Slightly better news re butterflies

I've been blogging about the dearth of butterflies in my garden particularly on my buddleia and it's interesting to note that many other bloggers are making the same observation. With the weather today continuing the hot and sunny spell with little wind then any butterflies about should be on the wing. One of the most favoured places in the Tamar Valley for butterflies based on our past observations appeared to be a good place to visit today to perhaps get a better idea of the well being of these creatures. It is such a special little area to us that I'm not going to say exactly where we went I'm afraid! It's nice to keep some things secret you understand. However I am very happy to reveal that we certainly saw quite a few butterflies on our walk.

What was very pleasing was to see several silver-washed fritillaries on the wing, not unusual at this location. A goodly number of gatekeepers were out and about and some speckled woods. But still precious few red admirals and peacocks and as yet no tortoiseshells. It's these latter three species that normally find buddleia their idea of heaven and our walk passed many examples of the 'butterfly bush'. Perhaps I'm being a little impatient, there's still time for them to turn up.

In the late afternoon after we got back from our butterfly walk I once again checked my buddleia and was greeted by the sight of a large fritillary on it, a silver-washed I think. Wow! It has to be said though that I have very occasionally seen one in previous years on this bush.

I just want to summarise my thoughts on the butterfly situation as I see it:

• Insect numbers as a whole seem to be well down at the moment compared with a 'good' year. Other bloggers have made similar comments.
• Butterfly results seem to be mixed with a few species doing reasonably well and others very badly.
• The phenomenon of certain plant species flowering earlier than in previous years is well recorded. If climate change is a reality then it is perfectly possible I guess for those various bits of nature that inter-relate with each other such as buddleia and butterflies to get out of sync.
• Thinking of buddleia specifically there is plenty of it growing wild but as to that which we deliberately grow in our gardens then we have some control over the flowering period. I have read the suggestion that it be pruned at the end of February but it grows so fast here in the south west that perhaps it could be cut back well into the Spring. I normally do mine in March but didn't get round to much pruning this year, perhaps I should leave it till April in 2009!

Normally I don't keep a written nature diary so I'm glad that the blog is helping me out here, it's amazing how easy it is to forget the detail of what happened 12 months ago. At least it is for me!

Smoking ban law is stupid

Although a fervent non smoker I've ranted before about the stupid approach of the authorities at trying to reduce smoking and its effects in this country. I had bridled at the suggestion that cigarettes be placed out of sight under the counter; this to me was an interference in the liberty of the shopkeeper to sell a perfectly legal product to those above a certain age in the manner he or she saw fit. Now we have a chap, a Mr Gordon Williams, being fined for smoking in the workplace. Let me fill in the background to why Mr Williams received his on the spot fine.

Gordon Williams is a painter and decorator and also a smoker. The police and local council were doing a safety spot check on vans, builders vehicles and the like at a lay-by near Aberystwyth in Wales. That was fine. Mr Williams and a companion in the van were both smoking cigarettes as they waited their turn to be checked. Mr Williams' van was his own vehicle, not a company van and he wasn't at that moment using it for work but going out to get some teabags for the wife. It was decreed by the jobsworth at the lay-by that the van was Mr Williams' place of work and that therefore he shouldn't have been smoking and was issued with an automatic penalty ticket for £30! Now I know that conflict can occur between a rule for the good of the community and a person's individual liberty but this incident just goes to show how patently ludicrous a law or its interpretation can be.

Mr Williams understandably paid up not wanting to see the fine increase to £50 because of non payment. Now though he wants to appeal over the matter; I wish him well in his endeavours.

Still very few butterflies

It was ten days ago that I commented on the lack of butterflies on my buddleia and whilst I've been thoroughly enjoying its appearance fully in flower and the accompanying wonderful scent the complete lack of visiting butterflies has been very concerning. Perhaps I ought to correct that - I have had a visiting comma on one or two occasions in the last few days and attracted perhaps by the marjoram there have been a few gatekeepers about. There has been a little dampness today but we have enjoyed some really warm and sunny weather of late so no reason for the butterflies not to show themselves if around. Looking at other blogs it seems that the lack of butterflies is general and in fact all insect numbers appear to be way down this summer. Usually I expect to see a few swifts about but just haven't been seeing them. With these and other bird species being so dependant on the normal glut of insects are we going to see bird populations crashing? It's all very worrying.

