Tag: have your say

Durham Police Request Residents’ Views Over Funding

By on 11th January 2016in Have Your Say

Residents have the opportunity to give their views on the police budget for 2016-17, thanks to a public consultation launched this week…

Between 11th and 27th January, members of the public can have their say in the annual consultation, either online or at a number of public events across County Durham and Darlington.

The Police and Crime Commissioner for County Durham and Darlington, Ron Hogg, proposes an increase of 1.98% to the amount of Council Tax which goes to the police service. This increase equates to just £3.22 over the year, or 6p a week for the average house in Band D.

Ron said: “As PCC I am responsible for setting the police budget. In the recent Comprehensive Spending Review, the Government indicated that it expects PCCs to increase the precept by up to 2 per cent when setting their budget for 2016-17.

“They also stated, as a result, the overall national policing budget will be protected in line with inflation. However, the amount of funding coming to local policing from Government is still reducing year on year.

“The total provisional grant received by Durham in 2016-17 will be £457,127 less than in 2015-16. The small increase I am proposing will raise approximately £520,000 and help to keep the equivalent of eleven Police Officers on the street.

“I am committed to ensuring that the police have the resources they need to continue to provide an excellent service to the public. The survey is short and will only take a minute or two to complete. I encourage residents to get involved and let me know their views.”

The survey and details of the public events are available on Ron’s website, www.durham-pcc.gov.uk, and are available on Facebook or Twitter. You can also give your views by telephone at 03000 264 631.

Discovery Museum To Exhibit Human Rights Portraits

By on 10th January 2016in Entertainment

An exhibition of oil paintings by Newcastle-based artist Paul Piercy is to cast light on some of the world’s most dedicated human rights campaigners…

The Black Portraits opens at Discovery Museum on Saturday 16th January, telling the stories of 17 people from around the world who were imprisoned – or died – in pursuit of justice and liberty. Six paintings are to be shown for the first time.

Piercy’s subjects are the extraordinary people who not only dreamed of the freedoms and equalities we take for granted in the UK, but strove towards them peacefully.

Their faces are painted in thick, black impasto, an aesthetic that took on a profound symbolic meaning for the artist. He explains: “In 2010, I saw that Liu Xiaobo had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. His story moved me, and I wanted to tell everyone I could about it through my painting. I quickly put a colourful backdrop together, but with my ‘sitter’ absent, I decided to use thick black paint for his face, so that it would catch the light and show his features.

“I discovered many, many other brave human rights activists in different parts of the world, and became moved to tell their stories too. It became apparent that seeing them all with faces in black impasto made a powerful statement about their death or imprisonment, so that’s how I continued.”

The most prominent global figure in the exhibition is Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She spent 15 years under house arrest by order of the country’s military junta before her release in 2010. Aung San Suu Kyi is now President of the National League for Democracy.

Some of those depicted, like Oleg Bebenin, paid the ultimate price for their activism. A campaigner for Belarusian presidential hopeful Andrei Sannikov, Bebenin was found hanged in suspicious circumstances in 2010. Sannikov – himself a political prisoner – also features in Bebenin’s portrait, and will host a free talk and film screening at Discovery Museum on Saturday 9th April.

Another, Ali Abdulemam, became known as the ‘Bahraini Blogger’ after founding a pro-democracy website in the late 90s. Accused of trying to subvert the country’s regime, he went into hiding for two years before emerging in 2013. He has now been granted political asylum in the United Kingdom and visits Discovery Museum to give a free talk about his story on Saturday 26th March.

Alongside The Black Portraits are five paintings which show full-colour likenesses of their subjects. The additional depictions of Binayak Sen, Lapiro de Mbanga, Ali Abdulemam, Andrei Sannikov and Guillermo Farinas were created after their respective releases from prison.

The exhibition runs from Saturday 16th January until Sunday 17th April, and is supported by a programme of public events, including talks and film screenings.

Discovery Museum is free to enter, and open seven days a week. Please see www.discoverymuseum.org.uk for further details and opening hours.

For more information on The Black Portraits project, visit: www.theblackportraits.org.

Sincerely, The Editor: Our Top Stories 2015

By on 4th January 2016in Have Your Say

2015 was a big year for In & Around Online, and here’s why…

 

With the arrival of the New Year, now seems as good a time as any to take a look back over 2015.

We launched In & Around Online on 14th October, and we’ve already reached a massive audience of over 27,000 people. So what’s all the fuss about?

