Credo - The Times newspaper

On occasion the Credo column of The Times is to me at least worth a read.

Thus todays column  by Melanie McDonagh is interesting;

Approaching its 250th anniversary, the country is still reflexively religious, for all the pains the founding fathers took to avoid an established church. Vance is typical of many Americans in the various stages of his religious trajectory, for this is not just a memoir but an account of his conversion to Catholicism.

He represents a notable recent trend in religious identity in the US. “Roman Catholic churches see a surge of new converts”, The New York Times reported in March. It surveyed the convert numbers in two dozen dioceses: “Each reported a significant jump.” The bishops themselves were puzzled about what is behind it. “Of course, we think the Holy Spirit is,” Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington said. “But we are kind of stymied.” Obviously, the figures only count the numbers entering, not leaving. Yet it’s a discernible change.

Approaching its 250th anniversary, the country is still reflexively religious, for all the pains the founding fathers took to avoid an established church. Vance is typical of many Americans in the various stages of his religious trajectory, for this is not just a memoir but an account of his conversion to Catholicism.

He represents a notable recent trend in religious identity in the US. “Roman Catholic churches see a surge of new converts”, The New York Times reported in March. It surveyed the convert numbers in two dozen dioceses: “Each reported a significant jump.” The bishops themselves were puzzled about what is behind it. “Of course, we think the Holy Spirit is,” Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington said. “But we are kind of stymied.” Obviously, the figures only count the numbers entering, not leaving. Yet it’s a discernible change.

Her articled extracted above tends to be supported by the increasing numbers apparentl attending mass in my own Wimbledon parish.

World Cup 2026

 

England winning their first match 4-2 was a great result but overall, is the world cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico an huge success?

Clearly from the point of view of football results time will tell next month although England is on what appears to be a good track thus far.

There are nonetheless many complaints at least in my book about the 2026 World Cup: 

Surely the $1000s required for most for seats is absurdly high for ordinary supporters many of whom come from  third world countries?  I recall securing seats to watch the Olympic women's football finals at Wembley in 2012. USA v Japan as I recall 2012 Olympic Football. Tickets were priced at about £50 and even allowing for inflation would still be affordable for many, Similarly prices at Wembley for AFC promotion to division 1 final as recently as 2025.

Then there is FIFA. Why are so many questions raised about some FIFA management? Is FIFA responsible for the huge prices for seats at the football stadia? 

The three minute breaks for drinks during matches  spoils the flow and is surely unnecessary at least in air conditioned stadia?

The cost of travelling in the USA at least appears to have risen during the FIFA  World Cup. Why? Transport fares for the 2012 Olympics did not alter during the sports at the time so why for the  2026 World Cup, especially as the USA is the richest nation on earth?

Then the number of teams entered to play. There are so many 48 I believe,. so no wonder the games will take weeks to reach the final stage by which time many may have given up watching.

Overall as football fan I am content to watch some matches but suspect that other sport for example Wimbledon Tennis, will soon command more attention.

• Attribution
   

Margate

The above picture was in fact taken at Broadstairs and is of a Charles Dickens commemoration procession which we chanced upon. The photo below is of the closed double Dungeness Nuclear Power stations. 

Also at Dungeness local fisherman have a beautifully arranged fish shop the like of which I had not seen before, also a lunch shack. We enjoyed a fish lunch  in the open air with views over Dungeness towards the sea on one side and the nuclear power plants on the other.

Many memorable moments but the most dangerous  made only by younger brother and myself,was  a long beach walk along the beaches from Margate to Broadstairs where there was a long section of rocks and stones under the cliffs. Thankfully younger brother and I reached Broadstairs without injury.

We were thankful to take the train back to Margate. The journey  and ticket costs.back to Margate illustrated for me at least, how far we had walked.

Overall, an excellent break away for arranging which, many thanks to sister in law Jan

St Georges NHS Hospital Trust

Having my annual infusion for osteoporosis earlier  this week was informative. The bus to St Georges NHS Hospital Tooting was the sensible way to travel there as car parking is difficult. There was little queuing for the infusion and I was treated promptly.

