The on-line pub crawl

Lockdown has produced some interesting and unexpected consequences. The Gateshead Lib Dem Council group has started to go on pub crawls! Well, virtual pub crawls to be precise. Cllr Vicky Anderson set up our first session on Saturday and I bought along a bottle of elderberry vodka I made a couple of years ago. Sadly, I was unable to let others sample it but I'm sure colleagues appreciated my generosity in bringing such a handcrafted piece of my self-sufficiency to the party!

Applauding carers and key workers

Like so many of the residents of my home village of Sunniside last night, I applauded the work of the carers and key workers. We just need to remember that these people have always been essential to the functioning of society. That deserved applause as well.

Low Fell eFocus 58 (Coronavirus special edition no. 4)

The Low Fell Focus Team have now produced their 4th eFocus dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic. Issues covered include:

• Gateshead Lib Dem Councillors produce video about coronavirus - watch below
• Local Heroes
• Focus Team phone hundreds of local residents to check on their welfare
• Garden waste collection suspended
• A warning from the police
• Supporting businesses who don't pay rates
• Ron joins Parliamentary Experts group
• Not too late: You can still volunteer to help

You can ready eFocus on this link.

Gateshead Lib Dem Councillors' video: advice on what to do during the pandemic

Gateshead Lib Dem Council group has produced a video to advise residents on how to deal with the pandemic lockdown and how to get help if it is needed. We also warn about scams as well. All 12 group members appear in the video. It can be viewed on the link above.

My history quiz

Time to use some of your lockdown time! I first gave this quiz to the Sunniside History Society on 3rd September last year to mark the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War 2. All the questions are about the late 1930s, the 1940s and early 1950s. Most of the 30 questions are about social history but if you want to give it a go, I will be posting the answers in a few days' time.

The goats of Llandudno

The pandemic lockdown has had an unintended consequence: empty streets in towns and cities around the world are being reclaimed by wild animals. I've seen videos of wild boars, seals, antelope, lynxes and deer happily walking down streets that are normally congested and polluted with vehicles. The wild goats on the Great Orme at Llandudno have grabbed the headlines. I used to work in North Wales in the mid 1990s and I return there most years for a short holiday. I know Llandudno well and I was fascinated to see the goats wandering around the empty streets, helping themselves to privet hedges and generally enjoying the newly available space without, what must be for them, the terrifying racket of human activity.

When the pandemic is behind us, somehow we need to find ways of sharing our urban spaces with nature. We cannot go back to the way things used to be.

I was last in Llandudno in June last year and I went up the Great Orme especially to see the goats. After all, I am a goat farmer so I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to see the animals. I caught them on the video above, starting about 1 min 42 seconds.

Whickham eFocus No. 130

I finished the latest edition (no. 130) of eFocus for the Whickham area last night. The party politics have been stripped out. Most of the content is about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on services. The latest advice was included and we will be increasing the frequency of publication to help keep people informed.

You can ready eFocus on this link.

Delaying VE Day event

Sadly, I have just had to agree to the postponement of the events to mark the 75th anniversary of VE day, due to take place on 8th and 9th May, at Sunniside Methodist Hall. The events were to be run jointly by Sunniside History Society (of which I am chairman) and Sunniside Methodist Chapel (who have also cancelled the craft fair due to be held on 28th March). Hopefully we can rearrange the events but the coronavirus outbreak makes planning new dates rather difficult.

Disposing of the disposable

I was called by a friend who works for M&S recently about a large quantity of disposable crockery and cutlery they had in store. The company no longer sells these products but they didn't want them to go to waste. As it turns out, the Whinnies Community Garden in Sunniside are in the middle of setting up a summer house that will also be a tea room. They were quite happy to take the crockery and cutlery so I went down to the Metrocentre M&S store and loaded up the land rover. There was so much that I ended up having to do two trips.

I hate the idea of single use products but it is better to have one use from them than no use. At least that way they have some value before entering the waste system. Let's just hope the days of single use disposable products are numbered.

Delivering Focus

I was in Whickham this morning to deliver 370 Focuses. I managed to beat the rain but I had to cling to the newsletters in the gale that was blowing. 2 hours later and the job was done.

Low Fell eFocus 50 and 51

This is a bit of catch up as I am somewhat behind with updating the blog. Lots happening especially on the smallholding. Low Fell Lib Dem Focus team produced two eFocuses during January. Edition 50 covers:

• Improving Low Fell's car parks - views wanted
• Dealing with litter 
• Council Tax expected to rise
• Cllr Craig receives honour
• Fallen panels on Station Road

You can view Low Fell eFocus no. 50 on this link.

