MPs shouldn't all be tarred with the same brush

There is plenty of comment being voiced right now both in the main stream media and online about the expenses being claimed by MPs. My view is that our MPs are representative of this country's society as a whole: in other words many are seriously on the make grabbing everything they can from an inadequate system whereas others really are concerned about their constituents and their 'calling' if you like and are not abusing their expenses claims. It would be totally wrong to tar everyone with the same brush and this is where huge swathes of people look at the worst examples and imagine that they are all at it.

A long time ago I stated my concerns about how ministers can both attend to their designated job in government and adequately represent their constituents. I don't know how it could be arranged but in a perfect world ministers wouldn't be doing both jobs, if it's a full time job for a backbench MP it must be much more than that for someone on the front bench. Having said that ministers do have the availability of an army of civil servants to advise and inform them, and it should be emphasised just how important it is for those MPs running the country to get out there and see what is happening in the real world.

Back to the main centre of attention of the media - Jacqui Smith. She may or may not have broken the rules concerning her second home but it's absolutely obvious that she has gone against the spirit of them. Regarding her husband's choice of viewing material I will make no comment other than she deserves some embarrassment, whether or not she was aware of the films he was watching I don't know but it was her responsibility to check the submission of expenses for payment not his at the end of the day. Husband Richard Timney has in the past written letters to their local paper in Redditch extolling the work done by his wife until someone rumbled that this leader of the 'Jacqui Smith Fan Club' was none other than her spouse. Maybe not illegal but just showing how far the pair would happily twist things to present the MP in the best possible light. She has a narrow majority in her Midlands seat and she is going the right way to lose it. Regardless of party label I certainly wouldn't vote for her.

Bilbo gets his reprieve

On the 20th of May last year I penned a piece about Bilbo, the Newfoundland dog, who had been banned from the beach at Sennen Cove in west Cornwall. Not sure whether they prohibit dogs there just in the summer months or all year round but Bilbo got the heave-ho even though he was only there because of his potential lifesaving capabilities. With their double coats and webbed feet the hardy Newfoundlands are well adapted to assist in rescuing people in the sea. The large friendly dog was very popular with locals and visitors before the RNLI, who have now got responsibility for safety on the beach at Sennen, decided that he had to also be banned.

The good news is that, following a petition, his lifeguard owner can carry Bilbo on his all terrain vehicle across the beach. A victory for commonsense. Hooray!

A distinct lack of geographical knowledge

I've got to that stage in life that few things now surprise me but this morning I was taken aback ... It happened when I was having breakfast and, as is often the case, I was listening to BBC Radio Devon at the same time. During this programme the studio calls up HM Coastguard at Brixham to (a) get the inshore weather forecast for small boat users on our two coasts, and (b) find out if there have been any incidents that they have had to respond to. Naturally the staff there are on a rota so that one gets used to a variety of voices imparting the necessary information. Today it was the turn of a lady whose name I don't recall and the subject came up about whether she knew the names of the most southerly and northerly points in Devon (for the record they are Prawle Point and Foreland Point respectively). Bearing in mind her profession one might have expected an instant and correct response but no she was floundering all over the place. Having initially mentioned Rame Head as the most southerly and then realising it was in Cornwall (!) she I think eventually managed to get the right answer. As to the second question she again was all at sea (excuse the pun) but did venture Bude before again realising that that too was in Cornwall.

To add to the muddleheadedness of it all the voice from Radio Devon, the rather boyish and excitable Matt Woodley, then stated that the most northern extremity was Hartland Point! What?? After a later correction from a listener Matt blamed his blunder on what he had been told many years previously by former weatherman and master mariner Craig Rich. This was all getting too much for me I must say. All right Geography and History have always been very important subjects to me, ones I take some pride in having at least the basic knowledge but I was astonished that a coastguard didn't know something so fundamental on her patch, not that she should know the name of every single nook and cranny on the coast perhaps but this was really something I would have expected her to get right.

This reminds me about an incident a long time ago: a young lad sadly lost his life when he drowned at Raparee Cove, Ilfracombe. It was after the Hartland Point coastguard station closed and its responsibilities transferred to Swansea. The person making the emergency call when the youngster was still alive gave the position as "Raparee Cove" which might have meant something to a responder at Hartland but didn't mean anything to the person across the water in South Wales. The whole thing led to a lot of criticism from the public about over centralisation and lack of local knowledge when it was decided that coastguards would be concentrated on fewer centres but with increased technology at their command.

