Dr Feelgood: She Does It Right

If only the singles chart in 1975 had been this good.

New light on the Mods and Rockers

I've just got back from an event at Leicester Central Library:

High Flying Around: Memories of the 1960s Leicester Arts and Music Scene

Join Leicester author and curator Shaun Knapp, author, curator and graphic designer Joe Nixon, musician Kenny Wilson, and the University of Leicester’s Colin Hyde for a discussion on the arts and music scene in Leicester during the 1960s.

I talk to Kenny Wilson sometimes in my favourite coffee shop in Market Harborough and Shaun Knapp turned out to be a member of Gypsy (who were called Legay earlier in their career), a Leicester band of the late Sixties and early Seventies who some rate higher than the more celebrated Family.

At one point discussion turned to the Mods and Rockers. We are used to reading of pitched battles between them, but Kenny Wilson cast new light on their relationship for me.

The Rockers were older than the Mods. Because they had done National Service they were also much harder. So conflict between the two tribes tended to consist, not of fighting, but of the Mods annoying the Rockers and then running away.

You can read more about such matters on Kenny Wilson's blog.

Secret Northamptonshire on the building of the Welland Viaduct

I wouldn't call the Welland Viaduct exactly secret: it's nearly three-quarters of a mile long, 60 feet hight, contains 30 million bricks and is really quite hard to miss.

But having been inspired to write posts by the BBC's Secret Shropshire and Secret Leicestershire pages, I though I would have a look at Secret Northamptonshire. And this is the story that caught my eye:

Northants' "Grandest and Most Perfect" Structure

The Harringworth or Welland Viaduct is one of the longest of its kind in Britain.

Stradling the picturesque Northamptonshire valley, it is a magnificent example of Victorian construction and ambition.

But the story of its construction is even more remarkable... and terrifying.

Helen Blaby tells that story.

The Joy of Six 1507

"These settings are not registered – as they should be by law – with Ofsted. They are meant to be temporary, but a recent report by the children’s commissioner found the average placement lasted six months – one child had been in a 'holiday camp/activity centre' for almost nine months." Alexandra Topping explains why social workers are forced to place children in unregistered homes.

Heather Stewart analyses Labour's crabwise approach to closer economic ties with the EU.

Richard Kemp condemns the snobbery behind the use of classical music to disperse groups of young people: "I have instead asked the Council and Police to support the 'In Harmony' programme of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic which is taking music playing into some of the most deprived areas of Liverpool both during the day and evening. During the day they ensure that every child in three schools gets to play a musical instrument for an hour a week for three years."

"I hope what comes across at the end is an invitation for people to consider the aspects of British culture that they want to celebrate. Albion can't be determined by me; this is a personal quest and a personal vision of the aspects of Britishness that I feel need to be celebrated. It's an invitation for people to say: "I have a stake here, and what do I want to champion?" Zakia Sewell talks to Michaela Makusha about her first book, Finding Albion.

Rob Hakimian reports on a scheme to use the Grand Union Canal to transfer water from the Midlands to London and the South East.

"I have a soft spot for Waddon (1937). Beneath garish commercial signage is a striking Modernist building which can hold its own against any inter-war Tube station." Daniel Wright takes us on a tour of the South London railway stations built between the wars to rival the striking architecture of those on the Underground.

"An ingenious inventor is keeping his secret in some remote farm building between Market Harborough and Peterborough"

I've blogged before about the C.W. Allen and the phantom airships of 1909. It turns out that excitement was running so high that the Daily Express sent a special correspondent to Market Harborough. Here is part of his report.

THREE EYE-WITNESSES

“Express” Special Correspondent

MARKET HARBOROUGH, Tuesday Night

The mysterious airship with blazing headlights, which is reported to have been seen flying by night round Peterborough and across East Anglia, is being eagerly watched for again to-night. 

This strange aerocraft, with its suggestion of Mr. H. G. Wells' "War in the Air," has fired the imagination of the countryside, and the villagers everywhere are watching the sky for its reappearance. It has been seen driving through the night by several credible witnesses in districts wide apart, and many people believe that an ingenious inventor is keeping his secret in some remote farm building between Market Harborough and Peterborough.

