Personal Blog

I might be getting obsessed with two things - old cars and council extortion about alleged flytipping. I will try to get these out of the way first so perhaps we can get on to something of more interest (or not, according to taste). If that's your preference you can skip what Private Eye describe as Page 94 , but on this occasion is on page 1. On Friday I drove up to Brummagem to the NEC for the Classic Car Show. I decided to go on Friday on the basis that was likely to be th

This has been a rather momentous week for me because I have become a Green. I am still a youthful looking pinkish (in two respects) handsome man (in my opinion) , but now green inside. I have been saying that I will stay as an Independent councillor and stand as an independent next May. But things have moved on in the Green party world and I have been reading and hearing Zack Polanski's vision for the party, and have talked to some friends who have left Labour for the Green p

As promised (or threatened) last time I went to a motor museum on Thursday. This was in deepest Somerset. I had vaguely heard of the Haynes Museum but I had no idea of what a splendid collection it is, based in a quite remote area of the country. I knew of Haynes Manuals (who has ever had a car and not known Haynes) but I didn't know the story. John Haynes had a remarkable life which seems to have blended ntural entrepreneurship, passion and serendipity, but he built a fantas

Boring old man here. My ‘innovative’ coffee morning has happened! On Friday I visited a resident in Grosvenor Road. She has a council home with persistent issues with damp. I'm afraid this is a familiar story: work is done time and again which fails to deal with the fundamental problem. There is a lean-to at the back with a nice slate roof but inadequate (or poorly installed) flashing means that water gets in through the cracks and affects the wall between the lean to and the

When Kathleen Richardson suggested I might write a weekly update for BrentfordTW8.com I had never written anything much. It sounded interesting, as I had just really started a new life as a councillor, having spent most of my life working in industry, originally as a financial clerk, then as an accountant and latterly as an executive. I knew little about being a councillor and knew I had a lot to learn. Communication was important as a new-minted politician so I embarked on

Well, a week in Italy makes it seem a long time ago where I pick up the threads. I was actually quite busy on the Thursday and Friday...

On Friday I spent some time in the morning delivering invitations for my planned coffee morning in October and it was nice to walk the...

Well, now, I've actually had an unusually busy week with fun things, some family things and more than usual meetings etc. On Friday I...

Back to scaffolding. I was sitting here doing my emails when suddenly there was a head outside my window, slightly disconcerting on the...

Getting back to the discussion about Paradise in The City I am pleased I now have a date for an initial meeting with officers and the...

Well, this week has mainly been in Jersey so I imagine this will be a short one. I will not bore you with my holiday snaps (mostly) - I...

I'm taking a long weekend in Jersey so doing this a day early. I seem to be having a lot of holidays this summer. It's not all that...

On Friday morning I was over to 'my' lodge - Lambert Lodge. I have still drawn a blank about how prescient council officers in the 1960s...

In the main, these days in a rather small and peaceful ward, with no remaining Cabinet responsibility, are a lot less active than I was...

My work life is increasingly quiet, because this is a small ward with less problems than many, and of course we have summer coming on and...

Feels like a previous life, but I'll pick up the trail from 4th July. A day off on 4th July. I can assure you I was not focused on the...

I nearly gave up here, but I'm a determined type. The ruddy computer deleted all the purple prose I had written and then went odd. It...

Eventually. I had to go around what I suspect was the Warsaw M25 in the rush hour. Then about 5 more hours, nearly all motorway. Mostly 2...

I was a bit late starting and this was a relatively long drive. Trundled South through Lithuania but got a bit spooked by the signposts...

I had breakfast at my 5* hotel. What makes it 5* I don't know, though the room and the appearance of the place was good. But that aside...