Now I have a theory about why many people today are so demonstrably lacking in geographical knowledge. It's down to our transport systems. The most extreme instances perhaps are when people go off on some foreign package holiday - lets take two weeks in Tenerife as an example. Courtesy of Sir Frank Whittle's invention of the jet engine it will take 4 hours from the south of the UK to get to that warm and sunny island. But this might be an interesting exercise: present a family who have just returned from there with a world atlas and see how long it takes them to find Tenerife. They may go there many times but its relevance in its geographical location might well pass them by. On a smaller scale if we confine ourselves to Britain the motorway system can give one a false impression of just how far apart certain locations can be and one can become somewhat oblivious of the changing scenery.

I have to say as someone who places great store in the individuality of places and the people who live in them I find my previous commentary in this post a bit depressing. Yes modern transport has shrunk the world and has vastly widened the opportunity for people to enjoy different experiences away from home but it's a shame to my mind that so much of this is in chunks with folk not seeing the connections in between.

Crediton bucks trend in shop closures

There might be doom and gloom on many British High Streets but one place that seems to be bucking the trend is Crediton (or Kirt'n as the locals might pronounce it in their Westcountry way of abbreviating so many local place names). Crediton is a thriving town in Mid Devon and to the west of Exeter. Looking online at the Mid Devon Gazette they have the story that five independent retailers are setting up there whereas one might have expected a piece about a similar number closing such is the economic downturn.

Without me trying to pour cold water on things it isn't perhaps quite so good as it seems. For instance Jan Thresher of Kezia's hairdressing salon has purchased her own premises but had previously leased a different building in Crediton. So perhaps not an entirely new business but well done to her for grasping the chance to buy her own place. Another one is 'Fly Fishing Tackle', a business with a website for the last five years but who have now decided to have a 'bricks and mortar' presence. Now I find this particularly interesting because this is turning a recent trend upside down; I'm of the opinion that certain more specialist shops with their high business rates and energy costs will close and operate on the internet instead so for someone to add retail premises to an existing website seems quite unusual.

It's an undeniable fact that more shopping is being done through the internet and surely this will increase at the expense of our town centres. Once this recession is over it should be possible to start assessing just how much difference internet shopping is making to our retail therapy.

The RSPB's attitude to Wind Farms

Well now we have it: the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds have stated that we definitely must have more on shore wind farms. They state that there is a small percentage of possible sites that they would have to oppose on wildlife grounds but they would not object to the great majority of planning proposals. I can understand that the risk to birds, particularly the rarer species, is far bigger in some places than others. It seems that, never mind about a relatively small number of birds that might get chewed up by the whirling blades at sites that have their approval, it's their contention that the loss of bird life from climate change could be so huge that building more wind farms has to be a way of trying to ameliorate the problem.

I've made my stance on wind farms clear before, my primary objection being that the amount of power generated from them is unpredictable as the wind velocity in this country at least is so variable. Nothing irritates me more than to be told that a certain wind farm will provide the energy for a population of so many; the industry are assuming the ideal wind speeds for maximum output - what a con! As I see it back up has to be available if the wind is either too strong or non-existent and I have yet to see any convincing refutation of this argument.

The upshot of the RSPB statement is a green light for more wind farm construction from one of the major conservation charities. What would be interesting to see is how their huge membership would respond if they had a chance to vote on the viewpoint expressed by the organisation, not that they would ask the question.

Jade Goody and the celebrity culture

Normally on this blog I refrain from commenting on what we call "celebrity culture" for the simple reason that I have well nigh zero interest in the subject but following the sad death of Jade Goody I thought I would make an exception to the rule. It's not that I have any special comment to make about this particular lady because apart from being aware of her having being on the 'Big Brother' programme (which incidentally I don't watch) I really know nothing much about her. As much as anything it's the public and media reaction to her fatal illness and our obsession with 'celebrities' that fascinates me.

