Heritage Open Day 3: The River Front and The Secret Garden

The third post in my series dedicated to heritage Open Day 2015 in King’s Lynn. This takes in a Napoleonic era militia, a 15th century construction and the present day work of the Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this, the third post in my series on Heritage Open Day, which took place a week ago today. We are covering a lot of ground today, starting with…

A NAPOLEONIC ERA MILITIA STRUTTING THEIR STUFF

As part of the efforts to protect Britain against invasion by Napoleon, militias were organised everywhere coastal ready to act if necessary. Norfolk had two, the West and East Norfolk militias, and although King’s Lynn is on the western edge of Norfolk, it was the East Norfolk Militia we saw in action. There was also someone dressed as a captured Frenchman – note the dark blue jacket. It would be fair to describe this particular militia unit as not being the best drilled you would ever see (actually I would not have been that surprised to see Baldrick or hear someone shouting “Don’t tell him Pike”).

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Once we had seen this, we crossed the lower Purfleet on the bridge you can see in the picture above (after a brief diversion so I could show the others the Navigators display) and headed across King’s Staithe Square to the…

BANK HOUSE HOTEL

Who had opened up their cellars for the occasion…

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This map was on display in the hotel itself.

Then it was down to the banks of the Great Ouse, not at ultra high tide, but neither with vast areas of mudflat on display, and a chance to learn about the work of the…

EASTERN INSHORE FISHERIES AND CONSERVATION AUTHORITY

and to look around one of their research vessels, which also meant a chance to get down on to the pontoon/jetty where visiting boats have mooring space…

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This camera will function at depths of up to 80 metres, comfortably enough for investigating inshore waters around the Norfolk coast.

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After finishing here we decided it was time to see how my mother and aunt were faring at the…

SECRET GARDEN

This is the communal back garden of Hampton Court, and unlike the courtyard itself which anyone can look in on at any time it is rarely possible for ordinary members of the public to look at it. By the time we got there my aunt had been temporarily relieved by my mother, and clearly lots of folk had already visited. Part of the garden had been blocked off at the request of one particular resident, but not being able to venture there did not lessen the experience…

Turning the requirement to restrict access one part of the garden into a benefit.

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This map and the next picture, even on that day, was not viewable by ordinary members of the public - they adorn the walls of my aunt's house. — This map and the next picture, even on that day, was not viewable by ordinary members of the public – they adorn the walls of my aunt’s house.

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Saturday Sharing

A short post mainly devoted to sharing links, but with some photos also included.

INTRODUCTION

This is a brief post, principally to share some interesting and important links, At the end, there will be a few photos from in and around King’s Lynn.

LINKS

Today’s link’s divide naturally into two sections, starting with…

#JezWeDid

Yes everyone – #JezWeCan is now #JezWeDid – Jeremy Corbyn not only won the election outright in the first round, he did so with an absolute landslide, leaving even the 57% achieved in the first round by Tony Blair when he won the leadership behind him. I have three links that relate to this news…

From yesterday, courtesy of Vox Political, comes this story about people in Guildford approving of policies until they were told whose they were (Corbyn’s), at which point the hypocrites sought to back track from their earlier support.
My second link is this offering from Green Party leader Natalie Bennett immediately after the Corbyn victory was confirmed.
This, from dwpexamination, is a detailed analysis of the breakdown of the votes in this leadership election, which I have chosen to accompany with this infographic courtesy of George Aylett on twitter:

PHOTOGRAPHS

Just before putting up some of my more recent pictures, a reminder that tomorrow is Heritage Open Day, featuring 57 sites in King’s Lynn…

The World Athletics Championship – A Retrospective

A Retropsective on the World Athletics Championships, More on the Inhumane Despicable Sociopath case, some photographs and some important links.

INTRODUCTION

As well as my title piece I have some photos, links and infographics to share, including a section following up my much shared “Inhumane Despicable Sociopath” post..

