Market Harborough cats: a photographic essay

As a result of my researches this week I can conclude that some cats are friendlier than others.

And don't be fooled by the closed eyes in the third photo. Nothing happens in Walcot Road without that cat's knowledge and approval.

Harborough Otter Spotter

Otter hunting in the urban environment part 1 from James Burman on Vimeo.

Fans of Market Harborough's latest wildlife sensation will be pleased to know that there is a Harborough Otter Spotter Facebook page with photos and videos of the beasts.

One of the contributors is James Burman, who shot the footage above.

Later...

4 otter pups spotted on the River Welland in Market Harborough Town Centre in daylight! Keep an eye out if you are close by for a glimpse
— Welland Rivers Trust (@WellandTrust) January 16, 2015

An otter in the Welland at Market Harborough today

They're back! Or at least one of them is.

Thanks to @solarpilchard on Twitter.

More film of the Market Harborough otters

Those with strong stomachs can also watch them eating a rat and a squirrel.

Otters on the River Welland in Market Harborough

In January of last year I linked to a murky video of otters on the River Welland in the centre of Market Harborough.

Now the Harborough Mail has linked to a much clearer video of two of the creatures on the river behind Lidl. As this is the way I walk to and from the station, I shall keep an eye out for them. I have already photographed a heron there.

One thing worries me. In the first video one of the otters was playing with a beer bottle. In the new one the two otters are fighting.

This is a decent town and we don't want incomers who are going to affect the value of our homes.

Otters filmed in the River Welland at Market Harborough

Hurry over to the Harborough Mail website for the footage:

One of them plays with a beer bottle in the video, shot near the Northampton Road bridge in Harborough at about 5.30pm on Tuesday night (January 17).

Where the Meerkat Harborough money is going

When the twinning of Market Harborough with Meerkovo was announced with only a day's notice it was always likely to prove a bit of a damp squib.

And that is how it turned out. As the Harborough Mail reported at the time:

The Meeerkat Harborough road sign erected in town as part of a publicity stunt had to be taken down early after it emerged it had been put up without permission. ...

The sign at the Kettering Road entrance to the town was changed to Meerkat Harborough at 9.30am and was meant to stay up all day.

But it emerged this afternoon that organisers of the stunt did not have permission to put up the sign and it was taken down as a result.

Anyway, the way the £5000 the town got from Compare the Market as part of this PR stunt has now been announced.

Again from the Harborough Mail:

A total of £2,000 will be donated to the Harborough Screen project which is working towards bringing a cinema to the town.

£2,000 will be given to community radio station, Harborough FM. The remaining £1,000 will go towards the Carnival and Arts Fresco committees.

These are all good causes, and at least the Meerkat Harborough sign has been preserved. The Mail says it will be displayed in the town's Market Hall (Shurely "Meerkat Hall"? - Ed.)

Meerkat Harborough: Good news and bad news

The good news is Market Harborough has won the internet poll to decide which town will be twinned with Aleksandr Orlov's home village of Meerkovo for a day.

The result was announced earlier today in The Meerkovian:

Whilst competition was fierce, Market Harborough emerged as the clear winner, receiving over 60% of the thousands of votes cast.

The bad news is that, incredibly, that day will be tomorrow, Thursday 24 February.

Meerkovo is part of the most popular advertising campaign in the country, and associating Market Harborough with that campaign would surely be a good way of promoting the town.

But what chance does anyone in Harborough have to respond with only one day's notice? We should have T-shirts, balloons, fireworks, champagne, a special issue of the local paper... I can't see much of that happening now. This has to count as a major lost opportunity.

We were told that the date of the twinning day would be "agreed with the winner". Who, exactly, in Market Harborough agreed that it should be tomorrow and how do we get rid of them? And what is going to happen to the "donation of £5000 to be used for community purposes"? I think we should be told.

I had intended to take the twinning day off to report the bunting and frolics for this blog. But now I shall have to be at work and will miss whatever fun it is possible to arrange at such short notice.

Meerkovo's twin will be announced on Wednesday

The Harborough Mail tells us that the winner to find a British twin for Aleksandr Orlov's home village will be announced at 3 p.m. on Wednesday 23 February.

