Learning about oral history

For my sins I am the programme secretary for our local history group. Now most speakers come and talk to slides but last evening's talk, the first of the autumn session, was somewhat different. This was a talk interspersed with sound clips.

Our speaker, Lorna Baker, moved into my village earlier this year and I was interested to find out that not only did she have a business recording people's reminiscences but that she was happy to talk to our group about the subject. I'm pleased to say that there are more and more local history groups, archives and museums around these days and people are waking up to the importance of oral history. In fact our own Calstock Parish Archive has a number of tapes of local people some of which have now been transcribed. Although useful these recordings were done some years ago and it has to be said if done today the quality would be much improved.

In her talk Lorna recalled her career as a BBC researcher and producer. She had been involved in such programmes as 'Any Questions' (still going strong) and 'Down Your Way' which was a gem of a programme whereby the team would visit a particular town say and talk to some of the interesting inhabitants. Unless I'm getting confused the interviewee having said his or her piece then was able to choose a piece of music to listen to.

Until now I had really thought of sound recordings as a tool in exploring local history but Lorna explained the aspect she was particularly interested in. Her angle in this intriguing subject is to create CDs of personal reminiscences of people's lives primarily for the benefit of their immediate family and for them in turn to hand on to future generations.

As I stated earlier Lorna entertained us with clips of some of her earlier recordings. She explained that she had written permission from these particular people so of course if you didn't want your personal recollections in the public domain then they won't be.

If you wish to share some of these permitted extracts then it's worth visiting her website here. Incidentally I think her website is one of the most user friendly ones that I've seen but if you are desperate to see flashing lights, shooting stars and other gizmos then you had better pass it by.

Thank you Lorna for a fascinating and eye opening (or should that be ear opening?) talk.

Lynton to Barnstaple Railway plans expansion

There has been a particularly interesting piece of Devon news in the last few days and that is the ambitious plans by 'The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust' to extend their railway. The original line was a narrow gauge affair that first opened in 1898 but, despite the intervention of the Southern Railway, closed down at the very early date of 1935. In the last few years dedicated enthusiasts have reconstructed a section of it from Woody Bay Station westward for about a mile. Having dipped their toe in the water so to speak the Trust have announced a £30 million project to add another 9 miles. As I understand it they hope to extend the line onward to Blackmore Gate and then go the other way to Lynton. Ultimately they would like to reopen the whole railway to Barnstaple.

I certainly hope that they succeed and accept that preserved railways can be successful. But as to this location I'm just not sure. Remember it wasn't successful in its original life when there wouldn't have been that much competition from the motor car. Having said that narrow gauge lines work in rural Wales and then there was one in the Lake District I went on many moons ago.

For me the twin villages of Lynton and Lynmouth are one of the most special places in Devon and Cornwall, there is something other world about them. Perhaps it's the fact that you still have to make a fairly determined effort to get there because whereas one can go east - west through our peninsula with relative ease these days it is still quite an adventure to visit our most northerly outpost. Yes Devon's north to south roads are in stark contrast to the much improved A30, A38 and North Devon Link Road.

For anyone visiting the twin villages a trip on the unique water powered cliff railway is a must. This is a business unrelated to the narrow gauge railway.

The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Trust have a website here for anyone wanting to know more.

It's all a numbers game these days

Have you noticed that we seem to be dominated by numbers in this day and age? This was brought home to me today by the announcement by the BBC of the fortieth birthday of Radio1, 2, 3 and 4. If you are of a certain age you will recall that the radio services, or wireless using the vocabulary of the time, consisted of 'The Light Programme', 'The Third Programme' and 'The Home Service' corresponding to today's 2, 3 and 4. Radio 1 came about as a response to pirate radio that dispensed the pop music of the day.

It's the same with telephone numbers - the actual name of an exchange is somewhat superfluous. But in the old days when having to go through the operator a place name was conspicuous by its presence and its fascinating to recall the old single digit and two digit phone numbers in your old town. For instance my grandparents phone number was Salcombe 44; I can remember the weight of those chunky old phones as well, always in black of course. Staying with the nostalgic theme I remember the first car I had been driven in, owned by grandfather it was a Ford 8 registration number CDV 55. If only I could recall the events of a month ago with equal clarity!

I think it's the anonymity that numbers bring which is slightly depressing. I'm sure that I would hate to live on '42nd street' for instance as I might have to do if living in the USA I suppose. Let's hope we never get totally submerged by numbers, it would take away individuality.

New flights to Newquay from Dusseldorf

Commencing from next summer there is to be a new airline service from Newquay Airport to Dusseldorf in Germany. I've expressed opposition before to the ever increasing number of flights but in this case we are talking about Newquay not Heathrow and it's a fact that Newquay Airport is currently underused.

Apparently part of the demand for this service from those in Germany derives from the love affair of those people for the TV dramatisation of the works of Rosamunde Pilcher, many of whose stories are set in Cornwall. The following for novels set in England is absolutely amazing, who would have thought the writing of novels would influence the decision to open a new route.

These visitors will be quite high spending I guess so overall this is a good boost for the Cornish economy. Will other foreign airlines follow the example of Lufthansa in connecting with Newquay?

Full time music can be irritating

Right. Time to be a one of the grumpy old men. A cottage not far from mine is having its roof sorted out by the sound of it judging by the banging going on and also the presence of the local roof specialist's trucks. I'm assuming this because the cottage concerned is down a little side track not readily visible from this spot because of the volume of vegetation twixt them and me. Now the banging of course is unavoidable, building work just is a noisy activity, but it seems that builders like many others today can't function without the obligatory musical accompaniment. And it's not just tradesmen repairing a house, even some of the relatively small shops in nearby Tavistock pump out this supposed music while you are there - the 'Superdrug' store was a culprit when I visited to get some toothpaste the other day. The sort they play is the least melodic imaginable with words that can't be understood. Is it purely for the benefit of the young shop assistants I wonder? Whatever it's irritating and I can't wait to get out!

