A new beginning...

In the ten days or so which have passed since I last posted, my faithful Toshiba laptop - which served me very well for over seven years - finally gave up the ghost and stopped working completely, hence (partially) the recent hiatus.

Anyway, so catastrophic was the collapse of my old machine, that I was left with no alternative other than to 'mend it with a new one' as my grandfather used to say.

So, this offering is the first with my new Acer number; it will not be the last, as I feel a post coming on later this weekend vis-a-vis the putative referendum on Scottish independence...

As Gary Glitter once said (before he was unmasked and jailed as a serial paedophile) it's good to be back.

Unexpected England...

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have already seen that the rather unprepossessing building pictured to the left of this post is the headquarters of Ribble Valley Borough Council, in Clitheroe.

Unprepossessing it might be, but just take a look at the flag billowing uncontrollably from the top of the flag pole in the late March gales.

No, your eyes do not deceive you, it is the Cross of St George. And for those of you thinking that its presence is a one-off affectation, never to be repeated again, let me reassure you that the English flag flies from that pole on a regular, if not daily, basis.

How refreshing to see a borough council (mine, as it happens) prepared to fly our nation's flag; and what a stark and welcome contrast to the attitude of the many that dishonestly refuse to do so on the basis that it is a 'racist' symbol.

It almost makes me happy to pay my council tax... Almost.