Low Fell eFocus no. 121

 Low Fell Lib Dems recently published their latest eFocus. Edition 121 includes:

• Vote for Ron Beadle;
• Update on Dryden Centre;
• Potholes in Gateshead;
• Vote in the Gateshead awards;
• New planters for Low Fell.

You can read eFocus on this link.

And the winner is....

 

I recently ran a competition to name one of my lambs. Members of the public were invited to submit proposed names for this little lady (actually, not so little now) via local residents' Facebook sites. We boiled all the suggestions down to a shortlist of 3 which we announced at the Whickham Library Easter fair on 1st April. Click on the video to find out the 3 names and which one was chosen.

The NATO u-turn, one year on

Yesterday's welcome accession of Finland to NATO membership reminded me of an incident last year, on the eve of the Putin invasion of Ukraine. While most of us in the West supported NATO's warnings to Russia that an aggressive attack was not acceptable, some within the political establishment were not so warm towards Ukraine. 11 Labour MPs signed a letter by the leftwing group "Stop the War" which questioned NATO's legitimacy and accused the alliance of "eastward expansion". One of those MPs was Ian Mearns, who represents my home town of Gateshead.

Ian's political standpoint on NATO lasted as long as the phone call he received from Labour Whip Alan Campbell. The rebel alliance were told that they would lose the whip of they did not back down. The eleven signatures rapidly disappeared from the letter. Quite a screeching u-turn.

Nearly 14 months on from the start of the invasion and I am wondering if Ian still thinks it was a good idea to appease Putin, or, as a Labour source said at the time, "You can be a mouthpiece for the Kremlin or a Labour MP. But not both."

York Conference - crossing Tim's path

 

Sunday morning at conference in York and my path crossed that of my former Newcastle University fellow student Tim Farron MP. We were there as students in the late 80s and early 90s. Tim won the race to be elected to Parliament. I went off eventually to become a farmer while Tim sits in the Commons representing farmers!

York conference - the National Railway Museum

 

I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to visit some of the historic sites of York over the weekend when I was there to attend conference. So here is my video of my trip to the National Railway Museum. I may be too young to remember the steam age but I recall seeing the new Intercity 125s on the East Coat line running through Gateshead in the late 70s and early 80s.

Day 2

After a full English for breakfast this morning, I headed off, not to conference, but to the Jorvik Museum. It is 30 years since I was last there. Well worth a visit if you are in York. From Jorvik I headed back to the Novotel Hotel for the British Association for Conservation and Shooting reception, often the best lunch in conference. I chatted to their representatives about how we are plagued by deer on our farm as the local population has not been culled. The threate to local woodland is considerable if nothing is done to manage deer numbers. From the reception I headed to the conference centre where I am now in the energy debate. Next up is Ed Davey QA. 

Walking the wall

I decided not to go to the Jorvik Museum this afternoon so took a walk along part of the York City medieval city wall. Alas, that's my history visits done for today. I'm now in the conference centre waiting for tonight's rally. 

I got to the National Railway Museum

My plan worked. I got to York with plenty of time to spare to get to the National Railway Museum. I spent two hours there. The amount of travel I have done in recent years has been a fraction of what I used to do, due mainly to being Richard's carer and because of covid restrictions. So it has been great to get away even if it's just for Lib Dem conference. The timing has allowed me to see some of the historic sites in York as well as attending conference. I had planned to go to the Jorvik Museum today but I'm going there tomorrow instead. I'm going to take a walk along the city walls instead. 

Heading to conference

I've just left Newcastle on the train heading to York for Lib Dem spring conference. For 2 days I'm leaving behind the endless job of cleaning henhouses, nursing a goat with mastitis, caring for a lamb we are hand raising and plodding through mud. Our first in person conference since 2019 due to covid and the passing of the Queen. Hopefully I won't have forgotten everyone's name! My reading matter for the train journey has nothing to do with conference. And my first action when I get to York will be equally non-political. I will be visiting the National Railway Museum. And if there is time, I will visit the Jorvik Museum this afternoon as well. 

The disaster that is Scottish Widows

Financial institutions are back in the news yet again, and all for the wrong reasons. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has sent shockwaves around financial markets worldwide. Fortunately the damage in the UK was limited. HSBC snapped up the SV Bank's British subsidiary allowing investors to get access to their money. If only Scottish Widows (SW) could allow the same.

SW used to be one of the most respectable financial institutions in the country. And then it was bought up by Lloyds Group. For many years, it continued to work well. For the past year or so however it has gone into meltdown. It's customer relations are at best shambolic and if you are expecting to get your pension or savings policy out of them, there are delays running to months. Try phoning them and you can often  wait over an hour to get through. Then you discover they have lost documents or they send the wrong documents to customers. It is thought that up to 10,000 customers have money trapped in SW.

There is a support group on Facebook on which customers have posted about their problem with SW. It all makes terrible reading for SW. People can't get to their savings to pay for partners/family members in residential care. Relatives of people who have passed away cannot get access to pensions and policies to pay for funerals. Pension funds are supposed to be paid within a few days of a claim being lodged. Thousands of claimants are waiting months rather than days.

When my brother Andrew died, we lodged a claim on his pension with SW and was accepted. 9 months later and SW have still not paid up. So I can speak from personal experience on how appalling the service is at Scottish Widows. This company must be one of the worst run in the country but why on earth are Lloyds Group allowing one of their subsidiaries to behave in such an appalling manner?

Planting Up Sunniside

 A new group of volunteers is in the process of being set up in Sunniside, this time to take on the job of planting up the village. Called Planting Up Sunniside, it will be based roughly on Planting Up Whickham. The second meeting of the group was held tonight in the Travellers. I was there to give my advice and help. I also answered lots of questions about other completely different issues.

Happy birthday Michael Caine - the Gateshead connection

 

Happy birthday Michael Caine, 90 today. He was the star of one of my favourite films - "Get Carter" - based in part and filmed in Gateshead. It is a delight to watch, just to spot the buildings and scenes which are no longer there. The film made the Gateshead Multi-Storey Car Park into a cult icon. This hideous monstrosity of 1960s Brutalism was demolished in 2010. I filmed the video about in 2008 when I was given access to the building and capture a number of views of Gateshead and Newcastle which can now only be viewed with a drone.

