Rare sighting in Tavistock

Yesterday morning I went into Tavistock and was confronted by a rare sight - a policeman! He was standing on the kerb by one of the town's mini roundabouts and couldn't be missed. As we had to walk by him after I had parked the car we had a chance to question him about what he was up to. Believe it or not the local police do like to be seen, as he said it is reassurance for the law abiding public and gives a little jolt for those driving past who might be using a mobile for instance. He made the valid point that they are about more than one may think, as he said if a policeman walked past your door and you didn't look out during that 10 second time frame you wouldn't have been aware of that patrol. I should have asked him what proportion of his time is spent on paperwork, I believe it can be about 50% in some places, though probably not in relatively crime free west Devon.

While on the subject of police I notice that the Royal Cornwall Hospital, who have plenty of money problems, are going to retain the two police posts which are permanently at the Hospital and have been for the last seven years. It is a very sad reflection on society that a hospital needs to shell out money for a permanent police presence: it must be distressing to go to casualty for instance, to patiently wait your turn and then have a violent drunk turn up. Additional trauma not required! If my memory serves me right the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital have, or at least had, two officers under a similar arrangement.

MSC Napoli

Latest news -

• Residents attended a meeting over the weekend at Branscombe Village Hall in which someone fairly senior from the police force admitted that they (the police) hadn't got things right regarding the invasion of scavengers from far and wide. Seems that (a) police were caught on the hop not realising that national publicity about Napoli would draw in people from hundreds of miles away (b) confusing maritime law regarding legality or otherwise of scavenger activities, this caused a degree of paralysis in the situation
• If the government don't hold a public enquiry over the Napoli then the county council will.
• Removal of oil from the ship is progressing and the first of the containers have been lifted off. The machines on the beach are doing very well with that part of the clean-up.
• There was a mishap on Monday evening when one of the vessels involved with the salvage operations, the barge "Port Menai" collided with a local fishing boat "Sea Seeker" off Lyme Regis. A fair bit of damage was done to the fishing boat and two fishermen were injured.

Night changing to day

I stepped out of my cottage at twenty past seven this morning to walk up to the paper shop. On opening the door not only did I hear a joyful dawn chorus but intermingled with that sound were the last gentle hoots from the tawny owls in the woods across the valley. Because of the relatively slow transition from night to day this overlapping of bird calls is a regular feature here.

It was certainly interesting, though expected, to experience the much quicker changes between dark and light in the Canaries when I went there. But I prefer that slow easing into daylight and the long twilight that we enjoy in these more temperate latitudes. However I wouldn't relish the much shorter winter days up in the north of Scotland. Overall the west country is the best although if I'm really fussy a little more winter sunshine wouldn't go amiss. How lucky I am to live here!

Can vegetarians be cat lovers?

There has been no particular happening in my life to trigger this post, it is just one of those thoughts that have crossed my mind for no good reason.

I must admit to being a carnivore. Having said that I also enjoy vegetarian food and have every respect for anyone who is a vegetarian, or a vegan for that matter. For the purpose of my argument I'm thinking of those folk who are vegetarian on moral grounds rather than from any health worries through eating meat.

On occasion I have fed a neighbour's cat when they have been away. I should explain that these neighbours are meat eaters. The sachets of food include such goodies as beef, chicken, liver, rabbit and poultry. If you are a vegetarian with a pet dog or cat how do you square your conscience when the food they are eating has come from an animal killed in an abattoir? I wonder if many folk have pondered that question!

Review of Mr Corbyn's forecast

On the third of January I made an entry about Piers Corbyn who had predicted a particularly cold snap between the 10th and 20th of this month. So how did he get on? Well we did have a few days of relatively cold weather, but nothing exceptional for January. The problem was that the cold spell started when it was supposed to have finished! The 10 days earmarked by Piers were mild, wet and windy. (They included the day the crew of the MSC Navoli were rescued off the south coast of Cornwall).

So far I have looked at Mr Corbyn's forecasts as written in the media as I haven't paid to get any direct information from him. In December and January he has been wide of the mark; I'm looking forward to any future reports of his forecasts with interest.

Good news from Caradon

We love to slag off local councils don't we? Well I am glad to report a couple of good pieces of news from Caradon District Council which deserve an airing. The first is that the council are just embarking on a two year affordable housing scheme worth some £10.6 million pounds. As part of the first phase of work the council are collaborating with Wiltshire based Sarsen Housing Association to build 19 properties at St Ann's Chapel which is that long straggling village between Callington and Gunnislake. The development will include 17 two, three and four bedroom houses together with a couple of one bedroom flats. Nine properties will be for rent and the other ten are going to be on a shared ownership basis. Affordable homes are very much 'flavour of the month' with Caradon.