Now I've blogged before about the never ending cacophony of sound that one receives at times. And this is where I come to what I consider to be a key need in life, and that's 'contrast'. As I have said before in these ramblings I'm very fond of music. However I'm also passionate about the joy of silence. What I'm trying to say is that when the mood dictates I love to listen to music and when I say listen I mean listen properly. And the contrast with times of silence is a factor that makes music special. Again when music is being played exchanging a few words once in a while is just about OK but having a protracted conversation with someone is not something I like to do.

In a nutshell for me at least I'm happier when I concentrate on a specific activity and that activity becomes even better when it's in marked contrast to others. This concentration thing applies to walking as well as I normally prefer to either walk alone or with a single companion with a shared interest. If with a party of ramblers one inevitably is socialising with someone to be friendly (nothing wrong with that of course) but it dilutes ones appreciation of what is around you at the time. For many people today their day to day lives are too much of the same, not enough contrasts and this is partly why they get so desperate for that fortnight in Tenerife!

Reverting to music I had another 'fix' yesterday evening when once again I went to listen to the 'Calstock Rubber Band' who I've praised before. I shared the pleasure with American friends of mine in the village who seldom miss the opportunity to listen to this vibrant music and this time they brought with them another American couple (long time friends staying with them). Our amiable visitors enjoyed the experience never having listened to anything quite like it on the other side of the pond. And that's another theme of mine - when you visit another country you must sample some of the local culture, it seems such a waste going otherwise. Back to having contrasts in your life I guess and developing ones understanding of other people.

I think that's enough of my philosophy today!

Plymouth plan to demolish Civic Centre

Back in April last year an organisation called 'The Twentieth Century Society' whose website has its relevant page here applied to English Heritage to have Plymouth's 14 storey high Civic Centre listed. Now it seems that the listing procedure doesn't involve giving notice to the public and having meetings that people can come and make their views known. The upshot was that EH designated the Civic Centre a grade 2 listed building much to the amazement of a huge number of Plymouth's residents and others familiar with this structure.

Construction of the centre was completed in the early sixties and its supporters, including Plymouth historian Chris Robinson, consider it to be an icon of its age and really the culmination of the post World War Two redevelopment of Plymouth. But for the city fathers the building poses a problem - its condition has markedly deteriorated in recent years even to the extent of the odd bit of masonry falling off. It has got to the stage that it will need many millions of pounds to put right. The possible reasons for its poor state of repair is something I'm not going to speculate on, suffice to say that it's a very sad looking building these days.

The city council have just announced what they would like to do: they want the building delisted and demolished. New council offices would be constructed at Bretonside and the awful bus and coach station there rebuilt. Cash would be raised from the existing civic centre site by selling to a developer but as part of that scheme the city library would be transferred to the Royal Parade site. This would release extra space to the city museum currently occupying somewhat cramped quarters next to the library.

Now delisting a building is not unheard of but is unlikely to be straightforward. Certainly the 3 MPs representing Plymouth are united in their desire to see it gone. So how do I feel about it? Well my normal instinct would be to try and preserve it as an interesting example of its type and because it has formed part of Plymouth's redevelopment for over 40 years now. I also have a fond memory in one of my mad moments of abseiling from the roof for charity; I was one of a good number of others on that Sunday by the way. The building itself doesn't offend me but it's clear that a very large number of others would like to see it go. But it can no longer be a good place to work in and must be the extreme opposite of what one would consider an eco friendly building. Usually I like to see an existing structure updated to make it decently energy efficient for example because the process of new build in itself is damaging to our fragile environment especially when concrete is used. Sadly I believe that the existing civic centre is beyond economical repair and regrettably should be demolished.

Knitted house is reprieved

Last Friday I posted up a story about a unique knitted gingerbread house that was on public display before having to be taken down because of 'health and safety' fears. The problem apparently was that it was a fire hazard - stuff and nonsense so far as I was concerned but there it is. The excellent follow up news is that it has now been fireproofed and can continue to be on public display! It is made up of numerous knitted woolen squares made by people from all over the world and the hope is that those seeing it will contribute to nominated charities.

Originally at a shopping centre at Bideford it will go on display at the three day 'Creative Stitches and Hobbycrafts Show' at the Westpoint Arena just to the east of Exeter. This starts on Thursday. It will then go on tour visiting Harrogate, Cardiff, Brighton, Glasgow, Birmingham and Liverpool.

There's a good old saying "It's an ill wind that blows no good" and whereas the original problem shouldn't have happened in my opinion, at least the attendant publicity has refocused public attention on this intriguing woolen house.

Grumpy doctor back in Port Isaac

Perhaps the best news in the autumn TV schedules is the return of 'Doc Martin' for its third series. It is a comedy drama set in the fictitious fishing village of Portwenn, in reality Port Isaac on the craggy North Cornwall coast. In the first episode yesterday evening Dr Martin Ellingham, played to perfection by Martin Clunes, is as grumpy and lacking in bedside manner as ever. The stories seem to get that balance between comedy and drama just right and with the stunning backdrop of North Cornwall's scenery what more could one wish for.

I have always loved Port Isaac and like most small Cornish fishing villages there is something very special about the way they are crammed into the narrow clefts of the towering cliffs. With the advent of 'Doc Martin' it is more popular than ever. However there is a downside to this - the village being so compact enables the TV viewer to quickly figure out the geography on the ground so to speak which has led some people to infringe the privacy of certain residents. I'm thinking specifically of the cottage the outside of which is the surgery in the show. I would appeal to people not to go peering in the window etc, in reality it is a private home after all!
Apart from that minor gripe the attention received by the village has to be good economically.

