All things being equal..........

..........but, of course, they aren't!

A few years ago (2, 3?) I was impressed by a book entitled The Spirit Level written by two academics, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. It was/is a data-rich read in which the authors posited that rising levels of inequality were leading to unhappier and unhealthy societies. For each of eleven different health and social problems (physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, obesity, social mobility, trust and community life, violence, teenage pregnancies, and child well-being) outcomes are significantly worse in more unequal rich countries. They presented a lot of information to support their hypothesis and it struck me as a pretty sound piece of work. It also struck me as being profoundly depressing. At one level it was a damning indictment of free market capitalism: at another, a pointer about what needs to be changed to make our society more equitable.

Recently, the New Statesman decided to repeat the exercise and look at the latest data. Do the conclusions of Wilkinson and Pickett still hold? In short, they do. And it's fascinating to see how the evidence and trends have held up over the intervening period. Things have certainly not got any better for most of us. The main findings of the New Statesman's analysis are given in the chart below. It's long but it's well worth trawling through. 

Collectively these data do not provide a ringing endorsement for the free market practices of the countries rated worse by the criteria looked at. We are among them and when our political masters promise basically 'more of the same', it really shouldn't fill us with optimism for a more equal society in the future. To repeat my mantra "where are the leaders who can articulate a viable alternative?". 

 



Definitely not fit for purpose

A link on a friend's Facebook page (thanks, John Perry) takes us to a recent blog by MP Micheal Meacher. This one is entitled 'Horror Stories from ATOS' and is a list of  the appalling practices of ATOS with regards to the medical assessments they are carrying out on behalf of the government.

There is more than enough evidence available, and not just from the usual suspects like Micheal Meacher, to show that there is a cruelty taking place, right now, right here in the UK that shames us all. Every single report, committee or enquiry into Work Capability Assessments have found them “unfit for purpose”. And they are just one part of a barrage of measures which disadvantage the most vulnerable members of our society. Think about what else has affected them:

The Independent Living Fund – Scrapped
Severe Disability Premiums – Scrapped
Social Care packages - Slashed
Support for profoundly disabled children - Slashed

I find this all very depressing and it's a depression compounded by the apparent lack of concern of the general population. Those affected are not just numbers on a balance sheet: they are lives, real people. Let's not believe the Tory narrative: they do not deserve to be demonised or demeaned as 'benefits scroungers'. Disability and ill health can strike any one at any time and a civilised society looks after those in need. Yes, even in times of financial belt-tightening. Even more so, in my opinion.

I read the following quote recently (variously attributed to Edmund Burke or Benjamin Franklin): "Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are”. Surely our common humanity means that we cannot be unaffected by what's going on? Let's get outraged and stand with those who are sick and disabled. Let's write to our MPs and Ian Duncan Smith and let them know that it's unacceptable. And let's pray that we, or anyone we know, never need to go in front of one of ATOS's assessment panels.

St David's 2012: Part 1

Lych gate at St Mary's, Roch

Up early this morning and off to St Mary's church, Roch, to meet up with the East Wickham Singers for a rehearsal for tomorrow's choral eucharist. An interesting church with a few wall plaques of note. I was particularly struck by one commemorating two brothers killed in WW1. One of them already had a Military Medal and a recommendation for a VC pending at the time he went 'over the top' leading his brigade.

In the afternoon we went for a walk near the Treffgarne Gorge. We had intended to do a circular route but this was spoilt by some undecipherable footpath diversion signs. Nonetheless we had a good 4 mile stroll with some fantastic panoramic views of coast and mountains. In the distance we could make out the Preseli Hills. Strange to think that some of the monoliths used to build Stonehenge came from there. It's a long drag to Wiltshire. But not to the tea room at Nant-y-Coy Mill where we repaired for light refreshments. Simple things done extremely well and a place definately worthy of a return visit.


Preseli Hills in the distance



In the footsteps of Rhys the Anonymous

Here we are back in St David's for our annual sojourn at the cottage we rent, Glowty. Arrived last night and went out for a stroll along the beach at Whitesands. Glorious views but, oh dear me, it was cold. Winter is a coming in.