BRITAIN’S BEST EVER

At the World Athletics Championships which concluded yesterday Britain won a total of four gold medals, their best ever. Mo Farah with both the 5,000 and 10,000m, Greg Rutherford (Long Jump) and Jessica Ennis-Hill (Heptathlon) all ascended the top step of the podium in Beijing, all having experienced Olympic misery there seven years previously. There were also a stack of best ever performances from less experienced British athletes, encapsulated by BBC TV in this infographic…

Young Guns

Shelayna Oskanp-Clarke had never previous broken two minutes for the 800m, and until Proctor did so no British female long jumper had ever gone beyond 7.00m. The performances of Asher-Smith and Hitchon were also British records. Dina Asher-Smith having already become the first British woman go sub 11 seconds for the 100m and being part of the 4*100m relay team now has three British records against her name.

INHUMANE DESPICABLE SOCIOPATH: A FOLLOW UP

Partly because of a twitter storm conceived by a well known twitter user named Gail which tied in perfectly with it my blog post about the revelations of DWP deaths, forced out after a long and hard fought campaign, was very widely shared. I have a number of superb related links to share in this section:

thegreatcritique has this gem: “How Dare ISIL Kill British Citizens – That’s Our Job“
johnnyvoid offers this on the DWP and faked stories.
politicalsift have this piece challenging people to remain unbothered by the tens of thousands of deaths for which this Tory government is responsible.
A view from someone with inside knowledge of Westminster – Michael Meacher argues that parliament should have the power to force IDS out.
Disabled People Against Cuts have produced “The IDS Files: IDS Versus Reality“.
From disabledgo comes this reminder of a petition that seeks to force ministers to assess the impact of cuts.
Vox Political has this about a United Nations probe into whether IDS’s reforms involve gross violations of human rights (the answer is yes btw).
The Mirror has the full piece on the story referred to above.
Glynis Millward has this cracker entitled “And Still No Word From the Bald One”

Now, a few infographics about this story, starting with this great tweet:

Killer Stat

This, formatted like a DWP case study, differs from them in being a true story:

Simons Story

Finally to the end this section, a screendump from a text book of the future that somehow appeared on my screen…

THE IDS

A PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERLUDE

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INTRODUCTION

I have many things to cover in this post, including a number of very important links.

THE BONKERS TRADE DEAL

The bonkers trade deal is officially known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP for short), and I am mentioning it in this post for two reasons:

This Saturday at 11AM there is action taking place against it, starting outside Top Shop on King’s Lynn High Street.
And linked to the above, I got my action pack from 38 Degrees through the post today.

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LINKS

To begin today’s links section, a nod to youth…

THE CASE OF THE DRACONIAN DRESS CODE: AN UPDATE

This refers to an American school whose dress code is both draconian and being applied in a very sexist way. This has given rise to a change.org petition, and today there has been coverage on yahoo:

The Petition
The Yahoo piece
To conclude this subsection a photo showing the “revealing clothes” for which a girl was called, which ignited the controversy:
When wearing this falls foul of a “dress code” I think the problem is fairly obvious.

JUSTICE FOR KAYLEB

Just a single link, but I make no apology for giving it a whole subsection to itself. This is a truly shocking case involving a 6th grader (English equivalent of this would be a year 7 student) facing the possibility of spending his life with a felony conviction on his record. Please sign and share this petition.

AUTISM AND CREATIVITY

Another single piece, this time courtesy of Huffington Post, about a study into autism and creativity. I start with a quote from the piece:

“Wong and Doherty said we should think of autism in terms of differences rather than deficits. And these differences, as the study suggests, can give rise to important and unique creative insights.” NB The italicisation is theirs not mine.

The full article deserves to be read and shared. Naturally as both an autistic person and the creator of this blog I wholeheartedly concur with the notion that autistic people can be especially creative!

SCIENCE AND NATURE

My final two links, the second being in the nature of a segue:

Courtesy of science news comes this about the discovery of eight more galaxies orbiting the Milky Way.
Finally, from birdguides comes this splendid article.

BIRDS AND BUTTERFLIES

I bring this post to a conclusion with some pictures taken in and around King’s Lynn yesterday morning and today…

Rain brought this beauty out yesterday morning.

