Slaidburn

On Sunday we paid a visit to the pretty little Trough of Bowland village of Slaidburn.
The village lies in the River Hodder valley, with a village green alongside the river. There is a Riverside Café opposite the village green which is popular with the many visitors who come to Slaidburn.

The Riverside Cafe opposite the village green

There is a lovely old pub in the village which has the unusual name of the “Hark to Bounty” which still retains its local village pub atmosphere. There is a story behind how the pub got its unusual name.

The Inn dates back to the 13th century, and until 1875 was known as The Dog. The Squire of the village, who was also the Parson, had a pack of hounds. One day whilst he was out hunting, he and his party called at the Inn for "refreshments". Their drinking was disturbed by the long and loud baying from the pack outside. High above the noise could be heard the Squires favourite dog, which prompted him to call out “Hark to Bounty!” It is from this time that the pub gained its unusual name!

The "Hark to Bounty" Inn Sign

We had a meal at the pub whilst we were in Slaidburn, and having visited and had meals here before we knew that the food served was home made, plentiful, well cooked and excellent value for money. We were not disappointed!


The parish church of St Andrew is a church of special distinction with it’s unusual pews, three-decker pulpit, lovely stained glass windows and carved chancel screen. The amber stone came from the surrounding fells. It is situated on the road leading out to Newton.My father in law was a curate here many years ago.


St Andrew's Church Slaidburn

St Andrew's Church Slaidburn - East Window


Slaidburn Village Hall

There is also a village hall, which was converted from the old Methodist Chapel, with additions. Work was commenced on this project in January 2006 and completed in May 2007.

An Entertaining Afternoon at the Electrical Superstore

The all new Dyson DC 25 Animal - the ultimate in household floor cleaning etc!

We paid a visit to a Comet Electrical Superstore on Saturday afternoon as it had been decided that we needed a new vac.

I don’t know if you have ever experienced the delights of a salesman who tries to sell you something he knows absolutely nothing about, but to say the least it is entertaining. We got a young gentleman, who opened the conversation up by saying “I don’t usually work in this section”, which filled me with great hopes of an entertaining afternoon.

I was not disappointed.

If I am going to make a purchase at a superstore, I always do my home work first, and in the case of a new vacuum cleaner that meant comparing such things as the motor power (in watts), air power (the actual suction – in watts), Hosepipe length, mains cord length, dust container capacity, has it a turbo pet hair type brush, does it have HEPA filtration (an anti allergy system)? - does it have floor head adjustments for carpets/parquet floor? What weight is it? – Is a guarantee included – for how long- in other words all the things a salesman ought to know about the product he is trying to sell you.

My first question – what is the suction power in watts – caused a glazed look to come over his face, then he went over to the counter computer and assured me that he would be able to tell me the answer to my question. I followed him over to the computer, and watched and waited. His eyes lit up with a gleam and he proudly announced that it was 2,300 watts!

It was at this point that I had to disillusion him and told him that if the suction power was 2,300 watts the machine would in all probability rip the carpet from the floor and probably rip the floor from the joists. What he had actually given me was the power of the motor!

After suggesting various Hoover models to us, I told him that we had a Dyson, but that we had found it fairly heavy to carry upstairs. What was the weight of the Hoover? Again it was a trip to the computer, and within seconds he proudly announced that it was only 606 kg. Once again I had to disillusion him and point out that the heaviest vacuum on display was only 8.9 kg – maybe there was a misprint. On looking at the screen myself I saw that the actual weight was given as 6.06 kg.

Still smiling (probably between gritted teeth) he continued to try his best to sell us a vacuum cleaner. Eventually he settled on what was know as a lightweight Dyson (only 5.4 kg) but when I asked what the suction power was it turned out to be almost a half the power of all the other vacuum cleaners! In other words light weight in weight and light weight in suction!

Let’s give him another chance I thought. After all he has been very pleasant all the way through. So I suggested he may like to show us a Dyson which had a turbo attachment (as we have a dog which sheds hair from time to time). He introduced us to a DC25 Animal – one of the new generation of Dyson machines which works on a ball system, not wheels, so in effect a simple twist of the wrist can immediately alter the direction of the machine. He even demonstrated it to us on the shop floor, and let us play with it too!

That was the clincher.

We are now the proud owners of a brand spanking new Dyson DC25 Animal.

Come on, get a move on Ruby, we are waiting with baited breath to see how it will pick up your hairs, when you next start shedding your coat!

What a Catalogue of Fun

After all the bad news and grumbles, some photographs to raise a smile!

A Day in the Life of an Inner City London School

'My school is like a war-zone' Is this the reality of some schools today?

It might be a good idea if Ed Balls and the Ofsted Gang went into this school unnanounced and saw the reality for themselves. Maybe if Ed and his Osfsted Gang were left to teach in the school for a week.......

The following should be compulsory reading for Ed Balls and his gang.

Teaching at schools in deprived London boroughs is like working in a war-zone, says one disillusioned young teacher.

The 25-year-old, who does not wish to be named for fear of losing his job, says he has been threatened with a range of weapons and kicked and punched for real.

As soon as you walk through the school doors - you have absolutely no idea what will happen - it's like a war-zone.

There's extreme cases of bullying - some teachers are in tears every day.

"It comes to the stage where the curriculum doesn't even come into it. I am satisfied just if I get the kids to be nice to one another." He continued: "In my first year I was threatened with a knife."

"A boy had one in his pocket and he went to grab it - another teacher had to restrain him. Eventually the boy was excluded," he explains.

Most recently, when he and another teacher were helping with an after-school event, they had to remove a group of youngsters who had climbed over a fence.

"A few of the pupils had tried to get in without tickets and so we told them to get out. They wouldn't so I had to physically remove them. I picked one of them up and threw him out and he turned round and told me to go and get a bullet proof vest - that he would be back."

He says he and his colleagues take this sort of threat with a pinch of salt but one day the person making the threat might just follow through.

That day armed police arrived from a nearby police station and the group ran off.

Our teacher says these sort of incidents are a daily occurrence in most inner London schools.

"We have to fill in so many statements and reports. We spend most of the time babysitting rather than teaching. I am 25 and when I went into teaching I didn't think my days would be spent making sure pupils didn't injure themselves or others."

"I thought I would be teaching. Really I am a cross between a social worker and some kind of policeman. I know a lot of the children have really difficult backgrounds and some of them don't go home to parents at all but there is a big difference between what people think teachers are doing and what they actually do."

"Once in a blue moon you get a sense of achievement - when you get through to someone."

He says there is a police officer attached to the school in the deprived London borough in which he works.

But even so, many incidents go unpunished or children escape with three-day exclusions rather than something more permanent.

"I don't think that we, as teachers, are equipped with the powers to deal with what goes on. I feel senior management don't use their powers to support us. "

He cites the case of a teacher who was spat at on numerous occasions. The pupil's mother was called in, but the pupil got away with a slap on the wrists.

So what makes him turn up at the school gates every morning?

"Once in a blue moon you get a sense of achievement - when you get through to someone.
But that's in an emotional sense not an educational one. That makes you feel good.
I have good relationships with some of the children - like my form group - I love them to bits.
I don't want to let them down."


Here is another example of our broken society. Isn't it time we got to grips with this kind of problem and came down like a ton of bricks on these thugs? The liberal minded and woolly thinkers of our society have let this kind of situation develop. Let's nip it in the bud before it is too late.

And how can we do this? Well remember that there is a general election coming up in the not too distant future. Find out your MP's view on law and order, and if they have a zero tolerance policy towards offenders THEN VOTE FOR THEM.

This is your country. Do you really want it to become even less law abiding than it is at present? Do you want anarchy to rule in the cities of our land? Think of the future for yourselves and your children.

What A Rotten Shower

David Chaytor - Charged by the CPS

Elliott Morley - Charged by the CPS


Jim Devine - Charged by the CPS

Lord Hanningfield (the Tory MP) - Charged by the CPS

I thought you might find the table below of interest. It shows the local MP’s claims and what they have had to repay

Name

Constituency
Party
Repayment
Appealed
Reduction
Outstanding


Michael Wood
Batley & Spen
Lab
£1,399.83
No
No Reduction
£0


Rosie Winterton
Doncaster Central
Lab
£9,972.35
No
No Reduction
£0


Philip Willis
Harrogate & Knaresborough
Lib
£5,363.74
No
No Reduction
£0


Gerry Sutcliffe
Bradford South
Lab
£2,786.14
No Reduction
No
£2,786.14


Marsha Singh
Bradford West
Lab
£5,026.84
No Reduction
No
£5,026.84


Barry Sheerman
Huddersfield
Lab
£557.21
No
No Reduction
£245.26


Terence Rooney
Bradford North
Lab
£297.02
No
£297.02


Linda Riordan
Halifax
Lab
£2,171.81
No
No Reduction
£2,171.81


George Mudie
Leeds East
Lab
£182.51
No
No Reduction
£0


Austin Mitchell
Great Grimsby
Lab
£10,627.07
No
No Reduction
£0


Greg Knight
Yorkshire East
Con
£2,259.99
No
No Reduction
£0


Fabian Hamilton
Leeds North East
Lab
£9,734.74
Yes
£3,186.59
£0


William Hague
Richmond (Yorkshire)
Con
£601.14
No
No Reduction
£0


Caroline Flint
Don Valley
Lab
£572.00
No
No Reduction
£0


Phillip Davies
Shipley
Con
£232.64
Yes
£232.64
£0


David Curry
Skipton and Ripon
Con
£1,676.48
No
No Reduction
£0


Ann Cryer
Keighley
Lab
£18,241.70
Yes
£16,646.45
£0


Yvette Cooper
Pontefract and Castleford
Lab
£1,363.21
No
No Reduction
£0


Nick Clegg
Sheffield Hallam
Lib
£910
No
No Reduction
£0


Gordon Brown
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
Lab
£12,888.03
No
No Reduction
£0


Ed Balls
Normanton
Lab
£1,363.17
No
No Reduction
£0


David Cameron
Witney
Con
£237.07
No
No Reduction
£0


I’ve also included the three main party leaders – Gordon Brown, David Cameron & Nick Clegg, as well as Ed Balls and his wife Yvette Cooper.

It’s interesting to note that the big claimants in the list are all Labour Party members (Gordon Brown - £12,888.03), (Anne Cryer - £18,241.70), (Austin Mitchell - £10,627.07), (Rosie Winterton - £9,972.35) and (Fabian Hamilton - £9,734.74), and with the exception of Ann Cryer and Fabian Hamilton have had to fully repay their claims. Those who have not so far repaid are also Labour Party members.



Three Labour MP’s are to face prosecution for their expense claims. They are David Chaytor (3 charges), Elliott Morley (2 charges), and Jim Devine (2 charges). Lord Hanningfield the Tory MP also faces 6 charges by the Criminal Prosecution Service.

The three Labour MP’s have already issued a statement to say that they will vigorously defend themselves.

