2016-09-11 09:48
This has been played several times on BBC 6 Music recently.I like the echo of John Cooper Clark and the total commitment of the performance.More about Mik Artistik on his website Read More
Blog Directory > Politics Blogs > Government Blogs > Liberal England government Blog >
Liberal England Blog
liberalengland.blogspot.com
Tags:
liberal democrats
lord bonkers
liberal
school
rose
rowsley south
rowsley
liberator
politics
kibworth
Liberal Democrat Blog of the Year 2014"Well written, funny and wistful" - Paul Linford; "He is indeed the Lib Dem blogfather" - Stephen Tall"Jonathan Calder holds his end up well in the competitive world of the blogosphere" - New Statesman"A prominent Liberal Democrat blogger" - BBC Radio 4 Today programme"Charming and younger than I expected" - Wartime Housewife
2016-09-10 21:14
The Kibworth Harcourt Trail leaflet says the Rose and Crown was once:the most famous coaching stop in Kibworth, with up to twenty-four coaches a say stopping day and night for passengers' re… Read More
2016-09-10 18:38
No sign yet of an answer to the question about how the Liberal Democrats can revive their electoral fortunes.While I enjoy my Caffè BellottiAs it turned out, I have more pencils than… Read More
2016-09-10 08:25
The judges are unanimous: the Daily Telegraph wins our Headline of the Day Award.Thanks to the reader who nominated it Read More
2016-09-09 22:51
The line from Maiden Newton to Bridport survived the closures of the Beeching years only to succumb in 1975.This silent film shows it in its last days Read More
2016-09-09 20:32
I have already trailed Radical Bulletin from the new Liberator. That means there is nothing for it but to spend another week with Rutland's most celebrated fictional peer.How the Liberal Dem… Read More
2016-09-09 19:48
James Kirkup begins his review of Nick Clegg's new book Politics: Between the Extremes with this observation:Nick Clegg isn’t very good at politics. That’s the abiding impression… Read More
2016-09-09 07:45
We have our Headline of the Day. Well done This is Local London Read More
2016-09-08 20:46
The northern terminus of Peak Rail (at least for now) is Rowsley South, three and a half miles from Matlock.There is plenty of land there, with various other restoration projects going on. A… Read More
2016-09-08 19:36
The new issue of Liberator arrived this morning. As ever, I turn first to Radical Bulletin (the Liberal Democrats' Private Eye) for the latest gossip:There are three mysteries about Zahida M… Read More
2016-09-08 19:07
To understand Jeremy Corbyn look first at Vladimir Derer (who he?) says Sam Pallis."Older voters ... tend to be risk averse as regards political change. However, in this instance they had a… Read More
2016-09-08 18:30
Nick Clegg has published his second Brexit briefing paper. This one looks at what Brexit means for Britain's international trading relationships. Whatever your view on Brexit, it makes a goo… Read More
2016-09-07 22:06
Literary Norfolk tells the sad story of Alan Smethurst, the singing postman:Allan Smethurst (aka The Singing Postman) was born in Bury in Lancashire on November 18th, 1927 - but at the age o… Read More
2016-09-07 21:45
Embed from Getty ImagesTim Farron writes in today's Guardian:We have still had no answers the big questions about Britain’s future. Will our businesses still have access to the si… Read More
2016-09-06 21:28
One of the strongest candidates for a British railway line that should never have been closed is the Midland to Manchester through Derbyshire.Today it survives at its southern end as a branc… Read More
2016-09-06 20:27
Embed from Getty ImagesPolly Toynbee has an article in today's Guardian whose headline tells you all you need to know:Why I can’t forgive Nick Clegg and his party of useful idiotsThose… Read More
2016-09-06 20:18
Having followed Keith Vaz's career since he was Labour candidate in Richmond and Barnes in 1983, I will not pretend that the weekend's revelations came as a shock.But remembering his politic… Read More
2016-09-05 18:05
Who is the greatest J.K. of them all?— Jonathan Calder (@lordbonkers) September 1, 2016I don't know if I'd give her the new ball on a humid morning at Ilford, but the people have spoke… Read More
2016-09-04 22:01
Another precious film by Edward "Chib" Thorp, the railway-loving undertaker of Leigh on Sea. Click on the image above to view it on the BFI site.Complete with annoyingly intermittent comment… Read More
2016-09-04 20:15
Embed from Getty ImagesPaul Sample, a former leader of the old Salisbury District Council, has been selected to fight the Salisbury constituency for the Liberal Democrats in the event of a s… Read More
2016-09-04 10:22
By 1974 Mannfred Mann had metamorphosed into Mannfred Mann's Earth Band - a tribute to the growing influence of environmentalism even then.I remember liking this when it was in the charts, t… Read More
2016-09-03 21:54
Embed from Getty ImagesLed by a 17-year-old Steve Winwood Read More
2016-09-03 21:27
Embed from Getty ImagesOne for the cricket lovers here, but as I have a Fred Titmus label on this blog I may as well use it.I recently came across the Independent's obituary of Titmus, the M… Read More