Aided and abetted by good scenery and well developed if quirky characters, series such as this and 'Heartbeat' another good example typify British TV at its very best. Long may they continue to entertain us.

A wet and windy night

Last night was quite a contrast to the quiet dry weather we had experienced in the first half of September. After a dampish sort of Sunday the strong wind and heavy rain arrived overnight with a vengeance. Fortunately for us in the Tamar Valley we weren't subject to the mini tornadoes that caused structural damage in eastern England. This is British weather for you, it seldom seems to be without incident.

One thing that I have noticed with many a person particularly those hosting radio programmes is the misuse of the term 'Indian Summer'. They will persist in talking of an Indian Summer as any nice settled period immediately following the normal summer season. For those thinking the first fortnight of this month fell under that description, well they are absolutely wrong. An Indian Summer refers to that very still weather we can get late in the autumn, say the end of October and into November. I do wish they would get it right!

First case of Bluetongue in Britain

The often fatal bluetongue disease which has been hitting farm animals hard in northern Europe has now appeared in Suffolk. The symptoms in a highland cow at a rare breeds farm have proved to be that of bluetongue and the animal has now been slaughtered. It is a particular kind of midge that carries the virus, fortunately there is nothing for humans to worry about.

It has been thought that it would only be a matter of time before bluetongue would arrive on our shores. Let's just hope that this is a very isolated case. With the Foot and Mouth worries this is the very last thing our farmers need.

At present there is no vaccine to counter the illness but there is some hope that one might be developed within the next 12 months.

There is now a foot and mouth scare in Hampshire. Hopefully that will be another false alarm. But these are very jittery times for our livestock farmers.

Coastwatchers receive praise from their boss

Time was when the work of the coastguard service depended largely on numerous pairs of eyes scanning the coastline from a number of unlovely but functional look out buildings dotted along our cliffs. Then came technology and government cutbacks. The result so far as Devon and Cornwall were concerned was the centralisation of their work into more state of the art facilities at Falmouth and Brixham and the gradual abandonment of the lookouts. I think I am right in saying that HM Coastguard look after the North Devon coast, and I suppose some of North Cornwall also, from Swansea. Now this change of policy was pretty controversial at the time, there being a feeling that someone on the spot with a good pair of binoculars was still needed.

A sad event in our area back in 1994 led to the reopening of some of the lookouts. Two fishermen drowned close to the recently closed Bass Point station on The Lizard. Locals decided to reopen the lookout and set up a volunteer watch. From these humble beginnings the charity the National Coastwatch Institution was born. I won't describe their full history because it is easier to go to their website here. From that small beginning a number of the old lookout stations have come out of mothballs including I'm glad to say the one on the cliff south of Boscastle. I have a particular affection for that one with its dazzling white walls.

It is interesting to click on 'reports' on the website, so far in 2007 (at the time of writing) the NCI has been involved in 114 major incidents. This excludes many minor events. The report makes fascinating reading regarding the nature of the incidents and the lookout points involved. There is no doubt that this charity is performing a very useful function; it's interesting to note other charities from Cornwall, the country's first air ambulance for instance (no funding from the public purse), and the brilliant Shelterbox scheme.

I've chosen this moment to blog about the NCI because the volunteers at Bass Point have just been congratulated by the Chairman for their dedication and have received certificates in recognition of the time they have spent there.

There are so many people doing voluntary work very often out of the eye of the general public. It is nice to be able to mention some of them occasionally.

Objections to lifeguard hut at Constantine Bay

Constantine Bay is about half way down North Cornwall's coast. Whereas so much of that coast is made up of magnificent cliffs with some of the most exhilarating and demanding walking you could wish for there are areas of complete contrast with wide sandy beaches backed by dunes and gentle grassy slopes, tamarisk hedges and golf courses. Constantine Bay fits into this second category. Understandably it's popular with visitors and in the summer has a lifeguard presence.

The lifeguards had previously had a hut to operate from but this had reached its 'sell by date' with the result that currently it has temporary accommodation on the beach which, come the end of the season, is removed from site to be reinstalled the following spring. However the RNLI would like a permanent replacement and this suggestion has locals up in arms, so much so that about 150 of them turned up to confront planners at the Bay. The objectors of course are appreciative of what the lifeguards do but appear to prefer the status quo of the movable accommodation.

A decision has yet to be made by the planners; I've not seen the plans for the proposed building but bearing in mind that something will be there for a good six months of the year whatever happens I do wonder if the problems raised are more imaginary than real. Watch this space for the outcome of the council's deliberations!

Parishioners carry out referendum

The tiny village of East Stoke near Wareham in Dorset sounds an unlikely sort of place to start a revolution but it's been the scene of an unusual event this past week which just might be the start of something very significant in the democratic process. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is prepared to renege on the promise of his predecessor to hold a referendum on the question of the European Constitution. Originally of course the French and Dutch had scuppered the proposals so the powers that be have made one or two small changes, called it a treaty rather than a constitution so that in revised form it can come into effect. Whatever the politicians say I still consider that it is a proposal for a constitution and should still be put to the population at large.

Now it so happens that by way of an obscure piece of legislation a meeting can be called to discuss whether to hold a vote on an issue. If a minimum of 10 people at that meeting call for a poll then it must go ahead. The East Stoke question was absolutely straightforward: "Do you want a referendum on the EU Constitutional Treaty? Yes or No?". For that parish at least it was a very substantial "Yes" - out of the 300 plus parishioners 80 turned up with the result Yes 72, No 8.

Now in Devon and Cornwall there has been some interest in using this democratic process. Places as diverse as Sidmouth, Shaldon, Newton and Noss, Lanteglos by Fowey and Mawgan-in-Meneage could soon be in the limelight.

Whatever the outcome of any future mini referenda it would be good to see this government severely embarrassed. Politicians just pay lip service to democracy, if they can squirm away from it they surely will.