The other recent positive is that there is now a link on the Caradon website (bottom right hand side of their homepage) which enables one to look at submitted planning applications. This is more than a summary, it includes plans, correspondence, letters of support and objection, in fact anything one would expect to see in their files at Luxstowe House. Now this is good use for the Internet!

What I find worrying at present is the threat to our much maligned local councils. There is talk of that tier of local government being removed so that there would be nothing between our parish council and Cornwall County Council. What a total disaster for local democracy that would be. Take planning for example. As explained one can now go on line to look at planning applications (for those without a personal computer then I suppose one can go on the net at your local library to get the same information) but the problem that will occur will be the greatly increased distance for the public to go to a planning committee meeting. For instance I can accept turning out on a wet November night to go to Liskeard but if the planning decision was being made at St Austell or Truro would I go? H'm not sure about that. Caradon already have East and West sub-committees for planning and even then it is difficult for members from Torpoint for example making good reasoned judgements on matters affecting Gunnislake.

For all its imperfections I am convinced that the present local government system mostly provides a good balance between efficiency and local democracy although I would like to see more notice taken of parish councils. The moral: if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Rubber band entertains

Yesterday evening we had the pleasure of being entertained by the Calstock Rubber Band. I should explain that these are a group of local talented musicians covering a wide spectrum of instruments. Amongst these are accordions, trombone, saxophone, guitars, harp, xylophone, percussion, washboard and recorders although not all of these are at every performance. Every 4th Thursday of the month sees them at "The Rising Sun" pub which is within handy walking distance of my home.

There is something compelling about live music in a traditional pub setting, even more so when one can slake one's thirst with ale brewed in Cornwall! My friend who is a very proficient flute player brought her flute along and joined in the merriment. Towards the end of the evening the band was joined by a couple of men with accordions from I believe Bere Alston if my informant is correct. How I wish I could play a piano accordion! I remember seeing and listening to a band of accordions on the island of La Palma in the Canaries. Nearer home there is nothing but nothing more stirring than the accordions, melodeons and drums at Padstow on May the First.

Why the appellation "The Rubber Band". I believe the reason is that a rubber band is elastic and the ethos of the band is to accommodate however many musicians want to join in.

Personally speaking I don't like wall to wall music 24/7. I much prefer to hear it occasionally but when I do to listen with great intensity and pleasure. But sadly that doesn't seem to be the modern way, more emphasis on a constant stream of music as a background because modern technology permits it. For instance I have no interest in music in my car, I want to hear it when it can involve my full attention. And as for ring tones on mobiles - yuk!

Latest on the Napoli

I wanted to make an entry yesterday but couldn't access my blog! All seems OK now so here goes. Inevitably the Navoli is still making headlines and I want to make a number of comments:

• All the reports refer to the "MSC Napoli". In this context MSC stands for Mediterranean Shipping Company, I suspect not a lot of people know that...
• Apparently the MSC Napoli, sailing under a different name and with different owners, was involved in a serious incident near Singapore a few years ago and was nearly written off then. So inevitably one has to query how good the subsequent repairs were.
• After the heroic rescue of her crew in the storm last Thursday it was evidently the intention to tow her to a port. It sounds as if the French didn't want her (wisely perhaps!) so the decision was made to make for the harbour at Portland. We need to know, from a public enquiry possibly, why she didn't go to Falmouth or Plymouth or Torbay. There could well be perfectly justifiable reasons why none of these was suitable but if it was just a gamble to go for Portland then we should be told.
• I had been incorrect about the number of containers lost so far from the ship which I took from the media who are notoriously unreliable about such things (I remember the many reports at the time of the Boscastle/Crackington Haven flooding about the cars swept away from Boscastle, the numbers were always changing). Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd manage the MSC Napoli so should know the figures. They say that there were a total of 2394 containers on board originally; at the moment 103 have been lost but the majority of these have been accounted for, either washed up on the beach or in shallow water. That total of 2394 coupled with the pictures of Navoli in the press and on TV gives a fascinating insight into the way the seaborne transport of cargo works. I'm always keen to extend my knowledge in such matters so at least that is one positive from this sorry saga.
• On Tuesday we saw the start of the transfer of fuel from the Navoli to a small tanker brought up from Falmouth, the Forth Fisher. This process is scheduled to take 1-2 weeks. Two barges, the larger one having 2 substantial cranes, will arrive to lift off the large number of containers still aboard Navoli. I listened to a gent on a phone-in who had had experience of working on container ships, evidently there is some sort of turn and lock mechanism between containers which theoretically stops them separating from each other. The winds have calmed down which will make things easier for the salvage.
• The nationwide and indeed worldwide attention of the media has focused on Branscombe in the last few days not least because the village was 'invaded' by hundreds of people from all over the country. These scavengers were all over the place until the beach was sealed off on Tuesday. It is one thing a few locals picking up any loose articles floated up on to the beach but these were people from all over the country coming down to see what they could steal. I say steal because they were prising open sealed containers which is theft so far as I am concerned. Apart from that they were blocking the narrow roads in the area and farmers gateways, tramping over residents gardens and generally making a nuisance of themselves.
• It seems that the intention was for some of these ill gotten gains were to be sold on Ebay. Happily the Ebay people were wise to this and although allowing such things as a handful of sand or a pebble from Branscombe to be sold for charity they have stopped these people from profiteering. Good!
• The police were caught on the hop so not a good start for the new Chief Constable. They had initially put in place no entry signs on roads leading into Branscombe with a couple of local coppers in attendance. When night came the police went off duty it seems leaving the village unmanned. That might have been alright to just regulate a few locals; nobody seems to have anticipated the way hundreds from all over England would find their way to Branscombe. These were not your decent law abiding people so were not put off by any road closed signs. They left rubbish all over the beach and through the lanes in the village. It was all very well for our Chief Constable to say that the beach was under the jurisdiction of the maritime and coastguard agency and it was legally a problem stopping people going to the beach; I would have thought that in terms of safety and obstruction (parked vehicles) they could have acted sooner. The police do admit that there are lessons to be learned however.
• With the way Branscombe was saturated with people it was so fortunate that no land based emergency services had to deal with any incidents, if they were needed I don't know how they would have coped.
• At least one of the washed up containers had personal possessions in it and the owner witnessed her belongings in the crate being opened by a scavenger whilst she was watching a TV news report. So congratulations to the young man from Seaton who was the perpetrator for now admitting his mistake on Radio Devon; I believe a national paper is helping to reunite said artifacts with their owner.
• The RSPB have stated that there may well be 10,000 seabirds affected by the oil spillage from the stricken ship. The RSPCA are doing their usual good work at West Hatch in cleaning up those birds that have been picked up.
• There is a terrific amount of litter to be removed both from the village and the shoreline. I've no doubt that there will be a tremendous public response when organisations like the National Trust start appealing for help.
• What will be the effect on tourism of this incident? Providing there are no long term environmental effects and the litter is removed by Easter then I think that tourism won't suffer too much, in fact the remains of MSC Navoli might be a draw.
• As always there are some winners: in this instance I would think that pubs and teashops in Sidmouth will be getting extra winter business.
• Fortunately the whole incident from the air sea rescue up to this moment has resulted in no deaths or serious injuries but certainly there are many lessons to be learned and many things on which to reflect.

More news on the Napoli

On Saturday I made a brief entry about the cargo ship Napoli being beached between Sidmouth and Branscombe in East Devon. I finished by remarking "I expect there will be some sightseers on that bit of coast in the next few days". Well talk about an understatement! Branscombe has been overrun by people causing a dilemma for the police because the village is difficult enough to access at the best of times. So there have been conflicting reports of no entry at all to Branscombe (perhaps to deter sightseers) and a one way system in operation down the narrow lines (so residents can get about).

What has given an added impetus to the numbers though is the fact that the ship is listing badly resulting in some 200 containers (so far) to leave the deck with many washed up on the beach. That of course can mean rich pickings for anyone who illegally makes off with any goods from these containers. Ace photographer Richard Austin has taken a superb picture for today's Western Morning News of Napoli listing badly with containers stacked up on her deck. I think that Richard lives at Lyme Regis so this assignment was pretty well on his doorstep.

So far as the present weather is concerned our two counties are under a northerly airflow so that the ship is to some extent in the shelter of the south facing cliffs. There has been some escape of engine oil but in pollution terms nothing too serious at the moment. Of course the location is right in the heart of the 'Jurassic Coast' World Heritage Site and the pictures I've seen show an incredible amount of containers and other debris on the beach. It's not going to be a two minute job to clear up. Do the salvage company or maybe the ship's insurers bear the cost of the clear up operation? Someone will have to.

