<< Apr 2009 Pictures so far Friday, March 27th, 2009 - 11:11 pm
Well I've caught up at last. Pictures are a good thing, but, as I said a few days ago, they can be hard work. It isn't actually doing the job, but remembering everything that has to be done, at least when it's all new.
From now on I intend to include pictures whenever I can.
Wish me luck... Next picture Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 - 12:04 am
Sorry for not saying anything significant, but my family also needs me sometimes. Anyway, the next picture is up, see March 15th Hard work! Saturday, March 21st, 2009 - 10:51 am
Gosh, this is hard work...
First you have to take the pictures. So far that's not a big problem - I've already taken the ones I've got lined up.
Next you have to pick just which bits of them to use. In principle, that's not difficult, but to do it you have to know how to work the program you use to do it.
Then you have to decide just how it will fit alongside the text - some pictures fit best across the whole width, some look good on the right, some are better on the left.
Once you've decided that, the next decision is how big they should be. My Web-master tells me it's all about pixels, but I'm used to dealing with inches, or centimetres, on paper. And there's something about reader's screens. I'm still hazy here, but he, the Web-master keeps on that we don't know how big readers' screens will be. There is a conflict in that because the bigger the picture, to look good on big screens, the longer each one will take to show up.
Finally, there's the issue of putting the picture into the blog itself. There are so many things to remember to put in.
As I say, hard work, but I'm getting there, if slowly. There is now another picture up. Look at the post for March 11th.
More to follow... New pictures Thursday, March 19th, 2009 - 9:23 am
You may have noticed that, thanks to efforts from our Webmaster, a couple of pictures have appeared (see 9th and 13th of March).
Over the years, I've learned a lot about publishing photos, but that has virtually all been on paper, for Focus leaflets. Preparing them for use on the Web is subtly different in all sorts of ways, so I'm having to update my skills.
I have a backlog of photos now, so you'll have to excuse me if my studies get in the way of ordinary text posts...
I'll keep you informed. Danny Abse's evocative journal Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 - 3:48 pm
Heard "The Presence", a play based on Danny Abse's journal after Joan, his wife, was killed in a car crash. It was on Radio 4 this afternoon. It brought back some memories for me.
I met Danny Abse at a seminar at the Ilkley Literature Festival, a talented poet and a modest, quiet spoken man.
Moreover it reminded me of my father's struggle after my mother was killed in a car crash. Father lived for another twenty years after she was killed, which was when he was driving. That was very hard for him.
Danny Abse's play was very evocative of living in a state of mourning but it ended with a resolution of some of the pain. Raffle Prizes Sunday, March 15th, 2009 - 3:37 pm
Well I've posted off the prizes for the raffle we held at the Liberal Democrat Conference at Harrogate. Rather nice prizes too: a voucher for two West End theatre tickets, a Russian hand painted tray and a voucher for a well known chemist's shop that sounds as though you wear it on your feet. Hey, no product placements here. This isn't ITV. Dash, just did it!
I got Nick Clegg to sign the voucher so the winners could flog it off on ebay (or keep it as a special souvenir). Six Slough Conservatives Guilty of Fraud on
Weds 11 March 2009 Saturday, March 14th, 2009 - 10:01 am
From BBC News, 11 March 2009:
Three convicted of election fraud
Three men have been found guilty of charges relating to election fraud in a Berkshire town.
The counts related to an election in the Slough Central ward in May 2007 where Labour councillor Lydia Simmons lost her seat to Tory Raja Khan.
Khan, along with two others, had previously admitted the offences. Three other men were convicted by a jury.
The men, who are all from Slough, were bailed to be sentenced at Reading Crown Court on 1 May.
Khan, 52, of Oban Court, Montem Lane, admitted conspiracy to defraud the returning officer and perjury. He has since been expelled from the Conservative Party.
Gul Nawaz Khan, 57, of Richmond Crescent, pleaded guilty to perjury.
And Mohammed Khan, 46, of Mirador Crescent, admitted conspiracy to defraud the returning officer and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Arshad Raja, 53, of Broadmark Road, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the returning officer.
Mahboob Khan, 46, of Quinbrookes, was convicted of conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and perjury.
Altaf Khan, 31, of Knolton Way, was found guilty of impersonation but not guilty of conspiracy to defraud the returning officer. Long Lee Village Hall Exhibition Saturday, March 14th, 2009 - 9:15 am
The Art Class at Long Lee Village Hall is holding its first art exhibition at the hall today, from 10 till 4 o'clock.
The hall's long running flooding problem has been put right and at last the hall can open for events without worrying whether anyone will actually be able to get in. It took a lot of hard work, especially from my fellow town councillor, Siobhan. (I put in my two pennorth too.) Something Odd Saturday, March 14th, 2009 - 9:00 am
I'm a member of Keighley Town Council Watch (i.e. Policing) and Transport Committee. Something odd was on our last agenda.
