During proper coffee time this morning I became interested in two stories on the BBC website. The first was a piece discussing the nominations for the 2013 British "city of culture" award...and I was delighted when I saw that Sheffield (below Sheffield Town hall) was just one of the nominations. Other possibilities for the title are Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton & Hove, Carlisle, Chester, Chichester, Chorley, Bath, Cornwall, County Durham, Derby, Derry City, Gloucester & Cheltenham, Ipswich & Haven Gateway, Leicester, Manchester, Norwich, Oxford, Pennine Lancashire, Reading, 'The Countryside' and Urban South Hampshire. Now call me a thick oik, but when were "Pennine Lancashire" and the ever so generic "countryside" defined as UK cities?........hummm I don't think so! And sneaking on the list, just under the radar is...............................and wait for this one.,......... Barnsley!!!!!!!!!!
Now for readers from other shores, I will try to describe Barnsley......think about all the bad you hate in a city centre---double it... then add a few hundred Essex girls (and boys), a score of Wetherspoon pubs (without ANY chairs), a liberal sprinkling of "pound" shops and not forgetting a good dose of racism.....and there you have it Barnsley...........Culture......NEVER! Never in a million years.
The second story concerned a small piece, originally in the Telegraph where PM Gordon Brown said he is sorry for the "appalling" way World War II code-breaker Alan Turing (below) was treated for being gay.In 1952 Turing was prosecuted for gross indecency after admitting a sexual relationship with a man. Two years later he killed himself after he was given experimental chemical castration as a "treatment" and his security privileges were removed, meaning he could not continue to work for the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).
Now I am not a fan of gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, but I do support his reply to Mr Brown's comments when he said a similar apology was also due to the estimated 100,000 British men who suffered similar treatment.
"Singling out Turing just because he is famous is wrong," he said.
However I guess it IS a start albeit 50 years too late.
Anyhow, the rest of the day I have been digging out a small pond....suffice to say I looked like a dirty old Irish Navvy when I finished (and smelt like and old sewer!)Top picture the field at sunset
Hello John, wanted to pop by and thank you for dropping in and leaving such nice comments. I'm happy to hear that your trip to NY was such a positive one. Very interesting post here, one that I will read again. Have a great weekend and I look forward to visiting again.
ReplyDeletethanks for visiting my page, and leaving a comment. i want to read more of your previous post as your writing is pretty interesting. i wish you could make the letters a little larger coz i have a hard time deciphering it. hahaha, old age!
ReplyDeletexoxoxoxo
Sometimes apologies and amends are hard to come by. Seems your PM is making a start.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the "towns" you mentioned---I'm dumb as a stick concerning Great Britian so thanks for starting to educate me!
'Gross indecency' - oh, let's see, could we mean torture or killing a child or the myriad hideous things people do to people? And the 'treatment' - oh, it breaks my heart. I like what Mr Tatchell said. The good old days, my foot! Have you seen Enigma, the movie? I liked it, but just read that it has been criticized for substituting a heterosexual character for Turing.
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