Autumn in New England: Part 3



Blueberry Inn

 A hearty breakfast at the Churchill House Inn started the day, with cottage cheese pancakes and maple syrup being the high point. What else will be remembered about our stay? Doors that wouldn't shut, shower taps that were a puzzle to make work and the welcome of mine host's Russian wife (as warm as a Siberian winter at the start but thawing to spring over breakfast - we never quite got to summer!). But our bed was extremely comfortable, the room was warm and the food was excellent (the chocolate cake was particularly notable).

After breakfast we met with our guide for the week (Mary-Lou) and took stock of our options for the day. The weather forecast was not good: in fact it was raining as we met. We decided that we'd spend the morning being tourists and then, if the afternoon weather was better, we'd take a walk. And this is what we did:
1. A brief visit to an iron furnace from the mid-1800s. Given the number of iron mining artefacts we've seen on Dartmoor, it was fascinating to be able to make comparisons with what was going on in the UK at around the same time.
2.  Short visit to Brandon (charming little down with lots of interesting buildings in the vernacular style).
3.  Short visit to Middlebury (good farmers' market with some excellent produce and friendly traders, cooperative market store with an impressive range of foods and a picnic lunch in the town centre).
4. Thence a 4 mile walk in the woods of the TAM (Trail Around Middlebury).
5. And throughout all this we had an expert commentary from our guide. She really does know this part of the world.

From there, with Carl in the driver's seat, we drove to our next overnight stop, the Blueberry Inn at (or near) Ripton. Another good inn with yet another over indulgent meal! And so, dear reader, to bed.

Autumn in New England: Part 2



Churchill House Inn in the Spring

 From Burlington to Brandon today heading north-west and driving through New Hampshire into Vermont. Raining most of the time but this did not detract from the scenery. It looks like we've hit the leaf season just right and I think we'll be seeing some pretty amazing colours. What we saw today in terms of shades of red, purple and brown could be a good taster of what is to come. The colours are far more varied and vibrant than what we see in the UK. Down to variety of trees and climate?

As well as scenery, the theme of the day was 'food'. Ranging from breakfast at the hotel through lunch at Peter Christian's Pub in New London to dinner at our B & B (the Churchill House Inn in Brandon), we have eaten too much! But it was worth it, albeit transiently. I reaquainted myself with root beer: two in one day and that's probably my quota for the stay. It's an acquired taste and not one that I'm ambitious to develop. Nice flavour but far too sweet for my palate.

Tomorrow morning after breakfast (more food!) we meet our guide and start walking - I think we are heading for the intriguing sounding Blueberry Mountain. It's far too late in the season to expect the eponymous berry but I'll be keeping my eyes open for whatever the woods have to offer. Fingers crossed for good weather.

Autumn in New England: Part 1

Hilton Garden Inn, Burlington

Here we are in Boston for a walking holiday with our American friends (Ailsa, Carl, Emilie and Ken). I wake up and notice that it looks like we've brought the rain with us!

Our journey started on Wednesday evening when we drove to Nailsea, just outside of Bristol, to stay with friends who live close to Bristol Airport. An early morning flight on Thursday took us to Dublin and then, after a 4 hour stop-over, on to Boston. Nothing unusual in all that except for the fact that all USA immigration and customs procedures were completed at Dublin airport before we got on the plane. When we reached Boston, after picking up our bags, we walked straight out to the concourse and were met by our travelling companions. Unbelievably easy and a great improvement on the way we had to enter the USA before. No queues and even smiles from the officials! If they don't offer this facility at Gatwick or Heathrow, this alone would be a good reason to travel through Dublin as a hub-airport into the USA.

We spent the night at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel in Burlington in the north-west suburbs of Boston and today we are heading further north and west into Vermount to find our first B & B inn. The walking starts tomorrow!