Here’s our 10 Top Stories of 2015:

Save The DLI Museum: So That His Name Be Not Forgotten
With the battle to keep the Durham Light Infantry Museum open still ongoing, Deryck Collins tells the story of his own connection to the men of the DLI.

Rent A Cop Episode Seven: Twitter Turns On Francis
The North East’s claim to fame in 2015 was the BBC Three series ‘Rent A Cop’, featuring Darlington superhero Francis Jones. Feelings towards the show were mixed, to say the least.

Win! Tickets To See T.Rextasy’s 40th Anniversary Tour
Our most popular competition was to win tickets to see the only officially endorsed T.Rex tribute band in the world. Haven’t entered? Entries are still open!

Help To Find This Missing Person: Graham McInness
When Stockton man Graham went missing in November, Andy Knowles called for help via In & Around. The message was spread by nearly 2,000 people, and he was found shortly after.

Gogglebox and X Factor Stars Heading To Metrocentre For Christmas
To get us in the Christmas spirit, TV stars lit up the Metrocentre to kick off the festive season. Thousands attended the event.

Sweet Tooth Delivery Enjoys The Sweet Taste Of Success
Young North East entrepreneur Kayley Smith took her cake business to new heights in 2015, with a strong of high profile awards and successes.

Durham Police Looking For Restorative Justice Volunteers
With the launch of the Durham Police restorative justice programme, Police and Crime Commissioner Ron Hogg called for local support to bring closure to victims of crime.

8 North East Fireworks Displays To Visit This Year
With bonfire night set to go off with bang, we recommended the best fireworks displays the North East had to offer. Which did you attend?

Sunderland Student’s Design Goes Into Production For SAFC Ladies
One Sunderland youngster was proud to see her own design turned into a special promotional cup, courtesy of the SAFC Ladies team.

Review: Legally Blonde At Tyne Theatre & Opera House
West End Musical Theatre Company took to the stage in their musical production of Legally Blonde, and have big plans for 2016.

Here at In & Around, we couldn’t have asked for better support during our first few months. We may have only caught the tail end of 2015, but it was a fantastic year nonetheless, and we’re looking forward to an even better 2016.

We’ve got a lot lined up for this year, and we’re keen to continue turning In & Around into a platform for the North East to be heard. Don’t forget that you can send your thoughts, stories and news to us, and well publish them to a massive (and growing) audience. All contributions are welcome.

Thanks once again for all of your support, and we wish you a fantastic year.

Sincerely,
Alex Porritt
The Editor

7 Big Mistakes Businesses Make Online

By on 29th December 2015in Local Biz

Chester-le-Street based Design & Marketing Agency Jak Inc share their insight into making the most of your online presence…

 

As veteran website designers and experts in mobile optimisation, we often get to see behind the scenes of some of the best and worst web presences.

In doing so, we’ve identified five of the biggest mistakes that businesses are making online. Read on to find out what they are…

1. Websites aren’t mobile-friendly.

Let’s start with a biggie. On average in the UK, we each spend nearly two hours per day browsing the internet on our mobile devices, and in the last few years, mobile shopping has surpassed desktop shopping.

The trouble is, users are still being turned away by sites that aren’t optimised for mobile screens. If a site isn’t intuitive to use on the devices that are now becoming the standard, potential customers are inclined to go elsewhere.

Mobile-optimisation isn’t an option or a recommendation anymore. It’s a necessity.

Plus, Google has recently begun penalising non-mobile-friendly websites by moving them further down in search results. It’s a big price to pay for failing to keep up with digital trends.

2. Web and social media is rarely updated.

The internet is a fast-paced environment, and users are always hungry for new content.

The really successful web presences are the ones that are never short of an update or two, and the ones that are well-practiced in delivering fresh, exciting, entertaining, and original content. As you’d expect, it keeps audiences coming back for more.

Unfortunately, however, keeping content moving is a time-consuming process, and is difficult to keep consistent. If you haven’t already lost your audience thanks to your non-mobile-friendly site, chances are your lack of updates will do it, so make sure you set aside some amount of time every day to update your presence.

3. Imagery isn’t utilised where necessary.

They say a picture can say a thousand words, and the phrase has never been truer than in the context of the internet and social media.

These days, users have neither the time nor inclination to read more than they have to. The web is endlessly scrollable, and nothing can make a viewer click the ‘next’ button faster than a wall of text. Images, however, are far more effective at grabbing attention and communicating a message.

Don’t take your audience’s attention for granted.