Edition 51 covers:

• Recycling trial to continue
• Bishop of Durham renames Low Fell school
• Council rejects school crossing
• Lowrey's Lane car park resurfaced
• Outrage over plans to rip up £700,000 car park that was built 2 years ago 
• Fallen branches removed
• A new NHS App has been launched
• Labour Councillors force through Bus Tax 
• Success! Plans for more woodland in Gateshead are passed

You can read eFocus 51 on this link.

Whickham eFocus no. 128

The latest edition of the eFocus for the Whickham area (no. 128) has just been published. Issues covered include:

• proposals to begin work again on the unfinished house on Whickham Bank;
• Lib Dem tree planting plans backed by Gateshead Council;
• Cllr Peter Craig to be awarded British Empire Medal;
• Knitting activities at Sunniside;
• Fireworks clamp down call;
• Polling stations moved from some local schools;
• planning applications.

You can read eFocus on this link.

All ready for tomorrow

Our second Lib Dem action day of the year in Gateshead will be tomorrow. We are heading to Birtley to do some door knocking and a survey. I printed 1000 survey forms last night. Much to my amazement, our printing machine was as good as gold so my visit to our office in Consett was unusually brief.

Delivering in Birtley

I was back in Birtley this morning. A beautifully sunny and refreshingly breezy day - perfect for delivering literature. I delivered 370 calendars. My legs felt the strain afterwards!

Last delivery of 2019

On Tuesday I did my last literature delivery of the year/decade. 370 calendars were put through doors in Whickham. Alas, next to me is a large pile of leaflets waiting for me to deliver over the next few days. At least I will get lots of exercise. I wonder if I will be able to deliver at the same rate at the start of 2030.

More eFocuses

We are only a few days into the new year but Gateshead Lib Dems already have published two efocuses. You can read them on the following links:

• Low Fell no. 49
• Pelaw and Heworth no. 14

Congratulations Peter

Congratulations to my colleague Peter Craig, Lib Dem councillor for Whickham North, whose work in the local community is to be recognised with the award of the British Empire Medal. Peter has been the key organiser who got Friends of Chase Park, Lighting Up Whickham and Planting Up Whickham off the ground. He is also one of the main organisers of the Whickham Remembrance Parade and Service, now the biggest in Gateshead. There are many other groups that Peter has helped form or run (or both). This is a well deserved honour.

Peter, pictured above, at the Whickham Remembrance Parade in November.

Blame Blair

I sympathise with Laura Pidcock on a personal level. She was Labour MP for Durham North West, normally a safe Labour seat but was issued her P45 on general election day by her constituents. She spent just two and a half years in Parliament and has now been left wondering, "What went wrong?"

If her claims in the Journal just before Christmas are anything to go by, she is going to struggle to answer the question above. According to her, Tony Blair was the cause of Labour's general election meltdown. Quite why Blair should suddenly reappeared as the bogeyman 12 years after retiring as both PM and MP is not explained by Ms Pidcock. According to her, his legacy "hangs around this party like a millstone." There could be an argument for saying Blair's legacy was damaging to Labour in the 2010 general election though I suspect the failure of Brown would have been a bigger factor in Labour's defeat then. Yet, to blame Blair for losing her seat four general elections after Blair had left office was, to say the least, to miss the point, and at worst, is an amazing lack of ability to deal with the real world.

Pidcock is not alone in the Labour party in looking for excuses rather than reasons for her party's failure. There are many others who can't look with any degree of reality at the causes of their defeat. And as long as these people are in the majority in the Labour party, they will remain on course for a 5th and 6th general election defeat in a row.

Last delivery before Christmas

I had my last delivery of literature to do today before Christmas. I headed over to Bensham at 11am to deliver 100 cards. A relatively easy job to do as all the streets I had been given to do were terraces! I'll now put my feet up for a couple of days.

Whickham eFocus no. 127

The latest edition of our email newsletter for the Whickham area, eFocus was published on Friday. Issues covered include:

• Christmas lights switch on events in local villages;
• Thank you from our Lib Dem general election candidates;
• Top marks for Sunniside surgery;
• Work starts on converting the Victorian Marley Hill School building into housing;
• Information on Christmas bin collections;
• Lobley Hill landmark now demolished;
• Christmas carol service at St Mary's Church.

You can read eFocus on this link.