The Diary of a Country Bumpkin

I was on Facebook and I came upon a post showing the ingenious way people overcame problems in a previous time, the following is a brief explanation of what’s going on.

The 1959 photograph of children crossing a river using pulleys on their way to school in Italy is a remarkable snapshot of ingenuity and resilience in rural education. The scene likely depicts children using a makeshift pulley system to traverse a river, reflecting both the simplicity and effectiveness of traditional methods for daily tasks.

I commented thus;

And kids nowadays think they are stressed and have mental heath issues when being driven 200 yards to school in a massive 4×4 vehicle.

There followed the usual discussion one has on Facebook, suffice to say most of the comments seemed to be in agreement we me, however there is always the opposing point of view.

Opposing views.

I don’t think you have any idea of the mental health issues todays kids face.

No child of mine would be doing that.

I replied.

Would you not send them to school?

Someone else replied.

She could home school.

I responded.

 I would imagine in a small community in Italy in 1959 home schooling would not have been an option, nor very popular with friends and neighbours. I could be wrong of course but having gone to school in those days the only person I ever heard of being home schooled was the Queen.

There followed more comments along the lines of; we had to dig through a 12 foot snow drift to get to school etc etc, however the thing that was most apparent was the difference between some of todays parents who would not have let their children use this pulley system to cross a river to get their children to school and those in 1959 who seemed to take this in their stride.

You would be taking a risk if you walked to school if you had to cross the road but in this day and age it seems too many parents are opting for the safer method of delivery in a massive 4×4 motor vehicle, which seems a shame as it must effect the young children’s outlook towards risk assessment.

I’m wondering if there is a shortage of applicants to be a spaceman, submarine captain, circus tightrope walker, or lion tamer and I fear some of these will become lost skills, especially that of lion tamer!

I was watching the rather marvellous Dam Busters film this afternoon, the true story of Barnes Wallis, 617 Squadron the Dam Busters and Guy Gibson’s black Labrador dog who is apparently now called Trigger.

I just hope that when they are teaching history in school to our modern generation of children who seem to believe everything without question, the teachers try to be a tad more accurate than the now dubbed Dam Busters film about the bloody dog’s name.

I just received the following email concerning Burgh Island which looks like rather good news, one has to hope this means that this rather splendid Art Deco hotel is now safe from being sold to a large hotel group with no idea how to run this sort of establishment.

It was bad enough what has happened to the Midland Hotel in Morecambe and would have been doubly tragic had we lost Burgh Island too. Now, all I have to do is save up in an attempt to visit next year.

I wish them all the good luck for the future.

Dear Burgh Island Guests,

It is now almost exactly one year ago since I wrote to let you know that Burgh Island was going to be put on the market. I am now absolutely delighted to let you know that it is now officially off the market again. The owners and custodians of the last 6 years ultimately found it too hard to part with our magical island despite offers. This was wonderful news for the team at Burgh!

Giles Fuchs, the owner, has announced that he will instead be investing significant amounts in order to further enhance and elevate both the décor and the services. We are therefore now very happy to confirm our commitment to further adding to the authenticity and service which I know you enjoy so much about your visits.

Kati Latchford, our previous Hotel Manager also could not stay away and has recently rejoined us, so we have a complete line up comprising of Vlad, Simon, Symi, Lilly and Kati all looking forward to welcoming you back!

We hope to see you soon.

With kindest regards

Penny Brown

Managing Director

We went to Twinwood festival over the weekend and had a splendid time as usual barring the rather inclement weather on the Saturday the Gods were almost shining on us.

As for a brief hotel report, we stayed at the Bedford Swan which had a rather interesting looking building, however the car park was smaller than it looked on Google maps and the wedding reception in the restaurant meant the car park was full up, not a good start but luckily I didn’t take the Bentley which is as big as an oil tanker and after popping out to check over the course of the evening I eventually found a space for the Jag.

Next step dinner, although this plan was slightly marred as the restaurant was fully booked due to the wedding party, however there was a Nandos some thirty feet from the front door of the hotel so at least we didn’t have to walk miles to find some grub.