A great place to utilise imagery is Twitter. Thanks to the platform’s 140 character limit, a well-chosen photograph or graphic can help get across a message that wouldn’t otherwise have fit!

4. Websites aren’t user-friendly.

When somebody visits your website, there are usually only a handful of things they’re really looking for. In most cases, they want to know who you are, what you do, and how they can obtain your services.

This is the information that should be immediately available to your visitors, and not buried behind a slew of pages and hyperlinks. If it takes more than five to ten seconds to have their questions answered, you may have lost their interest for good.

Assess exactly what your own visitor’s objectives will be, and ensure you meet them. Check out our guide to a great homepage for more tips.

5. Call-to-actions are vague or non-existent.

Let’s assume that you’ve successfully lured visitors to your website or social media pages. Now what? What exactly do you want them to do?

Your call-to-action will depend on your business, but it could be that you want visitors to book an appointment, buy a product, or download something. Too often, visitors have no immediate indication of how to do any of that.

Let’s say you want visitors to fill in an appointment form. That form needs to take centre-stage on your website homepage, right next to a brief explanation of who you are, and why anyone should fill in this form.

6. Download speeds are unnecessarily slow.

This one is a classic.

Designing your first/new website can be exciting, and there’s often the urge to fill it with as many fancy images, videos, and widgets as possible. All of those things are great, but are they really worth slowing your website down?

Simplicity is often key with website design. Implement what you need to implement. Slow loading times caused by extra content can very quickly put a visitor off returning.

7. Stuck in the past.

If you’ve made it this far into this article, chances are that this one doesn’t apply to you, or that it doesn’t apply to you anymore. By now, you’re already considering whether or not your own website is ticking the right boxes, and wondering how you can use our advice to improve it.

But despite the now considerable age of the internet, there are still a lot of business owners out there who write it off as a luxury. The truth is, however, that an online presence is now critical to success, and ignoring that fact can be a big mistake.

If you aren’t already doing so, keep on top of the ever-changing digital landscape. It’s a business owner’s best friend.

Not sure how to avoid these mistakes? Want to find out exactly how to best utilise your digital presence?

At Jak Inc, we’re putting the #DigitalRevolution into motion. Book a consultation to find out how you can become a part of it, and how we can reinvigorate your online marketing.

Disabilities Support Service Backs 20mph Speed Limit Campaign

By on 28th December 2015in Have Your Say

A group of people with disabilities, and the service which supports them, have backed the roll-out of 20mph speed limits throughout County Durham…

 

Durham County Council is introducing the lowered speed limits near 33 schools as part of its Slow to 20 for Safer Streets campaign.

The aim is to reduce road casualties and provide a safer environment for children who walk and cycle to school, also helping them to be more active.

The campaign has now received backing from Bishop Auckland-based Innovations, which supports people with challenging behaviours, provides specialist services for people with physical and sensory needs, and community support for people who are more independent.

The organisation works with the council’s road safety team to train its 124 drivers to drive more safely and efficiently through its Safe and Fuel Efficient Driver Training programme, thanks to funding from the Local Motion project.

Trisha Leonard, office manager, said: “Innovations is supporting the campaign because we believe it is important for all those who rely on our services and everyone else in the community to be able to get out and about safely.

“Our drivers cover thousands of miles each year, and we welcome any measures to improve safety on the roads for them and their passengers.”

Colin Heaviside, 64, from Shildon, who is partially sighted and has relied on the service for more than a decade, is also supporting the campaign.

He said: “I really enjoy coming to Innovations, and have made a lot of friends over the past 12 years.

“Being partially sighted, I rely on the staff at Innovations to help me stay independent – if I wasn’t able to get out, I would be stuck at home most days. That’s why it is great that the 20mph speed limits are being brought in, as they will help make it safer on the roads for all of us.”

The part-time 20mph speed limits are being set up at schools in the county where child accident rates have been identified as twice the national average.

So far they have been introduced outside St Cuthbert’s Primary School in Chester-le-Street and Etherley Lane Primary School in Bishop Auckland.

The campaign also involves providing road safety education to children, including road awareness and safe cycling programmes, offering healthy lifestyle initiatives to encourage walking and cycling, and providing speed awareness schemes.

Cllr Brian Stephens, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for neighbourhood services, said: “We are delighted that Innovations are backing our Slow to 20 for Safer Streets campaign – they provide vital services to those who need them the most, so it’s a real bonus to have their support.”

