Monthly Archives: August 2010

Not a lot of people know that

Posted on August 18, 2010 | 1 Comment
Image of Wrexham town centre. Permission given...

Image via Wikipedia

An all-day ministerial excursion took me today to Wrexham, the part of the world where I was brought up and which, in my admittedly prejudiced opinion, is one of the most interesting corners of Wales, with a rich military, industrial and social heritage.

There, I learned some facts of which I was previously unaware:

  • Glyndŵr University was constructed in the 1950s, in what I can only describe as a very late art deco style, as a technical college.  It was built, however, with a more sombre alternative potential use in mind: as a hospital to accommodate the victims of a nuclear attack.  Hence, the corridors are particularly wide, to allow for the passage of trolleys and beds.  We must be thankful that it never needed to be adapted from its primary purpose.
  • The old police station, which is now being converted, courtesy of the Heritage Lottery Fund, into the Wrexham museum, was formerly a barracks for the Denbighshire Yeomanry.  It originally had a tower (two of which remain) on each of its four corners  and was planned to be surrounded by a moat.  Like many fine Wrexham buildings of the period, is constructed of honey-coloured Cefn-y-Fedw sandstone, which is sadly no longer quarried.
  • The police station’s architect also designed the marble church in Bodelwyddan.
  • Owls, according to the members of Owlrescue whom I met at Garth CP School, can rotate their heads through 270 degrees.  They do this because they are unable to swivel their eyes.
  • Not all owls are nocturnal hunters; only those with dark eyes are.  Owls with yellow eyes are diurnal and those with orange eyes are crepuscular.

Tomorrow, it’s the Denbigh and Flint show.  I’d bet a pound to a penny that I will learn something new there, too.  Because, in this job, that’s something that happens every day.

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Posted in Wales Office

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Eye for design

Posted on August 16, 2010 | 3 Comments

I’ve always liked cars, which is probably a dangerous thing to admit to in these politically correct days in which, in certain quarters, the likes of Jeremy Clarkson are suspected of covertly bearing the mark of the Beast.     

Notwithstanding, I do like cars and in Ruthin today, I saw a car that was – to my subjective eye – utterly beautiful.  It was a 2003 Peugeot 406 coupé, a model that had previously, inexplicably, escaped my notice. 

I spent several minutes walking around it, admiring the purity and elegant simplicity of its lines.  It was, according to a discreet badge low on its flank, a product of Farina, the Italian design house responsible for some of the most exciting models of such exotic marques as Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo, as well the more interesting offerings of such home-grown names as Morris and Austin in pre-British Leyland days.

I was lucky enough to meet its owner shortly afterwards and got into conversation with him.  He told me that the car gave him enormous pleasure and that he felt sure it was a future classic.

I feel pretty sure he’s right.  It’s an absolute stunner.

What ingredient is it, I wonder, in the Italian DNA that makes them such brilliant designers?  It’s not only cars; it’s ships, it’s clothes, it’s even coffee machines, for heaven’s sake.  Italy, above all nations, produces designers con bravura.

The seven year-old Peugeot, though French-manufactured, screamed “Italian”.  And, as such, it was an object that engendered instant, indefinable desire.

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Posted in Miscellaneous

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In praise of Gillian Duffy

Posted on August 12, 2010 | 2 Comments

My sincere admiration goes to Gillian Duffy, the lifelong Labour supporter from Rochdale, whose trip to the shops last April to buy a loaf of bread turned into the defining moment of the 2010 general election campaign.

Given her very public humiliation at the hands of the leader of her party, who churlishly denounced her as a “bigoted woman”, she might have felt tempted, were she a lesser person, to tell Labour where to stick it.

Mrs Duffy, however, is made of sterner stuff, and yesterday was guest of honour at the opening of the offices of Simon Danczuk, Rochdale’s new Member of Parliament.

Gillian Duffy is a trooper who is clearly devoted to her party and prepared to put the past behind her to advance its cause.

One might be inclined to contrast her conduct with that of Gordon Brown, of whom little has been seen since May.

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Posted in general election, Gordon Brown, Labour Party

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Big Society in Old Colwyn

Posted on August 11, 2010 | 3 Comments

This evening, I paid my annual visit to the Old Colwyn East Residents’ Association.  The meeting, which was well-attended, was also very lively. 

