Friday 20 July 2007

BFP Letters


Two regular contributors' offerings appear today.

Simon Harding is the first to come out with a (sensible) suggestion for the name of the Cattle Market venue, based on Sheffield's "Crucible": "Vat" or "The Vats", because of the connection with the brewery and sugar beet factory. No doubt that will go into the melting pot (or vat!). Well done Simon for a positive comment - we need you to "talk up" more. Footnote 4th July 09: despite at the time welcoming a positive suggestion from an anti-arc campaigner, I now realise that this is not the right name. Having been through the extensivee branding and naming process in recent months it is clear that there would be all sorts of problem with it. Nice try though.

Sir Reginald Harland follows up the Market Cross debate (see my posts and comments for Fri 13th & Sat 14th), by saying that costs given at the Athenaeum meeting were "grossly misleading...though hopefully that was not as deliberate as might be thought".

Given that he assumes a floor space of 4,000 square feet that could occupy various other uses (and therefore be more cost effective) when the agent's details cite only 1,824 square feet, it would appear that it is his own figures and therefore arguments which deserve scrutiny. But then Sir Reggie always seems to talk down.

15 comments:

Her indoors said...

Something tells me the letters page next week will be about the proposed rave at Rougham Airfield ;-(

Anonymous said...

21CM - I only hope that an aircraft doesn't try to land in the middle of this rave (whatever a 'rave' is).

I've long held the view that Glastonbury is the wrong place to hold an outdoor festival of any kind. To start with, it's in Somerset - or it was when I was a lad - which means that it will be raining most of the time.

For four years in the early eighties we lived in Wiltshire and my abiding memory is of mud, lots of it. Somerset is even nearer the Atlantic Ocean than Swindon, where we were, so bound to be even more damp and dismal.

East Anglia is dry by comparison and windswept Rougham Airfield is set on high ground so would be ideal for an annual festival of some kind.

Jon Ford should console himself that today's drug users are tomorrow's cabinet ministers. Lots of souls to be saved, padre.

Diary Editor said...

I see what you mean David, but quickly becoming a NIMBY, I think The Netherlands might be a much better place. Keeping fingers crossed that the Council will save Moreton Hall from loud music and whatever.

Anonymous said...

drug users? are cllrs going to 'come out'? more intrsting than home sec

Her indoors said...

David - just checked the Wiki definition for you - "A Rave is an all-night dance event where DJs and other performers play rave music and other types of electronic dance music".

Maybe it is planned to be a gathering of future leaders of the country who knows?

If it goes ahead and is v loud, and keeps the kids up and is full of drug users and puts lots of pressure on our hospital and police service (lots of ifs I know), the residents of MH will not be happy bunnies.

Anonymous said...

21CM - 'residents of MH' and 'happy bunnies' are surely incompatable concepts, but the ones I know are named Warby, Buckle, Beckwith, Springett & Ford, so my judgment may be clouded. Lighten up a bit lads!

Crumble - I thought that as well. Most of us are too old now to have been young when drugs were readily available, so most confessions will be about Woodbines and lying about our age at an Off-Licence.

DE - I suppose 'D-Day' for me would be if my 15 year-old daughter Victoria asked me to buy her a ticket online and pay with my debit card.

Charlotte Howard said...

So, David, did you like Alan Johnson do "the sex and rock and roll but not the drugs"?

Anonymous said...

I don't like Alan Johnson much. Glad Harriet Harman beat him.

What if a female politician had said that?

Anonymous said...

why r all u oldies stopping us doing anything

Anonymous said...

Anon - two of the most vocal community leaders on the Rougham Airfield Festival issue, Clive Springett & Jon Ford, are not particulary old. I suspect that both are simply responding to the expressed wishes of the people they represent in their respective roles as councillor and clergyman.

To some extent, that's what they are supposed to do and they would be criticised if they said nothing.

I am an 'oldie' but am not objecting, although I probably wouldn't want my 15 year-old daughter to go. I represent an inner town ward so if the drums are beating at three in the morning, my electors are unlikely to hear them, unless, of course, they are attending the festival in person.

Her indoors said...

Blimey ~ I must be officially old. I'm still a happy bunny though!

Anonymous said...

21CM - 39 isn't old but 63 is. Don't ask me for the cut-off point, please.

Charlotte Howard said...

63 isn't old if you're 73. Here is the formula:

o = a + 10

where o = old and a = one's age

We could argue about the 10, which is maybe too large.

Mrs F says you're as old as the woman (or in her case man) you feel. She must be older than she claims, then.

Anonymous said...

I thought about mentioning the adage the you are only as old as the woman you are feeling but refrained in case 'the Mrs Farmer' was offended. Blow me down if she doesn't come up with it herself.

Stop it, Angela!

Her indoors said...

Paul - I think you've just come up with the formula to everlasting youth. If I were you I would patent it and somehow bottle it for mass distribution ;-)