Lincolnshire Roads - Dangerous? Maybe not?

I remember reading this piece some months ago.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/11495938/Lincolnshire-has-the-most-dangerous-roads-in-Britain.html

Lincolnshire has the most dangerous roads in Britain. I thought, looking at some of the accident statistics that must be about right. I was involved in several discussions regarding changing road layouts etc. to make the road safer.

Now this bit of news has come out! http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2015/12/lincolnshire-worst-in-the-country-for-drink-driving-crash-rate/

Lincolnshire is the worst in the country for drink driving in those involved in an accident.

So be a bit of a simple fellah I put 2 and 2 together. Have you?

The next person that says to me that the police should not run campaigns against drinking and driving and targeting those that do and should concentrate on catching criminals may get short shrift!

As the old advert says:

The Coastal Highway - Really?

Heard today that there is a plan to rename or rather give a name to the road leading from Lincoln to Skegness, the infamous A158. It is planned to call it "The Coastal Highway". Really?

What does the term "coastal highway" conjure up in your mind?

Something like this perhaps?

That is what I would term a coastal highway, a highway that runs along the coast.

The A158 certainly does not meet my expectations of the name. It does not run along the coast and it most certainly is not a highway.

Apparently the county council has a plan that the signs will be installed near Newark to highlight the route to our coast with further signs appearing along the route. I would contend that it is easy enough to find that route without a name being given to it to highlight it.

What a let-down it would be for a first time visitor that had been led to believe that the A158 from Lincoln to Skegness was some kind of highway, some kind of quick route to the coast. What a disappointment! It is not going to draw people to our coast!

I love the idea of the A158 being turned into a highway that would allow for a swift journey along the 41 miles from our county city to Skegness but I know that is not going to happen. The A158 needs major investment to rid it of the bottle-necks that have been known about for decades, namely Horncastle and Wragby, which would make the trip to the coast quicker and much more pleasant. That would go some way to encouraging more people to come to our coast. A cheap option of a few signs giving it a name, a somewhat misleading name at that, is definitely not what is needed.

For further thoughts on the road infrastructure in this area please see http://steveodare.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/a52a158-they-are-our-arteries-east.html

A New Grammar School - Excellent News!

I am very, very pleased to hear that there is to be a new Grammar School in Sevenoaks, Kent. Well that is not wholly correct as it is technically an annex of The Weald Grammar School which is based in Tonbridge which is approximately 9 miles away from the new site. This will be the first Grammar School built in the last 50 years.

I feel it is a great pity that the only way this could happen was to make the new school an annexe of an existing one, when in fact there is no real reason why new Grammar Schools should not be built in their own right. The Labour government of 1965 told local authorities to start converting schools to a comprehensive system. Then in 1998 the Labour government passed legislation that outlawed the building of any new Grammar Schools but allowed existing Grammar Schools to expand if their is sufficient demand. In the case of Sevenoaks there was clearly sufficient demand for a Grammar School as there are already 1100 pupils travelling from Sevenoaks to nearby Grammar Schools requiring a round trip of 25 miles taking up to two hours. Despite this and despite the Labour inspired legislation as described the Labour Party, Lucy Powell, Shadow Education Secretary, described this expansion as "a hugely backward step". All a bit confusing from Labour I think!

Something I find hugely unfortunate is that the expansion of this school will only allow the girls of Sevenoaks to take up the 450 places available as the parent school is girls only, with boys only admitted to the 6th form!

I am very aware of all of the arguments pro and anti Grammar Schools but in my own personal opinion Grammar Schools are a good thing. I see nothing wrong in providing an education system that allows the more academically able students to be pushed to achieve all that they can.

That opinion then leads onto the subject of selectivity. The 11+ examinaton! There needs to be selectivity to ensure that the most academically able students are identified. Should this happen at the age of 11? Is that the right time? I think it probably is as that is the end of the Primary School years. I do think though, that more emphasis should be placed on the opportunity for students that did not pass the 11+ to take the 13+ and then gain entry to Grammar Schools. That would then "mop up" for want of a better term those students that have flourished later in their school career.

I am hugely in favour of there not being a "one-size fits all" education system. Grammar Schools, Technical Schools, Free Schools and Academies have all got a huge part to play in ensuring that our students get as good an education as possible and that education is delivered in a setting or system that matches the individual students needs.

A last thought. The one thing relating to this issue that I find utterly reprehensible is the notion that students that do not pass the 11+ examination are made to feel inadequate or failures. That should never be the case and if parents or educationalists are leading students to feel that way then it is those parents or educationalists that are at fault. All children should be made to feel that they can achieve no matter what type or system of Secondary Education they attend. I did not pass the 11+ and went to a Secondary School. That did not nor does not make me a failure either educationally or in life because I was given the opportunity to achieve. Perhaps that is the most important lesson to be learned?