Early start for foresters

My village of Gunnislake sprawls out over the western slope of the steep V-shaped valley through which the Tamar heads south towards Plymouth and the English Channel. Across on the Devon side the banks are heavily wooded and the precipitous rocky outcrops so densely covered with foliage form a truly spectacular outlook for local residents. Almost all the trees directly opposite my cottage are oak and other hardwoods and this part of the woodland is unlikely to be felled anytime soon if ever. But the forest isn't all of the amenity type and there are some substantial areas of softwood over there which are a commercial resource. Today, on and off, there have been a couple of people with chainsaws doing some felling. I first heard that characteristic snarl at about 7.20 this morning (!) but a near neighbour reckons they had started some time before that.

If there are two sounds I would be happy not to hear where I live it is that of (a) chainsaws and (b) strimmers. However the reality is that I do live close to a working woodland and thoroughly understand the need for forestry contractors to get in and make good use of their time. Really and truly then no problem for me. Now if it had been a private individual cutting down a tree in their garden at such an early hour I wouldn't have been too pleased!

Interestingly, apart from traffic on the main road through the village, and the occasional low flying jet, we don't fare too badly with noise pollution so that the occasional sound of chainsaw or strimmer is all the more noticeable when it shatters the peace. We can content ourselves with the fact that we are living in the here and now and not in Victorian times when the village would have reverberated with the sound of copper mining, granite quarrying and brick making. It really hummed with industry once but much of the evidence of this has now disappeared under the fast growing greenery that is so typical of the Tamar Valley.

Glasgow by-election bad for Labour and LibDems

A lot of bloggers, especially the political anoraks, are writing about last night's humiliating defeat for Labour in the Glasgow East by-election. I'll just add my two-penneth...

Yesterday the general consensus was that Labour would just scrape home, the reality that occurred was a swing of over 22% to the victorious SNP. So what conclusions can be drawn? Most attention in the media seems to be directed toward the future of Gordon Brown's premiership and remember it was only just over a year ago he took over the top job with no party election. If there was a move to oust him who could take over I wonder, there are no obvious candidates on the horizon. Let us say, for arguments sake, Brown was moved aside and Jack Straw took the reins (this is all hypothetical of course). It would be almost impossible for yet another person to become prime minister without getting a mandate from the electorate and with Labour's present low standing in the polls and worsening economic situation who on earth in their right mind, Jack Straw or anyone else, would take this particular poisoned chalice. So what can Brown do other than soldier on in the forlorn hope that things will be better for him in 2010.

Interestingly, as with 'Crewe and Nantwich', it almost looks as if the constituency voters have decided to go for the candidate with the best chance of winning to ensure Labour get a drubbing. This has meant a straight transfer from Labour to Tory at C & N and Labour to the SNP in Glasgow. The very poor results for the LibDems and their leader Nick Clegg have been somewhat masked by the disasters for Labour. Is the fact that the LibDems are dropping below the radar due to Mr Clegg or his party being once again squeezed out of Westminster as has happened before. Certainly they have been in the doldrums since the time Charles Kennedy was pushed aside; like it not the fortunes of a political party are very much related to who their leader is regardless of particular policies. At the moment their economics spokesman Vince Cable is far and away their most effective parliamentarian and has had a 'proper job' in his earlier life as well.

Our political system can never be perfect of course and so now we are faced with a limp along disheartened government for what could be nearly two years. Whether it's all or partly Brown's fault is debatable as regards our economic plight but without doubt for the working person house prices, essential monthly outgoings and continuity of employment prospects are the things that matter most and will significantly affect the result of the next general election. The bad news for Labour of course is that all these things are almost certain to worsen over the months ahead.

As I have said before on this blog Gordon Brown used to have luck on his side and got the plaudits he didn't fully merit. Now he gets the blame for everything even for those things way outside his control. Yes sometimes it's a rough old business, politics.

Interesting tour of Stonehouse

I think that I may have mentioned this before but I have a passion for peninsulas. Devon and Cornwall form part of one of course and there are many smaller examples within this peninsula. One such is Stonehouse, that small enclave between Plymouth proper and Devonport, its watery boundary on the east being Millbay Docks, familiar to those using the ferry to Roscoff or Santander, whist to the west Stonehouse Creek wends its way up to the bridge of the same name. Incidentally this creek originally went much further inland - right up to Pennycomequick hard by today's Plymouth railway station.

So it was with anticipated pleasure that we set off on the train to the big city yesterday as I had arranged a visit to Stonehouse as part of our local history group's summer programme. Some of our members came by car and we met up at the car park on the north side of Stonehouse Bridge. We were fortunate to have the knowledge and enthusiasm of a local expert to lead us around (thanks very much Richard!) and our party all seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience. One aspect that really appeals to me about Stonehouse, and this is back to the peninsula thing I guess, is that it feels like a place apart - almost like a village. It certainly has a very different and individual feel to it, and so different to other parts of Plymouth. The very fact that it is a peninsula means there is no through road and associated traffic volume, what a bonus. And you can never be fed up with the sea so close at hand.

