Staffordshire Regiment Christmas Fair

At Frances’s suggestion we went with her, Alice and Ben to the Staffordshire Regiment’s Christmas event. I’m not sure what they called it. The event was held at the regimental museum at Whittington on the A51 between Lichfield and Tamworth.

Unfortunately it was a bitterly cold day with a stiff breeze so the interesting outdoor events required a stoicism we found hard.

The museum has a section of WW1 trenches, very much sanitised, but even so giving a flavour of what the front line soldiers endured. Quite by chance I joined a tour with Ben. I’m not too sure what he made of it although as he was shivering with cold at the end that was probably his main memory. As well as the British trenches there is a small demonstration of a German one. As the Germans were defending territory seized in France after their initial attack they built more permanent concrete pillboxes. In contrast the British trenches were more temporary.

In a small area the  museum has recreated various features of the trenches such as an officers dugout. We entered ( glad to be out of the weather ) and found various re-enactors having a drink of tea. We were treated to a short talk about the typical dugout. I was slightly surprised to find how similar it was to that in “Blackadder goes forth”. We also entered a tunnel leading to a mine. Both sides tried to tunnel underneath the opposition and  blow them up. Although short the tunnel was rather dark and Ben soon wanted to leave. Mining  was used  memorably in Sebastian Faulks “ Birdsong”  (also filmed ) and in a book I recall reading called “Other paths to glory” by Anthony Price. I have read that a series of gigantic mines were blown at Messines with a sound heard in Britain.

They had a re-enactment of the 1914 Christmas truce. The actors were amusingly unsure of their roles.

The fair had a temporary café and we were pleased to buy Ben a hot chocolate to help revive him.

I should have said we started our visit with a sing song led by Andy – rather fierce in his army persona but an excellent instructor with a lot to tell us about the songs of the war. We sang the songs accompanied by an accordion to words on a display. Andy pointed out that these were soldiers songs sung in bars etc. when they were out of the front line. Particularly grim was a song sung by soldiers leaving the line to those marching up to join the trenches. There were quite a few curiosities in the words such as “alleyman” for German taken from the French word “allemand”. We learned that Maconochies was the brand of a popular tinned stew. I had noticed some tins in the dugout.

We spent a bit of time looking at a wartime Christmas meal with all sorts such as mock turkey( or murkey ). Tinned peaches as desert were a treat, something I remember as a boy. As we were doing this we also were visited by a rather good “magician”. Ben was rather bemused I think while I was very impressed.

The museum does have a small display of old armoured vehicles outside where it was far too cold to look around.. We did briefly view some examples of WW11 bomb shelters including two types of Anderson shelter and a brick built shelter.

I came away thinking what an excellent event spoiled by the bitter weather. I suppose we should have been better prepared. On this miserable day we had a late lunch and then sent Frances away back to her home while it was still light.

School Fair

We have made a habit of attending the Kings Norton Primary School Fair. This is for a combination of reasons, Ben and Alice are pupils, Frances is PTA treasurer and Annette uses it as potential selling area for crafts. In truth she sells little but it is a way of supporting the event and the school, to rent a table.

We went over to park by Matt and Frances’s house which is just a short walk from the school. This year I wanted to go to the sub Post Office to post some cards after buying Christmas stamps. The school is just across a very busy road from Kings Norton centre but there is a  light controlled zebra, an irritating delay but a safe crossing.

The Fair is held mainly in the school hall but because it isn’t that large also an adjacent classroom while refreshments are in the dining hall. Reflecting the history of this fairly old school as an amalgamation of separate boys and girls school the dining hall is a long and convoluted walk from the main hall. Even after several visits I find it quite easy to get lost. It always seems strange that the connecting corridor door looks just like a classroom door. It is lit as opposed to the classrooms mainly in darkness which was my main cue- otherwise follow the crowds.

We arrived in plenty of time and Annette set up her wares while I mainly sat and watched proceedings. The Fair is immediately after school at 3.15 which was signalled by Alice arriving and leaving her back pack prior to looking around. We expect a flood of people as school ends and briefly the hall becomes just a seething mass.

Just before this Frances was handing out cash floats. She seemed to be having difficulty so I went to help. She promptly co-opted me to man the book stall. This was almost all books for young children ranging from first picture books through to books for 7 or 8 year olds .I didn’t have to worry about pricing as donations were requested. I have to say it wasn’t popular. In fact the only donation was a generous one from an elderly lady. Seeking to make conversation I said her choice was for a grandchild no doubt. The reply astounded me as it was for a great, great grandchild ( must have been a teenage mum ).

Ben had arrived from his class and was miserable because his mother had no money for him as it was in a bag at the other end of school. I was soon able to rectify that and Ben led me around the other stalls We also went through to the dining hall where he pointed out his classroom on the way. He has a good grasp of £1 and 50p but no real appreciation of change. He surprised a lady on the cakes stall by paying 50p for a slice of chocolate roll insisting that was all he wanted. We sat while he immediately ate it.

The only other thing he eyed was a Lego Batman car kit but a £20 I had to veto it. Generally he wasn’t too interested , we bought a “lucky dip” jar of sweets but his other raffle efforts didn’t yield anything. By this time the crowd was thinning and Frances had time to suggest he visited Santa for a £1. He was rather reluctant but grudgingly held Santa’s hand while she took a photo. His present from Santa was a large book of “dragonology”

There was a room with masses of soft toys but I never worked out what their selling was about. It revolved around naming the soft toy. This room also had several puzzle stalls. As I was confused I don’t know what Ben made of it. As many remained at the end he got several of the remaindered soft toys anyway.

Annette just exactly broke even selling the same value as her donation. I collected a couple of surplus mince pies while we waited to escort Frances home. As she was carrying all the money raised by the fair I was slightly worried about her safety.

We then all had a well earned cup of tea before we drove back about 7pm.

The police officer arrested a man saying he was going to lock him up for the night. The man demanded “What’s the charge”. The officer replied “ No charge sir, all part of the service”

Distance not enchantment

Having been distanced from the UK for 2 weeks I have not been enchanted by my return. It didn’t help that our first day back was in absolutely miserable weather. I am not enjoying these dull, dark days before Christmas. To a very small extent we were kept in touch with a daily summary, Britain today, 4 sides of A4. Almost always it seemed to have a first item something on Theresa May and Brexit.

I was amused to hear from a friend about the new acronym , BOB, bored of Brexit. However I have kept my usual newspapers rather than cancelling. I have also been looking at the internet, although not very intensively. I detect a change of mood. This isn’t large but I think it will accelerate as the difficulties and costs of Brexit become more obvious. The belief in Brexit is slowly crumbling. The move isn’t large at the moment but could become an avalanche if the fanatics force as “no deal” outcome.

On the economic area the glib assertions of the referendum are gradually being hammered by reality. It is a fact becoming more widely realised that trade with the EU is vital. While the May trade deal isn’t very good it is a lot better than nothing. All those assertions about non EU trade deals put forward so confidently by Bexiteers are not looking so wonderful as we have to rely on them. The big US free trade deal has to be suspect as Trump is a protectionist and while he glories in EU bashing this isn’t likely to overcome his general attitude.