And Rhys? Absolutely no idea  but he left his signature in the sand. I do hope he enjoys his time at St David's as well. Perhaps our paths will cross sometime this week? I'll keep my eyes open for someone who looks like a Rhys.

Tribute Bands? Weird!



We've just had a flyer from the Wharf Theatre at Tavistock detailing the delights in store for its patrons between now and the beginning of next year. In summary, low on things that we'd go to see but high, high, high on tribute bands.

If I were being intemperate, I'd say something along the lines of: "I hate tribute bands and I think they are creatively bankrupt parasites, leeching off the talent and success of others. People who pay good money to see one of the plethora of Abba/Pink Floyd/Rolling Stones acts peddle their wares are the most musically conservative dullards around. They deserve to have their ears confiscated".

However, as I'm feeling mellow today, I'll put my uncharitable comments on the shelf  - for now. I've seen a few such bands in my time but I've never been able to suspend my disbelief long enough to feel that I've attended a concert that never actually took place - which must be the sole reason for going to a tribute band concert. They are not my cup of tea but plenty of people go to see them. Why? It escapes me completely. Most of the bands do not do the real thing justice and don't even look like the original members. For heaven's sake, some of them wear wigs! Just take a look at the photo of the AC/DC tribute band, Live Wire, who will be playing at Tavistock soon. Has Angus Young ever had a beard like that? Are the beards real?

Maybe I'm missing a trick and I should be taking advantage of the obvious demand for this genre. Perhaps there's an opportunity for me to display my modest (very modest) piano talents and form my very own one-man tribute band. Anyone want a ticket for the debut of Crap Loussier?

Wish I'd been there.

Well done to the tens of thousands people have marched in protest at government cuts in London, Glasgow and Belfast on the weekend. The situation was summed up well by TUC general secretary Brendan Barber when he said “The evidence is mounting that austerity is failing. More than 2.5 million people are out of work, a further three million are not working enough hours to make ends meet, and wages have been falling every month for the last three years … the huge squeeze on wages and living standards has led to a massive hit on confidence and on demand in the economy.”

 

I am opposed to the scale and depth of the Coalition’s cuts to the public sector and, as I've blogged before, there is one area of government spending that should be removed and that is Trident. As a longstanding member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and of the Tavistock Peace Action Group, I was glad that we were one of hundreds of signatories who supported a full-page advert in Saturday's Guardian newspaper calling for an end to the Trident nuclear missile programme.

Bronze age stone rows, quarries, moorland, railways and.......

One of the two stone rows at Merrivale

................................rain! 

An eight miler on Dartmoor today. Starting at Merrivale and then heading to the Bronze Age stone rows, cairns, cists and hut circles. Dating from around 4000BC, their purpose is not known for sure but, given their size and prominence in the landscape, probably had a ceremonial function. Then down a track following the River Walkham for a spell, before climbing onto Dartmoor and joining the old railway track just under Ingra Tor.

This track originally brought granite from the quarries in the area down to the main railway to Plymouth (and beyond) at Yelverton. When it was first in operation (early 1800s) the trucks would have been horse drawn: poor horses as granite is heavy and there's quite an incline for them to negotiate. The advent of steam meant that the line was eventually extended to Princetown. It must have been quite a journey as the line meanders around tors and quarries before reaching its destination. Sadly the line closed in 1956 or thereabouts and all that is left is the track bed.

Granite corbels originally destined for London Bridge

We followed the line as it switchbacked its way passed the main quarries - Swell Tor and Froggator. On the way we came across some discarded granite corbels, originally destined for London Bridge. Why were they discarded? Perhaps excess to requirements or perhaps with some defect? I don't think anyone really knows and the twelve of them lie by the side of the track in silent testament to the industrial heritage of this part of the moor.

Continuing onwards and upwards (but it was a very gentle incline) we came to the largest quarry - Froggator. It is huge and the mind boggles at how much granite must have been removed from it. It does seem strange that, with all this natural material on our doorstep, it's still cheaper to import it from China and Portugal.