Another plus was the weather; of late the south west appears to have been getting the best of it and yesterday didn't disappoint. One final point to note if there are several of you using our branch line: it is possible to travel at much less cost by getting a party ticket. I think I'm right in saying that passenger numbers are going up which is very welcome news indeed.

Our post office stays open

Some little while ago we were told which of the post offices in Devon it was proposed to close, this week it has been the turn of Cornwall. I am very pleased to say that our post office here in Gunnislake is not on the hit list but this joy has been tempered by the news that the one up the road at Albaston will be lost. This last named is a wonderful shop cum post office of the sort so typical of our small villages, it's one failing is being too geographically close to other POs at Gunnislake, Calstock and St Ann's Chapel.

The whole question of post office closures is a very emotive one and I am now going to try and put personal prejudice aside and be totally objective. First of all it has to be accepted that using the post office is an expensive alternative for certain operations. This is nothing to do with the splendid postmasters and postmistresses in our communities, it is purely down to modern technology. For instance payment of pensions direct into a person's bank account has to be a cheaper alternative than through any system involving the post office. And using that example the cost of distributing the national pension falls on everyone eventually, the bigger the outlay here if you like the less spent on the NHS or whatever.

Of course there are always some "buts". In a great many villages the village shop and post office share the same premises, lose either one and the other is liable to go. What irks me is the failure of our leaders to understand how small villages work and what holds small communities together. As an example this urban-centric government made an appalling mess when the licensing laws were radically changed and village halls for instance were confronted by a load of unnecessary bureaucracy for that very rare occasion when alcohol would be served. I accept that trying to run a country to cater for on the one hand the Surrey stockbroker and on the other the chap on the Scillies eking out a living catching crabs is an extraordinarily difficult one. If only ministers would make an effort in seeing how the country works at the sharp end though it would help, they really need to get out more. Don't be surprised if I return to this theme again by the way as it is one of my hobby horses.

Then there is the business of reducing our carbon footprints. A villager might run a small business requiring him or her to post parcels on a regular basis. If the post office is in the village that's fine but it's not so clever if there is a round car trip of six miles. On this particular aspect I read a very interesting comment recently, I can't remember where unfortunately, but the writer pointed out how you could purchase your stamps on line effectively (eg if you are selling on ebay). That person then makes use of the post office to dispatch the parcel so there is footfall at the post office without any financial reward for that individual postmaster i.e. no extra turnover in his business. A very interesting point I must say.

There is the matter of the way our post offices have been split from the Royal Mail delivery system from a business aspect but this is a subject I'll come back to on another occasion. Just to say in summary at the moment then that yes I can understand why people use the post office less and carry out transactions on line for instance, but also that the government haven't really taken on board the importance of post offices particularly to those in rural communities.

The death of letter writing

I don't as a rule read the 'Woman' section of Friday's Western Morning News but a caption at the head of a column written by Gillian Molesworth caught my eye today. Gillian is I believe an American and has a regular piece under the title "Crossing the Pond". The particular heading that I'm referring to says "Letter in the post conveys so much more than e-mail". For what it's worth I agree with her. We are right in the heart of a communications revolution with so many ways of getting in touch. The downside of all this clever stuff such as e-mails is that we become totally seduced by it all. I am a great believer in using what is appropriate for the circumstances rather than using electronic wizardry as a 'one size fits all' solution.

For many folk, particularly older people and those without computers, there is a particular pleasure gained in receiving a hand written letter. Of course handwriting is part and parcel of an individuals personality and inevitably it means more to get this sort of letter. That's not to say that other forms of communication should be ignored, I don't mean that for a moment. I am absolutely fascinated by the whole subject of communication - one of the excuses for writing this blog of course. A lot of people, more the younger generation I suppose, become over reliant on one or maybe two ways of getting in touch. I'm rather more a 'mix and match' person happy to use the immediacy of email or phone but knowing that the letter in the post is sometimes the right option.

I'll just expand on this a little. I am programme secretary for a local history group and will write a formal typewritten letter to a speaker to confirm details of a talk. This might occasionally be by email if I know the individual from past contact and seems right for the occasion. After the talk, slide show or whatever I will write a thank you letter by hand (blue ink on white paper of course) under a letterhead because I believe that sort of personalisation is important and like me they may well be appreciative of the increasingly rare handwritten letter.

