Jonathan Meades: Remember the Future (1997)The news that the Jodrell Bank telescope may soon be no more sent me back to a piece by Jonathan Meades: Concorde was seen in the sky over West London for the first time in late June 1969. Less than a month later Neil Armstrong stepped from Apollo 11 onto the moon. The future had arrived. It was tangible, it was thrilling, it was now. We came to believe that we were all part of an adventure without end. This was just the beginning, the new beginning. What we didn't realise was that this was it. A peak had been ... (more) |
Our universities aren't just managerialist: they're authoritarianBritain's universities aren't just getting rid of the arts and humanities: they're getting rid of collegiate governance too. Here's Krzysztof Nawratek, senior lecturer in humanities and architecture at the University of Sheffield, writing in Times Higher Education: I started my university career in Poland in 1988, a year before communism collapsed. I joined an underground anti-communist student association, went on strike and saw my hierarchical, conservative university slowly crumble. However, even within the oppressive communist regime, Polish universities held on to one core belief: the university belonged to its academic community. Rectors and deans were elected. Senates and faculty councils ... (more) |
Standing up to the far rightOn Saturday 25 July, I attended the counter-protest at Glasgow Green in response to the so-called "Unite the Clans" demonstration. I did so because I believe Scotland is at its strongest when we stand together against hatred, division and extremism. Our country has a proud tradition of welcoming people from different backgrounds, cultures and faiths, and those values must be defended peacefully and democratically. During the event, there were several reports of threats being made towards those intending to attend the counter-protest. Such intimidation has no place in a democratic society. Every person has the right to express their views ... (more) |
Fish and chips onboard the Tanfield RailwaySunniside is fortunate to have the Tanfield Railway, the world's longest running steam rail system, right on our doorstep. Recently I spotted an advert for an event at the Tanfield: fish and chip aboard the train. I couldn't resist. We had a great time! (more) |
Council houses - a dream come true?The Government's intention to have the biggest Council House building programme since the 1940s and 50s will give immediate hope to the 134,210 homeless households, including 176,130 children, living in temporary accommodation and the 4,793 people sleeping rough. And as the "right to buy scheme" still, at the time of writing, applied in England (but not in Scotland or Wales) could get them on the housing ladder. ...Although former Council Houses have been notoriously difficult to sell. The programme will create work for some of the 1.01 million young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are not ... (more) |
Book Review: Young Aleister Crowley and the Magicians' Revolt by Lon Milo DuQuette and Jim BratkowskyThis review appears in the new issue of Liberator, which you can download free of charge from the magazine's website. Young Aleister Crowley and the Magicians' Revolt Lon Milo DuQuette and Jim Bratkowsky Weiser Books, 2026, £14.99 The year is 1900 and a young Aleister Crowley - poet, mountaineer and Cambridge chess Blue - is keen to learn the mysteries of London's leading occultists, but he arrives in this fashionable circle to find it riven by a power struggle. The old guard of MacGregor Mathers and his wife Moina, who were real historical figures, are being challenged by a new ... (more) |
Lord Bonkers' Diary: "Hooson, we have a problem"I never know how much of Lord Bonkers' reminiscences to believe. In this case, I suspect he should have gone back for his Panama. Thursday The orphans and Cook have taken to the cool of the caves for which Trescothick Bay is noted, but I am happy here on the beach even though I have left my sun hat back at the boarding house. Today I have been thinking of Emlyn Hooson, an inspirational leader of our party in Wales and a source of wise counsel on any matter touching upon the Principality. His phone would ring at all hours ... (more) |
Jodrell Bank funding crisis is an important test for BurnhamJodrell Bank is a national institution. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astronomer at the university, to investigate cosmic rays after his work on radar in the Second World War. It hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. It has since played an important role in the research of meteoroids, quasars, pulsars, masers, and gravitational lenses, and was heavily involved with the tracking of Soviet and US spacecraft of the Space Race. However, it is now under threat. The Guardian reports that ... (more) |
The Fenland floods of 1947A film about farming and the harsh winter of 1946/7. In particular, about the flooding that hit the Fens when the snow finally thawed and the efforts to recover from it. Those floods form the background to Malcolm Saville's book The Luck of Sallowby. Here's his description of the fight against the floodwaters: Now they were close against the wall they saw it was only a few inches higher than the rising water which stretched before them in a turbulent brown lake, whipped into waves by the gale. And these waves beat against the wall ceaselessly and the spray from ... (more) |
A transition plan emerges...I am in the midst of what I self-mockingly describe as a Frank Sinatra-esque farewell tour from the Town and Parish Council sector. What with my tenure on Creeting St Peter Parish Council fated to be terminated next May, I've taken the view that an organised handover of my various posts was a necessity, predominantly for the organisations concerned. And so, I advised my colleagues on the Board of the Suffolk Association of Local Councils (SALC) that I would stand down as our representative on the National Assembly of the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) on 31 July, allowing ... (more) |