Rail Replacement

Two words that bring into the imagination all that is good and bad. But what are these words, I hear you ask dear reader. Dare you ask? Are you ready? 

Train Replacement Bus Service

The four dreaded words emblazoned in glowing letters on a bus as it drives down the rural country lanes with dark, tall, ancient woodlands either side at night. The darkened double decker barrels down the road, pitching over the potholes while passengers precariously perusing paperback pulp. 

I remember being on a train from London Charing Cross bound for Battle. Independent and living in Battle. But I had to get back and the train slid to a halt outside of Sevenoaks. An announcement came on the tannoy, some coaches would take us from Sevenoaks to the other stations. You could imagine the drivers being woken from a Sunday evening siesta. The train moved, inching its way towards the terminal frontier of Kent. Three coaches for a whole train. This was pre-Covid. I think it was even before smartphones. As I found out as the coach came to a grinding halt outside of Sevenoaks but four miles south instead of North. The coach driver knew nothing as he gleefully told us he worked in the office. After 10 minutes of this, I walked out of the coach and said I was getting a taxi, anyone want to join me? The silence was deafening as they retired behind their papers and paperbacks. 

A walk to a newsagent in the next town, one down from the terminal train terminus. To get the information for a taxi. It would cost £90 to get home. Expensive but I could ask Network South East, possibly, and so just as we head off, taxi and I, with a vehicle big enough to take another six people. All empty seats awaiting the souls of all but one of the dwarfs (or is it dwarves, just like roofs and rooves). But then there was a call on the taxi driver's phone. Could we pick up some people from a coach up the road. Inwardly I chuckled, I had told the driver about what happened and I said yes to collecting them. 

By the end of the night and knowing more about the driver, we had dropped off six grateful passengers close to their homes, they paid their way and with a generous too and my travel to Battle paid back. I was left with £50. 

What did I learn from this, never look at a gift horse in the mouth when it is outside of a locked stable. 

Cherry Blossom over water

Cherry blossom fallen on a trickling low pressure fountain in a stone vessel. The constant sound of moving water certainly helps if it is situated closed to the staff toilets. 

But why does the sound of trickling water, descending over wet rocks, crashing over a waterfall help people to urinate?  

Starting Again 9th of May 2021 - scenes never photographed

A couple of days ago, Friday, after getting the second Covid jab. Given early'ish for carers. I had the Asta-Zeneca jab if you wanted to know. Listening to the radio, once again if you wanted to know - it was Radio 2, and Taylor Swift's Shake it off was playing. So I stop in front of the train crossing, the red lights flashing and no train in sight. The gates had already descended but they were shaking up and down. As if in time with the music. 

It is one of those times, that you wish you had a photograph or maybe a film camera. The gates bounced up and down, shaking it off. 

Things I have learnt yesterday #2 - The Localism Bill

The Localism Bill is sponsored by Eric Pickles MP and and Baroness Hanham from the Communities and Local Government department is aimed at devolving (transferring or delegating power to a lower level) greater powers to councils, neighbourhoods and by giving the local community more control over housing and planning decisions.

The Localism Bill has four main measures:

• New flexibilities and freedoms for the local government
• New powers and rights for communities and individuals
• Reform to ensure the decisions about housing are taken locally
• Reform to make the planning system more democratic and more effective

Here is a plain English Guide to the Localism Bill, but it may well change and these changes can be found at this RSS feed.

The new proposals are briefly highlighted below and more detail can be found either in the plain English version here or in the longer Parliamentary versions here and are subject to Parliamentary debate.

New flexibilities and freedoms for the local government:

• Local authorities should be free to do anything - provided they don't break other laws
• Abolition of the Standards Board
• Clarifying the rules of predetermination
• Directly elected mayors

New powers and rights for communities and individuals

• Community right to challenge 
• Community right to buy (assets of community value)
• Local referendums
• Right to approve or veto excessive council tax rises

Reform to ensure the decisions about housing are taken locally

• Social housing tenure reform
• Social housing allocations reform
• Reform of homelessness legislation
• Reform of council housing finance
• National home swap scheme
• Reform of social housing regulation

Reform to make the planning system more democratic and more effective

• Abolition of regional strategies
• Neighbourhood planning
• Community right to build
• Requirement to consult communities before submitting very large planning applications
• Strengthening enforcement rules
• Reforming the community infrastructure levy and other finance considerations
• Reform the way local plans are made
• Duty to cooperate
• Nationally significant infrastructure projects

If you happen to a landowner or working for a land owner then you may be interested, with reference to the community's right to buy assets of community value, to know that both the NFU (National Farmer's Union) and the CLA (Country Land and Business Association) are working on the land owner's behalf. This article shows how the Localism Bill with its potential stance on the assets of community value may affect future property sales and that the NFU "believe could amount to state interference in an owner’s right to dispose of property as he wishes." 