So what is it with celebrities? Do we need people who have somehow become famous to mentally associate ourselves with? Perhaps, like the Diana phenomenon, it's a collective thing - a whole chunk of our society needs to coalesce around the life or death of one individual. I don't pretend to know the answer, suffice to say that in my case I am much more interested in people that I personally come across who have achieved remarkable things but who you wouldn't see on some late night chat show.

Apparently the BBC is under fire from some quarters about the way it prioritised the death of Jade Goody on its news bulletins. I have to say that I agree with the complainants. Yes Jade Goody's situation generated a great deal of interest but in the great scheme of things should her sad death at a young age have been the lead item on the news from our national broadcaster? Patently not in my opinion. I think it is just pandering to those hooked on her life and times but there are those I know who feel they can relate to her in the sense that she had a hard early life and against the odds she was able to amass a good amount of money. Another point I would make is the fact that senior politicians, Brown and Cameron, saw fit to comment on her death, another example I suppose of them having to be seen to relate to popular culture.

Goody's death reminds me of the very many young people who die from illness prematurely and the gaping hole that leaves in the lives of close relatives. I guess that most of us, if not directly touched by such tragedies, will know someone who has been. It sounds as if I'm being totally negative about celebrities so I'll just redress the balance a little: in the case of Jade her illness has really given publicity to the scourge of cervical cancer and the fact that she was so much in the spotlight does at least mean women are now much more aware of this disease and that it can strike younger people as well as older ones. In a sense then Jade Goody's death might lead to prolonged life for others. Not all celebrity culture is bad.

Glorious weather after harsh winter

I have really been neglecting this blog of late - this is partly down to the super weather we are experiencing this week coupled to the fact that there is a considerable amount to be done in the garden. Yes there is a real feel of Spring in the air and the plants that were pegged back by this winter's cold blast are now making up for lost time! Daffodils are plentiful now in the Valley and I saw my first stitchwort of the year the other day. Although there seems to be a consensus that the spring flowers are about a fortnight late this year that particular comment needs to be qualified. I think that it would be more realistic to say that our flowers have come into bloom about two weeks late compared with the flowering times of our recent mild winters. In other words it could be more accurate to say that primroses, daffodils and the rest have flowered very early in the last few years and in 2009 they are about right, if that makes sense.

Is the weather this year going to revert to its more distinctly seasonal pattern? It would be nice to think of warm summer evenings to come with folk able to sit outside till sundown. The beginning and end of the day can be very atmospheric - there is something quite special about being up at the crack of dawn on a very still summer's morning. Absolute magic.

"In the Shadow of the Moon"

I have to say that I am not a film buff - I can quite happily go from one end of the year to the other without visiting the cinema. As for films on TV, I might watch one very occasionally but really can't remember the last one I saw on the box. When it comes to modern day film stars their names might crop up in the news for some reason but I wouldn't recognise pictures of them. So it has to be something very very special for me to watch let alone make a blog entry about it.

Well, a couple of evenings ago I did go and see a film and was I glad I did! First of all I have to thank 'Peninsula Arts', the cultural umbrella organisation for the University of Plymouth who are happy for non-students to watch their films - their website is here - and secondly it was a friend who asked if I would like to see this particular film and I of course was totally unaware of it until she mentioned it.

Called 'In the Shadow of the Moon' it was made a couple of years ago and traces the story of the great space adventure whereby the Americans sent their cosmonauts to the moon. It was a film out of this world in more ways than one. A lot of archive film from NASA which hadn't seen the public light of day was used and the whole story was related by many of those who had flown to the moon; sadly these didn't include Neil Armstrong who I understand is quite reclusive and didn't wish to participate on camera. The internet seems to be such a good place for film reviews and the ones I read after seeing the film were all very positive about it, here is one such which will save me going into deep detail and probably making a hash of it - I'm no film reviewer!

Suffice to say that this documentary film gives one a remarkable insight into the make up of the individuals who were to become so famous. One of them mentioned a sense of guilt he had - but for the Apollo missions he would have been fighting with his contemporaries in the hell of the Vietnam War. It seems amazing now that it was 40 years ago that man first set foot on the moon; I remember watching the fuzzy black and white image on TV of Neil Armstrong stepping down onto the Lunar surface and seeing the same thing with remarkable clarity on the big screen was a revelation.

