularly helpful?

The thinking of Carl Rogers for example.

Are there examples of groups that work particularly well (define 'well' ! - that you would commend) together?

Religious groups (how about The Quakers); political parties (the Liberals try to keep everyone 'on board'; other  secular groups with a common cause; neighbourhood groups sharing diverse interests.

Too complex a topic?

Have a try - start somewhere.

Thanks

To all who worked so hard to making what was for me only something in my imagination so that it became real and I could be part of the reality.

To those that gave materials that enabled us to do most of the event for free.

To all those that came and said things like:

"It was Magical"

"Superb"

"Unbelievable"

A lovely old wall repaired - what you can do!

This section of this old wall in Union Lane has been rebuilt to a very high standard thanks to the efforts of John Riley, Estates Building Manager, Furness General Hospital .

He  acted very promptly when concerns were raised about the safety of the wall. It was John Riley who ensured that the stretch of wall below was also rebuilt as he recognised that this was even more dangerous than the higher wall shown here.

What was a badly leaning wall is now plumb straight. A lot of work went into making sure that the soil behind would not lead it to lean again.

 Further down the lane the wall was even more dangerous and taking it apart to rebuild it confirmed the engineers fears. Instead of rock fill, the small rocks on the outside had nothing but soil to hold it back.

New rocks had to be brought in to do a good job. The result is this great 50 yards stretch of wall.

Repairs were also carried out to a section of the wall in the middle.

What is very satisfying is that this excellent work was done at a cracking rate by builder, Kevin Roper of Ulverston - 588053. Not only is his work good but he's a very easy guy to chat with. We enjoyed his company the whole time he was working here with his mate.

A good experience all round.

How did this work come about?

Not without a fight!

It was Paul Holmes who lives opposite the first high wall that first raised the alarm by notifying the Health Centre and then writing to his Cllr Colin Hodgson at the Town Hall on Feb 10th 2010.

Nothing happened.

Nothing happened.

The Health Centre forwarded the information.
Cllr Hodgson did not receive his letter.

Paul mentioned the problem to Geoff Dellow.

By persistent phone calls Geoff  traced the person responsible for the wall and contacted him by email pointing out that he had made a video of the problem and put it on Youtube.

Within hours of receiving the email John Riley was round to Geoff Dellow's house to be shown the problem.

Things had been set in motion.

Here we have the result.

What you can achieve if you try!

Annie Warwick and others talk sense

It's good to read that occasionally people get fedup with the mindless way the local government behaves.

Why do so many of us put up with it.

It's really encouraging to me to hear someone speaking out.

photo Eve Mail

Then again Sam Metcalf, above, a ten year old, from Croftlands Juniors makes some good points:

More adults in the parks to modify the behavior of the kids and picking up dog shit. For the future fewer untidy boarded up premises.

William Evans of Hollybank raises the issue of the Croftlands rat run again. This problem needs a long term solution by the Highways Dept.

"I enjoyed that - it was quite a challenge"

Was the remark I heard at the top of Hoad - in amongst talk where conquering Everest had been mentioned.

Was




The paths had been very slippery in places with the rain on top of compressed icy snow.

It's the time when we overcome obstacles, particularly through our own abilities that give us a buzz.

Being reliant on sophisticated complex services is the downer.

We've unfortunately come to believe that humans can solve every problem.

It ain't so.

The Christmas travelling public became angry to find that the Eurostar trains couldn't cope with the snow and cars on the Basingstoke ring roads couldn't cope with gridlock caused by undrivable conditions.

Perhaps we need to start resetting our expectations of everything working smoothly at every turn.

The Floods here in Ulverston and Cumbria made us rethink whether we could rely on public services.

But we can expect this sort of thing to happen more and more in the future.

Global warming, I believe has upset the natural sequence of the weather and there will be an increasing number of situations where we will find ourselves to be helpless.

The result of the Copenhagen summit left me very depressed. There is no chance of the human race surviving at this rate of progress.

So what can we look forward to?

Lots and lots of opportunities of working together to becoming self reliant.