Peace dance not peaceful for all

Have you met someone who you judge to be sensible, reasonable, thinks like you and then you find out their taste in music only to mutter to yourself "How can he (she) like that awful music (singer, player)". Yes music can lead to some very polarised views - one man's meat is another man's poison and all that. With me there is certainly some music I love and other music I abhor. So the tale I'm about to tell is a little difficult to relate objectively.

A few days ago, well last weekend Friday to Sunday to be precise, Powderham Castle on the west bank of the estuary of the River Exe staged a concert. Nothing remarkable about that: as a private estate they host many events from pop concerts to vintage rallies and by and large enjoy good relations with their neighbours such as the villages of Kenton and Starcross. But last weekend things went somewhat awry...

It was the weekend of 'The Wave Project'. To put ourselves in the picture (I didn't go) I'll quote from the special events listing on Powderham's website - "Award winning production company, Family Gathering Ltd will be bringing the UK's first 'green' dance music festival to the picturesque grounds at Powderham Castle. The 3 day event will bring together an exciting synergy of dance music, visionary art and environmental awareness". The cost by the way was £70. Go to Waveform Projects website and you can read a message from Sun Bird, Founding Director, Waveform Project: one sentence states "At midnight on Saturday 15th September over 1,000,000 people from over 300 events in 70 countries will dance together and invoke a prayer for peace."

The aims of the three day event might well have been laudable. What produced the biggest problem was the fact that a significant number of people had their peace disturbed. Reports say that there was an incessant bass sound carrying on through the night till not far short of daybreak the following morning. I think that this was the first event of its type at Powderham, locals are well used to concerts, etc finishing the right side of midnight so this greatly extended 'musical' event really caught residents by surprise. One organiser (I think it might actually have been Sun Bird) said that the music was on a reduced scale after midnight but of course those people have little perception of how very loud their offerings can appear to other people. I suspect that to some of those on the receiving end it must have seemed like some audio version of Chinese water torture. A lot of criticism came from residents of Lympstone which is just on the opposite bank of the Exe from Powderham and of course they would have been completely unaware of what was going to take place.

Now I don't want to sound like a killjoy and, to an extent, I agree with 'live and let live'. But in this case it appears that the music was unrelenting and was obviously hell for some. If one accepts the statement about 1,000,000 people dancing worldwide at midnight then I can accept music going on for ten minutes or so after that but continuing to say 5.30 in the morning which was the time mentioned by some - well no way!

Powderham is regarded as being pretty responsible but I think they have some fences to mend here.

Knitted house a possible hazard

Here is a story that a few years ago would have seemed unbelievable but in today's health and safety environment is perhaps not so strange.

Visitors to the Atlantic Village shopping centre at Bideford in North Devon have been able to see an extraordinary knitted house where everything except the door and window frames is made of wool. It has a floor area of 140 square feet, big enough for a person to get inside. The knitted squares, which include furniture made of wool, have been made by enthusiasts from around the world and the idea of displaying it was to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital and the North Devon Hospice. Sadly it is having to be taken down as it is deemed to be a fire hazard.

Apparently the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service were asked to look at it from a safety point of view. They had to give the honest answer that it was a possible fire hazard as the 'house' was not flame retardant. So the house has to go.

Now I don't know just where the knitted house was in the shopping complex but under the present legislation it would be a non smoking area I would think. I cannot believe that the fire hazard was any greater than going into a greeting cards shop, a video rental shop or a store selling paint. If the authorities were concerned about someone being inside if it caught fire then I would think people could be stopped from entering and restricted to looking through the windows. My take on it is that the management of Atlantic Village were over zealous about asking for safety advice unless of course some meddling member of the public posed the question in the first place. Once the fire service got involved they had to give an honest assessment and Atlantic Village would have had to react or risk their insurance if by that million to one chance there was a fire.

'Health and Safety' concerns have reached absolutely ridiculous levels. It's about time they realised that some microscopic amount of risk in life has to be accepted. Where is it all going to end?

New Princesshay recycles much of the old

Following on from the opening of Plymouth's Drake Circus development not so long ago today has seen the ribbon cut at the new look Princesshay in Exeter. Apparently it has some 60 or so shops, cafes and restaurants although a small number of these retail outlets have yet to be let. Interestingly it incorporates a number of flats, about 120 I believe. I'm a great believer in bringing housing into the centre of our cities, not that I would really want to live in a city myself. But for a city to be vibrant it needs people to live there 24/7 and not just be given over to the retail and office sectors.

Not being one in love with retail therapy I am not going to drop everything and dash off to Exeter but there are one or two of aspects of the new Princesshay worth commenting on. Firstly, a high proportion of the estimated 43,000 tonnes of waste coming from the demolition of the unremarkable old Princesshay has been crushed and then recycled into the new scheme. In fact about 40,000 tonnes or over 90%. This is fantastic. There seems to be a more conscious effort to reuse old material - it has always irked me to see old demolition material going to landfill and new construction using all virgin materials. Perhaps with landfill tax it is becoming a financial imperative to go down the environmental route, I don't know.

The other thing I want to mention (and I'm afraid this is a downside) is the appearance of the new higher buildings viewed from Exeter's Cathedral Green. It is not the architecture itself, possibly anything might be more inspiring than the previous nondescript look, but it's the fact that it now breaks the skyline looking across the Green whereas the older version did not. I have to thank John Evans at his website here for pointing this out. It seems that the decision makers never consider a development's appearance from a historically critical location. I think John's photos say it all really.

I'm not going to get into any sort of Exeter versus Plymouth argument thanks very much. Just to say that the two cities are distinctly different and that Princesshay with its addition of flats and being open air as opposed to the enclosed shopping centre at Drake Circus (well it does rain more at Plymouth!) has ensured that the differentiation continues. Hooray for that I say!