The good news is that

As the poll closed, [Meerkat] Harborough was still being recorded in first place with 59 per cent of the total votes cast for the five contenders.

I don't want the air to be thick with prematurely counted chickens coming home to roost, but it looks as though there will not be dancing in the streets of Windemeer, Meerkat Drayton, Weston-Super-Meer or Downham Meerkat on Wednesday night.

There's still time to vote for Meerkat Harborough

The poll to decide which town will be twinned with Meerkovo remains open until Friday 18 February.

Please hurry over to Facebook to vote for Meerkat Harborough.

The winner will be announced the following week in The Meerkovian, the meerkat newspaper to be found on the Meerkovo website.

According to a media release reproduced by Benzinga, the winning town will receive official Meerkovo twin status by changing its name for the day and will also receive a donation of £5000 to be used for community purposes. The date of the twin town day will be agreed with the winner.

It's a five-meerkat race!

Good news! The shortlist from which the English town to be twinned with Merekovo will be selected has been published. And Meerkat Harborough is on it!

That list in full:

• Meerkat Harborough
• Windemeer
• Meerkat Drayton
• Weston-Super-Meer
• Downham Meerkat

It's neck and neck! Every vote will count! So please vote for Meerkat Harborough now.

Meerkat Harborough campaign gains momentum

You are, I am certain, thirsting to know how the Meerkat Harborough campaign is getting on. Well it's good news.

From yesterday's Leicester Mercury:

More than 1,000 people have backed an online campaign to twin Market Harborough with the mythical Russian village of Meerkovo.

The move comes after the Mercury revealed insurance company Compare the Market wanted to change the town's name to Meerkat Harborough for a day for its latest advertising campaign.

A Facebook page devoted to Meerkat Harborough has attracted 1,000 supporters and a website has also been set up ...

More than 500 nominations have been submitted for scores of towns, including Market Bosworth and Market Rasen, but Market Harborough has the most so far.

I shall, of course, keep you posted. Meanwhile, visit the Meerkat Harborough website and Facebook page.

Anthony Jenkinson: From Meerkat Harborough to Moscow

The Leicester Mercury's report on Meerkat Harborough quotes Bernard Bresbode from the town's civic society:

"It is an interesting idea. A community donation would also certainly be welcome."

He said a Russian connection may not be a million miles from the truth, as in Tudor times Harborough-born merchant Anthony Jenkinson travelled there and set up trading links.

Mr Besbrode said: "It could well be that a form of twinning could have been established then between Harborough and a Russian village."

Anthony Jenkinson was born here in 1529 and made four trips to Muscovy and beyond. You can read extracts from The Voyage of Master Anthony Jenkinson, made from the city of Mosco in Russia, to the city of Boghar in Bactria, in the year 1558: written by himself to the Merchants of London of the Muscovy Company on the web.

Jenkinson became lord of the manor of Sywell in Northamptonshire and is buried at Teigh in Rutland. The family later moved to Oxfordshire and one of Anthony's descendants, Robert Banks Jenkinson, became prime minister as Lord Liverpool.

Now vote for Meerkat Harborough by leaving a comment on Facebook.

How to vote for Meerkat Harborough

Earlier this week I reported the exciting news that there are plans to rename the town Meerkat Harborough.

If you want to ensure that the honour of being twinned with Meerkovo goes nowhere else, then hurry to Aleksandr Orlov's Facebook page and post your nomination for Market Harborough on his wall.

Not that I understand Facebook.

Yes, it's Meerkat Harborough

From the Leicester Mercury:

An advertising agency acting for the Compare The Market insurance website wants to turn Market Harborough into Meerkat Harborough for a day as part of its latest campaign.

It will promote Meerkovo, the mythical Russian village home of Aleksandr – the now infamous meerkat who launched the adverts, along with the "simples" catchphrase, in 2009.

London advertising agency Good Relations is looking to launch a competition to find a twin for Meerkovo, and wants to use Harborough as an example for the TV ad.

Meerkat Weighton? Meerkat Deeping? No, they just won't do. It has to be Meerkat Harborough.