The Attenborough Arboretum, Leicester

Passing the University of Leicester's College Court conference centre on Saturday, I saw discreet signs directing visitors to the Attenborough Arboretum. So I went to take a look.

The arboretum occupies a large site, around five acres, that once belonged to Knighton Hall's Home Farm. Named for Leicester's favourite son Sir David Attenborough, it was opened by him in 1997.

The university's website explains how it is laid out:

The planting scheme at the Arboretum is designed to display our native trees in the sequence in which they arrived in this country following the ending of the last ice-age, approximately 10,000 years ago. 

Thus among the first trees you will meet on going for a walk around the arboretum will be Scots Pine, Juniper, Hazel and Birch; among the last is the Beech, which apparently crossed from France just before the English Channel formed about 7,500 years ago.

I had the place to myself and found out why after I had left it and passed the main entrance on Carrisbrooke Road. As the sign says, it is not open to the public at the weekend.

So I was lucky not to be locked in.

I could now be passing my days swinging from tree to tree, clad in rude garments fashioned from squirrel skins. My diet would be nuts and berries, leavened with the occasional latte I frightened a passing student into dropping. There are worse ways of life.

Anyway, fans of arboreta will be pleased to know we have one in Market Harborough too.

Alistair Carmichael will not stand for the party leadership

Having talked this possibility up the other day, I suppose I had better talk it down again.

Alistair Carmichael, says The Press and Journal, has "poured cold water over rumours he intends to run for the Lib Dem leadership".

He told the paper:

"I have said several times already that I am not standing and that has not changed. 

"Obviously it is flattering to be asked to stand for the party leadership but I have learned over the years to enjoy flattery without allow (sic) it to affect my judgement."

Eurovision: Blame Simon Cowell not Brexit

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It's tempting to blame our last place in this year's Eurovision on Brexit. But as Chris Dillow pointed out, our slump in the contest dates back some years.

If you are going to link it with any geopolitical event, it makes more sense to choose Tony Blair's enthusiasm for the US attack on Iraq.

As the late great Terry Wogan said, only half jokingly, not long after that war:

"We've invaded too many countries and everyone hates us."

But I think the real reasons are musical - and not just that we consistently enter songs in the wrong key.

I had not heard of this year's UK entrant Michael Rice, which is fine because I have reached an age when I am not meant to have heard of music stars.

So I looked him up - and found that he is not a music star at all.

Rice appeared on The X Factor in 2014, being eliminated before the finals, and then won the BBC's All Together Now in 2018.

As far as I can see, despite this television exposure he has not had a hit single. Which means, unless All Together Now is a bigger deal than I think, he is unknown outside the UK.

Contrast this with Eurovision from when I first remember it. Though they were often given silly songs, our entrants were internationally known recording artists: Lulu, Cliff Richard, Sandie Shaw.

These reality shows trade on the idea that there are lots of undiscovered singers out there with the ability to become stars, but the truth is rather different.

The two most realistic shows in this genre were those that were looking for someone to star in a West End production of a musical: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria and Any Dream Will Do.

Both were won by actors who were already in the business but had not yet received their big break. Neither was exactly an unknown.

But surely Simon Cowell's programmes do feature unknowns?

Only up to a point. A fair number of the acts who appear on Britain's Got Talent are established professionals but are presented as amateurs - Musical Ruth is a good example.

For this reason I suspect that some of the singers in The X Factor are known to the producers before they turn up for their audition. Those producers would be running a huge risk if this were not the case.

Whatever the truth of this, the overall standard in the finals is not that strong.

If you watch from the start you get caught up in the drama of the series and root for your favourites. But if you don't watch it and happen to catch an episode later on, what you here is very ordinary singers being told that they have made astandard their own.

They haven't.

Back in the day, the international stars who did Eurovision for the UK had their own shows on Saturday evening television.

Today those slots are filled by reality shows, so it is their competitors and winners who are known to the British public and who get chosen for the contest.

As they are unknown across the rest of Europe and often not great singers, it is little surprise that they do so badly.

My conclusion is that you should not blame Brexit for our Eurovision malaise but Simon Cowell.

A cat in Clarendon Park

I shall tweet a favourable notice to The Cat Reviewer presently.

St Guthlac's and Holbrook Memorial Hall, Knighton

St Guthlac's in not in Knighton village, but is to be found just off the London Road. It was built to serve the large houses and terraced streets that had sprang up here and today form one of the city's most pleasant suburbs.

Completed 1912, it is generally described as the last work of the prolific Leicester architect Stockdale Harrison. He designed De Montfort Hall and many other buildings in the city, as well as the Usher Hall in Edinburgh.

Next door is the Holbrook Memorial Hall, built as a memorial to the men of Knighton who had died in the first world war.

A page about the hall suggests it too is the work of Harrison. If so, it must have originally been planned as a church hall as he died in 1914.

Six of the Best 866

"Time and again, right from the beginning, they have made such basic errors in their thinking, their planning and their execution that if they’re to be remembered by history at all, it will be as an object lesson in how not to launch a political party." David Herdson is damning on the many failures of Change UK.

