Saturday, May 30, 2009

A town in it's death throes?

The nearest big town to Earl Shilton is Hinckley, about 6 miles away. It was once a great place to shop, but like so many other towns throughout Britain, it is in decline.

Every week yet more businesses and shops close due to a variety of reasons, but the main ones seem to be the recession, spiralling cost of living, lack of money and lastly the local Councils obsession with raising the business rates on shops who are struggling to survive.

Silly schemes like pedestrianising one of the main shopping roads hit the local traders hard while the work was going on. Several have had to close because they have lost the passing trade now that the work is complete.

Only yesterday I visited a Health Food shop along that road only to be met by a big sign proclaiming "Closing Down Sale" and "Big reductions!". I bought my usual drugs and vitamin pills and I asked why. I got the usual answer, "Now that people don't visit this part of town very much we just can't survive on what money we take over the counter". He is now going to work from home and buy a delivery van to keep his customers supplied. He says it will be cheaper than paying rent and rates on the shop.

Like myself many of the local people now prefer to shop in Earl Shilton, and if what we want is not available here, then we go into Leicester to shop. For groceries etc., we have two big out-of-town-supermarkets to go to.

I have posted pictures of the shops and businesses that are no more just here, and no doubt I will be adding to it fairly frequently!

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posted by Keith at 12:30 PM   6 comments

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Pub closures

Pubs are closing at the rate of 27 a week – nearly four a day – now that the impact of the smoking ban and the spiraling cost of beer and spirits combined to decimate the very heart of the British way of life.

 Beer sales have slumped to their lowest level since the Great Depression of the 1930s with 14m fewer pints being sold today than in 1979.

The stark figures from the BBPA (British Beer and Pub Association) reveal the pub closure rate is seven times faster than in 2006 and 14 times faster than in 2005.

In total 1,409 pubs closed in 2007 – a sharp acceleration when compared to 216 closures in 2006 and 102 in 2005.


The latest pub closure in Earl Shilton is “The Plough” in Church Street which closed it’s doors last Sunday (17 May).

The owners had spent thousands of pounds refurbishing it to make it more appealing and attractive to the local people, but to no avail. The smoking ban, spiralling costs, poor summer weather and the consumer slowdown are all factors that a tenant or lessee can not control.

 There was a short burst of interest at the opening, but due to the reasons in the first paragraph the clientele soon dropped away and on many nights in the week there were only two or three customers.

 Let us hope that all the rapidly closing pubs is a wake-up call to Westminster to freeze duty on beer, to increase rate relief for pubs and to lay off yet more layers of red tape.

The Government is a slow moving machine and the tide seems to be fast hurtling in the opposite direction with yet more tough new proposals to curb binge drinking put forward in the Licensing Act review published recently. All the proposals to curb teenage binge drinking doesn’t seem to control the problem, all they do is make life more difficult for the average adult sensible drinker. The people who seem most affected by the rising cost of alcohol are the pensioners, many of whom cannot afford to go to the pub now to meet and socialise with their friends.

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posted by Brenda at 3:30 AM   4 comments

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Devious dealings

This week I received the latest copy of “Leicestershire Matters”, a 16 page free magazine from Leicestershire County Council. As usual it went unopened and unread straight into the recycling bag along with all the other junk that pours through my letterbox every day.

You ask why? Because after reading the first one it became clear that this magazine is just a waste of good trees and printing ink. It is full of the most nauseating, sickening and self-praising articles I have ever read. It is news about how great the LCC is as they try to justify the existence of the over-staffed offices by writing lengthy articles about all the wonderful things they do for the people of Leicestershire. More new schools, more new libraries, protecting the people, welcoming parks, etc., etc. This old saying is very apt here, "Self praise is no recommendation".

As I said, mine always joins the pizza, takeaway food, keep-fit leaflets and , just lately, party political leaflets describing all the wonderful things they will do for us if I vote for them, plus all the other rubbish that comes through the door.