The helpful infusion nurse upon seeing the book I was reading, mentioned that her father was reading the same novel The Predicament by William Boyd. I told her my view that the book was fascinating but probably more apt for male readers than female; but who knows?

The infusion went well and quickly, possibly because one or two other patients may not have turned up which is a waste of NHS time and money. Later I was asked to attend the St Georges Pharmacy receive two weeks supply of vitamin D globules. 

Amazing that the visit to St Georges the supply of the globules and today's visit to the Raynes Park GP surgery were all free of cost to me. 

The doctor at Raynes Park told me that my kidneys were deteriorating  and that this resulted from a number of factors. about which she will liaise with St George's.

The GP who told me that she had a full working today today (Saturday) said that she would  let me know if   the St Georges Rheumatology department  advised on  any further action that I could usefully take, beyond my daily walks over Wimbledon Common.

Fortnum & Masons Tea for Three

Youngest sister very generously provided a tea for three at Fortnum & Masons for mrs maytrees, herself and myself as a birthday present which we enjoyed enormously  earlier this week. The picture above was taken after we had consumed  not only much of the tea but also the top up sandwiches wihch were kindly provided for no extra cost.

Mrs maytrees and I arrived slightly early so were able to enjoy looking at the Fortnum & Masons food and wine shopping areas. Sweet Alice biscuits which I recollect from a visit some 50 years previously are no longer on sale presumably because the manufacturer has disappeared. None the less there were some wonderful  foods, teas, drinks and biscuits, beautifully displayed for sale in the crowded shopping areas.

Some 15 minutes before our high tea was due to commence, we took our seats in the restaurant foyer on the fourth floor. There was a comfortable sofa for us to occupy whilst we waited and an excellent pianist played on the nearby grand piano.

An elegant lady soon came over to guide us in to our table where shortly afterwards we were joined by youngest sister,

The  tea was of course delicious especially as I had opted for the savoury version whereas mrs maytrees and youngest sister had chosen the normal cream tea.

The waitress told me that the large tea room had been opened to celebrate HM Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, explaining why last time I had visited the F&M tea room, the venue had been much smaller and on a lower floor.

The tea itself was delicious as one might expect, though the price had risen somewhat since my visit  years ago.

After tea, we walked  through crowded Piccadilly to nearby Hatchards bookshop,  taking the Jubilee line back to London Waterloo, thence home.

 

Maurice and Maralyn

A friend of mrs  maytrees gave me the above as part of a birthday present from her husband and herself a couple of weeks back. 

Thank you Lynette, a very interesting read.  of an exciting true story and quite unforgettable.

The account starts with the  couple buying a suburban house and preparing to live  normal suburban lifestyles. However they fairly quickly become bored  and decide travel for a new life in New Zealand.  They sell their house and use the proceeds to build  and stock  a sailing boat whilst avoiding installing any modern communications instruments such as a radio, on board.

Eventually the voyage commences and the couple travel alone in the Atlantic across to the Pacific Ocean with a view to arriving in New Zealand several months later where Maurice already had new employment organised.

Disaster then strikes when their sailing boat is struck by a whale and despite attempts to prevent  sinking the boat goes down leaving them with a dinghy and raft. Before the boat sinks however the couple were able to store tins of food and water onto the dinghy including a bithday cake which had been brought to celebrate Maralyn's biithday due to take place during their voyage.

The account continues with details of the couple's attempts to survive and the passing by of many ships which failed to spot what must have been a small speck in the sea..

The absorbing account  also details dreadful pain, diarrhea and illnesses affecting the two of them. Their fishing attempts given that the absence of fishing hooks  and their eating of turtles, flying birds as well as fish are set out and are fascinating. Yet when almost faced by death,, salvation occurs..

The book continues with details of their survival; radio and TV appearances and how they felt but the above is sufficient for this blog post leaving any blog reader who is interested, with the task of buyng the book to read the full story.

UK Politics Today

 

Politics in the UK has changed substantially  in recent years though in my view, not for the better.