Isn't It Time We Sorted Out The Apostrophe?

I wonder if you saw the recent news item which questions if we are becoming a nation of illiterates?

Councils across the UK have had to fork out hundreds of pounds to correct street signs boasting spelling and punctuation mistakes.

Brighton and Hove City Council spent £165.29 to correct a wall sign for St James's Street in Kemp Town that had been erected without the apostrophe.

In Bournemouth £20 was spent correcting a sign that had put the apostrophe in "children's" in the wrong place. Considerably more was spent in Ashford to replace two signs that contained spelling mistakes; the total cost of repairs came to £204.74.

Two new street nameplates cost Dover District Council about £100 in July 2005. "It was in respect of Wilcox Close, Aylesham," a spokesperson explained. "The error was that a nameplate had been ordered with a double 'l', so the error was that of the district council."

Just last year Birmingham City Council announced it was abolishing apostrophes from road signs. St Paul's Square (see picture at the top of this blog) became St Pauls Square in one of many changes the council said it was making for the purposes of consistency and to avoid confusion over whether place names should take an apostrophe.

Wasn't [short for was not] there once a rule taught in schools which said "If it belongs to somebody then it's [short for it is] apostrophe s. [John's book - the book belonging to John] Similarly if a letter is missing an apostrophe should be inserted at the point of the missing letter.

Fun and Games This Morning

Hi There folks! It's Ruby here.

I don't know about you, but on a morning I usually get up and stick my nose out of the door and then go out and stretch my legs, but not this morning. It was decidedly cold - in fact 4 degrees below freezing. So one sniff of the cold air and I headed straight back inside the house and on to my lovely warm bed, which is by the side of the radiator.

I don't know if I've mentioned it. but we have a special guest staying with us at the moment. It's my Auntie Sarah. (She's the one who spoils me something rotten, and if she gets the chance she lets me sleep on her bed when I am at her house.)

Anyway, when she comes downstairs I usually make a great big fuss of her, and she usually lets me go out with her to her car. (Sometimes if I'm lucky, I get a ride in the car with her too!)

Well this morning, as I hadn't been out earlier, I went out to her car, and then decided I needed a wee, so I crossed over the road and went about 200 yards up the road. By now the Lord and Master was calling me to come back, but I thought it would be a good idea to cross back over the road and go into the field.

He thought he'd cornered me when I went up the snicket, but some kind person had left the gate open into the field, so in I went and had a good romp up the field!





(That's me in the field having a good romp in the snow earlier last week.)

He's dead crafty. He waved his hands about like he does when he has a treat for me, and I came running down to him. He caught me by my collar and marched me back home.

I don't think he was too pleased with me for running off, but I think I've been forgiven because I've had lots of cuddles from him! When Sarah came back after school, she made a big fuss of me.

In the Bleak Mid Winter.......

Sing lustily, stamp your feet, wave your arms about and become a "happy clappy" or you'll never feel warm!

It's amazing! whenever there is a snap of cold weather, problems with central heating immediately begin to rear their ugly heads.

I play the organ at the church pictured above, which is a lovely old church, with a lofty ceiling inside it, and consequently the heating needs to have been on for two or three hours before the floor level of the church begins to feel warm, particularly during the extremely cold weather.

We have an oil fired heating system, which is fitted with a frost stat. This means that whenever the outside temperature drops below freezing, the heating automatically starts to run. At least that is the theory behind the frost stat! On three of the last four Sundays, when the frost stat was supposed to have kicked in it simply blew the main fuse and hey presto! there was no heating running. Sitting in the church felt a bit like sitting in the freezer of your fridge!

On three occasions a heating engineer has been summoned (I think from Northants!) and he has now decided that the problem lies with the fact that when the temperature drops below freezing and the frost stat kicks in, the oil is thicker that usual and so the motor, which should feed the oil to the boiler in the heating system simply doesn't turn straight away consequently the fuse blows!

Pipe organs are very susceptible to extremes of temperature and twice in the last four weeks I have had notes stick on and continue to play whilst I have stopped playing them. The resulting sound is something similar to out of tune bagpipes...... There is a wedding in the church tomorrow and I dread to think what might happen, as a visiting pianist is coming to play the organ for it!

If the frost stat has blown the central heating fuse again, and the organ sounds like a set of badly tuned bagpipes it could be a memorable occasion!

Microwave Back to Full Health!

The latest news on the Microwave Front.........

The microwave has been fully resusitated by a very kind and knowledgable man called Mr Hardy. The machine was anaesthetised and then given a new internal body part (A high powered fuse.) After a short period in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) it has made a full recovery.

LWM for the Household

A new era began in this household on Saturday.

Let me explain. I had used the microwave to heat my morning coffee as I usually do, and no problems, but at “Elevenses” time, I again put a beaker of coffee into the microwave to heat it up, and after the usual 1minute 30 seconds, I opened the door and got the coffee out to discover it was stone cold.

Thinking I may have set the heat setting to 10% rather than 100% I had another try, with the same results. I then tried the grill, which was working perfectly, but after a third attempt at heating coffee with the same results as the previous two attempts I decided that the microwave section of the machine had gone on strike.

After consulting the Amalgamated Union of Microwaves (to ascertain that there were no strikes pending), and ensuring that it was being paid at least the minimum wage and had no grievances I reluctantly decided that it was in need of further care, or that it had died.

Not being an expert in microwave resuscitation, I took it along to Mr Hardy in Saltaire, and he re assured me that he would be able to nurse it back to life. I am now sitting by the phone awaiting his prognosis.

Oh! - You're probably wondering what LWM is.......


Life Without Microwave!

Dad Of The Year? - What a Shining Example!

"It's a great honour to be voted dad of the year. I have won many trophies in my career but I'm proud to say that this is up there with all of them. Georgie and Summer are great kids and I love them both dearly.

My family mean the world to me and receiving this award has made me feel extremely proud. Being with the kids and watching them grow up and learning new things everyday is a privilege and I'm honoured to receive this award."

John Terry on winning the Dad of the year Award






Beleaguered England skipper John Terry could lose the armband over claims that he had an affair with the girlfriend of ex-team-mate Wayne Bridge.
It is far from the first time the Chelsea defender has been involved in press controversy. Here's a potted history...

1) If you see the car rocking, don't come knocking
In November 2005 Terry was accused of cheating on then-fiancee Toni Poole in a public car park.

Jenny Barker, 17, said the star sent her sexy texts after she asked for his autograph and later canoodled with her in his Bentley.

She said: "He smiled and put on sexy Luther Vandross music from a selection on a huge screen in the car. One thing led to another but we did not have sex. I didn't want to give in to him like I can imagine every other girl does."

Terry was claimed to have cheated on Poole with nine different women - including one fling with former porn star Karina Clarke.

He said before they married in 2007: "I really regret what I've done to Toni. I'm not going to cheat on her ever again."

2) The nagging doubts
In 2004 Terry and best friend Wayne Bridge, together with Scott Parker, were reported to be gambling £40,000 a week between them on horse races.

Close pals Terry and Bridge were alleged to gave blown £13,000 in just three hours in a Surrey bookies. They later travelled to Las Vegas for Terry's stag night - which was held after his wedding to Poole.

3) The disabled parking bay
In March 2008 there was more car trouble for Terry as England's captain spurned a 50p-an-hour public car park yards away in favour of dumping his black Bentley in a spot for disabled drivers outside Pizza Express in Esher, Surrey.

The subsequent £60 fine was peanuts to a player reckoned then to be on £135,000 a week and who had therefore earned £1,600 in the time it took him to polish off his dough balls and American Hot.

4) The supermarket sweep
In March 2008 Terry's mother and mother-in-law were officially cautioned by police after being accused of shoplifting £800 worth of goods from Tesco.

The supermarket giants then launched a civil action against the pair.

The affair was a huge embarrassment for Terry as Tesco are official England sponsors.

5) The £10,000 guided tour
Last December Terry was accused of taking £10,000 from undercover reporters in return for a private tour of Chelsea's training ground.

Terry told the pair he would give his share of the fee to charity but cautioned them: "If the club finds out, it's a little bit. . ."

6) The nightclub incident
In August 2002 Terry wept with relief after being cleared of attacking a nightclub doorman with a bottle.

He and then-team-mate Jody Morris walked free from court after a jury found them not guilty of causing a fight at London celebrity haunt the Wellington Club.

The court heard trouble had flared when Morris was accused of spillng a drink on the floor and shouting obscenities at a member of staff.

The jury cleared Terry of affray, having an offensive weapon, wounding with intent and unlawful wounding.

7) The 9/11 party
With their flight to an away match at Levski Sofia grounded in the aftermath of the Terror attacks on New York and Washington in September 2001, Chelsea players found themselves at a loose end. Some went home to watch CNN, but Terry Eidur Gudjohnsen, Frank Lampard and Morris had other ideas.

After visiting a couple of pubs - where a "hammered" Gudjohnsen stripped off and threw peanuts at punters while Lampard and Morris urinated in a rubbish bin outside - the group went on to a local bowling alley where they hurled themselves down the lanes and saw former colleague Frank Sinclair, who by now had joined the party, almost decapitated by the pin-changing mechanism.

Finally they ended up in the bar of the Posthouse Hotel at Heathrow, where stranded travellers, many of them Americans, had gathered to watch events unfold on TV. Instead they were treated to the players throwing food around while pictures were shown of sobbing firemen searching through the rubble for the dead, before one player exposed himself to the appalled throng.

Chelsea FC subsequently fined the trio for their behaviour.

8) The 'dealing' dad
Last November Terry's dad Ted was caught on camera appearing to sell cocaine in an Essex bar.

Terry Snr was seen arranging to pass three grams of drug to an undercover reporter in return for £120 and telling him: "This is just between me and you. Don't tell him that I'm John Terry's dad."

9) The wee bit of bother
In February 2002 Terry was fit to burst after visiting the Time and Envy nightclubs in Romford, Essex.

He told friends he needed the toilet but that an injured toe was bothering him - so whipped out his manhood, urinated into a beer glass and dropped it on the floor.

Security staff saw the incident on CCTV and escorted the player off the premises.

10) Ashley's big night out
Trouble occasionally follows Terry's associates around too. Terry was on a night out with Chelsea team-mate Ashley Cole at West London's Collection nightclub when the left-back had an altercation with a press photographer.

Cole subsequently spent three hours in a custody suite was issued with an £80 fixed penalty notice for being drunk and disorderly and allowed to go home.

.... and this is the guy who won Dad of the Year Award!

North Somerset Council - Is Common Sense Prevailing?

Those of you who regularly read my blog, may recall that on December 21st (last year) I wrote a piece entitled "Goodwill to all Men, but not a Certain Maths Teacher." In it I recounted the sad tale of Olive Jones who had been suspended for offering to pray for a sick pupil.

The good news is that after a case review, council bosses have agreed that she can return as a supply maths teacher.