And the rain? Heavy showers accompanied us sporadically most of the way around. But what do you expect on Dartmoor in October? Certainly not sunshine. Take a look at the moss in the photograph below - this will give you a good idea of the prevailing climate. Moist!

You don't get moss if it's hot and dry!

The Joy of the Jubilee continues

I've been remembering those heady days of June when the entire nation convulsed in mass hysteria over the Diamond Jubilee. I admit that I was also swept away by the emotion of the occasion and built my own tribute to QEII in my veg plot - a commemorative compost bin (as described in my June 2nd posting). It was emptying out the bin today that brought it all flooding back to me.

This was the first lot of the brown stuff that I'd removed since I dedicated the bin to her maj and what a regal batch it is, too. Fit for a queen? Perhaps. But certainly fit enough to be spread over my Keir Hardy Memorial Flower Bed, There to provide sustenance for my republican roses, democratic dahlias and proletariat paeonies.

Given the rather good job I made of constructing the bin and the loyalty of my gesture, I'm wondering whether I'd be eligible for a Royal Warrant for my efforts. I think the plaque would look rather good above our front door.

On this day in 1913......

.....there was an explosion at Senghenydd Colliery which took the lives of 439 miners (boys and men) plus 1 rescue worker. The entire area was devastated by the news. Although she did not live in Senghenydd, my grandmother did live nearby in Caerphilly and I remember her telling me about the effect it had on the South Wales mining communities. It was still very much part of our folklore when I was growing up.

The mine manager and the owners (who had previous form - 81 men had also died there in 1901, just 12 years earlier) were prosecuted and fined a paltry £24. This caused national outrage and newspapers of the time wrote that the life of a miner was worth just one shilling and a penny farthing. I guess that the outrage was scant compensation to the widows and children left behind.

OK - so I'm a political saddo.....

...but I have listened, back-to-back, to all three recent Party Conference speeches by our major party leaders. I've done this before and it's a good way of comparing their performances - if you have the time, inclination, patience and fortitude!

My starting position? I can't and won't pretend that I'm a neutral observer. I have a visceral antipathy towards the Tories, I have given (once and once only) the Lib Dems a chance in the past and I was a long-standing member of the Labour Party until Tony Blair took it away from the principles of its founding fathers. Having said that, I was genuinely interested in the substance of what they might present and, or so I like to think (ha ha, self-delusion!), I went into the exercise with a reasonably open mind. Could one of them win over my tribal prejudices?

What was I hoping for? A leader who could articulate a vision for the country that I could be enthusiastic about. A leader who could say, in unambiguous terms "Here's where I want us to go - follow me". A leader who could convince me that their policies were worthy of my support and their party deserving of my membership.

What did I get? None of the above! But I did get platitudes, sound bites, gratuitous pokes at the opposition, feeble jokes and offensive caricatures in place of reasoned arguments.

My overall verdict? Nick Clegg: beyond his level of competency. David Cameron: despite the caring rhetoric, he's a typical old-fashioned Tory retreating to his ideological comfort zone. Ed Milliband: maybe he's better than he comes across, perhaps not, but I  do think his heart is in the right place.

Look what I've just done. I've talked about the personalities of the leaders rather than the policies of the parties they lead. And that's the problem. The triumph of form over substance: too much form in the shape of personalities and too little substance in the shape of policies. Where does that leave me? Overall, I believe that the Labour Party is still the major party most likely to work towards the kind of society I want. But, it's the Green Party that has the very best approach to environmental and sustainable issues. So what am I going to do? Hedge my bets and join both! Join Labour and get involved at some level in supporting their social policies. Join the Greens and get involved in promoting their environmental policies.

It's like floating on air.

Choosing an air mattress is not an easy task and I've lost countless hours of sleep over making the right choice. To save others the agony of worrying about the right decision, I can offer some advice based on my considerable researches.


