And now the news where you are.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

A thread I've been thinking of starting for a while, what's going on in the news where you live? 

I'll start. In Hull and the surrounding area right now, amongst other things, 

A couple of local DJs have been praised and hailed as heroes for helping some vastly outnumbered police officers on Christmas day after they were having trouble with a gang of 15 hooligans. 

[Old Frightful]

Sorry to take this off at an angle but I'd be very careful with the veracity of the Dull Daily Wail and it's reporting, if that's where you heard about the two lads. That particular story may be accurate but plenty of others are either poorly researched or clearly not researched at all.

They once had a front page article about a couple on one of the council estates complaining that they could no longer park on their drive because Hull City Council had installed bollards on the run up to their house. The photo accompanying the story did indeed make it look convincing. However, a quick look at Google Earth showed that their house was next to a roundabout and the cheeky bleeders had been using the dropped kerb, installed for wheelchair users crossing the road at that point, as a means to park in the front way of their house.  The Council had simply installed the bollards to stop them driving up it.

Another story told of this homeless chap who was camping in the car park of a local supermarket and how his mother had passed away recently and he was unable to find work or be housed. I recognised him as the chap who was drunk and was throwing empty beer bottles at the supermarket wall for stopping him thieving in there. I know this because I was walking into the supermarket when he was chucking said bottles and asked the staff inside about him. I contacted the HDM about the story and suggested they shouldn't be giving this character publicity like that. The girl who wrote the story spoke to me direct and said "I wasn't to know about that." They later put an additional item in the paper about him saying he had been offered housing but refused to accept anything that was offered.

A little research would go a long way to improving some of their stories.

[Robin Evans]

Its foggy in rawmarsh.... very poor visibility down the Vale.... 

Residents aren't sure if this is a bad thing

[JohnM]

Here is the news from the Lincolnshire coast: 

[Clogiron]

In the Pennines another dull, dreary day has been enlivened by the arrival of the Magpie on the garage roof for his/her daily inspection of the bird table contents. It beats anything thats been on TV for entertainment this Christmas

[Robin Evans]

This afternoons drug drop off on quarry st appears to have been greeted by her maj's constabulary.....

Dodgy Dave's collar felt.... Clive and Mary's lad has some explaining to do....

I can see Clive reddening his listener. 

[Bleep1673]

Coronavirus, Coronavirus, Coronavirus. Haven't you seen the number of corpses out on the streets of Hastings, Public Health are having trouble cleaning them up, half the population is dead or dying if we are to believe the latest figures. The government will ban 2021 in some areas because we might enjoy ourselves.

Many public health officials around here are having problems differentiating between the corpses and the drunks unconcious on the promenade, thats why they will ban New Year.

[Bleep1673]

4 hours ago, Johnoco said:

I heard an owl the other night. And a mate saw one of those black and white blackbirds in his garden. 

Ah, a Grimsby or Newcastle fan then?

[Bleep1673]

For further info...

https://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/

Police are not raising roadblock between Hastings (Tier 4), and the rest of Sussex (Tier 2), because of Covid transmissions, it is just part of the annual drink/drive clampdowns. Is that why our bus was turned around at Pevensey on Christmas Eve?

[DavidM]

Emergency services have rescued a woman who got stuck in mud while going for a walk by the river derwent in cockermouth . Shed been stuck up to her knees for 45 minutes before she was spotted , and it took three fire crews an hour to release her 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Odstock is the nearest village to Salisbury District Hospital.  When the Yew Tree Inn at Odstock got some Christmas dinner cancellations due to the pandemic (or maybe more precisely, the government's handling of it), the landlord and his staff didn't let the food go to waste.  They took enough for 17 dinners to the hospital for on-duty staff - each contained smoke salmon and cream cheese roulade, turkey and trimmings, Christmas pudding and mince pies.

In the hospital itself, by just after 9am on Christmas Day, two baby girls had been safely and successfully delivered.

Sadly, four more Covid related deaths occurred in the hospital over Christmas.  In Downton, the village down the road from me, a bungalow was severely damaged by fire on Christmas Day.

For the longer term - 'this one will run and run' - campaigners opposed to the recently announced Stonehenge Tunnel approval say that they have almost raised their initial fighting fund of £50,000. (In my humble opinion, Stonehenge, at least visually, is somewhat overrated; we tell visitors to WWD Towers to go to Avesbury, at the northern end of the county - much more spectacular!)

[GUBRATS]

My dad now has an ' Alexa ' to talk to , I'm just waiting for it to tell him the front room needs painting 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

1 hour ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

For the longer term - 'this one will run and run' - campaigners opposed to the recently announced Stonehenge Tunnel approval say that they have almost raised their initial fighting fund of £50,000. (In my humble opinion, Stonehenge, at least visually, is somewhat overrated; we tell visitors to WWD Towers to go to Avesbury, at the northern end of the county - much more spectacular!)

What always irritates me about stonehenge is that it's the only stone circle any tourists coming to Britain know of and the only one they visit despite there being about 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and, as you say about Avesbury, some are much more spectacular! People unfortunately don't bother to do the research or care to find out about other, lesser known sites which are far more interesting and just stick with the same tourists traps. 