Reform is a comparatively new political party that people are voting for probably because Nigel Farage and his team have not yet been in full national government. Reform's local government victories meanwhile do not appear to illustrate that they are any better than the more established political parties, as many of  the local councils they now hold are  embroiled in arguments.

The Green Party has altered from being a party principally  concerned with the environment, to being a political  party on the left of Labour. 

Like Reform, the Green's political successes to date have not given the areas  they have  won, any advantages over those previously 'enjoyed'. Like Reform's leader Nigel Farage, the Green's leader, Zack Polanski is embroiled in argument. In the former's case about  failure to declare  promptly, large donations and in the latter's case about non payment of Council Tax over some years.

The Conservative Party has previously had so many issues  of malfeasnce that it was trounced  by the Labour Party in the UK general election some two years ago.

The Lib/Dems seem to me to change their policies from time to time. to suit their political situation, Thus when in power with the Tories they dropped their promise to reform the university student  finance system, though to me, their current leader Sir Ed Davey, is their largest failure given his various non political gimmicks.

Not being Scottish I know nowt about Scottish politics save for their enthusiasm for independence.,They apparently signify that  England should pay them  on independence  rather than the Scots bearing their share of the national debt if/when going alone.

The Labour Party is currently in turmoil. There is as yet no leadership contest but their current leader Sir Keir Starmer is weak having made U-turn after U-turn. Whether Andy Burnham the current mayor of Manchester wins the by-election that a resigning Labour MP has created for him is as yet unclear but that will take some weeks, during which time the grand ship UK will be almost rudderless. 

Currently the Tories in my view are being led by a competent politician  Kemi Badenoch but she will need time to secure more support in the country given her predeccssors' many failings.

Labour is in disasster territory but as the picture above, of the PM visiting AFC Wimbledon illustrates, they did well in the recent local election in Merton having seen off the Lib Dems, possibly assisted by the huge payment received by Merton Council upon selling off their company CHAS,  owned since 1996,for £186m.

Still, other international democracies are suffering their own problems the USA  for example. I hesitate to add the EU which is not actually a democracy though that trading group is undoubtedly suffering..

70th Birthday Party at The Goring

 

A huge thank you first of all to birthday girl youngest sister who organised and paid for what was a very successful and happy occasion of lunch and tea, which we all enjoyed.at London's Goring Hotel situated just behind Buckingham Palace.

Seeing all living brothers and sisters gathered together for the frst time for many months was a treat and the weather held good for us all.

The event was a great success hosting  in the case of the maytrees family, our four children and three grand children.

Oldest son flew over from his home in Jersey Channel Islands and youngest son overcame his damaged leg with crutches still managing to attend on time.

Oldest daughter came with her 12 year old daughter and 9 year old son and youngest daughter attended with her husband and 6 month old daughter. 

Speeches were excellent as was youngest  brother's film show, which included some old family pictures one of which showed nana in a great photo along with a hideous looking  7 year old maytrees. There were also some .recently taken short films by each sibling and some grand children  

A great  birthday party and maytrees family as well as siblings and their families get togethers.

Richmond Park

A beautiful spring day led to mrs maytrees and I deciding on a trip to nearby Richmond Park.

Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park is a very popular venue for wedding receptions which may be the reason that the cost for lunch certainly by today's standards is quite inexpensive. We were informed that the fish for my selected fish and chip lunch would take three more minutes. A Chinese girl next in line also decided to wait which surprised me as fish and chips used to be a  meal  mainly appreciated by the British and Irish. For example during a visit to Iceland which is surrounded by  fish, we could not find any straight forward fish  and chips.

The fish duly arrived and along with a pile of carrots and peas put on my plate by the waitress serving behind the counter. The meal was delicious to eat at the nearby dining room overlooking Petersham. Cheap but very tasty. 

I wonder if the costs of restaurant meals will soon increase though, given the war in Iran and the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz.

After the main meal, mrs maytrees and I adjourned for ice creams at the Pembroke Lodge  cafeteria outside. Joining two girls at a large table  in the shade, we began to chat. One of the girls was from Ontario Canada and was holidaying in England for her first time. It turned out that she was a student at a university in Ontario. The expense  for higher education studetnts today reminded me that years back  in the UK university fees were non existent though only about 4% of the school population reached university. Today of course that percentage is far higher but substantial fees have to be paid by most students.including it turned out, those in Canada.