It's Lincolnshire Day

Happy Lincolnshire day to all Yeller-Bellies everywhere. Happy Lincolnshire Day to all who reside in this great county, no matter where you originate from.

If you miss a bit of proper Lincolnshire then have a listen to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi_CTuo7g5o

Lincolnshire is a great county with a long and important history. A great place to live and work.

Lincolnshire Digital Radio Goes Live

To update my post of a couple of days ago, digital radio for Lincolnshire becomes a reality on 1st October 2015 according to BBC Radio Lincolnshire. This is the date that they will begin broadcasting on the digital platform.

If you don't have a digital radio receiver then now is the time to go and invest in one. Exceptionally easy to use. Got DAB in your car? Give it a go you will be amazed at the quality.

Excellent news. Long awaited. Improved reception and coverage.

Digital Radio For Lincolnshire Now Very Close

If you have a digital radio then our local stations will very soon be available for your listening pleasure on the DAB platform.

I picked up two different multiplexes yesterday which were titled Lincs FM and BBC Radio Lincolnshire. The signal was booming out here in Skegness.

The broadcasting on these channels is due to begin next month October 2015.

I would encourage any radio stations based in the County to contact MUXCO if they are interested in broadcasting in the digital realm. I have no idea what this entails but you can get information and contact details here:
http://www.muxco.com/multiplexes/lincolnshire/

Digital Radio for Lincolnshire has been a long time coming but it really looks as though we shall be able to benefit from it very shortly. Hooray says I.


This is a link to my previous blog on this subject:

http://steveodare.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/dab-radio-for-lincolnshire.html

2015 An Excellent Season

Now that we are nearly into October it is a good time to look back over the last few months and see how it has gone.Well. From all the reports in the local press and from conversations I have had it would appear that 2015 has been an excellent season here in Skegness.

The hotels have been very busy and the local holiday businesses have reported having had good takings.

Great to see the new Skegness Aquarium up and running and from reports it would appear that they have made a good start. It is really good to see an attraction that is truly 12 months of the year on our seafront. I hope that there will be more of this excellent type of development in the future. Add this to the established attractions in the town and it is easy to see why the resort remains so popular.

Talking about our seafront it is undergoing and has undergone a lot of changes over the last few years. Some would say it is for the better and some would say that it is not. Whatever your view the town cannot stand still or it will fall behind and the seasons will go into decline. The town and the businesses in it need to be creating more job opportunities for the local people. I know that in years gone by there were lots of open green spaces and few neon lights etc., but, as has been said many times in different quarters, the town needs to develop to keep attracting the business.  You cannot have development and change and expect everything to stay the same. It doesn't work that way.

As a town and a local population, we need to be welcoming to new businesses that wish to come to us. It is external investment that is needed as well as local business expansion, such as the very welcome Aquarium.

A good season then and lets look forward to the next one, not forgetting of course the out of season offerings between now and then. That is for next time!

Dogs In Swimming Pools

Really. This is happening at Heckington in Lincolnshire. Providing a period of time when dog owners can go swimming in the pool with their dogs. Why?

A few questions come to my mind:

• Do they drain the water and refill the pool before admitting the general public again?
• What do they do if a dog goes to the toilet while in the pool?
• Main concern: Is it good for the dogs to be in a pool that is treated with chlorine.

I have done a bit of research and this is what I have found which seems to be the general opinion. This from an American vet where, apparently, pool owners appear to encourage their dogs in:

One question that tends to come up is whether chlorine is safe for dogs to ingest. Overall, the amount of chlorine in a pool is not likely to be harmful to dogs if they’re simply swimming. The main concern is that dogs will also ingest large amounts of pool water while they’re swimming. This can lead to salt poisoning or an electrolyte imbalance similar to drinking ocean water, and may cause vomiting or loose stools. To prevent this, keep plenty of fresh water available while your pets are swimming. The fresh water will be more appealing to the dogs than the pool water. Additionally, chlorine and other commonly used pool chemicals can irritate the eyes or skin of some dogs.

Given that. If I was still a dog owner I would not wish for my dog to go swimming in a swimming pool! I hope this rather silly idea does not take off in a big way!

Skegness 10K Doubles Up - Fantastic!