All the sneers about “project fear” wheeled out every time someone points out the costs of leaving are wearing very thin. Every serious economic view predicts Britain will be poorer. The “no deal” possibility examined by the Bank of England is truly scary. I worry that fanatical leavers are hoping for that “no deal” situation when they will try to paint the EU as unreasonable for not meeting their demands however incoherent these are.

With all the talk of negotiating again it is a fact that NO serious alternatives are  being agreed among Brexiteers. The Theresa May talk of no deal better than a bad deal now looks pathetic.

At a time when Russia is testing Western Alliance particularly in Ukraine the West has never looked more divided. To their shame some Eastern European countries are flirting with totalitarian government and for example the populist Italian government is looking very weak on sanctions. To pretend that security is not weakened is illustrated by the Galileo satellite navigation project where Britain will be outside the military use. It has been rather pathetic to see the prospect of a “go it alone” alternative which will never happen being touted.

There is little doubt the leavers won the referendum on immigration fears. The fact that skilled immigrants are needed for economic growth and low skilled to do work British people won’t do is becoming acknowledged. The fact that UKIP is now too racist for even Nigel Farage to stomach shows its slide to becoming a BNP Mark 2.

The shambles of the leaving negotiation has diminished the UK in the eyes not only of Europe but the whole world. Having the shambolic Boris Johnson as Foreign Minister didn’t help.

The political situation looks very murky. Tory Brexiteers may try to vote against leaving but also have their cake by supporting the government in a confidence motion. The prospect of a Corbyn government fills one with horror but a Tory split will be an election loser. I fear the Labour remainers who have been very quiet thus far will be gutless on the agreement vote.

It seems amply clear to me that the only solution is another referendum with strict limits on the facts ( no more £350m to the NHS nonsense ). The chicanery among the Leave support has been increasingly exposed.  Britain will need a national government to remain in the EU after the verdict.. A very poor second best is to accept the May deal with all its flaws. I have no doubt Remain will win any second vote. Apart from the slow change in mood demographics will help. Leavers were predominantly elderly with their hazy memories of mythical golden youth; younger people were more realistic.

 As a new Liberal Democrat I feel they deserve a better position in a national government while the Tory’s are done as a party until they purge their nationalistic and blimpish MP’s.

There are some young politicians who could lead us back to sanity. Sadly figures such as David Miliband and Nick Clegg are not likely to be available.

Re-entry

Coming home after 2 two weeks away feels like a fairly abrupt re-entry into our everyday life. In the morning we breakfast , clear our cabin, wait to be called to collect our luggage then home by teatime. A complete change of lifestyle with just the journey to allow readjustment.  The minibus journey back from Southampton was miserable. Rained all the way, A34  blocked by accident so slow queue by alternative route. Our fellow passengers were in Dudley and we arrived just as the schools were turning out which made for mayhem with cars parked everywhere or slowly making their way back. Our driver then did a short fast stint on the M6 toll road and we had a fast journey from Dudley, much quicker than I expected.

We have been on a Saga cruise to the Canaries via Madeira on the way and Portugal on the return. The Portugal stop was by Opporto and we had a port wine bodega tour. We succumbed to buying some port to bring back. I hadn’t realised that so many types existed.

Saga specialise in older folks. I’m now used to all the restrictions of my 76 years. But I was surprised and quite pleased that I was relatively fit. There were many wheelchairs and wheeled walkers around. I reckon I probably ranked about a third of the way up from the least fit.  My big problem apart from lack of stamina is lack of balance. Despite the ship movement I managed OK. Clearly the captain is very aware of the ships motion and he stayed an extra day in Madeira to avoid a high swell. This did mean we missed one island but I for one wasn’t complaining.

It is customary on  cruise ships to provide some entertainment every night. I  mean the major nightly show not the live music at various venues about the ship. The singer I rather disliked feeling his performance was poor and his jokes weak was taken ill losing his voice through laryngitis. I regarded this as a blessing as we had two alternative shows. One was from the resident troupe ( three singers, 4 dancers ) which was in rehearsal for the future and the final one was a triumphant throwing in of everyone available. This included Graham Cole (  Tony Stamp from the Bill ) who proved to be a fine singer and amusing comic. This ended with the entertainments director singing and doing a fine job of engaging the audience.

The entertainments director ( JoBo ) used the rather good idea of seeking jokes from the audience ( written beforehand ) to be read out at her introduction to the show. My joke got a modest laugh ( a bear walks into a pub…) but it was the raunchy ones which went down best.

Lack of balance is one of the residual effects of stroke for me. Over the years I have adjusted a bit and I don’t fall over as much. I have to be careful of rapidly turning. I also need to be careful in restricted spaces as I need to maintain a wide stance. On board a moving ship I’m not at too much of a disadvantage. I’m used to holding on to hand rails. As the Captain kept reminding us, one hand for the ship and one hand for yourself. I found my walking stick no benefit around ship and I just used it ashore.

It is curious what an enclosed life a cruise ship maintains. With meals and activities there is not too much time except for excursions in port. I’m rather surprised to recall the only time I went on the main deck was for the compulsory evacuation drill. Having said that we did have one meal outdoors on the veranda deck and would have taken another except we couldn’t find a free table.

Talking of tables leads naturally onto food. Frankly cruise ships are an invitation to gluttony. As if three full meals a day were not enough there is the option of afternoon tea  and supper while drinks and cake is available all day. The food was good although far too pretentious for my simple tastes. I generally had a roast potato and salmon or chicken for both lunch and dinner. Their was a surprising lack of vegetables and what we had were strange and dressed up in some quite unnecessary way.

I teased about my shipboard joke. Here in full

A smartly dressed bear walks into a pub and in a plummy voice asks for a pint of best bitter. The barman is absolute amazed and just asks the first sum that comes into his head, £25. The bear looks slightly puzzled but pays up.
The next day the same thing occurs and the barman seeking to be consistent charges the same £25.
On the third day the bear again comes in. The barman seeking to start a conversation ventures “ We don’t get many bears in here”
The bear replies “I’m not surprised at these prices”

Recession

While it might seem inopportune to discuss recession all free economies undergo cycles of performance. The reason is perfectly obvious with a little thought. When things are going well incomes rise, spending rises and investment to meet that spending rises and there is a positive feedback loop. On the other hand if incomes fall, spending falls and investment falls and a negative feedback loop is established. The cycle changes direction as spending peaks and the negative loop starts.

This simple argument takes no account of imports and exports. This trade balance is affected by the economic cycle such that a growing economy imports more and vice versa if falling. In practice the trade balance is very much affected by currency levels. A strong ( high) currency generally causes more imports and again vice versa for a weak currency which tends to reduce imports and increase exports.

Generally since WW11 the cycle has operated against a background of overall growth so that a recession is growth below trend and boom time is above trend growth.