Whilst we can't rely on the weather, we can develop friendships that endure.

We can also become more self sufficient and less dependent on others.

Take keeping warm for instance.

Anyone with a fireplace that can support a coal fire or better still peat could preserve it even if it's not used now. With a stash of fuel - you can bury a few tons of coal- that won't deteriorate - so that you can be warm for a while even when the national grid brakes down. It's good to feel that one doesn't have to rely on other anonymous services.

I like the sound of this

Photo nicked from here

Water Yeat
Village Hall

Proudly announces

The Nibthwaite Olympix

An evening picnic and some daft games thrown in.


On Sunday 12th July starting at 4pm
At Water Park Outdoor Centre
(East of Lake beyond Nibthwaite)


Bring your own picnic, drinks, seating and a sense of humour.
A barbecue will be provided for you to cook any food you bring.


Parking is available for some cars.
Arrival by foot, bike, canoe, sailing boat and rowing boat is encouraged
– moor up on the promontory opposite Lake Bank Jetty.

Entry fee £2.00
Under 16’s free
Dogs welcome

Proceeds to Water Yeat Village Hall Funds and Water Park Trust
**
Charity No 222932

Human contact

There are groups of people that are hidden away out of sight that would greatly benefit from seeing and talking with people other than those paid to do so.

Many of us don't realise these people exist.

Suchet was back on TV on BBC breakfast to highlight the work being done with Dementia. How groups of musicians were enjoying "talking to" others through engaging them in making music.

They had found a hidden door into these peoples brains when all other entrances were blocked.

People with Dementia were tapping out rhythms and "dancing" with their hands and feet. It was good to see.

Something I hope to do in Ulverston is get many small community groups formed like the one at Lightburn Park.

I am meeting people living only 50 yards from each other that have similar interests and don't know the other exists. We have no common ground where we can meet those that live nearby and this could be of great enjoyment to us all.

I shall get these groups going if I can whether or not I get elected and am at this moment exploring other groups nationwide, that have ways of bringing people together.

More on this again soon!

Why do we delight in tearing each other apart?

The press, sleaze and Gordon Brown.

By contrast.


Nepali shepherd.

Why is it that those living the hard 'simple' life seem to be the ones with the biggest smiles?

Is life for us really that bad?

Or are we riddled with feelings of injustice and lack of control over our own lives?

Will the credit crunch make us more self reliant and value good friends and community more?

.

G12 and demonstrations

It was reassuring that the world leaders saw the need to come together and agree action. The proof will be in the pudding - and we would be fools to expect anything in the future other than hardship.

What I found really good was that no matter how hard the press and the police conveyed the message that there would be problems with demonstrations; there were only minor ones with one guy smashing a RBS window followed by a wrecking invasion of property (no doubt there were more that I didn't see). The sad thing was that those nearby didn't manage to stop this mindless emotional outburst - but they clearly tried.

It was good to see Joe Public getting involved. Let's hope this display of community involvement continues when they get home - I'm all for it !

Are things all getting worse?

Slowly , steadily, are we moving in the wrong direction?

Does the article below persuade you that aggression just makes things worse?

Do you understand why we're in Afghanistan?

If it's to do with the supply of drugs to the UK; why not concentrate on raising people's self esteem and belief in the future so that they're not attracted to drugs?

Why is it that we continue to make offcomers angry with the way we treat people abroad?

Why do we support the actions of countries like Israel as they seek to pulverise the Palestinians?

Are we really surprised they support the latter? I certainly do and so do many Jews.

Can you really cower people who feel deeply that western justice is hypocritical?

Are we proud to be English when independent courts tell us we are criminals?

Don't these things matter?

Do we not mind the loss of our freedom in an increasingly police state?

Are the voices of rational British who are at this moment demonstrating against greed and inaction being listened to?

Are they really the voices of deluded trouble makers that need to be ignored so that we can 'move forward'?

Which direction is forward?