2016-09-03 21:11
The Mirror wins our Headline of the Day Award, though I am told the judges went away muttering about "sensationalism" Read More
2016-09-03 20:06
The Nick Clegg who comes through in Simon Hattenstone's interview in the Guardian this morning is the one we all know: ingenuous, likeable and a little impatient with criticism.My chief thou… Read More
2016-09-02 20:46
I am running a Twitter poll on this important subject:Who is the greatest J.K. of them all?— Jonathan Calder (@lordbonkers) September 1, 2016Lord Bonkers once wrote:For many years, my… Read More
2016-09-02 20:20
After the glories of the Minster, my favourite part of Southwell is the Burgage. Here the street opens out into a wide green. One of the houses around it was the boyhood home of Lord Byron.K… Read More
2016-09-02 18:22
Embed from Getty ImagesThe psychologist Sophie Scott writes on The Conversation:You can hear in their voices a slight embarrassment at having to discuss exactly what Botham’s inner thi… Read More
2016-09-01 21:00
We have visited Aberdeenshire before. This video casts the net a little wider Read More
2016-09-01 20:45
If Labour were going to split they’d have done it by now, argues Nick Barlow."Before this election, Duck Soup resonated in the United States through the ways it lampooned concepts… Read More
2016-09-01 19:40
Engel's England: Thirty-nine counties, one capital and one manMatthew EngelProfile Books, 2015, £9.99When I was a small boy one of my favourite things was a wooden jigsaw of England an… Read More
2016-08-31 22:23
Jonathan Meades writes for the London Review of Books:Concorde was seen in the sky over West London for the first time in late June 1969. Less than a month later Neil Armstrong stepped from… Read More
2016-08-31 21:50
Embed from Getty ImagesThe most popular recent post on this blog has been the one about how the Corbynistas are following the situational logic of all revolutions.Part of that logic, at leas… Read More
2016-08-31 21:11
Embed from Getty ImagesJunior doctors in England will of strike for five consecutive days in September to try to win a new contract. And the BBC suggests there will be five days of strikes e… Read More
2016-08-30 23:10
Besides recharging my batteries at the minster, a good reason for visiting Southwell was to seek out Gladstone Books.Secondhand bookshops, which used to be one of my vices, are dying out fas… Read More
2016-08-30 19:50
On 20 May 1981 George Foulkes, then a Labour MP and now a member of the House of Lords, introduced a bill to give local authorities powers to control Space Invaders machines:That is what is… Read More
2016-08-29 21:25
The first Market Harborough Food and Drink Festival, held a year ago, was wet. Very wet. Several householders in Welland Park Road were building arks in their front gardens.I went… Read More
2016-08-29 19:32
Caron Linday is not impressed by Norman Lamb and Nick Clegg's endorsement of Open Britain."America likes to pride itself as a beacon of democracy, but our dirty little secret is just how und… Read More
2016-08-28 21:28
This is the Old Rectory at Teigh in Rutland, now a bed-and-breakfast establishment that wins outstanding reviews.If it looks familiar it may be because it served as Mr Collins' rectory in th… Read More
2016-08-28 12:04
This is the opening track from Morrissey's 1994 album Vauxhall and I, which I regard as the best thing he has ever done - as a solo artist, at least.And it seems Mozza agrees with me.In a 19… Read More
2016-08-28 11:12
© Peter Wagon Fine ArtsWhen I went back to Hemel Hempstead some years ago I found that both my primary schools - Fields End in Warners End and the old Boxmoor school in St John's R… Read More
2016-08-27 21:25
Here is Sir Geoffrey, bowling in his cap, taking two Australian wickets in a 1979 World Cup group game.Ian Botham does rather release the pressure at the other end, but look out for a charac… Read More
2016-08-27 20:48
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Leicester Mercury reports that the Liberal Democrat group on Leicestershire County Council have made lodged an official complaint over statements made by the Conse… Read More
2016-08-27 17:20
Many happy returns to Liberal Democrat Voice, which is 10 years old today,By my calculation, that means its first post went up on 27 August 2006.On 14 September 2006 I wrote:Welcome and cong… Read More
2016-08-26 20:27
Photo of the stable block at Nevill Holt by Mat FascioneA few days ago the Leicester Mercury reported:A permanent opera house could be built in the heart of a historic country mansion… Read More
2016-08-26 20:10
The Shrewsbury Folk Festival will no longer book morris dancers using full-face black make up, the Shropshire Star reported yesterday.Political correctness gone mad?The festival's explanatio… Read More
2016-08-26 19:20
"Admittedly, she will be able to rely on unlimited assistance from Labour, but will that be enough?" Bruce Anderson weighs Theresa May's prospects of creating an era of Tory hegemony.Stephen… Read More
2016-08-25 21:28