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Sunday Snippets

An account of yesterday, with some good pictures. Also some high quality links and infographics.

INTRODUCTION

Although some of the links I have were located this morning, this blog post is really, as the title suggests, about yesterday.

A MORNING WALK

My walk started with the parkland. There is always plenty to see there, and although it was to elusive to capture on camera, I even got a glimpse of a water vole before it darted under cover. Still I did get some good photos…

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I left the parkland via the Seven Sisters gate and headed past the South Gate and thence to the river via Hardings Pits, which at this time of year means one thing to a photographer…

BUTTERFLIES

There were many of these creatures in evidence, and I was able to get several good photos…

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The river although not at particularly high tide was looking splendid…

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Of course no walk along the Great Ouse would be complete without…

CORMORANT PLATFORM

This structure, which I have named for the birds that are its most distinctive users was once again proving popular…

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EAST RUDHAM

A Sunday lunch in East Rudham and afternoon spent sat out in the sun were both very enjoyable, and the latter yielded some good pictures…

I had noted a while previously that this £2 coin had a special picture on its reverse (the obverse was the usual prrofile of a ludicrously over privileged woman) and so I picked a suitable moment at which to photograph it.

Wild marjoram, freshly harvested for use in cooking.

Wild marjoram serving its principle function as a bee magnet.

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BACK TO KING’S LYNN

Arriviing back in King’s Lynn I bagged a few photos on the way home. A quick check on the computer revealed the Australia had emerged from their tour match at Northampton with a draw – cause for celebration on their part given recent events!

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LINKS

I have a variety of links to share with you, starting with several about…

AUTISM

This section opens with a link to today’s issue of The Sparks of Autism. From that splendid online compilation I have singled out one piece for special mention, which started life as a blog post by gymbunnymummy entitled “20 things not to say to a parent of a child with autism“. My next autism related piece is a story about a Russian supermodel standing up for her autistic sister after the latter was refused service at a cafe. I end this little section with a link to a campaign on change.org to get “Avonte’s Law” passed.

COUNTERING SEXISM

I take the opportunity of having this section to once again remind people of the project to create a museum that really is about the women of East London. My next two links belong together:

A story on Patheos about a draconian school dress code that is being applied in a blatantly discriminatory manner.
And a petition on change.org organised by students at the affected school.

My final link in this section is to a petition calling on Amazon to stop selling books by Roosh V

SCIENCE

My science related links are four in total:

A piece by fargaregardsanna which features a humorous use of one of Maurits Escher’s most famous pictures – I realize that some may quibble of me classing this as science, but I believe that since the explanation of how such optical illusions work is scientific that this is justified – and also it makes this section of my post neater!
A piece from Cosmos Up about an ancient lake on Mars that could once have sustained life.
Cosmos Up again, this time on the discovery of a young “Jupiter” 97 light years away.
My final piece comes courtesy of a source I do not believe I have previously cited in this blog – the Charlotte Observer, and it is a piece about Oliver Sacks (author of “Uncle Tungsten” among other things).

POLITICS

My final three links are all political in nature. Firstly, from disclaimermag comes this piece entitled “The Loathsome Linguistic Wriggles of Officer Involved Shootings”. My next link comes courtesy of Vox Political and is entitled “Browns Speech Unintentionally in Support of Corbyn”. Finally, courtesy of primepolitics comes this piece entitled “time to bring politics into the 21st century” which also serves as a useful to segue to my final section containing…

INFOGRAPHICS

MSMV NHS Cuts UAF Triumph

The Great Outdoors

An account of the Ordnance Survey’s Get Outside pledge, the associated hashtag and my own activities in relation to that pledge. Some important links and a platinum infographic as well.

INTRODUCTION

The title piece refers to a scheme being promoted by the Ordnance Survey, which I choose to endorse by way of this post. I also have lots of other links to share, and a very funny infographic about the right wing Republican approach to religious freedom to share.

THE GET OUTSIDE PLEDGE

I was already moving towards lengthening my walks to and from the bus station on work days before I came across this idea being promoted by Ordnance Survey. For twitterites like me there is a hashtag, #GetOutside that you can use to publicize this. I urge you all to check out this link, and if you can make a pledge of your own.

