Someone IS Listening

A few days ago I wrote a piece entitled Preston Lesson in Wasting Money     where I suggested some  attention could be directed at clearing up the detritus in New Hall Lane instead of erecting signs saying that the council was improving the local area.
Well, Preston Council may be deaf, but Friends of Fishwick and St Matthews have announced they will make funds available for local businesses to smarten their shopfronts. See this report in the local paper.  
Grotty Shops in New Hall Lane
I don't suppose I was the only person to entertain this idea but  this is not the first such coincidence.

Beer for Breakfast

There are parts of London which live in different time zones from you and I and the wholesale markets are some of them. Back in the 1980s I worked in Goswell Road, London which is close to The Barbican and, more relevant to this story, Smithfield Meat Market Through the night lorries arrive from all over the UK with carcasses of beef, lamb, pork and more exotic fare. And in due course this meat is shipped out again to butchers and meat processors all over the country.  This is tiring and thirsty work which is recognised by the local licensing laws  which allow the pubs in Smithfield to open at 3am. From time to time colleagues of mine would arrive a couple of hours early for work and go to the pub for (a very meaty) breakfast. This usually included several pints of Guinness.  Work output on these days was always rather suspect both in quantity and quality.  I was reminded of this by two events: Farnborough Air Show which opened to the trade this week (our work in Goswell Road was defence electronics) and the line-up for the Saturday night ceilidh at Scarisbrick Marina Festival was a band called Beer for Breakfast.  To accompany this Irish group there was a hog roast. There was not much dancing but I guess that was because most of us had had a busy day around the marina.

In addition to the usual bouncy castle the army had brought their assault course version for the larger kids. Unfortunately they said I was ineligible.After being rejected by the army I made my way to the marquee where I could hear music emanating.. This turned out to be a troupe of Morris dancers (is that the correct collective noun?) Very entertaining but a little too  stressful for my artificial hips.
This was not an issue for some of the audience who were encouraged to join in.








Even er indoors was tempted to trip the light fantastic.

I think she was attracted by wielding a stick.




The vigour and enthusiasm she put into whacking the staves had me worried.





 


So I withdrew and went to admire the 1915 Ford parked up by the craft marquee.

Scarisbrick Marina Festival

Four years ago the crews of  a dozen boats moored in Scarisbrck Marina got together one summer's evening. This year the   number of boaters has been restricted to 200 and the Scarisbrick Marina Canal Festival runs from Friday evening July8 to Sunday July10.


For the past couple of days there has been a steady stream of visiting boats arriving and many have remembered their bunting and lights.

Friday night kicked off with  a boaters-only evening with music and food.


Over the weekend the Marina will be open to the public with a ceilidh and hogroast on Saturday night. Craft stalls and visiting bands will keep the public entertained  in the two marquees.
2016 is the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and this promises to be a worthy start to our celebrations.

In two weeks time we will be attending the Blackburn Canal Festival which is also in its fourth year.