Ethical bottled water

I learnt today about a bottled water company with an unusual ethical dimension. The Bristol based concern is called "FRANK water" and uses water from an arterial source at "Tarka Springs" who are located near Torrington in North Devon. Frank water's website here states that all their net profits go to providing safe clean water in developing countries. It seems that they initially concentrated on providing bottled water to festivals in their area but are keen to expand.

The next year or two will see an explosion in ethical businesses I think; we already have 'fairtrade' in a number of products of course. Interesting times indeed!

Napoli update

A couple of days ago I made an entry about the cargo ship 'Napoli' and the daring but successful rescue of her 26 crew from a life raft in appalling conditions. Then I understood that tugs would be towing her to France. It transpired that an attempt would be made to get Navoli to Portland. However because of her deteriorating condition a new plan was put into effect to beach her in Lyme Bay between Sidmouth and Branscombe. I expect there will be some sightseers on that bit of coast in the next few days.

Police cells taking more prisoners

Towards the end of last year a number of police stations were having to accommodate prisoners because the gaols had become full. Apparently this policy has just been renewed with 6 cells in Torquay, Devon and 6 in Launceston, Cornwall being pressed into service "for the foreseeable future" say Devon and Cornwall Police. How depressing this all is! I believe we have a particularly large number of prisoners in this country relative to our population and for all the government claims of reducing crime there seems to be more of a squeeze on prison accommodation.

Of course one has to be careful with statistics; it might be that if sentences are longer that in itself would slow down the availability of cells. And it may be that as the country's population increases the number of criminals increase assuming the proportions stay the same. All very difficult but it seems to me that much more has to be done with young people who are starting to go off the rails.

Last night I watched the second of two programmes on ITV in which MP Ann Widdecombe visited a couple of notorious estates in London and confronted some of the hoodies. Some of these were OK though intimidating even more so when they congregated in stairwells. Ann spoke to some of the residents who had literally become prisoners in their own homes frightened to go out. The MP strikes me as pretty tough but even she seemed pretty shocked. I'm very keen to see our MPs seeing things at the sharp end be it a rundown estate in London or a farmer on Dartmoor battling the elements and red tape.

It almost defied belief seeing some of these Londoners trying to live their lives - one who was interviewed had been mugged several times. Without wishing to excuse the criminals in any way I would say that the design of the particular tower blocks seen in the two programmes was absolutely soul destroying and there seemed to be numerous alleyways and corners where those bent on mischief could hide. Lots and lots wrong there. Why doesn't the home secretary see these things for himself?

Donkey sanctuary welcomes 12,000th guest

Yesterday saw the arrival at the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary in East Devon of Silver, a white donkey who had been carrying children along the seafront at Skegness for the last several years. No cruelty here I'm pleased to say - just the owner wanting her to have a happy and contented retirement.

Silver is the 12,000th donkey to come to the sanctuary. Could the sanctuary's founder Dr Elizabeth Svendsen who started it way back in 1969 have ever envisaged that she would have given a home to so many donkeys over the years? Although Sidmouth is the home of the charity it now has a total of 10 farms spread over the UK and Ireland. Additionally it has major projects ongoing in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mexico, India, Spain and Egypt. I am always in awe of people like Dr Svendsen who have such drive and determination. In an age when "celebrities" get honours for no great reason it is good to know that Elizabeth has an MBE to her name, richly deserved I would say.

Amazing rescue off Cornwall

This morning has been stormy over the southwest although we haven't suffered too badly in the village. I hear though that in other places there have been power cuts and fallen trees. So for a landlubber like me I'm pleased not to be out at sea; the crew of the British registered container ship Napoli may also have wished to be anywhere but at sea when they had to abandon their vessel.

The drama started mid morning about 50 miles south of The Lizard when, for some unspecified reason, Napoli started shipping water through a hole in her hull and flooded her engine room. The 26 crew members made up of several nationalities decided to launch their lifeboat and two helicopters from Culdrose went to their rescue. Initially the severe gale force 9 winds and 30 foot swells made conditions too severe for a winch rescue so the choppers just held their station for a while. Fortunately the weather abated slightly and then the rescue was on! Each plane took 13 crew members off the bouncing rolling ship's lifeboat and got them all back to the Cornish mainland with no major injuries reported.

Latest reports suggest that the stricken vessel will be towed to a French port.