Branscombe Project to tell Napoli story

The Branscombe Project in East Devon was set up make an oral record of history in the village. It was back in January this year that the lives of the residents of Branscombe were turned upside down by the unexpected arrival of MSC Napoli off their shoreline. The subsequent events have proved to be so momentous that the villagers decided to include them as part of the Branscombe Project. To that end I'm pleased to say that they have been awarded £2680 in lottery funding to record the views and experiences of the local people affected.

Go-ahead granted for Cornwall Wave Hub

Today is a red letter day for Cornwall because the Government is announcing the go-ahead for a ground breaking development - the construction of a 'Wave Hub' off the coast of Cornwall. This 'Wave Hub' to be built on the seabed some 10 miles from Hayle will effectively be a giant electrical socket connected by undersea cable to a substation on the mainland. There are a number of companies in the throes of developing various types of technology using wave power to generate electricity and the hub will permit them to connect into the mains as it were. At the time of writing four firms have already been selected to have their devices connected to the hub which it is anticipated will be operational in a couple of years.

Cornwall is right at the cutting edge of this technology as the hub will be a world first. It is also the opportunity for the wave generation firms to see just how well their designs perform. And then of course there is the huge potential benefit for the economy of Cornwall.

Of course Cornwall has always been in the forefront of the green energy revolution: we had the first commercial wind farm at Delabole (although I still have doubts about wind energy) and there was also the innovative 'hot rocks' project that I think never properly came to fruition because of lack of money. But wave energy is something else; I can really see massive potential here.

Reflections on 200 blog entries

I see that yesterday I made my 200th entry on this blog so I thought maybe I would just pause for a moment and look back over the past months and reflect on how well (or badly!) I've done.

When I started the blog my intention was to concentrate as the blog name implies on matters of importance and interest in my two favourite counties. However I had said that I would make comments on events with a national or international slant if the mood took me and this has happened. On occasion this has caused me a bit of a dilemma because instinctively I prefer to stay with Devon and Cornwall.

One particular aspect of 'blogger' which I didn't use at the start (not sure it was even available) is the facility to attach labels to the end of each blog entry. I started using this part way through the blog and then went back through all the prior entries. These are listed on the right hand side of the current blog page and is a ready means of access should anybody be interested in referring to all the entries relating to a particular subject. At the moment 'MSC Napoli' is taking pride of place with the most entries with 34 blogs: this will increase substantially when the promised public enquiry by Devon County Council commences.

On the subject of the Napoli I wonder how many bloggers have covered this story as comprehensively as I have. There have been so many strands in this saga and I have felt compelled to write almost every time something new happens. If I knew how things were to turn out I would have been tempted to write a separate blog just devoted to MSC Napoli!!

Blogs have proved a great release for people such as yours truly who have been frustrated by the lack of opportunity to sound off about things that personally matter. OK as yet I don't have a counter for number of visits to this blog and I'm sure it's minute compared with many others. But at least I feel better for it, hopefully it is entertaining or interesting someone, and apart from my time and a little bit of electricity to power the laptop, it's free! By the way I would be fascinated to know in this age of instant communication via the internet whether 'Speakers Corner' in Hyde Park, at least I think it's Hyde Park, still operates.

So what will the next 200 entries bring? I think I've got quite a wide spectrum of interest but can say with some certainty that TV soaps and today's pop music won't feature. Sport will be noticeable by its omission by and large although on those few occasions teams or individuals in the counties do something of note I shall try and include them.

I think that's enough from me just now. I'll do my 'spellcheck' and get this posted.

Boscastle waits for its phone box

When Boscastle's flood occurred back in August 2004 the BT phone box in the harbour area got swept away. It was hoped that by now BT would have replaced said phone box but this has yet to happen. If you are familiar with the topography of Boscastle and its neighbourhood it will come as little surprise to be told that it is a dead zone for mobile phone reception. A North Cornwall District Councillor has stated that the village's information centre has had many requests to use their phone: things have got to the stage now that a petition has been started and local MP Dan Rogerson has got involved.

I'm trying to play Devil's Advocate here - I do have a little sympathy with BT I suppose in as much as phone boxes just aren't the piggy banks they used to be with so many folk now carrying mobiles. Many phone boxes must be making a loss. But the feeling so far as Boscastle is concerned is that the phone box really does need replacing in case an emergency happens and I think that argument is irrefutable.

Thinking about the geography of Cornwall with its many hills and valleys together with the fact that it has an exceptional number of small villages and hamlets then I would imagine that there are plenty of pockets in the countryside where there just isn't a signal. I remember that when the mobile phone thing got going in this country we had the absurd situation of masts being erected that catered for one company only. This led to complaints because the masts proliferated to a far greater extent than was necessary.

Back to Boscastle specifically. I think that there is a phone box at the top of the village but bearing in mind that the village is quite sizable and that huge numbers of tourists visit the harbour area (they mostly miss the delights of the higher parts of the village) then I think that BT needs to do some digital extraction and get this box replaced pronto.

ITV likely to change our local news programme

The nature and scope of the media is changing fast and it's no secret that TV's Channel 3, or ITV if you prefer, is faced with the decision about how to make some substantial cost savings to keep the show on the road. At present there are 17 regional news programmes and it has been announced that they would like to reduce this to just nine.

Up until now we have had the choice of ITV or BBC news programmes that have concentrated on Devon and Cornwall. Having said that 'Spotlight' on BBC1 does have reporters in Somerset and Dorset and there might be the very occasional report from Bridgwater or Weymouth say but the vast majority of their stories relate to 'my' two counties.

Under this ITV proposal it looks as if there will be one regional programme to cover everything west of Bristol at least. The geography of our peninsula is such that this would become far too big an area for a news programme and I think that their audience share will be eroded. Our local ITV network started with the much loved 'Westward' to be followed by Television South West, or TSW for short. Then 'Westcountry' took over the franchise; I have to admit to being more comfortable with the BBC offering, feeling that Spotlight is somehow more homely apart from anything else.