Economists talk a lot about productivity, ie, the ability of the same level of effort to produce more. Productivity is usually positive and is commonly thought to be a function of investment such that higher investment improves productivity. A big problem is that productivity growth has fallen recently and nobody is sure why.

The tools to reduce cyclic behaviour are fairly well known since the work of Keynes in the 1930’s. Essentially the counter cyclical behaviour is to maintain spending in a slowing economy. Keynes famously remarked it was worth paying people to dig holes and pay others to fill them in. In fact a big stabilising factor is the welfare system. If workers become unemployed in a downturn then unemployment pay enables them to retain at least some spending. Welfare isn’t just good for a the individual but helps stabilise a cyclic economy.

A larger factor in post war economic management has been interest rates. Essentially lowering interest rates makes investment cheaper helping to maintain it above the level to which  it might otherwise fall.

And it is this latter control mechanism which is a problem at the present. The recession of 2008-9 was severe. Rather than growth rates falling they turned very negative. Central banks responded by reducing interest rates from ( in the UK ) 5% to 0.25%. In principle interest rates can’t become negative otherwise if it costs to have money on deposit then you simply have cash which retains its nominal value. If you have followed the news then you will know that this is grossly oversimplified and small negative interest rates have occurred. To return to the main issue since the 2008-9 recession interest rates have not returned to former levels. In the UK rates are still below 1% and similarly for most nations. This means that if a  recession occurs,  as it is bound to, then interest rates cannot be reduced much if at all.

To try and get around this central banks have resorted to quantitative easing. This is effectively a sort of confidence trick to put more spending into the economy. The central bank declares it has money and it buys corporate bonds with that money. The folk who sell the bonds to the bank then spend that money elsewhere. The con trick works because by convention decently run countries can always raise the money by borrowing or taxation. I say decently run countries where people expect the debt to be repaid. In some countries like Zimbabwe or Venezuela this won’t work because it becomes an obvious sham. Quantitative easing is controversial and it is disputed what real effect it has on the economy.

There are even more outlandish ideas which might be used. One arousing some interest among economists is for “helicopter money”. The idea is that everyone is given money in the expectation they will spend it and keep the economy moving. It’s called helicopter money after the economist who said it would be worthwhile just showering money down from a helicopter.

To conclude- a recession sooner or later is inevitable. The conventional tool of lowering interest rates is unavailable because they are already low. Some unconventional thinking will be necessary. Are politicians up to the task?.

Lawyers are people who can write a ten thousand word document and call it a brief.

Auschwitz

A few years ago we went on a rail tour visiting Poland. I found Poland an interesting place which has a terrible history in the twentieth century. It became almost a cliché for our guide to point out memorials and say how many hundred are remembered who died during the various Russian and German occupations. At the start of WW11 Poland was invaded from the West by Germany and from the East by Russia. Later Poland was part of Russian occupied Eastern Europe. It is distressing to see how Poland is now governed by an illiberal party which although better than communist occupation is destroying the rule of law.

I was rather apprehensive about visiting Auschwitz and would have avoided it if I could easily have done so. However it was part of the tour itinerary so I went along. I need not have worried. It was a beautiful late summers day and the place was crowded. There were many children which was surprising until our guide explained that a visit is a normal part of the school curriculum.

I entered under the notorious “Arbeit macht frei” sign ( work builds freedom) sign over the gate. The site was previously a barracks and many of the buildings were quite attractive two storey brick. We passed through the reclamation area where prisoners  belongings were kept. We were allowed a few minutes to see the pitiful piles of artificial limbs and human hair after the prisoners were given shaved heads.  Then in single file slowly through dungeons where selected prisoners were incarcerated and tortured. A special cell has a memorial to a priest who volunteered to take the place of another prisoner. He was eventually killed.

We went then went actually through the gas chamber again in single file but the file was continuous and there was no time to linger. Soon it was time to take a short break and then on the coach for Birkenau. This was part of the concentration camp but situated a few miles away. Prisoners who were used as slave labour were separated and lived there. At the camp reception where railway lines ran into the camp victims were sorted where those good for a short period of slave labour were separated from those judged unable to be useful as slaves.

Birkenau was very much my image of a prisoner of war camp with long rows of huts surrounded by barbed wire fences and watch towers. Most of the wooden huts had been demolished with only their foundations remaining. Just a few were kept for exhibition. Conditions would have been almost indescribable cramped into packed bunks with the most primitive toilet facilities.

There is no truth in the myth that no birds sing at the camp. Even though it wasn’t as crowded as the death camp most birds would be scared away by the many people. However the further reaches, and the camp is huge, were relatively quiet.

In many ways the camps though oppressive were less dramatic than the area of Warsaw which was gutted in the Warsaw uprising. The Polish Home army knowing the Soviet forces were near rose up and tried to take Warsaw before the Russians arrived. The Soviet forces deliberately  stopped their advance and the Home army was killed almost to the last man and central Warsaw destroyed. Stalin and Russian communists didn’t want non Soviet military forces post war when they were determined to install a puppet regime. To partly cover their despicable actions the post war communist regime rebuilt the central area. There are memorials now to the Home army but most impressive is a whole museum is devoted to the uprising.

It was a source of pride to note that the British command realised what was happening and tried to resupply the Polish Home army from the air despite the long distance. It must be remembered that this was a guerrilla army completely lacking in heavy weapons and lacking ammunition for the few small arms they had. It was gratifying to see a RAF Halifax had pride of place in the museum. This was brought down while attempting a resupply mission.

We had a very personal account from our guide of life in communist Poland. She told us how excited they were by the visit by Polish Pope Jean-Paul. She was a student at the time and although advised not to attend the mass given by the Pope did so anyway. Because so many went to see the pope there were no reprisals.

Poland is country which, relieved of the communist yoke ,had been doing well but progress is now threatened by “populist” government. The EU is trying to prevent the slide back to a totalitarian state. As is only too typical much is made of the supposed threat of immigration. It is ironic that this succeeds in Poland while the leavers referendum campaign was partly against Polish immigrants to Britain

Paper boy

Between the ages of 12-17 I did a paper round. As my father didn't believe in pocket money this was my source of income. It was a six day a week round but when I started my mother promised that if I was away for any reason on a Saturday she would do it instead. She was as good as her word as I was away occasionally.

I delivered the Birmingham Evening Post. It must have been the first edition as it was delivered by van about 4pm. Always in a tearing hurry the van driver just threw the roll of papers on the grass outside our house. I hadn’t long arrived back from school. Mother and I would sit down and skim through the paper before I set off about 4.30 delivering about 25 papers and taking about a half hour.

I would cycle to the village about a half mile away then going from one end to the other. All the recipients were in the village so I never had to worry about the outlying houses. The biggest problem by far was a shortfall in deliveries. Somehow it happened with distressing frequency that I had one too few. Very rarely was it one too many. Because I didn’t count the papers I wouldn’t realise I was short until the last half dozen. The right thing to do would be to alternate among that last few  customers while knocking on the door and apologising. I did alternate around the customers but usually I was too shy to apologise. Naturally being missed without explanation didn’t make for happy customers. I have to say they were generally pretty patient and tolerant.