I have motored this evening across part of ' the district in which the airship—judging from its line of flight—is understood to be concealed. The fenland of the country round is as flat as a billiard-table, and remote from the main lines of railway and high roads, and is thus admirably suitable {for an aeronaut who desired to keep his trial flights secret. 

Among the first to see the airship that flies by night was Mr, C. W. Allen, the pedestrian holder of the 2,000 miles road record, who lives in Northampton Road, Market Harborough. 1 have today seen Mr. Allen, who has given me an account of what he saw.

You can read Allen's account in an earlier post on this blog – he lived at 43 Nithsdale Avenue, not on Northampton Road. It seems there was a second panic over these mysterious airships in 1913.

Coalville: Railway ghosts of the town built on coal

In this episode of Lost Railway Towns, we travel to Coalville, Leicestershire – a town built on coal and railways. Once thriving when coal was king, Coalville was at the heart of Leicestershire’s industrial revolution, its collieries and railway lines powering Britain’s factories and furnaces.

We uncover the story of Coalville’s lost railways, the lines that once linked the town to Leicester, Ashby and beyond – and explore what remains today. Despite decades of talk about restoring passenger services, Coalville’s station remains closed, a ghost of a once-busy transport hub.

Joined by Steve, a lifelong resident of Coalville, we hear his memories of life in a town shaped by coal. I also revisit my own memories of Coalville railway open days – a nostalgic look back at the engines, exhibits, and excitement that inspired my love of railway history.

So says the YouTube blurb from Wobbly Runner Exploring – like and subscribe, my children.

The problem with the Leicester end of this line, which they discuss at the beginning of the video, it that it meets the Midland main line at Knighton Junction, which is south of Leicester station, pointing south. 

There used to be a curve at Knighton that pointed north, and would have enabled trains to get to Leicester station without reversing, but that has been built on.

I took some photos of Oliver's Crossing – a disused level crossing in the centre of Coalville – when I was there a couple of years ago.

Tories seize control of Harborough District Council as their £800k loss is revealed

HFM News reports that the Conservatives have seized control of Harborough District Council this evening:

A motion to remove Liberal Democrat leader Phil Knowles and replace him with Tory group leader Simon Whelband was approved by 17 votes to 16 at an extraordinary council meeting tonight.

Councillor Knowles had led a 16-strong coalition of Liberal Democrat, Labour, Green and independent councillors since 2023, although that number fell to 15 last week following the death of Labour councillor David Gair, who represented Lutterworth.

As Phil Knowles has been saying in recent weeks, with investment in leisure centres and a community grant scheme, this coalition has achieved more than the Tories did in 20 years before it.

And HFM News has another story today that shows what Tory control can mean:

A company owned by Harborough District Council is set to be shut down after making losses of more than £800,000 over two years.

Harborough District Commercial Services was set up in 2019 and purchased two retail units in Market Harborough town centre, currently occupied by  Sports Direct and Tesco, along with flats above.

The intention was for the arms-length company to invest in further property to generate income for the authority, but no further purchases were made.

The ruling coalition group at the council says the company, established before it took control of the authority, has been a "complete white elephant."

Am I being wise after the event? No this is what I wrote when the company was set up:

I am all in favour of municipal enterprise and councils having their own income streams. But they are being rather driven to these sort of speculations because of the savage cuts in central government funding.

Some councils are going to come a cropper doing this, and I hope Harborough isn't one of them.

Compared to some councils we got off lightly, but this episode doesn't make me feel any happier about the return of Harborough Tories.

The Joy of Six 1506

"A project that ought to be broad, open and compassionate has come to be dominated by a narrow set of ideological demands which leave little room for genuine diversity of political perspective." Vlad Vexler and Rupert Read argue that if the climate movement does not embrace pluralism it risks handing the future to the far right.

Laura López-Aybar reminds us of the way society can turn a blind eye to the human rights violations involved in psychiatry.