I took part in the inaugural Skegness 10K during the winter. It was fantastic to see it actually take place. I was contacted by Skegness Coasters Running Club originally in 2013 and we tried to get the race up and running, so to speak, then. Unfortunately we were looking at a course that included roads within the town but Lincolnshire County Council Highways were very intransigent with regard to road closures and the idea died a death.

Luckily, The Coasters are not the type of club to give up and they finally organised a race for 2014 which ran out of the rear entrance to South View Caravan Park and meandered around the roads there, through some lovely Lincolnshire countryside.

The inaugural race was limited to 200 runners. It was really well organised with Chris Chittell, better known as Eric Pollard from the popular Emmerdale soap series, starting the race.

Chris Chittell - Eric Pollard from Emmerdale

Such was the success that this year the number of entrants allowed to run has increased to 500, a direct reflection of all the hard work put in by the team of organisers. That means that there is going to be plenty of room for competitors of all abilities to join the race this year.

The race this year will take place on Sunday 15th November and will start at 10.00 am. There is plenty of excellent hotel accommodation within the town for those of you that might want to take part but need to travel.

So come on. Take part in the 2015 Skegness 10K. Skegness, as they say, Is So Bracing so keep moving in November to keep warm!

Don't suggest you copy Jolly's Running Style!

Further information and sign up can be had by viewing
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/viewevent.asp?sp=&v=2&EN=90085&ms=


Hope to see you there and don't trip over me on the way past!

Save The Green Man!!! Save My Sanity!!!

Now listen it has gone too far okay? All the Politically Correct nonsense. What am I talking about, I will tell you.

New road crossing signs, provided by the County Council, have appeared in several parts of the county telling people to "Only Cross The Road With The Green Figure". What? Why?

It is a Green Man for heaven's sake, always has been and always will be.

A Green Man not a Green Figure!! Got that? Good!!

13 Hour Day!!

Set off yesterday at 9 a.m. Got back home just before 10 p.m. Drove approximately 450 miles during the day. Hold-ups on the motorway, other drivers doing their best to kill us. What was that all about? Simply football.

My team Lincoln City were playing Forest Green Rovers in the non-league Blue Square Premier yesterday. FGR are located in Nailsworth in south Gloucestershire. Several pick-ups of fellow nutcases in Lincoln and then off we go.

Am I mad? Am I barking? Is there nothing better I could do with my time? The answer to those questions is probably yes to all 3.

Did I enjoy it? Yes.
Was it worth it? Oh so definitely!

3 points and a 2 goals to nil win. What better way could there be to spend a Saturday?
Okay don't answer that!!!

Rotten And Despicable

They are just two of the words I have heard used about two crimes that have occurred very recently in our area.

Firstly a charity shop raising money for injured soldiers had money stolen from it and then a car was broken into and a large amount of stock used for raising money for the People's Dispensary For Sick Animals (PDSA) was stolen.

It is bad enough when people resort to thieving in the first place but when that thieving is done against charities then the words above are only two that should be used to describe both the acts and those that carry them out.

If you are offered any cheap Christmas Cards or other merchandise that have the PDSA logo on them, please do contact the police. They are well aware of this crime.

Tidings and Murder On The Beach

Well just been up to the beach for my daily constitutional. What a difference to the last few days. After all that lovely bright sunshine, today it was blowing a gale fit to bust and the best description of it was beautiful but bleak.

I decided to head south today towards the nature reserve at Gibraltar Point. I have to say that I saw the most amazing spectacle, which I do not understand, and if anybody can shed any light on what I saw I would be most grateful.

There are several large grassy areas, almost like lawns on the way and on one of them I saw a murder of crows about 30 strong and a tidings of magpies about a dozen strong. They were just standing around in two significant and different groups. (A murder and a tidings are the correct names for groups of these birds).

Aha I thought, as these birds are predominantly scavengers there must be some sort of carcass about just there. I sallied forth to go and check it out, expecting these birds to take fright and flight but they didn't. I walked into the space between the two groups and they just sat there watching me. It was like something out of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, a film that if you have not seen I would highly recommend. It was a bit unnerving to be honest.

Well I can confirm that there was no carcass anywhere near them and for the life of me I cannot work out either what can have attracted them there or why both types of birds were sitting there next to each other. Perhaps it was the prelude to a bit of gang warfare.

Who knows? I don't. Do you?

Just Forgot Me Sunnies!

We have had a magnificent spell of weather here on the east coast lately and, luckily, I have been able to make the most of it with some good walks up the coast. Cold but bright and cheerful could sum it all up. Today was exceptional though. The air was so crisp and clean and the cold in the air actually added to rather than detracted from the experience. Fantastically lucky to live here. Like most places Skegness has its problems but on a day like today there is nowhere better in the world.