Saturdays were completely different. The papers were on the tea time Midland Red bus so I would wait for that then do the round in reverse order. In reverse as I met the bus outside the pub nearer the far end of the village. I had no trouble remembering the round which soon became second nature; where to park my bike and walk and all the little nuances.

The main natural problem was dogs. Owners are always cheerfully tolerant. “Don’t worry, she won’t bite” as a barking hound advanced menacingly. In fairness I was never bitten just nipped and badly scared a few times. I soon learned which dogs could be faced down and which to take seriously. There is a peculiar blindness amongst owners that their beloved animal can actually be rather scary.

Although I knew practically all the children in the village after recently being a fellow pupil at the village school I was regarded as something of an outsider both by virtue of living outside the village and by attending grammar school. I had to endure the occasional ambush and stone throwing. I suppose it was mainly pranks but in one case it was really rather vicious. I have realised since that this was from boy who was rather underachieving in a broken home and was probably envious of my loving stable home and academic success.

For all of this I was paid five shillings a week ( this was the fifties ) and as I returned one and six to pay for my weekly copy of Flight magazine I netted three shillings and sixpence.

Looking back it was good experience in the world of work. I was very pleased when we lived near Wilmslow Martin did an evening round for about a year. Opportunities for this kind of work have largely disappeared now and with many out of school clubs, activities and sports my grandchildren just wouldn’t have time. I never did any out of school activity until I was 16 and entering the sixth form and even then it was fairly infrequent. Because we lived in the country with no evening buses it would have been impractical anyway until I was old enough to cycle back at night.

Have just bought a new joke book entitled “ A dyslexic man walked into a bra”

Vegetarianism

It is becoming increasingly common for people to take up a vegetarian or even a vegan diet. The numbers are muddled. Far more claim to be vegetarians than actually are. Roughly 5% claim while maybe 1-2% really are. The discrepancy seems to arise with people adopting a generally vegetarian diet but occasionally eating meat. This is sometimes called a flexitarian diet.

I must say I prefer the American usage of describing vegetarian food as plant based. This is clear when choosing and avoids the tinge of “weirdness” particularly around vegans.

The evidence that plant based diets prolong life appears somewhat thin. Some studies show an effect, some don’t. It does appear that red meat particularly in quantity has a life shortening effect. Some categories such as smoked meats appear definitely harmful. On the other hand oily fish are positively recommended. One clear peripheral benefit is reduction in obesity. While this is not an integral part of plant based diets they certainly help. It  isn’t as simple to take in the excess calories which is all too easy with a normal diet.

It would appear that the main motivation for veggies is aesthetic or moral. Certainly if you stop and think eating the dead flesh of animals isn’t very nice and also objection can be made that meat production is cruel. There is some movement towards more humane animal treatment such as legislation on chicken cages.

The main objective reason for supporting the vegetarian movement is the health of the planet. This has in two aspects; the production of greenhouse gases and energy efficiency. Firstly the main red meat is beef and cows produce a lot of methane in their digestion. This methane is belched or farted into the atmosphere and is a major contributor to the greenhouse effect behind global warming. Grazing takes up a large area ( some suitable as arable land ). This links to energy efficiency. A cow is a very inefficient way of producing protein; vegetable crops produce far more per unit energy applied.

It is increasingly clear that climate change is here. Far from being a future problem it is  certainly having effects here and now. The main effect is that extremes of climate are getting worse with some organisms are struggling to adapt. The toll of extreme weather on human life and prosperity is increasing. The adaption problem is perhaps best exemplified by coral where increases in temperature can kill. It is estimated that all coral will die before the end of the century.

I have slowly come to understand the visceral rejection of climate change by some because it is seen by them as some kind of “liberal” plot to change their way of life. I see that even terminally stupid Trump is now starting to acknowledge that climate change is real. However many deniers , including Trump, see climate change as uncomfortable and inconvenient. Far too many see it as depressing the economy. This is quite untrue as it is quite possible to have economic growth and adjustments to emissions. This simply means doing things in different ways.

I wonder if many of the objections to things like wind turbines which have puzzled me are simply those who object to any change which may affect their routine or the ways they have grown accustomed to. To be quite personal I have had a solid fuel fire for over 30 years but I am coming to the realisation that is probably not very healthy and although I burn some wood it is not good to the environment. In principle growing wood takes up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which is released back when burnt so is carbon neutral. The practical problem is that an open fire releases small particles of carbon which are unhealthy if breathed into the lungs. It is also very inefficient as much of the energy goes “up the chimney”.

This digresses somewhat from the main point that climate action and economic growth are by no means incompatible. Far too many “green” supporters also take a hair shirt approach and seem to relish throwing away much of modern living. It is a fact that the energy needed per unit of economic growth has been steadily falling.

In summary it appears that vegetarianism is marginally good for the individual and definitely good for the planet. However it may well be that the sizzling steak may have be largely replaced by an equally attractive vegetarian option.

Two lions were walking sown the aisle of a supermarket. One turned to the other and said “quiet in here today ,isn’t it”

Wartime railway

Every year the North York Moors Railway has a wartime weekend. We are attending for the third time this year. The idea is to organise a number of events and exhibitions at the stations along the NYMR route. A particularly large event is held at the Pickering terminus where the whole town is “en fete.” We feel a particularly close association as both Martin and Alex are volunteers and this year, although strictly underage ( they start at age 10 ), Ellen was allowed to join in.

Because Lindsey and Martin were away watching Dave Gorman earlier we could only go on Sunday. Unfortunately the weather was miserable as it rained heavily all day. As a result we abandoned our original plan and travelled from Whitby to Pickering and back again only briefly alighting at Pickering station. This was so crowded and miserably wet that we reboarded the train on which we had arrived for the return journey. The train wasn’t as crowded as previous years but we were still pleased to get seats all together.

We had prepared a picnic and in the event ate aboard the train. This was dry and comfortable. We also had coffee on the train as experience had shown all the station cafes would be packed. For a major part of the return journey I sat opposite a couple from Brighton. As part of the experience many dress in either wartime uniforms or forties dress. This couple certainly looked the part. When I commented they admitted they had the benefit of the ladies sister running a retro stall in Brighton. It was their first experience of such an event although in the past I have talked to people who make it their hobby to go from event to event around the country.

The NYMR is one of the larger heritage railways. They don’t just have steam but also diesel loco’s and a wide variety of rolling stock. This includes a diesel multiple unit which was running a shuttle between Pickering and Levisham the next station on the line. The NYMR actually finishes at Grosmont south of Whitby. However as a concession they run twice a day into Whitby on National Rail lines, At Grosmont the National Railway heads off to Teeside. The NYMR don’t just have ordinary rolling stock but also such curiosities as a large steam crane.

