BH is now a chi-chi interior designer’s office.  Its name seemed more appropriate to its previous incarnation as an outpost of social services.

I presume Dickens Close was carved out of Bleak House’s former grounds and was named for the author.

PS I have done my Dickens for the year by completing Our Mutual Friend in a 100 year old volume from a centenary edition of his collected works bought new by my grandfather. Like almost all Dickens it is very good in parts (for example the glorious Mr Pecksniff) and is surely the first novel about recycling – but there are some real longueurs.

The Secretary of State has considered carefully all the representations before him.  On the basis of the submissions received, he is of the view that there are no substantive issues which require the Inquiry to be re-opened and he has therefore decided that he is in a position to re-determine the appeal on the basis of all the evidence and representations now before him… The Secretary of State will issue his decision in this case on or before 5 April 2012.

This is the bald wording of the official letter just received by me as one of the witnesses at the most recent Public Inquiry into the Helioslough proposal to build a lorry terminal at Park Street.

So yet again we are in an end-game and one that looks pretty final.

It all now depends on one man, Eric Pickles, and the advice he receives from his departmental lawyers.  Will he uphold his previous decision to overturn the Inspector’s recommendation that the terminal should be allowed? – which was then challenged in court by Helioslough on a legal technicality.

Or will he cave in?

I was pleased to see in the bundle of final representations included with this letter that the St Albans Civic Society had endorsed and underlined the previous representations from David Parry and myself about the impact of motorway widening on the local road network and also the alternative opportunity offered by Sundon north of Luton.  Our view remains that these matters could have been best explored in a re-opened Inquiry but that is not to be.

The Secretary of State took his previous decision on the basis that there is an alternative better site at Colnbrook on the Great Western mainline near Slough with better rail connectivity in terms of access and loading gauge than our own Midland Mainline.

For now the residents of Park Street and south St Albans – and the Thameslink commuters who will be massively impacted by the alteration works to the Elstree Tunnel – can only hope that Mr Pickles stands by this judgment against the flurry of competing lawyers’ letters.  The waiting will be over in less than nine weeks.

Not many people know that St Albans had the third printing press in England after Caxton’s Westminster press and a press at Oxford.  The St Albans press was set up in 1479 and housed in the school, then part of the Abbey.  One of the earliest printers was in fact described as “the St Albans schoolmaster”.

It was the first printing press in England to do three-colour printing – black, red and blue.  It was also the first to have a printer’s mark – now a legal necessity for any book or publication.

The most significant early book produced at St Albans was the famous “Book of Hawking” – written in English with beautiful woodblock illustrations. Published some time around 1486, its full title was “The Boke of St Albans: Containing Treatises on Hawking, Hunting and Coat-Armour.”

Oddly after this early flying start, Donald told us that no books were printed in St Albans between the 1530s and the early 1800s.  Hertford became a more important Hertfordshire centre for publishing through the 18th and earlier 19th centuries.  Watford eventually became the print capital of Europe.  There were however significant printing presses in the city when I first came in 1980 – now sadly almost all gone.

Of course books with St Albans associations continue to be churned out in spades.  One of the city’s most famous sons, educated at St Albans School, is Stephen Hawking.  Copies of his “Brief History of Time” decorate many shelves and some have even been read.  So we’ve gone from the Book of Hawking to the book of Hawking.

PS One questioner wondered whether the shop steward in a printworks being called “Father of the Chapel” had any connection with this early press being housed in the Abbey.  When I went home, I looked in my Brewer’s Phrase and Fable and found the following – “This use of the word possibly derives from the earliest days of English printing when presses were set up in chapels attached to abbeys.”  So there it is.

As a boy, I knew the last chief printer on the old Scottish Daily Express, Roddy Mackenzie.  He told me that when he arrived for his first day of work at the age of 14 or 15, he was asked “Do you belong to the chapel?”  “No sir,” he replied, “but I’m in the Boys’ Brigade.”

PPS I knew we had several mayors from the Gape family but am indebted to Donald’s slides of various locally printed handbills for telling me that the one for 1830 had a town clerk called Blagg…

He chose to concentrate on the inadequacies of service provision for the mentally ill.  It was not an obvious crowd-puller for a new leader and therefore provided an interesting perspective on Nick as a rather unusual politician.  I had to meet him at the station and drive him to the venue – no ministerial cars then.