It's only rock and roll - but we like it

My ITC and I were driving along listening to a CD of some surprisingly enjoyable choral arrangements of Ray Davies’s (of Kinks fame) music. The earliest came from 1963 or thereabouts and this started me thinking about the longevity of pop music generally. I grew up during the 50's, 60's and 70's and, I suppose, really became aware of "current" music in the early-to-late 60's. This put me on a direct collision course with some of the very biggest bands in rock history and this has clearly had an influence on my tastes in this type of music.
The differences between the music my parents listened to and the music my contemporaries and I were listening to were pretty obvious. But as we all aged some similarities hit me and I began to formulate a vague theory for how music impacts on the vast majority of listeners (excepting those on both extremes who just don't like music and those who are fanatics about it). The theory went something like this: from the time you really start to connect to music a decade-long timer starts ticking. For most people this starts somewhere around the age of 15. From age 15 to age 25 (again, for the average person), you're forming your connections to music and that decade will stay with you as your epitome of the medium. Your favorite bands will tend to come from that period. If you get into music later then just slide everything 10 years later.
I held this theory for quite some time and then, maybe 7 or 8 years ago, I noticed that it started to fail. What struck me most wasn't that people weren't interested in music or weren't all becoming fanatics but that the decade window had been smashed and the breadth of connectivity seemed nearly boundless. Youngsters would often mention bands of my day as being their favourites. The Beatles, The Who etc were frequently mentioned and their music lauded.
I started some low-level pondering on how this came about and a number of thoughts came to mind. The first was, not surprisingly, the impact of technology. In my youth the main access to music for most of us was via the radio (isn’t that right, pop pickers?). You listened to what was offered up and if a band fell out of the limelight you didn't hear anything from them anymore. If they seemed like yesterday's news, that was what they became. There really wasn't much you could do about it other than invest in some vinyl or a cassette (and then much later a CD) and that was that. As technology moved into the digital realm suddenly listeners could listen to any era they desired on impulse. The idea of the radio being the driving force dramatically fell off: although it hasn’t disappeared entirely - yet.
However, I also then started leaning towards another factor that may be the main impetus behind this change and, to be honest, it's the one that I want to be the answer. I started wondering if it just so happened that my era--and the periods around it--produced the best of rock music and that this might be the reason the music endures so vibrantly today.
One thing is clear: things have changed dramatically. It's now late 2012 and The Beatles are still being played over radio and streaming services everywhere along with many other bastions of rock of the 60's and 70’s. That's a 52-year window at work. In the 1960's I know there was absolutely nothing on the radio from the 1910's. The same could be said all the way up to the 1950's. Rock really came on the scene then with Elvis and countless other acts but their style of rock was quite distinct from what came just a decade later and you don't hear much of anything of that earlier era anywhere now. When's the last time you heard Elvis, Brenda Lee or Little Richard on the radio? The fact is that a major change in styles and acceptance came in the 1960's.
Listen to the top radio and streaming stations now and you'll find rock from the 60's and 70’s everywhere. There's no shortage of The Eagles, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Queen, ELO, The Doors and many more. So is it just that I grew up in the best era of rock music ever or is it just the technology and the changing rules of access? For now I prefer to believe that the music of my formative years is really that good.

Step forward Richard Lovelace

My Iron Bar ready for use

I try not to covet my neighbour's ass (and I'm sure that Luc and Diana would have some strong words to say if I did) but I must confess to being unreasonably envious of an iron bar my friend Mike has. It's not any old iron bar: it's a large iron bar for serious work. An iron bar that enables things to be done. An iron bar to use with pride.

And now I've got something as good. Bought yesterday on a whim for a mere £20. Was £20 ever better spent? Just look at its sleek lines and drool over the latent power in its construction. I have a feeling that I'm embarking on a beautiful and productive relationship. Happy days in the garden to look forward to!

Where does my fascination for ferrugenous fitments come from? I've got absolutely no idea although the romantic in me would like to think that I have been inspired by the words of Richard Lovelace in the last stanza of his poem To Althea, From Prison: 

Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;

 

Of course, the romantic in me could be completely wrong and I just need a holiday. Of which, more later.

Recognition at last!

For many years now I have subjected my wife, friends and colleagues to what I feel are objective and temperate observations about the shortcomings of almost every aspect of the human race. A modest commentary on all things thoughtless, ill-conceived, annoying or just plain stupid.