Mrs Jones job was with North Somerset Tuition Service in Nailsea in Bristol. North Somerset Council agreed that it could be appropriate for a teacher to share his or her faith, but a spokeman added, "A careful judgement has to be made."

Whilst on the face of it this seems good news, I would question why on earth there needed to be a suspension, and case review in the first place. Are we, or are we not, a Christian Country? If I wish to speak about my faith to a pupil, and offer what I feel could be help why should I have to make a careful judgement first? Is this country no longer a free country. What has happened to free speech?

An interesting little aside: Only this morning a headteacher colleague asked me to pray for an ex member of her staff who is recovering from an operation for cancer. Should I make a careful judgement before I agree to the request?

A Response to Terrorism

Here is a woman who should run for Prime Minister!
Written by a housewife in New Brunswick , to her local newspaper. This is one ticked off lady.

'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001 and have continually threatened to do so since?
Were people from all over the world, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from the capitol of the USA and in a field in Pennsylvania?

Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a few Taliban were claiming to be tortured by a justice system of the nation they come from and are fighting against in a brutal insurgency.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere belief of which is a crime punishable by beheading in Afghanistan ..

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Afghanistan come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques and behind women and children.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blows themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the Canadian media stops pretending that their freedom of speech on stories is more important than the lives of the soldiers on the ground or their families waiting at home to hear about them when something happens.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a CANADIAN soldier roughing up an Insurgent terrorist to obtain information, know this:

I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank:

I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and 'fed special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts:

I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled 'Koran' and other times 'Quran.' Well, Jimmy Crack Corn you guessed it,

I don't care!!

If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on to all your E-mail friends. Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behaviour!

If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country! And may I add: '

Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Soldiers don't have that problem.'

I have another quote that I would like to add, AND.......I hope you forward all this.

One last thought for the day:

Only five defining forces have ever offered to die for you:

1. Jesus Christ

2. The British Soldier.

3. The Canadian Soldier.

4. The US Soldier, and

5. The Australian Soldier

One died for your soul, the other 4 for your freedom.

The New Terrorist Threat Levels - By Country

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved."

Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross."

The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out.

Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance."

The last time the British issued a"Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

The Scots raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards".

They don't have any other levels.

This is the reason they have been used on the frontline in the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide."

The only two higher levels in France are"Collaborate" and "Surrender."

The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

It's not only the French who are on a heightened level of alert.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout loudly and excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing."

Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

"The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to"Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs."

They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose".

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy.

These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy, can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Americans meanwhile are carrying out pre-emptive strikes on all of their allies, just in case.

New Zealand has also raised its security levels from "baaa" to "BAAAA!".

Due to continuing defense cutbacks (the air force being a squadron of spotty teenagers flying paper airplanes and the navy some toy boats in the Prime Minister's bath).

New Zealand only has one more level of escalation, which is "Shit, I hope Australia will come and rescue us".

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to"She'll be alright, mate". Three more escalation levels remain, "Crikey!","I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend," and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

Stranded Whale Between Beadnell & Seahouses

A TEN-metre long sperm whale has died after becoming stranded on rocks between Beadnell and Seahouses on Monday.

The mammal, which experts think weighed about 20 tonnes, is thought to have suffered dehydration after losing its way.

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) said the whale was alive for a time, but could not be saved as the tide was going out.

Sperm whales are the deepest diving mammal and the largest toothed of all whales, feeding on squid and other large deep water fish. They can grow up to 18 metres in length and weigh up to 50 tonnes.

COASTGUARD staff were asked last night to remove the teeth and lower jawbone of a washed up whale after it was targeted by trophy- hunters.

The 10-metre-long male sperm whale was discovered just off a beach near Beadnell, Northumberland early on Monday morning.

The coastguards are aware local people and others from outside Northumberland hope to get a tooth from the whale as a souvenir or to sell it.

Three men from County Durham travelled to the beach at around 3am yesterday seemingly intent on removing teeth.

They were, however, stopped by a cordon being manned by a coastguard team from Seahouses, set up because the carcass is property of the Crown and anything removed from it is regarded as theft.

I loved the comments from Wife in the North's Blog...........

The reports say they were souvenir hunters - perhaps they were just really unlucky tooth fairies. "What job have you got?" "That cutie-pie with the curly blonde hair asleep over there on the pink Princess pillow. What's yours?" "I've got that 25 tonne rotting whale carcass on the Northumberland coast. Swapsies?"

She's Back!

Another little bit of good news……

I opened Internet Explorer this morning, as I am wont to do, and went to the blogs I follow - White Stuff & Wife in the North, and for the first time since 28th September 2009, I found that Wife in the North had contributed a piece on her blog.

This was about the fact that her parents had arrived on the Tuesday before Christmas, and due to the inclement weather had stayed for nearly three and a half weeks! First the roads were blocked by snowdrifts, then there was ice, then it was flooding!

Shocking Figures

We have sets of laws which make it compulsory for anyone working with children to be thoroughly vetted to prove they are safe adults and not likely to assault the children in their care. Every person who works with children and young adults has to have a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau Check) to ensure they are not going to attack, molest or in any way assault the children or young adults in their care)

Yet according to the latest figures (April 2008 – March 2009) sixty sex crimes are committed against children EVERY DAY. This equates to more than 21,000 sex offences against children in the year.

Are we breeding a nation of paedophiles and perverts? What good is it putting an offender on a sex register if he/she cannot be tracked seven days a week, fifty two weeks a year? How many repeat offenders do we have within these figures?

How do the likes of Ian Huntley still manage to get jobs where children are within easy reach? Many of our offenders are given a second chance.

Why not solve the problem of re offending by handing down a sentence of castration for the first offence????

So Whose Rights Are We Protecting Then?

An article in yesterdays Yorkshire Post caught my attention. The headline said….

“Iraqi who stabbed doctors can stay in Britain.”

The article went on to tell the story of paranoid schizophrenic, Laith Alani, who has been imprisoned for nineteen years after he stabbed to death consultant cosmetic surgeons Michael Masser and Kenneth Paton.

The Immigration Office wanted to deport him to Iraq on his release, but the immigration tribunal decided that such a move would breach his human rights and put people in the Middle Eastern country at risk!

Alani, who told the police he carried out the attack because he had received a “command from Allah”, could be set free next year.
A statement from the judgement reads as follows….

If his present treatment were to be discontinued, as seems to be most likely the case if he were to be removed to Iraq, the potential consequences could be extremely serious for Alani himself, and potentially life threatening for innocent third parties around him, in the event of his likely, indeed almost inevitable, relapse into a state of paranoid schizrophenia.

Let’s just have a look at some of the wording in the [previous paragraph.

If it were to be – no certainty that it would be discontinued in Iraq.
Potential consequences could be extremely serious – no certainty here – potential meaning possible.
In the event of – no certainty here either.

So we have a judgement protecting the human rights of a murderer based on maybe’s and possibilities, and as a result of this, we, the British taxpayers are left to pick up the bill and live with the possibility of re offence

So what about the rights of the British Public then?

Nearly a CATastrophe

Amid all the doom and gloom I wonder if you caught the following story......


A man had to be rescued by firefighters after getting stuck in a tree while trying to rescue a kitten in Southampton.

Two crews from the St Mary's area of the city were called to Harefield Road in Portswood on Saturday night.

A spokeswoman said they were called at about 2200 GMT "to reports of one male stuck in a tree following a failed attempt to rescue a kitten".

The 19-year-old and his cat were safely brought down and both were unhurt.

Eight firefighters and a rural safety officers carried out the rescue, the spokeswoman for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said.

Oops! Why Can't I Keep My Big Mouth Shut?

Defence Secretary - Bob Ainsworth

A Cabinet minister has fuelled speculation that the general election will take place on 6 May.

Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth told Sky News that the public will "rue the day if they wind up with a Conservative government... after the 6 May".

He is not the first minister to suggest inadvertently that the poll, which must be held by 3 June, will happen then. May 6 is seen as the most likely date but Labour sources said Mr Ainsworth had been talking "speculatively".

It is widely assumed that Gordon Brown will call the election for 6 May, the same day on which council elections are being held. Mr Brown said recently there would be a Budget in the spring, which experts said would effectively rule out an election in March or April.

Speaking about the upcoming election campaign, Mr Ainsworth said it was "far from decided" despite the fact Labour is lagging behind the Conservatives in the opinion polls.

"As we begin to focus on consequences of a Tory government, people are beginning to have some doubts about whether David Cameron is the right man," he said. "We haven't lost the election. We need to fight it together with all our strengths and ability and put that choice to the British public because I think they will wake up and rue the day if they wind up with a Conservative government in charge of this country after 6 May."

Health Secretary Andy Burnham was accused of "letting the cat out of the bag" last month about the timing of the election when he spoke of the importance of getting legislation outlawing the unsupervised use of sun beds passed by May - only to correct himself.

Pre-election campaigning has already begun with all the main parties publishing draft details of policies in certain areas.

The Conservatives and Lib Dems both say they are on an election footing as a poll could be called at any time.

Edlington - Is Five Years Too Lenient?

Child welfare campaigners said that they will ask the Attorney General to urge an increase in the minimum term two brothers will have to serve for torturing and sexually humiliating two young boys.

The brothers were given an indefinite custodial sentence by a judge who said they must spend five years in detention before they are even considered for release.

The founder of the charity Kidscape, Michelle Elliott, joined other children's groups in voicing concerns over the sentence, saying the young victims deserved the security of knowing their tormentors could not be released for at least a decade.

Dr Elliott was speaking after South Yorkshire Police confirmed they will consider criminal action against the brothers' parents.
The pair were 10 and 11 years old when they subjected their victims, aged nine and 11, to "prolonged, sadistic violence" during the assault in Edlington, South Yorkshire, last April.

Dr Elliott said: "I'm grateful for the indeterminate sentence but I would have urged a 10-year minimum before they are assessed for release."I will be appealing to Baroness Scotland (the Attorney General). Several groups are doing that."

Dr Elliott accepted that the brothers would not necessarily be released after five years but believed the possibility of them being let out while still only in their mid-teens was too worrying for their young victims, who are roughly the same age.
"I think, for them and their families, they need to have a clear 10 years," she said.

Edlington - Who Is Really To Blame?

When all the political rhetoric and sensational attention seeking headlines have been cast aside, what are we left with? – Two evil boys who committed unspeakable and violent abuse on two children of a similar age.

It is perhaps unfortunate that in and amongst this sad saga Doncaster Council is in the midst of charge and counter charge over its ability to run the social services department, and the recently published reports on the councils failings have done much to mask the true source of the problem.

Blame has been laid at the door of the various agencies that have been involved with the family of the two boys. The finger has been pointed at a lack of cross agency information sharing, lack of leadership, and various other causes, yet the true cause of all this sad case seems to have been overlooked. – The parents of the boys involved.

Going back to basics, I believe that no child is born evil. This has to be allowed to happen during the early years of a child’s growth. The people who allow this to happen are the parents.

