Following my post last week, here’s a spoof – which is very funny (and a bit rude at the end for all you children out there). Obviously the actual spill is not funny. It’s very serious.
Monthly Archives: June 2010
Castles – magical places?
I was reminded when watching Countryfile last night about, amongst other things, the magical nature of English Castles. The team were at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland. Its history can be traced back to 547 and it seemed to have a thriving visitor attraction.
Nottingham Castle
It is also the site of an archaeological dig – tracing back the history of the castle. It was fascinating to see that the volunteers had found a die and some games dating back 1000 years. Their website proclaims, “Bamburgh – the finest castle anywhere in this country” Time Out Great Britain: Perfect Places to Stay, Eat and Explore 2009.
Of course Nottingham has a Castle. It too holds a fascinating history – although it lacks the ‘look’ of a traditional castle – as it’s not really. It’s a Ducal Palace.
But Nottingham, in my view fails to take full advantage of it. Visitors who come to it (from around the World) are visibly disappointed. The offer is poor.
As part of the work done by the Sheriff’s Commission we have been looking at how we might be able to capitalise on this asset we have. Some great ideas have been put forward – including an archaeological dig. I have always had a view (which is not necessarily shared by the Council) that the art in the Castle should be moved out and the Castle turned over into a Robin Hood Visitor Attraction – and a world class one at that.
What was frustrating last night was watching ‘life’ at a Castle in Northumberland – which doesn’t have the same ‘legendary’ status as we do. But they have captured the imagination and bagged themselves something which we could easily do.
The next meeting of the Sheriff’s Commission – and its advisory board, on which I sit, in a couple of weeks. The Robin Hood film has come and gone – and we aren’t much further forward. We need TimeOut to give us an accolade…
But before we get this we need a quantum leap. And soon. Otherwise we will miss out altogether and this will be a huge missed opportunity.
The Great Notts Bike Ride 2010
Doesn’t time fly. Today was the 29th Great Nottinghamshire Bike Ride -and it doesn’t seem 5 minutes since the last one!
Not my bike - but it is cool!
Last year the event raised £50,000 for the supported Charities; this year money is going to Cerebral Palsy Sport, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Rainbows Hospice and When You Wish Upon a Star.
I was in training all week, an hour on the squash court on Monday, Snooker for 3 hours on Tuesday, rest day Wednesday, golf Thursday followed by two hours squash and then a 11.5 mile bike ride taster yesterday!
I was going to do the 75 mile sportive or the 50 mile challenge, but opted for the more social 18 mile ride. This has the advantage of having a compulsory pub stop! Well it would have done had my ride partner Simon not lost his bikes off the rack on his car! Fortunately no one was hurt – but his bike looks a bit worse for wear!
After leaving Holme Pierrepont we headed up to Radcliffe on Trent then Shelford and on to Gunthorpe. After crossing the Trent we headed back to Burton Joyce, Stoke Bardolph and back into Nottingham.
My son Jack left me – he was in a hurry. So my pace was steady (not wanting to take the win from Jack) – the 18 miles was relatively easy in the June sunshine. It took me 80 minutes.
It was great to see so many people out an about. Apparently 4,000 people took part – which was an excellent turn out. And it was the start of Team Green Britain Bike Week – a campaign to encourage bike riding.
Next year I will do the 50 …. maybe!
UPDATE 21 June 2010
The Evening Post carried the story here.
England in the world cup final?
I don’t know a lot about football. I missed last weeks match against the USA as I was at the Isle of Wight Festival. Last night I made the effort to watch the National team.
yes Fabio, one would do for starters...
I think sometimes the press like to put people on a pedestal and then take pot shots against them. But the performance last night was just rubbish against Algeria (ranked 31st). I feel qualified to say this!
Apparently it’s something to do with the ball. It seems to be the wrong sort of round. And we haven’t been practising with it. Because someone put it in a cupboard at the FA.
I have some ideas…
Firstly, I would be prepared to manage England for half of Capello’s salary (he reputedly earns £6m per year). I would not even ask for a company car. I think I am quite well qualified. I speak English fairly well. I can do grumpy old man. I like good Italian clothes. I wear glasses when I don’t have my contact lenses in and I have a coaching certificate for “England Squash” – which is only one word away from “England Football”.