Yesterday morning I got underway a little later than planned, but still got in a bit of riverside and parkland walking, while yesterday evening, my first post-pledge journey, I got off the bus at Gaywood and took a long walk home. Here are some pictures from these walks…

Enviro-serve, the company running at least some of the boats pictured above were set up to provide appropriate vessels for people developing renewable energy – check out their “about us” page.

Now, here are the evening pics…

"Cormorant Platform" at high tide — “Cormorant Platform” at high tide

LINKS

I have lots of links to share, and so have divided this into subsections, starting with:

PREVENTION OF TROPHY HUNTING

This section includes three links in total, two petitions and a blog:

From the petitionsite comes this call to stand with the people of Zimbabwe as well as with Cecil.
From change.org comes a call on Fedex to join a number of major airlines by refusing to ship hunting “trophies”.
The blog of the Humane Society contains this wonderful post about just how many airlines are now refusing to ship such “trophies”

.RELIGION

This subsection also includes the infographic. Lots of goodies here:

The National Secular Society has this report about Sikh extremist thugs forcibly preventing an interfaith wedding from taking place, and the shocking fact that Sikh Federation refuses to condemn these thugs.
Patheos were on splendid form yesterday, producing three superb pieces starting with this on a political scandal featuring two particularly loony fundamentalists.
The next offering from Patheos is about a well told if unsurprising story about Presidential hopeful Mr Huckabee making stuff up.
The third piece from Patheos is this comment piece on the religious right’s responses to the case of the baker who refused to produce a wedding cake for a gay couple, and includes the infographic.
This is lgbtqnation’s take on the same story

A COUPLE OF PIECES ON THE LABOUR PARTY

Two excellent pieces about the current state of the Labour party:

A blog post from Dev Raval about why he is supporting Jeremy Corbyn.
From think-left comes this searing “open letter to Harriet Harman”.

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION

I conclude this post with a number of links that relate to issues of discrimination. I make no apology, given the current standards of behaviour of the DWP for including a piece about the welfare state in this section.

My first link is to misadventuresinthewelfarestate.
lexology have provided this account of an anti-bullying decision.
A change.org petition entitled “bring my autistic son home”.
Also from change,org, the petition to deny Roosh V entry to Canada.
From themighty a good news story about support being shown for a child who could not go on a field trip.
Finally, also courtesy of themighty, this about the new mental health awareness patch that girl scouts can now gain.

A Sunny Sunday in West Norfolk

An account of a walk yesterday morning, the journeys to and from East Rudham, and Sunday lunch in East Rudham, with a subsection devoted to bees enjoying wild marjoram.

INTRODUCTION

This post concerns yesterday, and us set part in King’s Lynn and part in my parents village, East Rudham. A running theme is nature. I hope you will enjoy it and that some at least of you will choose to share it.

PART 1: KING’S LYNN, MORNING

It was a beautiful sunny morning, so I decided to take a long walk from my flat, planned to finish at the bus station in time to catch the 11:55 bus to arrive in East Rudham for Sunday lunch. Right at the start, the upper Purfleet yielded these pictures…

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South Quay then yielded a few more good pictures…

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A few minutes later came one of the regular highlights –

CORMORANT PLATFORM

The set of pictures I have this time indicate precisely why I have given this structure which sits at the meeting point of the Nar and the Great Ouse the name I have…

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Before leaving the river there was just time for a couple of shots looking back at the town…

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On leaving the river I headed through Harding’s Pits, which at this time of year means…

BUTTERFLIES

It is difficult to capture butterflies on camera, but I got a few pics…

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After this, the next pictures worth sharing came from near the end of the walk, along a stretch of river near Morrison’s…

My photographic comment on Australia's recent batting performances! — My photographic comment on Australia’s recent batting performances!

