Felice Ficherelli1603–1660 I have been mulling over the topical issue of violence inflicted on women and girls for some time now, and ever since reading Euripides’ Trojan Women many years ago, I have been interested in the fate, often suffered by women, in conflict. Sadly, things don’t seem to changeContinue Reading
Ruth Cohen’s biography of Margaret Llewelyn Davies (1861-1944) provides a warmly appreciative description of the life, politics, and activism of this outstanding woman. It also brings alive her genius, tenacity, and persistent abilities as a socialist, feminist, and leading activist within the Cooperative Movement. By all accounts, as Cohen records,Continue Reading
Parade of Nations Who is up for a ‘mini’ Parade of Nations through Billingham Town Centre on Saturday 14 August? This is part of The World in a Weekend event being staged in the town from 13-15 August. The event is being organised by the Billingham International Folklore Festival ofContinue Reading
Matt Vickers, MPPhoto from creative commons Matt Vickers, MP for Stockton South, has championed several causes in his time in office including tougher sentences for pet thieves and the protection of hedgehogs. Both undoubtedly worthy causes. He appears to dislike international aid, asylum seekers and gypsies. So, there seems toContinue Reading
Teesside International Airport Tees Valley Mayor seeks to protect Teesside Airport from ‘rogue’ politicians like himself, as the airport operator departs Teesside Airport operator Esken Ltd, formerly Stobart Aviation, has jumped ship and pulled out of its contract with the airport company (TIAL). Now, in place of Esken Ltd, theContinue Reading
Photo by Bobbi Bailey Save Our Steel Heritage Redcar Blast Furnace It is a sad day for Teesside that the Redcar Blast Furnace is being demolished today. The furnace as we envisaged would have been truly iconic. In our opinion, this is an act of cultural vandalism, a scorched earthContinue Reading
Boulogne, France Photo by Christopher Wancke The impact of Brexit and Covid As the number of holidays in Europe is increasing, we are coming to terms with the changes brought about by the end of the Brexit transition period and Covid-19. On arrival in Europe, we have to join theContinue Reading
The Troy maze Photo by Chris Humble Brendan is a bear. He would describe himself as a New Monastic Celt when he’s not too busy taking the mickey out of The Big Eejit or BE – his companion and sometime mentor. His association with Chris Humble began when the NorthumbriaContinue Reading
Photo by Anh Nguyen on Unsplash The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coronavirus held an evidence session on Tuesday on the impact on key workers. Four key workers gave compelling and heartbreaking accounts of how Covid -19 was contracted whilst working. Part 1 of the APPG on Coronavirus Layla Moran,Continue Reading
Photo by Vidar Nordli Mathison from unsplash Did the media’s description of penalty ‘saves’ at the Euro 2021 football competition as ‘misses’ fan the flames of racial abuse? England lost the shoot-out, and when a loss occurs we English seem to need to have someone to blame. Blaming the EnglandContinue Reading