I am even prepared to fly out next week – as I think we might be coming back (via Charles de Gaulle airport) on Thursday?
These players are earning more in a year than most people earn in a lifetime. The reason I have lost interest in football is the money – there is too much in my view. The players may have talent individually, but don’t seem to work as a team? There doesn’t seem to be much passion for playing for their Country.
I am often asked for coaching tips in squash – particularly during matches. Sometimes the best advice is that you need to get 9 points before your opponent. In England’s case we seem to have forgotten that you need to score more goals than your opponent team?
The alternative? Get Psycho off the bench and on the pitch!
UPDATE 27 June 2010
Dire.
iphone 4 – on its way
If you read my blog, you will guess that I am something of an Apple fan, with four macbook pro’s, four ipods, two ipads and two iphones in the house. Oh, and Apple TV and a Time Capsule. Then there is my 24″ LED Cinema Display in the office. I rate the hardware and the software is beautifully simple. It really appeals to me because it works.
Real time telephone signal coverage for Nottingham last night
So the news of the launch of iphone4 at the end of the month did appeal to me. The hype around Apple launches is legendary, but the reality of the kit generally lives up to the hype!
My firm have around 40 phones and we have been with o2 for the last 8 or 9 years – we switched to iphones when they were launched in 2007. We are fortunate to have a contract renewal in the next month! So, we have been lloking at deals to get our grubby paws on this new technology. We have a number of phones on the fleet which have seen better days – some people use them as bats I think. One of my partners tried to wash his in the the sea, another surveyor (on her honeymoon) felt it necessary to douse it in mosquito repellant?
After quite a lot of negotiation it looks like we will be changing to Vodaphone. They have offered us a very good deal to switch to them – and a promise of the new phones by the end of the month!
I will be sorry to leave o2 because their customer service has been nothing short of excellent – but they can’t (or won’t) compete.
I have been doing some research on Vodaphone coverage – as there are all manner of urban myths about which service gives the best coverage. I have always been suspicious of the manufacturers maps. But Vodaphone have come up with a novel way of getting a handle on coverage – getting their customers to use twitter to give live information about coverage where they are. You can read about it here.
How useful it will be remains to be seen, but it is an interesting move – getting real customers to give real time feedback – and publishing it – warts and all. This is the power of the social media revolution – and is likely to be more credible than the preprinted coverage map?
UPDATE 2.30pm 18 June 2010
I knew this wouldn’t be simple. I have tried to cancel our o2 contact today. The system, I have concluded, works perfectly until you want to escape. Hotel California rules apply (..”you can check out but you can never leave”). I have had three automated emails telling me I need to provide security information. I did. I then got another telling me I had to call ‘the Retention team”- which I did. They don’t want to deal with me – as I need an account manager (I explained that he is on holiday). Then an account manager has emailed me with bad news – they want a termination fee and me to return all the iphones I purchased from them back to them. But a few moments ago I got an email from Business Customer Service saying “Let me tell you Jim, you’re our valuable customer … ad nauseum” – and asking me to call…The Retention Team. Let me tell you o2, you need to get your house in order or I’ll set my mate Tim onto you.
Nottingham Cleans up its act
I have always maintained that Nottingham is the friendliest place in the world (probably), but a new moniker is being sought!
The “Big Summer Clean” is being launched today by the City Council. The campaign is in its second year and the hope is to make the place the cleanest city in the UK by 2011. We are currently in 4th place behind Leicester, Southampton and Liverpool according to the Audit Commission.
But this new campaign requires everyones help. Communities are being asked to clean up their own neighbourhoods. The targets are litter, graffitti and fly-tipping. What really caught my eye was the news that money raised from on-the-spot fines for littering is being reinvested to keep the streets clean.
This is not rocket science – we just need the people of Nottingham to be proud of the city. And leave it as you would want to find it. Old fashioned maybe, but it makes a lot of difference. Seeing clean streets makes everyone feel better about the place.
