Issue 431 1st April 2016

Heads Up: RBW work-shops are

starting the new storyline plotting on Monday ...

FLASH FICTION: same as last week

Assignment: overheard conversation or two sentence plotline.

A warm welcome awaits. COME to WORKSHOP ... Rising Brook Baptist Church Centre cafe area

for Monday‘s in April

www.issuu.com/risingbrookwriters

www.risingbrookwriters.org.uk/DynamicPage.aspx?PageID=15

Image widely distributed on social media.

Editor comment: It is part of civil liberty to be allowed to make peaceful protest and to have the right to free speech. That the media were stopped, on air while broadcasting, from reporting a peaceful protest in the lobby of the Houses of Parliament should be a cause for concern to all people everywhere. (The reason given being that reporting from the lobby is not part of the televising of official proceedings of the House and is thus against regulations.) Britain is not a dictatorship; it is the home of freedom and democracy. Freedom of the press is some-thing to hold dear. Surely, some could argue that when austerity policies are causing so much harm

that the vulnerable take their protest to inside Parliament then a tipping point has been reached. Is this finally a line drawn in the austerity sand?

So, who were these people and what were they saying that was too terrible to be broadcast?

They were people in wheelchairs highlighting their claim at how many people have died because of the DWP ―assessments for work‖. Apparently, this number of deaths is over 2,000. Does the DWP expect

to be able to keep these deaths a secret from mainstream publication when the internet has been spelling out the names of the dead for months? And, when will there be a public enquiry?

―We‘re all in this together‖ ... The folks in wheelchairs don‘t seem to think so ... And, it seems neither does the government if they are prepared to heavy-handedly silence the voice of disabled people by

stopping the media reporting their claim that austerity-based benefit withdrawals by the DWP are lead-ing to the deaths of society‘s most vulnerable people.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/23/disability-campaigners-occupy-parliament-over-benefit-cuts http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35886336

Rising Brook Writers has published several books of the memories of local senior

citizens who attended community organizations. As the boat race is a feature of

Easter Weekend here is a memory of long ago ...

Fred Wells: Eccleshall Day Centre

When I was a little boy living in London before the War I never went to the seaside.

The nearest I got was the River Thames. I remember going camping at Runnymede

where the Magna Carta was signed and a gang of us would often go and see the

University Boat Race at Putney because I didn‟t live very far from there.

Even in those days the Boat Race was quite a big thing. At Putney you could

watch them bringing the boats out and putting them in the water for the start of the

race. Sometimes the water would be very choppy. I often wondered whether they

regretted getting in the boats. The rowers wore tight trousers called drainpipes. You

didn‟t often see anybody in shorts. It used to draw a lot of people on to the towpath

in all sorts of coloured clothes. Some of the ladies wore big hats and there were peo-

ple entertaining the crowd.

One chap used to be in a leather straight-jacket. They put long chains

around him and he would get out of them. He had a leather mask with steel over

his mouth and to get out of the chains he would throw himself on to the ground.

He‟d wriggle about and get the chains off, then he‟d come round with the hat.

It was a big day out and very enjoyable. We‟d go out early in the morning and

not get back until half past five or six o‟clock.

Sometimes when we got home there would be gang fights. One gang would

go after another gang. They‟d start arguing and that‟s how the fights happened.

They‟d have dustbin lids, broomsticks and all sorts of things to hit you with. Once

when we were fighting I was pushed through a window of a corner shop. I went

through the window and landed in the sitting room. I got up and ran out straight

through the shop. Nobody shouted at me or anything. They were bad times: one

gang against another.

2016: Publicity Image Facebook.

Soldiers’ Scars

Private Jones has a scar on his shoulder, From where he fell out of a tree;

Private Hughes has a scar on his ankle, That he earned when he learned how to ski.

Corporal Smith has a scar on his elbow,

From a sting by a large Honey Bee; Corporal Rourke has a scar on his torso,

Which he won having fun out at sea.

Sergeant Hyde and most other soldiers, Have scars that no one can see;

Scars of a kind that form on the mind, And scars that always will be.

Scars hide in the mind‘s darkest places,

And the patient will never be free, From visits at night by some awful sight, When the mind wants to hide or to flee.

The frog Wilhelmina reclined on her couch

and languidly licked at the flies

while Fanny her friend washed pots without end

and emitted these envious cries:

'How come you lie there like Lady Mc Muck

while I slave away all night and day?

Your family's as big but you don't give a fig, you're as fresh as the daisies in May.

Yet your tadpoles are comely, neat as the best, as well nourished with their five a day

as any around this considerable pond, how do you do it I say?'

'Your trouble,' said Mina, 'I've mentioned before, you never think outside the box, and that's why you're scrubbing at pots all the time

and 200 times four dirty socks.

Your husband's fly fishing so can't do much else

in the nature of household endeavour

I know it's the custom Grandmother told Mum, but I don't think it's awfully clever.

Why stick to one when two's twice the fun?

