AndyRob
Epping Forest Theydon Bois
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I posted to flickr.com
Epping Forest Theydon Bois
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/5852292350/
June 20 2011, 3:00am | Comments »
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I posted to flickr.com
Epping Forest Theydon Bois
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/5852290462/
AndyRob
Epping Forest Theydon Bois
June 20 2011, 2:59am | Comments »
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I posted to youtube.com
In the forest at Theydon Bois with iPad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXk4Gc1b6eA&feature=youtube_gdata
June 14 2011, 8:09am | Comments »
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I posted to distributedresearch.net
Wildfires blaze across parts of Britain after hottest April on record
Wild Fires hit Northern Ireland, north-west England, and several areas of Scotland including the Balmoral estate, as well as Swinley Forest in Berkshire
This article titled “Wildfires blaze across parts of Britain after hottest April on record” was written by Helen Carter, for The Guardian on Wednesday 4th May 2011 12.53 UTC Heathland fires have been burning across parts of the UK for days amid unprecedented dry weather, with no respite on the horizon until the weekend. The hottest April on record, which registered only 21% of expected rainfall in England and Wales, has hampered the efforts of firefighters and caused vast areas of parched land to go up in flames. Blazes fanned by high winds have been seen in areas of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland, with hundreds of firefighters called in and helicopters used to drop water in the worst-affected regions. The weather forecast shows little chance of any substantial rain falling before Thursday, with central and eastern England having to wait until the weekend. Roads have been closed and 170 firefighters have been called to the Swinley Forest area of Berkshire, where a number of fires broke out. In the north-west of England in Lancashire, fires began on moorland in Belmont, near Bolton, as well as in Ormskirk and Bacup. Police in Northern Ireland are investigating reports of a man seen with a petrol can close to one of the worst gorse fires for years in the Mourne mountains. There were reports of two youths lighting fires in south Armagh. Hundreds of acres of land are being destroyed and homes and livestock threatened by fires which burned for much of the bank holiday weekend in counties Down, Armagh and Tyrone. Scotland, where the royal estate of Balmoral is affected among several other areas, and Northern Ireland had just two-thirds of the rain normally expected in April. The average temperature in England was the hottest since records began 353 years ago. Despite the dry weather, the Environment Agency is not planning a hosepipe ban. A spokesman said: “We feel confident there is enough water to see out spring and summer without restrictions on the public supply.”
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.
Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogWildfires blaze across parts of Britain after hottest April on record
Related posts:Smallest cities in the United Kingdom Isles of Scilly turn heat on Jersey over ‘warmest place in Britain’ claim Ireland, Portugal … Britain? George Osborne only has Plan A
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May 4 2011, 10:56am | Comments »
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I posted to distributedresearch.net
Warning: bossy bollards!
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/04/26/warning-bossy-bollards
The number and pointlessness of ‘street furniture’ has reached hallucinatory levels – thank goodness it’s under review. It,’s time something was done about all the writing that clutters up our journeys.