In my work I come across investors who have the capability (if they choose to locate in Nottingham) of creating jobs. Real jobs. And their first impressions count when they come here.
There will be a number of events launched from today which can be found here.
So Nottingham will be the friendliest AND cleanest place in the UK (probably)…
Golf course values?
I enjoy my golf; I just wish I could be good at it. There have been a few moments, but sadly they tend to be moments and not four and a half hours…
My mate Steve in quite a lot of trouble
A few years ago, golf course ownership was all the rage and there was a rule of thumb that the value was around £1m per hole. I never valued any courses – the Leisure sector is quite specialised.
There are some major players in the market too – the Guinness family have a vehicle, Burhill Golf & Leisure which owns one of my local courses – Ramsdale Park. It’s one of ten they own.
But there are wide discrepancies in the market place. Locally another of our golf courses at Cotgrave Place has been put on the market for £2.35m. It boasts a membership of 1,000 and sits on 240 acres. It was built originally by two local businessmen in the heady 1980′s.
If I am honest neither are great courses – they are good but not great.
And then there is the Loch Lomond Golf Course – where Barclays hold the Scottish Open. It is rumoured to be up for sale for a reported cool £100 million (it’s been on the market since 2008 after being put into the hands of a US firm of business recovery specialists). Lyle Anderson, the club’s Arizona-based owner, failed to re-negotiate his debts with the Bank of Scotland and they want their cash back!
Members have been told of plans to push up subscriptions from £3250 a year to £7000 for those based in Europe, and to £3750 for the rest of the world. Members are also required to pay £65,000 on joining, refundable when they leave. Clint Eastwood and Sean Connery might be able to afford it but I certainly can’t!
In fairness the Loch Lomond setting is slightly different (!) from that at Cotgrave, but it does demonstrate that location can still play a massive part in the value of property. But exclusivity has an influence too. In this case a very significant amount!
The alternative is for Connery and Eastwood to put their joining fees together and buy some real estate at Cotgrave….there are 36 holes so they could afford a hole each!
Accidents will happen…
As you know if you read my blog I have been in the Isle of Wight for the weekend – and pretty much out of the way of news (the Argos Wind Up radio I bought is absolute rubbish).
It's not a game anymore?
But when travelling back it is clear that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico remains a massive global story. And the intervention of Obama keeps this story high on a news editors desk. Yesterdays demand was that BP should cancel their dividend and place the money in a compensation fund. The money spent so far on the clean up is £1.1bn.
This looked as though this was turning into a ‘who can wee higher on the wall’ match – Obama or Cameron. Obama seems to think that this is a British Company who should be hung out to dry – comparing it to 9/11. To an extent – they have been. Their share price has almost halved since the disaster struck.
And then on the Radio came Jeremy Vine – and a call in about ‘Health and Safety’ . Sometimes I think the whole subject area is too soft a target to join in the sport on my blog. But there was a golden nugget. A lady called in to say that she had a verge in front of her house. The council had not really maintained it, so she started to do so. But you have guessed that it’s not that simple! She needs to wear a high-viz vest, cone that area off and have a watch-out! This is clearly complete madness.
We need to be aware about accidents. And, where we can, we need to try and prevent them. But, we must also realise that accidents will happen – no matter how much we try to protect against them. They will happen when we try to make progress (this does not include cutting the grass).
Living is inherently dangerous – but it still seems quite popular compared to the alternative.
So, I return to the BP story. This was an accident. It is tragic – and no one can take away from this. It will have affected peoples livelihoods. It is an environmental disaster like no other. Playing the blame game doesn’t really move us much further forward.
The oil being drilled for is needed to fuel our (theirs too?) reliance on carbon fuel. We are looking at alternatives – but we still need fuel oil for the forseeable future.
I went many years ago to see the memorial to the astronauts who lost their lives on board the Space Shuttle Challenger. It was a catastrophic. An accident. But the Space Shuttle programme goes on. We still explore our surroundings – near and far. We still push the boundaries.
What is important is that lessons are learned. That happened after the Shuttle. It needs to happen after the problems at the Deepwater Horizon site.