Now, my main criteria with regard to hotel facilities are, firstly a car park space, secondly a bar/restaurant and thirdly a clean bedroom, so on the basis that they only scored one out of three the Bedford Swan will not go on my list of favourite hotels to visit. We were though considerably better off than some of the people who were camping at the event, at least our bedroom didn’t blow away in the night.

Three days spent shopping for vintage clothes, dancing meeting friends and generally enjoying ourselves, what more could we ask and I think the following photo with friends, Anna, Angella, Shirl and Amy proves the point. We now have two weeks to get sorted for the Goodwood Revival, we are very lucky!

I was rather surprised when I received an email with publicity for Vintage by the Sea and even more surprised when I scrolled down and came across an image of Angella and myself tripping the light fantastic from last years event.

Now, it’s many a year since I did my last photographic job but even then the minimum payment was £100.00 per hour, so all I can say is, I look forward to receiving my cheque in the post!

A few days ago I copied a post on Facebook where Keir Starmer was attacking the Conservative government and he mentioned the case of a poor old lady who couldn’t afford to put the heat on as her pension was so meagre and had to wear some sort of thermal jumper all day to keep warm.

I imagine many of you may have seen this, as I was not the only one to post this film clip by any means, however all of a sudden the post has been deleted stating;

This content isn’t available at the moment

When this happens, it’s usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it, or it’s been deleted.

I was a little peeved that the post was deleted and left the following comment by way of an explanation to anyone who might come across the post and wonder why the film content was missing.

THIS CONTENT IS NOT AVAILABLE AT THE MOMENT, HOWEVER I SHARED IT WITH EVERYBODY, I HAVEN’T CHANGED WHO CAN SEE IT AND YET IT HAS BEEN DELETED. NOW IF I DIDN’T DELETE IT, I HAVE TO WONDER WHY IT WAS DELETED AND ALSO WHO DELETED IT?

I suppose there may be an element of copyright, but as the film clip was already in the public domain I have to look for another explanation and the only answer I can come up with is; this shows Keir Starmer as extremely hypocritical, whilst pretending to care about this old pensioner, the first thing his government does is to remove the winter fuel payments from pensioners, an action which has caused much anger on social media.

The worrying thing about the missing post with the film clip is the fact that mine is not the only post with this content that has been deleted, it appears to have been taken off the face of the earth. Now I don’t want to get too alarmist but who has the power to remove content like this across the board, surely this can’t be the work of some Stasi or KGB like secret government department.

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU….. OO-ER MISSUS!

Following on from my previous post concerning our sad departure from the once iconic Midland Hotel in Morecambe, I was requested by Tripadvisor to leave a review which I felt duty bound to do in an effort to inform future guests of the sad decline of this hotel.

The following is my review and is fairly typical of the majority of reviews, which are complaining of the dreadful decline in the standard of service, cleanliness and general lack of awareness of what is required by the majority of hotel guests. I have to say some of the other reviews are considerably more critical than mine.

Sad decline of the Midland Hotel.

Unfortunately, since the takeover by the Inn Collection the standard of virtually everything about this hotel has deteriorated, no longer is reception staffed, check in is at the bar. The service for dinner has no proper waitress service nor table cloths, food has to be ordered at the bar in a cheap pub chain style. Both the exterior and the interior are now very shabby, £285.00 for one night B&B is far too expensive for service like this. I have to say I feel terribly sorry for the staff who all know how badly things are now at this once iconic hotel and yet carry on doing their best to give good service handcuffed by this awful management policy. At these prices the Midland is not a cheap pub chain and should not therefore be offering that inferior type of service. I can only hope that sometime in the future the hotel is once again taken over, this time by someone who knows how to run it properly.

Tripadvisor has used Artificial Intelligence to bring together an amalgam of all the reviews available for the Midland Hotel, as I imagine they may do for all the properties they review, the following is the artificial intelligence version of the Midland.

Tripadvisor AI review of the Midland.

The Midland Hotel garners acclaim for its exceptional service and stunning seafront location, though the town’s investment shortfall is noted. While the rooms’ sea views and unique design are highlights, guests have reported issues with temperature control and upkeep. Noise can be disruptive, from road traffic to barking dogs. The cleanliness generally impresses, but some areas require deeper attention. Opinions on the atmosphere are divided; some appreciate the modern flair, while others long for the classic vibe. The shift to pricier pub-style dining has left some questioning the value. Amenities with scenic views are consistently praised.