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A VARIATION ON THE USUAL BUS JOURNEY

A combination of a spectacular day and herd mentality increased the journey time to Hunstanton and the sea to two hours and rendered the Knight’s Hill junction with the A148 effectively unusable for buses, so the X8 towards Fakenham went by way of Leziate, Ashwicken and Roydon joining the A148 just short of Hillington and its first out of town stop. Thanks to this intelligent alteration of the route the bus was only a couple of minutes late arriving at East Rudham.

PART TWO: EAST RUDHAM

Following a delicious lunch of roast beef the afternoon was spent sitting out in the courtyard outside my parents house, until it was time for me to get the bus home. I was reading the book by Robert Bakker that I mentioned in a previous post – keep an eye for a review in the near future – and also endeavouring to do photographic justice to…

THE BEES

As well as being useful for bringing out the full flavour of lamb, the wild marjoram that grows in abundance just outside my parents door is much appreciated by bees. Bees are a vitally important part of the ecosystem and are under ever increasing threat from the combination of the insensate greed of pesticide companies and the cravenness of governments (the latter do not have the guts to stand up to the former). Their activities so close to where I was sitting were an irresistable opportunity for the only sort of shooting I am interested in – that done with my trusty Nikon Coolpix P530!

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THE RETURN JOURNEY

The bus turned up precisely when it was scheduled to, and until it hit the now customary traffic jam on Gaywood Road (at which point I decided to get out and walk the rest of the way) it ran exactly to schedule all the way.

PART THREE: KING’S LYNN AGAIN

In this last section I am going to share some pictures from yesterday evening and also the pictures I got of the bus station immediately before setting out…

The new London Connections map, one of the many things that can be obtained from the visitor's centre at King's Lynn Bus Station. — The new London Connections map, one of the many things that can be obtained from the visitor’s centre at King’s Lynn Bus Station.

On the reverse side the whole of the South East.

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The front of the vistor's centre and the Lynn museum — The front of the vistor’s centre and the Lynn museum

Focus on the visitor's centre — Focus on the visitor’s centre

The clock, courtesy of King's Lynn Civic Society. — The clock, courtesy of King’s Lynn Civic Society.

The barrier at stand C - interleaving Captain Vancouver and the Custom House. — The barrier at stand C – interleaving Captain Vancouver and the Custom House.

A Sunny Morning in West Norfolk

An account, complete with a fine haul of photos, of a walk around King’s Lynn. This is followed by some important links and some interesting infographics. Please share widely.

INTRODUCTION

Being up bright and early this morning and noting the sunny weather I headed off for a walk. The body of this post is devoted to sharing the best sights from that walk. After that I have some links and infographics to share. I hope you enjoy this post and will be encouraged to share it.

THE WALK

My first ports of call were…

THE TUESDAY MARKET PLACE AND ST NICHOLAS CHAPEL

These places looked very fine in the sun. The extensive restoration work on the chapel is now nearly complete.

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From there I headed to…

BAWSEY DRAIN

This is a far more significant waterway than that name may suggest, and was rewarded with a clutch of fine pictures in that section of the walk…

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Watching and waiting in the undergrowth... — Watching and waiting in the undergrowth…

I left Bawsey drain part way along it’s length to head towards the Great Ouse by means of a nice route that I know, but I am briefly going to diverge from strict geographical recounting for a subsection on…

BUTTERFLIES

The butterflies were out in force, but it is always difficult to photograph them due to their speed. Nevertheless, I did get some good pics to share…

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This was the last butterfly I got, while walking through Hardings Pits

This was the first butterfly pic I got today.

The only non-animal flyer I got today - a helicopter (Helico- = spiral, pteron = wing) — The only non-animal flyer I got today – a helicopter (Helico- = spiral, pteron = wing)

ARRIVING AT THE GREAT OUSE

Just a few pics here, but it was a delight to see the river at very high tide…

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My next set of pictures are themed around a small but (to me) very significant little landmark which I have dubbed…

CORMORANT PLATFORM

The very high tide meant that most of the structure was submerged, and the presence of boats and the river and West Lynn Church on the far bank also contributed to a great set of pictures…

A brilliant piece of photobombing by the flying gull!

Multiple species of bird coexisting peacefully.

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Two cormorants took wing in my direction.