It is already surfacing that the family was grossly dysfunctional – “toxic” to use just one of the descriptions of the home life. Which responsible parents would allow their children to watch such video nasties as the Chucky films, or show them pornographic videos? Which responsible mothers would feed their children cannabis?


A relative of the boys who carried out the Edlington attacks has told how their mother would lace their food with cannabis to get them to go to sleep.

She recalled how the brothers grew up in a chaotic household watching horror movies from a young age.
The boys would often be up all night and had even set fire to their own wardrobes in their bedrooms, she said.
"You just knew one day they'd really hurt someone and that is exactly what they've done," she told the BBC.
The woman, who does not want to be identified, said: "They have always been naughty boys, but they could have been lovable kids given the right family."

She said the boys' mother would leave the children, who had been excluded from school, to their own devices.
"From the age of about six or seven they used to watch horror movies, Chucky films, the sort that grown-ups daren't watch.

Is this the picture of a responsible mother?


They often witnessed domestic violence and on one occasion they saw their father threatening to slash their mother's face.
From the age of nine the older brother smoked cannabis and drank cider and the family home saw "routine aggression, violence and chaos".

Is this the behaviour of a responsible father?


"..... A short time later, as police and locals gathered to search for the 11-year-old who was still missing, officers were approached by the attackers and their father. He said his sons had been with him and were not responsible for any attack."

Not only is the father irresponsible, but he actually covers up for his son’s evil attack.

So what about prosecuting the parents?

The parents of two brothers detained indefinitely after they tortured two young boys in a "sadistic" attack could face prosecution, police have revealed.

It’s a bit late now though isn’t it? Talk about shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Why in Heaven’s name weren’t they prosecuted years ago, when the boys began offending?

Good Graduate = Good Teacher???

David Cameron - could do better

I did my training to be a teacher in the mid sixties. It was about this time that the powers that be began to realise that to be a good teacher you did not necessarily have to have a top class honours degree. In fact there were many instances when would be teachers entered the profession straight from university with top honours degrees and turned out to be useless teachers.

Going back to my Grammar School days, I recall an English teacher I had who inspired me with a love on the English Language and Literature. He was a teacher who had come into the profession via teacher training college. Another English teacher, who I had during my sixth form days, had come straight from Oxford University with a “first” and, quite honestly was useless as a teacher.

A move was afoot to try to persuade all would be teachers who had obtained a degree to do a shortened teacher training course before entering the profession; however there was one big drawback to persuading graduates to follow this training. If they failed the course they were not allowed to teach! Hence, many “poor” teachers gained entry to the profession by circumventing the teacher training part of the course, and gaining entry to the profession on the grounds of a good degree. Eventually this loophole was closed and all graduates who wanted to enter the profession had to take the teacher training element and pass before they were allowed to enter the profession!

Sadly some of our political leaders have not learnt anything from previous mistakes…..

I read that David Cameron is trying to institute proceedings to obtain teachers by a “Teach Now” fast track scheme to encourage graduate professionals to enter teaching. It is suggested that they must have a degree of 2:2 or above.

Maybe Mr Cameron should realise that a brilliant brain is not the prerequisite of a good teacher. One of the most important facets of a good teacher is the ability to pass on knowledge in an interesting and enthusiastic way.

Let me give you another example of a First Class Honours graduate who didn’t make the grade as a teacher. He lived about eight houses away from where I lived at home, when I was training to be a teacher. He obtained a “First” from Leeds University and got a teaching post at the junior school I used to attend. Within a year the complaints about his lack of ability to teach became sufficient for him to quit teaching altogether.

The last I heard he was playing an electronic organ in a strip club, where, to quote him “The pay wasn’t too good, but the fringe benefits were marvellous!”

Teachers are no longer regarded as the professionals they once were thought of. Parents often take an active stance of disrespect towards teachers, and, sadly, often in front of their own children. If David Cameron wants teaching to be considered an “elite profession”, he needs to get the message across to those parents who treat those faced with educating their children like dirt, that this will not be tolerated.

Turning teaching into an “Elite Profession” is not about upping the entry requirements. It is about instilling respect, giving teachers the freedom to teach, and discipline children, and bringing back some of the natural authority which once characterised the job.

Good teacher does NOT equal High Class Honours Degree. Come on Mr Cameron. As it should say on your current report – COULD DO BETTER.

Is Mr Balls Beginning to See a Bit of Sense?

Sir Roger Singleton & Ed Balls

Is Ed Balls beginning to see a bit of sense or is it (as my cynical brain informs me) just that he is worried about his position in the next election if he doesn't do something about the smacking loophole right away?

Smacking pupils in part-time schools could be banned

Sir Roger Singleton has been asked by Ed Balls to consider the rules on smacking
The loophole which allows corporal punishment to be used in part-time schools is to be scrutinised by the government's child safety adviser.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls is writing to Sir Roger Singleton asking him to urgently consider the rules on physical punishment.
The corporal punishment ban does not cover schools where lessons are taught for less than 12.5 hours per week.
MPs have challenged the use of physical punishments in religious schools.
Mr Balls has written to his chief adviser on the safety of children asking him to re-consider the rules surrounding the use of corporal punishment in "part-time educational and learning settings".


Schools Minister Vernon Coaker has also written to MP Ann Cryer, following her calls in the House of Commons that there should be no exemption from the ban on corporal punishment for "teachers in madrassas or in other religious schools".


Corporal punishment has been made illegal in state and independent schools - but parents are allowed to give their children a "mild smack".


This right to smack extends to those who have parental responsibility, such as grandparents or other family members.
It is under this exemption that adults in part-time educational settings have been able to defend their use of corporal punishment as "reasonable punishment", because they are held to have taken on the status of someone standing in for a parent.


Mr Balls, in his letter to Sir Roger, raises the question of when this interpretation is applied to "religious instruction that children attend at the weekend". "We are keen to establish a clear understanding of the issues here, while mindful of the need to ensure that we do not create any unintended problems," writes Mr Balls.


In his reply to Ms Cryer in the House of Commons last week, Mr Balls said: "The important point to make is that there is not one rule for a child in a madrassa and another for a child in a school or in any other circumstance. "The use of physical punishment against any child is wrong; it is outside the law and is not fair to children. "I do not think that we should tolerate any use of physical punishment in any school or learning setting in which trusted adults are supposed to be looking after children, not abusing them."


But the letters from Mr Balls and Mr Coaker both highlight concerns that if the exemption were to be withdrawn it could cause unintended consequences for families. Mr Coaker suggests that grandparents trying to help support their families could also face a ban on administering punishment.


A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families says ministers want to clarify the rules surrounding such part-time educational settings, and want Sir Roger to respond by next week.

Mr Balls Should Be Strung Up By Them

Sorry to those of you who are easily offended by my Headline to this article, but I really am incensed.

It seems that there is “One Rule for Them and another One for Us” - but that's not why I am incensed. it's the intransigence of Mr Balls which causes my ire to rise!

How can we have laws in this country which apply to some groups of people, but not to others? Let me cite you an example.

If I were to smack a child in a state school I would be deemed to be breaking the law.
If I was teaching in a Muslim Mandrasah and I smacked a child I would not be breaking the law. FACT.

You may well be asking yourself how can this be – although those of you who are more aware of the realities of some of our MP’s will, no doubt, be not in the least surprised.

Smacking is banned in all State and Private schools, and has been for some time now, however it does not apply to Mandrasahs, where pupils usually study in the evenings or at weekends.

Ed Balls was urged, last week, to close a legal loophole which gives teachers at Britain’s estimated 1,600 schools associated with mosques, the right to smack children. He refused, prompting the claim that he is allowing a culture of physical abuse in some of the mosque schools - or mandrasahs - to go unchecked. The reason this loophole has come about is because the law states that it does not apply to school where pupils study less than 12.5 hours per week.

A report, just over a year ago stated that pupils in mandrasahs had been slapped, punched and had their ears twisted. The former Government Advisor on Islamic affairs said that one mandrasah student was picked up by the leg and spun round, whilst another student claimed a teacher was “kicking in my head like a football.”

In a separate report in 2006, leading British Muslim Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui raised fears that physical abuse in Mandrasahs was widespread.

Keighley MP Ann Cryer claims that some of the children being ill treated in Islamic schools are special needs children. “They don’t seem to have any understanding of special needs children. If a child isn’t learning their Koranic verses well, they think it is because they are being naughty, not because they have an incapacity. It isn’t just a question of beating – they have a punishment called the “chicken position” where a child must squat on the floor until they get very uncomfortable.”

A spokesman for Mr Balls department denied that his refusal to change the law was based on fears of upsetting Muslim opinion. “We have no evidence that the law is being abused or that children are being abused in these circumstances”, he said.

So the two reports I have cited above are not sufficient evidence? I just wish I could have personally dragged Mr Ball by the b***s to the school where I used to teach in MORE THAN FIFTEEN YEARS AGO and let him hear some of the tales the Muslim children who attended the Mandrasahs used to tell me. These were also the children who had the greatest difficulty in learning to read (as we do in England – from left to right), because in the Mandrasahs they read from right to left, and if they made the mistake of reading from left to right they were beaten by their teachers. It is small wonder that these pupils found it so difficult to read in English - they were beaten if they read left to right at the Mandrasah.

Wife in the North Where Are You?

I’m bereft! Wife in the North, who inspired me to start this blogging lark hasn’t contributed anything to her blog since 28th September. I usually look at her blog page each week, in the hopes that she is going to restart, but each week all I find is her last blog from September.

Today, when I went to have a look at her blog, all I got was this message……

Sorry! We could not find www.wifeinthenorth.com
It may be unavailable or may not exist.

I have tried following the various links that are given with no success – they all take me back to the message - Sorry! We could not find www.wifeinthenorth.com It may be unavailable or may not exist.

This was the lady we visited whilst we were on holiday in Northumberland, who presented me with a signed copy of her book “Wife in the North” and welcomed us in to her home, where we met the family, including her children, her husband and her mother.

I'm sure I'm not the only one missing your entertaining and amusing blogs.

Looking Back on the Pantomime

The Bentley Family made it to the pantomime in Harrogate yesterday, and, as usual, were superbly entertained by the cast of this years offering – Aladdin. Tim Stedman, who has taken the “Silly Billy” role now for the past ten years was his usual exceedingly stupid self!

What do you get if you cross a centipede with a parrot? A Walkie Talkie!

The corny jokes came thick and fast, and it being the penultimate performance, I reckon that we only got about 70% of the original script – the rest was made up of very quick fire ad libs. At one point, when one of the backdrops failed to “drop” and the stage staff dropped another one, Abanazar turned to the audience and said, “Well it’s not my usual home, but it’ll do!”

Widow Twankey, almost slipping on the stage during a laundry scene “It’s another of those places they haven’t gritted!”

Then there was Andrew – a specially selected member of the audience, who at one point had to lead the whole theatre in the singing of the silly song. Wishee Washee made the comment, “It’s a pity we haven’t got a follow spot for him.” Almost immediately on came a follow spot bathing him in bright white light, whilst he led us in the singing!