Melinda Wenner Moyer on studies that suggest young people are in many ways doing better than previous generations: "In addition to their interest in helping people, youths today also appear to be more accepting of others and their differences. Some research suggests that youths are becoming more open-minded and inclusive across various realms."

"While the directors express confidence in future revenue growth exceeding £700 million, the margin for error is non-existent. Any sustained failure on the pitch, or a further tightening of regulatory loopholes by the Premier League or UEFA, would jeopardise the entire capital structure of the Group." Paul Quinn digs deep into Chelsea's troubled and byzantine finances.

"Forteanism is not the same as 'skepticism', it is not front-loaded with an agenda of debunking, but it might end up doing some if the evidence (or lack of it) points that way. Skepticism is generally quite boring because the Skeptic is not the fearsome character who has haunted western philosophy for at least 500 years (and also philosophy in other times and places), but a person who thinks religion is A Bad Thing and science is A Good Thing." Yesterday Discontinued Notes went to an event at Conway Hall organised by the London Fortean Society.

 Gyles Brandreth remembers how Hayley Mills snatched the child role in Tiger Bay from his grasp. "This is another film with Mills, but set in South Wales. It’s about a young boy who witnesses a murder. Quite dark. Lovely script. You’ll be the boy. John Mills is the detective. They’ve seen your photograph, Gyles. They like the look of you."

Theatre: The Fall

Theatre? Breaking Tunes explains:

Hailing from the city of Limerick, Theatre are a rock band formed at the end of 2022 who have made a name for themselves throughout 2023 with their understated and ethereal sound, one which epitomises the guitar melodies of early '90s shoegaze and alternative rock, fused with their own style of unapologetic folk-laden sensibility.

With similar sounds to the likes of Lankum, Just Mustard, and Sinead O'Connor, Theatre have spent their time cutting their teeth and making waves as a standout name in Limerick's thriving underground, more recently gaining more attention in Ireland's stronghold Dublin music scene.

Secret Shropshire: The ghost of Copper Hole

Another tale from the BBC's Secret Shropshire series. This time it's the ghost of Copper Hole:

Richard Tisdale unravels the mystery of the Church Stretton ghost story that made global headlines.

In1874 the glowing white spectre of a woman who’d vanished off the face of the earth caused mass hysteria in the south Shropshire town. It’s a ghost story that has reverberated through the centuries and one that will never be laid to rest.

Peacock terrorises 92-year-old farmer's chickens

For the second day in a row, our Headline of the Day Award a) goes to the BBC News Suffolk pages and b) is about a bird.

The judges advise the birds to other counties to look to their laurels.

The long, long apprenticeship of Sir Nigel Hawthorne

Before Yes Minister made him famous in 1980, Nigel Hawthorne served a long apprenticeship in the acting profession. But I had not grasped till recently just how long that apprenticeship had been.

If you click on the arrow above, you will see him in a scene from Going Straight, the short-lived sitcom that followed Norman Stanley Fletcher after his release from the Slade Prison of Porridge.

That scene dates from 1978, but he had a bit part in an episode of Dad's Army as early as 1969. I recall a story that someone had gone to David Croft on Hawthorne's behalf, saying he was a very good actor who was getting many parts and asking if Croft could offer him something. Croft did, though as I recall Hawthorne doesn't really convince as a lorry driver.

But I've now know that Hawthorne's apprenticeship stretched right back to the start of the Fifties, and two of this blog's heroines helped me discover this.

Here's Sheila Hancock writing in The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw:

I was thrilled to be so near London where someone might see me. I was playing quite a good role but whenever I was in danger of getting a laugh, Frank would intervene with, "No, don't laugh – poor soul – she went to the RADA, you know" (pronounced radar by Frank). "No perlease, perlease have some respect."

Nigel Hawthorne and I watched in awe as he jettisoned the script and went off into wild fantasies of his own It was one of Frank's frequent periods in the theatrical wilderness and no one important came near us, but supporting this anguished man gave us a friend for life.

With the help of the British Newspaper Archive I can tell you that this all took place in 1956.