Is the air mattress long enough? It’s easy to forget to consider how long the mattress is as you look at all the other features. Be sure to take into account who will be sleeping on the air bed before making your purchase. Hopefully you will already know the approximate height of any family and friends who might use the mattress so finding out doesn’t delay your purchase. Don’t assume all beds are the same length. Different manufacturers have different lengths so double check the packaging information or even measure the bed yourself.
Does the mattress include an automatic or manual pump? Air mattresses require a lot of air to fill up. You will need some type of pump unless you have very strong lungs. Don’t rule the mattress out if it doesn’t include an automatic air pump. You can always buy one individually. Electric models are either battery operated or operate on your household electric supply. The easiest model to use is the one that plugs into the wall outlet and is considered automatic.
Is the Air Mattress Portable and Easy To Store? If you are going to use the mattress every night you will want to store it easily during the day to free up room space. You may even want to take the mattress with you when you travel so being able to roll it up and carry it to your vehicle easily may be an important feature for you. Form follows function. Never forget this simple credo as you decide which product is best.
How high is the air mattress? Some people like the elderly or those fighting medical issues have problems getting into and out of a low bed. If you have the option it is a good investment to get a thicker or higher air mattress.

If you think about these four features in a logical sequence they will help you select the very best air mattress for your needs. Of course, you can save yourself the hassle and get a proper bed. In fact, do yourself and others a favour and forget all about an air mattress.

Stuck at Dublin Airport

Well, here we are stuck at Dublin Logan Airport as our onward flight to Bristol has been delayed by around 3 hours. The reason given? "Operational delays". Whatever that may mean. After an overnight flight from Boston, we are not pleased. Aren't we the ungrateful ones? After all, they've given us a breakfast voucher in compensation for the inconvenience. A great pity there's only one place to redeem it as we are in departure bay purdah - we can't go back into the main body of the terminal to take advantage of the better facilities on offer there.

But, wait! There is more. The flight has been cancelled and now we are being a much later flight to Cardiff and then a bus back to Bristol to pick up the car. And the alternative? Er, there isn't one. So, Cardiff here we come and goodbye to Aer Lingus as we'll never fly with them again. I'll accept that operational problems do arise and that cancellations are sometimes necessary. But there is no excuse for keeping passengers in the dark about what's going on.

And what 5 things have I found to do when stuck at an airport?
1. Fume.
2. Fume.
3. Fume.
4. Fume.
5. Fume.

Autumn in New England: Service interrupted

We've reached Boston for the final few days of our trip and immediately hit wi-fi problems! The hotel system is down, which means that I can't post anything. Many thanks for those of you who have sent me an e-mail querying the lack of posts. Normal service will be resumed as soon as the techies sort out the glich.

Autumn in New England: Part 7

A covered railway bridge



An uncovered road bridge

Another day and another breakfast with a touch of the Mrs Cropley's. A blueberry (and bran?) muffin is very nice with a cup of coffee mid-morning and a mixed vegetable frittata, accompanied by a rocket salad with a sharp dressing, makes for a wonderful light lunch. But both for breakfast? Well cooked but weird.

Our guides turned up (Mary-Lou with one of her arms in a sling) and we planned the day. It was raining so we decided against walking in the morning and left it as an option for the afternoon. Off we went and soon made a detour to see our fifth covered bridge: this one being a covered railway bridge. It was actually in a very tranquil spot and I found it unexpectedly pleasant. Pleasure can be found in the least expected places.

We then drove to the hamlet of Plymouth Notch to visit the home of the xth president of the USA, Calvin Coolidge. He was nicknamed Silent Cal and in deference to his memory, ..........................

From Plymouth Notch we took a 4-ish mile walk along a steep country road past the graveyard in which many of the Coolidge family are buried and up through the trees. At the midpoint we saw a chipmunk that had the grace to stay still for me to take its photograph. Was it Alvin? I think so.



THE chipmunk

 After this we made our way through the countryside (lots of foliage colours) to our next, and final B & B, the October Inn, just 8 miles out of Woodstock. And what another nice place to stay it is too. We took the opportunity to pop into Woodstock for a nose around. A charming place with a discernibly relaxed atmosphere and, joy of joys, a Farmer's Market in full swing. Lots of fresh produce and lots of free tasters.