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Not all of the boats i saw on the river were there for leisure purposes – there was also a…

RESEARCH VESSEL

Four pics showing the boat and website details…

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From here all that was left was…

THE HOME STRETCH

The pictures I took in these final few minutes are very varied…

The smallest baby moorhen I have ever seen.

We have reached the end of my walk, but I do hope some of you stay for the…

LINKS

I have a shed load of important links to share, starting with some on…

CONSERVATION

My first link comes courtesy of Huffington Post and features Richard Dawkins giving Idaho huntress Sabrina Corgatelli the full treatment.

My next three links are part of a developing story involving airlines stopping the idiots from getting their “trophies” home…

First to step up to the plate by refusing to carry such items were Delta.
Who have already been joined by American Airlines and United.
On change.org a petition is taking off to get South African Airways to impose a like ban.

Although it was a universally revered lion whose demise sparked this activity they are not the only species targeted by noxious individuals, and my next link is to a take part petition on behalf of the elephant.

Finally in this subsection, from Mark Avery comes a story about hen harriers which was written in response to a piece in the Telegraph that was shockingly inaccurate even by the “standards” of that detestable rag.

SCIENCE

Just a few links in this subsection. First up, a brilliant scheme from Norway to combat climate change (unlike the “I’m all right Jack” types who currently form the British government these people can see beyond their own immediate concerns). I am also classing as science these two connected links regarding London postcodes:

1)From londonist an interesting post about why London which has compass point themed postcodes beginning with E, SE,SW,W,NW and N has no S or NE postcodes.

2)The website of the author of the above piece, mapping modernity.

Finally in this section, a quirky piece about science facts, accompanied by a graphic. courtesy of viralands – there are 22 facts in total in this piece.

DISABILITY AND AUTISM

A few links in this section, which i shall present as a bulleted list:

From Scope comes this piece entitled “Do You Have a License For That“
Next, by way of Autism Daily Newscast comes this story of discrimination against an autistic person by furniture giant IKEA.
Kevin Healey’s long standing battle to get twitter to verify his account and protect him from trolls continues.
A feelgood story from The Mighty titled “A Little Girl Asked Why My Daughter With Autism Is Weird. Her Friend Had the Best Response”
Read more: http://themighty.com/2014/12/a-little-girl-asked-why-my-daughter-with-autism-is-weird-her-friend-had-the-best-response/#ixzz3hxh3tbzo

CELEBRATE SUFFRAGETTES NOT SERIAL KILLERS

I mentioned this yesterday, and the story has moved on since then. My source today is Socialist Worker with a piece giving great detail, including the fact that the museum which got planning permission on false pretences did not open yesterday as planned – let us hope that in it’s current incarnation as a musuem dedicated to Jack the Ripper it never does open its doors. here are the two links:

The Socialist Worker article.
The 38degrees petition

ODDS AND ENDS

A final bulleted lists of links that did not belong anywhere above but which I wish to share:

From Amnesty USA comes this very important petition:

Stop Crackdown Against Lawyers and Activists in China
I do not often mention football in this blog, but I had to make an exception for this story titledAlmira becomes first Pakistani woman footballer to play in UK

INFOGRAPHICS

A few infographics to round things off…

Earth Age End the Great Housing Giveaway IDS

There is a link to the story behind this earlier in the blog.

Stop benefit sanctions

Sunday, Monday, Today

An account of the last few days, with some excellent pictures, some important links and a great infographic courtesy of Dr Lisa Sulsenti.

INTRODUCTION

My last blog post was about my cousin Olivia’s wedding on Saturday. This post tells of Sunday, Monday and today, with plenty of pictures. Also, I have some links and infographics to share. Talking of sharing, I hope that some of you will choose to share this post as well.

KEGWORTH HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTRE

While possessed of precisely zero architectural appeal, the Kegworth Hotel and Conference Centre is clean and comfortable…

I have plenty of good pictures from inside the hotel…

This is a 24 hour roman numeral clock - can you spot the deliberate mistake in the numbering? — This is a 24 hour roman numeral clock – can you spot the deliberate mistake in the numbering?