Mark Paine is one person who was originally attracted by Change UK but soon decided to come home to the Liberal Democrats.

"Children, vulnerable people and general members of the public can suffer long-term effects from participation in these kinds of reality show, and broadcasts can have serious unintended consequences not only for them but also for family, friends and work colleagues too." The psychologist John Oates on the dangers of reality television and the responsibilities of production companies.

Barbara Rich makes the case for keeping Mr Justice Byrne's annotated copy of Lady Chatterly's Lover in Britain. The annotations were made by his wife, Lady Dorothy, who sat beside him throughout the trial.

Simon Matthews has been to see Red Joan

A City relic is traced in deepest Hampshire by A London Inheritance.

The May blossom is out in Market Harborough

One of the glories of the Leicestershire countryside are the drifts of white blossom you see in the hedgerows at this time of year.

It reaches the fringes of the towns too. I took these photographs close to my home - an area, to be fair to another fine county, that was originally in Northamptonshire.

'May blossom' is properly hawthorn blossom - the hawthorn is also known as the 'may tree' - and that explains the slightly puzzling saying: "Ne'er cast a clout till May be out."

Puzzling, because it sounds so cautious. The latter weeks of May can be very pleasant. Surely you can start dressing less warmly by then?

In fact you can, because the saying refers to the may blossom being out. That begins to happen at the end of April and makes it a more reasonable rule.

Séverine: Un Banc, un Arbre, une Rue

When I first became of it, the Eurovision Song Contest generally came down to a battle between a woman singing a sophisticated ballad in French and another singing Bing Tiddle Tiddle Bong for Britain.

Fortunately, the French ballads usually won, but we Britons lived in fear of Cilla Black being chosen to represent us.

Here is the song that won Eurovision for Monaco in 1971 - you get the feeling that the composers of 'I Dreamed a Dream' were aware of it and its wistful mood.

Séverine was something of a gun for hire. She is French, and after winning the contest for Monaco made two attempts to be the German entrant.

Alistair Carmichael considers bid for Lib Dem leadership

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If Alistair Carmichael had stood for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats in 2015 I would happily have supported him

But he was too mired in an election court case brought by SNP sympathisers to consider standing.

Now comes news that he may stand this time.

Could he be our Pardoe? Or should we remember the warning of Alexander Kotov against unexpected third choices?

Football specials at Kettering in 1989

OK so this is mostly diesel locomotive porn. But it is also a reminder that Kettering Town used to be a serious club and that the nationalised British Rail was good at adapting to exceptional demand - much better than the privatised railways appear to be.

On 28 January 1989 Kettering were drawn away to Charlton Athletic in the fourth round of the FA Cup. To cater for fans, British Rail laid on four extra trains.

Mind you, it sounds as though the shuttle to Corby was cancelled to make room for the added workings.

There is no footbridge in sight, so Kettering's Stygian underpass must still have been in use.

Stiperstones Primary School to close

Sad news from Shropshire and the Shropshire Star:

Stiperstones Church of England Primary School is set to shut, with children being moved to Norbury or Chirbury. 

The move came about after the federation in charge of the school said it was struggling with funding. 

The plan is set to be signed off by Shropshire Council’s cabinet at at meeting on May 22.

Back in 2011 I covered the campaign to save the school. Visiting the village that August I wrote that the school was:

convinced that its future is safe because it is entering a federation with  the school at Chirbury. I do hope these celebrations do not prove premature.

Well, it was granted another eight years of life.

Bishop's Castle residents block road in protest against bus cuts

At the start of the month I blogged about Bishops' Castle residents' plans to block the main road to Shrewsbury as a protest against proposed cuts to the service.

That protest duly took place today. More than 70 people - an impressive turnout - blocked the A488 and the Shropshire Star had photographs.

The organiser, Sarah Wilkinson, told the paper:

"It is imperative that this service is maintained. If people lose it not only will those who rely on a bus service have to move, they may also lose their jobs. If they do not have a car they will be stranded in Bishop's Castle. 

"It is a terrifying prospect and it is cruel of the council. This is not practical. If the buses go there will be more taxis on the road. 

"If you want to buy a house in Bishop's Castle you will need to have a car. It is discriminatory against people who rely on the bus, they will not be able to move here. Bishop's Castle has been a market town since medieval times and that could be lost."

"Don't blame me I voted Pardoe"

From the Awkward Squad website:

Calder's Law states that every lib dem leadership election mirrors Steel vs Pardoe: a boring, centrist, reliable, safe-pair-of-hands Steel, vs an exciting, radical, a bit risky Pardoe. Nine times out of ten the Steel wins. 

This t-shirt is for those of us who mourn the tendency of our party towards centrism, and is available in black, white, grey, and tie-dye for those who don't remember the seventies because they were there, man, and really DID vote Pardoe.

Strictly speaking, it is Calder's Sixth Law of Politics, but I am immensely flattered.

I was all set to be a Moranite, but if our next leadership election is to be Swinson vs Dayey I shall vote for whichever candidate emerges as the Pardoe.

As to the T-shirt, even I am not old enough to have voted Pardoe, so I shall settle for the grey.

