Goodbye 2014

Tonight we will say goodbye to 2014, and although I am not a fond of looking backwards this afternoon is the probably the only time when it is good to do so.

2014 was one of those years that for me will be remembered for a long time, and it was a year which had highs and lows often close together. Two significant milestones were passed; I reached the grand old age of sixty, and in the autumn decided to retire. My mother passed away in October, a period of sadness, but one that also occasioned many happy memories.

At this point I realise that today’s blog is becoming like one of those annoying round robin Christmas letters where you learn that the author’s spaniel has already completed three A-Levels sometime before conception. The author’s family thoroughly enjoyed their safari despite being kidnapped by jihadists en-route. Oops I hope that mention does not get this blog on a watch list, still at least my page views will increase.

So at the risk of being maudlin some memorable moments;

• ·      My children delivering a joint eulogy at their grandmother’s funeral. Gosh they make you proud.

•      Just sitting at the end of Ellis Island looking at the fantastic skyline of Manhattan. 

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• ·       A note of thanks sent to me by a colleague.

• ·      Seeing a David Tennant in a wonderful Richard II.

• ·      Eating at Eleven Madison Place.

• ·      A wonderful weekend with friends and family to celebrate my sixtieth, despite losing my shirt on the horses.

• ·      Two fantastic days of the Tour De France in Yorkshire.

• ·      The three Ms, Martha, Millie, and Marion throughout the year.

Lastly of course I started this blog, December has been to some extent a proving ground, I hope that the blog will expand and reach maturity in 2015. So farewell 2014, and welcome to 2015 may it be happy and prosperous for my reader!!!!!

A Beautiful Day in Poole

I have been on the South Coast today and would like to share with you some great photos of a fantastic day in Poole.

Entrepreneurs – Not a real risk

Like everybody else I read about the demise of the City Link parcel delivery firm on News Years Eve and felt concerned for the many workers to be made redundant at this time of the year. I guess I felt sort of resigned thinking that the venture capital firm behind City Link would take a big hit as well as the workforce, and concluded that this is the downside of venture capitalism. As in most things it appears that all was not what it seemed.

Firstly most of the money invested in City Link was in the form of secured loans, thus as the assets are realised by the Receiver the venture capital firm is first in line for payment. The redundancy on the other hand is paid by the government out of our taxation. Those smaller venture capitalists that were encouraged to buy into the City Link dream by purchasing and painting vans have no protection I assume as unsecured creditors. These are the true risk takers as they will potentially lose everything.

Now I can just about understand this until I then read that the chairman of this company lives in Guernsey thus avoiding UK tax, and that he or his company donated substantial amounts to the Conservative Party. The hypocrisy is breath taking, everybody is keen to enjoy the benefits of a low tax economy as long as somebody else is there to pick up the pieces and provide the safety net. They also through money donated have a disproportionate influence on government policy.

Don’t Panic Mr Mainwaring

For those of you of a certain age you will remember Dads Army a popular sitcom of the 1970s that told the tale of a Home Guard Platoon in a fictional south coast town. This is already too much information for my overseas readers an explanation. The Home Guard was set-up in the summer of 1940 after Hitler had invaded France and there was a real worry that Britain would be next. The Home Guard was a locally recruited local defence force, of those who basically were too old, young or infirm to fight. Initially they were equipped with no weapons, or uniforms.

As an aside when sorting through my mother’s house I came across a photo of my father whom must have been around seventeen with his brother and my grandfather posing in their Home Guard uniforms. I once asked my father about this experience at this time and whether he was frightened. Just the opposite, he had been given a rifle and was asked to patrol the countryside. As a teenage boy he had the time of life, probably being a danger only to the local rabbit population. Hollywood is doing a make over of Dads Army with Catherine Zeta-Jones and every British actor you have ever heard of. There are lots of scenes filmed local to us in Bridlington and the North Yorkshire Moors heritage railway.

Any way that really was a ramble, the point was that Corporal Jones a veteran soldier at any hint of crisis always used to say “Don’t Panic”. I was reminded of this during the current bad weather in Europe and the rail chaos in London recently. The news outlets interviewed people and the hyperbole coming from them was breath taking. The fact that people on a skiing holiday could not drive down a valley was a complete disaster on a scale of the great plague and that in their opinion the French government ought to have provided a personal snowplough for them. The fact that they were trying to drive on alpine roads in winter without snow tyres was blithely ignored. Similarly people trying to travel back from London on Saturday. Now I am the first one to moan about East Coast Trains, however the travel chaos was an inconvenience not a matter of life and death. The juxtaposition of the Greek ferry disaster overnight perfectly illustrates my point.

How refreshing to hear a traveller stuck overnight at a service area in Yorkshire by a snowstorm. For my American readers this was not a big fall of snow, but enough to paralyse the UK. He said he had a duvet and a hot drink from a local hotel, and chalked it up to experience. We had a similar experience some years ago when our children were younger. We turned up at Ostend for a ferry that was delayed overnight by high winds. We dug the duvets out of the boot, cuddled down and got a good nights sleep. Although at the time we moaned and groaned, it was not a disaster, it is now something that as a family we now look back on fondly.

So spare us this faux outrage, and hyperbole, reserve our concerns for something that matters.

Christmas beside the Seaside

Today the family were in Scarborough for a Christmas celebration. The day could not have been better and displayed Scarborough at its very best. After an early frost the sun shone brightly and as long as you were well wrapped up the cold could be kept at bay. After the final presents were unwrapped with a lot of excitement for our two granddaughters we headed to South Bay.

Now many would suggest that winter in Scarborough can be hideous, but I would beg to differ. As you will see from the photographs it was glorious,

the light in particular being very good. The harbour looked a picture and was full of trawlers laid up for Christmas, as well as the usual yachts and of course the Coronia and Regal Lady. Our walk around the piers was enlivened by the raising of the lift bridge, much excitement for the five year old, and parallels drawn to Herbie the movie.

My son had a bright idea, probably fed up with the turkey leftovers, why not have some fish and chips he suggested. This was the most popular suggestion of the day, seized on by the girls, who did not just want fish and chips they needed them. Well we sat in the sun drenched upstairs window of the Golden Grid, and al devoured well-cooked and generous portions of the Scarborough delicacy.

The younger generation ran this off on the beach, but of course had to finish the day in the traditional way with a Harbour Bar ice cream.

All in all a perfect Scarborough winters day and great relaxation before a long drive tomorrow.