BTW, one of my other favourite films in "The Italian Job", also staring Michael Caine.

Don't lose your right to vote Mr Deputy Mayor

The Deputy Mayor of Gateshead Robert Waugh made an interesting claim recently. At the Council's budget meeting he sat on his hands when it came to the vote on our amendment calling for £1.4 million to be used from reserves to keep threatened leisure centres open long enough to find community groups that can take on the running of them. This proposal is supported by the group that is campaigning to keep Gateshead Leisure Centre open. Cllr Waugh came in for some heavy criticism for his failure to vote for the amendment from members of the campaign group and residents generally. Cllr Waugh's response was to claim that as Deputy Mayor, he could not vote at council meetings. 

His claim is frankly a load of rubbish. There is nothing in the Gateshead Council constitution which prevents the mayor or the deputy mayor generally from voting at full council meetings. For years now I've seem mayor after mayor and deputy mayor after deputy mayor voting in the council chamber. So come on Robert, have an exciting evening at home, just you and the constitution. Spend a bit of time together getting to know each other so you can avoid any further similar claims. 

Back in Leyburn after 34 years

Last week I paid a visit to Leyburn in North Yorkshire. The reason for the visit was to attend a funeral of Mary, who was David's mother's brother's wife's sister. It was an opportunity to meet up with David's relatives who we hadn't seen in person since before the pandemic.

The interesting point about Leyburn is that I have visited it before though it was about 34 years ago. The occasion was the Richmond by-election caused by the appointment of Leon Brittan as a European Commissioner. It was an absurdly long campaign, lasting months and months. The Conservative candidate was William Hague but the "continuing SDP" muddied the waters by fielding a candidate, Mike Potter, who performed remarkably well, coming second and in the process, saving the Conservatives from defeat. Months later the Owenite SDP sank without a trace.

At the time I was a PhD student at Newcastle University and over many weekends we took a minibus full of students to deliver a vast tonnage of leaflets in the constituency. Leyburn was one of the villages we delivered. It had not changed much in the past few decades. 

Richmond has now produced 2 Conservative leaders: Hague and Rishi Sunak. I'm not sure whether that is a plus or a negative for the constituency.

Whickham eFocus no. 180

 The latest eFocus for the Whickham area was published tonight. Issues covered include:

• Council tax rise;
• Leisure centres on financial cliff edge;
• Call to cut councillors;
• Marley Hill football field transfer;
• Christmas tree mulch;
• Don't lose your right to vote;
• New meeting place at Sunniside.

YOu can read eFocus on this link.

Kicking the asset transfer into touch

 

I was on my farm milking one of our goats when I was called by the local media about the community asset transfer of the football field at Marley Hill to Fellside Football Club a few days ago. They wanted my views on the planned transfer. I support it and pointed out we have already got 2 successful asset transfers in the village - the Bowling Green to the Marley Hill Bowling Club and the community centre to the Vineyard Church. I expect the football field transfer to be a success as well though last year, when I met residents and some of the officials of the club, I advised them to keep in regular touch so that any issues can be ironed out.

You can read the Chronicle's coverage on this link.

Group photo

 

Thursday was our first opportunity to have a photo taken of the whole of the Lib Dem group since the elections last May that saw Amanda Wintcher, Dawn Welsh and Amelia Ord elected to Gateshead Council. And of course, first photo with Ron as leader.

Happy birthday to the delivery machine

 

Paul Gibson is known as the Delivery Machine by Lib Dems in Gateshead. He will deliver thousands of leaflets guaranteed! Over the years, he must have delivered hundreds of thousands of Focuses for us. Paul is now a Councillor in Sunderland and yesterday was his 75th birthday. A birthday celebration event was held in Heworth Golf Club to celebrate this milestone yesterday. Happy birthday Paul!

Photo - me, Ron Beadle (new Lib Dem Leader in Gateshead) and Paul Gibson.

A postponed surprise

 

On Thursday evening I went to a Belinda Carlisle concert at the Sage, Gateshead. There is a bit of a back story to this. The two tickets were bought by Richard, two years ago, for a concert in October 2021. In September 2021, Richard went into hospital where he died in the early hours of Saturday 23rd October. On Friday 22nd, he mentioned the concert to me, believing it was due to be held that evening. He suggested I get in touch with the organisers to tell them about Richard in the hope that they would put us at the front of the hall. Alas, Richard was in no fit state to leave his hospital bed as he was too ill. He died a few hours later.

What neither of us realised was that the concert had been postponed. The first I knew of this was the arrival of the new tickets a couple of weeks ago. I decided to go to the concert, as much out of respect to Richard as anything else. A great time had by all. I just wish Richard had been there to enjoy it.

Angela's got her voice back

I had been concerned recently that Gateshead Labour Councillor Angela Douglas had lost her voice. Angela is the Cabinet member whose portfolio covers leisure centres. She is therefore at the heart of the controversy about the proposed closures of Gateshead Leisure Centre and Birtley Swimming Centre. Strangely enough, she has been rather quiet about the proposals. Yes, she moved the original report at Cabinet back in October which kicked off the consultation on proposed closures. But when I turned up for an interview with BBC Look North about the proposed closures, she was nowhere to be seen. The BBC told me that they had made repeated attempts to contact her but had not been able to elicit a response. Council Leader Martin Gannon had to do the interview instead.

Labour then held a public meeting in the autumn about the proposed closures and yet again, Cllr Douglas was absent. Martin was there however to fill the void.

In January, when her report came to cabinet, she had nothing to say. This is quite remarkable given the controversy and the partial shredding of the recommendations which had not gone down well the night before at the Labour group meeting. Poor Martin Gannon yet again had to pick up the reins on this at Cabinet.