Detail from the ornamental glasswork at the reception desk.

My bedroom had some pictures as well…

You will note a degree of duplication between the public pictures and those in the rooms!

SUNDAY LUNCH

My cousin Richard and his fiancee Ida are off to her native Sweden soon, and he had the idea of a farewell pub lunch at the Plough in Normanton on Soar. Eventually after a few cancellations, 12 of us were there for this excellent meal, which we ate outside overlooking the river itself, much used by boats and birds…

I have lots of splendid pictures from this event, and both the food and drink were magnificent.

The local product - look up Leciester Rugby Club for more on the name. — The local product – look up Leciester Rugby Club for more on the name.

As well as boats at surface level, a plane flew high over our heads.

HOMEWARD BOUND

I travelled back as a passenger in my aunt’s car, since we live very close together in King’s Lynn. Taking pictures while in transit is not easy, but this one worked…

After helping my aunt to unload her car I walked back to my flat by way of another river on which boat travel is not unknown, the Great Ouse…

DOWN TIME

Knowing the effect that such a busy weekend would have on me I had taken the precaution of booking this week as leave to enable myself to have some quiet time. Last night was a group meeting for KLASS (more on this in a future blog post), but apart from that it has been a very quiet couple of days.

To give you an idea of how vast an eyesore this building is, this photo was taken from a point that is a 20-minute walk from the building itself!

LINKS

I have as usual plenty of links to share with you, starting with…

CONSERVATION

From the Humane Society comes this on banning trophy hunting.
From petitions.whitehouse.gov comes the call for the US Government to do the right thing and extradite Walter Palmer to Zimbabwe so that he can be charged for his crime.
Huffington Post provide this story about a certain Sabrina Corgatelli posing alongside her kills.
And this is thedodo.com’s take on the same story.
From the same source as 4 comes this on Giraffes.
From change.org comes this climate change petition.

INFOGRAPHIC

Dr Lisa Sulsenti has produced this infographic providing guidelines on fireworks…

Cormorants, Classical Music and Campaigns

Pictures from King’s Lynn and East Rudham, mention of two uppcoming events at King’s Lynn Minster, a large number of important links and some high quality infographics.

INTRODUCTION

I hope you will enjoy this very varied post and that some of you will be encouraged to share it. Talking of sharing, here are a couple of recent comments about this blog from twitter:

@obiwandar “Great blog. pictures, activism, tips WOW”
‏@spacesheepy loving the photos & duckies ~ nice blog Thank you for sharing 🙂

BIRDS, BOATS AND PLANES IN KING’S LYNN

In the break between innings of the delayed women’s ashes match at Worcester (yesterday was washed out entirely, so the whole game is happening on the reserve day) I went out for a walk and was delighted to see a cormorant in residence. As these pictures show, it was far from the only interesting sight of the day…

These model planes (two feature in these pictures - 5 pics in total) are by way commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. — These model planes (two feature in these pictures – 5 pics in total) are by way commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Two boats at the jetty - "Pero" and regular visitor "Kalyptos" — Two boats at the jetty – “Pero” and regular visitor “Kalyptos”

The flag drooped at just the wrong moment, but the gull made the pic worth keeping.

And I got the flag, plus an ornate weathercock as a bonus, at the second attempt.

This stonework is on the side of the Magistrates Court

LINKS

I have a large number of links to share, and I am going to start with the various campaigns that feature in this context.

CAMPAIGNS

Within this subsection I am going to give each campaign its own small slot…

STOP TTIP

The campaign against TTIP is gathering momentum. 38 Degrees members, of whom I am proud to be one, are organising a day of action all around the country on August 22nd. The particular details for North West Norfolk are:

North West Norfolk / TTIP Day of Action

Sat 22nd Aug 2015, 12:00pm
Outside Top Shop, High Street, King’s Lynn

For more or (hint) to sign up for the event please click here. There is also a specific link for joining.