This article titled “Warning: bossy bollards!” was written by Martin Wainwright, for guardian.co.uk on Sunday 24th April 2011 09.00 UTC It is my birthday soon and one present I would like is a really robust report from the government’s current investigation into the UK’s ever-growing crop of “street furniture” and signs. I don’t suppose that Eric Pickles has a very large fan club on Cif, but one thing he got absolutely right was his targeting of this “bossy clutter” last August, which prompted the present review, due to be published any time now. The number and pointlessness of signs, especially, has reached almost hallucinatory levels and it surprises me that our Eric met with a somewhat muted response. Noble bodies such as Civic Voice and the Council for the Protection of Rural England gave their backing, but citizens didn’t exactly rise up and cheer. Why not? Is it a national weakness for being told what to do, and indeed for telling others? That old favourite decoration of the Englishman’s castle, Private Keep Out, is increasingly accompanied these days by supporting warnings of CCTV. There would be money to be made in mine signs: “Mine all mine”. I’m not being holier-than-them; my childhood home was heavily labelled inside by my otherwise benign and right-thinking father. One notice in the kitchen cupboard comes to me in my dreams: “Large plates only here”, with a later amendment in red Biro: “Here means here”. What was it all about? Too late to ask now, but I wish we children had carried out a plan to add more labels asking, “Why all these signs? We know where the crockery goes.” Pickles is also up against the dreadful twin gods of liability and insurance, which panic councils into – for example, on my Leeds doorstep – forests of signs to cover potential accident litigants whencesoever they may come. On Kirkstall Road, a series of small side turnings opposite the medieval abbey has prompted a blue bike sign every 50 yards. Madness, unless you are a blue bike sign manufacturer. It’s the same going along the ring road between Rodley and Pudsey, a stretch famous for beautiful daffodil planting but now forested with “No U-turn” signs. By the time I get to the footbridge to Priesthorpe school I am passionately determined to do a U-turn. Oh for a really reforming lord chief justice, greater even than Denning and Scarman, to establish a common law of personal responsibility. And for judges and magistrates who throw out claims based on the absence of written warnings that a river, cliff or beach may be dangerous. We’ve done it before. We did it before the Warboys committee of 1963 unleashed the mighty tide of modern signage on the UK’s roads. Look at the graceful artistry of hoop-topped signposts with clear and simple directions and distances that still survive in many rural back lanes. Look, more exotically, at Zimbabwe’s colonial legacy: a sparingly used red and yellow sign saying “Deadly Hazard” covers everything from the vicious bends across the Umvumvumvu river in the Chimanimani mountains, to the possible presence of Gaboon vipers.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.
Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogWarning: bossy bollards!
Related posts:Japan hit by earthquake and tsunami warning Blue – Andy Roberts
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April 26 2011, 12:43pm | Comments »
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I posted to distributedresearch.net
Defra delays: why are so many key environment policies overdue?
From protecting the natural environment to badger culling to water bills, key policies are being postponed. Have cuts bitten too deep?
This article titled “Defra delays: why are so many key environment policies overdue?” was written by Damian Carrington, for guardian.co.uk on Wednesday 13th April 2011 10.49 UTC Cutting a 30% of an organisation’s budget before working out how that organisation will actually run on the reduced funds isn’t very clever. But that’s what appears to have happened under Caroline Spelman’s stewardship of the department of the environment, food and rural affairs. How else can we explain the long list of delays which span right across the work of the department, from water bills to badger culls? Not forgetting the humiliating U-turn on the forestry sell-off, the deep cuts to flood defences across the nation and a feeble sustainability vision, here’s a list: Natural environment white paperDue: April 2011Expected: Officially, later this year – before the summer, I’m toldThis flagship policy will, Defra says, protect and enhance the natural environment that “underpins our economic prosperity, our health and our wellbeing” and will be the department’s first environment white paper for 20 years. It is eagerly anticipated by greens across the spectrum – but it will miss its April deadline, as set out in Defra’s business plan. Badger cull consultation: government’s responseDue: Feb 2011Expected: Possibly late MayBovine tuberculosis takes a terrible toll on cattle farmers, but effective culling of badgers in complex and costly and many animal lovers oppose any cull. The proposals – that farmers do the culling themselves – has many flaws, not least being dismissed as “among the worst options” by scientists and likely to cost more than doing nothing. In February, announcing a delay, agriculture minister Jim Paice said: “we need to make sure we get it right.” With emotions running high on both sides, it’s a tough one, but how many more months must we wait? Waste policy reviewReview announced: June 2010Expected: May 2011The government announced their review of waste policies in June 2010 to “ensure we are taking the right steps towards creating a ‘zero waste’ economy.” But, according to stakeholders, its results have