As Martin pointed out they have more loco’s than they can comfortably handle. One project is to restore the named engine “Vera Lynn” which would be so appropriate for the wartime event. At present the priority is to rebuild some bridges as obviously this is both expensive but vital. .A very ingenious idea this year was to present the program and timetable in the form of a mock ration book

On our journey we were hauled by the Black 5 “Eric Treacher”. I was an avid train spotter when I was between about 11 and 13. The Black 5 class was then probably the most common loco running on the LMS region. It is a sad commentary that although glamorous steam is both dirty and inefficient. British Rail clung onto steam for far too long. The final steam loco’s were built in the mid 60’s. There are now no loco’s built in the UK with other railways switching far sooner. Although the latest high speed trains give a wonderful consumer experience they are largely French technology certainly as used on HS1 and the planned HS2.

One technology British Rail started but abandoned was the tilting train. As a result we now ride on the Italian built Pendolino on the West coast main line. It seems almost farcical that the APT had to be dropped because it could clash with other rolling stock when tilted. This seems a rather basic design error.

Musical jest

Definition of a gentleman- someone who knows how to play the bagpipes but doesn’t

Information Science

I have talked about my first job in Information Work. I should say more precisely what Information Science is. I need to emphasise that name may be confused with Information Technology which is the omnibus name for computing and its applications. There is a wider problem of much confusion about names for branches of technology which is too large to discuss here although one needs only to think of the multiple meanings of “engineer”. The objective of Information Science was to assist development project work.

So Information Science as practiced by Unilever Research was a substantial part of the whole establishment. There were 7 graduate scientists and about the same number of other staff. This was perhaps 4% of the whole establishment.  An Information Scientist split their time approximately 40% on current awareness, 40% information recovery and 20% checking information needs. All of these need some further explanation. Current awareness involved essentially staying abreast of current publication of work. Information recovery split nicely into two types, Internal information generated within the organisation and external which was discovering relevant information outside the organisation. The 20% on establishing needs meant finding out what were relevant needs for information by discussion.

Current awareness in practice meant all information such as journals etc were subdivided among the staff who marked up work of interest. This was done by noting on a search sheet what items were of interest and then marking the keywords in the title of the item. This latter was used to computer generate a keywords-in-context index always called a KWIC index. For example suppose an interesting title was “the use of polyphosphates in fabric cleaning”. The index would show

Polyphosphates in fabric cleaning. The use of…

Also

Fabric cleaning. The use of polyphosphates in…

And

Cleaning. The use of polyphosphates in fabric…

The rotation of titles was I think 140 characters which was the maximum line length of the printer available.

My allocated journals were mainly on waste water treatment, chemical analysis, instrumentation, materials and corrosion science. I also reviewed some more general journals giving detergents industry news.

 Selected titles were sent out weekly in a current awareness bulletin containing items judged of wide interest. More specialist items were sent to groups or individuals expected to be interested.

Information recovery was done in one of two ways. If it was internal then all reports were held on a sortable punched card database. It needs to said that in those days machine readable information was held as much on punched cards or tape as on magnetic memory. Magnetic memory was expensive and required specialist handling while cards were relatively robust. In the Unilever case the cards were not only machine sortable but they had a precis of the report printed on them.

If the information needed was external then there was no single method. One common way was to search by hand through a massive publication called “Chemical Abstracts” This had abstracts of every paper in the general area of chemistry and was classified and indexed. However searches often required some imagination and craft by the searcher. It was always as well to find out why the information was sought. If it was a researcher new to the field then a good encyclopaedia such as “Kirk-Othmers Encyclopaedia of Chemical Technology” would be a good starting point.

Establishing needs necessitated going out into the laboratory to talk to the scientific staff finding out their projects and interests. Interests could be relatively specific as in an analyst specialising in chromatography who was interested in the mathematics which was closely related to telephony.

It is debateable whether such a specialist organisation is better than each individual scientist finding out for themselves. I took the view that in general with my background in information science I could find what I needed only using information specialists for particular needs.

In Unilever practice the Information Science group was separate from the Library although working closely with Library staff. It is more common in smaller organisations for the Library staff to fill part of the role of the Information Scientist. The Unilever Port Sunlight Research Lab had over 200 scientific staff so the cost was more easily justified.

Todays smile

A group of dinner party guests were discussing whether men or women were more trustworthy.
One man stated bluntly “No woman can keep a secret”
“That’s so not true” said the pretty blonde sitting opposite him ”I’ve kept my age a secret since I was twenty”
“You’ll let it slip one day” said the man
“No way” said the blonde ”When a woman has kept a secret for eighteen years she can keep

Genealogy-more

Genealogy – more

My earlier comment about Scandinavian ancestry has been corrected. Ancestry continually update their DNA records and the latest information is that I’m pretty much 100% English. I don’t know whether to be pleased or not.

My distant cousin, Marion, is a genealogical fanatic. Now retired she appears to spend almost all her time researching our family history. She is descended from one of the brothers at the sale of the Fradswell farm and I’m from another. It is the third who was the most successful eventually having a mini mansion near Fradswell.

There is, I suppose, some comfort in knowing I come from good yeoman stock. As I said previously our records fade away beyond the 16^th century. There is a hint that our name derives from the Norman French le Hore. People of that name did arrive with the Norman conquest and did settle in N Staffordshire. However this is essentially speculation and we will never really know.

Marion visited us recently and I was hoping she would be able to give me more insight into the meaning of my DNA results. Other than identifying my nearest DNA contacts as folk with whom she already had contact she is pretty  much as puzzled as I am. She was however more  able to help Annette.

Annette is curious about a relative who emigrated to America about 1880. Marion was able to show us how to track him via US census records. As is typical of families of that era there are many children and the trail has run cold for the present.

Annette’s father was the youngest in his family. Her aunt married a Canadian soldier after WW1 and went to Canada. She is now deceased but there were contacts until quite recently. We also had an Australian contact although the Australian person has now died and we haven’t tracked any descendants.

While tracking ancient genealogy is reasonably interesting they are largely names and dates and we know little about the people and their life. It is the more recent where we have some reasonable chance of discovering more about the person. The very frustrating part is that my parents sometimes talked of their relatives and antecedent’s. As a child and young man this rolled over me but how I wish now that I could have them back for even half a day to hear those stories again.

It was particularly in wartime that otherwise ordinary people did extraordinary things. My aunt Win who had not long obtained her nursing qualification was driving an ambulance in the Coventry blitz. Annette’s uncle drove a bulldozer constructing airfields for the US during the Pacific campaign. I would love to know where, and how this came about, but everyone who might have known is now dead.

My family after  very large families in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries contracted right down. I have only 3 living cousins on my father’s side and one of those has no family. My mother’s side is even worse with only two living cousins and again one with no family.

I have a slight hope that our grandchildren will find our research interesting. I fear it won’t be until their middle age before they discover their interest which will be too late for me. I am just slightly disappointed that our children now take only a minimal polite interest.

Genuine note to milkman

Dear Milkman. I’ve just had a baby. Please leave another one.

