Meetings with the prospective candidates

ULVERSTON Business Alliance hopes to organise meetings with all the political parties at the Kings Arms on Tuesday evenings.

Last Tuesday was the turn of the Liberal Party. Unfortunately I wasn't there and the Westmorland Gazette tells us nothing

Tonight March 30th, it's the turn of Labour's John Woodcock between 7pm and 8:30 (at the Kings Arms.

He's the one on the right with a cheesy grin and his majesty . What do you make of the load of bruisers with him, no doubt party notables.

Doesn't look a very imaginative guy, what with that red tie. Can't he be a bit more outrageous?

Should be fun.

Will there be anyone there other than labour supporters?

We'll see.

Now to think of some questions!

The building of County Road

Someone on Answerbank is asking when the County road was built.

I am suggesting that it was around 1966.

Any suggestions?

Another fantastic event at the Coro

Great to have the batteries recharged by these superb performers who travel here from Manchester.

Sad that there are many who completely miss out on what could be the event of a lifetime. They could have filled those occasional empty seats.

Yes the Manchester Camerata visited the town with a Piano Concerto by Chopin.



We need to bring our youngsters along to be inspired.

I was, at the age of nine with regular visits to the Paris Opera House, immediately after the war. Not by the opera but by the Ballet.

I still remember the rose petals being showered down on us from the ceiling of the hall. What an experience.

And we've got the same possibility for youngsters here in Ulverston. What are their parents thinking of to miss this opportunity?

We need all the live inspiration from real people that we can find.

Tories assume we're idiots

This post campaign will win the election for Brown.

Do we want that?

Maybe Brown will try to do the same to cameron.

Then who are the winners?

The Liberals.

Surely the days of winning an election with slick advertising by Saachi and Saachi, are over.

We've torn the MPs apart with their expenses. Now it's the turn to do the same with the media.


No longer will we be told what to think.


Thanks goodness he let people out of the prisons. They are bursting at the seams. They are ineffective. Many people who get locked up need straightening out by us, the community.

And we can tackle the problem at its roots. Do it now with the people on our own street. Get to know them. Tell them to behave.

It's us that need to take charge rather than leave it to an ineffective system.

Rainbow yesterday

Great new blog for Ulverston

The Ulverston Angling Blog is off to a brilliant start.

This is a very attractive site with great photos and presentation.

I suspect this group of people are as friendly and helpful as those I meet down at the allotment

The Greenhouse is now fully functional!

Erected ten days ago, it's already got 60 pansies getting ready for planting out in a public place near you!(These survived the winter in the cold frame).




Now freshly sown seeds donated by Chiltern Seeds are already poking through after a week


These are blue and white Salvias - sixty of them.

In total there are well over 1000 plants packet into egg trays that should be ready in a months time.

Flowers come in a wide variety of colours sizes and shapes.

We'll soon have 70 odd sweet pea plants. These will be used to cover the right hand fence of Mill Dam Playground. The more people pick the more will flower!

Here's some I grew earlier:



In 2008.

The hard work starts this Sunday morning at 7 am when I start battling with large stones and tree roots in order to dig down a few feet to get loads of compost down deep where the sweet peas will like it.

I'll be there - in Mill Dam - from 7-9 and 10:15 till 12:30 this Sunday 28th and again 10:15 till 12:30 the following Sunday April 4th.

Come with a fork or prepared to stand and watch in amazement what a 75 year old ( now, no longer 74 !) can do.

Now we have two great but very different places to enjoy a coffee

Poppies is a great place to feel part of the Ulverston Community and now the Novel Cafe´, on the Market square, provides something completely different and very special.

Several snug places to chat or browse through one of the books, or read the paper.

Not only will you find hundreds of books but art work of every kind to take home with you at reasonable prices.


Then there's computer access - it may be free , I'm not sure. Certainly you can access the internet from you laptop.


Books , books and more . . . .books.


Then there's a children's play area
And an unusual Mural on the top floor.

Taking this home may prove a little difficult.

Maybe a clock to help remind you it's time to return home. To vacate a seat for someone else.

And buy that book you're a quarter way through.

And yes that picture would look good on our wall. All for the the price of a Concert ticket at the Coro and way below that of a seat at Anfield to watch Liverpool once more fail to get that winning goal in.
And it's open till 5:00 pm and on Sunday.

Instead of buying a Sunday paper we've decided to come here to read the writeups in beautiful surroundings.

Swarthmore Hall treat

We were up last weekend to enjoy a fantastic treat of the crocusses - see them in their past glory at the side , here. They have never looked better and their memory continues to inspire.

I wonder if they are still in full bloom - or is it too late?

The new ones at Ford Park have now been followed by a beautiful show of Daffodils.

Some very thoughtful planting last year by the volunteers there.

The Crocusses in the Gill Banks planters are just coming out. The Dark Blue Hyacinths are looking great. At the moment it's safe to venture here as a major clean up of dogshit has been carried out. Dog foulers watch out, the Gill residents are out to catch you and prosecute you !

Their patience is exhausted.

Have our councillors missed another trick?

This looks like a great project. It's happening in Kendal.

Have we got something to learn about getting a similar project underway in Ulverston?

Perhaps our Ulverston leaders could pick up some tips as to how this got started in Kendal.

Grange also could give us a few ideas ; they seem to have been showing flair in what they do for several years.

Now Kendal are forging ahead.

While it's good to have the likes of Colin Hodgson involved with important projects like renovating Hoad Monument. Couldn't we have suggestions from councillors with a bit more flair like Colin Williams.

Surely we're not a one project town!

We have a much more attractive set of streets than Kendal and a much more friendly approach to visitors. So couldn't we make more of this in our town.

Instead we tolerate poor services on maintenance of our cobbles and keeping our street furniture in order (wonky sign below) and politicians act powerless to prevent this.

Yet in the case of the cobbles it was shown that a direct approach to United Utilities worked where the County Council failed. At least the former have a sense of pride in their public image; they admitted their poor workmanship and have repaired it even though legally they didn't have to.

Do we need to encourage are leaders to be more innovative? To bring people together and get things done rather than do a "Hodgson Moan" about lost services on the front page of the Mail . . . . when they've gone.