As always with these events the TV interviews afterwards show us the easy modesty of the rescuers as if it's been just another day at the office...

Comfortable with Radio4

We live in a fast changing world and there are times when I'm tempted to say "Whoa! Slow down a moment!" There are such a plethora of new laws all the time that it becomes difficult to keep up. And we are in the middle of an information revolution that is just as huge in its effect as the agrarian and industrial revolutions of centuries past. Then of course there is the revolution in travel as a direct result of the invention of the jet engine. To someone like me, born in the middle of the Second World War, and remembering the incredibly slow changes of yesteryear today's rapidity of change is something I'm not always comfortable with.

Fortunately living in a village where there is little scope for expansion I do not see very much difference in my surroundings year on year unlike many urban areas with their altered road layouts and new shopping malls. I don't think I'm a Luddite with regard to modern technology and ways of doing things but I'm not seduced by all of today's must have latest gizmos. One particular aspect of life I still find reassuring is the sense of continuity one gets with the BBC, in particular with radio4. Not just the programmes (although quite rightly they are entitled to try something new now and again) but I'm thinking at the moment about the newsreaders/ announcers. I usually turn on radio4 first thing in the morning to be welcomed by such voices as those of Susan Rae or Peter Donaldson, Charlotte Green or Vaughan Savidge for instance. Those familiar sounds are incredibly comforting I think, more so for those on their own and housebound. One can read a little about them on the BBC radio4 website. I hope to hear them for many years to come!

Possible development at Crugmeer

Crugmeer Farm is in the heart of that lovely little peninsula that lies between Padstow, Trevone and Stepper Point on the North Cornwall coast. Described as being somewhat rundown there are ambitious plans to provide a multi-million pound business centre there which would create 30 jobs. The older buildings would be refurbished and the more modern sheds replaced with new build.

There is an interesting article here which explains in some detail what the proposal is all about. It appears to have good support from the Padstow area and seems to be environmentally sound. Inevitably there is concern about increased traffic in the area but lying on the road that merely terminates at Hawker's Cove near the mouth of the Camel I don't see that as a major problem.

All in all I see this as a major boost for the Padstow area and for the Cornish economy. I guess that Rick Stein would be pleased to see it happen as well with all the potential for his eateries!

Another way to recycle newspapers

The village of Kenton just down the road from Exeter has seen the completion of two new eco-friendly homes. Hosting a variety of eco-features the one particular aspect that caught my eye was the use of insulation from 100% recycled newspaper. This has been treated to be fire and rodent proof although I don't know how eco-friendly that process is.

Two thoughts: I haven't investigated the economics of recycling newsprint but I'm enthusiastic about another possible use for it. The other point I would make is that although there is now a lot of proven technology out there to make buildings eco-friendly the adoption of it is small scale and piecemeal, we are so slow at making these things mainstream in this country with all the advantages of economy of scale.

Finally the houses each cost £110,000 to build and were made available for LOCAL people. Hooray!

Lynton goats in trouble again

Lynton and Lynmouth on the North Devon coast are just about the most special places I know and one of their fascinations is that they are still relatively difficult to access in the 21st century with quite poor roads leading to them. But access isn't a problem for the wild goat herd who inhabit the spectacular Valley of Rocks on the west side of Lynton. For as long as I can recall the goats, being goats, have had a liking for straying into the village and eating whatever is interesting including, at the moment, freshly laid flowers in the cemetery.

There have been some culls in the past but more recently a cattle grid has been put in at a cost of £40,000! However because of noise concerns instead of using round poles in the grid flat struts have been used instead. Those clever goats have discovered a way of crossing the new grid so the problem of the goats still remains.

Ah well, back to the drawing board I suppose.

New police chief

I read that the new Chief Constable for Devon and Cornwall Police should be in his post next week. He is Stephen Otter from the Avon and Somerset force. I did see him on TV last year after he had been selected for the job and my first impressions were of a fairly young man, very personable and someone with the ambition to sort out the problems he is inheriting. He certainly has a good media presence, something which I think will be a very useful asset in the months to come.

I wish him well and hope he can sort out the problems of morale in the force.

Tony Blair visits Devon again

"Tony Blair visits Devon again". All right I'm being sarcastic now! Mr Blair was in Devon yesterday and Thursday, it was his SECOND visit to Devon in the almost ten years of his premiership. This wasn't because of a guilty conscience in that he had been neglecting us it was because he made a speech to a selected audience of about 600 on board HMS Albion at Devonport. His lecture was one of a number he is making regarding our Nation's Future and concerned itself about our armed forces. It appears to have been a real mishmash of thoughts but it seems that he believes that the UK should combine a defensive role with an interventionist one. Bloggers are generally tearing his lecture to shreds for example see the entry here this morning by Tom (http://www.blairwatch.co.uk/).

