I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon in the blazing sunshine at Clarence Park yesterday. It was the St Albans Mela and there was a crowd of well over a thousand to hear Mumzy who Wikipedia tells me is the first and only artist of Bangladeshi descent to have made it in the mainstream British music industry.
He [...]
Entries from September 28th, 2009
Mumzy in the Park
September 28th, 2009 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
Tags:Clarence Park·Iqbal Zia·Mumzy·St Albans Mela·St Albans Youth Council
Time for a complete rethink of the rail franchise system
September 22nd, 2009 · No Comments · Sandy's blog, Uncategorized
Following much feedback from long-suffering St Albans commuters, I brought the issue of rail company performance and over high fares to the floor of the Liberal Democrat conference today by moving a motion on the reform of rail franchises.
I was calling for longer terms for rail franchises – subject to stringent periodic review – to [...]
Tags:FCC·First Capital Connect·London Midland·Lord Adonis·rail franchise·St Albans City Station·Thameslink
Debate on MP expenses
September 21st, 2009 · No Comments · Uncategorized
I have just spoken at Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth on the issue of MP expenses. Here is what I said:
Most people don’t have an expense account, never have, never will. Those relatively few that do are used to proper checking and monitoring as a matter of course.
I ran large teams at director level in [...]
Where do we go from here?
September 15th, 2009 · No Comments · Hands off Herts, Sandy's blog
We are in the consultation phase for the new Local Development Framework for St Albans – what used to be called the Structure Plan when I was small. Sites for supermarkets? Where could a new school go? Do we have to build on the Green Belt? The final document produced from this process will help [...]
Tags:Colney Heath·London Road·Maltings·Sopwell Residents Association·St Albans Civic Society·Tesco·Tyttenhanger Green
Elsinore comes to Verulamium
September 14th, 2009 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
With apologies for the delay in this posting while we moved the blog to a new platform, I want to report how totally stunned I was by the quality and magic of the recent production of Hamlet by St Albans based Theatrix performance arts school at the open air amphitheatre in the grounds of St [...]
Student Finance Balls-up
September 12th, 2009 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
I have been reduced to a gibbering wreck by this year’s student finance process. Both my sons successfully registered their details on-line. But when my wife and I tried to register and input our supporting data, we both got locked in a loop of endlessly having to change passwords, not being recognised, and eventually being [...]
Tags:Ed Balls·Student Finance
Slushy slushy slushy dead angst zombies
September 5th, 2009 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
I’m not sure that Arnold Schoenberg would resonate with this splendidly irreverent summary of his mammoth Gurre-lieder by members of the Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra (CYO) after their performance of the work last week.
By any standards it is a gargantuan piece of music and it was a hugely brave undertaking for the CYO under the [...]
Tags:Gurre-Lieder·Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra·Hertfordshire Music Service·Hertfordshire Schools Symphon Orchestra·Herts CYO·HSSO·London Philharmonic Choir·London Symphony Chorus·Peter Stark·Schoenberg·Westminster Central Hall
Bricket Wood’s very own Calendar Girls
September 1st, 2009 · No Comments · Sandy's blog
Keech Cottage Children’s Hospice is a thoroughly worthy cause. I have seen in my own family the comfort hospices bring to the dying and the bereaved. They depend so much on volunteer fundraising.
Wendy Berriman in Bricket Wood has for several years organised an annual garden party to raise money for Keech Cottage. This year’s event [...]
Tags:Bricket Wood·Calendar Girls·hospice·Keech Cottage Children's Hospice·Oakwood Road