Campaigning by canal in the 1953 North Paddington by-election

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In 1953 Bill Field, the Labour MP for North Paddington, was convicted of "importuning for immoral purposes". When he failed to overturn that conviction on appeal, he resigned his seat.

The resultant by-election saw the seat being held for Labour by Ben Parkin.

Here his Conservative rival John Eden, who was to sit for Bournemouth West between 1954 and 1983, takes to the Grand Union Canal to address some voters.

Vince Cable must stop advocating a referendum with 'no deal' on the ballot paper

.@vincecable REALLY needs to stop saying that "No deal" should be on the ballot paper in another referendum. No responsible politician could allow that to be on the ballot paper as the outcome would be catastrophic. We cannot allow this option to become seen as acceptable

— James Harrison 🇪🇺 (@JamesWHarrison) May 15, 2019

James is right.

A referendum with 'no deal' on the ballot paper was ruled out by the policy motion the party passed at its spring conference.

More than that, it is likely that people attracted by the Bollocks to Brexit on the Lib Dem tin will be put off if they open it and find such a referendum being promised.

As James says, it is entirely wrong to put something in front of the people in a referendum if you believe, as we Lib Dems do, that it will seriously damage the country.

If you put a number of options to the people in a referendum they are entitled to assume that each is viable but has its advantages and disadvantages.

Which is why the person most at fault for the mess in which Britain finds itself today is David Cameron.

Lib Dem and Green administration takes control of York

The Liberal Democrats gained nine seats in York at the council elections, with the result that they and the Greens between them had a majority on the council.

A new administration has duly been formed with the Lib Dems' Keith Aspden as leader and the Greens' Andy D’Agorne as his deputy.

Aspden told The Press:

“Over the coming months and years, we will increase the Council’s focus on improving the city’s frontline services and create the capacity to deliver for our local communities. ... Our team will work on building confidence in the Council by giving residents a greater voice.”

The Lib Dems previously ran York between 2003 and 2007, but we were a long way from that when I helped in my first local election there 40 years ago.

And in those days the Greens were still called the Ecology Party.

Chairman of Leicester Conservative resigns over election results

The chairman of  Leicester Conservatives has resigned over the party's tactics in the local elections held earlier this month.

Leicester Tories lost their only city councillor and failed to come anywhere winning the mayoral election despite choosing a former government minister as their candidate.

You might think the chairman would have had something to do with developing the party's tactics, but when that chairman is this blog's old friend Jack Hickey anything is possible.

Here's what he told the Leicester Mercury:

“We had an awful election. 

"Our campaign was low energy, there was no strategy and we did nothing on social media. 

“We fought on 54 fronts but we didn’t fight smart. 

“A third of our membership were standing for election. 

"We should have concentrated on winnable seats, but we spread ourselves too thin. 

“People worked hard, but they worked in the wrong places.”

And it must have really hurt that his cherished tram scheme did not make the party's' city manifesto.

What is most significant in all this is that the Tories, who in 1983 won all three Leicester constituencies, now have only 150 members across the three of them.

Finally, a word for that defeated Tory councillor Ross Grant. He had spent the past year as the city's ceremonial mayor and is respected well beyond this party.

Why, he once wrote a guest post for this blog!

Deptford Jack in the Green in Greenwich on May Day

Jack, do you never sleep -
does the green still run deep in your heart?
Or will these changing times,
motorways, power lines,
keep us apart?
Well, I don't think so -
I saw some grass growing through the pavements today.

More on the Deptford Jack in the Green.

So Tiggers can change their stripes - at least in Scotland

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David Macdonald, an entrepreneur and independent councillor in East Renfrewshire, was at the top of Change UK's list for Scotland in next week's European elections.

Today, standing alongside the Scottish Liberal Democrats' leader Willie Rennie, he urged Scots to vote Lib Dem instead to avoid splitting the Remain vote.

Change UK,or The Tiggers as I shall always think of them, have already lost their top candidate for Scotland once after someone looked at the tweets Joseph Russo had been sending.

It all adds to the impression that this new party is proving a flop. But I did enjoy Chuka Umunna's headmasterly disapproval of someone changing parties:

“He has let down his fellow candidates and activists."

Paradise postponed at Airfield Farm, Market Harborough

In 1997 someone put forward a plan for a Christian theme park, including a recreation of the Garden of Eden, just outside Market Harborough.

Nothing came of the idea and eventually planning was given for 924 houses on the Airfield Farm site.

On Saturday I crossed the new canal bridge to see that was happening there.

There were show homes, cycle paths and little else. The effect was rather eerie, but then that was my reaction to the new Leicester suburb of Hamilton when I passed through it while searching for the Humber Stone.

To listen to some, you would believe that little house building takes place because developers are at the mercy of ruthless NIMBYs.

The reality is different, with planning authorities afraid of turning down applications lest they are obliged to pay the costs of an appeal by the developer.

And too often, new estates lack any amenities, any transport but the private car and are blatantly designed to allow further expansion.

This new Market Harborough development will not be like that. We are promised "sports pitches, a country park, play areas, allotments and a local centre which will consist of local shops and services".

But for now the site belongs to the show houses.