The secretary, David Curtis (who is shortly to retire, which will be a major loss to the Association), read the minutes of the previous month’s meeting.  I was particularly interested when he referred to the “adopt-a-border” scheme at St John’s church.  Under the scheme, individual local people will assume responsibility for looking after one of the church’s seventeen flower beds, so helping maintain the wonderful garden that has won so many Wales in Bloom awards.

I pointed out that “adopt-a-border” was very much in tune with the Big Society agenda.  Big Society was simply a reflection what is already happening up and down the country, with people taking responsibility for the direction of their own communities, with the Government helping them to achieve their aims.

All over this constituency and, indeed, all over Britain, people such those I met this evening are rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck in, doing their bit for the place they live in and so making it a little better.  If Big Society can help them to do even more, it will have proven its worth.

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Posted in David Curtis, Old Colwyn

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Rural Wales Taskforce

Posted on August 10, 2010 | Leave a comment

Visited the Anglesey show today, which was so well attended that we had to wait in a queue for forty minutes before entering the showground. 

When we finally got in, it was well worth the wait.  The weather was perfect, with the large crowds clearly enjoying themselves.   I was pleased to see my old friend Ieuan Wyn Jones; our respective officials took pictures of us together.  I wondered momentarily what our old principal from Ruthin days, Elwyn Talog Davies, would have said if he could have seen us.

I took the opportunity to launch the Welsh Office’s new taskforce aimed at consulting on the economic impact of the downturn on the life of rural Wales.  Over the next few months, we will be consulting with individuals, community groups, academics and business organisations to gather views and suggestions as to what the coalition Government can do to promote recovery in the rural areas.

The initiative was well received by the two Welsh farmers’ unions, the CLA and the Federation of Small Businesses.   We are now inviting other groups to feed their views into the Office by the 27th September.

For more information, visit the Wales Office website.

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Glyn still blooming

Posted on August 9, 2010 | Leave a comment

Yesterday, for the sixth year running, I participated in the judging of the annual “Glyn in Bloom” competition, which has become a firmly established feature of civic life in that part of Colwyn Bay.

The concept is simple: Glyn is divided up into individual streets, and first, second and third prizes are awarded to the best front gardens.  Up to two additional merit awards are given, to encourage completion.  The result is that over the past five years, the overall standard of gardens in the Glyn has visibly improved and the competition is keenly contested.  . 

Paul Richards, the local town councillor who plays a big part in organising “Glyn in Bloom”, told me that its annual cost is no more than £250.  To see such a positive impact on civic pride in return for so small an outlay is truly to appreciate the meaning of “bang for the buck”.   

I am pictured with Phill Williams, one of this year’s winners, whose garden in Ffordd Dawel is an absolute delight.

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Posted in Clwyd West, Glyn estate

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Why Sodom?

Posted on August 8, 2010 | 5 Comments

Llanrhaeadr show yesterday, and the weather turned fine after an early morning cloudburst.

The show was one of the best attended of recent years, with high standards in all classes, particularly the pony section.

Entering the showground, I did a double-take at the incongruous sight of an enclosure what I thought were llamas, but in fact turned out to be alpacas, from a herd established at the wonderfully-named Sodom Hall, near Bodfari.  They were beautiful, gentle animals and produce, I am told, exceptionally fine wool.

If anyone knows why the area they come from is called Sodom, I will be fascinated (albeit a little nervous) to hear. 

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Posted in Clwyd West, Llanrhaeadr show

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Not Jack’s style

Posted on August 7, 2010 | Leave a comment

Less than three months after announcing his resignation from the Opposition front bench, Jack Straw has announced it again.

This time, however, he has also announced his intention to publish his memoirs, which he says he hopes will be “readable” and not “tedious or self-serving”.  I have no doubt that, being the sort of chap he is, he will succeed on both counts.

Jack has also made clear his distaste for the recently-published memoirs of Lord Mandelson (which I am presently reading with great interest):

“I don’t approve of people breaking confidences. It may sound very old-fashioned, but I don’t approve, for example, of the way Peter Mandelson has behaved and neither do quite a number of my colleagues.”

No, I shouldn’t have thought you would approve, Jack.  Not your style at all.

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Posted in Jack Straw, Labour Party, Peter Mandelson

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