Then there is the matter of salutation: personally I'm very happy if someone says "Hi Brian" and in many emails that is the sort of phraseology I use. And I might end with "Regards" or "Best Wishes" say. But for many people this modern casualness is something they really don't like. I have to say here too that it's usually the younger generation that don't realise it's 'horses for courses'. Choosing between "yours sincerely" and "yours faithfully" at the end of a letter is another area where some people come a cropper.

One of the problems today of course is that so many of us don't have lives which our 'time rich'. The days when you would sit down quietly on a Sunday afternoon with no distractions to write a letter to keep in touch with that special relative or friend seem to be disappearing. I applaud Ms Molesworth's plea to get back to hand writing letters but sadly it might fall on stony ground.

Some sort of justice for Robert Murat

One of the main items of news yesterday was the report regarding Robert Murat receiving libel damages from the Press of £600,000. They had made allegations connecting Mr Murat with the sad disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal last year. I personally have absolute contempt for many of the national newspapers in this country (I would like to put it more strongly but unlike some blogs I refuse to use improper language when I write my pieces). It's true that the press have shown good investigative journalism in the past but in today's circulation wars anything goes and if that means destroying someones personal reputation then "tough" seems to be the attitude.

I see that after the case the solicitor for the newspapers said that they apologised for publishing false allegations and very much regretted the distress caused. Really? Very easy to get a solicitor or other spokesman to say that then it's all forgotten by their readers until the next lurid accusation. The editors ought to be humiliated by coming on TV and making their apologies in person. Although Mr Murat has been exonerated as a result of this court case a lot of the mud will stick for a long time. Do the press barons care? Of course they don't.

"The government can pay for that"

One problem I have with this blog is that it's very easy to repeat myself such is the diversity of matters on which I want to comment. Mind you there are occasions on which this has happened deliberately on subjects about which I have a particular passion, no apologies for that. Now here is something about which I have wanted to have my say for a long time but it may not be the first occasion I've done it. "The government can pay for that". These words must have been spoken thousands of time but they are guaranteed to put my back up. Why? There is this perception by some that magically the money spent by our government doesn't come from us and that if there is something we shouldn't pay for ourselves then someone else will pay for it. But of course the money government spends comes from you and me so therefore we are paying for whatever it is.

With the variety of ways communication can take place you would think that politics would come closer to the people. It's true that in this LibDem seat I get missives from that party saying in effect "look how well we are doing, aren't we clever" or from the Tories "vote for us and we will do this, that and this for you". I'm not impressed with all this nonsense because they are controlling the interaction if you can call it that. What I want is for the politicians to talk to me on the doorstep or address a meeting in the village's public hall so I get a chance to put my own questions and get away from the awful blandness pervading everything. So going back to my first paragraph we are getting this massive disconnect between decision makers and those affected by their decisions. This might answer in part why the comment "The government can pay for that" is made.

Waiting for the butterflies

The weather today has been a mixture of cloud and sun so far and very close. So it has been good enough this afternoon to do some gardening but to avoid getting overwhelmed by my hay fever I've come indoors to do a bit of quick blogging.

My buddleia davidii at the back of the patio is looking a picture and I really enjoy the scent especially after it has rained. But as yet I haven't seen a butterfly on it. Worryingly these beautiful insects seem to be getting scarcer all the time. Having said that the red admirals, peacocks, painted ladies and small tortoiseshells usually come toward the end of the flowering period of this particular bush and I need to be patient perhaps. At least there are quite a few ringlet butterflies on the wing at the moment.

Still on the wildlife theme I have heard reports of good sightings of peregrines in the Valley recently but I have been missing them unfortunately. Also a heron has been spotted very early in the morning, there are numerous garden ponds in the area for it take an interest in.

Thoughts on knife crime

Mercifully living where I do I feel happily remote from the knife injuries and deaths causing so much concern in this country at the moment. But I am not happy about the torment and anxiety many people are feeling at the present time as a result of so many people carrying knives. Although I can't offer solutions anymore than the next person I'll just make a few general observations:

• Ever since Cain slew Abel if the Bible is to be believed or, if you prefer, from time immemorial man has been guilty of exerting extreme violence on his fellow man. One would expect though, as civilisation develops, there would be proportionately less of this behaviour and that the judicial system would also put a brake on it.
• The nature of the violence and the weapons used changes with time.
• In the forties and fifties whilst I was growing up any violence seemed to be targeted with a motive - now there appear to be random attacks for no reason whatsoever.
• Following on from the last point we now have that lethal cocktail of drugs AND alcohol but to what extent this is fuelling the behaviour of people using knives I don't know.
• And this is a point that doesn't get aired enough - casual violence on people is becoming accepted as a norm. This is a terrible indictment on our society. When I was a child any sort of killing of the sort we are seeing lately with people being murdered with knives would have evoked feelings of absolute horror. But then we weren't being bombarded with the images so prevalent today. For anybody caught up in or close to a violent attack then the event is obviously horrific but sadly for many of us our senses have been somewhat dulled by the number of these awful events.
• I remember Mary Whitehouse being constantly derided when she railed against the violence and sex being shown on TV but I think she had a point. It seems to me that the degree of violence seen on TV, in films and I understand in computer games has reached an extreme and far more than should be permitted.

I remember a person saying that if you didn't like what you saw on TV you could turn it off; this, quite frankly, was an absolutely inane remark. Obviously if it was something the viewer didn't like they could switch off or change channels. But that's not the point, not by a million miles. It's the person whose subsequent actions might be influenced by what he or she has just seen that is the cause for concern. What I'm saying is that there is an element in society who are affected by the images some of our film makers are keen to display.

There are plenty of occasions when I disagree with this government but the shock tactics proposed by Jacqui Smith including some of those carrying knives seeing examples of the terrible injuries on hospital patients, as a result of knife wounds, might be one way forward.

Badgers and bovine TB

Last Monday Hilary Benn made the announcement livestock farmers in Devon and Cornwall were dreading: there is to be no cull of badgers to try and eradicate bovine tuberculosis. Of course I can't be sure but I suspect that this awful disease can be passed both from cattle to badgers and from badgers to cattle and maybe also between members of the same species. This is the awful dilemma isn't it, we just don't know for certain.

To me the badger is a very attractive and endearing animal but if proof positive showed that a cull would substantially reduce or better eradicate TB in cattle I would be for it. This is where I take issue with some animal lovers - it is too easy to categorise the animal kingdom into 'goodies' and 'baddies'. Thus badgers, foxes, deer and squirrels for instance get the thumbs up and many are horrified at the thought of any of these being deliberately killed. Taking the last mentioned for example, squirrels are extremely destructive to trees and will take birds eggs. But I can remember very many years ago my then young nephew almost hand feeding a grey squirrel in a London park. Me, I wouldn't necessarily turn down squirrel pie if it was on the pub menu, after all like many others I don't have any problem with traditional steak and kidney pudding! Sadly farmers get a bad press sometimes (there will always be the occasional one deserving of such) but by and large they really care about their livestock even though they know it is ultimately destined for the abattoir. When folk take sides regarding this whole question of badgers and bovine TB the pro badger lobby subconsciously perhaps don't worry too much about the fate of the cows. Because cattle are being reared in the knowledge that they are destined to be slaughtered and eaten I think some will believe that the lives of such beasts are less worthy of concern than that of the badger.

I'm not coming down on either side on this one but I'm trying to illustrate that personal feelings and emotions are liable to cloud judgment on this vexing problem.

Buy an apartment: the car comes free

Last Saturday I wrote about estate agents having to be more inventive in the way they do things now that there is a contraction in the housing market. I didn't expect to report on an example of an agent doing something out of the ordinary quite so soon!

What this is about is an enticement to buy a posh new apartment in Newquay. Bradleys are the estate agents concerned and they are having a day where, if you commit to purchase on that very day you will receive a new car when the completion goes through!! Depending on which apartment you go for you could become the lucky owner of a Smart car or a luxury Mercedes Benz! It's all about injecting real urgency into the sale of these expensive new properties of course and it will be interesting to see how effective all this is and what other wheezes estate agents try.

Please note that I'm not a paid publicist for any estate agent and I shan't be purchasing an apartment in Newquay. Actually I'm quite content with my existing characterful car anyway!

Gordon Brown and YouTube - update

Well there you go. You pick up on a story from one of the better known political bloggers and then find that either he wasn't quite up to speed with the facts or alternatively things have just moved on since he started to run this particular item. This is all about our PM inviting people to send him a question by video and his reply using the same medium on YouTube. He has replied to at least 8(!) questions submitted and, contrary to my concerns in my entry a few days ago, he has made a reasonable fist of it. He has endeavoured to portray himself as the calm man of reason and comes over in a better light than expected. But will people come to like him? He is so much in the mire now that it would be extraordinary if he found a way back.