Conservative ruled Bradford Metropolitan Council wanted Keighley Watch and Transport to agree to three flashing lights (I mean interactive traffic warning lights) and painted warning signs on the main road through East Morton.
Wait a minute! They've already got them.
Or is East Morton setting up in opposition to Blackpool with SIX flashing lights? East Morton is a small village. Being on a steep hill and having airport bound traffic going through it there may be some call for traffic calming, but I ask you!
We came to the conclusion that someone has been a bit naughty and put in a load of traffic calming stuff without having applied for planning permission.
We decided that if the rest of us aren't supposed to apply for planning permission retrospectively then neither should Bradford Met.
We voted against approving the scheme. Playground funding Friday, March 13th, 2009 - 11:06 pm
Last year I asked for improvements to the three playgrounds in my ward. I had a meeting with two ladies who wanted improvements, visited the playgrounds, took photos and put them in a report to BradMet. A man from BradMet came to look at the playgrounds with me. He got some of our minor requests put through, such as litter bins. However the big improvements would be too expensive.
Judith at the baby slide, the Delph Playground, Thwaites Brow Road. Believe it or not that lumpy, concrete hillside is the baby slide steps!
Well, I've just heard that I can put a bid in for special playground funding. I'm bidding for help for the Delph Playground at Thwaites Brow. Some aspects of it are pretty dangerous (for instance no fence between the playground and the road at the upper end) and it needs more play stuff. I gave a copy to the lady in Thwaites Brow to ask her for her comments and if she wants to suggest any particular play equipment.
I'll be putting in the bid soon and it will go in from the Town Council.
I'm not sure if I can put in bids for the other playgrounds as well. Need to check. I've been asked what a "build-out" is. Friday, March 13th, 2009 - 11:00 pm
I don't know the proper official name for the things I call "build-outs" but they're those annoying bits of pavement stuck out into the road with bollards (hope I spelt that right) on them.
There are places where they really do a useful job, for instance to slow the traffic down on either side of a school.
There are other places where they just slow the traffic down to a crawl. Parked cars and Park Wood Thursday, March 12th, 2009 - 12:35 pm
If a car is parked on a road where it holds up traffic it can cause long tailbacks and traffic jams, particularly in the rush hour.
Traffic jams lead people to believe we need new roads. Every now and then someone suggests having a road instead of a wood, Park Wood.
That's why I'm looking forward to the new parking officers beginning work. Coming soon.
If fewer cars are parked where they'll cause traffic jams it'll help to protect Park Wood by freeing up routes through town.
I do wonder why build-outs are considered a good idea though.
And I do wonder why the Bradford District councillors on the Keighley Area Panel voted against banning parking on East Parade. I think this is one of the causes of congestion in Keighley, and as a knock-on effect one of the causes of Parkwood Street being used as a rat run. Residents are afflicted by nose to tail traffic at rush hours. Awful! Scoffing at council tax payers expense? Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 - 1:56 pm
I've asked for a discussion about food at council meetings to be put on our next month's agenda. I think we either should pay for the food ourselves or not have food. Food is only available at full council meetings, not committee meetings, but the cost comes to about £2,000 a year. I'm not sure it should be paid by council tax payers. Signs for Keighley Centre for the Blind Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 - 1:43 pm
At the Watch & Transport meeting this week I got a proposal passed to put up signs at either side of Keighley Centre for the Blind to let motorists know there may be people with sight problems crossing the road. It now has to be agreed by full council.
There have never been signs there but it is more difficult now. Since the centre was opened a car park has been built on the same road, access to the main road (North Street)has been blocked off in various places, and the road is used as a rat run. This is particularly bad when mothers are taking children home from school at around half past three, the time the centre closes. Woodland saved! But let's keep an eye on it. Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 - 1:24 pm
Park Wood, a woodland in my ward was threatened by a proposal for a by-pass which, as shown on Bradford Council's own map, would have gone slap bang through the wood. Park Wood is unusual in being very close to the town of Keighley. In fact it can be seen from many parts of the town and is a tremendous assett.
There have been previous attempts to sacrifice it to the god Motor Vehicle and they have failed. But every now and then the idea gets on to Bradford's agenda again. Each time local people kick up a fuss. It all dies down and then a few years later up it pops again.
This time I was chief fuss leader with leaflets, public meetings and a petition. Lots of people in the ward supported the campaign. There were also letters in local newspapers and message board, including from myself.
Eventually I attended a Bradford Executive meeting as lead petitioner where I was told that it had been in a report by mistake. Erm, some mistake. It was in two different Bradford Council reports and reported in the Keighley News quite widely.