If this is the best artificial intelligence can do, I strongly advise anyone looking to choose a hotel to completely ignore the AI version, which is rather like the Eric Morecambe version; “all the right words, but not necessarily in the right order!”

I shall finish by uploading a library image of what this wonderful hotel used to look like in better days.

My post today should be about our trip to the Forties event in Morecambe but it has turned into our final sad goodbye to the once magnificent Art Deco Midland hotel and I have to say my anger that it has come to this.

The Midland Hotel was literally the shining jewel in Morecambe’s crown but as you can see from this image there is very little shining going on here and the interior is just as bad, we have sadly chosen to give up the unequal struggle of supporting this hotel and are here pictured waving goodbye.

This all stems from the takeover of the hotel by the Inn Collection who have effectively ruined this hotel, no longer are you greeted by two members of staff behind the reception desk with the imposing sculpture by Eric Gill behind, although the sculpture and the desk remain, the staff have disappeared to be replaced by a sign requesting sign in at the bar.

As for the previous waitress service for dinner, gone are the fine white table cloths and attentive staff to be replaced by a Bernie Inn style of picking a table number and going to the bar to order from the new menu which is mostly pub grub food, the only exception was the offering of a steak option. We chose to decline their offerings and found a fish and chip shop down the road with far superior food.

You may say I am being a little picky and this is the modern way and perhaps you would be right, were it not for the fact that one is still paying £285.00 for one nights bed and breakfast accommodation, where once again the standard of the food and service were not up to the standard when the previous owners were in charge.

However, the weekend was not a total loss, for we came up for the forties weekend which although being a rather small affair was very enjoyable, including the pipe band.

Together with meeting friends, vintage clothes shopping, watching the ukulele band and coming to the dance in the evening we amused ourselves as usual.

Lastly and with a tear in our eyes we said our final goodbyes to Eric Morecambe and left, never to return with just one thought in my head……………The Inn Collection, you should hang your heads in shame for what you have done to the Midland Hotel in Morecambe. RIP.

Roger Hallam, founder of the Just Stop Oil protest group was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment together with four other defendants who each received four-year jail terms.

In November 2022 forty-five Just Stop Oil protesters climbed gantries on the M25 motorway in, forcing police to stop the traffic on parts of the motorway for four days in an attempt to cause gridlock across southern England.

Judge Christopher Hehir said Roger Hallam, 58, Daniel Shaw, 38, Louise Lancaster, 58, Lucia Whittaker De Abreu, 35, and Cressida Gethin, 22, had “crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic”.

At Southwark Crown Court, Hallam was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment while the other defendants each received four-year jail terms.

It seems Roger Hallam was somewhat unrepentant, having caused chaos and pollution, endangering lives by stopping ambulances from getting through and generally being a right pain in the arse by stopping vast numbers of the general public from going about their lawful business.

He made a statement in court where he whinged on for some considerable time before the Judge told him to stop, as he was wasting his time.

At last, a punishment that fits the crime.

I just came across a post on Facebook which said, major new housing project in the East Midlands, which prompted me to consider the matter and come up with some thoughts which may help in regard to the housing problem.

I don’t understand why we need all these houses, everywhere I go there are new villages and even towns being built and it takes forever to get anywhere nowadays due to all these people being on the roads, I hate to think what it will be like if they build millions more.

Allegedly, all the young people are unable to buy a house, so one wonders who’s going to buy the ruddy things, unless of course the young stop having a new car and an expensive holiday every year and new clothes every week and actually save up for a deposit.

I’ve got to an age where nothing makes sense any more. Now that everyone works from home the new houses don’t need to be built in the heavily populated areas, there’s tons of space elsewhere, although having looked at a map and seen where I have been over the last few years, where I have noticed the plethora of current building projects, it seems the only places I haven’t been where they might put the new houses is anywhere north of Yorkshire or Cumbria, or perhaps Wales, but even that seemed a little crowded when I happened to go there by mistake one weekend.

So, to sum up, everywhere I’ve been is quite full up, although I’m led to believe there is plenty of room in the wilds of Scotland.

I hope this information will be of some use to the new Government when planning all the new housing.