Blogs

I have received a response to a query I forwarded to DEFA (MInister Mr G Boot MHK) last month concerning the element of engagement his Department has had with the United Kingdom over the new build nuclear power station at Moorside adjacent to the Sellafield site. I forwarded a similar query to the Irish government at the same time (link):

https://www.facebook.com/crowndependencypoliticalnews/posts/186025292399...

Alf Cannan MHK the current Manx Treasury Minister and COMIN - the Isle of Man's resident political Dad's Army - are set to go head to head with the Law Society.

As part of Alfs SAVE initiative he is rolling out a Public Defender System (PBS) which would effectively replace the provision of Legal Aid in criminal cases:

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/law-society-doubts-legal...

SAD FOOTNOTES FROM HISTORY - WHO CARES?

Kate Beecroft MHK is rediscovering the past! She is effectively becoming the ‘Mary Beard’ of recent Manx political history.

She is garnering her knowledge from a blog which outlines the goings on surrounding Mount Murray development two decades ago and has moved on to the Sefton and Ferguson Lacey et al.

But what is the point? It’s hardly ‘The Nazis a Lesson From History’! Picking over the bones of this ‘past’ will hardly make a good stew let alone land anyone at the International Criminal Court!

Research by the tourist attraction Edinburgh Dungeon has found a majority of Scots (72%), would support a day to celebrate William Wallace with 42% declaring him "the bravest Scot ever". This has now led them to launch a campaign to introduce a new national holiday to William Wallace. The survey was conducted across Scotland online by Censuswide between June 8 and 11. During the Campaign votes will be taken via social media polls @EdinDungeon for the National Wallace Day.

Wetherspoon's News magazine Summer 2018 edition carries a full page article on the Cornish St Piran celebrations at its 10 pubs in Cornwall.

The woolly mammoth is an extinct species of mammoth that lived during the Ice Age. Of all the prehistoric animals the appearance and behaviour of this species are among the best studied. This is due to the discovery of frozen carcasses in Siberia and Alaska, as well as skeletons, teeth and stomach contents. There are also depictions of the woolly mammoth from life in prehistoric cave paintings. The woolly mammoth was well adapted to living in the cold environment experienced during the last ice age.

The Manx Hedgehog Conservation Society (MHCS) is asking that people help provide food and water for hedgehogs. This comes after a period of sustained hot and dry conditions on the Isle of Man (Mannin). On the Society facebook page they say: "HEDGEHOGS NEED FOOD AND WATER !!!!

Prehistoric rock art is more commonly known as cup and ring markings. There are about 2,400 prehistoric carved rocks known in Scotland, such as those at Drumtroddan, and it is likely many more have yet to be discovered and recorded. Little is understood about why they were made or what they meant to the people that carved them. They date back over 5,000 years, and were created by the people that lived in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age.

Gwrych Castle is a Grade I listed 19th-century country house near Abergele in Conwy County Borough (Welsh: Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy), in the north of Wales. The castle was built between 1810 and 1822. During World War Two, it housed 200 Jewish refugee children as part of Operation Kindertransport. The house had been open to the public until 1985, but after being closed it went into decline. It was bought in 1989 by an American businessman but plans to renovate the building didn't progress. The castle was looted, vandalised and reduced to a derelict shell.

On 6th June 2018 Queensferry Crossing was named as "Project of the Decade" at the Ground Engineering (GE) award ceremony. The bridge opened on 30 August 2017 and was formally opened on 4 September 2017. It one of ten projects shortlisted in a special category to mark the GE Award’s 10th anniversary.