Blogs

Next year marks the fortieth anniversary of ‘Operation Tân’ a notorious police crackdown in Wales in 1979/80 which was targeted indiscriminately at nationalists because police were totally in the dark about a Welsh Nationalist direct action campaign which involved the targeting of holiday homes.

There is the usual chaos and carnage as the Isle of Man TT 2018 is in full swing. Deaths and injuries are of course the norm almost expected these days but an added dimension is bikes crashing into cars on the course. In addition sat navs are definitely not de rigueur as folk seem determined to go against the one way flow on the mountain section. Added to this year's ‘diversions’ an irreverent spectator who failed to move when directed by marshals his punishment was severe no more TT for him. He is however probably in the safest place for the TT period.

Obviously things work differently at the BBC but but when I was a official for the old TGWU if I had an important off Island appointment I usually went the day before so as to ensure punctuality in case of any difficulty with flights.

BBC officials due to appear before a select committee of Tynwald however failed to materialise on time today because flights were cancelled although even the BBC weather was predicting mists over the UK yesterday (link):

I’ve received a reply (from the Cabinet Office) to my query about the changes to the manner in which Manx RPI is calculated on the Island it's clear that the change occurred by diktat rather that with Tynwald approval. The government of course used the ‘cover’ of a ‘consultation’.

My original query was reported on Crown Dependency News:

https://www.facebook.com/crowndependencypoliticalnews/posts/185579325777...

Golowan Festival – Penzance town centre

(Cornish: Gool - 'feast day' & Jowann - 'John' so 'Feast Day of John')

15 June 2018 to 24 June 2018

Golowan is just one example of a much wider Midsummer European tradition.

The ancient festival was first described by Dr William Borlase in 1754 in his book Antiquities of Cornwall:

Each year Redruth celebrates its most famous citizen, inventor William Murdoch (1754 – 1839) when the town is packed with events and entertainment throughout the day for the whole family. Murdoch, although not born in Cornwall, is revered locally as a mechanical genius who improved the efficiency of steam engines in Cornwall’s tin mines.

He was also a pioneer of gas lighting and famed for building Britain’s first working model of a steam carriage which he demonstrated in and around Redruth in 1784.

This week, in 1865, the converted tea clipper Mimosa set sail to establish a Welsh speaking colony called in Welsh ‘Y Wladfa’ (‘The Colony’), in the valley of the Chubut River in Patagonia in Argentina. The Mimosa, embarked from Liverpool on 28 May 1865 with 153 emigrants aboard. They sailed to the coast of Patagonia, an area of Argentina which had by this time declared its independence from Spain in 1810. In the 1880s, a further colony was established in the foothills of the Andes and this was called ‘Cwm Hyfryd’ (‘Pleasant Valley’).  

The Irish public have voted overwhelmingly in favour of abortion law reform in a referendum. The final result was 66.4% in favour and 33.6% against reform. At the present time in Ireland the Eighth Amendment grants an equal right to life to the mother and unborn and abortion is only allowed when a woman's life is at risk. The referendum has now given the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland) a strong mandate to introduce the legislation to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.

Now in its thirteenth year, Praying the Keeills Week (Goaill Padjer ec ny Shenn Chialteenyn) provided a week-long programme of events designed to celebrate the Isle of Man's Celtic heritage, with an opportunity to visit some of these ancient chapels which are located across the length and breadth of the Island.

An extensive programme offered a variety of walks together with a coach tour and an illustrated lecture, but this year there was also an opportunity to see examples from the Methodist Modern Art Collection, currently being exhibited on the Island.

Towns across the Scottish Borders are about to begin the annual season of Common Ridings and festivals. Common Riding is an annual event celebrated in Scottish Border towns and other locations. It is a tradition that dates back to the lawless times of the 13th and 14th centuries. Being on the border there was not only the continual land border wars with England to contend with, but the need for protection against other clans. It was necessary in those times for riders to protect the clan's boundaries, or "marches".