John Reed, the council’s head of technical services, added: “The support of local organisations like Innovations is key to encouraging the whole community to sign up to slower driving near schools and in the surrounding areas.

“We would urge any other businesses or organisations who would like to support the campaign to get in touch.”

For more information about the Slow to 20 for Safer Streets campaign, visit www.durham.gov.uk/slowto20.

Stanley Couple Celebrate Diamond Anniversary

By on 24th December 2015in Lifestyle

A couple who enjoyed their first date at a dance hall in Stanley 64 years ago have celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary…

 

Former Middlesbrough FC player Joe Birbeck, 83, and his wife Edna, 82, marked the occasion with a family get together – and a surprise visit from Cllr Jan Blakey, chairman of Durham County Council.

Cllr Blakey popped in to congratulate the couple on their 60 years of marriage and present them with a bouquet of flowers.

The couple, who went to the same school together in South Moor, got together at a local dance at Castles Dance Hall, in 1951.

Joe made his name as a professional footballer, playing for Middlesbrough during the 1950s alongside team mates including Bobby Robson and Brian Clough.

Edna, meanwhile, was well-known as a shop worker in Broughs – which became Liptons – in Stanley, and later as a cleaner at East Stanley Primary School.

The couple have two daughters, Sandra and Elizabeth, four grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren.

Cllr Blakey said: “I was delighted to meet Mr and Mrs Birbeck, and to pass on my warmest congratulations to them on their 60th wedding anniversary”.

Secret Santa Donates £10,000 To Durham Trinity School

By on 23rd December 2015in In & Around

Pupils at a Durham school have received an early Christmas surprise – thanks to a £10,000 gift from an anonymous donor…

 

During her year in office as Mayor of Durham City, Cllr Jan Blakey, who is also chairman of Durham County Council, has been raising money for Trinity School and Sports College, which is hoping to buy a new minibus.

And her Mayoral Appeal received an unexpected boost thanks to a mystery donor.

Cllr Jan Blakey made a recent visit to the school at Aykley Heads.

Cllr Blakey, said: “I was absolutely staggered when I received the donation of £10,000 to my fund for Trinity School.

“It was a truly incredible gesture, and the timing could not have been better. I knew that Trinity School were trying to raise enough funds to purchase a new minibus for their pupils.

“When I told the school of their windfall, everyone was absolutely delighted and they are now ready to press on with the purchase of the minibus, which will be ready next year and will be a wonderful boost for the pupils.”

Alison Jefferson, business manager at Trinity School has already written to the Lord’s Taverners to inform them of their fundraising exploits.

The organisation provides accessible transport for schools catering to young people with disabilities.

The iconic green minibuses enable schools to engage pupils in sporting and recreational activities, and help them develop life skills such as visiting shops and interacting with people in the local community. Most importantly, the minibuses provide transport to and from school.

Since 1976, the Lord’s Taverners have put almost 1,100 accessible minibuses on the road across the UK.

Alison said: “The gesture from Cllr Blakey came totally out of the blue – a complete surprise. We cannot thank her enough, and the person who made this wonderful donation. I can’t express how much this means.

“The Lord’s Taverners told us when we started fund raising last April that they would more than match the funding once we reached £17,000, which is what we have now achieved thanks to a lot of hard work and generous donations.

“I am waiting to hear back from them, as the mini-bus will be specially adapted to accommodate wheelchairs.

“I can’t imagine a better Christmas present.”

Further Plans For Future Of DLI Museum Proposed

By on 16th December 2015in Local Biz

Councillors have received reassurance that plans for the future of the DLI collection will provide a fitting and lasting tribute to the regiment…

A special meeting of Durham County Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Management Board heard details of how the authority plans to continue to honour the region’s military history at a time when it must find nearly another £140m of savings from its yearly budget.

In a near two hour session, the council’s cabinet member for economic regeneration, arts and culture Cllr Neil Foster, corporate director for neighbourhoods Terry Collins, head of culture and sport Steve Howell, and chair of the DLI Trustees James Ramsbotham, moved to allay many of the fears expressed since the move away from the collection’s current Aykley Heads home was announced in October.