After our ice creams and saying farewll to the Canadian girl, mrs maytrees and I went for a stroll in the glorious sunshine before returning to the car.

Memorable/Terrifying Train Journeys

 

Maybe my most interesting and terrifying train journey was that taken with my old Beaumont friend John Farr (may he RIP) in about 1970 from London to Istanbul via Munich. Munich itself was still being excavated for constructing a subway but we were able safely to board the train with reserved seats bound for Turkey.

The guards used to  check the wheels' soundness  by hitting the train wheels from time to time with sledge hammers.   After one such check in Greece after a minor earthquake,  the train  was deemed dangerous so  we had to disembark.  Another train was found but without reserved seats. At Bulgaria the engine was switched to a steam train which then headed slowly to Istanbul, About a mile from the terminus people who were living on the tracks had to rise to make way for the train but finally it arrived at our destination.

The next  difficult  journey a few months later was  on a train from Cairo to Luxor. The train was full of prisoners in chains which was unnerving. Going to the WC was difficult as the WCs were taken up with prisoners in chains. On one occasion solders agreed to stand guard whils I pee'd through a gap between carriages. That was hard enough but the experience was made more memorable by the soldiers firing their machine guns through the train roof.

Another memorable journey was what started as a routine commute from London Vauxhall to Wimbledon. I blogged about this at the time: Memorable commuter train journey

A far happier memorable train journey was one which mrs maytrees and I took from London to Aberdeen on the overnight sleeper. This was in many ways matched by our journey years before on the unmodernised sleeper from London to Inverness. See both

Train to Inverness and Train to Aberdeen

The whisky on the Aberdeen journey and  the Haggis enroute to Inverness were both of course also memorable.

Then comes our summer holiday train to St Ives Cornwall where again we had reserved seats. On the return journey to London there were terrific thunder storms in England and the lightening brought most trains to a halt. However the train from Plymouth from which we were bound to London, was not directly affected. Indirectly though, being the sole London bound  train, it soon became packed to overflowing.

All of the HCPT overnight  pilgrim trains  from Bolougne sur mer to Lourdes were  exciting and one or two were terrifying.

The most terrifying was when one night at a remote French railway station where for some reason the train had halted, three men fleeing from the station bar  tried to board. The gendarmerie fired tear gas at the men who were caught. The tear gas cannisters missed the rogues but hit the open window of one of our compartments in which three HCPT Group 35 asthmatics were sleeping. They woke up and  were sick. I protested to the gendarmes but the row  was defused by the train driver who came over and said: moi asthmatic aussi. 

Another exciting HCPT train journey took place during a national French railway strike when a lady HCPT helper  who had been in the resistance during WWII persuaded a union leader who had also been in the French resistance, to drive the train personally to Lourdes.

Overall train travel now seems likely to increase partly as a result of the war in the Middle East.

 

Rasputin

 

                                    

                                Setting off to war - above

Retreat from Moscow by Napoleon's army - below.

The fact that the Russians under the Tsar took the train east,  then marched off to fight the Japanese and were  then defeated probably did not help the Tsar survive the revolution when it came.

Antony Beevor's biography about Rasputin makes for fascinating reading. Coincidentally the biography is  largely set in Russia at about the same time as the Summerfolk play about which I blogged last week. 

In much the same way  as the wealthy Summerfolk by their indulgent behaviour really  helped speed the way to the Russian Revolution so did the behaviour of Rasputin.

Rasputin appears to me to have had part of him who from time to time seemed almost holy yet almost simultaneously appears as a dreadful womaniser rapist and. absurdly friendly with the Tsar Nicolas II and his wife Alexandra, who according to Antony Beevor were besotted with him. 

History was never a strong subject of mine but from what I can fathom, Russia at the time had no constitution and was ruled at the whim of the Tsars. Ordinary people were treated really as serfs.