Information Science

Information Science

I have probably mentioned before that I started my career in Information Work for Unilever Research. The objective was to have a small group of scientists who looked for and disseminated information relevant to the scientists they were supporting. While I had been job hunting in a desultory way Unilever advertised positions in Information Science at all their UK research labs. The Port Sunlight portion mentioned adhesives among a whole series of other areas. As I spent my industrial year with an adhesives company this alerted me.

I didn’t enjoy practical work, I had a wide range of general knowledge, I thought I could find my way around a library so with my ( very limited ) experience in adhesives I applied. The Unilever interviewer soon showed I knew much less about adhesives than I thought. However the real interview came during a tour of the whole lab with someone who I later found was the de facto head of Information Science.

During the tour it somehow emerged that I knew enough about surfactant biodegradation to know the difference between hard and soft surfactants ie.. the difference between those that biodegrade and those that don’t. I recall I was also asked to explain the working of an electronic valve. I remember driving home and reflecting that the great enthusiasm of the tour guide  attracted me but I didn’t think I would get an offer. Well I was wrong and although there were other offers I had little hesitation in accepting. What hesitation I had revolved around my lack of understanding of the ranking system. I was very slightly put off to be offered the position as “unestablished” scientist which carried the connotation of temporary in my mind. I later found this was quite wrong and it was a desirable grade.

I duly started on the 27^th of September 1965. The personnel manager casually said the few days pay would be added to the following month. I was stony broke but I lacked the confidence to demur. We had been searching for accommodation and we chose an upper floor flat in a large house looking out over the Dee estuary. I was completely ignorant about the area and the estuary looked formidable as an expanse of mud and grass as far as one could see over to the Welsh side. However walking along the nearby Parkgate front I saw a notice which said “next boat 3pm” Aha I thought, this is just a trick of the tide and the sea would come right up to the seawall. I soon found the notice was a joke and it was a very exceptional  when the sea came in, maybe a couple of times a year. For the remaining time the estuary was exactly as I first saw it.

We did find our way out to a temporary sandy stretch about a mile out one summer but the estuary was otherwise rather treacherous with many deep channels. For a brief time that summer we enjoyed the “seaside” feeling but the sand disappeared by the next year.

I enjoyed the work. There was an air of enthusiasm and interest in the section. We were encouraged to get out and about in the lab to find out exactly what the scientists were doing and what their needs were. I soon found that the lab was 90% soap and detergents  ( in many guises ) and that all other interests were a small part. The interest in adhesives was vanishingly small.

One area I found very interesting was an engineering group who were trouble shooters for the whole company. As part of this they had a great interest in corrosion and much later in life I became involved myself in anti-corrosion coatings.

While the Information Section was very much concerned with servicing the needs of the laboratory there was also a lot of interest in developing Information Science- in fact a team of two were devoted to precisely that task. There was a lot of emphasis on using automated and computer methods which I found fascinating. I soon found that Unilever led the whole new field of Information Science.

I left initially on secondment which evolved into permanent transfer into the mainstream lab where I worked on a variety of projects for over ten years before I left Unilever Research. The experience was invaluable. As a development scientist I was allowed time and space to learn my craft but I always looked back fondly to my time in the Information Section. This had a curious corollary. Frances went into scientific librarianship and I think that my accounts of my early days had some influence on this. She has moved on to a somewhat more managerial role but I still marvel at how things have changed. Her new library is rather luxurious although the principle of making knowledge accessible remains the same.

A man in a ski-mask ran into a bank pointed a banana at the cashier and yelled “this is a cock-up”
“Don’t you mean a stickup “ asked the cashier
“No” said the robber” it’s a cock-up. I forgot to bring the gun”

Genealogy

Is much on my mind at present. A rather fanatical relative encouraged me to take a DNA test from Ancestry.co.uk. Frankly this has given a mass of information which I’m very uncertain how to interpret. My interest, indeed our family interest, dates back over 20 years.

When Alison was in her final school years she entered the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. Among the tasks was to develop an interest. She decided on genealogy. There was a story within my family that many lived for centuries in N Staffordshire near Stowe by Chartley. We investigated with her and found the actual location was a hamlet nearby at Fradswell. Looking at the churchyard immediately gave a trove of information as there were Hall gravestones going back centuries.

After Alison left for university Annette, who had always been interested, did a lot of further research. It soon transpired that the family in Fradswell had occupied a farm until the middle of the 19^th century when on the death of the patriarch the children had sold up. There were a large number of girls and three boys. My great grandfather  used his substantial inheritance in an unusual way. Although married with a child he travelled to the Americas, we don’t know where, and lived there for several years. We can only presume he intended, if successful, to bring his wife and child to re-join him. In the event he returned to England and his family, fathering  nine girls and two boys.

It is just a little later that a central puzzle in my life begins. My paternal grandmother for some reason, presumably severe post natal depression, handed over her first born to her mother-in-law. Although my grandmother had several more children her first born never returned. This first born child was my father. Family stories have it that my great grandmother, a very maternal woman. had pleaded for the baby to stay with her. This plea was reinforced as her own two youngest died young.

Thus as my father put it he was “Granny reared”. The main consequence for me was that he was always close to his younger aunts who had effectively been big sisters to him. I never understood this as a child and I always thought it slightly odd. My father lived with his grandparents and then with his grandmother until her death. He then lived with his aunt and uncle until he married.

It is my great grandfather who is of much interest to me. While still at Fradswell he was in the Staffordshire Yeomanry. This was a sort of Home Guard of its day. I have his cavalry sword as an heirloom.  Although this was after the Napoleonic Wars there was great fear that revolution would spread to  England. The Yeomanry was more of a support to the civil power as they were not contracted to serve outside the county. He returned from the America’s with a limp which was said to be the result of falling off his horse. When he returned he had a life as a farm bailiff prior to eventually becoming the licensee of a public house. My father was raised at this pub which is ironic because he was at another pub while living with his aunt and uncle.

My DNA results show as close relatives only the three I already knew about. The DNA appeared to show a strong Scandinavian decent ( 29% ) which I supposed could support the family story that my distant ancestors came to England after the Norman conquest. It was said they were in the retinue of Earl Ferrers and he gave the land which was subsequently held for centuries. We can trace my ancestry back to the 16^th century but beyond that is virtually impossible as written records are very sparse.

My only male cousin has no heirs so it will be up to Alex ( my grandson ) to continue the family name.

Based on the family probably still living in N Staffordshire Annette advertised in a Stoke on Trent newspaper. This was very successful as we found several distant relatives. Inspired by the fanatical genealogist we met up a couple of times. We are all descended from the final Fradswell family. The expert genealogist wrote a paper about our family for a genealogical journal.

Why don’t owls mate in a storm?

Because it’s too wet to woo

Birmingham Proms

Birmingham Proms

The Promenade concerts are a series of relatively inexpensive concerts held continuously over several summer weeks. The idea was introduced in the famous London Proms at the Albert Hall initiated by Sir Henry Wood. Regional centres also hold their own smaller and less well known concert series. I have previously recounted how my first concert visit had been a huge success. It had enhanced my standing with a girl on whom I was rather keen.