So it was such a pleasure to hear Angela's voice again on Thursday at the Council's budget meeting. She didn't give a speech (despite much of the debate being about her portfolio) but she did shout at the Lib Dem group when Opposition Leader Ron Beadle called for a named vote on our budget amendment. And then outside the chamber, while the Lib Dem group were getting photos taken, she raised her voice giving her view loudly on her interpretation on what the Lib Dems had not voted for in the Budget meeting.

It's great to hear her vocal chords back in action. And I look forward to hearing her say something, indeed anything, on the issue that is so central to her portfolio.

Vindolanda talk

David Goldwater will be the speaker at the next Sunniside History Society meeting on Wednesday 1st March at 7pm. He will be speaking about recent excavations at Roman Vindolanda in Northumberland but will also be talking about the nearby fort of Magna at Carvoran. The meeting is at Sunniside Club, £10 for society members, £2 for visitors. All welcome.

Whatever happened to Calvin?

Calvin Lawson was the great hope of Labour in their failed attempt to wrest control of Low Fell ward, Gateshead, in last year's local elections from the Lib Dems. Alas, now he seems to have disappeared from the radar screen. Insiders informed us last year that Low Fell had not been his first choice when he tried and failed to get selected for Birtley ward. Other insiders told us that the Labour Low Fell branch selection meeting in January 2023 had to be abandoned as no candidates were forthcoming. We have since heard that a candidate from Bridges ward has been parachuted in.

So where is Mr Lawson? Has he thrown in the towel and decided to spend his time on other activities? Has he done what so many in Labour are doing - giving up while Keir Blair-Mark-2 Starmer opens the exit door for all those pining after Jeremy Corbyn? Or is he hoping for selection elsewhere?

Frankly, I doubt many will care. 

Delivering in Sunniside

 

200 Focuses delivered this afternoon in Sunniside, in between feeding the livestock, cleaning out the chick house, milking the goat and rushing our newest lamb to the vet.

Delivered in Saltwell

 

I delivered a patch of Focuses in Saltwell this afternoon. They were all about the cabinet meeting at which Labour delayed a decision on the closure of leisure centres until after the local elections. I wonder why they did that!?

Arriving today

 

These arrived today - 5000 Focuses for Whickham South and Sunniside. Most have now gone down to Cllr Jonathan Mohammed's house where they will be bundled into patches. In the meantime, I am sorting my shoe leather ready to plod my way around the ward delivering a significant number of Focuses.

Visiting Marquisway Resource Centre

 

Gateshead's health scrutiny committee (I am a member) visited Marquisway Resource Centre this afternoon. It provides support for adults with special needs. It was a useful trip to see first hand the sort of facilities available in the borough.

Tidying up Sunniside

I was invited by residents to attend a meeting tonight in the Traveller's Rest in Sunniside. They want to set up a group that aims to plant up the village and keep it tidy. I was there to speak about the experiences of setting up and being part of a similar group in Whickham. My advice was to walk before trying to run - start with a limited number of objectives and grow to take on more over time. All in all, a very useful meeting and hopefully another voluntary group in the making.

Not the talk I expected

I was the guest speaker at the U3A meeting in Sunniside Club last week. I turned up with my laptop to give a talk on what history taught me about self-sufficiency. The problem was that I had actually been booked to give my talk about the Washingwell Roman fort. Fortunately, my error was rectified as I had the Roman fort presentation on my laptop. A quick switch of files and problem solved. The talk itself went down well. The self-sufficiency talk is not wasted. I have been booked to give it later this year by another group.

My next talk

My next speaking engagement is on Wednesday at 1.30pm when I will be talking to the U3A at Sunniside Social Club. I will be talking about what history has taught me about self-sufficiency. So that means two of my passions in one go! I will be giving the same talk later this year to Sunniside History Society. The Powerpoint presentation is ready. I will give it one further rehearsal tonight.

An impromptu talk

Sunniside History Society met on Wednesday last week. We were expecting a talk on 17th century Newcastle but the speaker at the last moment was unable to get to the meeting.  Plan B was put into operation. It was a video of the Tanfield railway from Pontop Pike to the Dunston Staiths. As people had turned up to hear about the history of Newcastle, I also gave an impromptu talk about the Lort Burn, one of the lost rivers of Newcastle. I will be producing a history video about it later this year so my research on the river was incomplete. Nevertheless, I was able to talk without notes for about 20 minutes and then had quite a wide-ranging discussion about the Lort Burn and how it affected the development of central Newcastle.

Time running out to give your views

Time is running out for residents to have their say on Council plans to slash the budget for street cleaning and a host of other environmental services. The Labour run Council are proposing £970,000 in cuts to environmental services, including: 

• less winter gritting
• cuts in street cleaning
• reductions in grass cutting
• fewer staff to look after our parks
• weed control will be cut in half

Meanwhile, some environmental services will end completely. These includes:

• getting rid of staff who remove graffiti and the Council’s dog warden
• ending the volunteer support service for parks.

To learn about all the proposals and to have your say, click on this link.

The consultation ends on midnight on 9th February.

The Waldorf and Statler of Gateshead Council

 

Now that I am retired from the role of Leader of the Opposition in Gateshead, I thought I would invite Labour Council Leader Martin Gannon to join me on the backbenches. I am reliably informed that he had quite a torrid time at Labour group last week, which was accompanied by lots of shouting and defeat for the plans to close leisure centres. Martin became Leader in 2016 after a palace coup that saw former Leader Mick Henry sent into the political desert. Martin led the rebellion against the proposed devolution plans back then, plans to which Mick had put his signature. Oddly enough, the 7 councils in the North East, including Gateshead, are backing new devolution plans which look like a clone of what Martin defeated back in 2016.

We are hearing murmurings of dissatisfaction from within Labour and suggestions that rivals are circling. Time to go Martin? Come and join me on the backbenches where we could both become grumpy old men heckling the front benches. We could be the Waldorf and Statler of Gateshead Council!

