February Round-Up

Once again I`m blogging belatedly, but hopefully, these few items may be of interest.

Local author Neal James is offering a helping online hand to budding authors by ioffering them the chance to have a short story published on his website. Regular visitors to this blog may recall that Nottinghams` W W Morgan does something sinilar.

To learn more, click here ;

http://www.ambervalley.info/newsarticle.asp?newsid=1378



Staying with the written word, last month this blog was happy to make the acquaintance online of  Sienna Mae Heath, a resident of LeHigh Valley (Pennsylvania/New Jersey, USA), an admirer of Robert Louis Stevenson. Among her other accomplishments, Sienna is a freelance contributor to local newspapers The Morning Call and  The Express-Times.

To see a selection of her writings, use these links ;

http://connect.lehighvalleylive.com/user/smheath/posts.html

http://www.heartizen.com/smh.htm

I gather she is also writing a novel inspired by her experience of living in Europe and the UK. Hopefully, we`ll have more on that at a later date.

Changing tack slightly, back in the UK, the organisation Sense About Science has launched a campaign known as Ask for Evidence which claims to hold companies, public bodies, politiciansd and commentators accountable for the claims they make. The campaign is supported by the British Humanist Association.

For more details ;

http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/a4e.html

https://humanism.org.uk/2014/01/09/bha-supports-ask-evidence-campaign

We end by turning full circle and returning to the Midlands where the Leicestershire town of Hinckley is home to a campaign to save the Old Regent (aka Flutters) , a 1920s art deco theatre-turned-cinema-turned bingo hall. Now standing empty, the Old Regent faces an uncertain future due to plans for a car park.

Learn more by using these links ;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-25868478

www.leicestermercury.co.uk

www.hinckleytimes.net

The photos of the interior of the Old Regent/Flutters are by photographer Michael Hess, and is used by permission of  http://playingbingo.co.uk .

Use these links to see more photos by Mr Hess, including more of the interior of the Old Regent ;

http://playingbingo.co.uk/creative-corner/photography/michael-hess/index.php

http://playingbingo.co.uk/creative-corner/photography/michael-hess/hinckley-flutters-bingo.php

Hello and Welcome to 2014 !

Slightly belatedly, Happy New Year to all our readers (assuming I have some left after such a long lay-off !).

As you may have gathered, the closing months of 2013 were a busy time for us and therefore blogging went on hold for a time.

A quick catch-up seems in order.

 

As a general thing I`m not all that interested in topical plays and have even less interest in plays that feature actors best known for their TV work. However, November found me travelling to Nottingham to see Ben Miller (Death in Paradise, Armstrong and Miller) in the Duck House, a play about the MPs expenses scandal of a few years ago.

 

The plays` blend of satire and farce worked well and produced many laugh-out-loud moments. The main weakness came in a superfluous closing address to the audience by Miller, still in character as a terminally half-witted politician. It was not apparent at first that he was still playing a part and in fact some of the audience misunderstood the situation and heckled him !

 

 

 

 

 

Back in the real world, The Ramblers continue to meet with some success in their campaign for a coastal path. Visit www.ramblers.org.uk/onecoastforall to learn more.

 

History

 

 

 

 

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has been highlighting the role played by women in World War One. To learn more, click here ; http://www.cwgc.org/media/162247/etaples.pdf .

 

Countryside

 

 

 This blog has been  effusive in its` praise for that august periodical The Nottinghamshire Walker. Sadly, that worthy organ ceased to be appear during 2013. However, all is not lost as it made a partial return in the form of a special issue at the end of last year.   

 

Features include ; Des Whicher Remembered, HS2 ; Its` Effects on our Rights of Way, The Changing Countryside. In addition there is much in the way of `news and views`including updates on the Sherwood Forest Project and local campaigns such as that waged by Worksop Ramblers in a bid to save paths threatened by a proposed new Tesco.

 

I`m sure a spare copy can be found if anyone wants to see it ; try www.nottinghamramblers.org.uk .

 

 

That`s all for now. I`ll try to be a touch more prolific this year, but I`m not making any promises !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catch a Fire ? #2

I`ve always quite fancied doing one of those articles where you present two different views of an issue and let the reader decide which they prefer.

As it happens, the chance has just come up.

As I`ve already mentioned , proposed cuts to the Fire and Rescue Service in Derbyshire are proving to be an emotive issue locally*.

For more information on the proposals, including a consultation document outlining the proposed changes, and a reference document providing more information and background reasoning, click here ;

http://www.derbys-fire.gov.uk/have-your-say

This also gives you the chance to respond to the consultation and there is information on the six consultation events taking place throughout the region during November.

For details of the FBU campaign against the cuts, and the reasoning behind their opposition, click here ;

http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-derbyshire-fire-rescue-service-cuts

As you`ll notice, the FBU also provide a link to the DFand RS Consultation and encourage people to respond.

That`s enough from me on this subject, now it`s over to you.


Footnotes

For a bit of background ;

* Nick Osmond - Save Heanor Fire Station - this blog, 25 Oct 2013

* Nick Osmond - Catch a Fire ? - this blog, 11 Oct 2013

Save Heanor Fire Station

Not so long ago I mentioned the possible closure of Heanor Fire Station as part of a parcel of cuts to the Fire Service in Derbyshire (`Catch a Fire ?`, this blog, 11 October 2013).