The audience were struck by his passion on this issue and that he should have chosen such a relatively unsexy subject.  Their reception was warm, but doubtless they thought that this was yet another set of noble aspiration from a third party leader who would never have the opportunity to deliver on them.

Last year he came back to the same conference and was able to tell them how – even within huge constraints on public expenditure – the new coalition government was determined to tackle this issue with its “No Health Without Mental Health” strategy targeting an additional £400 million to ensure better access to psychological therapies.

It was reported yesterday that the Department of Health has provided £16 million as part of this initiative for the Time to Change campaign, aimed at children in schools and youth clubs and via social networking websites.

The Fleetville Community Centre didn’t know what had hit it.  I hope this becomes an annual fixture, do check out the St Albans Liberal Democrat website for information.

And to learn more about St Albans District Liberal Youth aka “SADLY”, just visit their Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/wkVbQs

The figures quoted in today’s BBC story seem to bear out my claim with St Albans annual season tickets coming in at 31 pence per mile travelled.

Of course there are the oddities – the absurdly expensive Heathrow Express and the infamous tube journey from Covent Garden to Leicester Square which was always supposed to be more expensive per distance covered than Concorde.  My concern is for standard commuter journeys which people have to use every day.

As I told the BBC, we are paying Rolls Royce prices but not getting the Rolls Royce.   I welcome any thoughts on the appropriate car model which best describes the Thameslink experience!

PS I blogged before Christmas about my meeting with rail minister Norman Baker, where I put on the table a dossier compiled by two local commuters on their recent daily experiences of First Capital Connect.  Norman promised to pass it to Tim O’Toole, chief executive of First Group, the parent company of FCC.  This has resulted in a five page letter of explanation from Mr O’Toole which Norman Baker forwarded to me today.  When I have digested its contents, I will report on them here.

It is very difficult to highlight individual trees – they are all so cleverly and creatively designed – but ones which particularly struck me were:

• Christmas with Grandma – a tree by Mount Carmel Kindergarten decorated with photos of the childrens’ grandmas
• Young People’s Lives – a tree ethereally decorated with clumps of cotton wool by The Base Youth Project
• Our Promise – the Brownies’ promise on a long banner warapped through the branches by 17th St Albans Brownies
• Tiggi Harding’s ‘Twas the night before Christmas with little home-made stuffed mice
• A celestial celebaration for Hope and Justice – golden cherubs and silver birds by Hope for Justice
• Nations of the World – ethnic dolls from St Mary’s Church, Marshalswick
• Festive Fun and Jingle Bells by Bernards Heath Infant School
• Sewing Mends the Soul by St Saviour’s Sewing B
• Festive Hoppiness and Poppiness by Robin and Teresa Dodds, decorated with beer and coke cans discarded in the street and hedgerows
• Forever Blue and Yellow - Saints City Trust of course promoting St Albans FC

But every tree tells a story and as I wrote above, there are 93 of them.  The overall result is spectacular.

We were doubly privileged to see it at night, while brilliantly talented performers from OVO sang from their recent Maltings production of Food of Love at Christmas – see the picture.

There is another piece of musical drama coming up this Thursday evening – a musical nativity called “Now I, Joseph, was walking”, directed by Imogen de la Bere – that OVO influence again.

I’m told it’s a simple musical setting of the Nativity narrative taken from the ancient Gospel of St James – the earliest Gospel not to make it into the New Testament – and it has its own delightful take on the story, including one of the most moving accounts of the birth of Christ ever written,  set to lovely music.  Tickets are £5 or £4 with children under 16 free.

We took with us a dossier prepared by two St Albans commuters about their recent experiences using First Capital Connect’s Thameslink service.  Issues covered were

• the hopelessly inadequate knowledge of FCC staff during disruptions, when passengers using smartphones and social networks seem to know far more than platform staff but then get hopelessly frustrated because the latter cannot confirm things;
• poor and incorrect announcements, so that people are allowed to board trains which FCC know will end up being at a standstill down the line outside Radlett or wherever;  or being advised to go to Hatfield and catch a bus when a Thameslink train will come in half an hour and so is still the best alternative;
• the continued lack of effective interworking beween FCC and Network Rail, for example the age before the broken electronic information board at Farringdon was replaced;
• the refusal of East Midlands trains to accept FCC tickets during disruptions, which would at least allow St Albans commuters a sensible and timely alternative;
• increasingly high levels of off-peak overcrowding and the way that FCC has quietly dropped its previous passenger charter commitment that ‘we plan services so off-peak you should always have a seat’; and
• all the flaws of the delay repay scheme for commuters, particularly the way that compensation vouchers can’t be used for on-line ticket purchases, and compensation is only given when a journey is actually attempted, although often FCC advise people not to travel and commuters have to make alternative arrangements such as working from home.