Two years earlier, Hawthorne had been in the supporting cast when Freda Jackson returned to her alma mater, the Theatre Royal, Northampton, to play Marguerite Gautier in The Lady of the Camelias. He was in the repertory company there in 1954 and 1955.

He was acting with the company at the Pavilion Gardens, Buxton, as early as 1951. Hawthorne had first gone on the stage in South Africa in 1950, and was to alternate between Britain and South Africa for a few years without finding much in success in either.

And we have a part for a third heroine of the blog. Because, just as Sheila Hancock does, Hawthorne said he owed his career to Joan Littlewood.

Here's Markland Taylor reviewing Hawthorne's Straight Face, The Autobiography, which was published just after his death, in Variety:

Hawthorne’s luck changed magnificently when he downed six bottles of Guinness before auditioning for a role in a production of Littlewood’s hit

Oh! What a Lovely War planned for a tour of England and Europe, and was cast.

This led to his invaluable relationship with Littlewood and his career blossomed, leading to highly rewarding work on stage, screen and television.

This was in 1964, so Hawthorne still had 16 years to wait before be became famous overnight. This is a story about talent and persistence, but it may ultimately be one about having the right mentor.

Cuckoo takes one look at UK and flees to France

Things are worse than the judges thought. Our Headline of the Day Award goes to the Suffolk pages of BBC News.

The Joy of Six 1505

Bee Boileau, Lucas Conwell ans Peter Levell find that Help to Buy schemes don't help the people who most need it: "The affordability gains from the equity loan schemes were concentrated among higher-income individuals. Since these individuals would normally be expected to be able to save for a minimum deposit quite quickly even without Help to Buy, it is likely that these schemes accelerated their first home purchase by a few years rather than making the difference between becoming a homeowner or not in the longer term."

"Rebekah Pierre, deputy director of the charity Article 39, said ... posters advertising payments of 'up to £932 per week per child' 'stopped me in my tracks' when she encountered them in a local shopping centre." Joanne Parkes on criticism of a fostering recruitment campaign by Croydon Council, arguing that its messaging risks reducing children in care to a "price tag".

Emma John reports that some researchers say that the common framing of ADHD as a characteristic for success can be unhelpful for those who are struggling.

James Cracknell says that AI is being used to undermine real local journalism: "North London News features stories about Enfield and Barnet and other boroughs that are put together by AI bots using existing stories published on other websites, including our own. This is bad enough – but what's worse is that they are also adding fake quotes, fake people (including fake councillors), fake organisations and fake facts into these stories as well. Whatever AI system they are using, it is massively flawed."

"Several startling passages of dialogue have sent me scrolling through the week’s listings to unveil an author. Katie Hims can nail a character through their choice of confectionery: of course, the trad Jim Lloyd would go for wine gums. Nick Warburton scripted a bonkers visit by a character obsessed with train timetables and pebbles, then cleverly had one of the most stolid residents complain that the incomer was a bore." Susannah Clapp praises The Archers scriptwriters.

"In Britain hauntings occur in ancient manor houses, old inns, and Gothic asylums – places whose very age makes them groan and creak, where shadows sit deep, and which are scarred by the lingering imprint of lives lived and lost. And yet arguably the most famous British ghost story of the 20th century took place somewhere quite different: in a humble council house, only half a century old, in Enfield, north London." Ray Newman considers the haunting of social housing.

The Mouse That Roared (1959)

I had somehow avoided seeing The Mouse That Roared until a few weeks ago. Perhaps because I'd seen its sequel, The Mouse on the Moon, I expected a gentle comedy where the action all took place in the fictional European statelet of Grand Fenwick. So I was surprised to find that much of the film is set in New York.

That was not the only surprise. With its satirising of Cold War thinking and the multiple roles played by Peter Sellers, it looks forward to Kubrick's Doctor Strangelove. Grand Fenwick declares war on the USA, reasoning that when it is defeated it will reap a fortune in American. Only it wins the war and brings the US's deadly new Q bomb back home from New York.