Although she's far too self effacing to admit it, my wife has thoroughly enjoyed the benefits of my wisdom, or my interminable rants as she lovingly describes them. Despite this, I'd noticed recently that even her attention was not quite as close as it used to be. Was she tiring of my expositions? Were my pithy critiques losing their charms? How could I revive the heady days of our early courtship when she hung on my every word and begged me to tell her about my ideas for voting reform or how street signing could be improved?

And then I came across the answer! Recognition by that august body, the International Society of Curmudgeons. After much burning of the midnight oil and a vigorous examination, I've recently been awarded the accolade of Master Curmudgeon (proudly displayed above: click on the image to see it in its enlarged glory). My  professional license to complain has rekindled the vital spark in our relationship and my wife now pays much more attention when I wax lyrical on something that strikes me as being worthy of my/our attention.

My attainment of the rank of Master Curmudgeon has made me realise that the power to complain is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a power that must be used wisely. Professional curmudgeons such as myself have an obligation to apply our skills carefully and then only for the good of mankind. If we do this then people will gather around to listen to the wisdom of the aged. We'll help them see the truth of what’s going on around them and how things should be changed. No longer seen as miserable old gits, we will become wise elders. And that's the way it should be... but don't get me started on why it isn't!

Pantomime season begins......

Voters looking for a clear policy statement to emerge from
a party conference

The party conference season has started, with the Lib Dems getting underway in Brighton. I wonder if they'll address the fact that they and the other political parties are in a bad way, and this has nothing to do with voter apathy. At many levels Britain’s political culture is bursting with life, it’s the parties that are dying. This is a serious problem in our democracy, and one that needs fixing. Here are a few thoughts that occur to me.

1. We have really unpopular parties. Just 1% of us are members of a political party — a third of what it was 25 years ago and now the lowest in Western Europe. The parties themselves don’t worry about this too much, we have to choose between one of them on election day and we've got a voting system that plays into their hands. But for the last three elections, the real winner was the Abstention Party – more people stayed away than voted for the winning party. Something that never happened before 2001.

2. Voters are not apathetic, just underwhelmed. Brits do join things, if the cause is good enough. Just think of how many of us belong to the National Trust and the RSPB!  A recent MORI poll showed 58 per cent of those interviewed saying they are interested in politics, the highest since the survey began. But Tory membership stands at under a tenth of what it was in the 1950s, and Labour is not much better. And the poor old Lib Dems? Membership down to around 60,000. In Brighton yesterday, Nick Clegg urged Labour: "Tell us who you are. Tell the country what you are for, not just what you are against." We'd like to hear that about all the parties, Nick.

3. Minority parties are seeing their membership rise. The Greens, SNP, UKIP and BNP are all attracting new members. OK, not vast numbers but they are bucking the downward trend seen with the major parties.

4. Enter the newbies: 38 Degrees and the TaxPayers’ Alliance. They started in 2009 and 2004 respectively. The TPA now has more supporters than the Lib Dems have members (and raises as much money from them). 38 Degrees is proving a brilliantly effective pressure group, with more than a million names on its database. They have a digital army of campaigners, who can be mobilised on fuel tax, NHS closures, etc. Their modern campaigning methods put the dowdy Westminster parties to shame.

5. The response of the parties? The Westminster parties are not trying hard enough: they look at the opinion polls and their percentage vote share, not at membership numbers. There is not enough focus on how to excite and enlist abstainers. They should be learning from the newbies. on how to engage and enthuse people, and incorporate some of the new causes. Instead they are run by party managers who see Britain through the columns of spreadsheets and ask: how do we win suburbanites in the southwest? How to woo women in the north? Party conferences used to be events where earthier, ruder questions were posed, like: who is this party for? Why should anyone join us?

6. There is all to play for. There are political issues that can enthuse voters: issues about changing Britain forever and for the better. The problem comes in persuading people that a political party is something worthy of support (and money). When Tony Blair took over Labour he inspired a 50 per cent rise in membership. This would later fall away, but it shows that there is nothing inevitable about party decline. The British voters have seldom had a greater appetite for decent political ideas. A great prize awaits the party that can provide them.

