Britain at Christmas is a country with a reflective journalist called Peter Hitchins who thinks that we have lost as much as we have gained

Peter Hitchins is a 59 year old 'right wing' journalist whose views would not usually strike a chord with me, however he made some points in his 'Mail on Sunday' column which struck a chord with me.


didn’t much like the 1950's, which he remembered as 'bleak and chilly and smelling of damp raincoats, stale tobacco, suet pudding and cabbage. Not to mention the chilblains'. He :

* thought that it is the fate of those who don’t much like the present to be told all the time that they are yearning for some bit of the past, when they’re not.

* remembered winters when the sea at the end of his road turned to ice, the milk on the doorstep froze into a sort of dairy rocket, with the foil top perched on the solidified cream, the garden was full of gigantic snowballs for weeks on end.

* recalled that his father still went off to his work each day and so did everyone else.

* remembered that trains and buses continued to run and roads and pavements were swiftly cleared of ice and snow.

* recalled that in the Britain of town clerks, rural district councils, bus conductors with peaked caps station masters, the Gas Board, unreformed county boundaries, yards, feet, inches, pounds and ounces, people somehow managed to be far more efficient than we are in the days of chief executives, Metropolitan Authorities, Network Rail, centimetres and kilograms.

* thinks more and more that we have mistaken newness, modernity and packaging for reality.

* admits that the narrow, shabby restrained country of 50 years ago had its drawbacks, many of which we have kept : such as the deep and wasteful class divisions, bad diet and general poor health, neglect of the old, the grim cities – though now they are grim in a different, more modern way.

* thinks that at Christmas, in some strange but powerful way, the past lives in our minds as at no other time and perhaps those of us who still remember it should recognise honestly during this moving and reflective season that in our haste for change and modernisation, we have lost at least as much as we have gained.
















P.S. Peter is fighting cancer.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/hitchens-were-all-dying-with-me-its-accelerated-2050136.html

Britain is a country where families invite old men at Christmas

What is it like for little kids to have grandparents visit at Christmas ? My favourite series, 'Outnumbered' addressed the issue.

Read this first to appreciate 'Mac' who visits the family with Granddad on 'Boxing Day' on the 26th December.

The preamble and then ........

Mother : This is Mac. He's going to be joining us for lunch.

Mac : .............................. ( I can't translate )

Girl : Is he Albanian ?

Mother : No Darling, he's from Scotland.

Mac : A wee drop of water would be nice.

Mother : I'll get that.

Granddad : Carolyn's done this lovely drawing.

Mac : A horse has got a javelin out of his head.

Girl : What do you mean a 'heed' ? What language are you speaking ?

Mac : I'm speaking English here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MoJ7t4NwpY

P.S.
Karen talking about 'A Christmas Carol'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-xn17G_Hck&NR=1

Britain is no country for flu in old men

Most of these kids probably caught the flu in the 1957 pandemic which may explain why they are protected today.

The number of people in intensive care with confirmed or suspected flu in England alone has risen to almost 500 with over 180 receiving intensive treatment and most aged between 16 and 64 with only 51 aged 65.

So why are the old immune? The facts are that :

* the H1 component of influenza A in both swine and human flu has a common ancestor.

* between the 1918 and 1957 influenza pandemics, H1 circulated in humans, evolving continuously and then became inactive, replaced by other subtypes of hemagglutinin such as H3.

* H1 reappeared in 1977, has been a dominant subtype of human flu ever since and evolved significantly from 1977 to the present so this version could be called 'New H1.'

* in pigs, meanwhile, the H1 has evolved very little and swine flu H1 has been very similar to the 'original' 1918 and 1930 versions of H1 and could be called 'Old H1.'

* to the immune system, Old H1 is very different from New H1.

* old men today born before 1957 were exposed to human H1 influenza, which at that time was similar to Old H1 and their immune systems produced antibodies to Old H1.

* since Old H1 has not been seen in humans in many years, younger people do not have antibodies to Old H1.