Sellers gets good support from the welcome faces of William Hartnell and Leo McKern, and – remarkably – Jean Seberg has a prominent role too. It's one to watch next time it's on Talking Pictures TV.

Ed Davey: If Keir Starmer misled parliament he must resign

After today's revelation that Peter Mandelson failed his security vetting when being considered for appointment as ambassador to the United States, but was appointed anyway, Ed Davey issued this statement:

Keir Starmer had already made a catastrophic error of judgment. Now it looks as though he has also misled parliament and lied to the British public. If that is the case, he must go.

Labour came into Government on a promise to clean up politics. Instead we’re seeing the same old sleaze, scandal and cover-ups as we did under the Conservatives.

You can read the Guardian story that broke the news on the paper's website.

The paper has a second piece that identifies five key questions. They are:

• Did the prime minister mislead the public?
• Did Yvette Cooper and Olly Robbins mislead parliament by omission?
• Who in the Foreign Office decided to grant Mandelson clearance despite the UKSV recommendation?
• Why did Mandelson fail his UKSV check, and will the reasons be made public?
• Will parliament now get to see Mandelson’s vetting documents?

Jago Hazzard on the St Ives Bay Line

He sounds like a minor character from Poldark, so it's appropriate that we find Jago Hazzard away from his London stamping ground and in Cornwall. He's our guide to what it seems we must now call the storied history of the St Ives Bay Line - surprisingly storied, in fact.

I stayed in St Ives when I was walking the coastal path many years ago. This was before the Tate opened in the town, but even then it was it was absolutely heaving.Yet the next morning I walked a mile out of town towards Zennor and had the clifftops to myself.

But then no one ever built a St Ives, Zennor and Lands End light railway.

The Joy of Six 1504

"To everyone's surprise, Orbán conceded early – before 9.30pm – and cheers erupted from all corners of Budapest’s centre. One small but mighty party was organised by the centrist Momentum Movement. On the large screen was the prime minister glumly telling his supporters that it was over, and the defeat was 'painful'. In the crowds were dozens of people giving him the finger." Marie Le Conte was in Budapest when Viktor Orbán fell.

Eyal Weizman on the destruction of Gaza: "Two and a half years after 7 October 2023, most of the Gaza Strip – cities, refugee camps, schools, universities, mosques, the health infrastructure, agriculture, wells and the soil itself – has been destroyed and made toxic by bombs, artillery, tank shells and sappers. The most systematic destruction was caused by D9 bulldozers made by the US company Caterpillar. These giant armoured machines stabbed their blades into the ground, churning up fields, felling orchards, flattening homes, tearing through roads and ploughing through cemeteries."

"France builds 300,000 homes every year. If that number sounds familiar, it's because that's the target that the UK misses year after year. So far this century, a new tramway has opened in France every six months. Is this a coincidence, or are they linked?" Thomas Ableman describes what happened when a group of transport and housing aficionados took British policymakers to France to see first hand the country’s fast growing tram network.

Matthew McManus says the right wants voters to be stupid: "In Poisoning the Minds of the Low Orders, his great book on early modern conservatism, Don Herzog notes how British conservatives relentlessly argued that the lower orders ought not to be educated lest it provoke 'insubordination'."

Diana Resnik reports on two new studies that suggest wind turbines pose very little risk to birds.

 "I’m always amazed by the technical knowledge that CFF kids seem to have, too. In our next film, The Cat Gang, a small boy's suspicions about another gang of smugglers are raised by one of the villains wanting a battery for his car. 'Most modern cars have 12 volt batteries, so why does he want a 6 volt battery?'. He’s about eight..." Bob Fischer and Vic Pratt review a new DVD compilation of Children's Film Foundation gems.

The Merseys: Sorrow

I know this song from David Bowie's stylish version – it's on his album Pin Ups and was a no. 3 hit in 1973 – but it was first recorded by the American group The McCoys in 1965.

This British cover by The Merseys made no. 4 here the following year.