The article continues to state, "Briefly, this would require a local authority to keep a list of land and buildings which are considered of community benefit. If the owner of a property on that list wanted to sell it, he would have to notify the authority. There would then be a moratorium on the sale to give ‘community groups' the opportunity to raise the capital to enable them to bid for the property. As currently worded, there would be no compulsion on the owner to sell to such a community group."

The NFU are working "to restrict the definition of what constitutes an asset of community value". Other articles on the NFU website with reference to the Localism Bill can be found here.

The CLA are also working for landowners as this article shows and the "CLA president William Worsley said: “These proposals will not work in practice and will discourage landowners from providing land and buildings to be used by their local communities.”" The article goes on to state "Mr Worsley said: “As a result the owner will lose the chance to sell or transfer his property at a time of his or her own choosing, which will make it much harder to plan ahead or take advantage of unexpected opportunities. It is very bad news for rural businesses." More articles from the CLA website regarding the Localism Bill can be found here.

Just today, the 5th of August, a tweet by CommunitiesUK DCLG .@EricPickles says new public property map could save councils billions bit.ly/oHhuZX #transparency #opendata - the full article can be found here with a demonstration map of council's assets. 

So what is a community asset? This article helps to define what a community asset may be and Section 3.7 of this article states, "When considering whether a nominated building or piece of land constitutes an asset of community value, a local authority could consider whether the nominated land or building ‘furthers the social, economic, or environmental wellbeing or interests of the local community’. As for the final definition, I fear only time will tell. I welcome your thoughts.

Things I have learnt yesterday #1

The NetRegs website that provides guidance on environmental legislation and topics is starting to move its information towards the Business Link website, more news can be found here on what is moving and when that information is moving.

I hadn't realised that the Peter Parker version of Spiderman has died, it happened in Ultimate Fallout #3 and the spidey powers will be passed on to a half black and half Latino character called Miles Morales according to the Wall Street Journal. But before we all get too excited, the Ultimate imprint from Marvel is set in an alternate world and the photographically minded protagonist is still alive and spinning stories in Marvel's regular universe.

Iraq invaded Kuwait on the 2nd of August in 1990, which led to the first Gulf War. This war ended on the 28th of February 1991. The war led to the use of Gulf War syndrome, uses of depleted uranium and scud missiles in everyday conversation and three examples of environmental catastrophes came out of the war - these were Draining of the Qurna Marshes, the Gulf War Oil Spill and the Kuwaiti Oil Fires.

Before the latest campaign in Afghanistan, the English have had a history of conflicts with this country. In 1839 to 1842, the first Anglo-Afghan war was seen as one of the first conflicts in the power struggle between Russia and the United Kingdom. The second Anglo-Afghan war was started when both Russia and Great Britain sent uninvited diplomatic missions to the Aghanistan Amir - Sher Ali Khan - the latter mission retreated as it approached the eastern end of the Khyber Pass and this ignited the second conflict. The third Anglo-Afghan war started as Afghan troops entered the western end of the Khyber Pass and captured the town of Bagh, which provided water for Landi Kotal.

The Art of Rural Estate Managment Chapter 1

Based on the seminal volume by Sun Tzu and translated by Dr. Lionel Giles with apologies to both and a copuy of the original document can be found at http://www.artofwarsuntzu.com/Art%20of%20War%20PDF.pdf

1. It can be said: The art of rural estate management is of vital importance to the country, both the rural and the sovereignty

2. This is a subject that includes life, death and growth. It can be seen as both a science and an art, which includes both equal measures of inquiry and guesswork and can be on no account be neglected.

3. The art of rural estate management, then, is governed by eight factors, which must be taken into account in one’s deliberations when seeking the conditions of developing the rural estate.

4. These are in alphabetical order: (1) Agriculture; (2) Business Management; (3) Environmental and Woodland Management; (4) Law; (5) Rural Planning, Development & Construction; (6) Rural Policy Implementation; (7) Rural Professional Practice; (8) Rural Valuation .

5. There are many governing bodies who you can rely and report to, the greatest being the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV).

6. It should be also stated that moral law causes us, the people, to be in complete accord with out rulers. This is understandably quite hard at the current time of writing.

7. Rural estate management is overruled by two major components: The Skies and the Earth.

8. The Sky brings on day and night, warmth and coldness, the heat and the precipitation and seasons.

9. The Earth adds danger, death, disease, distances, diversification and many other words not beginning with the letter D including life and profit.

10. The Rural estate manager should stand for the virtues of benevolence, courage, sincerity, strictness, sustainability and wisdom.

11. By discipline, education and method are to be understood if the rural estate manager is to understand and use the five concepts of the warrior as described by Sun Tzu.

12. These five concepts; the leadership, management, terrain, seasons and the way of the rural estate manager. He or she, as we live in enlightened times, who know these will be victorious and will not fail.

13. Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the management conditions, let them be made the basis of a comparison, using these statements:

a. Are you leading the rural market field with your estate’s objectives?

b. Are you managing the estate within the parameters set by the employer, the Sky and the Earth?

c. Does the Earth provide an advantage to your development? If so reap the rewards and the field.

d. At times your decision, as a rural estate manager, will be divided by your employer and government legislation. Side on the side whose discipline is more rigorously enforced.

e. At times your decision, as a rural estate manager, will be divided by your employer and government legislation. Side on the side who has the stronger resources.

f. At times your decision, as a rural estate manager, will be divided by your employer and government legislation. Side on the side who has the more highly trained staff.

g. If you wish to change position or gain a new rural estate management job, examine the current and potential firms to determine where there is greater constancy both in reward and punishment.

14. By means of the above statements, it is possible to forecast victory or defeat.

15. The rural estate manager that listens and heeds the advice above and below as well as the information dispersed in a RICS & CAAV registered course will conquer and be retained in rural estate management. The manager who does not do what I said above will suffer defeat and no doubt be dismissed from their current position of employment.

16. Whilst in your current position, whether assistant or manager, offer advice to others and heed others advice, choose which is useful.

17. The rural estate manager should look at the changing circumstances and allow their plans to be easily modified.

18. All business, like war, is based on deception. It shouldn’t be, but as rural estate managers, you will find this out, hopefully not to you or your business’ cost.

19. Hence, when developing a project, you must give the opposite appearance as for as long as you can; when using your resources, try to show a period of inactivity; if you are near you must appear far away and when you are far away you must appear near. Deception is known by many names, know them all.

20. Invest your time in finding out who your competition or employer is and find their weaknesses.

21. If your competitor or employer is superior than you, evade them for the time being but remember to observe them and bide your time for a drop in their defences.

22. If your competition or employer has an irritable manner, then beware and pretend to be weak so that they may grow arrogant.

23. If your competition or employer are taking their ease then give them no rest; if their forces are united then bide your time before you try to separate them.

24. Provide knowledge when your competitor or employer is unprepared and appear where you are not expected.

25. Do not tell your competitor or employer of these deeds described above before the deed, if you do then your victory will be dulled.

26. Attempt to make the decisions in your head before the meeting and a success will be gained. The rural estate manager who loses a development project will have made few cranial calculations beforehand. The amount of these calculations and decisions are related to the success or failure of any decision. Choose wisely.

Chapter Two (not so much this time as I am on the road)

So the lack of pigmentation in the hair follicles by my temples that only appeared in one mirror was clearly a sign that something was afoot. But then I saw what I thought were wrinkles in the skin around my eyes, a pair of crow’s feet at the corner of each eye; a sunken hollow around each eye socket; long latitudinal furrows across my brow. You could say that I was already aged and why was I worrying about these cranial crinkles, surely I should be getting used to them especially at my age and at this point in my career.

I wasn’t so worried about the formation of these features but it was how they became more exaggerated in the mirror in the flat at home. The mirror at work showed the usual dulled effects of the lined around the creases of my face, however after coming back from work I would be able to see that the lines had increased in width and depth, they exhibited an slightly darker pinkish hue as if they have recently been excavated by a lone archaeologist digging preliminary excavation trenches. I would rub the tips of my fingers along the grooves and as I looked at my reflection I saw that an accumulation of debris appeared on the skin. Yet, if I drew my attention away from that polished reflective surface I would gain a better view of my finger s and there would be no remains of what I thought may have been skin.

So I think to myself, “You know when you suddenly look at yourself in a mirror you see something that you hadn’t seen before, well maybe this is just the same with the wrinkles, the creases, the furrows…It’s a bit like that picture of the naked girl that leans back on her legs with her hand through her hair, however, if you were to look at it in a slightly different perspective you would see the profile of a moustachioed professor, some even say Dr. Freud. You know the one, they used to be sold as postcards from Athena, you know the poster shop – the one on a corner of two streets in Canterbury, near the Butter Market. And it was a black and white postcard that would slowly turn yellow with age.” As I thought these things, I also thought to myself, “I never used to talk to myself like this, bloody hell!”

I pulled open a drawer in the desk that acted as a sideboard and a place for storing congealed cereal in bowls from hastily eaten breakfasts, I extracted an old diary and opened it to the first of those blank pages at the end where you can write your own notes. I decided to keep a record of these mystery apparitions, these facial fallacies if such a thing exists.

Grey hairs
Crow’s feet
Hollowed eye sockets
Forehead furrows

Nothing much to be worried about that surely some hair colourant and a tube of skin cream could sort out. Or that is what I thought until I woke up on Saturday morning. (Tomorrow's posting to come)

I can now added hidden and some not so hidden patches of psoriasis. It has left my elbows and knees migrating to the scalp, ears, eyebrows and eyelids.