* since most older people probably have antibodies to Old H1, they are immune to this new swine flu but younger people are not so lucky which is why swine flu mainly affects younger adults.

So with irony, one of the few benefits old men in Britain enjoy today is their immunity to influenza.

Britain in winter is a country with icey paths which are no places for old men

If I lived in Germany I would have a legal responsibility to clear the snow on the public pavement in front of my house. If someone has accident because I have been negligent in my duty I can be sued for damages. In fact, most German towns have a 'street cleaning statute' in which requirements are spelled out in detail, even down to the minimum width of the cleared area and the time during which you must keep the snow cleared.

As I live in Britain, I have no legal responsibility to clear the snow on the public pavement in front of my house. If someone has accident on the path I cannot be sued for damages. If, however, I clear the paths and someone has an accident and claims my snow clearing was the reason, I can be sued for damages.

Experts have warned British businesses 'not to grit public paths' and the 'Institution of Occupational Safety and Health' has said that if people assume an area is clear and then slip and injure themselves, they could take legal action claiming damages.
This explains why public car parks and those belonging to pubs and supermarkets remain like ice rinks.

Apparently, my local authority is responsible for clearing snow from the pavement and since this is rarely done, they also remain ice rinks.

On my own land and doorstep I owe visitors a 'duty of care' under the Occupiers 'Liability Act 1984', to ensure that they are 'reasonably safe'.

The result of all this : hospitals have been inundated with patients and no doubt a large number of old men, who have broken bones in falls.

Britain is no longer a country for Judge James Pickles

Judge James Pickles, who has died at the age of 85, was an interesting mixture of conservatism and liberalisim who :

* was born into a long line of Yorkshire stonemasons, had a great-grandfather who worked in the Law Courts in London, an uncle called, Wilfred Pickles, who was a radio broadcaster in the 1950's and a father who made a fortune as an architect and financier in Halifax where he became Mayor.

* read 'law' at Oxford University, was 'called to the Bar' in 1946, practised at Bradford from 1949 until 1976 and was then appointed a 'Judge' on the 'North Eastern Circuit'.

* in 1987, published 'Straight from the Bench', in which he argued, that prostitution was a 'necessary evil' and should therefore be controlled through licensed brothels.

* called for the legalising of marijuana.

* became, additionally controversial, when, in 1989, he jailed a young woman who was too scared to give evidence against her abusive partner and jailed a shoplifting single mother, suggesting leniency might encourage women to avoid prison through pregnancy.

* made remarks in court, such as: "Who are the Beatles?" and said of the Spice Girls: “They arrived on the scene breasts first, but I don’t know their names.”

* in 1993 said : “We’ve got to toughen up with criminals. As a judge, I was quite tough and believed that wicked people should be clobbered. Prison, in my view, does deter, punish and contain.”

* earned the enmity of Lord Hailsham, the former Lord Chancellor, who he described as a “brooding Quixotic dictator” and years later, after he had retired, went even further, describing him as “an arrogant, pompous, toffee-nosed Old Etonian”.

* described the Duchess of York as a “scrubber”, Freddie Mercury as a “greedy bisexual” and the former Lord Chief Justice Lord Lane as a “dinosaur”.

* helped to dismantle the 'Kilmuir Rules', which prevented judges speaking out in public without the Lord Chancellor’s permission and criticised the legal system for being infected by conservatism, complacency and conformity.

* retired as a judge in 1990 and wrote tabloid journalism, several novels, memoirs and radio plays and when interviewed declared: “I am the human face of the judiciary, unlike the majority who adopt a Trappist-like silence.”

* wrote a column for 'The Sun' newspaper and later transferred his services to The 'Daily Sport', in which he described the then Transport Minister, Steve Norris, as the 'fornicating ferret'.

* appeared on TV in 'Have I Got News for You' where, when Ian Hislop told him :
"It was a pleasure to be sitting opposite a judge", he replied: "It's a great pleasure to be sitting opposite someone who should be in the dock."

P.S.