Going into Birmingham for some other reason we saw that there was to be a Birmingham Prom concert season largely given by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra ( CBSO ). At that time ( the summer of 1961 ) concerts were held in Birmingham Town Hall as Symphony Hall was only a distant pipedream. We had money to attend five concerts in the three week season. As I recall this season was rather earlier than the London one. Money was a big issue as we needed not only the ticket price but the travel cost also. I still had some money left from working for Lewis’s Department store in their January sales. That had been an interesting experience. I was sent to the dress fabrics department. I became quite expert in advising buyers what quantity to buy for skirts or dresses. If memory serves two and a half yards for a skirt and four yards for a dress ( the fashion at the time was for very full skirts )

We chose the five concerts. Frankly I don’t particularly remember the basis of our choice. As our knowledge of music was minimal I rather suspect it was fairly random. I certainly had little basis for choice; in fact one  main reason for going was to spend time with the girl. We did choose the last night as I had watched the Last Night high jinks at the London proms.

I don’t recall much about the series. One night was given by the visiting Czech orchestra. They got a rapturous welcome I thought this was rather exaggerated as they seemed to my ears no better than the CBSO. I think there was an element of pleasure that a foreign orchestra had made the trip, and one from behind the Iron Curtain.

For the last night we were in the orchestra gallery. I had wondered what this was. It turned out to be a few tiered seats behind the orchestra. Thus were looking down on the orchestra and over their heads to the majority of their audience. As far as I recall there was little of the practical joking and general high jinks of the London last night. We sang along to “Land of Hope and Glory” which was a traditional part of the last night repertoire. I don’t recall properly whether the arranged sea shanties featured- I rather think they did. Their rhythmic tunes lend themselves to punctuations by a boisterous crowd. The London series traditionally ends with a short light hearted speech by the conductor. This did not happen in Birmingham.

Later living om Merseyside we attended some Liverpool Philharmonic orchestra industrial concerts. These were intended to pull in an otherwise untapped audience although my recollection is they were little different from the usual. One welcome feature was visiting the Philharmonic pub nearby. This was very much in the Victorian style with copious etched glass and baroque decoration. Some other traditional pubs in the city had similar styles but this was easily the best.

So what about the girl. Reader, I married her.( I’m sure I have pinched that phrase from a classical work of literature but I don’t remember what )

What do you call a Frenchman who wears sandals?

Philippe Philoppe.

Little Jim

The cottage was a thatched one
The outside old and mean
Yet everything within that cot
Was wondrous neat and clean

The night was cold and stormy
The wind was howling wild
A patient mother knelt beside
The death bed of her child

The dying child was Little Jim and the whole poem was a hit in Victorian England. The author, Ned Farmer based it upon real events as he visited Polesworth.  He was passing through in the course of his railway work when he sought succour on a wild night at a cottage with a lighted window.

The poem recounts in mawkish detail the death of Little Jim, the only child of a collier and his wife. This pandered to Victorian sensibilities which tended to the morbid and sentimental. I had never heard the full story until I read of it in the local paper. Little Jim's cottage was later bought by someone who tended both cottage and wonderful garden.

When I was a boy my father took me on a bicycle ride to see the cottage. At the time it didn’t mean a lot to me although he told me a little about the background. Sadly the cottage suffered a major fire in 1971 which led to its demolition. My father was nearly a Victorian himself being born the year after Victoria died.

Although he wasn’t a morbid man my father also took me a bicycle ride to visit a gibbet post. This was in North Leicestershire not too far from Twycross and near Bilstone village. A gibbet post was where a hanged man was displayed. The internet tells me it was erected in 1800 after a murder nearby although it had disappeared by 1988.The post was totally unremarkable just by the side of a country lane. Thinking it a local curiosity likely to interest young boys he later took me again with my friend Anthony. I recall Anthony was more interested in his new bike of which he was very proud so that on our return journey he raced ahead.

The countryside is full of strange and macabre stories. One I remember refers to Hangmans Corner near Shuttington. I’m not sure if this is in south Staffordshire or North Warwickshire. The story is that a thief stole two sheep which he slung together by rope over his shoulder. Stopping at the corner to rest by a gate he strangled himself by the rope after putting the bound sheep over the gate top. This all seems unlikely but I suppose there must be some reason for the name.

Features in the landscape often have a shrouded history. One which I visited as a boy was the motte ( or mound ) of a castle at Seckington in North Warwickshire. This known locally as Rose Hill. Lying very near the village this commanded extensive views to the north, east and west. Apparently it dates from the 11^th century. At primary school nearby we made an expedition to the mound although frankly at the time I didn’t really understand why.

An elderly man went to a station ticket office and asked for a return ticket. “Where to” asked the clerk. “ Back to here of course” was the reply.

Whitby with kids

Whitby with kids

Whitby is a sedate sort of place. Yes it does have sands provided the tide is right; it even has an amusement arcade but mostly it is a town of small shops and middle aged folk. I experienced a slightly different side with Alice and Ben. Matt has just got a new job starting mid July with the Ministry of Justice and could hardly take a holiday in his first few weeks. So it was that Frances took Alice and Ben to stay with us.

I travelled with Frances while Annette is staying longer and travelling by train. A perennial complaint by Annette is that I’m a rotten passenger always criticising ( I call it advising ) the driver. She made me promise to be on my very best behaviour.  She need not have worried ; Frances is an exemplary driver and it was a pleasure to be driven by her. ( Well perhaps just the small point of unnecessary gear changes…. )

The kids were superb passengers amusing themselves with hand held gaming consoles. None of the expected “are we there yet?” with patience perhaps fraying just a little towards the end of a long journey.

I didn’t take much part on the beach. I went once but sitting on the esplanade walkway wasn’t any fun and I bowed out afterwards.

We went on the NYMR heritage railway to Goathland. Ben at 6 was totally unimpressed not even looking much out of the window. The destination was chosen because the station apparently plays a big part in Harry Potter movies. The kids are both Potter obsessed. However there was just a bit of Potter memorabilia in the shop and otherwise it was a typical 30’s branch line station. We walked the short distance to the village where the ambience is 60’s Heartbeat. To say this is flogged to death is no exaggeration. A few old cars including a 60’s police Ford Anglia is permissible but the pub and garage retain their TV persona while the shops are packed with Heartbeat tat. We didn’t stay long.

For me the week was dominated by flat issues. We have planning issues over the car park. Already small, Scarborough planners want to make it smaller. All is vastly complicated by the fact that Mariners House is a listed building and subject to much more restrictions than normal. We, that is another flat owner and myself,  had an informal meeting with the planners with Frances taking notes. This was quite positive. Then we had our block meeting. We have a management company comprising all the leaseholders of which I am acting chairman. This went fairly well although the man who owns 3 of the 6 flats didn’t come himself but sent a representative.

