Monthly Archives: November 2009

From today’s Sunday Times:

Scientists have grown meat in the laboratory for the first time. Experts in Holland used cells from a live pig to replicate growth in a Petri dish.

The advent of so-called “in-vitro” or cultured meat could reduce the billions of tons of greenhouse gases emitted each year by farm animals — if people are willing to eat it.

So far the scientists have not tasted it, but they believe the breakthrough could lead to sausages and other processed products being made from laboratory meat in as little as five years’ time.

I’m sure those “scientists” mean well, but I, for one, would rather turn vegetarian than introduce such ghastly, Frankenstein ordure into my digestive system.

If, of course, in the brave new world that awaits us, it will be still possible to find fresh vegetables that have not been genetically modified with bits of octopus, jellyfish or whatever.

To Rhos on Sea and the launch of my friend Graham Roberts’s new book Colwyn Bay through Time.

Graham is a noted local historian and his well-researched book of photographs is a sheer delight, showing what a very prosperous and elegant town Colwyn Bay was in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries and what it could be once again if the European strategic regeneration money is wisely spent.

My favourite of all the illustrations appears on page 36.  It shows a confident and impeccably turned-out gentleman named Jack Jones sitting on his horse, the equally well turned-out and wonderfully named Eurgain, at the bottom of Coed Pella Road sometime around the turn of the 20^th century.  A photo below shows the same location in more recent times, with a troop of WRVS volunteers marching past the less than lovely edifice housing the Jobcentre that now occupies the site to the east of the entrance to the road.

If you are a resident of Colwyn Bay or a lover of the town, I thoroughly recommend Graham’s book.  It would make a wonderful Christmas present and can be purchased here.

And no, I’m not on a commission.

Abergele surgery today, with a number of heavy appointments.

After it was over, I looked in at a coffee morning organised in aid of the maxillofacial unit at Glan Clwyd hospital.  The event was packed out and raised over £540 in the space of just a couple of hours.

The extraordinary thing about these events is that they are always organised by a core element of precisely the same people.  They support all the good causes in the community and give hours of their time without the expectation of reward, or even recognition.

When people talk of “unsung heroes”, these are the sort of individuals they should have in mind.  They are to be found the length and breadth of the country, organising raffles, street collections, coffee mornings and bring and buys; they are the backbone of our communities and we simply couldn’t function without them.