Unfortunately, this is the only clip I could find of him being interviewed by Sacha Cohen in his personna as 'Ali G'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f39wk4UxqUE

P.P.S.

Had a daughter, who is an actress who appeared in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' and a sister who appeared in the US sitcom 'Friends'.

Britain is no country for old politicians who are flattered by young women

THE FACTS :

* Vince Cable is a 67 year old Liberal-Democrat Minister in our Coalition Government.

* He had a visit in in his 'constituency surgery' by 2 young female 'constituents' who were really 'undercover' reporters working for the 'Telegraph Newspaper'.

* He opened up and said things that were best said 'unsaid'.

He has lost 'part' of his job in the Government.

Here he is, complete with the giggling girl reporters.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2010/12/what_vince_cable_said_about_ru.html

Britain is no longer a country for a journalist called Brian Hanrahan

The journalist Brian Hanrahan, has died at the age of 61 and is remembered as reporting on many of the world's historic news events for the BBC.

He :

* became a household name in 1982 during the Falklands War, upon which the Ministry of Defence had imposed reporting restrictions.

* watched British Harrier jets taking off from HMS Hermes to launch the first air attack on Port Stanley and complied with the intelligence officer on board that he would not report the numbers by saying : "I counted them all out, and I counted them all back".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12039283

* commented on the fall of Erich Honecker, the man responsible for building the Berlin wall, by saying: "He dammed up his people, but in the end was damned by them."

* reported on the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister in 1984.

* was in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in June 1989 when the tanks rolled in to quash the demonstration.

* was in Berlin when the Wall came down a few months later.

* reported on the rise and fall of Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union.

* covered the struggles of the Solidarity Trade Union in Poland.

* while reporting on the IRA hunger strikes, met the radio producer Honor Wilson who he married in 1986.

* reported on the reunification of Hong Kong in 1997, by saying : "Hong Kong demonstrators are a policeman's dream. Despite the force of their feelings, the protesters are polite, well marshalled and clean up afterwards. For their annual demonstration against the Tiananmen massacre they marched to the headquarters of the Chinese news agency to save the Chinese the trouble of sending out photographers."

* reported on the funerals of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997 and the Queen Mother, in 2002
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYhd1NjFA1g

* was an entertaining speaker on cruise ships, on which he talked to packed audiences.

* when crafting a piece, would talk to the doorman as well as any politicians involved, to dredge up human stories which he could distil into a few phrases, blend curious facts and figures into the script and think for as much time as he could before scribbling his words in tiny handwriting on the back of an envelope.

* had an acute sense of the importance of pictures and of the need to build a script around them always complementing them.

* was a private, kind man with a passion for reading political history and for the arts.

* reacted to being told he required chemotherapy for his bowel cancer by booking tickets for a West End play.

The B.B.C. tribute :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12037973

Britain in a harsh winter is no place for old men

Put 'Old people in the winter UK' on a Google search and it produces this harvest of woe at differents sites :

Older people warned over winter home improvement scams
Age UK and OFT campaign tells older people to beware of rogue doorstep traders offering winter home maintenance services.

Winter fuel payment cuts to hit millions of pensioners
Older people will have to wait at least six years longer to receive winter fuel payments, under government plans to cut the welfare bill. ...

Tragedy of 23100 extra winter deaths of older people makes new emergency plan imperative, says Age UK.

The UK has the highest number of excess winter deaths in Europe – higher ... for older people struggling to heat their homes this Christmas. ...

To be lonely in old age is bad enough, to be cold and lonely is even worse.

Britain's Heathrow Airport overnight is no place for old men

Heathrow Airport's flight schedules have been disrupted by snow on the runways. Old men and women along with the middle aged and the young have been forced to bivouac overnight in terminals with the heating turned off. This is the sleeping accommodation offered by the airport.