I sweetly promised to let as many people as possible know that it was no longer on the agenda. The Keighley News made it their lead, front page article, calling it: "Oops Relief Road was Going to Nowhere!"
Result.
Need to keep an eye on it though. Nick Clegg drew our raffle tickets Monday, March 9th, 2009 - 6:02 pm
Nick Clegg is quite a sweety. (What did I say, I thought I was a serious person!)
He drew the tickets for the raffle that we at Keighley and Ilkley held jointly with the Liberal Democrat Disability Association at the Harrogate Conference. It was fun and we all had a good laugh. I asked him to sign the vouchers so the winners could flog them off on ebay.
The picture shows Nick with me and Vaughan (in the front row). Vince the Prince got a Standing Ovation Monday, March 9th, 2009 - 5:55 pm
Well, Vince Cable got a standing ovation at the conference on Saturday, and well desrved. He was very, very cross ~ not with us, with the Labour government for sleep walking into a financial crisis, rewarding failed bankers but not saying how they might support ordinary people who face a crisis.
I don't know of a deputy party leader getting a standing ovation before(?)
By the way Vince the Prince is my own nickname for him. A camera man at the conference said I should copyright it but I'd quite like it to be used.
(A relative of mine invented the nickname "Aunty" for the BBC.) Vince the Prince Friday, March 6th, 2009 - 12:48 pm
The Liberal Democrat conference is coming up this weekend. Hope Vince the Prince is on his usual fine form. Want to find out more about Borneo's forest ... Friday, March 6th, 2009 - 12:33 pm
I shall be visiting my brother and his wife this evening and I want to ask them about the forestry situation in Borneo. She is from Sarawak in Borneo and they've just got back from a visit over there for her father's ninetieth birthday.
Having seen one or two programmes on TV about the de-forestaion there and the dire effect it is having on human beings and orang-utangs I'd like to know what my brother and my sister-in-law observed on their latest trip.
I know that logging has been taking place for many years, although I think the people who traditionally live in the forest aren't the ones who are selling the wood.
In recent years the logging has been compounded. Instead of leaving the forest to grow back to its former state the land is being cleared even more rapidly and turned into palm plantations. These do not support the natuaral habitat and apparently the orang-utangs are being killed because of course they go to their usual hang-outs to find food. I believe orang-utangs only live in Borneo, nowhere else in the world. Top of the Blogs list, Liberal Democrat Voice Thursday, March 5th, 2009 - 2:10 pm
I'm a bit shocked ~ just discovered I'm at number 3 in the Liberal Democrat Voice Top of the Blogs List. So if you're reading this you're not alone! Conference tomorrow Thursday, March 5th, 2009 - 1:52 pm
Just busy making flyers for the raffle we're holding jointly with the Liberal Democrat Disability Association at the Lib Dem Spring Conference. Going to Harrogate tomorrow. Nick Clegg will be drawing the raffle ~ and one of our members has just asked me to give him a wink from her. Prescriptions Thursday, March 5th, 2009 - 1:49 pm
Gerald says he thinks it's going too far having free prescriptions for whales. He can't quite see the porpoise. What the Brooksbanks did Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 - 7:14 pm
I watched "Who do you think you are?" last night. The subject was Kevin Whateley and it turned out one of his 18th Century relatives married a Mr Brooksbank who was governor of the Bank of England. Crikey!
As far as I know Mr Brooksbank was OK at his job.
There was an exhibition at Cliffe Castle Museum a few years ago about coal mining in the Keighley area. I read the list of names of children who went down the mines and one of them was a Brooksbank, David if I remember rightly. It brought it home to me how dreadful it must have been for children then. We still have a post office in Long Lee. Monday, March 2nd, 2009 - 5:22 pm
Just getting our Liberal Democrat Members' Newsletter out. Trying to catch the 6 p.m. collection at the post office in the village.
Thank goodness we still have a local post office here in Long Lee. We Lib Dems collected signatures against local post offices closures. For the time being our post office is saved. Hope it's for good.
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Well I've posted off the prizes for the raffle we held at the Liberal Democrat Conference at Harrogate. Rather nice prizes too: a voucher for two West End theatre tickets, a Russian hand painted tray and a voucher for a well known chemist's shop that sounds as though you wear it on your feet. Hey, no product placements here. This isn't ITV. Dash, just did it!
There have been previous attempts to sacrifice it to the god Motor Vehicle and they have failed. But every now and then the idea gets on to Bradford's agenda again. Each time local people kick up a fuss. It all dies down and then a few years later up it pops again.
Nick Clegg is quite a sweety. (What did I say, I thought I was a serious person!)
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