been repeatedly delayed. In its absence, the government has said it will ban fines for misuse of dustbins, but is unable to say how refuse will be better dealt with than now, especially ending the UK’s addiction to landfill. Water white paperDue: June 2011Expected: Autumn 2011The white paper will “reform the water industry to ensure more efficient use of water and the protection of poorer households”. It follows the Cave review of competition in the water industry and Walker review of water charging, published in April 2009 and June 2009 respectively. Food policyDue: UnknownThis is not strictly late as there’s no such policy being developed, despite criticism of the government’s plans for feeding a growing population sustainably and healthily being ‘insubstantial”. Banning wild animals from circuses consultation: government’s responseConsultation ended: March 2010Due: UnknownThis issue raise huge passion among animal rights campaigners, but a year on, there’s still no response, though the first moves were made by Labour in 2006, who must share some of the blame for the delay. Dangerous dogs consultation: government’s responseConsultation ended: June 2010Expected: “Later in the year”, I’m toldThis consultation on increasing the protection of the public was launched by the last government after a campaign by post men and women. Parliamentary answers:Thanks to work by Thomas Docherty MP, we can see that Defra has failed to answer 42% of written questions from MPs on time, making them the third worst of the 13 departments Docherty challenged. By contrast, the department of energy and climate change answered 77% of questions on time. Defra refutes my suggestion that the deep budget cuts are taking their toll. “Defra is playing its part in reducing the deficit, but this has no impact on policy development,” said a spokesman. “It is important to address all likely practical issues and ensure the department has properly consulted stakeholders before final decisions are made – which will mean less red tape and more opportunities for business and communities.” Unsurprisingly, Mary Creagh, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for environment, has a different view: “This is a department in special measures. The government’s ideologically driven belief in the small state is sending environmental policy into reverse. Defra’s stop-go approach to policy is creating uncertainty for businesses and communities that want to invest in green jobs and improve the environment.” Perhaps the Defra delays stem from the forestry sell-off fiasco, meaning every policy now has to be examined over and over in order to avoid another disaster. I’d be interested to hear more about that. Whatever the reason for the delays, while we wait, biodiversity continues to decline, cattle continue to contract TB and rubbish continues to be dumped.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.
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Related posts:Wild Badgers to be Culled in England Population of wild birds 1970 – 2007 What the frack? US natural gas drilling method contaminates water
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April 13 2011, 6:06am | Comments »
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I posted to distributedresearch.net
Wanstead Flats Campaign
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2010/10/23/wanstead-flats-campaign
Join us for ‘Take Back Wanstead Flats’ on 2pm on Sunday 21 November. The Save Wanstead Flats campaign plans to use wooden stakes and tape to mark out the boundaries of the proposed police base on the Flats, in order to show just how much space it will swallow up in 2012. Maps or drawings can never make as much sense as… seeing its massive size for yourself but we’d prefer not to wait until construction starts and it’s too late… to stop these plans. Facebook: Protect-Wanstead-Flats-and-Epping-Forest
As you can see from the publicity, the message behind this event also harkens back to the historical opposition by local people to enclosure of the Flats. We hope people will see this as an opportunity to come along and celebrate in their own way our right to enjoy our open spaces – although it is late November, so we do recommend that people wrap up warmly! Leaflets available to download from http://scr.bi/9sZkjy and A3 posters from http://scr.bi/9AgXOE – please ask local shops and businesses to put up a poster, or stick one up in your window (but no flyposting please, as it gets some of us in all sorts of trouble!) Take Back Wanstead Flats
Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogWanstead Flats Campaign
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October 23 2010, 1:58am | Comments »
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I posted to distributedresearch.net
Tim Birkhead ‘Wisdom of Birds’ at Do Lectures
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2010/10/04/tim-birkhead-wisdom-of-birds-at-do-lectures
Tim Birkhead, author of ‘The Wisdom of Birds’ speaks at the DO Lectures, held last month in fforest, Wales. (Go and look at the yurts then come back and listen to the video)
Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogTim Birkhead ‘Wisdom of Birds’ at Do Lectures
Related posts:Flightless Birds at Kew Gardens Population of wild birds 1970 – 2007 How to Photograph Birds
October 4 2010, 4:46am | Comments »
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I posted to flickr.com
Ambresbury Banks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/4929206110/
AndyRob
Ambresbury Banks is one of two ancient earthworks in Epping Forest. It is believed that both Ambresbury Banks and Loughton Camp were built circa 500BC.
August 26 2010, 6:19am | Comments »
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