There is another choice – we can wrap ourselves in a giant cotton wool ball and ‘stick’ at where we are. The only problem is that someone will probably have an allergic reaction to the cotton…
Slumming it on the Isle of Wight …
Well I am back home after a long weekend – on the Isle of Wight and close to nature! In my tent! After a very smooth cruise-liner type crossing courtesy of Red Funnel and a short drive to the mother of all car parks!
Pink flies at the Isle of Wight 2010
As I blogged about last week, I went to my seventh Isle of Wight Music Festival. This is the highlight of the musical calendar! I go with my old mate Jeremy – and we do this properly!
In the preceding six years we had minutes of rain – but the record was bound to be broken. It rained when we arrived and on the last night – leaving Glastonbury type mud in the ‘high traffic’ areas.
The portable luxury hotel (mine has two rooms) is home for four days. Showers are sponsored by Evian. The toilets at the festival site are not exactly ‘Fairtrade‘. They are quite basic – actually just below basic. Think hole in the ground – but worse. So the top gear top tip is to walk into Newport and get a healthy breakfast at Quay Arts – and use their fine facilities!
As for the music – the brilliant included The Members, Squeeze, Suzi Quatro (utterly brilliant!), Spandau Ballet (no really!), Florence & The Machine (barking mad), Bombay Bicycle Club, Biiffy Clyro, Vampire Weekend, Blondie and James.
Blondie struts her stuff
The average included Crowded House (who despite having one, lost the crowd) and The Editors (who were a bit too sure of themselves). The very average, for me, was Jay-Z. I did listen for 10 minutes and that is my ration for a lifetime!
There has always been a surprise at the show – and the surprise was Pink. It’s not my kind of music, but I have to admit that the ‘show’ she puts on is amazing. It is pure theatre – and she clearly has some issues with getting a ‘rush’. The show starts when she drops out of a box suspended above the stage, she comes out into the crown in a giant hamster wheel and then at the end of the show ‘flies out into the crowd! Great fun – I have no idea what the music was like though.
The headline was Sir Paul McCartney. After a slow start he seemed to hit the spot with some Beatles numbers and the show then got going. The high point was ‘Live & Let Die‘ which was fantastic. I promised myself not to come away singing ‘Hey Jude’…
The whole line-up was an eclectic mix, but overall one of the best.
Oren, Ginger and Jez at the Isle of Wight
The great news is that although we are a little bit older than the average person there – we met a great couple who were over from Mexico. They were staying on the Island with friends – and had pushed their way to the front before Spandau Ballet. It was Oren’s 80th birthday – and his stainless steel knee and ‘pinned and screwed’ spine didn’t stop him and his wife, Ginger, dancing around.
Fantastic – and there is hope for me (and Jez) yet!
2010 – the year of the ageing rockers – and their fans?
Fairtrade – no longer a fad?
I am not sure that the Fairtrade movement was ever a fad – and if it was perceived as such the principles behind it are certainly not!
Their website proclaims:
Our vision is of a world in which justice and sustainable development are at the heart of trade structures and practices so that everyone, through their work, can maintain a decent and dignified livelihood and develop their full potential.
I had not realsied that the organisation had been around for quite so long. You can read the history on their website here. I have a couple of clients who are completely wedded to the principles – one a retailer in the North-West and the other a University. Green & Blacks chocolate was the first branded goods in the UK – and it still tastes good.
I heard Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Foundation, on Radio 4 at the weekend – and her aim plan was to remind people that behind our cup of coffee are people who have picked the beans. She also suggested that the Fairtrade brand has been quite resilient to the recession – once you know about something you can’t un-know it! People haven’t gone back to the cheap food in general terms.
Mark Price, Head of Waitrose has suggested that Fairtrade will one day be as common as expecting a clean supermarket.
It was good to hear of the success of some villages in Rwanda where they now have a Bank! And hairdressers – I smiled, but it is serious, these are things we take for granted.
I do my bit for Fairtrade – Starbucks coffee is all Fairtrade! And I contribute a lot – I am guessing I have bought that Bank… and well on my way to another!