Only problem I had was that I forgot my sunglasses. The sun glinting of the sea and the inlets and creeks left behind by the recent, magnificent, high-tide made it difficult to see anything when heading south. Oh the problems I have to put up with!!

Bangers And Mash Anyone?

Now it may have slipped your notice but this week is National Sausage Week. This is being fronted by Noddy Holder from Slade (a pop star from the past - for my younger readers).

As we all know the best sausage in the world, bar none, is Lincolnshire Sausage. The best Lincolnshire Sausage is made in the county by proper, real, artisan butchers, of which there are many dotted about.

So if you do nothing else this week, seek out one of our local butchers and treat yourself to the gourmet delights of the Lincolnshire Sausage, made as it should be and tasting as it should do.

Believe me. You will never want to go back to mass produced bangers again!!!

Enjoy, and if you do as I suggest, then drop the name and location of the butcher either on here or on one of the Facebook pages that this will appear on. Support your local butchers and let others know about them as well!

I can smell them cooking now!!! YUM YUM.

Coastal Flooding - 1 in 200 Years

As some of you may know I am the Chairman of  Skegness Area Committee, which is a liaison committee between East Lindsey District Councils, the local parish councils and those people that live within the boundaries of them. We had a meeting last night in Anderby Village Hall and on the agenda was a presentation from the Environment Agency entitled Flood Risk Plans. Very informative and interesting it was.

The one thing that struck me was the amount of ifs and buts that the whole of the flooding risk seemed to be based upon. Models are run fairly regularly, as I understand it, but there are always many assumptions put into them. Apparently we run the risk of a major flood once in every 200 years.

Given that, how much credence should be placed on the flooding when looking at the development of the coast? Should flooding be one of the first things that is considered when looking at plans, and if so how much weight or credence should be given to the risk.

Of course we need to look at the risk and it is beholden on the authorities to have plans for a major flood, or any other natural or manmade disaster for that matter, but I ask myself "How worried am I that there maybe a flood tomorrow, the day after, next month, next year of sometime in my lifetime". Would I let that colour my judgement about buying a house or a business in Skegness? Do I think that I need to have measures in place just in case? I live a couple of hundred yards from the beach, so should I do that as I must be one of the most vulnerable?

All very confusing really. Should flooding be right up there in my thoughts? Should if be right up there as a probability or a possibility? Should it be the major consideration when looking at development on the coast. All interesting questions. Wonder what you think?

Pilgrim Hospital - Not Good Enough To Train Studen Nurses

Just what is happening to Pilgrim Hospital? It is really, really worrying. There has been criticism from the Care Quality Commission with regard to the care there which is bad enough in itself. Now the Nursing and Midwifery Council have instructed that all student nurses must be withdrawn from the hospital as the teaching is not up to standard.

For pities sake. People in this area rely on Pilgrim Hospital for their care. If the standards in the hospital are not up to teaching student nurses, they cannot be up to the standard for providing care to the sick and injured of this area. This really is a terrible reflection on the hospital.

It is about time somebody got a proper grip on this place before it is closed down and this area is left without proper secondary care. It is bad enough that we have to travel 25 miles to receive proper emergency care without the thought of having to go twice as far to Lincoln instead.

Get a grip NHS Lincolnshire!!!!!

£250,000 It Is Just Not True!

There is a story being put about and statements made that those councillors on Lincolnshire County Council are going to have their allowances increased by 22% at a cost of a quarter of a million pounds. This story is, quite simply, not true.

The facts are these. The Independent Remuneration Panel have recommended the rise of 22% which would have cost the tax payers of Lincolnshire £250,000. Because of this the ruling Conservative group prudently allocated this sum in the last budget in case it was agreed upon by the council that this rise should take place. Not to have done this could have led the council into financial difficulties if they had not made an allowance for the possible increase and it had come about.

As it turns out the ruling Conservative group have decided that, in the present economic climate, the rise was not something that was acceptable to them, nor to the tax payers of the county. They have therefore decided that allowances will be frozen for the next two years. A completely sensible decision. I believe that this will mean that allowances will not have been increased for 4 years by 2013 when the next county elections will be held. As far as I am aware all political groupings on the council are in agreement with this decision.

This decision, which will be ratified by the full council this week, means that the £250,000 will not now be allocated to councillors allowances and will therefore be available as "spare monies". I do not know how this money will now be allocated.

Readers may be interested to know that Lincolnshire County Councillors actually and traditionally receive smaller allowances than other councils in the East Midlands, so it could be said that they are good value for money.

So you see, this is really a non-story, with no basis in fact whatsoever.