I’ve deliberately not capitalised the words on this morning’s diary entry, because I mean to be a bit more generic than a capitalised ‘Health Services’ might indicate. Like many of us of a slightly advanced age, lately I’m experiencing rather…
Category: Infrastructure
Post Office deliveries
Without the Post Office service, I don’t think we’d ever have survived up in the wilds above Sparty Lea. Folks in the village, of course, can easily pop over to the Post Office, and so do we, but our round…
Like a bridge
The road up to Catton at Five Lane Ends has been blocked, on Monday and Tuesday of this week, for crucial repairs to the Allen Mill Bridge abutments which suffered damage from an accident some weeks ago. The job was…
Parking, just as we like it
There are no white lines. There’s no designated ‘disabled spaces’. Vehicles come and go, seemingly unerringly finding a place for themselves, or waiting patiently until a space is vacated. Or they twirl around and around, on rare occasions (typically weddings…
Service with a smile . . .
You might have to put up with a bit of craic from the delivery man, but the Baynes Calor gas service here in the Allen Valleys is second to none in terms of efficiency, alacrity, dedication and cheerfulness. Come to…
Surveillance society
Today my little job is to create an instruction manual for a Closed Circuit Television system so that it can be interrogated handily by anyone who is responsible for the covered area. I know of at least four CCTV systems…
The oil cooperative
Denise Williams writes to tell us about the Oil Buying Cooperative: “Every month, the volunteer-led Allen Valleys Oil Buying Cooperative invites its members to take advantage of savings on oil prices by ordering in bulk. Allen Valleys Oil Buying…
Neighbourly half-Wednesdays at the Chemist
Back in early August of last year, a sign suddenly appeared at the chemist: This Business is Under New Management, as of 1st August. And yet Claire Jackson, pharmacist over at least the past decade and so well-respected for her…
“Waste not, want not”
When our daughter was growing up, just at the point of beginning school, I often took her out on a ‘special adventure’ — it was only when she was well into talking with her new school friends that she discovered…
“Winter’s not over ’till the snow’s gone from the dykes”
Ancient words of wisdom from the north country, for sure, but just for now, we’ve not really started winter, let alone looking to the end. So it’s still a good time to be building those stone walls, and today neighbour…