Frankfurt Airport's flight schedules have been disrupted by snow on the runways. Old men and women along with the middle aged and the young have been forced to bivouac overnight in heated terminals. This is the sleeping accommoation offered by the airport.












http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1340457/Latest-travel-advice-Heathrow-operates-flight-schedule-today.html

Britain is a country where old men look back on Christmas in the 1950's, when they were boys and reflect that : nothing has really changed

All these years later, Christmas still falls into that pattern of :

Preparation 1
* presents bought
* decorations found
* food bought

Preparation 2
* presents wrapped
* decorations 'put up'
* cards sent

Execution 1 :
* presents unwrapped

Execution 2 :
* Christmas Lunch

Free choice :
* post-prandial snooze
* walk in fresh air
* watch t.v.

Evening :
* cold turkey meat
* more t.v.

P.S.
For all this we have to thank Martin Luther and, more particularly, John Calvin who gave us this method of Protestant orderliness and organisation which serves us true, year by year.

Britain is a country where celebrity 'older' women like Ann Widecombe and Pamela Stephenson can give pleasure to millions with their dancing

Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. It has has run on BBC since 2004 and the eighth series began in September and ended last night.

This series will be remembered by millions, not for the attractive and agile female, actress winner, but for the pleasure that two older women : the 63 year old, former Conservative politician, Ann Widdecombe and 61 year old, clinical psychologist Dr Pamela Stephenson Connoly.

Ann's Charleston :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00c0yyj

Ann's Samba :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p
00c97nw

Pamela's Charleston :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p
00cdzv8

Pamela's Rumba :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00bmqnz

The press loved them both :

Ann in 'The Telegraph' :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/strictly-come-dancing/8166014/Ann-Widdecombe-Im-family-entertainment.html

and 'The Daily Mail' :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1339343/Strictly-Come-Dancing-Ann-Widdecombe-Antons-arms-prepares-final.html

Pamela in the 'Guardian' :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/dec/13/my-strictly-diary-gavin-henson

and 'The Daily Mail' :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1339066/Strictly-Come-Dancing-Pamela-Stephenson-erupts-giggles-contestants-rehearse-Saturdays-live-final.html

Britain is country in winter, where old men can learn to keep fit from their counterparts in the U.S.A.

A Google search of 'old people in winter' produced an extraordinary American site entitled : Tips for Old People's Winter Exercise.

I still can't make up my mind if it is a spoof.
I publish its advice verbatim and highlight the parts which made me smile the most :

* In winter, the temperature would drop sharply. However, old people may still hold passion to do exercise. It is easy for them to be in danger when they are doing winter sports early or late per day.

* The common diseases would be fractures, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular, etc. Therefore, old people should not do outdoor sports if the temperature is too low.

* When doing exercise, they must take every factor into consideration. Otherwise, respiratory diseases would be caused to undermine the healthy condition. It is suggested by the experts that old people may take care body feature, time and sports items to avoid danger.

* First of all, the sports time should not be long as the one for young players. The people in senior ages may adjust the sports time according to the body condition.

* Storing your golf cart in winter is important to keep your cart in good condition. You have to store your cart properly to use them again in the summer when it is the season for the game again such as climbing mountain, senior people in cities may take bus or long-time drive to reach the mountain and then start climbing. The longer time people in senior ages use, more exercise amount they would pay for. In order to avoid any accident in cold winter, old people may make use of the limited time and hold it in full control.

* Old people should ensure wearing the sports clothes with lax, comfortable and easy design. Old people may take on or off the clothes easily when doing exercise in winter. In order to avoid any danger for respiratory diseases, old people should put on the clothes in time for keeping warm.

* In addition, once old people get the full sports gear, old people may learn to control the sports pace. As we know, the sports pace may influence the comfort feeling by too faster or slower exercise. It is shown by research that fast jogging and mountain climbing may be listed as acute exercise for old people. During winter if old people climb mountain twice a week, it may not be the regular sports and old people may fully control the sports pace. The wise choice for winter exercise for old people may start from the sports with short and slow sports items. Especially in winter, acute sports would influence the respiratory system easily. So the people in senior ages may fully take care of the details for exercise items.