Afghanistan diary: Poles apart from the Americans' aggression

An article in the Guardian points the way forward for our country. Are we ready to listen to foreigners? :

With "the Poles morale seems high. They have been here for four months and so far have not lost a man. They claim not to have killed any civilians, which for a rough province like Ghazni, with several "contacts" with the enemy each week, is a good record. The commander of the Polish taskforce is an energetic colonel called Rajmund Andrzejczak, who seems to have taken on board the emerging new orthodoxy on counter-insurgency.

"For me the critical thing is to be non-kinetic," he said, employing Nato-speak for not shooting.

"After a couple of operations, we realised the less aggressive we were the more effective we were. I recommend not so many troops knocking down doors every night, but instead to sit down and drink tea, discuss what the people need, and bring them closer to the coalition," he said.

The reference to knocking down doors at night is clear to anyone who has spent more than a couple of days here. It is a dig at US special forces, who have a reputation for raiding Afghan houses in the middle of the night, on the basis of intelligence that can be accurate or inaccurate, causing a disproportionate number of civilian casualties.

"The special forces are playing a damaging and negative role. They operate outside the chain of command, going in and doing raids without any co-ordination," a senior western aid official told me. Nothing is eroding support for foreign forces faster. A UN report last month said the number of civilian casualties in 2008 was up 40% on the previous year at 2,118. A little more than half were killed by the Taliban and other insurgents, mostly with roadside and suicide bombs.

"The difference is that the Taliban are actually trying to kill civilians. Isaf appears to be killing almost as many by accident – some in special-forces raids, but 64% as a result of air strikes. Some of those strikes are assassination attempts against "high-value" insurgent leaders, but others are in support of troops on the ground engaged in battle. That is relatively uncontroversial when ground forces find themselves outnumbered or surrounded and are trying to save their own lives.

"Everyone subscribes to this view of counter-insurgency in theory, but the Americans, and to some extent the British, are loth to walk away from an engagement, and more likely to call in an air strike.

"Ghazni's governor, Mohamed Osman Osmani, is pleased with the Poles. When Osmani first heard they were coming, he had feared a bunch of Warsaw pact headbangers, who would use their artillery and Soviet-model Hind gunships on everything that moved. So he is now pleasantly surprised. He says his province is more peaceful under the lighter-touch Poles than the more aggressive Americans before them.

"Security for us is like oxygen. Without it nothing can breathe, nothing can happen. And the Poles really have brought security," Osmani said.

Dog shit seems to make the news these days!

Well, for the second week running there is none to be found on any of the paths beside Gill Banks.

No politicians in view or yellow jacketted cops in view, just local people taking the upper hand. So beware, if you bring your dog up there - you are being watched!

The pigeon messages are just flying around the second discarded faeces are spotted. They can be pretty good shots themselves as anyone visiting Walney Island will know. (Gulls? - a bit of artistic licence )

Mind boggling stuff

I've heard of hot desking but hadn't realised that hot bedding was common!

Except in Small Brook, Birmingham, in the 1950s when immigrants filled terraced houses with 20 people down the road from where I lived!

The Outrage that is St Judes

People in South Ulverston are still reeling from the injustice of the sale and demolition of their prize baby- St Judes.

There is no way other way to see this, I believe, than that the people of the Church of England, Church of St Mary in town are a greedy lot of hypocrites.

If you are one of them then please defend yourselves. Stating the above doesn't mean that you are all bad but that you do bear a collective responsibility for what has happened. It is convenient to think that "it's nothing to do with me - we had to follow the rules".

Your church was tarted up with money from the pockets of the people of South Ulverston. It was they that scraped and saved and campaigned for their new church in the 6o's. Now they don't even have the asbestos shack that was our church then.

The excuse put forward by Rev Bing that the central office has to maximise its profits cuts no ice at a time where the rich are becoming richer and there is a feeling of general outrage at the inequalities that exist across Britain.

We all know what is going on and we feel powerless because "this is allowed by the law".

This is the kind of statement that fueled revolutions in the past and I believe our country is heading in that direction.

It won't be long before the effects of this wave of irrational rage hits our sleepy smug town that chooses to ignore injustices of the kind meted out to the people of South Ulverston.

Worrying trend ?