Going back to my earlier post is this a really good use of his time I wonder. One of his perceived failings is his apparent inability to connect with the ordinary person in the way Tony Blair did. But of course he is a very very different person to Blair - thank goodness many might say! I think it would be possible to have a reasonable sort of conversation with Brown on a good day. No it's the dithering, incompetence and lack of judgment that concerns me most about him.

Tamar running fast and high

It's certainly been a very dreary day here in the Westcountry but this evening the rain has relented. I have just been down the lane to view the Tamar following the couple of inches of precipitation we have endured today. As expected the river was looking extremely brown and had broken its banks in places. Even with my wellingtons on it was a bit iffy to go on down to the weir and reluctantly I turned back. The BBC forecast had been spot on regarding this weather! When people move to this neck of the woods they will soon realise that a pair of wellies needs to be right at the top of their shopping list!

More thoughts on housing situation

I recently wrote about the marked slow down in house sales and I would say "you ain't seen nothing yet". It has to be realised just how much the UK economy is tied in to the property market and the government are very slowly beginning to acknowledge this. At PMQs today it was a subject raised by Vince Cable, one of the sanest MPs in the House, and it forced Harriet Harman, deputising for the absent Gordon Brown, on to the back foot somewhat. It was right for Cable to admonish the government for not taking this matter seriously enough. Now of course it is understandable that the government doesn't want to talk down our economy but I think things will get much worse before recovery takes place. I'm no financial genius but it seems so plain to me that one of the persistent fault lines in UK plc is this constant mismatch between the change in house prices and variations in the rest of the economy. Self evidently greedy mortgage lenders have so relaxed their criteria for would be home buyers over the last few years that they have assisted in the creation of an unsustainable boom. Now we have properties losing value, mortgages drying up, monthly repayments on the increase, estate agents closing or at least laying off staff and the major house builders drastically reducing the sizes of their workforces. It is very serious and will get markedly worse I'm afraid.

At this point I'll mention one of my current pet hates and that is the Home Information Packs or HIPS. Although not affecting me as I'm not thinking of moving it is nevertheless something I constantly rail about. I've never been at all convinced that they would ever really assist the house transaction process and now they will depress the market even more. If you are a vendor and you feel that your home isn't going to sell for what it was worth say six months ago you are not going to be overjoyed about shelling out hundreds of pounds on a HIP before selling. I think some estate agents were prepared to pay the HIPS cost themselves upfront and then recover this money when the commission was paid out (might be wrong on this mind) but with fewer sales and lower end prices and therfore smaller commissions they would be less keen now I would have thought.

With so many mortgage products being pulled and lenders getting more cagey it is securing the finance that will continue to be by far the major stumbling block in the buying process and that is a matter that the HIPS can't address. And as for having a survey included in your HIP my understanding is that the lender will still insist on their chap doing another survey before coming up with the money. At least this was the way of things when HIPS came in and I assume that nothing has changed so in effect both vendor and purchaser will be paying for a survey on the same property - weird.

I have to admit that part of the HIP is the environmental assessment that our masters in Brussels have dictated should be done (are all the other countries in the EU conforming I ask myself) But as to the rest of the info in the packs I think the government were trying to show they were doing something without thinking things through. Par for the course I suppose.

One final comment: in this village folk seem to be sitting tight, I can't remember so few 'For Sale' boards around. Countrywide it seems that people with property to let will be the gainers whilst buying hopefuls sit things out in the hope that house owning prospects will get better again.

War on UK's food waste

I suppose that many of us will have one or more issues that we feel really passionate about. One such for me is the incredible amount of perfectly edible food that goes to waste in this country. I've been reading a few of the comments today on the BBC news website which have come in as a result of Gordon Brown's suggestion that we could all do more to cut down on what is actually an unbelievable amount of food that is wasted. Rather unfairly I think Brown is getting castigated in the majority of these remarks; because he is unpopular (understandably) with a large part of the populace shouldn't mean that he is berated regardless of what he says.

In my particular case living alone enables me to have virtually zero food waste. Yes OK if I was to have a lamb chop the bone would go in the bin, if I had smoked mackerel with my salad I would carefully remove the skin and put it an old bread wrapper say and then put out with the other small amount of domestic waste for the bin men. Vegetable peelings and the like go on to the compost heap. I'm lucky in as much as I enjoy eating almost anything although obviously I have my favourites (bring on the carrot cake!) and am not scared if something was to go just beyond a 'best before date' before I ate it. And not being rich I don't see a lot of point in purchasing food if it is likely to be binned.

