Monthly Archives: January 2014

Four tills good, five tills bad

Posted on 30/01/2014 by campaignerkate

At the end of last year Henley Waitrose was refurbished, and the row of check-outs for ‘one basket only’ was redesigned. Whoever did the redesign apparently didn’t give it much thought.  There are five tills.  You queue on the left … Continue reading →

Posted in Waitrose | 2 Comments

Futile and flawed

Posted on 26/01/2014 by campaignerkate

Buckinghamshire County Council claims not to have much money for public paths (see recent blog) but it does have the money to present its Filming on Highways Bill in Parliament.  The bill had its first reading in the House of Lords on … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Bucks, Open Spaces Society, Public paths, Ramblers | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Otmoor under water

Posted on 25/01/2014 by campaignerkate

I haven’t been anywhere much this year and my bird-list is dire, so today I went to Otmoor, east of Oxford, where the RSPB has rescued former MoD and agricultural land and made it into wetlands and reed-beds.  There is … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, Natural history, RSPB | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Farewell phone (1998-2011)

Posted on 24/01/2014 by campaignerkate

The time has come to part with my old Nokia mobile-phone.  It will be recycled for charity.  It served me well, from 1998 to 2011 when I took the giant leap to a smartphone.  I had to stick the plastic … Continue reading →

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The statutory duty must be done

Posted on 23/01/2014 by campaignerkate

A fortnight ago I joined other path-user representatives at a meeting with Bucks County Councillors to express our concerns about the threat to the county council’s rights-of-way budget and the transfer of part of the team to Ringway Jacobs (see previous … Continue reading →

Posted in Bucks, Public paths, riding, walking | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Herefordshire shoots itself in the foot

Posted on 20/01/2014 by campaignerkate

Herefordshire Council is a highway authority with problems.  In fact it has the fourth most rights-of-way problems awaiting resolution of all the English councils: 5,767 on its 2,135 miles—nearly three per mile, according to the Ramblers’ report Paths in Crisis, … Continue reading →

Posted in campaigns, Obstructed path, Public paths, Ramblers, walking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Lost property

Posted on 19/01/2014 by campaignerkate

On Saturdays I enjoy reading the Guardian’s Family section of true stories about people’s lives and experiences. They are often quite moving. Yesterday’s edition had a story by Anna Moore.   Her daughter Ruby lost her beloved toy Strawberry, which was … Continue reading →

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Not-so-early bird

Posted on 09/01/2014 by campaignerkate

Early Bird is what I’ve always called the British Trust for Ornithology’s breeding bird survey, which I do twice each summer, leaving home at 5.30 am (see previous blog).  So it’s somewhat confusing to find there’s another survey which BTO calls … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Morgan Parry: an exceptional Welsh environmentalist

Posted on 08/01/2014 by campaignerkate

It is tragic that Morgan Parry has died aged only 56.  He was a leading environmentalist, well known throughout Wales and beyond, who lived on a smallholding near Caernarfon in North Wales. I first came across Morgan in about 1994 … Continue reading →

Posted in Access, Countryside Council for Wales, Natural Resources Wales, Obituary, Wales | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A quadriennio ad octennium

Posted on 04/01/2014 by campaignerkate

In other words, from a four-year to an eight-year period.  Which is what, with a bit of Blue Peter initiative, I have achieved for my British Trust for Ornithology list for recording the birds I see each year. I started … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, British Trust for Ornithology, Natural history | Tagged | 1 Comment