But don't expect to hear many of these ideas presented in the next three weeks. The party conference is dying.

Voting reform: next steps

"It's all very well having a moan but what am I going to do about it? I'll write about this in a short while".  The final sentence from an earlier blog. So, what am I going to do about it? To do nothing is not an option as it would mean that I'd be colluding with the status quo and relying on others to press for the changes I'd like. No, it's more than that: I think the changes are essential to bring the people back to politics. Here's my list:

1.  Vote at every opportunity and challenge anyone who says that voting is not worth it.
2.  Write to my MP and any other relevant politician about the need for voting reforms.
3.  I have just taken out a subscription with the Electoral Reform Society which seems to be the only group actively campaigning for the changes I want. Their aims are "We're working to build a better democracy, to strengthen democratic governance, to maximise voter participation, and to ensure fairness and equality are the principles at the heart of our elections". And these seem fine to me. 
4.  I'll put a link to the ERS facebook page on my Facebook page and, in this way, I'll be kept up-to-date with their campaigns and any actions I can take.

I think that's probably enough to be getting on with.

Kate: my small contribution to the present furore

In light of the present furore over photographs of Kate Middleton (aka Duchess of Cambridge), in the interests of fearless journalism I thought I'd get ahead of the UK pack and publish a couple of her myself - one topless and one bottomless. Sue me, Buckingham Palace, if you dare.

'Nuff said!

Unthinkable? Voting reform

Reader beware: this one is much longer than my usual offerings.

I've been pondering for a while on issues raised by a short opinion piece in the Guardian that was entitled 'Unthinkable? Voting on a Sunday'. The piece was, I believe, prompted by the lamentable 32% turnout chalked up in the local elections held in early Summer. A figure following on from the 65% at our last general election and that, political nerds will remember, was up a mighty four points on the 2005 election. Compare these figures with the 80% turnout seen in this year's French elections. So, what to do about our elections?

Low electoral turnout is a problem: it's a problem for elective democracy generally and it's a problem for those in our society who are so disenchanted that they see no point in voting. I'm thinking particularly about the young here. This crisis stems from a variety of causes. Politics is an elite world. It has its own language and rhythms which are impenetrable to outsiders. Parliament is arcane and appears, from the outside, to have more of a sense of pomp and pageantry (consider the State Opening) than an understanding of the vitality of civic duty. Our politicians are narrowly trained and chosen. They are then forced to speak to each other in ways that ordinary people don’t. No wonder so many of the electorate look at Parliament and see absolutely no connection to their lives and the battles they fight on a daily basis.

We have a political media who do not see their job as to illuminate and inform, but rather to expose and trivialise. While exposure of wrong doing is essential to a functioning democracy, so is an understanding of the balance of scandal. Even in the expenses furore, politicians weren’t “all at it”. They really aren’t all the same. The majority of politicians (but don’t press me on an exact figure) from all parties go into politics out of a sense of public service. But they have very different ideas of what that means in reality, and those ideas, when implemented, mean very different things to people’s lives. The media seemingly have no interest in informing voters of what these differences are and, all too often, fuel the lazy “all the same” stereotype. As electoral turnout continues to drop, and as all parties adjust to this by increasingly trying to dampen the votes of other candidates, we are stuck in a race to the bottom that damages us all. This is not a new concern. We’ve been handwringing about this for far too long now and I think it’s timely to consider something radical.

Sometimes two cherished values are in direct opposition to each other: our liberalism has been allowed to trump our democracy time and time again. For me, now is the time to change the whole system in a way that will have huge charges of illiberalism, but equally, could have the enormous payoff of cracking open our democracy. I believe we should move to compulsory attendance at the polling station (or if we move to online voting – which is inevitable – compulsory registration of a vote or non-vote). In Australia, where voting is compulsory, the turnout at their last election was over 93%. Imagine that here.