As a senior citizen the cinema cost was just £3 which with the cheap day return fare of £4.30 made for a very reasonable evening's entertainment. I would say to anyone who has not seen this film it is something you just must not miss. It could have been full of computer enhancements and special effects but no what you see is what the various cameras saw at the time. Words can't do justice to this very special film.

Safe arrival in Melbourne for Pete Goss

One might be forgiven in thinking that most of the really adventurous journeys in the world had already been made. Well Cornish sailor Pete Goss and his crew have just completed a truly epic journey retracing the route taken by seven fishermen from west Cornwall over 150 years ago as they searched for a better life in Australia. I'm guessing that many readers will be aware of the replica of the original Mounts Bay lugger 'Mystery' that Pete had built for him but for a little background see my blog here. Much more information can be found on this website. The great news is that 'Spirit of Mystery' has safely arrived in Melbourne but unfortunately the craft was hit by a freak wave shortly before the voyage was completed. As a result one of Pete's crew members , brother-in-law Mark Maidment, sustained a broken leg and had to be put ashore a little further back on the coast. Really tough luck for Mark but evidently no permanent damage done.

I don't always agree with the editorial preferences in the 'Western Morning News' but today, in the Cornish edition at least, they were spot on by devoting the whole of the front page and pages 2 and 3 to the success of the Goss expedition. Plus plenty of warm congratulations in a leader column which I would echo. Pete took advantage of modern communication to keep a weblog going but when it came to other aspects of the trip such as navigation for instance he replicated what the earlier sailors did - he used a sextant and the stars to guide his way!

On arrival in Australia Pete and his crew have actually met up with some of the descendants of those original emigrants from Cornwall. What an incredible feeling that must have been! At the moment the future of 'Spirit of Mystery' seems uncertain other than the fact that Pete would clearly like to see her back in Cornwall. Whether that means he will sail her back is an unknown but it would be quite possible. The capacity for Pete Goss to amaze us all is still evident.

Hammered Dulcimer music to enjoy

I am a great enthusiast for the hammered dulcimer, even to the extent of having one of my own which I'm trying to learn how to play. This group in America have a few other acoustic instruments but they mostly are hammered dulcimers. I think it's a joyful sound - they are playing a medley of tunes: Ragtime Annie, Soldier's Joy and Golden Slippers at a centenary celebration of the Model T Ford. Hence the reason for the fashion statement! As an antidote to the frequent bad news around I hope you enjoy this music.

New power station at Langage delayed

It had been thought that the new Langage gas fired power station on the eastern edge of Plymouth would be completed before the end of 2008. But no, due to sub-standard pipework it will be another year before it starts contributing to the National Grid. It's a very big contract of course but its completion date being put back 12 months isn't good news. Its output should be enough to power a million homes, at the moment the only substantial power station in or close to our peninsula is the nuclear plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset. The population in my two counties is quite thinly spread over a large geographical area and with much of our energy coming from 'up country' there are huge losses in the transmission system. Langage will make a massive difference in reducing these losses and should make the whole system more reliable.

Development of adjoining land as a business park is on hold until the power station itself is completed.

Helford Jetty scheme rejected

On the 25 th January I wrote angrily about the totally selfish attitude of second home owners at Helford in west Cornwall. A scheme to build a jetty and short access road to the same to enable local fishermen to land their catch with a degree of comfort and safety was put on hold when the primarily absent for most of the year homeowners got a judicial review into the plans. The judge has now spoken ... and it's not good news for the locals. The jetty is a 'no go' because of a planning technicality. Sickening news for all of us more concerned that the area should retain its proper working environment rather than become just a rich man's playground. A battle lost maybe but not necessarily the end of the matter.

It sounds as if the fishermen aren't going to give up - if they have to resubmit their application then it will be Cornwall rather than Kerrier making a decision one way or the other because of course we are losing a local government layer in April so Kerrier District Council will be no more.

Greenway House open to the public

Back in the year 2000 the National Trust were fortunate enough to acquire Greenway House and Gardens from the descendants of crime novelist Agatha Christie. Idyllically situated on the east bank of the River Dart just across the water from Dittisham it was Ms Christie's holiday home from 1938 to 1959. For a period during the Second World War it was commandeered by the US Navy. Now a haven of tranquillity and following a substantial restoration the public are able to visit both house and gardens.