It seems patently obvious to me

while one's out at the pad the other'd be glad

to give all his darlings their tea.

Make yourself nice would be my advice, smooth your fingers and polish your eyes

and soften your skin, that's what's needed to win

the worship required by the wise.

Next time get two dads to share work on the pads

and sweeten the burden,' she said

but she said nothing more, for Fan with a roar, flung a teapot and knocked her friend dead.

Clive Hewitt: The start of a short story ... The Lady Jane Traction Company.

The Committee of Enquiry was duly empanelled, all members being unknown to those giving evi-dence. As the first to be called, I answered the questions and told part in the incident as clearly as I could. The horrific happenings running through my mind as if in one of the two-penny dreadful coloured storybooks.

Over the roar of the safety valve, the thin sound of the stationmasters whistle could be heard clearly. A quick look out of the right-hand side of the cab to check that all was clear, a nod from my stoker, Alf Hezth, that it was all clear left as he started to take off the hand brake. The pressure gauge showed that the “Lady Jane”; pulling four hundred and twenty tons plus passengers, had sufficient steam to start and the sight glass that the boiler water level was correct. The signals showed green, which, owing to the mod-ern miracle of the electric telegraph, give us the all clear for a fast run over the next thirty miles to our destination. As my hand reached for the whistle cord to signal a start I was aware of a yell from Alf and his frantic screwing down of the brake handle. My hand, on the regulator ready to inch it open, was knocked away and I was bundled out of cab onto the platform. The next second there was an almighty screeching crump from the loco as it was hit by a derailed, but still coupled, heavy freight wagon running the other way along the parallel through track. The “Lady Jane” was thrown off the tracks and into the air coming to rest half on the track bed and half leaning against the plat-form and blowing off steam from several broken pipes. There was an instant of silence and then the screams and shouts of bedlam descended upon the platform. Knowing full and well, the likely result of a catastrophic boiler failure, Alf had shouted, „I‟m going to douse the fire,‟ and dived back onto the footplate to dampen the fire down with the footplate hose. He was de-termined that nobody should suffer being scalded to death by live steam or smashed into bloody, red, raw, pieces of meat by chunks of boiler plate flying through the air. He saw it, as did I, that his duty was to get that fire out and drain the boiler. The shriek of drain cocks wide open and the roar of the footplate hose were added to the general cacophony of shouting for help and the screaming of the injured, a screaming we had to ignore if more casualties were to be avoided. The station emergency procedures, thankfully not required for many years, creaked into action. What emergency medical facilities there where, not much practiced and far from enough, where grabbed from cupboards and off shelves, the uninjured passengers where hauled, unceremoniously, out of the now smashed and broken carriages and herded into the waiting rooms. Wielding slice bar and shovel we removed, as best we could due to the heat, the fire bars and threw the burning coal onto the trackside, anything to get that pressure down was acceptable to us. The fire risk of the sleepers be damned, that fire had to be extinguished. The boiler of “Lady Jane” contained several hundred gallons of water at a temperature far higher than boiling point. We knew that, thanks to the mathematical works of Messrs Charles and Boyle, that if the boiler failed all of it would, instantly; flash into steam and the area would be filled with several thousand pounds of live steam and sundry items of flying metalwork torn from the engine by the force of the escape. The boiler had to emptied as our overwhelming priority. It was only a twenty minutes at the most, even if it seemed like years, when, with the assistance of the local fire brigade, the fire was out, the sight glass empty, and pressure gauge showing that the boiler pres-sure was down to twenty pounds per square inch and dropping rapidly. We‟d had to stop the firemen playing a full-bore hose into the red-hot firebox, as this could have caused the firebox walls to collapse thus pre-cipitating the problem we where trying to avoid. Staggering off the footplate and into the office to make out the reports we were greeted by the station-master, Mr. Clerk. „What the devil where you doing on that footplate,‟ he screamed at us. „You should have been assisting with the rescue of the passengers not playing at firemen.‟ Slumped into a chair I looked at him, „Mr. Station-master you are a bloody cretin,‟ I said tiredly, „if you had an ounce of brains you‟d see that we were stopping there being more passengers that needed rescuing. Now take your stupid little rule book and stuff it where the monkey puts his nuts. We kept a disaster from being a catastrophe and you‟re playing your stupid face over some rule that didn‟t apply to the situation. Once I‟ve made this statement, I am going to go down to the local offices of the Society of Railroad Work-ers and there will be lodging a complaint and charges against you. You may expect to be asked to attend an SRW enquiry in the near future.‟

