Travels with Jonathan Part 3 - The Emerald Isle

Well since I last posted we have been on holiday to Donegal. The trip was wonderful, although Alison did say that if I was enjoying it I should tell my face. In spite of what my face might have been implying I had a wonderful time. It was without a doubt the best holiday I have ever had and I have never felt so at ease.

Following a dreadful night in Dumfries at the Travelodge we set off on what looked like a grim day but were rewarded with fantastic roads and glorious weather en route to Cainryan. Now I am not a great traveller on ferries and the one thing that was missing from my memory were the long queues of traffic headed to or coming from the ports. Tom seemed entirely underwhelmed with his first sight of a ferry. The crossing was much better than I remembered from my youth. There were only a couple of moments that brought back those memories ( and nearly my breakfast).

The drive through Northern Ireland was also better than I recalled. We arrived in Derry and looked for signs for the Foyle Bridge. The first one we saw also led to a Tesco at Lisnagelvin where we could do our shopping. We left and all the signs for the bridge disappeared. We ended up driving around and stopping outside a UVF hall. Needless to say we didn't hang around. We crossed over the river on the Craigavon Bridge and then used the force to negotiate the city. Eventually we found the way out and then found Inch which was where the problems started.

In Ireland you don't necessarily go the way that common sense tells you you should. Inch proved this after taking the wrong turn immediately on getting to the island. We went down a single track and stopped outside a bemused person's house who ran back inside to seek reinforcements or perhaps a shotgun. We were apparently going in the right direction and caught our one and only glimpse of the castle. we then plunged down onto the strand and at the next junction accidentally took the right route but still felt the need to stop and harass a local couple in their own house. We eventually found our home for the next fortnight but took half an hour to find the owner to let us in.

That evening Tom and I went for a walk and I felt the peace and quiet and fresh air for the first time.

More to follow with pictures as well. We are now ready to bore people with a full screen slideshow of our holiday snaps.

Travels with Jonathan Part 2 - The frozen north

The weekend after attending the reunion in Mansfield I had to travel up to Dalgety Bay in Fife to drop my kids off at my parents for a week's holiday. The A1 was the chosen route and that was the last time I will willingly take that route north. The conditions were terrible and the road is just not fit for purpose. It wasn't helped by the fact that just into Scotland the road was flooded in 2 places and there were still idiots determined to do 100mph in any event.

On the Sunday due to the Forth Road Bridge being closed I had to take the Kincardine Bridge and travel down the M6 route. I did the journey in about an hour less than normal. Partly because I only had to stop when I needed to stop and partly because the traffic was fine until you got down to Lancaster. I stopped at Tebay, the much vaunted service station on the M6. On the same journey I had to stop at Bothwell near Glasgow, and on the return leg Birch and Bolton. Tebay southbound is better than the northbound at the moment largely because northbound there is a building site. But the point is that Tebay may well scalp you on the prices just like all the others but you resent paying the prices less because the surroundings and service are so much better than those provided by the big multiples.

One question that did puzzle me is why in hot sunny weather when common sense would dictate that women would wear strapless undergarments they insist on showing little or no fashion sense and show off every little item they are wearing straps and all.

Edinburgh does have something in common with Mansfield. Yes I know it sounds odd but it is true. Edinburgh for all its wonderful buildings and beautiful surroundings is a grimy city. If the city fathers took more time to clean the place up it would be an even bigger draw to tourists but just a couple of streets away from the Royal Mile the bin bags were piled high by the road side on a Saturday when the number of tourists is huge. The numbers were swollen by the gathering of the clans which boiled down to essentially, a lot of people dressed up in tartan.

Edinburgh is my favourite capital city of those I have visited and I could happily live there and probably go bankrupt in the shops.

Travels with Jonathan

I have in the last few weeks been doing a bit of travelling up and down the country observing places and people as I went. My first trip was to a school reunion in Mansfield. The reunion was something of a washout. I was the head boy of the school at which a teacher attacked and injured three children.

Mansfield was always something of a hole largely because its council refused to recognise that since it had lost its two main injuries (coal and textiles) the town was nothing more than a dormitory town for Nottingham. Most of my fellow students left Mansfield and have rarely returned since leaving for Huddersfield back in 1992 I have only been back about a dozen times. What shocked me about the place is that around my school it feels like somebody just let off a limited nuclear device. Most of the houses and shops around the school are empty or rather the old terraces are. The better houses seem to have remained largely unaffected.