I read on the Internet that the Post Office have been putting the election address from the British National Party inside “Leicestershire Matters” hoping that people like me would unwittingly throw it away without realising. By law the Post Office have to deliver all literature from the legally registered political parties, of which the BNP is one. By inserting it into something that they know is usually discarded by the majority of people they have effectively got rid of this odious piece of printed matter, and have fulfilled their legal requirement to deliver it. Clever, eh?

After reading this article I fished out my copy of Leicestershire Matters from the recycling bag and sure enough there was the BNP leaflet tucked away inside. It must have been done deliberately by ‘persons unknown’ because I can’t imagine that Leicestershire County Council would insert them themselves!

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posted by Keith at 4:04 PM   3 comments

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Where have all the trees gone?

All the town centre trees except one have disappeared. We had some young trees, I cant remember how many, in the pavement directly in front of the C0-0p in The Hollow.

 These trees had steel anti-vandal guards around them (see the first pic; the tree on the extreme left) and were well protected as they grew from saplings into mature trees. The guards were too small so consequently they started to bite into the trees and obviously needed to be removed. Despite several letters to the town council and to the "Hinckley Times" letters page nothing was done.

 It soon became obvious that the guards were too embedded in the trunks and removal was impossible without severely damaging the trees, so the Council had them cut down. I thought they would be replaced, but no, the Council had the holes tarmaced over with pretty red tarmac!

 The area now looks bare and barren. Sitting on the benches by those trees on sunny days with good book was one of my pleasures. Now I feel exposed sitting there listening to the noise of the traffic and not the rustle of the leaves!

 A few weeks later the trees in front of the methodist church suddenly disappeared. Now I could see no reason why these trees were removed, they looked perfectly healthy to me. I asked around but nobody knew why they had been cut down. The person, or persons, who removed them actually missed one! (see the pic taken today). Is this a ploy to placate us, and will that too disappear soon like all the others?

Today I saw the council workmen removing the last remains of the tree roots and filling in the holes. I asked one of the men what was being done with the area. He replied that they were going to tarmac over the holes with the pretty red stuff, and remove the step (the one the Council fears that someone will trip over and sue them for damages?), and move the benches in order to create an area for a mini-market!

 I think this will really pee off the local traders who are claiming that they have lost a lot of passing trade due to the new bypass. Especially the butchers, the fruit and veg shop and possibly the cakeshop if stalls are set up on market day selling similar stuff cheaper!

 Personally I would sooner have the trees back, or even an ornamental shrubbery.

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posted by Frank at 5:13 AM   6 comments

Friday, May 15, 2009

A load of rubbish!

A few nights ago some moron, obviously minus a large quantity of brain cells and lacking in the social responsibility department, dumped a load of domestic refuse by the lockup garages near my home.

No doubt he felt that his contribution to the environment enhanced the bags of hardened plaster and builders waste already tastefully placed around the area by fellow morons from his tribe.

Because these garages are out of sight of the houses and the road and are Council owned the local council now have the job of clearing up this mess at great expense, for which the bill ultimately falls on the taxpayer.

It's at times like this that I sometimes wonder if these low-lifers who jettison their rubbish so freely in our towns and countryside ever stop to think what the consequences of their actions will have on the environment and the animal life.

What will happen when the countryside and surburbs are full?

Where on earth are their children and their grandchildren going to dump their rubbish then?

Soon we will probably be seeing notices like the one above!

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posted by Brenda at 1:33 AM   1 comments

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Come back Oliver, all is forgiven.

Oliver Cromwell - dissolution of Parliament, 20 April 1653:
"It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; you are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? You have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter'd your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

You sordid prostitutes, have you not defil'd this sacred place, and turn'd the country's temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices?

You have grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress'd, are yourselves gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. In the name of God; Go!"

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posted by Keith at 12:27 AM   4 comments