Interestingly England  still has no written constitution but the Magna Carta signed as long ago as 1215 by King John, successfully divided power and usually kept our monarch in check.

  

The Russian Empire by failing to have an equivalent to our Magna Carta, in my humble opinion, led to their revolution and the slaying of their former Tsar and families, essentially leading to the USSR and then to the Russia of today.

My Summerfolk blogpost is at:

Summerfolk

Summerfolk

 

The National Theatre play Summerfolk  which youngest sister, mrs maytrees and I attended at the Olivier Theatre earlier this week, played to a packed audience and was excellent.

We decided to have lunch at the NT cafe which was inexpensive though perhaps understandably somewhat crowded. The play and lunch were our bithday present to youngest sister who reaches her 70th birthday this month.

Coincidentally I am reading the recently published book Rasputin and the Downfall of  the Romanovs by Antonoy Beever. Both the play and the book are for the most part set in the early 1900s. I will probably make a blog post about the book in a few days time.

Summerfolk was  a long play which rewarded concentration. There was a large cast of some twnty three characters.

An extract from a review of the play in the Radio Times reads:

Gorky's work deals with the preoccupations of the intelligentsia right before the Russian Revolution; affairs, loveless marriages, opinions on lacklustre poetry. At times, we the audience, as a fly on the wall, can see deeper into the darker side of the upper middle class psyche of the time; from the male characters' rampant misogyny to Pyotr's disdain for his own working class origins.

Gorky and the Raine siblings have worked in tandem to create a hilarious and affecting script, stuffed with terrific one-liners and expertly-placed expletives, without shying away from the darker elements.

It's impossible not to draw parallels between Summerfolk's underlying sense of political and social unease and the churning anxiety present in our current world. These eerie similarities mean that this contemporary production speaks to the timelessness of theatre.

Despite being reduced by an hour, Summerfolk still boasts a hefty run-time. While the first half effortlessly flies by, the production begins to show its runtime more in the second half, as repeated arguments lead it to losing a little steam.

An excellent afternoon.

Easter Week 2026

 

The war in Iran was cited as the reason for Israel initially preventing the traditional Palm Sunday mass being celebrated in Jerusalem though  I believe the Israeli government eventually relented somewhat. 

In any event the above picture is of holy mass being celebrated on 2nd April 2026 at the church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Earlier, Psalm Sunday mass was celebrated at the Sacred Heart Church in Wimbledon and I attended  the first mass of Psalm Sunday which took place on the Saturday night. There was quite a crowd there and the lengthy passion scripture was read outside, near the main door before we entered the church for the long holy mass.

Iran has professed a wish to extinguish Israel, so the latter country's attacks on Iran are to some extent understandable. Those of the USA on the other hand are in my opinion,  not. I loathed the Iranian government's method of controlling its people  before the current attacks by the USA and Israel, by for example killing at least 30,000 of them for their protest riots. However even then the matter was for the Iranian people  not for foreigners to attempt to resolve.

President Trump's actions remind me of those of King Herod who attempted  unsuccessfully to kill the infant Jesus. Of course President Trump may be suffering from dementia or another kind of illness,and in any case, perhaps the words of the Apostle Luke in chapter 23 verse 34 of the New Testament apply:

Father forgive them for they know not what they do. 

Avebury

Youngest brother J youngest sister S and I decided to a trip to Avebury this week. As the trip would involve a fair deal of walking, J's wife and mrs maytrees decided that this awayday would not be for them.

S traveled to our meeting point at the local pub by train and bus whereas J and I went by car from his house near Guildford. J had visited the site quite recently whereas my previous trip there had been years back enroute probably from holiday in Cornwall.

The car journey to Avebury took about ninety minutes with free parking there for National Trust members. We all met at the Red Lion Pub near to the stone circles and enjoyed a tasty lunch together with a drink or two.

J had selected our walking trip which with small map reading errors, covered about six miles.

Age as well as Covid-19, are making their mark on me at least, but we completed the interesting and enjoyable walk, returning  back to Avebury Village in time for tea and sandwiches at the nearby National Trust tea shop. The  weather by then was warm enough for us to enjoy at a table outside.