Norman Baker listened intently.  He is already raising the issue of poor passenger communications during disruptions with ATOC, the industry body which represents rail franchisees.  The key thing is to look at best practice elsewhere (it does exist) and then ensure that all operators reach these standards.  He also revealed that the next generation of franchises will focus far more on outputs than on inputs – so the passenger experience will matter far more.  This meets one of my own long-held hobby horses, that Government has been all too ready to remove franchises when the Treasury is not paid, but strangely reluctant to bite when it is the fare-paying passenger who is let down.

By sheer chance, he was due to have a meeting with Tim O’Toole, chairman of the First Group parent company of FCC, later this afternoon and promised to raise all these issues directly with him – including giving him the above-mentioned dossier.

So we’ll watch this space.

PS Norman is also the minister to thank for getting next year’s fare rises reduced from the planned RPI+3 percent to the previous RPI+1 percent

PPS On the way there and back (on trains that were on time and using the south bank exit from Blackfriars for the first time) I was re-reading the appropriately titled Mr Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood – no Erste Kapital Konnekt in Berlin…

In his letter, the head teacher writes about the importance of those eligible for free school meals taking up their entitlement since this is the measure used for calculating a school’s apportionment of the pupil premium:

This is a substantial top-up amount targeted at closing the attainment gap that exists between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. The amount that any school receives will depend on the number of pupils that it has who are eligible for Free School Meals.

This funding formula makes it more important than ever that we have accurate information with respect to Free School Meals eligibility and that all those who are entitled to this benefit, claim it. At a time of economic stringency when a great many people may be losing their jobs and income, we are very conscious that some parents may not be doing so. If this applies to your family, I would urge you to reconsider. The administration of Free School Meals through our cashless catering system means that pupils receiving the benefit run no risk of embarrassment. Moreover, the incentive to claim the benefit is now much greater since the pupil premium can be used to offset the cost of trips, resources and even tuition. Your son or daughter will be missing out on many potential benefits if they have an entitlement that is not taken up.

For clarification, children whose parents are in receipt of the following are entitled to receive Free School Meals:

• Income Support (IS)
• Income Based Job Seekers Allowance (IBJSA)
• An income-related employment and support allowance
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Child Tax Credit (provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit) and have an annual income from 6 April 2011
which does not exceed the threshold of £16,190
• Guarantee element of State Pension Credit.

So there is a double whammy of encouraging the parents or guardians of all children who qualify to claim for free school meals and of maximising extra budget for the most deserving schools.

Astonishingly I read that the Manchester Labour Party – where the additional funding attributable to the pupiul premium is £11 million, has condemned the policy as a “sham”.  I guess it’s just about understandable (if cynical) that Labour opposes each and every cut that the government is having to make, but it really is utterly bizarre that, in Manchester at least, they are opposing substantial increases in education funding for disadvantaged children.

It would take dedication to follow all the ideas to the letter, and no-one is suggesting that.  Being St Albans, a lot of people reading this blog will do many of these suggestions already – the words bleeding obvious come to mind.  But the size of post-Christmas bin bags provides dramatic evidence of how easy it is to push Christmas to excess, we’re all facing tougher times, and the Transition list is so comprehensive that it provides all sorts of ideas which should resonate.

Chez Walkington, we have favourite bits of wrapping paper which go round and round to roars of family approval, until they are too tattered for continued use.  We always cut up last year’s Christmas cards for present tags.  Sloe gin as a present? – too good to give away.

But a meat-free Christmas?  I love turkey too much, it’s the only time of year that we have it, so we try to reduce meat eating outside high days and holidays.  It’s a case of chacun à son goût - but if we each did something extra, the collective impact would be very powerful, and it would be a present for the planet.

Happy Christmas!

Last year, Transition St Albans asked its members how we could make Christmas more
sustainable. Here are your answers. There are loads of different idea here; no-one will do everything, but everyone can do something.
Happy Christmas from everyone at TSA!