Animal rights activist throws restaurant’s "educational lobster" into sea

In awarding Headline of the Day to the Telegraph, the judges expressed scepticism towards the idea that lobsters can be used as a substitute for classroom teachers.

A BFI Q&A with members of the cast of Oliver! (1968)

This session was recorded in 2012, three years before Ron Moody died. As well as Moody, who played Fagin in the 1968 film of Oliver! having first created the role on stage, it features Kenneth Cranham, who was Noah Claypole, and Mark Lester, who was Oliver himself.

As Kenneth Cranham says, it was Moody's reinvention of Fagin that made the film's worldwide success possible by moving the story away from the medieval antisemitism that Dickens drew upon. I wrote about this aspect of the novel in a book chapter a few years ago - there a short extract in another post on this blog.

But then Dickens long ago lost control of Oliver Twist. Such is the power of the novel that it has entered folklore and, like a folk tale, it now changes with every telling of its story. I wrote more about this in 2015 when Ron Moody died.

The myth that Labour's tax policies lost them the 1992 election

Why did John Major win the 1992 election when most pundits expected Neil Kinnock's Labour Party to be the victors?

Immediately after the contest, a consensus developed that the reason was the effectiveness of the Conservatives' campaign against Labour's economic policies. This view was certainly advanced by the Tories themselves, as its acceptance would make Labour more timid about challenging Thatcherite economics in future. 

And it was advanced by the head of the Tory campaign, Chris Patten, perhaps as a way of burnishing his reputation and consoling himself after he lost his own seat of Bath to the Liberal Democrats.

But I have always doubted this explanation. I remember thinking that it did not chime with what I had heard during the campaign from voters or from colleagues at work.

I recently came across an article that suggests I was right to be sceptical. In May 1994 the Independent published an article by Anthony Heath, Roger Jowell and John Curtice on the findings of their study of the 1992 election.

They go through the various explanations that had been offered for Labour's defeat and find them all wanting – notably the claim that "It's The Sun Wot Won It" made by, you guessed it, The Sun itself.

Here are Heath et al. on the suggestion that it was Labour's tax policies that had been decisive:

Labour's proposals for taxation and national insurance contributions – outlined in John Smith's 'alternative Budget' – were relentlessly attacked by the Conservatives. Faced with the prospect of a cut in their disposable income, the argument runs, voters had second thoughts about the wisdom of letting Labour in.

But our surveys find little evidence to back this argument. It arose because the polls showed a small Labour lead throughout a campaign in which taxation was one of the dominant issues and yet the Tories won. Our research, however, confirms that the pollsters had it wrong all along: they consistently underestimated the Tory vote. The Conservatives were ahead throughout the campaign. 

There was a late swing, but far too small to account for Labour's defeat. And the people who deserted Labour were not particularly averse to high taxation; rather, they seemed to have relatively little faith in Labour's ability to improve services such as health and education.

In fact, the authors find nothing in the 1992 election campaign had much of an effect on the final outcome.

I did receive intimations that there had been a late swing to the Tories. During the campaign, I'd heard stories of Liberal Democrat workers putting money on Nick Harvey gaining North Devon with a large majority, when ultimately he gained it with a small one. 

And I was told to put money on the Lib Dems in Falmouth and Camborne, because Sebastian Coe was going down very badly there. Luckily I didn't, because Coe held the seat for the Tories. He lost to Labour in 1997 and the Lib Dems finally took it in 2005.

My own theory was that voters had chosen John Major over Neil Kinnock. After Margaret Thatcher's late Sturm und Drang years, Major was a breath of fresh air. Those who only know of him as a figure of fun may be surprised at this, but if they study his statesmanlike conduct since losing power they may see why people found him attractive in 1992.

Neil Kinnock, by contrast, had been leader of the opposition for nine years. Some of the attacks on him as a "Welsh windbag" bordered on the racist, but, boy, he did talk a lot. And, burdened by cares of leadership, he had lost the wit and sparkle that had made his name as a backbench MP – notably on Jimmy Young's Radio 2 programme.