There was the usual chase scene around the whole of the theatre, culminating in Wishee Washee sliding down a ladder from one of the boxes – I’ll bet Health and Safety don’t know about that one, and from time to time characters appeared in the boxes – at one point Abanazar was to be seen trying to persuade Aladdin to get the magic lamp for him whilst he was busily eating sweets (presumably given to him by the children who were in the box he had chosen). Pandora, the Panda appeared in another box playing a guitar during one of the musical numbers.

From my point of view, Abanazar, (the baddie) was the outstanding performer. Whilst oozing threats and menace, he also managed to fill out his part with lots of amusing and funny asides.

All in all it was a thoroughly entertaining evening out!

Aladdin

Providing the weather remains reasonable, Friday will see the Bentley Family Annual outing to Harrogate Theatre for their visit to the pantomime. This has become something of a tradition in the family, as it first commenced when our two oldest daughters were 5 or 6 and has continued unbroken for something like 35 years! In fact for some years now we have been including the grandchildren.

Friday is the penultimate performance, so the cast should be word perfect and no doubt throw in lots of ad libs!

Wishee Washee & Aladdin

This year’s adventure is Aladdin, and tells the story of Aladdin and Princess So-Shy.

Aladdin & the Lamp


Both are in love; however Princess So-Shy’s father, The Emperor of China, forbids such a marriage to a lowly peasant boy.



Princess So Shy

Abenazar (the Baddie)

The dastardly Abanazar has his eye on the lamp and has alternative plans for Aladdin.

Wishee Washee, Widow Twankey & the Emperor of China

The Emperor of China & Aladdin

The Genie of the Lamp

If Aladdin can retrieve the magic lamp from the cave of treasures and bring to life its genie he will have untold wealth to convince the Emperor that he will make a worthy husband for the Princess.

Widow Twankey

Wishee Washee is played by Harrogate favourite Tim Stedman, and with Widow Twankey and a whole host of hilarious colourful characters, we are sure to have a hilarious evening!




Princess So Shy & Aladdin

Princess So Shy & the Policeman

Widow Twankey

Looking Forward to the Pantomime

Just ventured outside with Ruby this morning, and, thank goodness it doesn’t seem to have frozen over.

I suppose I will have to dig the snow and hard packed ice off the drive, so that I can get the car back up it at some stage!

We’re now looking forward to tomorrow when we make the trip to Harrogate Theatre for the Pantomime – Aladdin this year.

REMINDER TO FAMILY – it commences at 7.00 pm!

Wishee Washee & Aladdin

More Of The Same

Taking Ruby for her final walk tonight I noticed that the snow was already beginning to sparkle - a sure sign that the temperature is falling below freezing!

Trying to back the car up the drive earlier in the evening it refused to go very far, and commenced a somewhat waltz like motion, so I gave it up as a bad job and left it out on the pavement.

It looks very much like tomorrow (Thursday) is going to start off in the same way as today did. I’ve just been looking on the Met Office weather website for the Bradford Area, and there is a weather warning out for Thursday.

The weather warning for Thursday is a “be prepared” one, which is the same as the one for today (Wednesday). The most severe warning is the next one up which is “take action!” Tomorrow’s forecast is given in three hour segments, and they are as follows:

00.00 sleet -1 centigrade visibility poor
03.00 low level cloud -1 centigrade visibility poor
06.00 mist -1 centigrade visibility poor
09.00 low level cloud 0 centigrade good
12.00 sunny intervals 0 centigrade good
15.00 sunny intervals 0 centigrade moderate
18.00 fog 1 centigrade very poor
Night low level cloud 1 centigrade very poor

It sounds like a recipe for more accidents and broken bones……..

The Crafty Way to Balance Your Gritting Budget!

I opened the kitchen door this morning to let Ruby out, and was greeted by the antics of the original skating dog. Elegant was not the word I would have used to describe her first slide, however she did maintain her dignity by not collapsing in a heap, but remaining upright at all times.

This little preamble to today’s blog is just to put you in the picture concerning the prevailing weather conditions in our part of Siberia.

After returning from walking Ruby last night, I noticed that the temperature had risen slightly, but that there was a distinct wind blowing. There was a very slight fall of very sloppy sleet too. I remember thinking “It could be fun tomorrow if the temperature falls during the night.”

Well, fall, the temperature certainly did! The car was completely covered in a two/three millimetre layer of solid ice, but not only the car – the entire drive and the surrounding pavements too!

As I had to take the good lady to work for 8.00 am that meant clearing the windscreen and windows of ice, and that took about 15 minutes, because after I had scraped the ice off the glass, it then froze back on again. De Icer seemed to be the next best step, followed by windscreen wipers, but they just smeared the ice back on to the glass, so there had to be more drastic action taken – run the engine, and put the heater on "full" for the windscreen.

Going down the drive, which barely slopes, was something of a fun exercise as there was sheet ice completely covering it. Once on to the road I decided to go the opposite direction to usual, as there is nasty sloping corner in the usual direction which is often covered in ice. The five minute trip took about 20 minutes due to the fact that the vast majority of drivers were being sensible and driving slowly and with great care!

Apart from the bus route and the main road nothing had been treated. I know there is supposed to be a shortage of gritting materials, but surely on this occasion something could have been done. Then the cynical part of the brain kicked in!

It costs money to grit and the gritting budget is probably overspent, so why not grit less (and use the excuse that the gritting materials are in short supply) and let the brunt of the costs (caused by accidents/falls etc.) be borne by the hospitals.

Where Will It All End?

Towards the end of my blog on Saturday I posed the question:

What is the matter with our children today? Why are they rebelling against authority?

I have given those questions some thought over the weekend, and come up with the following reasons:

Drugs
Easy Money
Lack of motivation
Unemployment
Liberal mindedness by certain members of society
Over emphasis on the rights of children
Lack of suitable punishment
Broken Homes
Single Parents
Lack of parental skills
Lack of discipline in the home
Lack of moral fibre

Let’s examine these points in turn.

DRUGS

More and more of our young people turn to drugs. Why? Is it boredom? Is it lack of motivation to go out and work? Is it a cheap thrill? Is it an “easy” escape from the “boring” life they lead?

Whatever the reason it is a known fact that a huge percentage of drug taking is fuelled by crime – the necessity to get money to buy the illegal drug.

So where is the deterrent to taking drugs? Does the law and the criminal justice system actively discourage drug taking? Here the answer is often – No! Once a young offender enters the prison system it is a known fact that he/she will most likely become more involved with drugs.

Drastic crime requires drastic action, if we are not to be overwhelmed by the drug problem. It is obvious that the drug support systems are not working. Cease immediately the supply of Methadone to drug addicts. Lock the offender up and give them cold turkey. Confiscate every last penny from the convicted dealers and deport them at the end of their sentences.


EASY MONEY

Far too many children are indulged. They demand and get more or less anything they want. They don’t have to work for their wants. They are indulged by their parents. Hence they often don’t appreciate or value what they get. They live in an “I want – I deserve – I will get” kind of society.

Those children who can’t get what they want will often resort to stealing to get what they want.

The lack of parental guidelines here is an additional reason for the problem.

LACK OF MOTIVATION

In a society where you can get what you want without having to work for it there is no motivation to work, earn, save and achieve, and if you can get what you want by stealing (and not get caught) there is even less motivation to work! Even better, if society provides for all your wants with grants, benefits etc. then there is even less motivation to work. Why bother to respect others if they can be sponged off?

Respect for others needs to be inculcated in children from a very early age. Parents have a vital role to play in this.

UNEMPLOYMENT

The old saying “The Devil finds work for idle hands to do” is as true today as when it was first coined. Unemployed young persons can be found hanging around the streets, shopping centres etc. and it is not long before they are becoming a nuisance. Criminal damage and shoplifting can ensue.

We have bred a society of young people who lack the will to work. They are content to live off benefits and grants. It should be made a first prerequisite that all those unemployed people who are on benefits and grants should have to “earn” them. Nobody should be able to spend weeks lounging around living off the handouts of the state.

LIBERAL MINDEDNESS BY CERTAIN MEMBERS OF SOCIETY & THE OVER EMPHASIS ON THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN

How often do the best intentioned people cause problems by their tunnel vision and liberal mindedness? How many problems are caused by children who if checked will turn round and in no uncertain terms trot out their “rights.” Isn’t it time that these little monsters were taught that with “rights” come responsibilities?

LACK OF SUITABLE PUNISHMENT

Raise a finger to a disobedient child and you are likely to find yourself carted off to the nearest police station and charged with some offence or other that has come on to the statute books because of some liberal minded individuals.

Try the same thing with a teenager and if you are lucky enough not to get stabbed, you can expect to be at least charged with assault. What has happened to the rights of the responsible adults in our society???

BROKEN HOMES/SINGLE PARENTS

At long last I am beginning to see the rumblings of people who genuinely believe (and will state publicly) that children brought up in one parent families or broken homes are far more likely to become problem children, and eventually problem parents.

I am an organist, and play for something like 30 – 40 weddings each year. Regularly 5 or 6 of these weddings do not take place because the couples have “fallen out” between fixing up their wedding date and the actual wedding itself. It is better for this to happen, than for children to be involved and then a marriage break up.

LACK OF PARENTAL SKILLS/DISCIPLINE IN THE HOME/MORAL FIBRE.

So many children today are brought up in a home where parental skills are sadly lacking. To give you just a simple example, I know of children arriving at school who have not been taught to use a knife and fork when eating. These self same children lack social skills – the ability to share with others is often lacking.

Discipline in the home is often a case of sit down! - shut up! No explanation of the whys and wherefores. No teaching of right and wrong.

Is there any wonder we are breeding such a race of ill mannered, violent and rebellious children and young persons?

Just as an example of how far the average law abiding citizen has been placed at a disadvantage when facing an intruder, you may wish to read the following, which I came across on the BBC Internet news this evening

TV presenter Myleene Klass has said she has "no regrets" after being warned by police for waving a knife at youths who entered her back garden.
The former pop star was in the kitchen when she spotted the teenagers and grabbed a knife and banged the windows in an effort to get them to leave.
She says Hertfordshire Police officers told her that brandishing an "offensive weapon" was illegal.

But a police spokeswoman said that "at no point" were any warnings given.

The 31-year-old was at her Potters Bar home on Friday with her daughter upstairs when she spotted the youths peering into the house.

Klass said: "It was a scary incident but I've got no regrets as to how I reacted. I think I did what any other mother would do.
"This is my house and that's my daughter up there and I will do anything to protect my daughter and my family. That's what I did."

The star was speaking at the launch of new ITV1 series Popstar To Operastar - which features former chart stars as they try to make it as classical singers.