Wasn't that wonderful ?
http://entertainment.ezinemark.com/tips-for-old-people-s-winter-exercise-1681def0a4c.html

This is the kind of advice given on this side of the Atlantic :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXXHAQW8sbM

Britain is a country whose old men remember the winter of 1963 when they were supple boys and not brittle boned old men

I took these 2 photos of our back garden. The first, as it started to snow and the other about one hour later.


















An article in the Guardian newspaper this week was entitled :

UK fears worst winter weather since 1963. Transport secretary calls summit as Met Office predicts return of icy temperatures, further snow and transport disruption but said it was too early to warn of another 1963, despite December's unusual cold, the worst for 30 years.

I was 16 in that winter of 1963, when icebound birds fell out of the sky, the sea froze and the third round of the FA Cup took 66 days to complete.

















In our winter, Britain's old men,you can rest easy. Your Government has :

* 'warned the public to keep an eye on vulnerable members of communities'.

* through Public Health Minister, Gillian Merron, said :
“Cold weather is especially dangerous for older people or those with serious illnesses. The Government's 'Keep Warm Keep Well' campaign gives important advice to older people on how to stay fit and healthy through the winter. Leaflets were available in local GPs' surgeries, pharmacies or council offices."

We can all feel much better about that.

Britain is still a country where, in a pantomine audience, old men can once again become boys and kids prove that they are still, just 'kids'

My friend DB took myself and my wife and his wife and friends to the Christmas Pantomime in our local theatre in Chatham, Kent.

Initially, I bristled at the 'light sabres' which had been sold and were being swung around in the 'dark' by little kids in the theatre and the little girl in the row in front of me in the balcony, who had a flashing and distracting clip in her hair. Then I decided that I was being a 'grumpy old man'.



Once I got into enjoying the classic, 'good versus evil' recipe of the panto, I began to hear little kids shouting : "He's behind you !", when the evil character made his appearance and also "Oh, no he isn't" as a riposte to, " Oh yes he is " and 'yes'.

Along with other old boys around me, I was shouting out too.

I was reminded that, although the world has changed so much, witnessed by the technical expertise on stage and kids gizmos off stage, kids are still kids and the bad guy 50 years ago are still the bad guys today.

Britain is no longer a country for an old professor called Michael Samuels who was an expert in the history of an old language called English

Michael Samuels has died at the age of 90. I had never heard of him, but I know I would have liked him, not the least because we both share a love of the English language.


He :

* was born in London, the son of a lawyer, educated at St Paul's School
and Oxford University where he studied 'Classics' until the outbreak of the Second World War.

* served in the Air Ministry and returned to Oxford in 1945, where he transferred to the study of English.

* got a lectureship in the new department of 'English Language and General Linguistics' at Edinburgh University, where the equally new professor was Angus McIntosh.

* collaborated with McIntosh on 'The Middle English Dialect Survey', which involved many years of painstaking examination of thousands of medieval manuscripts and culminated in the publication of 'A Linguistic Atlas of Late Medieval English.'

* started his biggest project, 'The Thesaurus Project', at a meeting of the Philological Society in 1965 and was motivated by his interest in 'how' and
'why' vocabulary changes.

* had a favourite example of an English word changing meaning in 'silly' which started life in Anglo-Saxon times meaning 'happy' or 'blessed' and gradually changed in meaning from 'innocent, harmless', 'weak' and 'rustic' to our modern meaning of 'foolish'.

* saw that the change in 'silly' meant that other words had to be pulled in to fill the gaps left by discarded meanings.

* saw also that changes in social attitudes were also revealed in that we may regard 'harmless' people as 'pitiable' rather than 'admirable', and 'rustic' people as 'intellectually below par'.

* with his team analysed the meanings of the 600,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary.

* was always ready to engage with new ideas and became aware of the potential of computers for linguistic research and died 6 days before the launch of the Thesaurus alongside the 'Online Oxford English Dictionary'.

* witnessed the affection in which he was held at the launch of the Thesaurus in 2009, where his speech received a standing ovation.