Certainly our local ITV service have put on some interesting local documentaries and series over the years and it's a shame that they and the BBC have had to include such a high proportion of national programmes in their output. I feel even more the need to blog about local matters and would love to at least double my output if time would only permit. There are so many more subjects I would like to write about, one of the big problems is to choose from the huge selection available but to make the blog readable and digestible - well that's the theory anyway!

Meanwhile I'm waiting for someone to invent the 30 hour day!

St Mawgan-in-Pydar wins again

St Mawgan-in-Pydar, a lovely name for a lovely Cornish village. It is tucked away just inland from Mawgan Porth which in turn is just up the coast from Newquay. When you are there it is difficult to believe that Newquay Airport is barely a mile up the hill to the south. So what has the village won (again)?

Each year the Cornwall Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) organises a competition for the best kept village in the county and a panel from the Cornwall Federation of Womens Institutes does the judging. Last year St Mawgan-in-Pydar won, this year they repeated that success. So congratulations to them.

A few years ago I followed a route in Bob Acton's 'Around Newquay' walks book which took one from St Columb Major, through The Vale of Lanherne and St Mawgan-in-Pydar, then on to Mawgan Porth before returning to St Columb with some variation from the outward bound walk. It was about ten miles but is worth doing again.

Although the coastal villages and towns have become the honeypots - think Polperro or Padstow, Mevagissey or St Ives for example - there are many superb little settlements in the hinterland behind the coast.

Other awards in this year's competition were 2nd Veryan 3rd Altarnun 4th St Neot Highly commended: Portloe, St Tudy, Lanreath, Boscastle.

Another foot and mouth outbreak in Surrey

It was only a couple of days ago that I got around to writing about the reports looking at the origin of the foot and mouth outbreak in Surrey. I also commented in another entry about the unacceptable continuation of beef imports from Brazil because of doubts over that country's procedures. Over here things were looking up with the various restrictions on animal movement being lifted; in fact various sorts of livestock were able to attend the annual Widecombe Fair yesterday. This return to normality coupled with the recent dry spell was at last giving farmers something to smile about.

That was yesterday. Today they have had a hammer blow with the news of a confirmed outbreak of F & M at Egham in Surrey, not too far from the earlier incident. So all the restrictions are going back on. Not so much a welfare problem as back in the dark days of 2001 when it will be recalled the F & M started much earlier in the year but now it is very significantly a devastatingly difficult economic situation for farmers. Apart from those animals ready for the abattoir this is the time of year when stock is moved on to new farms eg cattle reared on the hills sold to lowland farms for fattening.

When the earlier outbreak in Surrey occurred Gordon Brown was looking very decisive by acting as quickly as possible. No doubt he has been hoping that this governments appalling lack of action over the defective biosecuity at Pirbright would slip from our memories. It is up to the opposition parties to harry this government over the issue and not let things be quietly forgotten.

It does seem to me on the face of it that this latest outbreak is related to the ones last month. Let's just hope it can be eradicated quickly.

Congratulations to Plymouth City Council

In the last entry in this blog I described a brilliant day spent visiting Wembury on the South Devon coast. I also mentioned that we used train and bus to get there and home again. This necessitated crossing Plymouth city centre to get from train station to bus stop. Some few years ago that wouldn't have been a very good experience but how times have changed. Why? Well putting it in a nutshell the centre of Plymouth has been returned to the people!

Let me expand on that a bit. In the rebuilding of Plymouth post 'The Blitz' a grid of streets was created in the centre where the motor car was more or less given free reign. But subsequently the city council in the face of very strong opposition from local traders made the bold decision to pedestrianise the heart of this area with the majority of traffic relegated to roads on its periphery. Then their truly excellent parks department embarked on a substantial tree planting programme, particularly down Armada Way which runs from the railway station, through the shopping centre and terminates not too far from 'The Hoe'.

Now it is common for folk to knock local authorities and maybe there are times when that is justified but I'm a great believer in giving credit where it's due. And in this instance it's well earned. It was quite a pleasure to cross Plymouth on Saturday (I know the sunshine helped). Birds were twittering in the trees, numerous tables and chairs were out for those who wanted to sip their coffee and watch the world pass by, and people were smiling and happy. I am a great believer in trees humanising the built environment and boy does it work in the centre of Plymouth. Previously the severe straightness of form in building and street alignment coupled with the extensive use of Portland Stone in the shops facades did not seem very joyous but that feeling has changed. And of course 'cars out, trees in' is a great boost for the environment.

So if other cities think they aren't people friendly enough then perhaps they should look at the way Plymouth has dealt with the challenge.

Wonderful weather at Wembury

One of Plymouth's particular blessings is the very pleasing coastline close by to east and west. Not spectacular or demanding of the walker, you have to go slightly further away for that sort of scenery. But nevertheless these parts of the south west coast are really delightful. On the Cornish side the Mount Edgcumbe Country Park stretches from Rame Head to Cremyll with a short break at the twin villages of Cawsand and Kingsand. To the east of Plymouth Sound the coast runs more or less due south to Heybrook Bay before turning east at Wembury Point to pass mainly through National Trust land to Warren Point where the lovely little River Yealm makes its final turn to at last view the open sea. It was to Wembury village we made our way last Saturday.

Wembury has a particular resonance for us, my companion having lived there at one time whilst for myself well I just like it. One of the joys of the village is that it has its own distinct character being well separated from other settlements. The church is just above the beach but happily the village itself is just inland with a small buffer of rough fields and meadows in between. Well maintained toilets and a couple of low key retail outlets plus a large car park are the concessions to modernity adjacent to the little cove.