17th Century Newcastle

 

Sunniside History Society will be meeting at 7pm on Wednesday 1st February at Sunniside Club. Jo Bath will be talking about 17th Century Newcastle. Members £1, visitors £2. All welcome.

eFocus Whickham edition 179

 Just published tonight - edition 179 of eFocus for the Whickham area. Issues covered include the delayed decision on leisure centre closures, council budget, Metro service suspension and my retirement as Lib Dem group leader. You can read eFocus on this link.

Carbon copy?

 

Earlier this month, Gateshead Council's all-Labour cabinet debated the recently announced devolution proposals for the North East at a specially convened meeting. Actually, "debated" is probably too strong a word to use. Leader of the Council Martin Gannon said a few words and Cllr John McElroy asked a question about consultation. But all the other Cabinet members remained silent.

Seven years ago the North East looked set to go ahead with a devolution settlement.  The seven council leaders accepted it but before long, Gateshead was walking away. For a while, it looked as though Gateshead was going to be the hole in the North East devolution Polo mint. A palace coup by Labour saw the then Gateshead Leader Mick Henry leaving his post and his old rival Martin Gannon seizing the position for himself. The devolution settlement fell apart completely when the Labour run authorities in Sunderland, South Tyneside and Co Durham joined Gateshead is withdrawing from the agreement. Labour divisions and bitter infighting in the North East meant the region went to the back of the queue for devolution and whatever resources go with it. Meanwhile, North Tyneside, Newcastle and Northumberland went for a Mini-Me version of devolution and had the misfortune of seeing Jamie Driscoll elected as the first mayor.

Back to the recent cabinet meeting and I asked what the difference was between the 2016 and 2023 versions of devolution. In my view the current version is a near carbon copy of what was previously on offer. A rather rambling reply came from Martin Gannon who mentioned something about transport funding in 2019. I called it 7 wasted years, a point reported by the local media.

I caught the whole of the meeting on video. Judge for yourself whether what's on offer is what we were previously offered or is something new.

London trip cancelled

I had planned to be in London today (Sunday), returning on Tuesday. The intention was to go to the Lib Dem History Group at the National Liberal Club on Monday and visit a few museums as well. Alas, the best laid plans have a tendency to crash and burn. My time is needed on the farm. We are planning to buy some new milking goats in February and we need to build a milking shed. None of our other goats are milking at the moment and in the autumn we converted our milking shed into a henhouse as avian flu restrictions require all poultry to be caged. The new milking goats are a bit unplanned but the need to build a new shed outbids the desire to get to London, sadly.

New at the Whinnies

 

The Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside are building a new meeting room and I was given an exclusive view of it recently. It's not finished yet but it will be ready for the reopening of the garden in April. Community groups wanting to use the room can contact the Whinnies via their Facebook page.

Retired?

It was my last meeting as Leader of the Lib Dem group and Opposition in Gateshead today. Full council and my last duty was to move a Lib Dem motion on aiming to use surplus fruit from old orchards and people's gardens. The new Leader is Low Fell Councillor Ron Beadle. Taking over from Ron as Deputy Leader is Whickham North Councillor Chris Ord. I am of course remaining as Councillor subject of course to my constituents continuing to vote for me.

I'm not retiring as such. I gave up the leadership so that I can refocus on my farm, spend more time on ward issues and get more involved in local history. So, lots to do. 

Don't keep us waiting!

There was an unusual incident at the last Gateshead Council cabinet meeting in December. Lib Dem Deputy Leader Ron Beadle put forward a proposal for council tenants to have more control over housing repairs. My experience of Labour in Gateshead is that they normally reject any ideas or proposals we put forward. This time however, Cabinet member for housing, and former special adviser to the Blair government, John Adams, welcomed Ron's proposal as a good idea worth exploring further. The Lib Dems are ready to return the compliment. All we need to do is wait for Cllr Adams to put forward a good idea himself. So come on John, don't keep us waiting!

That's me, over and out

Today I announced my retirement as Leader of the Liberal Democrat group and Leader of the Opposition on Gateshead Council. It will take effect from the end of the full council meeting on Thursday 26th January. The group will choose our new leader on Monday 23rd January. I have been leader for 8 years but following the deaths of my brother Andrew and my closest friend Richard, I have had to look afresh at where I am with my own life. Andrew was 59 when he died. Richard was only 49. I had been Richard's carer for many years. Both passed away at relatively young ages.

I was first elected to Gateshead Council 36 years ago and many plans I had for my life were shelved. While some of them have since been dusted down and put into operation - especially our self-sufficiency project - many of our projects either still sit on the shelf or are running at half speed. Andrew and Richard have shown me that time is running out for me to clear the shelf and get all the things I wanted done. So, I am retiring as group leader though I intend remaining as councillor for Whickham South and Sunniside until such time as my constituents don't want me any more.

Last year we added another 15 acres to our farm. It requires a great deal of work to make it productive. I also have numerous speaking engagements with local organisations about local history, and a long list of local history videos I am planning to produce. And of course, sometime this year I will be getting married. I may be retiring as Leader, but 2023 will still be a very busy year for me.

Invited back

 

On Friday I was the speaker at Sunniside Church's group to tackle loneliness. I gave my talk about the Roman fort at Washingwell, near Whickham. They liked it so much that they are going to invite me back to do another of my history talks. Meanwhile, my next talk will be given to the Whickham U3A. I will be speaking about how history helped me in my bid to become self-sufficient.

Ringing the bell

 

Lib Dem Deputy Leader in Gateshead, Ron Beadle (pictured above with his wife Shakun), was yesterday declared cancer free. He was able to ring the bell at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to celebrate the fantastic news. Well done Ron.

Another history talk

My 2nd history talk of the week will be taking place this afternoon, 2.30pm at Sunniside Church. The meeting is for residents who are suffering from loneliness. I will be speaking about the Roman fort at Washingwell, Whickham. I first gave a talk on this issue in October to the Mothers' Union and then a couple of weeks later to Sunniside History Society. Next month I will be speaking to the U3A in Whickham about what history taught me about becoming self-sufficient. Busy times!