There is now a fledgling campaign against the closure.

Particularly good was an eloquent letter to the local paper ( www.ripleyandheanornews.co.uk ) by  a local resident which appeared under the heading `Vital Community Role for Fire Crews` in the issue dated Thurs 24 Oct 2013.

Like me, the writer picked up on the strong sense of community prevalent among the retained firefighters of Heanor , giving details of various activities undertaken by the crew locally. One in particular  may be worth highlighting here  ;

"When Coppice Primary School were celebrating their 60th anniversary the local fire crew came to our summer fair event with their fire engine and four crew members. They did this entirely voluntarily giving up their own time to support our event and more importantly to let our children experience a fire engine close up." 

There is now a Facebook group , `Save Heanor Fire Station`, begun by firefighter Alistair Patrick, who points out, tellingly, that the Heanor crew have experience totalling over 100 years between them. In that context I would just re-iterate my earlier point that an area like this with a heavy engineering presence throws up situations, e.g. chemical spills, rarely if ever experienced by crews elsewhere.

A problem with the Facebook campaign is that it does not really show up on most search engines. You can be sure the Fire Authority will be checking online to assess strength of feeling on the issue and at present there is little to see by just making general searches. That is why experienced campaigners usually use a blog or website in addition to social networking sites. This article is my own humble contribution to addressing this issue !

It is early days yet and I understand a petition is being circulated locally, which may generate more media attention.

I`m not a Facebook type of guy myself, but the FB campaign is an open group headed `Save Heanor Fire Station`. I`ve mentioned this before, but here are some other links that may proves useful ;

www.fburegion6.co.uk

http://therfu.org

www.ripleyandheanornews.co.uk

www.ambervalley.info

It is worth mentioning that two other stations in Amber Valley, Crich and Alfreton, are also facing possible closuure. I assume their will be grassroots campaigns organised in those areas too, but I`m not aware of any details.

Sir Fabian Ware KCVO KBE CB CMG

 

 

 

 

Anyone who was interested in my posting(s) on the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission not so long ago may be interested in a new book, David Crane`s Empires of the Dead, which tells the story of the CWGC`s founder, Major General Sir Fabian Ware

 

To learn more, click here ;

 

www.cwgc.org/media/144955/interview1.pdf

 

 

On the Web

 

 

www.cwgc.org

 

www.veterans-uk.info/remembrance/ware.html

 

 

 

Other Commonwealth organisations ;

 

 

www.commonwealthofnations.org

 

http://thecommonwealth.org

 

www.commonwealthfriends.org

 

 

 

 

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A New Bookshop for Nottingham ?

This blog has always had a lot of respect for Ross Bradshaw of Nottingham`s Five Leaves Publications.

For that reason, it was interesting to learn of his latest proposed venture, an independent bookshop in the city centre.

To learn more, click here ;

http://www.nottinghampost.com/Independent-book-shop-fresh-chapter-retail-city/story-19922880-detail/story.html#!

Public Service, Social Purpose ?

Now for something more topical !

A number of online sources have reproduced a recent article by Cat Hobbs on the provision of public services..

The first part of the article concerns itself with her support for a Public Service Users Bill and distrust of  the government`s Open Public Services initiative. That part of the article need not detain us, except to note that at some points she seems in danger of undermining her own organisations` campaign *.

The part I wish to highlight comes later ;

"Public services need to be run by people who care about people, and - crucially - who are given the time they need to do a good job.

This social purpose is often found in the public sector, and it can also be found in democratically controlled and accountable co-operatives, mutuals, social enterprises and voluntary organisations. The Social Value Act made it easier for Local Authorities to outsource with social purpose in mind.

Any organisation that delivers public services must be responsible to service users in a clear and concrete way. We believe that when co-operatives, mutuals, social enterprises and charities play a role in delivering public services, robust safeguards should be in place to protect the public interest. They must be accountable to service users, all profits must be re-invested in improving the service, there should be an asset lock to keep public money safe, and the service must revert to the public sector if the organisation fails."

I make no apology for having edited her text in quite a big way to bring out the points I wanted to emphasise, but I`ll provide a link to the full article for those who want it**.  

She goes on to promote a set of "guidelines on what a good public sector mutual should look like", produced jointly by Co-operatives UK and the TUC*** .

My own thinking is that we do need to break out of the stale left versus right,  public versus private debate which so fascinates our politicians and pundits and look at the question of whether things could be done in a more innovative way in future. This seems as good a place to start as any.

For those new to the whole question of co-operatives, mutuals etc (and I`m no expert), a good place to start is www.thenews.coop .


* Cat is Director of the organisation `We Own It`, which is laying great stress on the fact that there is  overwhelming support from Conservative voters for two of it`s key proposals ( http://weownit.org.uk/public-service-users-bill )

** Cat Hobbs - `Lets Co-operate for a Public Sector Users Bill - Co-Operative News, Unknown Date but circa Sep 2013

*** Anthony Murray - `Co-Operatives UK and TUC Team Up to Protect Public Sector Mutuals - Co-Operative News,  23 August 2013

**** Apologies for the lack of proper links, but the Co-Operative News web site kept freezing ****.