What is confusing to a simple soul like me is how the figure of just over £400 per household per year in food wastage has been arrived at. And it was a month or three ago that we were told by somebody that a third of food in this country is never eaten. We just meekly accept these things without any explanation whatsoever and for someone such as myself with an analytical mind this is very frustrating. So apart from private households let's think about a few other places where perfect food is just not eaten. 'Out of date' products in supermarkets, leftovers in restaurants, staff canteens and the hospitality industry, perfectly edible fruit and veg from farmers that doesn't quite fit the criteria set down by the retailers are examples. Now inevitably but sadly some of this will go to waste, more so now after the government panicked following the 2001 foot and mouth crisis which led to the abolition of pig swill.

Much is being made of the 'buy one get one free' temptation (or BOGOF as it's known) that the supermarkets use. But not all of this is for short shelf life items such as that extra tub of coleslaw you might not get through. Clearly a sense of discipline, an awareness of dates and a picture of what you are likely to eat in the next few days is called for. Not always easy I know particularly if two partners are working full time and the kids are fussy about what they eat.

Going back to where I started this piece at least Gordon Brown has got the country talking about this and not before time I say. I would like to see more emphasis on teaching young people how to use cheap cuts of meat, how to make use of leftovers (I love Bubble 'n Squeak) and so forth. In a generation we seem to have lost the skills of parents and grandparents in making a little food go a long way, an art we need to bring back.

Gordon Brown and YouTube

Last Saturday political blogger 'Guido Fawkes' (real name Paul Staines) wrote an interesting piece about the PM's use of, or more accurately non-use of, YouTube. A couple of months ago team Brown came up with the idea that we could send Mr Brown a question and he would answer it via the YouTube video site. It was being proclaimed as a sort of 'Prime Ministers Questions' for the people, utter rubbish in my opinion. Surely it wouldn't have been very much like PMQs on Wednesdays in the House of Commons: there would have been no direct person to person sparring as happens in Parliament, I would only be happy if I could interrogate Mr Brown properly. Another thing is that he could just cherry pick the questions he wanted to answer and my feeling is we would have the "now we are spending 'Y' pounds on the NHS, back in 1997 only 'X' pounds was spent on it" sort of responses. As I have said before on this blog such statistics are meaningless to the man in the street.

Now according to Guido, Brown was supposed to start his video replies by the end of June but nothing has happened so far. This is the problem, his advisers come up with an idea intended to make the PM look 'with it' and really connected to the computer age. This is rather silly because at the moment Gordon Brown has much to much on his plate especially with his propensity to micro-manage everything, a trait for which he has been highly criticised. Right now there are a hundred and one problems for him to deal with, I don't want him diverted on to relative trivia. The other thing that has to be said is that Brown isn't a natural speaking to camera, I'm not blaming him for this because not everyone can do it. But I fear he would only be mocked if this experiment in trying to connect with the electorate ever went ahead.

Housing market slows down

In every Saturday edition of the 'Western Morning News' there is a 'Westcountry Homes' supplement which displays details of many of the desirable homes currently up for sale in our lovely peninsula. I've just been skimming through the 48 pages in today's issue, not that I'm in the market as a buyer but it is just interesting to see what is on offer particularly if I am very familiar with the location. One thing pretty obvious to me is the fact that our economy and house sales are very interdependent perhaps more than they should be in this country. It seems to me that vendors are starting to accept that they may have to reduce their asking prices. Interestingly one estate agent is having an open day on four of its properties next Saturday, four properties in which they indicate that the asking price has already been reduced. I wonder how well this idea works in practice, yes it might galvanise potential buyers a bit but I can imagine a few local people just turning up on the day for a nose around, something different to do on a Saturday. From a seller's viewpoint I can see some benefits, if a potential buyer sees others looking around the place while he is there then he could be panicked into making a purchasing decision. I've not been in such a position myself so am just guessing.

I don't usually feel a great sense of sympathy for estate agents but right now things are getting tougher for them and they will have to be increasingly inventive and flexible in their approach.

Excellent rendition of Tico-Tico

Tico-Tico is a super tune and this video of it being played by a flute quartet is quite amazing. Now I wouldn't normally go for a piece where there is four of one instrument and no others but this is something else - technically it seems well nigh perfect and the balance between the four of them is excellent. This very light and fast version of the tune was arranged by the gentleman flautist in the quartet, what an amazing job he has done!