We interspersed a few walks ( I didn’t go on most ) with beach trips. Annette did play cards a couple of times. Ben seemed to pick up sevens and a form of poker very quickly- perhaps a future card sharp! The kids had brought a number of DVD’s with them and we had plenty of Harry Potter and Lego movies ( called Ninjago ; I never worked out why)

I’m not sure how I am as a granddad. I soon get bored playing and I just haven’t got the right empathy. Definitely the best moment came on the return trip. We called at York Outlet centre and while Frances was waiting at the Clarks show shop I was waiting with the kids near a Cadbury’s store. When I suggested a quick trip round to select something they didn’t need asking twice and were obviously surprised I made the suggestion.. Later during our lunch stop at Trowell services I was able to share out my bar of fruit and nut. They both had an item- well Ben had a mini pack of bars. Going off like this while Frances was away felt very subversive and just the thing a good grandparent should do. I was rewarded by smiles and thanks.

Why did the mathematician turn off the heating in his home?

So he could be cold and calculating

Drought

I’m finding the drought increasingly depressing. Our garden is suffering now quite badly. Annette is saving water even directing the washing machine into a watering can. By this means she is ensuring the flowers on the patio are thriving. Everything else is suffering. I am watering our French beans as we value the crop and there aren’t many. Adjacent marrow ( courgette ) plants are also getting water but a other than that we are in the hands of nature.

I had been carefully cultivating a replacement heather patch. We inherited one which I liked but it became overgrown and out of control. About 8 years ago I cleared it completely and started again. The heathers took a long time to grow and it is only in the past couple of years that it had started to merge plants into a satisfying bed. Now one has died completely and there are signs of distress in others. It doesn’t help that they are in probably the driest area very near to tree shadow. And of course in full sun which doesn’t help at all.

Fruit is very early. I’ve been picking blackberries for a few days which is about a month earlier than I expected. The crop looks decent helped by the fact that that they have spread now I am cultivating much less ground. Plums look ripe and are falling so I need to start picking soon.

Apples look a mixed bag. Mature trees appear to have good crops but trees planted on dwarfing rootstock about ten years ago are looking dodgy. The problem appears to be that they are producing a lot of small fruit which aren’t maturing. I’ve been thinning the fruit quite vigorously in the hope that fewer fruit will mature better. We shall see.

Clearly it is difficult to make a direct link with global warming. However an item in “New Scientist” .sees a clear statistical link with the probability of extreme weather sharply increased. Certainly the general climate forecast seems to have been supported by the experience with extreme events occurring more frequently.

There is a glib assumption that the UK will benefit from a few degrees temperature rise. Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that as extremes inflict problems whether flooding, drought, gales etc. . The feature I dread is a big change to the Gulfstream, that Atlantic flow which has given the UK an equable mild climate even though we are quite far north on the globe. If the Gulfstream becomes less influential we will end up with a climate like Norway with heavy winter snowfalls and low temperatures combined with bursts of summer drought.

There is some action taking place. The global consensus of restricting greenhouse gas emissions to below a 1.5C rise now looks unachievable- it will be higher. In some areas there is recognition that that a switch away from fossil fuel burning is essential. It is interesting that China as a command economy, has extremely ambitious targets. Sadly Trump in his profound stupidity is doing his best to ensure USA nationally does nothing. What is heartening is that much of the US is proceeding without him and moving to reduce fossil fuel use. The USA is home of the premier electric car company, Tesla, in the world. It is also true that Tesla are planning to expand in China where the government is savvy enough to see that a good position in electric vehicles will be a big competitive advantage in the future. It is also true that the Chinese suffer badly from air pollution which is a big reason to move away from fossil fuels.

The green claque are fond of criticising big oil companies ignoring the fact that they are responding to demand  not creating it. This looks very much like blaming the other feller rather than seeing what individuals can do in their own lives.Similarly the green lobby actions on nuclear power don’t seem very helpful.  Big oil is certainly positioning themselves for a time where service stations are about charging points not petrol pumps.

It is very unfortunate that many green groups are captured by the extreme left wingers. They have an agenda of blaming fossil fuel companies and the free market economy in general for climate issues. This is well put by something I’ve read about them being “melons” ie. green on the outside, red on the inside. Frankly climate change is too serious for this posturing which only increases suspicion among deniers.

I’m reviving the idea of ending with a joke.

A man went into a bookshop and asked the woman behind the counter “Do you keep stationary here?”

“No” she said” sometimes I wriggle about a bit”

Grandchildren

We have had four for the first week of their summer school holiday. These were Alison’s two, Ellie and Nate and Frances’s two, Alice and Ben.. It has been interesting and tiring. Their week coincided with the heatwave. Generally we aimed to limit their time in the sun particularly between 11 am and 3 pm. Since we had already had several weeks of the heatwave we were generally fairly well prepared with fans, drinks and sunshades.

Although the children got on well together with no squabbles it was soon apparent that Ellie at nearly 14 is now a young lady and although she joined in to an extent she has outgrown much of younger children’s games. Nate is taken up by reading and listening to audio books. I thought I was a voracious reader when I was young but he easily exceeds me.

Before Nate came he had said his interests with the others would be football and chess. Well we didn’t see a chess set all week. We had bought goals and other football equipment but apart from desultory kickabouts  he didn’t have much interest. I did notice he has become quite skilful with his kicks quite precisely aimed. His tuition after school has paid off. However this was just a temporary interval away from a book. He even insisted on having an audio book when in bed. I was disappointed also that he has reverted to being very picky with food. Alison says he likes simple food not any mixtures.  We tempted him with chocolate mousse which was successful at first only to find that when supplied with a different brand he rejected them part eaten.

Alice and Ben ( aged 9 and 6 ) were simpler. Foodwise Ben could eat for England. He can also drink likewise: if he ever takes to beer then trouble. I felt I  got to know Ben much more this week. Before he had always seemed in the shadow of Alice but he now emerged as a robust, self confident boy with lots to say for himself. I noted how robust he was when he fell and stubbed his toe quite badly. He sat and rubbed in for a bit and then re-joined the activity. He had no problems asserting himself in games.

The big success of the week were pump up water guns. Annette had managed by searching many shops to find 4 identical ones. So water fights were a continual feature. Ben always seemed to end up thoroughly soaked but he didn’t seem to mind. Towards the end of the week the smaller ones were deliberately showering themselves out side from watering cans rather than take the usual indoor showers.

At the start Annette had laid out some activities such as clearing the table and in general this worked well. The routine was that we laid the table and then after the meal the allocated child cleared away ( Alice was teamed with Ben )

Ellie cooked for us a couple of times  ( sort of assisted by Alice ). She did a lasagne one day and a cheesecake another. Both were good.

Annette had a number of craft activities planned. Alice who is quite artistic did enjoy these. Ellie did some advanced work such as silk painting. Ben did a bit of casual sticking and painting but wasn’t too interested while Nate preferred a book.

We did have some DVD’s of Harry Potter films. Ben even has a little Ron Weaseley film book. I had hoped Ben would read with Nate who is fluent but Nate wasn’t interested. I tried to get Ben to read with me but after a couple of times he decided this too much like school.

Todays smile

How do you confuse an Irishman

Lean 5 shovels against a wall and say take your pick.