Imagine the difference to our politics if our politicians were not always chasing the richer centre ground of likely voters, but forced to appeal to people of all circumstances. It’s a fact that in the UK the poorer you are, the less likely you are to vote. Imagine the difference to your daily life if politicians had to address their cuts in a way that didn’t alienate young people with their whole voting lives ahead of them. It’s a fact that In the UK, the younger you are, the less likely you are to vote. Imagine if elections were no longer about turning out your vote and depressing that of your opponents, but were about giving the people – all the people –something to vote for. Imagine if our media knew that all the people needed to be informed, and competed to be the best source of that information. Imagine a body politic forced to represent all the people – a true representative democratic system. Imagine if everyone voted at every election (local and national) and the political classes could not ignore a low turnout.

Of course, making voting compulsory doesn't automatically take us to a higher plane of democracy but it would be a step in the right direction. In the interests of fairness and to temper the accusation of being illiberal, I would give those who genuinely want to opt out a chance to do so without the “none of the above” option appearing on the ballot paper as I think that a too easy opt-out would hinder the cultural change I’m seeking. A simple registration of non-voting would allow those who don’t wish to vote for religious or cultural reasons as well as those who genuinely don’t wish to vote, the option not to do so. But they would be forced to make that a positive, not a negative, choice: the default position is to vote. Jury service is compulsory in this country because we consider it an important part of our democracy that we are tried by a jury of our peers. We may grumble when called (as is our right) but we recognise it as our civic duty. Isn’t it time we considered choosing a government in a similar way?

Two elements of my ideal electoral position are compulsory voting (as above) and an elected second chamber (as expounded in many previous posts) but I'm not daft enough to think that either of these are achievable in the short term. If not the ideal then what? And this takes me to, at long last, the subject of the original Guardian feature - making voting more convenient by holding polls on a Sunday.  Making voting more convenient could also include electronic voting, voting by phone/text/internet. All of these are being used successfully elsewhere. Surely not making changes such as these makes no sense in a twenty-first-century multi-cultural society?

Of course, none of these technological fixes to boost turnout do anything to boost voter engagement. The very best way forward is not to accommodate voter apathy but to end it. If people were really engaged in the political process and felt that voting made a real difference then they would be queuing up to vote any day of the week and by any means available. Voters need to think that their votes will count for something, and that those elected will at least make an apparent effort to keep their promises, as advertised in their respective manifestos!

Again, I'm not daft enough to think that politicians will change their habits so that leaves me with the canker of electoral change gnawing at me. It's all very well having a moan but what am I going to do about it? I'll write about this in a short while.

Oh, to be in the West Country when the weather's good!

An interesting weekend centred on two walks in support of charities.

St Samsom's, South Hill

St Melor's, Linkinhorne

The first was on Saturday in aid of the Historic Churches Trust, a charity charged with maintaining the focal points of so many villages. It was a 7 mile linear walk starting at Upton Cross on the eastern fringe of Bodmin, thence across countryside unknown to me to St Samsom's at South Hill and St Melor's at Linkinhorne. After that it was back to Stoke Climsland church for a cream tea along with a group that had been having a Toddle Waddle around the churchyard - further details can be provided upon request! The weather was glorious and the sky was blue and clear. Our route was predominantly off road and took us through fields, across streams, up and down a few walker-unfriendly stiles and past some very old farms. All that and good company so the walk was really a 7 mile conversation with friends. What better way to spend a September Saturday?

Looking across the Tamar into Cornwall

Food, glorious food!

For Sunday's walk, we ventured over the border into Devon for our Annual Amnesty International Autumn Walk. The money raised goes to support our group's activities and allows us to make a contribution to AI UK's funds. We are a small group but we do what we can to raise the awareness of AI locally and, by the support we had for this walk (about 45 turned up), I think we are doing a pretty good job. A shorter one this time, with a 4 mile circular route starting and finishing in Bere Alston on the Bere Peninsular. We dropped down to the River Tamar, walked along it through fields for a while and then climbed back up to the village. Guess what? We finished with more food! All home-made and ranging from scones and cream, through tray bakes to clafoutis aux prunelles. Probably more time was spent eating than walking but who cared?  And we raised more money from this walk than any other we've organised. What better way to spend a September Sunday?