Low Fell eFocus no. 118

 The latest eFocus from the Low Fell Lib Dem team was published today. Issues covered include:

• Lib Dems demand budget action to save leisure facilities;
• Council budget plans target the environment;
• Tech for beginners;
• Low Fell Community Pre-School;
• Dental scans;
• Lights left on at Dryden Centre.

You can read eFocus on this link.

Another history talk

I have just finished putting together a talk on the Tanfield bridlepath which runs from the Tanfield Steam Railway in Sunniside to the Dunston Staiths. The railway which ran along it serving the local mines closed in 1962. The route however is peppered with history. The railway used a gravity incline system for moving the full coat wagons to the Teams where it was loaded onto ships. The same gravity system returned the empty wagons to the mines.

The talk is at 7pm at Sunniside Club, £1 for Sunniside History Society members, £2 for non members.

Spare change

Happy new year everyone. For Croatia, it is goodbye to the Kuna and hello Euro. Go back a decade and those hostile to the EU and the Euro were predicting the collapse of the Euro because of the Greek crisis. A decade on and the Euro has grown to be a currency in even wider use. No collapse to make the sceptics smile. The pound however has not fared well. We may not be at the historically low level of September when the markets responded to the mad, unfunded tax cuts of the short lived Truss government, but we came close to the event horizon that could have sucked the pound and the economy into a black hole. Back in 2015 when I last visited the USA, the pound bought $1.50. It is now worth $1.20. We are within a zone which could see parity between the pound and dollar. This is hardly an endorsement of British exceptionalism. If the government can't fix the economy, there is a serious danger the pound will be worth less than the dollar. And that will not be good news for the UK.

What's in a name?

 

Earlier this year, the Boundary Commission came up with a draft set of proposals for new parliamentary constituencies. In Gateshead there was a straightforward proposal for 2 constituencies, both wholly within Gateshead. The new constituencies would retain the names of the two existing constituencies - Blaydon and Gateshead. Under the existing boundaries, 2 Gateshead wards are in Jarrow constituency so the change to two constituencies wholly within the borough were accepted by both Labour and Lib Dems as administration would be easier both within the council for electoral purposes and within local political parties for candidate selection and local campaigning purposes.

Then in November came the revised proposals and they are radically different for Gateshead. We end up with one constituency wholly within Gateshead (called Gateshead and Whickham) and 3 partial constituencies: Consett and Blaydon, Jarrow and Washington.

Labour's response is rather telling. They are deeply hostile to the inclusion of Whickham in the name of the constituency that is wholly within Gateshead and they are deeply unhappy with the creation of this constituency though they accept that it is too late to change the proposed boundaries. I wonder whether or not the hostility to both the boundaries and the name have anything to do with Whickham being represented wholly by 9 Lib Dem councillors on Gateshead Council. The inclusion of Whickham in the constituency name draws voters' attention to the possibility that this new constituency could be winnable for the Lib Dem. We were only a few percent behind Labour in the votes cast last May in the local elections within the new constituency. To make matters worse for Labour, the new constituency also includes Low Fell, a strong Lib Dem ward, plus the neighbouring ward of Saltwell where we were close to taking the ward in May.

Having stated they want to axe Whickham, their alternative name was "Gateshead Central". We argued that Whickham should be retained as it is the biggest town in Gateshead borough outside the urban core.

Labour argued that "Gateshead" should appear in other constituency names as well. They called for the Jarrow constituency to be renamed Jarrow and Gateshead East. I agreed that the name needed to be changed but Labour were not willing to accept my alternative of Jarrow and Felling. As I pointed out at council cabinet, the 4 Gateshead wards going into the constituency were previously part of the Felling Urban District. Labour were having none of it!

Labour also proposed "Washington and Gateshead South" for the new Washington constituency as 2 wards from the borough will be joined to it. But I put forward "Washington and Birtley" as an alternative. After all, most of the voters in the 2 wards actually live in Birtley. I suggested that if you asked people from Birtley where they lived, the answer would be Birtley, not Gateshead South.

Interestingly, Labour did not apply the same thinking to the new Consett and Blaydon constituency. At the cabinet meeting where this was discussed, I pointed out the inconsistency in Labour's approach: why weren't they calling for this constituency to be called Consett and Gateshead West? I didn't get an answer but shortly afterwards they quietly changed their position and called for Blaydon to be stripped out and Gateshead West to be inserted instead. It would be interesting to know whether Liz Twist, Labour MP for the current Blaydon constituency, supports scrapping the historic name of her constituency.

There will be 28 constituencies in the North East once these changes have gone through. Somehow, Labour in Gateshead expect Gateshead to appear in the name of 4 constituencies, in effect, one in seven constituencies to be named after Gateshead. Labour argue that in the 50 years that Gateshead Council have existed, residents have developed a strong sense of unity towards Gateshead. Whether or not this is the case is irrelevant because the constituencies are to elect people to Parliament. And interestingly, there are 22 wards here each electing 3 councillors to Gateshead Council. Not a single one has the name of Gateshead in it.

Anyway, below is the recording of the debate at cabinet on the new constituencies and the names.

Low Fell eFocus no. 116

 The latest edition of Low Fell eFocus was published last week. Key issues covered include:

• Consultation date extended on Leisure Centre
• Low Fell's Service of Remembrance
• Rosslyn Avenue bollard
• Porky's/O'Malley's Licensing Application
• Thanks to Team Digital Printers

You can read eFocus on this link.

Standing down

On Wednesday last week, I stood down as a trustee of Whickham Voluntary Library. I have been a trustee since the voluntary organisation was set up 5 years ago to take over the running of the Library from Gateshead Council. The reason for this retirement is simple: I need to rationalise what I am doing as I am spreading myself too thinly. I need to concentrate on fewer tasks. In addition, having purchased our new farm earlier this year, there is even more demand on my time. I have enjoyed being a Library trustee but I will continue to support their work (and provide goats for their Christmas and Easter craft markets!)

Taking Ramesses to the fair

 

Whickham Library fair was held yesterday and I brought Ramesses with me. He is one of our billy goats and he was there to be cunningly disguised as a reindeer and attract donations for the Library and visitors to the event. He certainly got a great deal of interest (and lots of carrots). The video shows it all.