If driving from home in the mid Tamar Valley one has to go through part of Plymouth's suburbia. We used the alternative of train from Gunnislake to Plymouth and then on to Wembury by bus. Getting off the bus at the entry to the village we made our way by quiet lanes out to Warren Point passing on the way the beautiful almshouses. From Warren Point onwards we were above the Yealm estuary which one follows for about a mile with the Mewstone framed in the view. Then it's past the church and down to Wembury beach. This is an excellent example of its kind - small, sandy, gently shelving, plenty of rock pools and safe for swimming. My friend, who loves being in the water, had brought her swimming costume and didn't take long to enter the briny. Then it was on westward following the pleasantly level coast path as far as Wembury Point. This latter section not only benefits from being as close to the sea as one can get without being in it but is a fabulous location for blackberries! The area behind Wembury point was the site of HMS Cambridge, the Navy Gunnery School. Happily it is no more. The National Trust were able to purchase the land from the MoD so thankfully it is safe from development.

Throughout our stay at Wembury the weather was gloriously sunny, a dream of a September day. Including transport we had spent a superb 12 hours or so away from home.

Dr David Kelly book to be published

Next month sees the publication of 'The Strange Death of David Kelly' by the LibDem MP Norman Baker. A 192 page paperback, it will be available from Amazon at £9.99 plus postage and no doubt at many a High Street bookshop. I believe the revelations will be sensational and will finally debunk the official version of his alleged suicide. Norman Baker is one of those MPs I particularly admire partly because his search for the truth is absolutely relentless. I've no doubt that the powers that be want the whole miserable David Kelly business to be forgotten. I certainly don't!

For lots of background information on the death of Dr David Kelly it's worth going to Rowena Thursby's blog here. Her blog dramatically demonstrates how essential blogs are to flag up matters which are in danger of being quietly forgotten.

Stop these imports of Brazillian beef!

In today's Western Morning News there is an excellent article by Anthony Gibson, communications director of the National Farmers Union. He writes about Foot and Mouth disease in Brazil and the lower standards re beef production over there. It is not that there is a problem everywhere in Brazil, far from it. It is the fact that in parts of that huge country standards of traceability, welfare and veterinary medicine control simply aren't up to the standards that we insist on here.

For instance a delegation from the Irish Farmers Association found numerous instances of tags having been ripped from the animals' ears when they visited Brazil earlier this year. One can surmise that these beasts could have come from F & M areas. Then again Brazilian farmers are supposed to vaccinate against F & M and hold certificates to that effect. Incredibly they get the certificate on purchase of the vaccine and no one subsequently checks that they have used it!

Anthony reckons that most of the Brazilian beef imported into the UK finds its way into the catering market. Some does go to the supermarkets but he points out that those buyers do check out where they are buying from. I'm not a great fan of supermarkets but think they are pretty responsible these days in knowing about the provenance of their imported foods. An increasing number of pubs and restaurants in Devon and Cornwall are sourcing much of their food locally and are rightly making a virtue of this. I would much rather make occasional visits to such establishments even if I had to pay a little more than go more regularly to a restaurant in a big chain where you haven't a clue about where the food has originated.

If all this wasn't enough to search for food grown or reared in our own country think of the environmental pluses. A reduction in food miles for a start. And then anything that can be done to lessen the massive reduction of the Amazonian rain forest has to be welcome. Another thing seldom mentioned is that by helping our local farmers by purchasing their products we are helping to retain the glue that keeps our communities alive and kicking. There are millions of people who enjoy the look of our man made and influenced countryside who don't pause for a moment to realise that it's farmers and other landowners who have both made it and keep it that way.

So it's down to the EU now to follow the example of the USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand and ban imports of Brazilian beef until their standards come up to ours.

Foot and Mouth reports put government in the dock

The end of last week saw the publication of two reports into the recent foot and mouth outbreak in Surrey. Now it has to be emphasised that they were unable to provide definitive proof as to the cause of this outbreak. However they were able to describe the likely source of the problem and sequence of events and once again HM Government is shown in an appallingly bad light with no sense of priorities.

In summary it appears that it was the condition of sewage pipes at the government funded Institute of Animal Health facility at Pirbright that led to the virus escaping. There was long-term damage due to displaced joints, cracks and tree roots. At a location such as this where bio-security is of paramount importance this is totally, utterly unacceptable. It seems that the summer flooding added to the problem with effluent leaking out of a manhole. So while Gordon Brown was being praised for the swift and effective action taken to quell the outbreak it was the government apparatus that lamentably failed to deal with these obvious defects in bio-security. Of course no blame will be applied to individuals, meanwhile farmers are again having to bear the cost of a DEFRA cock-up.

Spilled cargo from Napoli still being retrieved

Whilst the separation into two parts of the MSC Napoli has been the biggest recent episode in the saga of the wreck of this container ship contractors are still quietly going about the recovery of the few remaining containers lost overboard from Napoli but failing to be washed ashore. Sonar equipment is being used to locate the nine containers as yet unaccounted for. We are reassured by the information that their contents are non-hazardous.

Still on the subject of the Napoli I believe that after the bow section arrived at the yard of Harland and Wolff in Belfast for recycling the part of the structure that failed in the storm back in January has been cut away from the remainder. The intention if I've got the story right is to send this particular bit of the ship away for some tests to try and get more detail as to why the catastrophic failure occurred in the first place. I'm very pleased about this because this information is fundamental to the public enquiry to be carried out by Devon Council Council and needs to be in the public domain.

Logic Office Goup leaving Staverton

As my last post indicated Totnes is having a torrid time on the employment front. But it gets worse because we now have the maker of classy office furniture, Logic Office Group, saying that they will close their factory at New Lane, Staverton with the loss of 20 jobs. Staverton is a small village not much more than a stones throw from Totnes so this impending closure is just making the employment situation more difficult in the area. Ironically the company have if anything been too successful necessitating working shifts around the clock and thus falling foul on the night shift of environmental standards particularly regarding noise. Logic wasn't sure that doing the necessary expensive remedial work at this old factory would have the required effect so are evidently going to concentrate their resources at their Rotherham site.