Whilst in Mansfield I drove round some of my old houses and haunts to see what has happened. I didn't visit the Ladybrook estate. Our bungalow in Pleasley has remained largely unchanged from what I could see but the village in general has suffered the same problem located by my school. The police house where I grew up is now an industrial estate which is a terrible shame. The last house in Mansfield where I lived again hasn't changed much. The Nottingham Road end of town has remained fairly constant. The only bizarre change was the sudden appearance of a palm tree in my old front garden.

I had a round of golf at King George V on Berry Hill and rediscovered my enjoyment of the game. The peace and tranquility even though I hadn't hit a ball for about 5 years was great. The hotel where I stayed was functional and had a cat called Marmalade and the service was good as on Saturday they opened up the restaurant for me.

The town centre is stuck in a time warp though. The broken glass makes a scene reminiscent of Kristalnacht but without the poignancy. That is just the way Mansfield is. Those who care can't do anythign because those who don't care about anything shout loudest and everybody has to listen. The chavs queuing outside Greggs for their sausage rolls make the ones elsewhere in the country seem positively cosmopolitan. The interior of the Four Seasons Shopping Centre hasn't changed at all since I left all those years ago.

Another delight of the trip was the chance to go to St Phillips church again. Having attended some relatively humble establishments in recent years it was an oasis of calm in the storm that is life in Mansfield. The clergy may have changed but many of the congregation were there when I was a boy.It was great to speak to people I hadn't seen for years. The particular delights were to speak to my what would be now Y4/5 teacher and one of my headmasters.

Once Mansfield accepts what it is then change may come but if it doesn't then I foresee Mansfield breaking up into lots of small villages with a kind of separation between the areas people want to live and where those who have ambition live and those where the neanderthal indifferent residents currently reside.

More musings from my recent travels later

Education & politics

Over the last few days the subject of debate on the television between the parties. In particular the discussion has revolved around what will happen to the Year 6 SATS. For those of you not up on the discussion the Tories are planning to abolish them and replace them with Year 7 testing. Now it is well established practice that almost all secondary schools test their new intake as they do not entirely trust the SATS results. After last year who can blame them. So there is some sense to the proposal. I will state here and now that I am not and never have been a Tory supporter.

Ed Balls, who many parents think is part of the problem with education and not part of the solution, accused the Tories of effectively attacking the parent's right to know how their school is performing and of attacking teachers. What utter patronising nonsense. League Tables are a construct which actually does not answer many fundamental questions relating to choice. They are a blunt instrument which shows which schools can teach to the test. Teachers were, in my day, trusted individuals who were able to give parents a clear picture of how their child(ren) were doing at school. What parents really want is to know that their offspring can read, write, add up and communicate effectively as a basic minimum. Having seen some of the results that turn up at universities across the country the comprehensive system and the education policy of all governments have failed utterly. The nonsensical idea that 50% of the population are actually capable of the academic rigour required to undertake a degree should be put to bed. As an ideal it is good but it has never been the case that this proportion of the populace have been academically able to take a degree. The degree has been devalued to the extent that only those with postgraduate qualifications can demonstrate that they are academically able.

Teachers should be allowed to teach. Yes there have to be tests and assessments but at primary level they must not be the pinnacle and most important thing.

The glorious leader, not Lord Mandelson of Sith but the Prime Minister, told his fellow Labour MPs that he would change and be open and transparent. Diane Abbott didn't believe him and a mere one week later she has been proved right. The Iraq Inquiry will be held behind closed doors it is unclear who can be called and what evidence can be seen. What is more important is that no blame will be apportioned. Blame is exactly what this inquiry should be apportioning. People in government either actively or recklessly misled Parliament and the country at large as to the reasons for going to war. Some of that negligence may well be of a criminal standard. People have died as a result of the lies told by the government. Members of the Cabinet may actually be liable for prosecution for war crimes. The opposition parties and any Labour MPs with a conscience should not rest until a full public inquiry is delivered. If anybody has committed a crime then they must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

But that being said the prosecuting authorities seem reluctant to prosecute politicians who are in government.

But we watch with interest for developments.

Avoiding the football

Hi everybody,

If you are not one of those people who is bothered about whether England can beat Andorra this evening then I have a few film recommendations. At 9pm on E4 we have Tim Burton's Batman. This original vision of the Dark Knight story was excellent. The show was stolen by Jack Nicholson as The Joker but overall it is just great entertainment. At the same time on Film 4 there is Dodgeball. Those who know me would testify to the fact that I think Ben Stiller films are very hit and miss and in my opinion most of them are miss. Dodgeball is one of those rare films that is actually quite good. From 10pm onwards you have a choice of 3 offerings. Mad Max is a film I never really got in to. In fact I once spent a Sunday afternoon at the ABC cinema in Mansfield watching all 3 films back to back and still came out no wiser. On FiverUSA there is Terminator 3 which is possibly the weakest of the films in the Terminator series thus far. I have yet to see Terminator Salvation and will probably wait for it to come out on DVD. Lastly on BBC1 there is Insomnia. It is a good watch although it is probably not a film you will watch again. The performances from Robin Williams & Al Pacino are excellent.