All you can eat at history society meeting

 

On Wednesday, Sunniside History Society met for the last meeting of the year. We had a quiz on the historic buildings of Newcastle. 20 photos taken at least decades ago (some over 100 years ago) and members had to identify the buildings and share some memories. Meanwhile, the buffet went down well. I have passed on the comments to the caterer!

Let there be light

 

I was invited to switch on the Christmas tree lights at Sunniside Methodist Church recently. The church hall is an important facility for local residents and many groups meet there are activities take place there. So I was really honoured to be asked to do the switch-on.

Historic appointment

Gateshead Council are to appoint historian and former resident of the borough, David Olusoga, as a freeman. The ceremony will take place in February. He presented the tv series "Civilisations" and is the author of a number of books. You can read more on this link.

Cabinet debate on Gateshead's leisure facility proposed closures

 

I recorded the debate at the Gateshead Council cabinet meeting on 25th October. The cabinet took the decision to consult on the impact of closing Gateshead and Dunston Leisure Centres with the option to close Birtley Sports Hall as well. This was the meeting where it was revealed that Gateshead Council had not applied for levelling up funding from the government but instead has applied for funding for the Gateshead Quays conference centre.

Visiting St Mary's Church fair

 

On Saturday morning, after our street surgery, I popped into the fair at St Mary's Church, Whickham. It turned out to be a useful opportunity to catch up with Rev Barry Abbott. Sadly, the closure of both banks in Whickham has reduced the number of cash machines in the village. The remaining cash machine in St Mary's Green outside Tesco decided not to work on Saturday. The result was I had no access to money. I had enough to buy 2 cheese scones!

Whickham surgery

 

On Saturday the Lib Dem Councillors in Whickham held their monthly surgery. This time we decided to have it outdoors as well as on-line. It's a good way to meet more people. The key talking points with residents were building houses in Chase Park and the proposals to close Dunston and Gateshead Leisure Centres.

As the surgery in December clashes with Christmas, the next surgery will be held in January.

I'm getting married in the morning...

On Tuesday last week, I proposed to David. He said yes! The wedding is likely to be in early summer next year, comfortably after the local elections and crop planting are out of the way. I guess I'd better buy a new suit!

History quiz night

Sunniside History Society will be holding their Christmas quiz and buffet at 7pm on Wednesday 7th December at Sunniside Social Club. The quiz this year will be about historical buildings in Newcastle. All welcome.

Goodbye Philip

 

I was sorry to learn earlier this month that Philip Latham had passed away just 10 days short of his 80th birthday. He was my agent in Hexham constituency way back in 1992, my first parliamentary election. It wasn't just through politics that I knew Philip. He was a beekeeper as well and when I started keeping bees back in 2011, he was there to advise us.

Philip was involved to the very end in a variety of community work and projects and there was a big turnout on Thursday for his funeral. It was the first Quaker funeral service I have attended.

RIP Philip Latham.

Visiting Norman McCord

 

Professor Norman McCord was one of my lecturers at Newcastle University nearly 40 years ago. We have kept in touch since I completed my PhD thesis 30 years ago. Back in the 1970s, Norman carried out a great deal of aerial photography. He discovered the Roman fort at Washingwell, near Whickham, in 1972 when he flew over the site heading to Corbridge to take photos before the A69 Corbridge bypass was built. Norman spotted the crop marks at Washingwell which revealed the existence of the previously unknown fort. The site is south of the Tyne and the discovery challenged the assumption that the first Roman border on Tyneside was north of the river, where the Roman Wall was subsequently built in AD122.

I visited Norman at his house earlier this month to show him some research I was doing on the Washingwell fort. I also showed him an RAF photo I had been given by a friend and Whickham resident which was taken in the immediate postwar years. The photo revealed crop marks showing the Washingwell fort. It meant the evidence for the fort had been there in plain sight for a generation before Norman's discovery but no one had spotted it.

I talked Norman through the work I have been doing on Washingwell and the talks I have given on the issue recently to local groups. He is now in his 90s but his mind is as sharp as ever.

The above photo (courtesy of Norman McCord) was taken in 1972 clearly showing the fort in the crop marks.

This photo (courtesy of Harry Shipley) was taken in the late 1940s by the RAF. You can see the crop marks in the top centre of the photo.

Back to the floods

I was in North Wales from Tuesday to Thursday. Lovely dry and sunny weather over there. While I was there, I started receiving reports about the heavy rain and, in some places, roads blocked by floods back home. Technology certainly helps me to keep in touch on the now rare occasions when I am away from home (I was even able to attend two council meetings while sitting in a house in Penmaenmawr!) I was back home on Thursday afternoon to experience the heavy rain first hand. Our farm had developed a couple of new streams and one of the henhouses was flooded. A great deal of mud and muck shoveling resolved the latter problem. Judging by the depth of water in our duck pond, we received about 10-14 cm of rainfall this week which is more than we received during the whole of the summer. I wonder if this level of rainfall in such a short space of time is likely to be something we will have to get used to.

Remembrance day photos

 

The photos we took at the Whickham Remembrance Sunday parade and wreath laying service are now uploaded to my Flickr site. You can view them all on this link.

Wreath laying in Swalwell

 

Before attending the Whickham wreath laying, I was in Swalwell to film the Remembrance Sunday service outside the Holy Trinity Church. This is the resulting video.

Remembrance Sunday parade

 

There was a big turnout for the Remembrance Sunday parade and service in Whickham. 46 wreaths were laid and the age range of those laying wreaths was from 3 to 97 years old. I filmed the above video, starting with the forming up of the parade, the parade heading along Front Street and the service at the War Memorial.

Remembrance Day arrangements

 

Remembrance Sunday is tomorrow and if you are joining the parade through Whickham, please meet up on School Lane. The parade will set off at 10.30am, heading along Front Street to the war memorial where the remembrance service and wreath laying will take place.