So that's why I didn't believe in 1992 that the Tories' attacks on Labour's tax policies had won them the election. And, going by Heath et al.'s study, I was right not to believe what became the received wisdom on that contest.

This question is not just of historical interest. Rachel Reeves's pledge not to increase income tax, national insurance or VAT, which has backed her into such a corner, was made because of a more or less conscious memory of 1992.

"Haunted" Devon swingers club investigated by ghost hunters after "eerie" events

DevonLive wins today's Headline of the Day Award. The judges remarked that if the sub writing this headline is that fond of scare quotes – and the story below is even worse – they should get a job at BBC News.

And after reading:

A Plymouth adult entertainment venue, housed in a former bank, has become the focus of a chilling paranormal investigation. The "alternative" establishment, which features a well-appointed bar and a bondage "dungeon", is reported to have a "horrible" atmosphere in certain areas, a sensation that has intensified since recent renovation work commenced.

they suggested the owners move the bondage dungeon into one of the areas with a horrible atmosphere and charge extra.

A TV mast on the Stiperstones? What horrors would it have broadcast into people's homes?

The transmitting station on top of the Wrekin, which broadcasts television and radio to much of Shropshire and parts of the West Midlands beyond, celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. But if the county's planners had got their way it would have been built on the Stiperstones instead.

An article on BBC News – and they should know – says the BBC had tested transmissions from the Wrekin as far back as 1964. But in 1970, the Wellington Journal reported:

Salop County Council’s planning committee is in favour of putting the proposed BBC TV mast on the Stiperstones. It has rejected the Wrekin as a possible site saying it would have "an adverse effect on the visual amenities of the area." 

An inquiry into the BBC plan to have the Stiperstones as the site was held last year. But the Minister of Housing deferred decision, calling for new plans to be drawn up for the Wrekin. He said he would make a final decision after an inquiry into the Wrekin plans, fixed for March 3.

And the minister came down in favour of the Wrekin, after the proposed site of the mast there was moved further from the Iron Age hill fort.

I am left wondering what horrors a mast on top of the Stiperstones would have broadcast into people's homes.

The Joy of Six 1503

Marcus Hughes on the many problems the Welsh government must overcome in achieving its laudable aim of removing private profit from the care system. "The anxiety inducing question from those working in the sector is what happens if local authority and not-for-profit provision can’t replace that offered by the private sector in time? Finding places for some young people is already a challenge even with the current options available." 

"Could the bellicose, belligerent and braying Hegseth – with his Crusader tattoos, his disdain for diplomacy, and his evident taste for violent domination – have convinced Trump to start a war to complete the unfinished business of the Crusades?" Julia Carrie Wong reveals the militant Christian theology animating the US attack on Iran

Hannah Sharland reports on fears that the government's transport strategy will not see the improvements for disabled travellers that were promised.

"Standing at 6ft 2in, with an imposing physique and a razor-scarred face, she was a Black, gay multi-instrumentalist who refused to let a racist society or a rapacious industry confine her. Thornton should be ranked alongside the likes of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, but instead she is little more than a footnote in the histories of Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin as the original voice behind songs they would make famous." Garth Cartwright celebrates Big Mama Thornton.

"For really I think that the poorest he that is in England hath a life to live, as the greatest he." A London Inheritance takes us to St Mary's, Putney, where the Putney Debates took place in 1647. 

Simon Hughes (not that one) remembers Channel 4's years of covering test cricket – they gave us Geoffrey Boycott without the tiresome public-school teasing of him by Jonathan Agnew: "Our principle aim was to make cricket coverage more interesting and informative: to tell ‘why’ as well as ‘what’. Part of our motivation came from people who said they often watched cricket on the TV but turned the sound off and listened to the radio commentary. We wanted our content to be so intriguing viewers would turn the sound up."

The Market Harborough woman who gave birth to a cat

Agnes Bowker, the Market Harborough woman who claimed on 16 January 1569 that she had given birth to a cat, is the subject of the latest short podcast in the BBC's Secret Leicestershire series.

The photograph shows the ruined church of St Mary in Arden by Market Harborough railway station, where the story begins.