Go Ireland by the way and hope that you beat India in the cricket today.

Tomorrow film wise there are two films to look out for. At 9pm on Virgin1 there is Dark Angel. Nothing to do with the Jessica Alba series but a Dolph Lundgren film in which an alien comes to Earth and wreaks havoc because he likes collecting endorphines. At 10.35 on ITV1 is Total Recall. This is one of those rare films of a Philip K Dick novel that is actually a good film. I have never been a fan of Blade Runner or Minority Report but absolutely love this film. It is rip roaring entertainment that doesn't take itself too seriously. Arnie is, well, Arnie. Ably supported by Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside and Ronny Cox. These two gentlemen are both actors who you will watch probably not knowing who they are but going "I remember him in...". They both play fabulous villains.

Enjoy

Media update

Hi everybody,

Since my last set of reviews I have had the chance to see a number of films and read a number of books and added some new music to my burgeoning collection. If you have any sense then avoid The Da Vinci Code. There are better ways to waste two hours - watching paint dry springs to mind. If you want to see a remake of Day of the Dead then just visit any supermarket on a Saturday morning and watch people move around aimlessly as if they have joined the undead.

16 Blocks was a film that I was expecting to be disappointed with largely because of the presence of Mos Def. However, it is an excellent film and well worth the watch. The plot and acting are absorbing and enthralling.

Star Trek was an odd numbered film and so hope was not high but fears were misplaced and it was an excellent film. The only drawback was that I always kept expecting Zachary Quinto who plays Spock to start trying to cut peoples heads open with his finger.

Bookswise I was pleasantly surprised by Runes of the Earth by Stephen Donaldson. I had not particularly liked the second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

On TV tomorrow you can look forward to Blues Brothers 2000 ITV4). It is not as good as the original but follows essentially the same plot and is still entertaining. On ITV 2 there are Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and The Mummy Returns.

Musically recommmendations are Queensryche American Soldier and Heaven & Hell's first studio album.

In sporting news I am now a week into my enhanced fitness regime. I am going to the gym every other day, playing badminton once a week and swimming as well. Tai chi classes are on hold for a couple of months.

Grumble of the week is the Passport Office who required me to fill out an entirely new form because in one section I had forgotten to put my title.

Politics - a very strange business

Well this week has been a tumultuous one in politics in the UK. But in all the gloom surrounding the Labour party I have managed to find a silver lining. The loss of Caroline Flint is no loss at all to the country. I am perfectly happy to let her fester on the backbenches. She is without doubt one of the most condescending and objectionable of MPs I have ever come across. She talks down to people, interrupts and sneers at people who do not agree with her. So to see her resignation in a fit of pique yesterday was a particular treat.

I suspect that after tomorrow's European election results it would take a miracle of biblical proportions to save the Labour party. Purely on figures in the local elections the Lib Dems finished second to the Tories. Consevative Central Office must be hoping, praying and keeping everything crossed that their glorious leader Dave has no skeletons in his closet or doesn't do anything stupid before the election.

One criticism of Labour is that they have lost touch with real people. From my perspective they were never in touch in the first place. On arrival after their much trumpeted no more sleaze we had Ecclestonegate, Hindujagate to name but two. Our current glorious leader raided the pension funds creating many of the black holes that now engulf them. He sold off the gold reserves. He abolished MIRAS thus attacking middle England and many hard working families. He got the NHS to increase staffing and gave them money to do so. He then increased National Insurance thus taking money back. Then there was the war in Iraq which was illegal, there was the dodgy dossier and the hole cut and paste of an unsourced American student's PhD thesis. No WMD. The way in which they managed to avoid ANY criticism following the Hutton and Butler inquiries.

The complete misjudgement on the Gurkhas.

Then we have the expenses scandal. In this our local MP insisted that she was entirely justified in taking taxpayers money to furnish her London flat. MPs should only be allowed to rent furnished properties and the sooner she is gone along with other MPs the better.

It seems that now 24 hours is a long time on politics. I urge you all to use your vote wisely but in any case at least use it. We need a change of system which allows independently minded MPs of whatever persuasion to buck the control of the whips and to actually give us a parliament of which we can be truly proud.