Victoria Station served Nottingham from 1900 to 1967. Now the site is occupied by a shopping centre and its car parks, and few people appreciate how the city centre back then could accommoda… Read More
2016-08-25 20:20
There are no settlements in Scotland or Northern Ireland that did not lose a member of the community in the First World War.In England and Wales there are 52, known as Thankful Villages. And… Read More
2016-08-25 19:03
Embed from Getty ImagesLord Sainsbury, who served as a minister in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's governments, gave over £2m each to the Liberal Democrats and Labour in the second quart… Read More
2016-08-23 21:36
It's high time we had another one of these videos Read More
2016-08-23 21:29
Every politician who been interviewed by Mumsnet since 2009 has been asked what their favourite biscuit is, reports the Daily Telegraph:Tim Farron, whose constituency is in Cumbria, opts for… Read More
2016-08-23 20:42
Our Headline of the Day Award crosses the pond.Well done to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Read More
2016-08-22 21:05
Teigh village. Looks harmless, doesn't it?But when I showed you the perfect 18th-century interior of its church I said there there "much else - light and dark - to tell about this little Rut… Read More
2016-08-22 19:15
Embed from Getty ImagesTo mark the 50th anniversary of the London premiere of Joe Orton's play Loot, a number of events are taking place in Leicester.On Saturday 24 September there is an eve… Read More
2016-08-22 11:45
Our Headline of the Day comes from the Daily Telegraph Read More
2016-08-21 21:45
"To get my vote when a substantive motion comes to conference in the Spring, abolishers will have to show how scrapping Trident will produce a large, practical effect on disarmament, without… Read More
2016-08-21 20:17
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Labour Party has experienced a revolution - and we all know what happens after revolutions.The philosopher and former Labour and SDP MP Bryan Magee spelt it out in… Read More
2016-08-21 11:29
I was in an expensive shoe shop cum coffee shop in Leicester yesterday - well, it was Clarendon Park - when they played this. It sounded good,Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood was originally rec… Read More
2016-08-20 22:24
Embed from Getty ImagesOne for the teenagers there.This photo must date from 2004, when Traffic were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Read More
2016-08-19 22:54
Embed from Getty ImagesThese days, of course, you can go south as well Read More
2016-08-19 19:27
Back in April I wrote about Leicester City Council's decision to allow the demolition of 54-58 London Road in the city.That demolition has now taken place. I took the photograph above a coup… Read More
2016-08-18 20:25
The redevelopment of the railway lands to the north of King's Cross races ahead.The gasholders that dominated the approach to St Pancras have been moved and now house flats and a park.On hoa… Read More
2016-08-18 19:20
In my belated review of Graeme Swann's The Breaks are Off I wrote:Swann was named in the squad for the last test of 1999 as a 20-year-old and then selected for that winter’s England to… Read More
2016-08-18 18:49
Embed from Getty ImagesIn 2006 I published an essay - The problem with children today: The Liberal Democrats and children - in a collection edited by Graham Watson.The section on c… Read More
2016-08-17 22:10
Flip Chart Rick asks if Britain is prepared for life after the Poles: "As the Resolution Foundation research shows, entire sectors are now dependent on labour from the EU and it is unlikely… Read More
2016-08-17 20:11
Stewart Lee's last television series was hard going at times even for those of us who admire him.But I suppose the BBC's decision not to commission another series represented a comic triumph… Read More
2016-08-16 20:44
The church of Holy Trinity in Rothwell has a bone crypt housing the remains of 2500 men, women and children.A BBC News story reveals an unexpected fact about it:Skulls and bones stored under… Read More
2016-08-15 21:17
Find it on Facebook and moored behind King's Cross Read More
2016-08-15 19:27
The Breaks Are OffGraeme SwannHodder, 2012, £8.99An off spinner who wins matches on helpful pitches and keeps it so tight on less helpful ones that England need only field four bowlers… Read More
2016-08-14 20:24
After visiting Tickencote church you naturally turn your attention to the village.It has a water mill on the Gwash - the Tickencote community website says it closed in the mid 1930s - a form… Read More
2016-08-14 17:40
Headline of the Day has an Olympic theme. Congratulations to ITV News Read More
2016-08-14 10:18
Scott Walker made the songs of Jacques Brel much better known in Britain. This, taken from Scott 2, was an attempt by Walker to write a Brel song himself. I think it is safe to say I like it… Read More
2016-08-13 22:11
"The Brexit camp, as represented by The Spectator magazine, which proclaimed “Out—and into the World” when it endorsed the Leave campaign, seems to have absolutely no under… Read More