This story which was reported yesterday, disturbs me deeply.

An older man is assaulted by a young white male with two other young people standing by. Here on the main road of Croftlands.

What was happening that led to such violence?

I hope this behaviour never becomes the norm in Ulverston.

It will only stop if we all step in and intervene in some way if we see anything like this happening.

If we just shrug our shoulders and turn our backs then it could be our turn next and none of us want to live in this kind of community.

We need to try to understand why people walk around with such anger; then we need to do something about it. The answer is not the police, the problem is for us to solve. We cannot leave it to 'them' to deal with.

It follows the kind of behaviour that I predict will happen more and more as people get angrier with the world at large, and react to what is happening to them from directions they believe they have no control over.

Lightburn group to meet again

Ten people from close to the park attended the first meeting in a private house this last Monday.

In a businesslike meeting that lasted an hour, everyone got to know each other. The use of the park as a place where people of the neighbourhood could get to know each other was the main focus; concerns about traffic close to the park were voiced. Those attending were a good blend of both young and old, with some staying behind to for a chat afterward.

The most encouraging decision was that the idea of a group was definitely a goer and a second meeting is planned for this next Monday 23rd at 8pm in the same place. Some 200 leaflets will be distributed by the group to those in the surrounding area to invite participation at this meeting.

A lot of interest was shown in the use of the park for cultivation by the local people. It was felt that the park provided a missed opportunity for people to meet each other and the possible use of the pavilion to serve refreshments would be a valuable asset. Ways of reducing dog fouling were discussed and the imminent installation of the Skatepark was welcomed.

This is a chance to meet an energetic and very friendly group of people.

Honeypot revisited

Just finished distributing cards in the area!

My main aim is to float the idea of a community group to represent the area in a similar way to the one meeting tonight at Lightburn and another to be followed up in the next couple of weeks at Croftlands.

One thing I did notice though is just how many houses had kids with skateboards outside - with nowhere to go other than the auction Mart and Booths after hours.

A mother of youngsters in one of the Squares felt that the Lightburn Skatepark that is starting in the next week or so, is just too far away for younger kids!

The squares are very bare and the same mother thought that picnic tables would be a great idea to encourage people to meet each other. Comments?

Any chance of some trees to soften the area? And some way of encouraging people to take care of their gardens - some of them are fantastic; others - a tip.

The stick - idle threats by the council isn't working.

Maybe carrots - some reward/encouragement would?

How about a group of people that would be willing to come in and straighten out a garden in exchange for cups of tea and some home baked cakes?

There are some great areas in the Honeypot but I hate the bare squares and "No Ball games" message - it's so bloody depressing!

You can get these kind of signs for playgrounds - how about a few of these to add a bit of colour.

How about tractor tyres and railway sleepers to make 'indestructable' fun dens, bang in the middle of the squares where there are lots of kids?

Come on now - ideas please - and then let's make it happen!

We can.

Workers beware!

As businesses become increasingly more stretched, we can expect that some will take advantage of their employees.

This was happening, I heard, at the Swan, Newby Bridge, a while ago. Pressure was put on staff to work shifts they didn't want to.

At the Barrow Aldi store, I'm hearing a report of what sounds like dodgy work practices.

A young friend of mine was threatened because the bus he travelled up to Ambleside was arriving late causing him problems - the alternative was to set off an hour earlier.

An Asian well trained nurse has been given 24hrs notice by a care home with the excuse that she was using the phone for private calls.

This agro between employers and their staff is self defeating in the long term. Basically it's on the same level as Bankers who make off with millions - Greed.

People are important - both the bosses and the staff need to help each other out through difficult times. Straight talking is fine but lets treat each other with respect.

Workers will be frightened of losing their jobs if they complain.

Bullying could be going on behind closed doors.

We will rely on whistle blowers more and more.

Here would be a place that you could raise your concerns!

Croftlands Community Group

I'm in the process of revisiting people that I've met who live on Croftlands to see if there's an interest in forming a group in Croftlands along the lines of the card that was distributed in late January.

Let me know if you'd like to be part of the initial steering group.