Back to the October Inn, where the hostess, Edie (Edith) pointed out an extremely interesting tree in her yard. After years of experimentation and much hybridisation, they had come up with an apple/pumpkin chimeric tree. In the early summer, it bears small apples (apparently with a Cox flavour) and in the early autumn they are able to pick small pumpkins from its branches. I wouldn't have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes. Prunus pumpkinensis is what to look for in your local garden centre.

The October Inn

Prunus Pumpkinensis bearing its autumn fruit

And after all that, an Italian themed dinner with no sign of Signora Cropley in the kitchen! Hooray, a result! I went to bed happy, snuggling up to my jelly weiner (but that's a story for another day).

Autumn in New England: Part 6

Our last few hours at Foxcreek Inn and my ITC and I had a pre-breakfast walk up the neighbouring road. Quiet and plenty of leaves to see. A moderate appetite was worked up for breakfast which, rather bizarrely to a UK palate, started with coffee cake and cream cheese. It tasted good and was followed by a sort of frittata. I say 'sort of frittata' as this is the nearest I could come to a taxonomic classification for it. It was egg-based and had asparagus, peas, cheese, potatoes, tomatoes, bread, herbs and pepper. Savoury and very tasty. Overall, mine hostess's cooking was excellent but I did feel that some of her combinations veered close to the style of Mrs Cropley from the Vicar of Dibley. I'll miss the element of surprise when I next sit down for breakfast! It's amazing how quickly your taste buds can get accustomed to being ambushed in the morning.

Our 'normal' guide Mary-Lou had had an accident at her home and could not make today's jaunt but another guide, Sue, stepped into the breach at the last moment. She proved to be very knowledgable and equally enthusiastic. Our drive to our starting point for the day's walk took us through some rolling farmland until we reached the Mount Independance National Memorial Park. This was the location of many skirmishes between the revolutionaries and the British before and during the War of Independence.There was a very informative exhibition in the visitor's centre (which was in the shape of one of the boats that sailed on the nearby Lake Champlain).

Our walk took us along paths through the woods on a promontory jutting out into the lake so we had some lakeside panoramas as well as woodland scenes as we strolled around. Our guide came into her own as she pointed out various plants, fungi, birds and animals to us. In the latter category, although we did not see one she told us about, the Vermont beaver (Castor Canadensis stihlii). This is a local variant of the more common North American beaver and has made a fascinating adaptation to its environment. It has developed six lateral incisors to enable it to cope with the hardness of the maples it feeds on. Although there were none to be seen, we could find plenty of evidence for the unique marks they leave when they gnaw through a tree (see photograph below. It left me wondering if there wasn't a commercial use for these mammals.

I've got to come clean and admit that we visited the Vermont Soap Museum on our way to our next B & B, the Shoreham Inn at, would you believe, Shoreham. Built in 1799, it is a very pleasant and comfortable wooden clad building. Our evening meal was less-Dibleyesque than the previous night and it went down very well with all of us - possibly our best meal so far?  The bottom photograph says all that needs to be said about it.



The characteristic gnawing pattern of the Vermont Beaver (Castor Canadensis stihlii)



A blue fungus that captured my attention

Shoreham Inn in Shoreham (spot the palindrome)

'Nuff said!

Autumn in New England: Part 5




Cranberry and pumpkin French toast (without the hot maple syrup)

  As I'm going to take the day in chronological order, I'll start off with breakfast. Not that I'm obsessed with food you understand, I just feel it's my duty to dwell on all aspects of our trip - and food is turning out to be a major feature of our days. 

Our breakfast menu began with a two flavour yoghurt and granola palate teaser before we got down to a hard core plate of cranberry and pumpkin French toast with crispy smoked bacon served, for those with a stronger constitution than I, hot maple syrup. Hey, we are in Vermont - everything comes with maple syrup. Do I hear you ask what cranberry and pumpkin French toast is? Delicious is the short answer. The long answer is: think British bread and butter pudding but substitute the raisins and sugar with cranberry, pumpkin, cottage cheese and cinnamon. My daily bowl of Scots' porridge oats will seem like peasant food when I get back home.

