Blog 82
Ok, there’s a debate to be had about the value and role of public statues but, personally, I’m way up for the one just unveiled in Parliament Square.
Women’s suffrage campaigner, Millicent Fawcett, has to be one of the great Britons of the 19th and 20 centuries. Why has it taken so long?
Millicent Fawcett, who, through her untiring efforts, helped to improve the lives and prospects of millions
… and therefore not to to be confused with
;
At least, in the positivity aroused by the unveiling, we have a counterpoint to the horror show circulating around what is being called Windrushgate, or whatever.
That the country should have allowed itself to sink to the point where politicians feel that developing a deliberately hostile environment to selected legal, invited, recruited immigrants and their descendants – those who not only fill vital jobs but, through their taxes as a “working age” population, subsidise the rest of us ageing “white folk” – will be a vote winner is nothing short of a national disgrace.
Promoted by our lowest political life forms like Farage – and there are plenty more – it brings shame to a once decent country and is clearly reflected in the ridiculous, self-destructive Brexit vote, the worst thing to happen to this country in my lifetime.
This is so far from being the country I grew up in and could take some pride in. Brexit will, if it happens, ensure we continue our shift towards economic, social, environmental and political marginalisation. What an achievement.
Meanwhile “in other news”:
While awaiting the start of radiotherapy (and many thanks for all the warm wishes), I have had to undergo a few, what are known as, MRI and CT scans. Essential of course – and I’m totally indebted to our largely immigrant staffed and funded NHS – but, to a lifelong claustrophobe, this is an additional hurdle to negotiate! In my case by swallowing a couple of sedatives first in the hope that I might not notice that I was being inserted into something like a Chilean miner escape tube.
After one scan we had arranged to meet up with a friend and I was embarrassed to be told later that I’d twice fallen asleep at (on?) our table, due no doubt to my over-enthusiasm for sedation!
While off work I have been able to do a lot of reading and am grateful for the suggestions you have been giving me. I have always read a lot of non-fiction and now find myself devouring more and more. This week, having last week finished off a biography of Clem Attlee and Helen Pankhurst’s Deeds Not Words,
I’ve read a full account of the disastrous Donner Party (a 19th century California bound wagon train complete with added cannibalism. What, as they say, is not to like?
My experience is that, while I start out thinking that I know something about the subject that I’m reading about, I )soon realise how little I do know and want to dig deeper. Life, it seems to me, is an ongoing learning experience!
But there is plenty of lighter stuff out there! I have a Miles Jupp book (!) on order and a locally based crime thriller, because you just can’t beat a bit of pre-Scandi noir, especially if you recognise the places and even the characters being worked over…
In a previous post I mentioned Stuart Maconie among my list of favourite authors. Very true. But with one reservation. After completing my own book, Northern Soles, about a 2016 coast to coast walk, I was hoping to come up with an idea for another long walk with some kind of social/political relevance and hit on the thought of doing my own re-enactment of the Jarrow march. A little later I discovered that Stuart M had beaten me to it and his book was already in the pipeline! Bummer! Swallowing my instinctive resentment, I simply ordered it and it’s a splendid read.
Very much enjoyed watching the Commonwealth Games on telly through the night (I have a lot of time on my hands just now) and, having a netball-bonkers (and top quality player) for a daughter, there was never a chance that I would miss a single second of the gold medal match against the Aussies! Brilliant stuff!
And my beloved Liverpool FC ain’t doing badly just now either!
Have also been using my “enforced leisure time” to carry out some long-overdue clearance of old papers and now unwanted books. Very therapeutic. And, as a treat, provided Mrs Blog is out of the house at the time, I’ve indulged myself by buying a cheap retro turntable to play a selection of my old 45s!
We had to cancel our June holiday in Barbados but insisted that blog daughter and her boyfriend should carry on without us. They still need and deserve the break. Mrs Blog has asked them to send us pics of our favourite places on the island so we can share the experience. I’m not sure about that!!
But we are still arranging to go, or at least be available for, the odd local event on the basis that it will be better to focus on what I can, or may still be able to do, and not what I may not be able to do. Indeed we have just booked to see our favourite, canal based Mikron Theatre near Oxford in the summer. I first saw them perform about 50 years ago and the company is, thankfully, still going strong. I have blogged enthusiastically about them before and they featured in my coast to coast walk.
By the way, we sometimes talk about Britain being “overcrowded”.
I thought you might be interested to know (2011 landscape report by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology):
Grassland: 38%
Arable and horticulture: 25%
Mountains, heath and bogs: 16%
Woodland, coniferous and broadleaf: 12%
Urban areas: 6%
…leaving 3% for what? Decking, roundabouts and old mattresses??
Of the urban 6%, over half is defined as gardens, parks, verges etc, meaning that around 2.27% of England is actually built on. Just thought you might want to know as being “overcrowded” seemed important to some people during the Brexit “debate” (debate??)
Again, many thanks for all the kind words of support during my illness and for the interest shown in Northern Soles!
Shameless plug: very much available through all usual channels!
http://www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk/product/9781781327562/northern-soles
sankersblog 