My favourite ancient monuments personally are those on Mainland Orkney, particularly the Ring of Brodger, enormous, beautiful, breathtaking and then you walk across the causeway and you arrive at the Standing Stones of Stenness, another circle just a few hundred metres away and that then leads you to Maeshowe, the enormous burial mound and chamber. Spectacular, deeply fascinating monuments surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery in the world that hardly anyone visits in comparison to stonehenge but hey, just means there'll be less Americans about next time I get to go to Orkney! 

[Robin Evans]

7 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

What always irritates me about stonehenge is that it's the only stone circle any tourists coming to Britain know of and the only one they visit despite there being about 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and, as you say about Avesbury, some are much more spectacular! People unfortunately don't bother to do the research or care to find out about other, lesser known sites which are far more interesting and just stick with the same tourists traps. 

My favourite ancient monuments personally are those on Mainland Orkney, particularly the Ring of Brodger, enormous, beautiful, breathtaking and then you walk across the causeway and you arrive at the Standing Stones of Stenness, another circle just a few hundred metres away and that then leads you to Maeshowe, the enormous burial mound and chamber. Spectacular, deeply fascinating monuments surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery in the world that hardly anyone visits in comparison to stonehenge but hey, just means there'll be less Americans about next time I get to go to Orkney! 

Yup. Been..... it was bloody fabulous.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

24 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

What always irritates me about stonehenge is that it's the only stone circle any tourists coming to Britain know of and the only one they visit despite there being about 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles and, as you say about Avesbury, some are much more spectacular! People unfortunately don't bother to do the research or care to find out about other, lesser known sites which are far more interesting and just stick with the same tourists traps. 

My favourite ancient monuments personally are those on Mainland Orkney, particularly the Ring of Brodger, enormous, beautiful, breathtaking and then you walk across the causeway and you arrive at the Standing Stones of Stenness, another circle just a few hundred metres away and that then leads you to Maeshowe, the enormous burial mound and chamber. Spectacular, deeply fascinating monuments surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery in the world that hardly anyone visits in comparison to stonehenge but hey, just means there'll be less Americans about next time I get to go to Orkney! 

I really would like to get to Orkney, but, so far, my two visits to the northern isles were both to Shetland, which is maybe not surprising, given that my paternal grandfather was born and raised on the island of Fetlar.  Here is the link to the island's own website, in case it is of any interest:

Fetlar - The Garden of Shetland

On our last visit to Shetland, we went to Jarlshof; I seem to recall it was next door to our hotel for our last couple of nights before flying south, which was the Sumburgh Hotel.  My other memory of being there, which was in late June, was of being able to read the local newspaper, The Shetland Times, inside at midnight with no lights on!  That time of year is known as 'The Simmer Dim' in the local dialect.  The sun just about sets...for a few minutes at least!

Edited December 29, 2020 by Wiltshire Warrior Dragon
improve accuracy

[Old Frightful]

On 28/12/2020 at 12:29, Johnoco said:

I heard an owl the other night.

Must have been a bit of a hoot.

[Padge]

A local lad was spotted creating a snow bear at a major junction, Marus Bridge, at 7:00am yesterday, it took him 5 hours to complete and has entertained a large number of people.

 

 

[JonM]

4 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

My favourite ancient monuments personally are those on Mainland Orkney, particularly the Ring of Brodger, 

If you think Orkney is stunning, you really should get over to Harris & Lewis, and check out Callanish.

[Copa]

A man who evaded police by jumping into Lake Burley Griffin early Monday morning just after 1 am has still not been located.  

I'm a regular lake user. I hope I don't find him.

[Wiltshire Rhino]

In my neck of the woods, both the town and it's football club seem to be heading for Tier 4. 

[gingerjon]

The council would like to scribble all over shops in St Leonards

https://www.hastingsinfocus.co.uk/2020/12/22/property-owners-invited-to-apply-for-mural-grants-in-central-st-leonards/

(This is actually a good idea)

[MattSantos]

"Dog standing on motorcyclist's shoulders on the ECP is inappropriate and dangerous:

and

"42 year old woman apprehended for walking naked around the park"

[Adelaide Tiger]

Can’t give you any news from Adelaide as I do not buy the daily paper and I do not subscribe to the digital site.

So I will tell you about the day I drove through Beverley (East Riding) many years when the headline on the newsstand was ‘Cat dies in shed fire’.

[Robin Evans]

Unofficial..... apparently some youth broke into a house on Richard's way at the back of us. He was caught by the owner coming home off a late shift who absolutely leathered him. 

If the burglar is who I believe it is, his assailant didn't miss given the state of him this morning. 

 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

16 hours ago, JonM said:

If you think Orkney is stunning, you really should get over to Harris & Lewis, and check out Callanish.

Ooh, looks fantastic! Thank you for the recommendation, I do very much want to get out to the Outer Hebrides at some point, has been on my list of places to visit for a while. 

Possibly the most stunning stone age monument is in France, just outside the seaside town of Carnac near Nantes. Not a stone circle but row on row of standing stones, thousands of them just stretching as far as you can see. Not been, another place on the list! 

Anyway, point of this tangent was, those of us actually interested in ancient history know there is more to it than stonehenge. 

Edited December 30, 2020 by The Hallucinating Goose