Between 1972 and 1974 my IBC and I lived just down the road from our meeting place in our first property (Cost to buy? £4995! Cost now for same property? Circa £160,000!). Who would have thought we'd be back in 2012 doing what we did? Strange how things turn out, eh?

In which I am puzzled by a car sticker

To the municipal tip at Launceston today to dispose of some prunings in the recycling bins. As usual there was a small queue and I pulled in behind an estate car with a sticker in the back window. As I approached, I thought how unusual it was that someone had been so impressed with the work of a surgeon in Budapest that they had tell everyone. As I moved closer and the wording came into better focus, it was clear that I'd made a mistake. Doh! Not Hungarian Fistula but Hungarian Vizsla. 

As we edged forward, I couldn't make out the occupant of the car but I got to musing about what message, for message there surely must be, he/she was trying to convey by telling me that they had one or more Hungarian Vizslas on board. What emotion did they want me to have? Admiration? ("I see you have some Hungarian Vizslas on board. You are clearly a discerning dog owner and, by analogy, a person of great taste"). Pity? ("I see you have some Hungarian Vizslas on board. Viscious smelly brutes, aren't they, peeing all over the place. Here, take this £20 note and drown your sorrows with a bottle of fine malt"). Caution? ("I see you have some Hungarian Vizslas on board. I had intended ramming into the back of you but now I'll aim for that carload of Pomeranian Poodles instead"). And so on...and on... 

I'd love to say that, when we reached the bins, the driver got out and threw two fighting dogs into the recycling pile. But no, a pleasant looking female emerged and, very daintily, disposed of some branches. Now here's the thing, there were no dogs in her car! What does that mean? Should her sticker have read, more accurately, 'Hungarian Vizsla not on board' or 'Hungarian Vizsla sometimes on board' or 'I've love to have an Hungarian Vizsla on board but I can't afford the upkeep'?. And so on...and on.... 

Putting on my old curmudgeon's hat, I wonder if people who put stickers on their cars really think that a 4 inch x 12 inch piece of printed plastic is going to make me change my mind about some subject or make me think that they are better people? I want to be one of the first to tell them that it will not. Having said that, I suppose that the piece of plastic acts as their little soapbox and I shouldn't fault them for expressing their views (however misguided they are!). 

In praise of the New Internationalist

Unless it's something disastrous, it's usually quite difficult to get a sense for what is going on in underdeveloped/Third World countries from the UK media. For what must be approaching a decade now, I have subscribed to New Internationalist magazine for my fix of news and views from such countries. Their publicity says 'New Internationalist tackles today’s most challenging global issues, confronts inequality and injustice and reports on positive changes happening around the world. An established leader of independent media since 1973, New Internationalist is written for our readers and funded by them. We have no media baron breathing down our necks or corporate advertisers telling us what to do'. And, by and large, I think that's what NI does, and it does it well. Not that I agree with their stance (green, left, non-capitalist, humanitarian) on everything but their hit rate with me has been consistently high. It comes out bi-monthly and articles in the current issue that have grabbed my attention are:

Legalising drugs: The 'war on drugs' has not been a success. Isn't it time to try something radically different? Legalisation is not a panacea but could be a pragmatic response to a problem that no laws can simply 'prohibit' away. If it seems a risk too far, consider the status quo, in which powerful drugs, manufactured by criminals, are widely and easily available. And teenagers routinely ignore what passes for drug education in schools and treatment programmes for adult users are chronically underfunded. What could possibly be worse?
Why events in Africa are ignored: Let's not delude ourselves, wars in Africa are of little interest to the West because they are happening to people too far away, who are too different, living in countries that are not 'important'. With our media's preference for the sensational, isn't it a crime that the slow starvation of entire communities forced to flee from violence into inhospitable jungles and deserts is just not sensational enough?
Celebrities and charity endorsements: Not everyone thinks that Bob Geldoff is a saint or that celebrities emoting in the townships is a good thing. Whether you agree or disagree, the debate is thought provoking. 
How to be courteous in Botswana: Some tips for not just getting by in Setswana but also in the UK and elsewhere. Courtesy and respect between individuals don't cost anything and make everyday interactions a lot more pleasant.
Affairs in Yemen: A country that is rarely reported upon unless it's something to do with terrorism so it's good to read about aspects of life there as it is today. Not that knowing about it puts it to the top of my places to visit!