On top of the relocation of Dartington College of Arts and the closure of Dairy Crest in Totnes this latest announcement just doesn't seem fair does it.

'Dairy Crest' in Totnes closes at end of week

Think Totnes in Devon's South Hams and probably one thinks 'New Age'. Fascinating though this aspect of the town might seem let's not lose sight of the need for industry/manufacturing in a small market town such as this. Totnes was already reeling with the news that the nearby Dartington College of Art was going to relocate when, in May, it was announced by Dairy Crest that it would close its facility near the station with the loss of 164 jobs. In the great scheme of things that might not seem a lot particularly compared with car plant closures in the Midlands for example. But its the proportion that matters - in relation to a small market town like Totnes losing 164 jobs is a heck of a lot. Dairy Crest reckon they don't have the space to modernise and expand in this very long established site. Despite talks and the intervention of the local MP, Anthony Steen, the inevitable is happening and at the end of this week Dairy Crest will cease to have a presence in Totnes.

South Hams District Council are keen to be involved with the future development of the site and would like to see it continue to have some sort of industrial use. However the owners would I'm sure be keener to see it utilised for housing with all the extra cash that would bring in. My gut feeling is that although more housing stock is necessary the need for some sort of industry to replace that lost is even more vital in this particular case. My next post will reinforce that comment.

Problems highlighted by Penhallow fire

It's now well over two weeks since the terrible fire that destroyed Newquay's Penhallow Hotel and led to the deaths of three people. There has been plenty of comment since about the state of the fire service in Cornwall: these initially centred around the fact that Newquay depends on retained firemen rather than the station being manned 24/7 especially during the summer months and on the fact that both of Cornwall's turntable ladders were out of action meaning that they had to use one from Plymouth. Now it's not clear so far as I can find out whether these 'deficiencies' were in way contributory to the tragic loss of life.

Newquay's resident population is about 20,000, in the height of the season it could be 5 times that. So we have a situation whereby in the winter having a retained service to man the two fire engines seems almost adequate whereas in the summer with a population more akin to that of Exeter it would appear that far more cover is needed. But hold on a moment, comparing Newquay and Exeter is like comparing apples with oranges. The population of Newquay might rocket in the summer but the number of properties to protect is the same. However as Newquay has a high number of fairly tall properties used as guest houses and hotels then it could be construed that they pose a proportionately greater risk. But there again Exeter has much more in the way of industrial sites with the problems they can pose. An important point is that you can't reasonably draw firemen from other stations to boost the numbers at Newquay in the summer if it was to have permanently manned crews. So far as the Penhallow event was concerned there were only enough firefighters available to man one of the two engines and this brings to the fore a point I really want to make - for 99.9% of the time we get away with a facility that is underfunded such as the fire service because major fire incidents in our area our rare. But this fire has certainly flagged up the problems of cost cutting. It is a mammoth task for the cash strapped County to make a judgment regarding the size of the fire budget and whether economies can be made.

Another problem on that dreadful night which didn't feature in earlier news reports was the fact that the fire hydrants closest to the fire were inoperable and so water had to be drawn from some distance away. Now this really does bother me and should concern everyone. Whereas at one time the fire service would do all the regular maintenance checks on the county's hydrants nowadays this is done to a strict specification by a private company. It would seem that not only is there a problem with silt build up in the hydrant but that the salt air in a place such as Newquay can cause corrosion to a degree that the hydrants can't be used. This is a ridiculous situation and needs quick resolution. Apart from the time delay in finding a hydrant that worked reports suggest that there was a substantial loss of pressure because of the distance the water had to traverse. Our decision makers have a lot to think about, certainly the planned downgrading of the stations at Falmouth and Camborne away from 24 hour cover has been put on hold.

Jane Tomlinson dies aged 43

News bulletins today have, rightly, been leading off with the announcement of the sad death of Jane Tomlinson at the age of just 43. Jane, wife and mother of three, had been told in 2000 that her previously diagnosed breast cancer was incurable and that she had just months to live. Unbelievably those few months stretched to seven years and how she used those years! Although she must have suffered tremendous pain at times it didn't stop her raising about £1.75 million for charity through taking on numerous gruelling challenges. These included the London Marathon, the Ironman UK Triathlon, the Great North Run and a cycle ride across America from San Francisco to New York (about 4000 miles!) amongst others.

Jane Tomlinson CBE, your pain is now over. May you rest in peace.

More thoughts on the Diana Memorial Service

I blogged the other day about the then upcoming Diana Memorial Service. Now it's over should I change my viewpoint? I have to say that I confined myself to watching the ten minutes of service and commentary that the BBC felt compelled to show on the 6 o'clock news yesterday evening. Although having some sympathy with the two princes, William and Harry, who were children and not young men when she died I still think they shouldn't have gone ahead.

Diana touched a number of people's lives, no argument there but should we continue emoting about someone who died 10 years ago? Emphatically not I say. For those who actually came into contact with her there may be a special reason to relate to her, to remember her but the nearest most of us got to her would have been by TV, newspaper or magazine. So why do the latter folk have to join the media putting her on a pedestal.

Celebrity culture for me is a real no-no. But it means an awful lot to many including our former prime minister Tony Blair, one of the reasons I didn't like him! Compare Diana to Princess Anne for instance. Anne has learnt to keep her head down but she is known to be very hardworking and is involved with numerous charities. Yet there is someone who now thankfully seems to get much less media attention than someone who died 10 years ago. Of course in America there is the same situation regarding people's adoration of a long dead icon - in that case it's a man called Elvis.

My hope now is that we can move on and cease to be absorbed with Diana, but that might be wishful thinking on my part.