My view is that if the war in Afghanistan is questionable the one in Iraq is downright wrong. What is patently obvious is that we cannot conduct two significant wars at the same time and that our armed forces are seriously overstretched; it should be remembered that the top brass have been warning the government about this in a very public way.

Once again I have to say that Tony Blair is almost an irrelevance now; why should his MPs, his ministers, world leaders and the public at large take any notice of a prime minister who in months or even possibly weeks will be departing the scene. I certainly wouldn't!

Thrushes undeterred by the weather

After a much brighter day yesterday the weather has once again reverted to its familiar wet and windy self. But whatever the weather the song thrush I can hear whilst typing this is undeterred in his singing and has in fact been singing for many days now. I am a huge lover of nature even though I can't claim to be a wildlife expert and one thing that really blows my mind is the incredible variety of birdsong and calls. The anatomical structure of different bird species seems to follow broadly similar lines and I would have thought that their voice boxes would have shown little variation. Yet, fortunately for us, their songs display remarkable variety. I'm told that if you had a chiffchaff in one hand and a willow warbler in the other an expert would be hard pressed to separate the two yet their songs could not be more dissimilar!

We can easily get blase about nature but its abundance and variety continues to leave me spellbound!

Tony Blair and those long haul flights

Tony Blair has just got back from another foreign holiday - this time in Florida courtesy I understand of one of the Bee Gees pop group - and has been questioned on his love of long haul flights that he and his family take for their holidays. Everyone should know by now the rapidly increasing emissions put out by the expansion of cheap flights and many of us want to see a curb on their use. I would agree that we need a healthy airline industry but don't see any need for its relentless expansion. Isn't one long holiday a year in farflung foreign parts enough for the Blairs? No evidently. I remember, at the time of the Foot and Mouth crisis of 2001 which caused much hardship to our tourism industry, Tony Blair was persuaded to take some holiday in this country. He spent just a few days in Cornwall before going abroad as usual. At the time I thought it was just a gesture and that he didn't really enjoy it. This is a far cry from Harold and Mary Wilson going to the Scillies or to the Thatchers regularly staying with friends somewhere in, I believe, the Padstow area.

Surely the Blairs could limit themselves to one foreign holiday per annum and then have another holiday in the westcountry for instance. He might learn a little bit about us rather than neglecting us! He says he is going to make his personal trips abroad "carbon neutral", is Cherie doing this as well? It seems that a popular way to salve one's conscience is to plant some trees but as trees expire CO2 over a long period of time compared with the very short timeslot of emissions during a flight I would like to see some figures as to how long it takes a tree to grow to compensate. But of course aircraft emissions should take into account a lot of other things other than individual flights. Here are a few activities stacking up carbon emissions: design, testing and manufacture of the aircraft, servicing, repair and decommissioning of planes, construction of airports (manufacture of concrete is particularly bad for the environment). I bet these things aren't factored in! I could extend the argument to another level: if we import food and goods by plane from abroad then these are part of our CO2 contribution even if the plane was to start in China for instance, it is we who are doing the buying.

This is not to wave a stick at the airlines but more a case of pointing out the damage they are doing. There are life enhancing reasons to jet off somewhere and of course many families are spread out over different countries, continents even but as to two or three holidays abroad each year that is just too much.

The wall starts to come down

For decades the population in Plymouth's Devonport have had the misery of a massive wall splitting the community. This, complete with barbed wire on its top, was erected some time after the area was heavily bombed in the second world war and the defence people enclosed the land as part of the dockyard complex. It must feel a little bit like the Berlin Wall before that came down or like the present wall built by the Israelis between it and the Palestinians but, thank god, you don't risk getting shot even if you could surmount it.

Well today with due ceremony a large excavator started demolishing it. The plan is to build about 500 homes on this brownfield site together with shops and offices. I can imagine quite a bit of celebrating in Devonport tonight; for too long this community has suffered from neglect - this should be a turning point for them.

New post office opened

Lanreath is a very pretty village in south east Cornwall and lies in that quiet hinterland behind the bustling coast of Looe and Polperro. With so many community facilities under threat it's great to be able to report some good news! Having lost their post office the villagers decided to do something about it - they came to an arrangement with Caradon District Council to purchase for a nominal sum a redundant public toilet of all things! This has now been converted into the new village post office.

