The deed is done, What now?

Well, after Mr Heath convinced everyone that joining the European Economic Community would be good for the economic prosperity of Great Britain, the document that finally linked all our lives to a group of nations who have 27+ languages, several currencies and various legal systems etc. have been joined together by the signing of the EU constitution – sorry- Treaty, by Czechoslovakia.

Naturally, each nation tries to continue as before but takes advantage of anything to their benefit as well as ignoring what they don't like. That is, everyone except us. We always play fair, it seems. We contribute large sums to the organisation, money that is returned (how inefficient is that?) and our government organisations still can't get it where is it supposed to go. Everyone else put a limit on movement of nationals within the EU, but not us. Most other countries tend to ignore 'directives' from sproutland, not us. We did, however, manage to hold onto a pound but I keep hearing those words 'but, of course, the pound in your pocket is not affected' for some reason. They haven't yet even agreed their accounts for over 10 years, what sort of an organisation is that?

We were promised a referendum as to whether we continue the cosy relationship with Europe, but as the Irish found out, politicians tend not to know the meaning of democracy and go their own way, by keep having votes until the right answer is provided. The Conservatives have now dropped their 'cast iron' promise of calling a referendum on the Treaty as a whole, as they seem to think it's a done deal. Instead, they are proposing asking what additional responsibilities should or should not be turned over to the USE (United States of Europe). What short memories they all have, as even in living memory, so called Treaties have been either ignored or overturned when it suited.

See, democracy is already on the way out. Each side will continue to say they are right and we should either embrace or leave the EU, but until we, the citizens of Great Britain, have the promised chance to either confirm or deny our desire to be part of mainland Europe, we will never know for sure. I'm afraid that it will be a fudge no matter what.

Just a thought for you to ponder on. The cost of any referendum would be greatly reduced if held at the same time as the general election which, in turn, must be held before June 2010. I can hear the cries of anguish that it is not enough time to present the arguments. Well, the debate has been going on for at least 30 years and as we only have 3 weeks to elect a government, that argument does not hold water. The question only needs to be a straight forward in or out.

Well, perhaps more like, 'Remain in Europe and ensure we have a strong voice' or 'Take all necessary legal steps to extract Great Britain out of all non-trading agreements with the EU'. I'm sure it is not beyond the capabilities of our best legal brains to undo a real mess (if that is our view).

I'll tell you what, the turnout will astound everyone and for what it is worth, personally, I voted for the European Economic Community (EEC) – what happened? Do not be surprised if, against the current odds, New Labour form the next government as the likes of UKIP will mop up an awful lot of votes for possibly the wrong reasons.

The war that shouldn’t be!

As I write in early November, we have more of our soldiers being killed and maimed even by those we are trying to train to take over. The original reason we went into Afghanistan was to help rebuild after the Russians had tried to ‘tame’ the country. Nothing about fighting a civil war - because that is exactly what it is - just use our expertise in providing humanitarian aid.
Now the excuse is that we are trying to bring democracy to a country/area that has never had it and as an aside, the place is used as a training ground for terrorists who are about to attack the UK.

Hmmm. Let’s think about that for a second or two. Even the 911 attack in the USA was started from within and caused a big clampdown on visitors to the country. Today we have the news that immigration policy was changed from you can only let people in who have a good reason to come, to, let anyone in unless you have a good reason not to let them in.

It may take a little while for you to spot the solution, but her is a clue or two.
It costs a lot of money to keep an army in a foreign land, particularly when they are being shot at by all and sundry.
It costs a lot of money to police our borders with a greatly reduced risk of being shot and killed.

And on a personal note -

Our eldest dog is getting quiet lazy, even though he is encouraged by the others, he really needs a good shove to go out (particularly if wet/cold/windy!). Mind you, once out, he is as keen as mustard searching for food or just checking out all the other lovely smells that other dogs leave behind.

The decision was made. Now the agility 'outdoor season' has largely finished the time has come to find out what it's like out in the world locally for himself. A stroll along the canal for starters, I thought. It was a nice day to break him in again, after all he is 11 years old. Down the hill we went to Ravens Lane and along to Castle Street and back up, through the cemetery and home. That was very interesting, he thought. The next day, down the hill (it's always like that when you live at the top) we went, through Butts Meadow, down Prince Edward Street, across the High Street, down Mill Street, along the canal to Ravens Lane. Across the High Street again, up the hill (this time Highfield Road) once again and home via  the footpaths and Briar Way.

Getting ambitious, I thought a meander down to Bank Mill Lane to join the Canal again and go and see the new works in Broadwater. This day, it was wet and raining. Himself was in his element. Splashing his way through all the tow path puddles, doing his best to get in the way of others trying to avoid said puddles. Mind you, between the Rising Sun and Castle Street, it's really is a nice walk-able surface, but the rest really is a shambles. The Broadwater works are almost successful, with a nice new pathway from Lower Kings Road to the bridge and onwards towards canal fields. Just a pity that the new bollards keep getting in the way of motor vehicles. The fitness trail looks useful once you work out how things work and there are some nice seats to have a rest on. I must confess, I'm still trying to work out why you would want to walk down to the centre of town to enjoy a shopping experience or take the children to one of the several play areas in the town – then have a free fitness session before walking home again.

So what have me and my dog found out during these short excursions into the urban hinterland?

For starters, avoid walking in the rain. The tow path is almost like walking in the River Bulbourne – apart from the length from Castle Street to the Rising Sun when it's wet. I can't think why! The Canal Fields experience is well worth the effort as most of the previous 'lakes' no longer appear during the damp season now. The 'fissure' that has appeared on the canal bank on the corner of Mill Street is a serious fault. It looks like the ground has collapsed, or been washed away and the surface is sinking fast. British Waterways have been informed but don't hold your breath, just avoid that area. The smell of breakfast being served in the new building in Castle Street has great appeal to my friend, so I can see me being dragged that way again as his memory has lost none of it's sharpness over the years. The moor seems to have lost a lot of trees along the canal side with no sign of more than one or two replacements, but the view of the station is marvellous, if you like that sort of thing.

Associated with the nice new footway recently installed in Canal Fields is the distinct lack of footway in Briar Way, which is at the near end of our trips. At around 8:30 each morning about 100 children either going in one direction to Ashlyns or the other direction to Thomas Corum School have to fight with both parked vehicles and cars driven by considerate parents who safely cart their offspring to the entrance of Velvet Lawn or the child care facility nearby, so they don't have to walk along the road. It never ceases to surprise me that accidents don't happen, but as the road is only about 12 foot wide, it does align with the current road safety theory that suggests if you mix pedestrians with motor vehicles, then everyone is safer. Easier than introducing a town wide 20 mph speed restriction as outlined in an article in December issue of 'The Citizen' by the of the Tring and Berkhamsted Cycling Campaign and partly introduced during the High Street 'improvements' a while ago.