Trees and Decorations
If you buy decorations, buy ones made from wood or other natural materials
Buy low energy LEDs or solar lights is you need new ones
Find a large branch and decorate it, rather than a tree
Make your own decorations (there are lots of ideas on-line) i.e. dried oranges, or biscuits. Use the little trays from your mince pies. Raid your recycling box!
Buy a living tree with roots in a pot, then keep it in the garden during the year.
Remember to water it well.
Make your own wreaths using plants from the garden

Cards
Buy charity cards not commercial ones
Buy cards made from recycled materials, and then recycle them!
Use eCards or email. Buy an Oxfam Good Gift (or similar) with the money saved
Deliver local cards on foot or bike
Don’t stick down the envelopes, then it’s easier to reuse them
Recycle postage stamps at the post office

Gifts you can make
Chocolates, biscuits, vinegars (there are lots of ideas online)
Spirits with foraged fruits
Chutneys and jams
Personalised calendars
A book of youfavr ourite recipes
Sewing and knitting
Gifts that you buy
Give events / tickets / your time / subscriptions not objects
Buy second hand from charity shops and eBay (especially for young kids … they just don’t care!)
Give “good gifts” like Oxfam Unwrapped and the Woodland Trust trees
Shop locally from independent shops, like the craft shop in town, and school fairs
Think about the embedded energy in a gift; is it made in China and shipped here?
Is it made of plastic? Buy things that last.
Buy edible, wearable and/or FairTrade products (try Oxfam and the farmers’ market)
Look for presents which don’t need electricity
Check the energy efficiency if buying electrical goods
Can last year’s unwanted gifts be given to someone?!
Get a gift receipt, so the gift can be swapped if unwanted

Wrapping and packaging
Turn last year’s Christmas cards into this year’s gift tags or gift boxes
Wrap parcels in brown paper and use pretty ribbon or potato prints to brighten it
Wrap parcels in newspaper and ribbon or rafia
Use string, ribbon and raffia instead of sellotape
Use decorative bags and boxes that are reusable
Keep hold of useful boxes and bags during December to help with wrapping
Have a treasure hunt instead of wrapping paper
Save the wrapping paper to use again
On Christmas Day, have separate bin bags / boxes ready to recycle paper and card in, and another bag for general rubbish. Do it straight away!

Food and drink – what & where to buy
Buy veg from a local grower e.g. Carpenters in Sandridge Road
Try and buy British food, the more local the better
Don’t drink bottled water
Grow some of your own; parsnips and carrots can be harvested in December
Make your own mulled wine

Food and drink – planning meals
Plan some meals, so you don’t buy too much
But don’t plan too many meals, because there will be lots of leftovers
Plan to use seasonal veg
Plan some rabbit or venison; seasonal British meats that are low energy to produce
Substitute some veg dishes for meat dishes (try http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/vegetarian/vegetarian-christmas/)

Leftovers
Use leftovers in bubble and squeak
Serve left over Christmas pudding with hot custard
Make stock from the bones etc
Try http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/favourites/leftovers/
Don’t waste energy
Make full use of the oven when it is on
Cut down on decorative lights
Have rechargeable batteries ready on Christmas day for gifts that need them
Go out for a walk, your house feels warm when you get home!
If you have a woodburner, ask neighbours for wood

Travel and transport
Buy warm enough clothing that you can still walk in cold weather
The Trainline website is good for train timetables
Offer to share your car with friends, and ask to share
Or just give the car the week off

Involving friends, family, and neighbours
Send a card to a neighbour who you wouldn’t normally
Put the word round about a Boxing Day football match at the local park (and then play!) Or maybe a Boxing Day walk.
Arrange a baking circle; you each make a big batch of one cake/pudding and then give some to each person in the circle
Swap decorations with friends rather than buying new ones
Invite neighbours around over the holidays, or agree a walk to a local pub and invite others to come along.
Get children involved; they love helping with making decorations, cards, gift tags, food preparation, even making a meal.
Make the Christmas pudding together (stir up Sunday)
Play more games together, a little less TV
Go for local walks (around St Albans there is Verulamium Park, Heartwood Forest, the Wick, Gorhambury, Childwickbury, Redbourn Mill, etc!)
Do something together locally, like the Abbey Theatre’s Christmas play, a carol concert or church service.

And finally, question “the rules”
Make it your own festival, start your own traditions
Talk to your family about what they want Christmas to be like
Agree with your family rules that work for your family
Ask people (nicely!) if they really want a gift
Tell people (nicely!) if you don’t want a gift
Ask people if they are just as happy with something second-hand
Agree price limits
Discuss shared buying
Make more of the meal vegetarian; do you really like turkey?!