Through both a comprehensive presentation and responses to questions, the meeting – which was open to the public – heard that:

  • The council is continuing to consult with campaigners, veterans and other interested parties about what can be done to honour the regiment going forward.
  • Durham County Council has received backing for its plans from the Army Museums Ogilvy Trust, which said the authority’s plans “demonstrate a clear commitment to the collection.”
  • The DLI collection will be kept together, not broken up, and be more publicly accessible than before.
  • This will include a free exhibition on the History of the DLI – compared to a £5.45 adult entry fee for the current museum – lasting for at least five years.
  • The proposals will also include a new, not currently available, “on demand” service for families who wish to see artefacts at Sevenhills.
  • Moving the collection will allow curators to spend more time focussing on their work, rather than having to deal with an ageing building, meaning they can concentrate on bringing the DLI story to the widest possible audience.
  • With the museum vacated, the building will be assessed and – if appropriate – declared surplus to the requirements of the council’s culture and sport department. At that stage, it would then be considered for other alternative uses – but there are no current plans for the site or the building. There is a strong aspiration to maintain the landscape.
  • The site of the DLI Museum will see memorial benches remain, and the council is open to exploring whether a new permanent memorial could be created at Aykley Heads.
  • Discussions have taken place over ashes which have been scattered near to the present museum, with a range of options for how to sensitively handle those remains being explored.
  • As part of the proposals, the council has made a commitment to the DLI collection to invest £70,000 a year in funding for at least five years, at a time when it must find nearly £140m more in annual savings. That would include education officers being kept on to take the DLI story into classrooms.
  • An extensive programme of events, including plays, musical performances and an interactive theatrical experience, have been commissioned alongside the already announced ‘History of the DLI’ and ‘Somme 1916’ exhibitions in the next 12 months.
  • The art gallery currently housed alongside the collection will see exhibitions taken on a county wide tour in 2016, while a permanent home is found for it.

James Ramsbotham, the chair of the DLI Trustees, said he felt a “very heavy responsibility” to do the best for a collection that “means so much to so many people,” but that the plans offered a “sustainable and exciting future.”

“There is a much wider story to tell,” he said. “And if we want to continue to engage people, we have got to do something more dynamic to bring people back again and again.

“We need to refresh and be forward looking, much like the DLI was.

“We need to move away from a building that is in the wrong place and look to do things better; to do something that will ensure the DLI lives long in the hearts of the county.”

 

Cllr Neil Foster said: “Necessity is the mother of invention, and you’ve only got to look at the challenges we have now and the continued financial pressures in the years to come to see we have to go out and be innovative.”

The DLI collection includes over 4,000 medals, 1,100 uniform related items, 2,600 examples of weapons and ammunition, more than 400 pieces of equipment, and over 400 relics, as well as extensive records and documents.

Steve Howell, the council’s head of culture and sport, said: “We are keeping the DLI collection together. I’ve had a lot of letters about it and heard the rumours that we are looking to split the collection up, but that is absolutely not true.

“We’ll be retaining and maintaining it as a single collection, regardless of where it is on display. That is how many national collections work – items go out, they are used to tell their stories, and then they come back.

“It’s not just going to be put in a box in Spennymoor, it is going to be maintained with proper curatorial skills so the story can continue to be told and live on.”

The meeting also heard further details of plans for events linked to the DLI and the current World War One centenary.

Steve said: “These are things we would never be able to do in the museum, and are not something we could do while we have to spend so much on the current building.”

Discussions will also continue, with public input, as to what is included in the free, five year History of the DLI exhibition on Palace Green, around future exhibitions, and about what happens after the initial five years.

The plans have been backed by the Army Museums Ogilby Trust (AMOT), an organisation that supports and promotes 139 regimental collections, including that of the DLI, which said it would work with all the interested parties and help where it can to create a secure future for the collection.

In a statement AMOT said: “We believe Durham’s proposals demonstrate a clear commitment to the collection.

“Durham has been generous over many years and we know there is the will to make sure the DLI has a secure future.

“Durham is unusual in the length and depth of support it gives, and this will remain the case with future arrangements.

“Durham’s proposals are quantifiably better than those for other collections at risk.”

Updates on how work is progressing will be presented back to Overview and Scrutiny in both three and six months’ time.

To hear from those campaigning to save the DLI Museum, read their stories here:

Alex Nelson’s Places To Go: Clacton-On-Sea

By on 16th December 2015in Have Your Say

Stationmaster Alex Nelson has been suggesting places to go by train every month for ten years. This month, he’s headed to Clacton-on-Sea…

 

As we enter the depths of winter, I always like to look back over great experiences in the warmer summer weather.

One day in July, I had 22 hours free in London, and instead of staying in an expensive City hotel, I decided to have a trip out of the capital to visit somewhere I’d never been before. I settled on a train trip from Liverpool Street to Clacton-on-Sea in Essex.