HELP YAZIDI WOMEN AND GIRLS KIDNAPPED BY ISIS

I encourage all of you to sign and share this petition from change.org. I am going to share a buzzfeed article that gives detailed coverage of this issue and the petition itself:

1)The article

2)The petition

THE JOANNE FOWLER PETITION

Joanne Fowler has posted an update on the petition she set up following the horrible and needless suffering her father endured at the end of his life:

1)The petition

2)The link to her Facebook account.

ON ORCAS

The campaign over Seaworld’s treatment of orcas has recently gained some coverage in the San Diego Tribune:

1)The article.

2)The petition

CLASSICAL MUSIC

While at my parents in East Rudham for Sunday lunch yesterday I saw these two leaflets…

…While I am sure that both events above will be excellent, it is the one on October 10th which really appeals to me. All three headline composers are among my favourites, while the subtitle piece was the first piece of classical music I ever heard, initiating a life long love. Here is a close up of that leaflet…

A full listing of organ recitals at the Minster can be found here, while among the many things that can found at the Minster’s official website is this piece about the organ.

INFOGRAPHICS

Today has been a bumper day for infographics…

The next three pictures are all related... — The next three pictures are all related…

A FEW FINAL PICTURES

I bring this post to a conclusion with these pictures from East Rudham yesterday…

	Thomas on India Dominate Historic M…
	cindy knoke on India Dominate Historic M…
	Thomas on History at Lord’s
	amsutcliffebtinterne… on History at Lord’s
	Arisaig 2026 25: Hom… on Pakistan v South Africa

INTRODUCTION

A NAPOLEONIC ERA MILITIA STRUTTING THEIR STUFF

BANK HOUSE HOTEL

EASTERN INSHORE FISHERIES AND CONSERVATION AUTHORITY

SECRET GARDEN

INTRODUCTION

LINKS

#JezWeDid

OTHER LINKS

If you are a former ILF recipient, living in the Waltham Forest Council area can you please email us at mail@dpac.uk.net, or if you know someone who is, could you please ask them to contact us.

PHOTOGRAPHS

INTRODUCTION

BRITAIN’S BEST EVER

INHUMANE DESPICABLE SOCIOPATH: A FOLLOW UP

A PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERLUDE

LINKS

AUTISM

JUSTICE FOR KAYLEB

OTHER AUTISM RELATED LINKS

THE REMAINING LINKS

INTRODUCTION

THE BONKERS TRADE DEAL

LINKS

THE CASE OF THE DRACONIAN DRESS CODE: AN UPDATE

JUSTICE FOR KAYLEB

AUTISM AND CREATIVITY

SCIENCE AND NATURE

BIRDS AND BUTTERFLIES

INTRODUCTION

A MORNING WALK

BUTTERFLIES

CORMORANT PLATFORM

EAST RUDHAM

BACK TO KING’S LYNN

LINKS

AUTISM

COUNTERING SEXISM

SCIENCE

POLITICS

INFOGRAPHICS

INTRODUCTION

THE GET OUTSIDE PLEDGE

LINKS

PREVENTION OF TROPHY HUNTING

.RELIGION

A COUPLE OF PIECES ON THE LABOUR PARTY

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION

INTRODUCTION

PART 1: KING’S LYNN, MORNING

CORMORANT PLATFORM

BUTTERFLIES

A VARIATION ON THE USUAL BUS JOURNEY

PART TWO: EAST RUDHAM

THE BEES

THE RETURN JOURNEY

PART THREE: KING’S LYNN AGAIN

INTRODUCTION

THE WALK

THE TUESDAY MARKET PLACE AND ST NICHOLAS CHAPEL

BAWSEY DRAIN

BUTTERFLIES

ARRIVING AT THE GREAT OUSE

CORMORANT PLATFORM

RESEARCH VESSEL

THE HOME STRETCH

LINKS

CONSERVATION

SCIENCE

DISABILITY AND AUTISM

CELEBRATE SUFFRAGETTES NOT SERIAL KILLERS

ODDS AND ENDS

INFOGRAPHICS

INTRODUCTION

KEGWORTH HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTRE

SUNDAY LUNCH

HOMEWARD BOUND

DOWN TIME

LINKS

CONSERVATION

OTHER LINKS