The village has a reputation for being proactive I'm pleased to say. Quite recently in a "village moves to the city" scenario over 100 residents took their case for keeping their primary school open to London and thereby got national publicity for their cause. And they have had reason to celebrate when they were voted "The Best Kept Village" in Cornwall. A place with a great community spirit and epitomising all the best aspects of an English village.

This entry reminds me that I must visit Lanreath's Folk and Farm Museum this year which has got a good reputation. I understand that it is housed in an old tithe barn. The Church sounds as if it is worth a look as well.

I despair of Blair

The more time goes on the more I despair of Tony Blair! If ever a government leader is past his sell by date it is him. His silence on commenting on Saddam's execution is absolutely deafening; Margaret Beckett, John Prescott, Gordon Brown and now "Downing Street" itself have spoken so what is holding back Mr Blair? The aforementioned politicians have spoken fairly diplomatically about Saddam's hanging and the circumstances surrounding it (I could have written the script for them!) so why is our leader so reticent? He could have made similar comments without creating a diplomatic incident I'm sure. We are told he will talk about it during this coming week so why is he holding back?

Let me advance a couple of alternative theories: we know that Tony's mentor George W is going to make a speech to the Americans in the next few days so perhaps Bush has told Blair to "sit and stay" for the moment. Another possibility, perhaps Iraq has so got to Blair now that, while he is sunning himself in Florida, he just can't face up to dealing with such things. One has to remember that Blair is a control freak and what two things are exercising his mind right now? I would suggest that they are how we now proceed with the quagmire that is Iraq and what happens with the "cash for honours" investigation being carried out by Yates of the Yard. These are events that are taking on a life of their own and have largely spun out of Blair's control.

Listening to Blair and looking at his body language he seems to have lost his edge; certainly the swagger has gone and he is in an incredibly weak position with it seems very little power to influence anything. I suspect he will still put in some good performances at PMQs unless Cameron can floor him with totally unexpected questions but so far as his party and the country are concerned he has lost all authority. We will now see more and more ministers aligning themselves with Gordon Brown (it will be funny if Reid gets the job) so now we have a government in power but with no real direction or purpose. I know that Blair let it be known that he wasn't seeking a fourth term as leader when there were anxieties about his long term health but what a terrible misjudgement on his part for creating all this uncertainty.

But the bottom line is this: Blair falsified the reason for going to war with Iraq, a country that had not declared war on us and which was not attacking our interests. This is fundamentally wrong. Blair is now reaping the whirlwind, the trouble is that hundreds of thousands are dying because of the folly of Bush and Blair.

Wild boar in Devon

This is a story that is preoccupying the local media at the moment. Some time back animal rights activists let loose wild boar from Devon farms. A group of these boar are doing very well in the Buckland Monachorum/Roborough Down area to the west of Dartmoor. What is causing the flurry of interest right now is that there are a number of baby wild boar there and the sows are of course very very protective towards them. I know that even with the more domesticated type of pig you upset a sow who has just had a litter at your peril.

The area the boar are inhabiting is popular with walkers with and without dogs and is moorland with numerous sheep who will be lambing in the not too distant future. Dogs and newborn lambs together can cause problems, now we have wild boar and their litters in the mix. It is one thing in Europe having wild boar on the loose but in our tiny island with, as outlined above, people, dogs, sheep and boar all competing for the same space then conflicts are likely to ensue. So far on Roborough Down there have been one or two instances of boar going for dogs but luckily nothing more serious - yet.

The more militant of the animal rights people make me so angry; I absolutely respect people's points of view but releasing animals such as wild boar or mink from farms is totally and utterly wrong. Short of infiltrating their groups it will be an enormous challenge to catch the perpetrators. The worry now is if things get out of hand and a boar kills a dog or a lamb and the shooting starts.

Inquest starts at last

Yesterday saw the start of an inquest into the deaths of 6 UK servicemen, based at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall, who with a US serviceman were killed as a result of a collision between two Sea King helicopters in the Iraq war back in 2003. Out of the 6 three came from Cornwall and one came from Devon. I was very pleased that on the inquest's first day relatives of the dead were able to voice their own moving tributes to those they had lost.