2016-08-13 21:10
I spent today visiting Peak Rail, a preserved line that runs north from Matlock to Rowsley South. No doubt I shall show you some photos of it soon.But when I was planning this trip it was th… Read More
2016-08-12 19:58
Back in the 1980s I spent a summer working for the Liberal party conference office. This being the old Liberal party, it was naturally housed in two semi-converted narrow boats moored deep i… Read More
2016-08-12 16:50
The judges were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold and they gave the International Business Times our Headline of the Day Award Read More
2016-08-11 21:15
Years ago I blogged about a visit to Southwell and quoted Nikolaus Pevsner book The Leaves of Southwell, which is about the carvings in the Minster's chapter house:Could these leaves of the… Read More
2016-08-11 20:34
Embed from Getty ImagesVince Cable was Peter Henneddy's interviewee in the latest edition of Reflections.As the BBC's blurb says:He talks movingly of his early years, and although his own vi… Read More
2016-08-10 20:31
Somerby is about a mile's walk from the Iron Age hill fort of Burrough Hill.It turned out to have a good pub and an eccentric school building on an almost urban main street.I did not make it… Read More
2016-08-09 22:17
Another video from the people at Londonist. This one finds some appealing fragments of the southern half of the line and that the northern half - from West Drayton to Colnbrook - is still op… Read More
2016-08-09 21:02
Holy Trinity in the village of Teigh has an interior that feels as much like a Georgian country houses as a village church.Leicestershire & Rutland Churches speaks of its "unique feature… Read More
2016-08-09 19:36
I have just read Handsome Brute, an account of the life and crimes of Neville Heath. Apparently a charming RAF pilot and playboy, Heath murdered two women in a way that horrified and fascina… Read More
2016-08-08 21:22
I was down in London today and decided to visit Little Venice. Coming from a family that had canal holidays back in the 1960s, when they were far less common, I have always known the name bu… Read More
2016-08-08 20:22
"I'm not opposed to excellence. But the price of your Grammar Schools is too high," says Steve Guy. (We had a Midland Educational in Leicester too.)Paddy French looks at how Owen Smith's fam… Read More
2016-08-08 07:59
The Press from York wins our Headline of the Day Award Read More
2016-08-07 22:27
My most recent Six of the Best included am article by John Disney that says our rural bus services are in meltdown.Judging from Market Harborough he is right. In the last couple of years we… Read More
2016-08-07 17:07
This 1982 hit looked back in musical style and hairstyle to the great female singers of the 1960s. In fact Mari Wilson was later to play Dusty Springfield in a musical.She is still active, a… Read More
2016-08-07 16:43
When I first went to see a match at Grace Road the advertising around the ground was dominated by the Leicester dairy Kirby & West, but it was never called the Kirby & West Cou… Read More
2016-08-07 07:45
Today's winning headline comes from The Herald Read More
2016-08-06 20:45
I have read and can recommend G.K.Chesterton's novels The Napoleon of Notting Hill and The Man Who Was Thursday.I have not read his The Flying Inn, but I can cut and paste from Wikipedia wit… Read More
2016-08-06 19:52
Thanks to an unnamed commenter on the FT website and Otto English on Twitter for this Read More
2016-08-06 19:18
"The mood wasn’t defensive, but confident, even swaggering. Corbyn had claimed on stage that he ‘wasn’t going to get down in the gutter with anybody’, but his fellow… Read More
2016-08-06 18:04
In my day small boys were not encouraged to play closed openings. These days anything goes, with the result that a 10-year-old can beat a grandmaster.The grandmaster was Jan Krejci from the… Read More
2016-08-05 18:47
Our Headline of the Day Award goes to the Guardian Read More
2016-08-04 23:33
Photo of Taylor Swift byJana ZillsNeil Barnett sets out to discover who funded Brexit - features an appearance by Mike Hancock.Jeremy Corbyn does point to real economic problems facing Brita… Read More
2016-08-04 23:21
Tickencote begins with a bus shelter on a slip road of the A1. So unpromising a location does it look that it took some persuasion for the driver to drop me there.I am glad I persisted, beca… Read More
2016-08-04 23:05
Corbyn caught out clearly lying. Once this would've been career ending. Now Momentum thugs cheers him. https://t.co/dhiMB4gSzl— (((Ian McKenzie))) (@iMcKenzied) August 4, 2016I do not… Read More
2016-08-03 21:44
Embed from Getty ImagesHere is a two-year-old Justin Trudeau photographed in 1974 with his mother Margaret and father Pierre.Pierre was then the prime minister of Canada. Also a Liberal, he… Read More
2016-08-03 20:48
Market Harborough leisure centre opened 25 years ago today - thanks to the people on Twitter who have reminded me of this.It was opened by Princess Anne and I was invited. I declined because… Read More
Subscribe to Liberal England
Get updates delivered right to your inbox!