Klass's spokesman, Jonathan Shalit, told the Sunday Telegraph the singer had been "utterly terrified" and was stepping up security at her home.
"Myleene was aghast when she was told that the law did not allow her to defend herself at home," he said.
"All she did was scream loudly and wave the knife to try and frighten them off.
"She is not looking to be a vigilante, and has the utmost respect for the law, but when the police explained to her that even if you're at home alone and you have an intruder, you are not allowed to protect yourself, she was bemused."

But a statement from Hertfordshire police said: "Officers spoke to reassure the home owner, talked through security and gave advice in relation to the importance of reporting suspicious activity immediately to allow officers to act appropriately."
It added: "For clarification, at no point were any official warnings or words of advice given to the home owner in relation to the use of a knife or offensive weapon in their home."

Mr Shalit could not immediately be reached for further comment.

Klass's fiance Graham Quinn was away on business at the time of the scare, but the couple's daughter was upstairs at the time the intruders were spotted.

Law and Disorder Where Our Younger Generation is Concerned

I’ve just been reading the Yorkshire Post and the headline splashed across the front page is “The Lawless Generation”.

In the Yorkshire/Humberside region alone 3,400 crimes were committed in 2008 by serial young offenders, including 1,581 crimes committed in Yorkshire alone. (A persistent young offender is defined by the Government as a young person aged 10 to 17 guilty of an offence on three or more separate occasions)

Just to give you a few stark figures, have a look at the tables below:



Number of persistent young offenders/Number of offences committed
Humberside 365 / 669
North Yorkshire 250 / 492
South Yorkshire 388 / 688
West Yorkshire 875 / 1,581

If in the region of Yorkshire/Humberside there are 1,800 repeat persistent young offenders surely this tells us that there is something drastically wrong with our penal system. It is simply not working for young offenders.


First Time Offenders 2008 - 2009

Leeds 1,186
Sheffield 860
North Yorkshire 785
Bradford 720
Kirklees 584
Doncaster 541
Wakefield 532
Hull 514
East Riding 492
Barnsley 471
Rotherham 394
York 292
North East Lincolnshire 266
Calderdale 262
North Lincolnshire 248



There were 8,147 first time offenders in our region according to the latest available figures (for 2008 – 2009). This begs the question why?


Some of the reasons cited for these shocking figures include broken homes, an over emphasis on children’s rights, a decline in moral standards, and a raft of Government initiatives which have completely failed to tackle the problems.


Pre Teen Crime 1997 – 2007

Number of defendants aged 10 – 17 convicted of each type of crime between 1997 & 2007


1997 / 2007 % change
Drug Offences 2 / 22 Up 1000%
Criminal Damage 101 / 226 Up 124%
Robbery 68 / 141 Up 107%
Violence against the person 73 / 142 Up 95%
Motoring Offences 39 / 66 Up 69%
Sexual Offences 16 / 26 Up 63%

Over a ten year period it is obvious that the number of crimes committed by 10 – 17 years olds has grown at a frightening rate. The two main areas for concern are crimes involving drugs which have grown by a horrifying 1000% and crimes involving violence – up by 95% - and remember these are crimes committed by young people between the ages of 10 – 17.


Assaults in Schools 2006 - 2009

Permanent Exclusion / Fixed Term Exclusion
Bradford 31 / 2,291
East Riding 17 / 2,096
Hull 72 / 1,551
Kirklees 58 / 2,438
Leeds 75 / 3,981
North Yorks 64 / 2,489
Rotherham 27 / 2,203
Sheffield 43 / 301
Wakefield 52 / 2,142
York 17 / 837


In the last three years it has been deemed necessary to permanently exclude 417 children from school, and to give fixed term exclusions to 23,329 children. What is the matter with our children today? Why are they rebelling against authority?

Sometime ago I was compiling a blog and I quoted from Keith Halliwell, known as Robocop for his no nonsense attitude to criminals and offenders, and he commented on the lines that this country was heading for a breakdown in law and order. I fear that as far as our younger generation (not all of them!) are concerned we have reached that stage already.

Winter Weather

The cold and snowy weather continues to assail us, but what else should we be expecting at this time of year, after all we are in the season of winter!

We ought to be grateful to all those people who have to struggle through the inclement weather. People like the gritter lorry drivers, who are probably the first people out on the snow and ice covered roads, the post man, who delivers the mail each day, the milkman, who always manages to get our milk on the doorstep before breakfast time, the paper girls/boys who push the papers through our letter boxes and the men and women who serve in the emergency services.

The ambulance drivers and crew must have a heavy demand on their services at this time of year, when there is ice and snow lying underfoot. It’s not only the drivers involved in accidents, but also the pedestrians who slip and fall who require their services.

Then there are the lorry drivers, bus drivers, the bin men and a host of other people, who we tend to take for granted.

It’s at times like this that we begin to appreciate the services of those we often take for granted.

Pity the poor old birds!

A Romp Up The Fields

Hi there all my good friends – It’s Ruby here again!

Me in the snow at the top of the field

Yesterday I went round into the fields with “him who feeds me” and you’ll never guess what I came across – nothing less than a six foot high snow cat! I really thought I was seeing things, and then I saw two men and a little boy and they had made the cat. They were taking pictures of the little boy sitting between the snow cats paws, and I managed to get on the odd shot too!

We had a phone call from Hannah, and she told us that I feature on a photo of the snow cat on Facebook! Wow! Fame at last!

This morning I’ve been out in the snow and we went right up the field and on our usual walk. I enjoyed romping and rolling in the snow and came back home with more snow on the end of my nose than the local snow plough. It was quite deep up the field and when I was sniffing in the snow my eyes disappeared into the snow!

The snow cat was still there this morning.




I'm now on the lookout for someone to take me sledging

Twelfth Night - Nothing To Do With Shakespeare!

I wonder how many people on your road have already taken their Christmas decorations down.

Many people seem to celebrate Christmas & Boxing Day, then any time after this the decorations are taken down, packed in boxes, put back into the loft and stowed away again until next year! This is rather sad, because they are missing a large part of the Christmas celebrations.

Twelfth Day is the last day of Christmas, so the season of Christmas doesn’t officially end until Twelfth Night, which is the sixth of January (Twelve days after Christmas).

Those of you who can remember the Christmas story will recall that the Wise Men set off from the east to follow a star, and as they didn’t have Sat Nav they had to make do with Star Nav, which is a bit less accurate! Due to this, and not knowing exactly where they were heading they had to stop off and make enquiries, and quite reasonably they thought the best place to look for a King would be in a palace, so they tried the one where King Herod lived.

King Herod had not had an heir born and had to ask his own astrologers, and they put their heads together and consulted their star tables (or scrolls) and came up with the answer that the most likely place to look for this new born King would be Bethlehem, so the Wise Men travelled on still following the star, until it came to rest over a stable at the back of an inn, and there they found the new born baby lying in a manger.

Twelfth Night is the end of the season of Christmas, and the start of the season of the Epiphany – when we remember the Wise Men arriving at the stable in Bethlehem.

The Twelve days of Christmas (sounds like a title of a song) used to all be a time of partying and celebration. There was feasting, singing, dancing, game playing and lots of other activities. There even used to be a Twelfth Night cake, but that has been superseded by Christmas cake nowadays

Twelfth Night Cake

Food and drink is the centre of the celebrations in modern times, and all of the most traditional ones go back many centuries. The punch called wassail is consumed especially on Twelfth Night, but throughout Christmas time, especially in the UK.

Around the world, special pastries, such as the tortell and king cake are baked on Twelfth Night, and eaten the following day for the Feast of the Epiphany celebrations.

In English and French custom, the Twelfth Night Cake was baked to contain a bean and a pea, so that those who received the slices containing them should be designated king and queen of the night's festivities.

In colonial America, a Christmas wreath was always left up on the front door of each home, and when taken down at the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, any edible portions would be consumed with the other foods of the feast. The same held true in the 1800s - 1900s with fruits adorning Christmas trees. Fresh fruits were hard to come by, and were therefore considered fine and proper gifts and decorations for the tree, wreaths, and home. Again, the tree would be taken down on Twelfth Night, and such fruits, along with nuts and other local produce used, would then be consumed.

In the eastern Alps, a tradition called Berchtenlaufen exists. Two to three hundred masked young men rush about the streets with whips and bells driving out evil spirits. In Nuremberg until 1616, children frightened spirits away by running through the streets and knocking loudly at doors.

In some countries, and in the Catholic religion worldwide, the Twelfth Night and Epiphany marks the start of the Carnival season, which lasts all the way through to Mardi Gras Day.

Snowy Scenes In And Around Cottingley

When I took Dot to work this morning I remembered to put my camera in my pocket. Some of the results are below. The trees are in the grounds of Cottingley Hall.

Cottingley Hall



The approach to Cottingley (B 6144)

The corner of Beckfield Road

In our garden - What a Hair Style!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow - And It Did!

Yesterday the local weather forecast for the Bradford area was a heavy snowfall, due to commence about 06.00, and, amazingly, for once, they just about got it right!

I was awakened by Ruby barking at about 07.30 (I think it was probably the milkman delivering the milk!) so I had a peep out of the curtains. Sure enough we had had a fall of about 4 inches of snow. As it was more or less undisturbed I decided I would take a few photos (from the relative warmth of our bedroom!)

07.30 This Morning


07.30 This Morning

Snow on the telephone wires

The Back Garden

Front Garden

08.45 This Morning

08.45 This Morning

View up the Fields 08.45

It’s quite amazing how once the snow has fallen; everything seems to be shrouded in silence. It’s probably just that the snow absorbs a lot of the ambient sound, but the fall of the snow and the silence brings with it a wonderful soporific feeling.

I presume that the local school was closed this morning as I didn’t see (or hear) any schoolchildren, which I usually do from about 07.45 onwards.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Forecasters say there will be no let up in the wintry weather affecting the UK, with more snow and sub-zero temperatures likely in the coming week.

Met Office warnings are in place for widespread ice across many regions.

More snow is also set to spread across the UK and BBC forecaster Peter Gibbs said few, if any, areas would escape.

He also said he could see no end to the freezing conditions for at least a week.

"It's going to stay cold and perhaps get even colder in parts," he said. "There probably won't be many places that don't see some snow by the end of the week"

At the moment, the whole of northern Britain is really plastered in snow and temperatures fell to -12C overnight in the Highlands, -11C in parts of Wales.

"It's also going to be extremely icy on Tuesday morning for many of us, so really very difficult conditions for drivers and the authorities to cope with."

He added: "We can see no let up. By the weekend we're going to start seeing a very cold easterly wind feeding in direct from Siberia."

Met Office advisory warnings of possible heavy snow are in place for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in northern and eastern England and Scotland.

The Petty Squabbling Begins

We are only into day four of the New Year, and already the Conservative and Labour parties are starting to square up to each other. It just seems rather petty that, as usual, the slanging matches and innuendo will grow as we get nearer to the General Election.

According to a speech by Chancellor Alistair Darling the Tories have made over £45bn of promises, but can barely explain how they can pay for a quarter of this. This leaves them with a credibility gap of £34bn.