It was a subject discussed on the Radio Devon phone in Wednesday lunchtime. One impassioned member of the public was very distressed about the long delay between event and inquest and I have to say how I agree with him. Clearly the families can have no sense of closure on this awful tragedy until the inquest is completed. Justin Leigh, who hosts the programme, stated that one problem causing the delay was the fact that the bodies being repatriated to this country generally are flown to RAF Brize Norton and that the inquests are all carried out at Oxford as is happening in this current case. I really do not understand why some of these inquests can't be carried out elsewhere in the case of bodies being returned from abroad if it would shorten the agonies of the loved ones.

Just one further comment. I may be wrong but I don't believe that Tony Blair has written any letters of condolence to the families of those who have died in Afghanistan or the over 100 who have come back in coffins from Iraq, or have visited the families. If he had I think it would have been made public by now. With his bogus sincerity he and the other leading party leaders will acknowledge the deaths in Parliament but that seems to be it. Blair will always be remembered for taking us into a war on a false premise, that is his legacy.

Icy forecast from Piers Corbyn

On 27th December I wrote a post about Mr Corbyn's predictions regarding storms in that month. So far as the last of the three "storms" were concerned we did have a rough weekend certainly, slightly after his suggested date of 26th to 28th. Although sadly the weather indirectly led to two fatalities, one at Trevone in Cornwall and the other at Wembury in Devon, the reality was that the storm was fairly typical of that experienced in our area at this time of year. Certainly the wind though strong was not of the violence Mr Corbyn predicted.

I read now that Piers Corbyn says we can expect a particularly cold spell from 10th January (ie next Wednesday) till 20th January with temps down to -6 degrees! Whether that is night time minima in frost hollows I don't know. Contrast these predictions with those of Everton Fox on the BBC's weather website in which Mr Fox estimates that there won't be cold weather during this timeframe, in fact it will be mild or very mild! I'm not coming down in favour of either forecaster but it will be fascinating to see what weather materialises.

New buses for Park and Ride

When I went into Tavistock today I noticed that First Western National had one of their new all singing all dancing buses on display in Bedford Square. The firm have bought, I think, 9 of these double deckers for use on the Plymouth Park & Ride scheme. As there is now a large car park near "The George" and close to the airport it is evident that this bit of PR is to encourage people from Tavistock to switch to a bus at that point.

I duly got on the bus for a look around and was immediately surprised by the massive amount of legroom when I thought that might be sacrificed for additional seats to make it more cost efficient. But then I started some lateral thinking and saw the logic - imagine that you have spent half an hour on the rural part of your cummute in your car then you will be wanting the public transport to have a comparable degree of comfort or you will be tempted not to make the switch. There are also computer screens on the two decks so that the driver can input such infomation as the estimated time to the next stop. There is a ramp for disabled access which the driver can (manually) put down; is that a mandatory requirement now on public service vehicles I wonder? I suspect it is.

These buses on this particular park and ride go at 10 minute intervals so that should satisfy most I would think. They are very swish and not surprisingly cost close to £200,000!

What a contrast: Plymouth has a Park and Ride scheme, including some dedicated bus lanes, perhaps as good as anywhere. On the other hand they have an absolute hell-hole in the main bus station. When will something be done about Bretonside?

Hallsands - a correction

In my recent post on Hallsands I included two links; the second one was fine but in the first I think there was a misspelling so here is the second attempt. I shall try and do better in future.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! We say this automatically every new year don't we. I would prefer to say "I wish you all the best in health and happiness for the rest of your life!" The reason I say this is because I find all the new years eve/day shenanigans leave me distinctly underwhelmed: I am almost a bah humbug person I suppose - perhaps I should audition for that excellent tv programme "Grumpy Old Men".

Unlike the winter and summer solstices the last day of the year is an entirely artificial construct and really has no significance for me over and above other days of the year. I have to admit that I'm not really that much of a party person and don't join in the celebrations. There were plenty of fireworks let off in the village at midnight and after (and in the time leading up to the magic hour for those who couldn't wait). I find this activity quite bizarre.

However I prefer to state some positives in my posts! So I could see on today's BBC news that the fireworks display held in the Capital in the area of "The London Eye" were spectacular and would have been worth watching. Stormy weather put a stop to some of the activities in Scotland and the north of England though. As usual pub and hotel owners in Devon and Cornwall had something to smile about: the usual hotspots like Bideford and Newquay, Looe and Dartmouth being popular with revellers and the fancy dress brigade. It is always pleasing to see people having a good time provided they are not upsetting others in the process.

But as for me it's not my cup of tea, or pint of St Austell ale for that matter.