 

The journey home was uneventful - a most interesting day away.

 

Wimbledon Village Drinking Fountain

Simon Charles Potter was a year above me at the long since closed Beaumont College. He has many claims to fame since those days, one of which is being a teacher of arts at Wimbledon College since I believe the 1970s. In earlier days he used to travel to the College by a motor cycle and side-car and we occasionally chatted on the road  near the College on Wimbledon's Edge Hill and at an occasional Beaumont Union  meeting or dinner. 

He is also the author of several books and has just written a piece for the parish magazine Edgeways an extract from which reads:

 On Tuesday 10 March, pupils from

Wimbledon College and Ursuline High
School attended the unveiling of the
Hanbury Drinking Fountain on
Wimbledon Village’s High Street, opposite
the Rose and Crown pub.
The ceremony followed a major
restoration led by Heritage of London
Trust, in partnership with Merton Council
and the Wimbledon Society. Over 100
young people in school history clubs,
including those from our parish’s schools,
have been involved with the restoration
through the Proud Places programme.
The Victorian fountain – now conserved,
gilded, and returned to working order –
stands as a striking example of Britain’s
nineteenth-century fascination with Greek
Revival architecture, shaping the country’s
public monuments and civic spaces. 

The fountain was originally presented to
the public as a gift by Robert William
Hanbury, MP and President of the Board
of Agriculture. It first opened in 1860 on
the Strand before being relocated to
Wimbledon Common, near Hanbury’s
home. As part of the restoration, the
fountain has been relocated from the
Common to the bustling High Street to
serve more passers-by.

Probably the relocation of the drinking fountain to the Village from its former site on Wimbledon Common, was assisted by Merton Council recently becoming debt free but that is speculation on my part. 

Portobello Road

The parents of a friend of maytrees min who I met as they were out for a morning stroll, told me that they had recently visited Portobello Road market. Knowing that they did not have easy access to a car I asked them how they had traveled there.

Traveling by London Underground on the Edgeware Road section of the District Line from Wimbledon  to Notting Hill Gate; and from there walking, was their chosen route. As mrs maytrees and I had not visited Portobello Road in the case of mrs maytrees ever, and in my own case, for years we decided 

to travel there a few days later.

Traveling with youngest brother and his wife we arrived at Notting Hill  Gate Underground station in good time and made the walk from there to the market in about 15 minutes. Youngest brother's wife uses fabrics for her chair restoring work so she and mrs maytrees especially enjoyed themselves looking through the fabric stores. 

We traveled on a Friday so as to avoid the large crowds that I gather often attend the street at weekends. However a disadvantage of that was that most of the antiques stores were closed although there was still much to see and explore. 

The Spanish cuisine was reportedly worth savouring. However as it began to pour with rain we opted for an Italian restaurant which we happened to be passing. There I enjoyed some ravioli. though remembering years ago whilst a schoolboy at long since closed Beaumont College (a boarding school) the riots in the school refectory on being served with ravioli for the third time in a week. The ravioli was delicious but rather a small portion in my view though not expensive.

The Spanish food turned out to be available slightly further on though largely at stalls rather than cafes.

As school children tend to crowd streets from about 3:30pm we traveled back to Wimbledon at about 3pm after a very enjoyable away day..

 

War and Peace

On Wednesday there was a small HCPT Group 35/729 reunion at Mass in Westminster Cathedral and afterwards over lunch in the restaurant/cafe in the cathedral cellar.

Prayers for peace  especially in the Middle East were said both privately and and publicly during Mass.

 

 

Bernie pictured above, who is from Baghdad  Iraq where her sister lives as a nun, was strongly supportive of the  Israeli/USA attacks on Iran. My own support was/is more limited - see below.. 

If the USA's view that Iran is on the verge of introducing  atomic bombs is anywhere near true, then the USA joining in Israel's attacks may be justified. President Trump's statement about this however, may or may not be accurate.

The UN which   did not stop Russia's attacks on Ukraine, seems only to have   very limited power.

