Gloria wrote:Tomorrow is "Fellsman" day for us---leaves Preston at 8-45am, a very good day to look forward to. AND, I shall be having porridge, it's the only time I have any, then full english, toast etc and coffee. Doubt I will have an appetite for any lunch. A good day will be had by all.
And to quote you when Stanley had his turn on the Fellsman...plenty of pictures please!
Nullius in verba: On the word of no one (Motto of the Royal Society)
Stanley wrote:Lewis Hamilton carving his way to 3rd place after starting 20th. Plenty of racing and contact!
Strange noises coming from my washing machine... Drained it, opened it up and realised I had forgotten to take the metal hooks out of one of the kitchen curtains! After a search round the seals and in the filter I have found 3 of the 7. 4 are still AWOL! All back in on a rinse and spin cycle... Hoping for the best!
Later... It looks as though I have got way with it, normal rinse and spin with no noises off! However, now I have the problem of finding four of the old fashioned metal hooks... I rang Wendy to see if she had any but no luck. If anyone has any about please give me a ring!!
How did you get on with your search for old fashioned metal hooks? Photo please and I may be able to supply.
What attracted my attention today is that I can't sleep!
Measure with a micrometer, mark with a pencil, cut with an axe.
Jules, thanks for the offer but curtains hang well with only five a side and Margaret has posted me some from Perth!
I feel sorry for anyone who can't sleep. I am very lucky... sleep like a log, don't even hear thunder. Is it the hot weather?
Cleaners were nice and spent an hour freshening me up... Arranging with Susan for carpet cleaning....
House gradually warms up in the sun, core temperature is 23C downstairs and 25C upstairs. Not interfering with sleep yet....
Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
News this afternoon that LCC have vetoed road closures needed to hold Barlick Beach. Have sent this to the powers that be at county hall:
I have just received an email telling me that LCC have vetoed road closures to enable Barnoldswick Beach to go ahead.
This is an annual event which has been held during August for the last few years which has attracted tens of thousands of visitors.
Setting up for the event is due to start in the next few days.
Applications for the necessary road closures were made many weeks ago.
I am staggered that the county council is stopping this event from being held.
After all the promises to sort out the processes for road closures, it is unbelieveable that this barrier is being flung in the way of one of the county’s most successful community event at the eleventh hour.
Please can this decree be reviewed as a matter of urgency and the event allowed to go ahead?
I got a holding response from a senior manager at LCC about an hour ago, saying that the decision about the road closures for the Beach will be reviewed tomorrow. I have sent the following further email:
Thanks Phil.
Please understand that this is very aggravating and extremely difficult to understand given the recent history of such activities in Barnoldswick and the various pledges made by the county council in the last few months.
The Beach is a major event in the Barnoldswick calendar which scores of volunteers devote the whole of August to running.
Barnoldswick Town Council has placed orders for around £10,000 of supplies, services and equipment.
The ‘get in’ for the event is due to start on Sunday, when I’ll be marking up the Beach area for the marquee due to go in next Monday.
The closure is required to allow the safe operation of our Donkey Rides on Thursdays and Saturdays (these are provided free as part of the event, which in itself is free). The closure is also needed for a Town Crier Competition which is being held on one of the Saturdays.
The market, which normally stands on the Town Square on those days, will also be displaced onto the closed section of Albert Road.
This is exactly in line with what has happened on the four previous days of closures that we have had this year in the town centre in Barnoldswick, and, indeed, what has happened with numerous events in previous years, except that the extent of the closure has been minimised due to the extended period and specific nature of this event.
In order to minimise the impact on traffic through the town centre, the layout of the event has been designed to contain the closure to Albert Road from Ellis Street to Newtown, with provision for emergency access to back Frank Street via back Albert Road.
The closure and diversion will be signed in accordance with Chapter 17 signage with appropriate stewarding.
The nature of the requested closure has been given very careful consideration with public safety at the forefront of our thinking and taking into account the reasonable needs of nearby property occupants and highway users.
There has been a suggestion that the activities could take place on one of the town centre car parks, but this is a non-starter as they will be full with day-to-day users and the additional visitors attracted by the Beach. In any event, we will be encouraging Beach visitors to use slightly out of centre parking where possible to avoid on street parking on residential streets.
Given that the operational requirements of the Beach dictate a close proximity between the Donkey Rides and the sand itself and that such a dislocation would necessitate hundreds of young children crossing and recrossing a busy main road this is not something that could be countenanced in any reasonable risk assesment of the activities.
The fact that closures would be needed for the Beach was flagged up by myself several months ago. The specifics of the requirements were notified weeks ago.
It is wholly unreasonable for the highway authority to refuse to consent to the closures at the eleventh hour.
We are now in the final stages of implementing an event that has been in preparation for months, has had thousands of pounds of investment, the commitment of over a thousand hours of volunteer time and the expectations of many thousands of young children and their families.
For the county council to throw a spanner in the works at this stage is little short of catastrophic.
I do hope that the county council will not act like donkeys on this issue.
I hope to hear a positive response from yourself at the earliest opportunity.
This level of obstruction and sheer incompetence is unbelievable. Fight them and if necessary ignore them and close the roads anyway.... It just shows how unimportant Barlick is to the LCC. High time it was abolished!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
What really cheeses me off about this road closure nonsense is that we win one battle and think, 'well that's sorted', then we have to go through the whole thing again with knobs on. Campaigning on this issue has led to a change of policy by the county council and a U-turn by Lancashire Police about providing traffic control for parades (at least until April 2015) and we still get this crap!