Whickham eFocus no. 176

 Published tonight, our latest eFocus for the Whickham area (no. 176). Key issues covered are:

• How you can take part in consultation on closure proposals for Dunston Leisure Centre and Pool;
• Arrangements for Remembrance Sunday;
• Beggarswood allotment proposals knocked back;
• Church Green flowerbeds planted up by volunteers;
• "Flockdown" in place for all local poultry;
• Warm spaces in our local communities;
• Whickham Library Christmas opening times;
• Local Christmas Fayres.

You can read eFocus on this link.

Low Fell eFocus 115

Another eFocus from Gateshead Lib Dems, this time from Low Fell ward. Ediiton 115 brings the following news:

• Council launch consultation on Gateshead's leisure services
• Low Fell's Service of Remembrance
• Concerned about crime? Come and speak to the Police
• Kells Lane Swing

You can read eFocus on this link.

What Next?

The boss of Next, Lord Wolfson, (Tory peer and leading Brexiteer) is moaning that the Brexit we have is not the one he thought he was voting for in the referendum. Quite what he expected to happen when he campaigned for the UK to leave the EU and put up the barriers to free movement and the Single Market is not clear. He is however now unhappy with the way the immigration system is operating. He now argues that we need higher levels of unskilled labour to work in the hospitality and retail sector which has to come from abroad. "Taking back control" of immigration was the holy grail of Brexit. Ending free movement of labour was one of the big prizes of Brexit. Now that he has what he campaigned for in 2016, it is rather sickening to hear his bemoaning what he helped inflict on the country. Chickens coming home to roost spring to mind

Planting up Whickham's flowerbeds

 

A delayed bit of video editing but here is the video I shot on 30th October in Whickham when I joined other volunteers from Planting Up Whickham to plant up the flower beds on Church Green.

Feeling better

I decided not to stay up all night to watch the US mid term election results come in. It felt like self-inflicted punishment. When I woke this morning I discovered the news was not as bad as many feared. The election results seem to be more of a ripple than a red Trump wave. It looks as though the Republicans will win control of the House of Representatives but with a much smaller majority than previously expected. The Senate is finely balanced but could stay Democrat following the Democrat gain of Pennsylvania from a Trump backed Republican.

My concerns about the Republicans still remain: they oppose support going to Ukraine, they deny women their basic human rights on access to abortion and too many of them are climate change deniers. Throw into that mix the claim that the 2020 election was "stolen" and it is not a pretty picture. The USA may be another country but what happens there affects all of us.

At least however I am feeling better about the situation this morning.

Talking the talk

Last week I gave my talk on the lost forts of Whickham to the Sunniside History Society. Double the number of people attended the meeting so it was clearly a subject of some interest. I'm pleased to report the talk went down well and I've had comments since from local residents that they attended and enjoyed the presentation. My next talk is to the U3A in February when I will be speaking about what history has taught me about self-sufficiency. In the meantime, I am planning to turn the Lost Forts talk into a number of history videos. Watch this space!

Flockdown

 

If you keep chickens or ducks on your property, even if they are kept as pets rather than egg producers, as of Monday 7th November you are required to keep them caged or in runs which are netted over to avoid domesticated and wild birds mixing. The restrictions have been brought in to tackle the spread of avian flu. They apply to all poultry keepers, not just farmers. 

In the video above we show what was needed to be done over the weekend to get our flock ready for the latest "flockdown".

I didn't get to London

I had planned to go to London this weekend for the Lib Dem rally and Ed Davey's speech. By early last week I was having doubts about getting there as I am rather busy at the moment. The final nail in the coffin of the plans was when DEFRA announced that there will be a poultry lockdown from this Tuesday. As I have over 100 chickens and ducks, their runs would have to be prepared. This all takes time. Thankfully I didn't book a hotel or a coach to London. And I wasn't looking forward to a 7 hour journey by National Express, travelling overnight from Newcastle. And even had I decided to go, the rally was over subscribed and some kind of lottery was held to dish out the tickets to the event. Alas, my name was not one of those drawn to attend. Such is life.

Halloween in Sunniside

 

It is Halloween and this morning, while I was delivering Focus newsletters in Sunniside, I spotted this garden full of Halloween figures. Someone has certainly put in a big effort.

Meanwhile, heading home after feeding the livestock and I encounter a T-Rex on Gateshead Road!

eFocus Birtley edition 10

The latest edition of eFocus for Birtley was published tonight. The main issue covered is Gateshead Council's threat to Birtley Sports Hall. Other issues covered include the removal of the footbridge over the A1 and plans to build 22 new houses. You can ready eFocus on this link.

New business in Sunniside

 

Simply Local in Sunniside closed earlier this year. I'm pleased to see that the shop did not remain closed for long. It is now the home of Walkers Xchange estate agents. They had an official opening a week ago so I popped in and had a chat with them. I've already seen two of their For Sale signs up in Sunniside while out delivering Focus newsletters. So good luck to them and hopefully they will be here for years to come.

eFocus Low Fell no. 114

The next edition of eFocus for Low Fell was published this afternoon. Issues covered include:

• Gateshead Leisure Centre threatened with closure by Council
• Meanwhile, Newcastle plans to open new Leisure Centre!
• Petition calling for locking Kells Lane park at night submitted
• Organised displays for bonfire night
• Gateshead Lib Dems lead call for tax fairness
• Shop refused alcohol licence

You can read eFocus on this link.

Whickham eFocus 175

 The latest edition of eFocus for the Whickham area was published this evening. Issues covered include:

• Proposals to close Dunston Leisure Centre and Pool;
• Flower beds at Church Green ready for planting;
• Fun dog - great day had by all;
• History talk about the Roman fort at Washingwell;
• Whickham Bank house update;
• Road repairs;
• Sunniside Community Garden closing for winter;
• Collecting the weight of a baby elephant!

You can read eFocus on this link.

My Vindolanda trip

 

I went to Vindolanda Roman fort and settlement on Friday afternoon last week. I was doing a bit of filming for a history video I am making about the Washingwell Roman fort in Whickham. I needed some footage of the reconstructed timber gateway to give viewers an idea of what the Washingwell fort would have looked like. I also used the opportunity to look around the site. It's all in the video above.

