Boulmer and Alnwick

[ORAC]

Lucky old Boulmer, living next to the best place in the country1 :D

Must have improved. Mind you, the second hand bookshop in the old station is good; and you can do a fair old pub crawl.

The Times:

Alnwick hailed as best place to live
By Patrick Barkham

IT WAS once a violent border town with impoverished citizens and poor sanitation. But stunning scenery, clean air, low house prices and a bustling centre — not to mention the “Hogwarts” castle of Harry Potter fame — now make Alnwick, Northumberland, the best place to live in Britain.
While most Britons must cope with congested cities and characterless suburbs, the good life is to be found in country towns, according to a survey by Country Life magazine.

It rated Midhurst in West Sussex as second best.

Clive Aslet, the editor of the magazine, said they had assessed measurable criteria such as pollution, crime rates and local amenities. “I don’t think many people would be particularly surprised to find no cities on the list,” he said.

London scored highly in terms of entertainment and culture, but dismally on traffic, noise and light pollution. Many villages lacked crucial services, while towns in southern England fell short because of soaring house prices.

“We did think it important for it to be a real community. Some places in the South are now one-class ghettos because of the high house prices.”

Alnwick has a rush hour which lasts from 5.01pm to 5.09pm, but the judges ruled that it was “no chocolate-box fantasy of rural living”. Although not rich, it has a thriving local economy and good transport links.

It was not always so. Charles Hindley, the 19th-century social reformer, described the town as lacking in sanitation and full of uncouth “feudal customs”, including “stocks, bull-baiting, cock-fighting (and) the kicking of football in the open streets”.

But the present Mayor, Ken Gray, 65, said: “Alnwick is everything a person could want, a beautiful place to live.”

The one downside? Gus Odlin, landlord of the John Bull pub, said: “It does have its fair share of rain.”

[detgnome]

Has to be said that the Fighter Controllers loved Alnwick. Personally I, along with anyone else who had a life, preferred Newcastle. Having spent 8 months there I would have to say that there are few redeeming features to the place, although Oscars bar used to be good for lock ins!

[European Crash]

Surely the Tanners was aquite respectable night out; however I agree Newcastle is good for a run-ashore.

Can anyone confirm that RAF Boulmer (all sites) are part of the Duke of Northumberland's Estate - and the Duke therefore has some say over the height and finish of structures (or is this an 'urban myth'?). I remember the Duke's Estate Agent, Mr Evans-Freak, coming to some sort of sticky end in the mid 1990s over Boulmer.

[ORAC]

T'is true, he owns the land and had to approve the plans. Which is why the new Admin/Domestic build wasn't the usual cheap stuff. In fact, he owns most of Northumberland!

Which explains why the orders state that the Percy hunt has to allowed on to the site. The MOD must be breathing a sigh of relief with the banning of fox hunting.

It also explains why Alnmouth station is still open and Inter City trains go King's Cross-York-Newcastle-Alnmouth-Edinburgh.

When they built the line through Northumberland the then Duke agreed to allow it on his land if he got a station and that a set number of trains to/from London had to stop there each day. (I'm not sure if it was always Alnmouth or whether it took over from Alnwick when it closed).

During Beeching's cuts they tried to stop them, and the Duke told them if they did they'd have to close the East Coast line. They fought it - and lost. :D

[canberra]

have i missed something? when was fox hunting banned?

[ORAC]

Not present, but future - Regulation Bill (http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/foxman/currentsituation.htm).

Quote - Worst Case:

"The Government puts forward, in November 2002, a Bill banning hunting outright or one based on illogical prejudices about "utility". Then when it is amended by The Lords to allow hunting to continue (but controlled to eliminate unnecessary suffering etc.) the Government could invoke The Parliament Act in order to override The Lords. Please note that, under this Act, an overriding vote in The Commons has to be postponed to the next session which will start in November 2003. It follows that, if the Government wishes to follow this route and there is no legal challenge to the Bill and/or to the Parliament Acts, there could be a bill passed in Dec 2003 banning hunting from Dec 2004 at the latest".


And it came to pass

Sunday Times - 10th Nov:

Licensing system will be tactic to wipe out hunts
Eben Black and Jonathan Leake

MINISTERS plan a rigorous system of licensing for foxhunting likely to result in the disappearance of most hunts under proposals set to be announced in this week’s Queen’s speech.

Under the plans, hunts would be forced to seek licences, which they could get only if they passed two tests.

First, they would have to prove there was a need for hunting, meaning that the animal they hoped to pursue was a genuine pest. Second, they would have to show that hunting was the least cruel method of doing the job, proving that chasing it across miles of countryside was less cruel than shooting it.

Yesterday Alun Michael, the rural affairs minister, confirmed that the two principles of “utility and least cruelty” would be central to the legislation, on which MPs will have a free vote.

The proposals are seen as a skilful way of wiping out hunting piecemeal, without Labour getting the blame. The licence applications would be dealt with at local level, possibly by magistrates or local commissions, rather than by the government imposing a blanket ban.

[Marconi Boy]

Pick up your dancing shoes and head off to the Squash Club!!

That's post Oscars

PS Don't forget the Kabab Shop. Great for the internals.

PS Canberra. The thing you missed was promotion!! and for a number of years.

[alpha control]

Alnwick what a place, full of backward people with no life. Having spent a considerable time training at Boulmer I can tell you first hand it really is a dump. Unfortunatly for fighter controllers we spend most of our 2nd tour there, mind you most of them there are better off, its alot safer for everyone just being a controller on the sim. You know what they say if you cant do it, teach it!!!
See you all soon,
Regards AC.:)

[polyglory]

One of the saving graces was the Craister Kippers:)

[Prijon]

Alpha Control - I think that most of the branch would prefer if you kept your opinions to yourself.

[detgnome]

do I sense some infighting amongst our highly esteemed scopey brethren....?

....then again they don't really have much else to do.

[BEagle]

Have only visited the concrete dungeon of Boulmer a couple of times - anyone who has to work there has my total sympathy!

At least the A1 past Newcastle, across Yorkshire and onto the M1 is better these days though!

[Prijon]

Infighting? Only when people who have been in the branch for 2 secs start gobbing off! Right, I think that's off my chest.....