"These are not long forgotten promises from another time. All have been confirmed in the last two years. Most have been repeated in the last few months.

"You can't fight an election on a nod and a wink; sometimes claiming you are committed to these promises, and when challenged claiming you are not."

Mr Cameron said this was "junk", and that Mr Darling's comments were not based on actual promises made by his party.

Wouldn’t it just be wonderful if these people got around a table and tried to solve the many problems their parties have created?

The Secret Garden

Today Nana has taken Olivia, Mollie and Tom to see the stage version of The Secret Garden which is being performed in the Quarry Theatre at the West Yorkshire Playhouse (Leeds)

The Secret Garden was written by Frances Hodgson Burnett.



The story of the Secret Garden:

Mary Lennox is a sickly, sour-faced little girl born in India to wealthy British parents who have very little interest in her, leaving her in the care of an ayah from birth. Orphaned by an outbreak of cholera, she is sent back to England to the legal guardianship of her only remaining relative: her uncle, Archibald Craven, a reclusive widower.

Craven is still mourning his wife, Lilias, who died ten years earlier. To escape his sad memories, he constantly travels abroad, leaving Mary and the manor under the supervision of his housekeeper, Mrs. Medlock. The only person who has any time for the little girl is the chambermaid Martha Sowerby, who tells Mary about a walled garden that was the late Mrs. Craven's favorite place. No one has entered the garden since she died because Archibald locked its entrance and buried the key in an unknown location.

Mary finds the key to the secret garden and a robin shows her where the door is hidden beneath overgrown ivy. Once inside, she discovers that although the roses seem lifeless, some of the other flowers have survived. She resolves to tend the garden herself. Although she wants to keep it a secret, she recruits Martha's brother Dickon, who has a way with plants and wild animals. Mary gives him money to buy gardening implements and he shows her that the roses, though neglected, are not dead.

When Mary's uncle briefly meets with her for the first time since her arrival, Mary asks him for permission to claim her own garden from any abandoned part of the grounds, and he acquiesces. Thanks to her new-found interests and activities, Mary herself begins to blossom, losing her sickly look and unpleasant manner.

On several occasions, Mary hears someone weeping in another part of the house. When she asks questions, the servants become evasive. They tell her that she is hearing things, or they blame the sound on ordinary sources such as the wind, or a servant with a toothache.

Shortly after her uncle's visit, she goes exploring and discovers her uncle's son, Colin, a lonely, bedridden boy as petulant and disagreeable as Mary used to be. His father shuns him because the child closely resembles his mother. Mr. Craven is a mild hunchback, and both he and Colin are morbidly convinced that the boy will develop the same condition. The servants have been keeping Mary and Colin a secret from one another because Colin doesn't like strangers staring at him and is prone to terrible tantrums.

Colin accepts Mary and insists on her visiting him often, but as spring approaches, Colin becomes jealous that Mary is spending more time out in the garden with Dickon. One day, Colin threatens to ban Dickon from the grounds, but Mary matches his bad temper and storms out without an apology. That evening, Colin escalates into a hysterical tantrum, convinced that he is becoming hunchbacked and is going to die; Mary shocks him out of his hysteria by screaming back at him. She also demands to see his back, and points out that the lumps behind his neck are simply the outlines of normal vertebrae like her own. Reassured, Colin agrees to let her bring Dickon to visit him inside his room, and they become friends.

They bring Colin outside in a wheelchair so he can see his mother's garden. Delighted, he visits it with Mary and Dickon whenever the weather allows, ordering everyone else to stay away on those occasions. Despite these orders, the children are discovered by the old gardener Ben Weatherstaff, who tried to maintain the roses after Lilias' death by surreptitiously scaling the wall once or twice a year. Ben is angry with them at first, but agrees to share and keep their secret.

As the garden revives and flourishes, so does Colin. He resolves to walk and run like a normal boy by the next time his father returns home; to accomplish these aims, he carries out a program of simple physical exercises and positive thinking. He makes great progress, but they conceal it from the rest of the household with the pretense that he is still an invalid.

Mr. Craven is traveling through Europe, but is inspired to rush home after hearing the voice of his dead wife in a dream and receiving a letter from Mrs. Sowerby (Martha's and Dickon's mother, who also knows the secret) telling him, "I think your lady would ask you to come if she was here."

He arrives while the children are outdoors and finds himself drawn toward the secret garden. As he approaches nearer, he is astonished to hear their voices inside the walls; Colin bursts out of the garden door toward him, actually winning a footrace against Mary and Dickon. They take Mr. Craven into the secret garden to tell him everything. When they return to the house, the servants are astonished to see two miracles: Colin walking and his father looking happy again.




A real "feelgood" story for Christmastime!

Welcome 2010

Well here we all are in 2010.

I wonder how many of you have made New Year Resolutions, and more to the point how many of you have already broken them!

I haven't made any New Year Resolutions myself - so there is little chance of me breaking any! I have, however, decided to be a bit more organised right from the word "go!" and spent most of this morning sorting out all the dates to go in the 2010 diary and desk diary and also put them on the computer calendar.

It's amazing how much needs to go into the diaries and on to the computer. I've already entered 32 wedding details which have been booked for 2010, into the two diaries and on to the computer. The details include date and time of the wedding. Names of the couple who are to be married. Telephone contact numbers. The vicar officiating (important, as I can have any one of six different vicars to take a wedding due to the fact that All Saints is the head of the Bingley cluster and they are

The Revd Gary Hodgson
The Revd Helen Hodgson based at St Michael & All Angels, Cottingley

The Revd Derek Jackson
The Revd Joan Jackson based at All Saints Bingley and also attached to St Lawrence Eldwick

The Revd Andrew Clark based at Holy Trinity Bingley and also attached to St Wilfrid's Gilstead and St Aidan's Crossflats, and

The Revd Chris Low (living in Eldwick) with responsibility for mission and outreach within the cluster.

More weddings will doubtless appear during the course of 2010, and there will be the regular addition of funerals too.

Plus talks on "My Kind of Music", booked for April, July and December, as well as all the regular events:

Eldwick & Gilstead Male Voice Choir Practices (concert already booked for December!)
Piano playing at Crossflatts Primary School
Day Voluntary at Skipton Tourist Information Centre
Church Choir Practices


I've printed off four copies of the years wedding bookings, so there is a copy in my office, a copy in my music briefcase, a copy on the organ and a copy in the back of the kitchen desk diary!

I've also removed all the old diaries and calendars, printed off a list of all the hymns copied for weddings during 2009 - a list of these has to be submitted to the CCL (Church Copyright Licencing Authorities) each year, cleared our home noticeboards of last years debris, and emptied out all the Christmas present wrapping paper etc. into the bins for recycling. I've just about finished cataloguing all the DVD's and CD's and books I've got over the Christmas period, and by tomorrow everything should be shipshape and "Bristol Fashion"

I can now find the computer keybord without having to move piles of correspondence!

Who knows? By tomorrow I may be able to swing the proverbial cat around the office!

Hogmanay, New Year and Customs

You may well be wondering why a picture of a Kashmiri Cuisine Restaurant is on the top of this article! Read on to find out more.....

Well, we're almost at the start of another year. It is Old Years Eve tonight. and the New Year commences at a millisecond after midnight!

The Scots will no doubt be out in force, celebrating what they call Hogmanay. There will no doubt be the tradition of "first footing" taking place, and much whisky consumed!

New Years Day hasn’t always been the first of January.

Thousands of years ago, the Ancient Egyptian New Year was in the middle of June, when the River Nile overflowed its banks. Even today, the New Year of the Jews and Hindus is not when we celebrate it. Even in Christian countries New Year has been celebrated on many different occasions.

In 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII caused the making of the calendar which we use today, January 1st was made New Years Day, because it had been so in Ancient Rome.In Ancient Rome this day was given over to the worship of the god Janus – from which we get the name of the month January

In Roman mythology, Janus (or Ianus) was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings. His most prominent remnant in modern culture is his namesake, the month of January, which begins the New Year. Janus was usually depicted with two heads facing in opposite directions. According to a legend, he had received these from the god Saturn, in reward for the hospitality received, and the gift to see both future and past.

So one of his heads is looking backwards into the Old Year, and the other is looking forwards into the New Year.

It is traditional at this time of year to look back over the last year and then make New Year Resolutions.

The Bentley's and the Butlers will be celebrating the New Year in a rather different fashion to the Scots! We will be dining at the local Kashmiri & Indian Restaurant - the Aagrah, in Shipley. This is something we have done over the last two or three years, and has now become something of a tradition!

STOP PRESS NEWS.......

A Royal Accolade

Mohammed Aslam, Managing Director and Executive Chef of the Bradford based Aagrah Group of Restaurants, has been honoured with an MBE in recognition for his services to the hospitality industry in the Queen’s New Year’s honours list.

May you have a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

A Relaxing & Enjoyable Break At Masham

We have just returned from an interesting and totally relaxing three days up in North Yorkshire – The King’s Head Hotel in Masham to be exact. We arrived there on Monday late afternoon into a market place that was covered with ice and snow!
After a relaxing two hours snooze in our bedroom, we made our way to the hotel restaurant for a superb meal.

I was so relaxed that I asked the proprietors wife to choose my main course for me from either the Black Sheep Ale Pie or the Chicago Chicken. She chose the Black sheep Ale Pie, which was superb, so the following evening I chose the Chicago Chicken, which was again superb! For starters on the Monday I had home made Carrot and Coriander soup, and the sweet I chose was School Strawberry Sponge and custard.

The Dining Room was fully decorated to suit the Christmas spirit, and there were even crackers on the table on Monday evening.

Afterwards we went for a walk around the market square, which looked delightful with its decorations.

Tuesday morning found us at Leyburn Railway Station, waiting for the local Wensleydale Railway

(A Diesel Multiple Unit complete with festive decorations, and mulled wine and mince pies en route!) The journey consists of a 34 mile round trip between Redmire and Leeming Bar. The scenery along the route was made all the more interesting by the fact that a fair amount of snow had fallen in the previous two days.

It was interesting to see that as we approached some of the level crossings (as at Wensley) the train slowed to a halt, and one of the crew descended to the tracks and walked forward to open the level crossing gates. The train then pulled through the level crossing; the crewman closed the gate, and climbed back on board the train.

Sign at Wensley Level Crossing

We then spent sometime in Leyburn, before returning to Masham for another splendid evening meal!
On Wednesday morning we did some shopping in the local shops (freshly baked bread and bread baps, fruit etc) and then we decided to go for a run on a little country road past Swinton Park Hotel

and then on to Fearby and Ellingstring, and came across a little ford over the road.

We eventually reached Middleham (famed as a centre for race horses) and, whilst we were having coffee and scones in a café I counted over one hundred race horses passing the window!