Bye bye Fiesta

I am not particularly interested in cars. I have one small car for personal use and a pick up truck which is the workhorse of our farm. However, I did notice the story today that Ford will stop producing the Fiesta next year. It reminded me of my first election campaign back in 1982 in Whickham South ward in Gateshead. All out elections meant we had 3 candidates in the ward and one of them was a motoring journalist who got to try out vehicles before writing about them. At the start of the campaign he was driving a Lada. This was in the days when Lada as a brand was regarded as something of a joke. By the end of the campaign he was driving a Ford Fiesta with a Lotus engine. It could do 0 to 30 mph in a fraction of a second. I had never experienced the sensation of being sucked into a car seat under extreme acceleration before (or since). Alas, this motoring experience was not enough to win us any of the 3 seats in the ward. It was another 4 years before a Lib Dem won (in those days we were SDP). And it was another year after than before I was elected in 1987 (though I've been there since). Quite what happened to the Ford Fiesta and Lotus engine, I do not know.

Lib Dems closer to Labour policy than the Labour party

At full council in Gateshead last week, the Lib Dem group submitted a motion for debate welcoming Labour's new found support for proportional representation (as agreed at their conference) and calling on the Labour group to support its use in both local and general elections. In the debate I pointed out that back in the 1980s, when both myself and Martin Gannon, current leader of the council, were first elected, Martin was a supporter of PR.  In his contribution to the debate, Martin said he now "sometimes" supports PR, but not for local elections (after all that would damage the near one-party state over which he presides.) Any progressives hoping that Labour in Gateshead would make the bold step of supporting their own party policy would have been disappointed with the result. Labour voted against the motion. I did point out however that Gateshead Labour's opposition to the motion actually puts the Lib Dems closer to Labour policy than the Gateshead Labour party themselves!

Planting Up Whickham

 

I was on Church Green in Whickham this morning helping the volunteers from Planting Up Whickham to strip the flowerbeds ready for replanting next week. My job was to take all the waste to my farm where it will be rotted down to make compost. The beds will be replanted next Sunday.

Don't mention Labour incompetence

Don't mention Labour incompetence. I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it! (to paraphrase Fawlty Towers.)

For the second year running, Labour in Gateshead have failed to fill all their committee places on the Council. In October last year, 5 months after the Council's annual meeting, I raised this failure and questioned Labour's competence. This brought an angry response from the Labour Group secretary John Adams who claimed he had been too busy looking at covid infection figures!

This year, Labour have again failed to fill all their committee places. And again, I raised the issue of Labour incompetence, at full council last week. Yet again, there was an angry response from John Adams who claimed that I should not have raised this matter while the pound is falling! Yes, I kid you not! (As it was, on the same day, the pound had rather a good day!) He then went on to explain that because Labour had such a "massive majority", they didn't need to fill all their allocated places.

That's quite an interesting point as it basically means Labour believe the Council is too big. It is, after all, a rather pointless exercise to elect 66 members to the council if the ruling group don't feel the need to fill all their places. With places unfilled, the Council still operates smoothly. So what's the point of having 66 members when the Council is already demonstrating that it can function perfectly well on a smaller number?

John Adams' claims come just as the size of Gateshead Council and ward boundaries are about to be reviewed and revised. Lib Dem members in Gateshead have been putting the case for a smaller council. So thank you John, your suggestion that places remain unfilled will be added to the evidence we will submit to the Local Boundary Commission supporting a smaller council.

And another thank you to John Adams - the failure to fill all the Labour committee places leaves the Lib Dem group in effect slightly over-represented. If Labour incompetence continues and they continue to fail to fill the places, Lib Dem group members are happy to take them off Labour's hands.

You cannot be serious!

Did I hear this correctly? Boris Johnson is to make a bid to get his job back? It seems some Conservative MPs are backing him though they are fewer than those backing Rishi Sunak. But Bouncing-Back-Boris as PM? You cannot be serious!

Did she order the new wallpaper?

Well, she's gone. Liz Truss will go down in history as the shortest ruling PM. 44 days will be be difficult to beat. Though I expected her to go in my blog this morning, I was expecting her to cling on for a few weeks more. I just hope Liz Truss hadn't ordered the new wallpaper!

Focus delivery underway

 

Autumn edition of Focus on Whickham South and Sunniside has arrived from the printers. Delivery is already underway. I'm about to head out to do another patch.

Getting rid of a PM - good luck with that one!

It feels like deja vu. A prime minister that the country wants removed from power and who is clinging on by their finger tips. It was the same in 2007-10 when Gordon Brown was appointed unopposed by Labour MPs  to the post of PM. No matter how many resignations, Brown clung on for 3 years. Similarly Theresa May clung on but at least had the decency to realise the game was up when her Brexit legislation was repeatedly defeated. And then we had Boris Johnson who could have remained the dominant figure in politics throughout the 2020s if he had managed to follow his own covid rules. But it took a mass resignation of his cabinet and ministers before he let go.

Prime ministers don't give up easily and quickly even when the writing is on the wall. Having got to the top of the greasy pole, they have a habit of not wanting to let go. So good luck everyone with getting rid of Truss. I think she will eventually go but it will take a bloody battle to crowbar her fingers off the prime ministership.

Chase Park dog show

 

On Saturday I visited the Fun Dog Show at Chase Park, Whickham. This is the video I made of the event.

Forthcoming history talk

 

There has been growing interest in the talk I gave last week on the lost forts of Whickham. I will be giving the talk again to Sunniside History Society on 2nd November. I will be talking about 5 forts: the Roman fort at Washingwell, Ravensworth Castle, Hollinside Manor House, a possible fort in Washingwell Woods and a possible fort at Lambing Hill, next to Clover Hill School. The video above was filmed recently next to the mound in Washingwell Woods which may be part of a motte and bailey Medieval castle.

The talk will take place at Sunniside Social Club at 7pm. Sunniside History Society members £1, visitors £2.