Having been a party to some of the problems attendant to last years Heritage weekend, this comes as no surprise at all,. From a layman's point of view it appeared at times that the LCC in general and elements within Pendle were behaving like spoiled brats. This created a situation that was a severe threat to that weekend and which was only resolved at the 11th hour, maybe they are trying to get their own back! I have for a long time now viewed our immediate area as "no mans land" and only useful in terms of revenue, or photo shoots at Rolls Royce, Silentnight etc. for Lancashire's benefit. The Barlick Beach is an home grown success and I imagine quite unique, I find it appalling that it should be threatened by petty or bloody minded bureaurocracy, have they nothing better to do?
Sounds like it's time to get the local TV and radio journalists involved, they should love a chance to show how the bureaucrats are preventing `localism' working - and get the young `uns to blare it out loud on Facebook, Twitter etc.
Nullius in verba: On the word of no one (Motto of the Royal Society)
Following the loss of 3 Malasian aircraft this year, the toll appears to be mounting. Yesterday an ATR crashed on landing in Taiwan killing 117 of those on board, and today an Air Algerie DC9 has disappeared in the Mali region of North Africa with 116 on board.
Without detracting from the tragic information in Thomo's last post, please can I give a brief update on the road closure fiasco for Barnoldswick Beach?
Apart from a wasted hour or so on repudiating a politically motivated complaint against me, I've spent all morning on the road closure issue.
The state of play is that LCC have yet to respond to my emails (apart from the holding response sent after 10pm last night). A little bird tells me though that they are "softening" their stance and a Press Release is being prepared. (Why they aren't communicating directly with the county councillor that raised the issue is beyond me.)
In the meantime, I have established that Pendle Council can make a closure order even if LCC advise against. Not sure what the repercussions of this would be.
I've asked for the issue to be considered as an emergency item at tonight's (fortuitously timed) meeting of Pendle Council's Executive.
Town council chairman, Claire Teall, has convened a special meeting of that body to consider what to do on Saturday morning.
The various emails and information on the issue have been shared with local press and Radio Lancashire.
As it happens, I set myself up on Facebook yesterday morning (before all this blew up), and have been using the platform to get the message out; with some success. James Wilson has covered the issue on his radio show and lots of people have been emailing Lancashire's roads boss John Fillis (who could be on holiday given his non response).
The issue affects the Heritage Weekend as well as the Beach.
A local shopkeeper (who opposes the road closure) involved a Conservative councillor in the matter earlier this week. (Not sure if that's what led to the eleventh hour refusal by LCC.)
Just checked; still no response from the county council...
I wish you the very best with this one David. A tremendous amount of effort goes into what happens here and is generally beneficial to all, including shopkeepers. For the life of me I cannot imagine how closing the short stretch of Albert Road in Question will effect one shopkeeper. If the dissenters do not want to end up with a great deal of egg on their faces, they need to bend, and quickly!!!!
Have now got a reply from LCC, which leaves it up to Pendle!
Hello David,
I understand that this event is long standing and popular and officers of the county council are keen to assist where possible to ensure its continued success.
Having been consulted for the first time on the proposed road closure officers advised that this can be achieved through the county council using an Order under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. This would not affect the previous nature of the closure or its timings but a closure under this statute would require public advertisement and an Order may have a cost which would be met by the promoter.
I believe that traditionally Pendle Borough Council has implemented a road closure to enable this event using the Town Police Clauses Act (TPCA). If Pendle Borough Council is satisfied that the TPCA is suitable legislation to manage the highway closure and traffic can be suitably accommodated then the county council would not need to consider an alternative approach.
Phil Barrett
Director, Lancashire Highway Services
Lancashire County Council
Haven't got the order with the Common Seal of the borough council in my hands yet - and it isn't 100%, but I'd put big money on it if someone was running a book...
The problem with the county council is that it doesn't seem to learn; as I mentioned before, you win one battle and think that's the benchmark. It's more like snakes and ladders - ending up at square one.
Have just got an email from Pendle's engineering manager confirming that Pendle's legal section will draw up the closure order tomorrow. All being well, this should be sealed and come into force in time for Barlick Beach to go ahead! Result!!!!
(Apologies for excessive use of exclamation marks - this is cut and pasted from the Facebook post I've just made.)
An interesting issue is that LCC are attempting to pretend now that they never said 'No'. Who do they think they are kidding?
What intrigues me is who the shopkeeper/complainer was. Tory? Who controls the LCC now? If it's not incompetence it is obstruction. Too much Lyle Davy brand of politics about, good luck with the impropriety case David....
How clean me sofa looks!
Stanley Challenger Graham
Stanley's View
scg1936 at talktalk.net
"Beware of certitude" (Jimmy Reid)
The floggings will continue until morale improves!
LCC is no overall control. My lot holds the balance of power; we voted for Labour to be the political administration. John Fillis, who's the county councillor overseeing highway stuff, has been quite good in supporting most of our group's requests on highway related issues.
I think the general problem is the culture of the organisation. Although not as bad as I can remember (and I can remember back to naying and yaying days, think on...), there's an overwhelming amount of power in the hands of the 'professionals' which isn't balanced adequately by pragmatism and political thinking. The result is a 'the answers no, what's the question?' response on issues like the road closure hiatus.
What's attracted my attention so far today is the marvellous views of the mist burning off in the early sun; pic coming up soon on Bank Edge View.