After recovering from breakfast and after discussing how we'd spend the day with our guide, we decided that a morning doing 'touristy' things followed by a walk in the afternoon was what we'd do. In order:
1. Vermont was/is a large scale producer of marble so we visited the Marble Museum in Procter (definately not the same as the House of Marbles in Bovey Tracey which, for some unfathomable reason, seems to be a tourist attraction in Devon. Sensible people avoid it like the bubonic plague). An interesting interlude - the Procter Marble Museum, that is, not the House of Marbles, which isn't.
2. Then we went covered bridge hunting. Not quite the step into the unknown as the word 'hunting' might imply. We actually followed our guide who knew where they could be found. Four of them in all. I didn't know that they were covered to prevent the wood of the actual bridge structure from rotting too quickly. I also didn't know that, during the winter months when the roads were covered in snow and sleighs were the common mode of transport, snow was actually shovelled into the covered bridges so that sleighs could use them.
3. A picnic lunch was followed by a quick trip around the Vermont Museum of Maple Syrup. As someone who has no knowledge of how maple syrup is produced, I came away educated - and also replete from the free tasting samples available. Me? I'm definately a Grade B syrup person.
4. And then on to the Split Rock Loop trail for a short walk in a Vermont wood. Lots of leaves and some rolling countryside - very nice. We came across some efts crawling across our route in several places. What are efts? No, not refugees from one of Tolkien's novels but the terrestial form of the red-spotted newt or salamander. They looked like browny newts (surprise, surprise!) and live on land until they become fully adult and head for the water to breed. Not something we see in the UK.

After all that, it was back to the B & B for our evening meal - another delicious affair but I won't detail the menu as I've mentioned food far too much recently (but if you were interested it was proscuitto ham and pear with a minty dressing to start, wasabi topped salmon as a main and hot pineapple, pistachio nuts and creme fraiche as a dessert). And on that culinary note, I'll end.



A covered bridge - can't remember which one!



An eft minding its own business



I like the colours of the leaves on the ground



I liked the pattern of these ferns as well



Autumn in New England: Part 4

The day started so well with a walk around the lake, surrounded as it was by trees showing the complete spectral range of autumnal hues. Then catastrophe - in the form of breakfast. I'd ended the previous day with a promise to myself that, for the rest of our stay, I would be abstemious when it came to food. But, when faced with the Blueberry Inn breakfast fare, my resolve crumbled. My downward slide started slowly with fresh fruit and melon and accelerated a little when the plate of biscuity scones containing blueberries, raspberries, cranberries or strawberries was passed around. I applied the brakes gently and had a bowl of yoghurt and granola (and what granola! With toasted coconut, cranberries and, I suspect but was afraid to ask, a generous coating of maple syrup). But then the speed increased to maximum when the fluffy blueberry pancakes, crispy smoked bacon and maple syrup came out! 10 out of 10 for good intentions: 0 out of 10 for resolve. Perhaps our walk would burn off some of the calories?

The weather was not good again - rain and mist - but we decided to continue with our planned walk. This was to take us along part of the Appalachian Trail and 100-Mile Trail along a section called the Chittenden Brook route. Up into the woods with a gentle incline for perhaps 4 miles, followed by a much steeper descent along the, presumably, Chittenden Brook. Lots more leaves and lots of interesting fungi (and I'm interested in fungi!). The rain stopped towards the end and we were able to lunch without our food being soaked. Yes, more food but a relatively modest affair with rolls, fruit and cookies. From there it was a short step (well 2 miles) along a track to the car. About 7.5 miles in total so we felt we'd had a good stretch.

Then it was off to our next B & B, the Foxhill Inn. Another extremely good quality inn with a very welcoming host and hostess. Excellent room with the biggest jacuzzi bath I've seen in a long while. We were due to eat at the inn but due to a slight problem (the hostess had forgotten to pick up a package of salmon when she was shopping for the meal) we had to go to a neighbouring resort hotel for our dinner. Very tasty but somewhat over-rich. But no resolutions from me tonight. Tomorrow is another day - with more gastronomic challenges. Why am I expecting yet another trencherman's breakfast?

Foxhill Inn somewhere in rural Vermont