* saw his Thesaurus become a worldwide commercial success and go into its 4th impression with royalties being devoted to postgraduate scholarships.

Britain, no country for an old farmer and an old actor, is still one for an old band leader called Dave Clark and three of his Five

A trawl through the Guardian newspaper revealed 4 items involving old men : three were bad news involving the general threat of swine flu to old men, a 75 year old farmer fatally injured by his spooked herd of cattle and a misleading obituary which indicated the death of a, still living, 79 year old actor and one was good - the 68th birthday of an old band leader.


1. Swine flu caused 10 recent UK deaths
Professor John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the HPA, said:
"For most people flu is not life-threatening and usually lasts seven to 10 days. However, it can be far more dangerous for those in at-risk groups, such as the elderly, pregnant women and patients with heart problems, diabetes or lung, liver or renal diseases, or those who have weak immune systems, who are at risk of developing complications."

2. Birthdays :

Dave Clark drummer and pop businessman is 68 today.

3. A story involving the death of a 75 year old farmer.
Apparently, he had suffered head and chest injuries and died in hospital after being trampled by a herd of cows stampeded by a firefighter, who on his way to the scene of a traffic accident had turned on his siren on a country road and spooked the herd.

4. A story involving Tony Blair's wife, Cherie's 79 year old father, the actor Tony Booth.

Apparently :
' Monday's obituary of the respected Guardian theatre critic Robin Thornber showed him in a photograph in conversation with Tony and it was not immediately clear which of the men pictured has passed away.
His wife said : "Tony turned to the obituaries – he's at that age when any of his contemporaries outlived is a minor triumph – to find himself featured in a photograph. The colour drained from the poor fellow's face, and I momentarily pondered the whereabouts of the life policies."

The newspaper said : 'Tony would have had an inkling that he was breathing, and not suitable material for a Guardian obit just yet. But we accept that he saw the photo first thing in the morning, when one's grasp of mortality feels quite tenuous. So: we're glad you are still with us, Tony. No damages. But we're very sorry.'

I think I'll stick with the Old Birthday Boy Dave Clark, since he allows me to indulge in a bit of nostalgia.


'Any way You Want it'. 1964 :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH1JEI79emU&feature=related

'Glad All Over'. 1964 :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgCvnds6Xps

'Bits and Pieces'. 1964 :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoRLIJJSG4o

'Do You Love Me'.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NInB7FYk-pQ&feature=related

'Catch Us if You Can'. 1965 :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRQCN5x1-NI

P.S.
I mentioned the last song in my posting on Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Britain in 1965 - a London School called 'Eltham Green Comprehensive' and the confidence of youth
Sadly, only 3 of the Dave Clark 5 are still alive.
http://britainisnocountryforoldmen.blogspot.com/2009/09/britain-in-1965-place-where-schools-had.html

Britain is no Country for Old Men confirmed

Put 'Sad old people in U.K' on a Google Search produces this rich trawl:

* Thousands of elderly left in homes without letters, visits or ... Nov 2010 ... Before long these old people outlive their friends. It is sad but inevitable.
Daily Mail Newspaper

* Coroner's concern at increase in "old and alone" deaths...Oct 2010 ... Coroner's concern at older people dying alone and undiscovered ... In the 21st Century it is sad to think that there are still many older people who live ...
BBC

* In thinking about the numbers of older people in our society dying by suicide each year...
Gaurdian Newspaper

* Sad dilemma of elderly: Sell home to buy care ...
Yorkshire Post newspaper

* Two old people froze to death in their gardens in Cumbria.... This is so sad, and it is awful to think that two old people, ...
Daily Mail newspaper

* 'More older people at risk of financial abuse than ever before' warns 'Help the Aged' ... people's attention to the sad statistics around abuse of older people. In the UK four per cent of those aged 65 and over suffer from ...
Mature Times

* Quality of life of older people in care... Sad plight of the thousands of elderly left alone in homes: ... A significant number of older people living in care in England are at risk ...
www.relres.org/