Articles such as the above, plus reviews of books, music and films the mainstream ignores, make the NI a good read if you want an alternative view of the world. And it's not expensive!

Is it always raining on Rough Tor?

In my experience, yes! I posted some comments back in early May about getting wet on Rough Tor whilst looking at some Neolithic remains. Guess what? My IWC and I were up there again on the weekend and had to cut short our walk due to mist and rain.

We did, however, manage to locate the Neolithic bank cairn we were looking for (pictured) and a good few hut circles. It's a good thing that the weather back in those days was a lot warmer (and drier) than it is now. Otherwise there'd be no archeaology for us to see - or not, depending on the weather conditions. Will it be third time lucky?

Lych Way Walk: Dartmoor. Postbridge to Lydford via a bog!

Our most recent Dartmoor Walk took us on the Lych Way, starting just outside of Postbridge and finishing in Lydford (we actually met there and took a hired minibus to the start). The Lych Way, or Way of the Dead, was the route followed by those taking their dead to be buried in the parish church of this part of Dartmoor, Lydford. It cuts across the north-west quadrant of the moor and passes through some pretty wild open moorland.

As might be expected from the recent rains, water was our constant companion, whether in the form of swollen rivers and streams, bogs (more of a particular one later) and just general mud and puddles underfoot. But very little in the way of rain! In fact, for most of the way the conditions were very clear and we were treated to some fantastic views of the surrounding terrain. Our route was almost 'as the crow flies' and included such evocative places as Powdermills, Longaford Tor, Conies Down, Prison Leat, White Barrow and Coffin Wood. It was a good 13 miles but a hard 13 miles due to the conditions (have I mentioned the strong wind?). Despite these, it was a contented group that trooped into the Castle Inn at Lydford at the end and sat down for an excellent post-perambulation repast.

And the reference to a bog at the beginning? One second I was there and the next one I was up to my armpits in water. A sobering experience and a reminder that the moor is not a place to be underestimated. Many thanks to Richard for hauling me out - intact but with dignity slightly dented! No photographs of this mishap are available (which shows our vintage: a younger group would have whipped their mobiles out and posted something on Facebook/YouTube within seconds) but the one shown of a certain Mayor of London will give you the idea of the scene.

Snakes and Ladders

The schools are back next week and already the pupils of the Westminster kindergarden are shaping themselves up for the new term. The papers and TV programmes are replete with tales of how well they are going to do and how they are going to shape our futures.

To my mind, if politics has anything to do with a better future, it must be more like an escalator than snakes and ladders (one up, one down at the throw of a dice, winner takes all). For all of Labour's talk of fairness and growth, the contest between Labour and Conservative is still a toss-up between Tweedle Dee and Dum, with minor differences in the permutations of austerity and growth, pay now or later. Note that I don't pay much attention to the Lib Dems in this analysis. I don't because I think they are an increasing irrelevance with a diminishing influence.

What neither party offers is a clear vision of where our sacrifices might lead. If a return to growth is possible (which I doubt), then what is to be grown, and what – in the interests of fairness and sustainability – must grow no more? Cameron has his empty Big Society thought-balloon. Milliband would reslice much the same old cake to relieve the squeezed middle.

Neither side faces up to the need for longer-term austerity, redistribution and redirection of resources in a world where life is threatened by aimless growth and competition between unequals. Both Labour and Conservatives have bought into, or sold out to, the Magic of the Market. The nonsense of the invisible hand turning blind selfishness and greed to common good also absolves politicians from defining what that good might be or the steps towards it.

In that limbo, with the rich still visibly rich (and getting richer), why should the rest of us meekly tighten our belts without some prospect of a better world ahead? While the coalition may have lost the plot, we expect and deserve something better from the opposition than more or less the same. If not a stairway to paradise, then at least a feasible common project to secure the world and riches for all. Snakes and ladders was always a boring game.