According to Wikipedia:

 ...following the revolution, Iran adopted the elimination of Israel as a   Jewish state as a core component of its foreign policy. The Iranian government refuses to recognize Israel’s legitimacy as a state, calling for its destruction...

Given that policy, Israel in my view could hardly be criticised for attacking Iran first. Whether the same would apply to the USA as an ally of Israel is more questionable. There already appear to have been many attempts at bombing and killing people in the UK by or on behalf of Iran.

I am no friend of Keir Starmer the UK Prime Minister, but consider that  on this occasion he was correct in endeavouring to sit on the fence for the time being, although his failure to be able to provide much immediate defence for UK bases in Cyprus appeared very weak.

Gorton and Denton By-election

That The Green Party might even win the Gorton and Denton by-election hardly crossed my mind. Mid term elections are not usually  won by the  party in government so that Labour lost even in a constituency in which that party had had an huge majority and and held for over 100 years, was not of itself so catastrophic. Rather, whereas in times past one might have expected the Lib Dem party to be the major winners of voters' discontent with the government, a party such as  The Greens might have expected to lose its deposit.

Far from losing its deposit The Greens won the vote pushing Labour into third place  with both Tories and Lib Dems securing under 2% of the vote and losing their deposits.

The positive points about The Green's success include the wake up calls to the other parties. A minor positive is of course the youthful nature of The Green's new member of parliament: 

 

Winter Olympics - 2

 

 

Originally I had thought that the Winter Olympics would not be worth watching (sadly for me only on TV) because such expensive and minority sports are involved. Yet upon reflection, nearly all Olympic sports both Summer and Winter are costly,

For financing, Team GB relies heavily on UK lottery money for funding both Summer and Winter Olympics. As an aside, only some  years ago there were considerable arguments against setting up a national lottery in the UK at all, on quasi moral grounds, though apparently long since forgotten.

One of my siblings queried whether curling should be in the Winter Olympics at all. His arguments included the minority and expensive  nature of the sport as well as its absence from African countries. In fact there are a couple of African countries (Nigeria and Kenya) promoting curling. Nonetheless, most Olympic sports are expensive requiring substantial funding.  Interestingly though, curling featured in the first   Winter Olympics (1926).

Fascinating as well is an analysis of the best material used for making the  curling rocks. The material from which they are made comes from and uninhabited Scottish Island called Ailsa Craig situate in the Firth of Clyde. Encyclopedia Britannica states:

Ailsa Craig is a 99-hectare, uninhabited island in Scotland’s Firth of Clyde, renowned as an extinct volcanic plug rising over 1,100 feet. Known as "Paddy’s Milestone" and the "Fairy Rock," this Ayrshire landmark is a major bird sanctuary hosting massive gannet colonies. It is famous for its unique blue hone granite, used to craft over 60% of the world's curling stones

Reverting to the Winter Olympic curling sport itself; Team GB's men somehow managed to secure a spot in the finals which will be held this evening. As a result they should   already  be at least silver medal winners - Gold if they can beat Canada in the final. 

Another Team GB medal hope this evening is Zoe Atkin in the Women's halfpipe final.though so far I have not watched her competing.

Bonne Chance! 

Winter Olympics 2026

The last time I watched any Winter Olympic sport was some years ago when Team GB's Scottish  women did brilliantly in curling - a sport of which I knew virtually nothing about..

Winter Olympics viewing is often not worthwhile from a timing point of view but the Italian venue this year is only one hour ahead of GMT so ideal watching on TV in this country.

This year having read in the media daily about how Team GB were coming 4th or  otherwise crashing out in their chosen sports, watching for myself seemed worthwhile so yesterday evening I looked at the  the men's skeleton events at Milan-Cortina on BBC TV. 

Pretty exciting stuff as the competitors in skeleton which I had not heard of let alone watched before, can race at speeds of up to ninety mph while lying prone only an inch or two from the racing circuit ice - terrifying.

Matt Weston  of Team GB broke records in all four of his heats and won gold  despite  his previous speculation about giving up his sport altogether, partly because of a back stress fracture as a teenager.

Congratulations to him and all concerned with his win..