This home has quite a long history more of which can be read here. Evidently it dates back to the time of the Gilberts of Elizabethan fame.

Although the House has only been open since last Saturday it has been possible to visit the surrounding grounds for quite a while. In fact a friend and I did just that a few years ago (not sure when but certainly well before I started blogging). Killing two birds with one stone we participated in a canoe expedition starting from Tuckenhay on Bow Creek that took us out on to the main estuary and down river to land at Greenway. These weren't individual canoes you understand but one monster craft with, I can't remember the exact number, but it must have been about 12 individuals. An interesting experience. Canoeing is an activity I regret not having done more of; I had a previous go at it on the Tamar many years before the Dart journey, again a well organised arrangement but in that instance it was all about one and two seat canoes.

The National Trust are well used to dealing with hordes of people but in the case of Greenway road access is far from good. So well done to the NT for encouraging alternative "greener" ways of getting there. So walking, cycling or use of a bus are suggested for arriving by land. What I particularly like is the possibility of coming up by ferry from Dartmouth. Our river estuaries in Devon and Cornwall are very underused in "getting from A to B"; I'm no sailor but there is something different, something special about arriving at your destination by water. Quite rightly we extol the magnificent coast and moorland in our peninsula but our drowned river estuaries or 'rias' if you wish to be technical are very very special. I remember a few years ago organising an evening boat trip for our local history group from Fowey up the river of the same name and then traversing the fabulous Lerryn Creek, that perfect mix of water and woodland that was supposed to have inspired the writing of 'Wind in the Willows'.

Never mind about Lerryn, back to Greenway and the Dart. I seem to recall that Agatha Christie is the most widely read author in the World, might be wrong but I believe that there are more copies of her books printed than 'The Bible'! Whatever, we do have an outstanding literary heritage in the UK and I believe that the numbers of visitors to Greenway both from this country and abroad will be very substantial. Let's see what happens.

Overnight snow in Devon

No snow here in my part of the Tamar Valley but belts of showers crossing the south west last night have dumped some more of the white stuff over parts of Devon with the north and east of the county particularly affected. Mainly bright in my part of the world earlier and during the second half of the morning I walked up to a vantage point high above the village where it's possible to see most of Dartmoor's western scarp and the snow up on the moor was very evident. I returned home the quick way by the main road that descends rapidly back into the village. Part way down there is a grassy bank that catches the sun well and it was pleasing to see a good number of lesser celandines there and a number of daffodils on the way to flowering. The huge variety of cultivated daffs hereabouts means that they don't all come at once, a situation helped by the different micro- climates prevalent in the mid Tamar Valley.

Another couple of weeks and the daffodils will hopefully be at their best.

Harriet Harman loses out at PMQs

After the cancellation of Prime Ministers Questions last week because of the death of young Ivan Cameron it was back to business as usual today. Well, not quite. With David Cameron not present as not unreasonably he is on compassionate leave and with Gordon Brown in the US it was down to the battle of the substitutes - Harriet Harman, William Hague and Vince Cable. Ms Harman has coped pretty well with Hague in previous outings but not this time. The talk of Westminster at the moment apparently is Harriet's positioning to take over from Brown whenever he steps down as leader or is eased out. Cleverly Hague waited for the moment before making reference to the ambitions of HH, he certainly had opposition members guffawing and a few Labour MPs had difficulty in trying to stay serious. Harman was really shrill and although she managed a couple of retorts they were in the glancing blow category I thought.

The other day I suggested that Sir Fred Goodwin be stripped of his title in the belief that he was knighted for "his services to banking". It was a Plaid Cymru MP who suggested at PMQs that Sir Fred lose his knighthood but Ms Harman's response was that it was his work for 'The Princes Trust' that led to him being honoured. So was I and I guess millions of others wrong in our belief about this. Answer: no we weren't. Harriet Harman made an awful gaffe and her office made a retraction a little later in the afternoon. She has been very outspoken about the Goodwin pension and surely this demonstrates that she is not on top of her brief. Or does it? Some have surmised that if she knew the real reason for bestowing the honour then this might have been highly embarrassing to state in as much as it would have reflected yet more bad judgment by G Brown. Whatever, she didn't perform at all well today.