Although I stay in all sorts of places on a regular basis, I have a particular fondness for Premier Inns, and there was one on the front at Clacton for £77. London Premier Inns now often top £200 a night, so imagine my happy surprise!

I arrived by train in the late afternoon, and after a walk on the pier I took a First Essex bus out to Jaywick Sands. Jaywick is the most deprived ward in England, where unemployment and crime are high, but there is a strong sense of community spirit. The houses in Brooklands are named after famous British racing marques, but the quality of the houses is highly variable, all private holiday cottages in various states of repair, which have become permanent residences.

I decided to walk the length of Jaywick along the coast, past the golf course and back into Clacton, and I met various people along the way. I wish I could have shared a beer with some lads in one of the houses behind the flood barrier, but although they were friendly, they didn’t invite me to join them.

Local MP Douglas Carswell (the only UKIP MP in the House of Commons) is campaigning for a coherent plan to improve conditions in the area, primarily through the proposed Jaywick Coastal Community Team. I followed the coastal path past Martello Towers and the Golf Course, and ended up in Clacton centre for a pleasant Mexican meal alongside the award-winning golden sands.

The Pirate Radio Museum near the Pier would have been worth a visit, but sadly it was closed during my visit. It tells the story of Radio Caroline and the other late ’60s pirate radio stations, playing music that the BBC Light, Home and Third programmes declined to play. Many operated from ships anchored off the Essex shore or in abandoned wartime forts off the coast. The pirates led to the foundation of Radio 1 in 1967, and set the scene for commercial broadcasting to compete with the BBC. That was in the heyday of Clacton, when it was a daytrip resort for Londoners, which lasted from the 50s to the 70s. Billy Butlin had a holiday camp in the town from 1936 to 1983, which is now covered by housing, but with a few interesting information boards by the site.

I’m not suggesting that all of you should plan a trip to Clacton this summer. Mine was effectively a trip from London, not the North East. However, you might consider a short trip by train somewhere you’ve have never been before for a micro-break away from home. Some suggestions? How about Knaresborough, Berwick, Saltburn, Whitehaven, Hartlepool and Girvan… just for starters.

Atlantean: The Weather Is Snow Joke

By on 15th December 2015in Have Your Say

Long time In & Around contributor Atlantean takes a moment to reflect on what happens following the recent Paris conference…

 

January is a time for New Year’s resolutions.

Following the climate change conference in Paris, the world has one very big resolution to uphold, and it’s signed up to by 195 countries. In mid-December, environmental campaigners Greenpeace asked its supporters which of the following issues were most important to them:

  • Health of the Oceans
  • War and Conflict
  • Corporate Excess
  • Melting of the Arctic
  • Political Corruption
  • Unemployment
  • Global Poverty
  • Deforestation
  • Fracking

If you think about the importance of all these issues for a moment, it’ll make your head spin. When I was a lad, we worried about cold war annihilation, world population growth (then only at 4 billion), and whether the next ice age was on the way.

This year, when winter hit on the afternoon of 12th December, many motorists and householders were caught out. A few years ago, snow rarely came before early January, and it seems many people were completely unprepared to drive in snowy conditions, crawling around at 15mph when conditions demanded faster – but careful – driving… particularly when going up hills. Who had a shovel and de-icer in their cars? Or were prepared with gloves and scarves?

Sat-Navs were overloaded with red and yellow congestion warnings around the region, but why is it that whenever snow falls, so many drivers abandon all use of indicators and signals?

By the next day, a general thaw had helped to ease the situation, and perhaps some of those people who had resolved to buy snow tyres for their vehicles actually then did so. They make a big difference to Mrs. Atlantean’s car (my own vehicle being parked in disgrace after the emissions scandal of last month).

With climate change comes the expectation of much more extreme weather on its way. More snowfall, more heavy rain, and more flooding. We’re seeing evidence of it all the time, yet the naysayers can still be heard. It’s highly convenient to be a climate change denier, since you don’t actually have to do anything, but for how long can we ignore what is happening right in front of us?

Ask yourself… where is the harm in turning down the heating and wearing a thicker jumper? Where is the harm in parking the car and trying public transport?

If we accept that it is happening, and that it is the fault of mankind, then we can move on to the more important questions… like are we past the tipping point already? Can global warming be prevented, or is our only option now to limit the damage we’re causing?

I have sad news for those poor people who have been flooded out twice in places like Cumbria over the last few years. Get used to the idea that it will probably happen again very soon.

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