We drove on to Bedale, and then back to Masham to collect some old fashioned sweets from a wonderful shop called Joneva in the market square. The shop stocks all the old favourites you will remember from your childhood – midget gems, black jacks, and a hundred and one other varieties of sweets, as well as home made fudge with (would you believe it?) Black Sheep Ale Flavour, and Old Peculier Flavour!

We returned via Ripon and spent about 35 – 40 minutes looking in the shops in the Market Square there before returning home.

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" Song - The Religious Significance

Mention of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas", and the parody version "The Twelve Gifts of Christmas" reminded me of another piece about the song. Did you know that it was used to teach Roman Catholic children the basics of their faith, when their religion was banned in this country.

Below is the explanation of their interpretation of the song:



The term “calling birds” in the carol is a derivation from the original “colly” or “collie” bird. “Colly” means “black” and comes from the word coal. Hence the four colly birds in the carol refer to blackbirds.

However the carol has a hidden meaning. During the C16th the Catholics were not allowed to practice their faith. In order to teach their children the basic doctrines, they made up nonsense songs in order not to arouse the suspicions of those non Catholics around them.



1. A partridge in a pear tree - Jesus on the Cross

2. Two turtle doves - the Old and the New testaments, which are essential to each other.
“New is in Old contained,
Old is in New explained”

3. Three French hens - were expensive in the 1500’s and so symbolised the three gifts brought by the Three Wise Men. They could also depict the three virtues - Faith, Hope and Charity.

4. Four calling birds - the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

5. Five gold rings - the first five books of the Old Testament - The Pentateuch.

6. Six geese a-laying - refers to the six days of Creation (Genesis)

7. Seven swans a-swimming - the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (see Romans 12 vss 6 - 8)

8. Eight maids a-milking - these refer to the eight blessings listed in Matthew 5 vss 3 - 10,
known as the beatitudes [Blessed are the poor....]

9. Nine ladies dancing - the nine fruits of the spirit (Galations 5 vss 22 - 23) Love, Joy, Peace &c.

10. Ten Lords a-leaping - the Ten Commandments. We seem to have lost the vision of these today. They are the basis of living in relationship with God and each other.

11. Eleven pipers piping - the eleven faithful apostles [less Judas the betrayer]

12. Twelve drummers drumming - The Apostles Creed [I believe in God the Father, maker of Heaven and Earth.....]

The Twelve Gifts of Christmas

We've all heard of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas", but have you seen the letters that were exchanged between the recipient of the gifts and the giver?



December 25th
Dearest John: I went to the door today and the postman delivered a partridge in a pear tree. What a delightful gift. I couldn't have been more surprised.
With dearest love and affection, Agnes

December 26th
Dearest John: Today the postman brought your very sweet gift. Just imagine, two turtle doves.... I'm just delighted at your very thoughtful gift. They are just adorable.
All my love, Agnes

December 27th
Dear John: Oh, aren't you the extravagant one! Now I must protest. I don't deserve such generosity. Three French hens. They are just darling but I must insist...you're just too kind.
Love Agnes

December 28th
Today the postman delivered four calling birds. Now really! They are beautiful, but don't you think enough is enough? You're being too romantic.
Affectionately, Agnes

December 29th
Dearest John: What a surprise! Today the postman delivered five golden rings. One for each finger. You're just impossible, but I love it. Frankly, John, all those squawking birds were beginning to get on my nerves.
All my love, Agnes

December 30th
Dear John: When I opened the door there were actually six geese a-laying on my front steps. So you're back to the birds again, huh? Those geese are huge. Where will I ever keep them? The neighbors are complaining and I can't sleep through the racket. PLEASE STOP!
Cordially, Agnes

December 31st
John: What's with you and those darn birds???? Seven swans a-swimming. What kind of @#% joke is this? There's bird crap all over the house and they never stop the racket. I'm a nervous wreck and I can't sleep all night. IT'S NOT FUNNY....... So stop with those f$&*#@% birds.
Sincerely, Agnes

January 1st
OK Buster: I think I prefer the birds. What am I going to do with eight maids a-milking? It's not enough with all those birds and eight maids a-milking, but they had to bring their own cows. There is manure all over the lawn and I can't move into my own house. Just lay off me. SMART ASS.
Ag

January 2nd
Hey Moron: What are you? Some kind of sadist? Now there's nine pipers playing. And boy - do they play. They never stopped chasing those maids since they got here yesterday morning. The cows are upset are stepping all over those screeching birds. No wonder they screech. What am I going to do? The neighbors have started a petition to evict me. You'll get yours.
From Ag

January 3rd You Rotten SOB: Now there's ten ladies dancing - I don't know why I call those sluts ladies. They've been with those nine pipers all night long. Now the cows can't sleep and they've got diarrhea. My living room is a river of crap. The commissioner of buildings has subpoenaed me to give cause why the building shouldn't be condemned. I'm sticking the police on you.
One who means it,

January 4th Listen F#@%head: What's with the eleven lords a-leaping on those maids and aforementioned "ladies"? Some of those broads will never walk again. Those pipers ran through the maids and there have been illegal acts with the cows. All 234 of the birds are dead. They have been trampled to death in the orgy. I hope you're satisfied, you rotten swine.
Your sworn enemy, Miss Agnes McCallister


January 5th From the law offices Taeker, Spredar, and Baegar

Dear Sir: This is to acknowledge your latest gift of tweleve fiddlers fiddling, which you have seen fit to inflict on our client, Miss Agnes McCallister. The destruction, of course, was total. All correspondence should come to our attention. If you should attempt to reach Miss McCallister at Happy Dale Sanitarium, the attendants have instructions to shoot you on sight. With this letter, please find attached a warrant for your arrest.

So now you know!

New Year & The Roman God Janus

It’s only five more days to New Years Day, and mention of New Year, and Hogmanay yesterday reminded me of the story of the Roman God Janus, – but let’s back track a little first!

New Years Day hasn’t always been the first of January. Thousands of years ago, the Ancient Egyptian New Year was in the middle of June, when the River Nile overflowed its banks. Even today, the New Year of the Jews and Hindus is not when we celebrate it. Even in Christian countries New Year has been celebrated on many different occasions.

In 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII caused the making of the calendar which we use today, January 1st was made New Years Day, because it had been so in Ancient Rome.

In Ancient Rome this day was given over to the worship of the god Janus – from which we get the name of the month January

In Roman mythology, Janus (or Ianus) was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings. His most prominent remnant in modern culture is his namesake, the month of January, which begins the New Year. Janus was usually depicted with two heads facing in opposite directions. According to a legend, he had received these from the god Saturn, in reward for the hospitality received, and the gift to see both future and past. So one of his heads is looking backwards into the Old Year, and the other is looking forwards into the New Year.

It is traditional at this time of year to look back over the last year and then make New Year Resolutions.

Masham - North Yorkshire

We are planning on heading up to Masham for three days. Masham has a large market square.

We will be staying at the King’s Head Hotel, which is in the market square. The King’s Head Hotel is a fine Georgian building which dates back to the eighteenth century. In its time it has been a posting house, and an excise office. It looks warm and inviting from the outside, on a cold winters night!

The village of Masham itself was established in Saxon times. There is an air of old England about the town, with its quaint almshouses and spacious market place which holds a traditional market twice a week.

Masham Church is mentioned in the Domesday Book, and a round pillar in the churchyard, with figures representing Jesus and the Twelve Disciples is believed to be part of a cross carved over one thousand years ago!

There are amazingly not one, but two breweries in the town – Theakston’s and the Black Sheep Brewery. Theakston’s Brewery is home to the famous ale known as “Old Peculier”

The name is from the chairman of a special court.

In olden days, the journey from York to Masham was both arduous and dangerous, so the Archbishop of York established the Peculier Court of Masham to avoid having to make regular visits (peculier is a Norman word meaning particular).The chairman of this court is known as the Official and he has a special seal to mark his approval or decision.

The Court has a great deal of local power and the following are some of the offences dealt with in the past:

Not coming to church enough

Keeping a hat on during communion

For bidding the church wardens to do their worst

Not bringing children to be baptised

Husband and wife living apart
Drunkenness
Swearing

Brawling and scolding

For harbouring Roman Catholic Priests

For carrying a dead man’s skull out of the churchyard and laying it under the head of a person to charm them to sleep!

It sounds as though Masham was a bit of a wild place in days gone by!

It's Not Every Day That You Have a Portrait Session

Hi there! It’s Ruby here again.

I just thought that you’d like to know that I have had my first set of portraits taken by a professional photographer. Matthew has been working professionally for about fifteen years, and he used to live next door to us, (so they tell me) before I arrived on the scene. He spent ages with me, making sure he took me from my best side. He brought lots of equipment – photofloods, background white paper roll, cameras and tripods, and he took lots of photos of me.

What I didn’t know was that one of them was going to be mounted in a frame and given to him ‘n’ her for a Christmas present.

He tends to specialise in human portraits and wedding photography, but made an exception for me!

The first one is the one that was chosen to be framed.

I was so pleased with his work that I promised him I'd let him have a bit of free publicity on the bosses website!

Why not put Matt Leach Wedding Photography into your search engine and have a look at some of his work?

But do remember that he specialises in Wedding Photography and portraits. He did me as a special favour!!!

PS I expect those cat friends of mine (Milo and Wilson, and Tillie and Socks) will be going for their portraits next!

Hogmanay

It’s now only 6 days to The New Year, or the celebration the Scots call Hogmanay. To most Scots this is a good excuse for a "good old knees up!" It's basically their way of seeing in the New Year.

The roots of Hogmanay perhaps reach back to the celebration of the winter solstice among the Norse, as well as incorporating customs from the Gaelic New Year's celebration of Samhain. In Rome, winter solstice evolved into the ancient celebration of Saturnalia, a great winter festival, where people celebrated completely free of restraint and inhibition. The Vikings celebrated Yule, which later contributed to the Twelve Days of Christmas, or the "Daft Days" as they were sometimes called in Scotland. The winter festival went underground with the Protestant Reformation and ensuing years, but re-emerged near the end of the 17th century.

There are many customs, both national and local, associated with Hogmanay. The most widespread national custom is the practice of 'first-footing' which starts immediately after midnight. This involves being the first person to cross the threshold of a friend or neighbour and often involves the giving of symbolic gifts such as salt (less common today), coal, shortbread, whisky, and black bun (a rich fruit cake) intended to bring different kinds of luck to the householder. Food and drink (as the gifts) are then given to the guests. This may go on throughout the early hours of the morning and well into the next day (although modern days see people visiting houses until 3 January). The first-foot is supposed to set the luck for the rest of the year.

The Hogmanay custom of singing "Auld Lang Syne" has become common in many countries. "Auld Lang Syne" is a traditional poem reinterpreted by Robert Burns, which was later set to music. It is now common for this to be sung in a circle of linked arms that are crossed over one another as the clock strikes midnight for New Year's Day, although in Scotland the traditional practice is to cross arms only for the last verse.

So for December 31st 2009/January 1st 2010 "Happy Hogmanay!"