I had mentioned on a previous blog post about hearing this infectious music at a concert by 'The Calstock Singers' and 'Under the Fingers'. In that instance the tune was led by Nicola on the Xylophone and it absolutely blew the audience away! Now I'm pleased to say it is being added to the repertoire of 'The Rubber Band' so one or two other instruments will be added to the mix but still I understand with the xylophone leading the way. It's not just that The Rubber Band love energetic music but their players have a terrific sense of rhythm and this one should go down a treat. Although Cornish folk music is and hopefully always will be the mainstay of their playing they have taken to including a good deal of jazz in their performances and it's really good that they are widening their horizons even more.

Hopefully Tico-Tico will be on the menu when The Rubber Band play at the Gunnislake Festival on August 2nd (and hopefully the weather will be better than today!)

Tedious weather continues

We have had the odd day now and again of decent weather this summer but no really prolonged spell of sunshine. Today it's blowing a gale in the Tamar Valley, we've already had some sharp showers and more continuous rain has been forecast to come. One of the effects of this inclement weather is how (relatively) dark it can get. Fortunately for me the east facing windows to the cottage are fairly big and although tucked well down into the valley I'm not right down by the river and so get a reasonable share of any daylight that's going. It's a psychological thing I guess but knowing how short days get in the winter one feels deprived if not getting a good dollop of sun in the summer. I do have an affinity with the different seasons it's true but in the darkest days of winter always have the thought of those long lazy days of summer to come! With the amount of rain we get though I understand the desperation of those folk who jet off to foreign parts in search of warmth and sunshine.

Looking out of the window towards the woods clothing the Devon bank of the Tamar it's still looking grey and miserable. I'll do some more blogging I think.

Health Centre dispensary under threat

Pharmacies. Not a subject that I've blogged about yet. The reason I'm doing so now is because of what is in a government white paper. Now the reasoning goes that our highly trained pharmacists could relieve some of the pressure on GP practices by dealing for instance with minor ailments. I can see the reasoning here, no doubt doctors do get tied up with patients lesser problems that do not need all their expertise and pharmacies could be regarded as an underused resource. But it is another suggestion that is giving rise to concern.

Many Health Centres now dispense prescriptions, a good idea in my view because you can pick up your prescription straight after seeing the doc, in fact the Health Centre is a one stop shop effectively saving time and reducing inconvenience for the patient. The practice can recycle the money it makes from dispensing into improving its services. So why would anyone try and alter that set up. Well this government would if the nearest pharmacy was less than a mile from the Health Centre!

In my neck of the woods I live in the catchment of the Callington and Gunnislake Group Practice. Anyone living in Gunnislake will be able to continue to take advantage of the 'in-house' dispensary at the village Health Centre rather than going to Callington or Tavistock for our medicine. We don't have a pharmacy in the village. However the threat to the folk in Callington is that having had their consultation they will be forced to use the town's chemist, less than a mile away, because under these ridiculous proposals the Health Centre's dispensary would be forced to close with the consequent loss of employment and income stream. At Callington Health Centre there is parking, a great boon to any patients with mobility problems for instance. The system works fine at the moment, why for heaven sake change it. The old saying "if it aint broke don't fix it" seems particularly appropriate here.

War Memorial Plaques update

Courtesy of a scrap dealer in Somerset I'm glad to say that the other three stolen plaques have now been recovered. Two men were arrested by police in Plymouth on Wednesday and have been released on bail, a third man from Cheltenham is now in police custody. Out of the three plaques found in Somerset two appear to be intact but the other one has been damaged.

War memorial plaques stolen

This really is a very upsetting story for the relatives of some of our war heroes. It involves the theft of four bronze plaques taken from their place on the big war memorial on Plymouth Hoe. The plaques containing the names of some of the war dead are believed to have been taken because the prices of metals has soared recently. One of them went just hours after the National Veterans Day on Sunday and the others went during the following night. The British Legion, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the people of Plymouth and our two counties are absolutely outraged by this despicable crime. A scrap metal dealer in the Plymouth area contacted police and the first plaque, damaged and cut up into four has been recovered from him. Hopefully the police will be able to glean a good deal of forensic evidence from these pieces and before long bring the perpetrators to justice.

Twenty one smoking chimneys

This past Monday evening witnessed an extraordinary spectacle in west Cornwall - the sight of no less than 21 mining engine house chimneys pouring smoke! Unlike the engine houses in the Tamar Valley, many of which are lost to view in the woodland and dense undergrowth typical of this area, those "down west" are much more conspicuous. Hay was set alight in each of the selected sites at the same time and I understand that it was a remarkable occasion seeing the smoke pouring up into the clear blue sky from 21 chimneys simultaneously.

There are some evocative photos recording the event in today's Western Morning News. It would be nice to think that this happening could get repeated in the future.