He went pale. He knew that, in addition to any Company enquiry, an SRW enquiry was always carried out on an accident. The Company enquiry may be fudged, delayed, and, if deemed politically necessary, sur-vived, an SRW enquiry could not. It was carried out by men who knew the way things worked and would not be distracted. If found culpable his name would be published in the Gazette, and any other newspa-pers that took it up, and he would be ruined. I returned my attention to the room I was in and the men across the table. „That, gentlemen, is my recol-lection of the accident. Just how that freight wagon left the tracks is a puzzle to me, it is extremely diffi-cult for an eight-foot gauge wagon to derail. Much more difficult than it is for the narrow gauge rolling stock. I understand that what happened to the driver and stoker of the locomotive is being investigated by the police.‟ The chairman of the enquiry answered the unasked question. „As you say, Owner-driver St. Albans, it is being investigated. Preliminary reports from the Police say that both of the bodies have been found some miles down the track, both shot to death from close range. It would appear to be a case of murder and train wrecking.‟ „Thank you for the information Mr. Chairman. Could you also tell me what happened to the run-away loco?‟ „Fortunately,‟ he informed us, „the signalman was not asleep and set his points to send the run-away down into the old sandpit sidings. At the end of the rails, it ran over the buffers and into some quarry tail-ings, where, until a recovery team can get down there, it will remain. I believe that it‟s not badly dam-aged but that the owners are considering selling it for scrap. I was in an unusual position. Being the registered owner of the engine that I drove, under contract to whichever company needed locos and drivers, I was an employer not an employee, however, I was also a member of the SRW, some members of which had a very partisan attitude to employers. According to the books I employed Alf as my stoker and my own brother, Alf‟s‟ brother and two cousins as cleaners; in fact we where all part owners who all doubled as enginemen if required, and drew a directors share of any profits as well as a wage. In all about twenty-eight people, wives, children, and relatives lived on what we earned with the “Lady Jane”. At present, we had no income nor would we have until she was repaired and running again. Until, what was still officially described as an accident, we had worked on a ¼p per ton-mile, on a coal-supplied basis, or ½p per ton-mile if we supplied the coal. Fortunately, our little company had a policy of working towards the purchase of another engine so we had some money to fall back upon; however, until the Assurance Company decided that we were not to blame this was all we had. We may have been employers but we were not the fat rich ones‟ that the SRW hard-liners thought of us as. At a previous meeting, the six of us had decided that this was going to be a problem we could well do without. A copy of the last balance sheet was therefore placed at my disposal, to use as I thought fit. „Mr. Chairman,‟ I said, „there could be a problem with the harder members of the Society seeing us as employers grinding the faces of the poor to line our pockets. This is untrue, we are railroad workers in just the same way as all ordinary members are, therefore, in order to prevent this I am giving in evidence to this enquiry a copy of the last balance sheet.‟ I handed a copy, certified by our accountant, to him. „You will see that in the last year my colleagues and I took home less than the remuneration of a driver of a first class company. Yes, we are employers. We employ ourselves.‟ The chairman was more shaken by this than the facts I‟d delivered in my evidence. It was outside his ex-perience that you could be the part owner of a company and employ yourself, or that it was possible. „The new Act of Parliament,‟ I continued, „allows for just this situation. My fellow directors of the Lady Jane Traction Company as well as being employed by the company are SRW members. That being so there is way in which we will cut costs in an unsafe manner. Gambling with lives is not our way.‟

This was written for a friend who has Parkinson's.

I can only speak my own thoughts, as I try to guess the rest, But I read your words and listen, as you face each awkward test. My words will have no wisdom but mean to cheer you on, In all your private struggles, I hope you can stay strong. This curse we know as Parkinson‘s, more than enough to bear, Of life‘s enormous hurdles you seem to have your share. I have no ready answers, no words to help your plight, The daily call of duty from morning until night. If writing brings you some relief, then power to your pen, With words you are an artist, paint your pictures once again!

Rushing In Where Fools, etc!

According to the TV the Asparagus season has been terrible this year with firstly a

dry start followed by too much wet. (Date article first published 2012) Crops are said

to be disastrous, but my first batch of plants, that were put in my allotment last

Spring, have yielded some 20 stalks already. A local farm shop, situated on a canal

bank in a nearby village that grow their own, seem to have plenty of Asparagus for

sale as well. In fact they seem to be doing a much better range of locally grown vege-

tables altogether, now that they have redeveloped the site. As well as the seasonal

pick your own fruit, they always sold some vegetable plants in the past along with a

few bedding plants, but now they have also opened a separate retail plant nursery

shop on the site. To make even more of a visit, there are plans to build a new café

later and the whole site backs on to a new purpose built marina behind the green-

houses.

But back to my allotment. I have Planted my Globe Artichokes that eventually arrived through the

post and was disappointed to find that they were not crowns, but only seedlings which I could have

grown myself for a fraction of the price. It pays to read the text in adverts properly!

I will definitely have to wait until next year before I can cut any “Globes.”

My Asparagus bed is in front of the strawberries and next to the Globe Artichokes and my perennial

Welsh Onions, or Ciboule at the side of them. Hopefully all of this block of plants are going to be in

for a few years at least, and with the need to walk between them, I decided to cover the whole area

with bark chippings. Not only will they be a good surface to walk on, but they will suppress the

weeds and help to keep the moisture in. Bags of chips can be very expensive, but I heard of some

very cheap bags of chips being sold on Cannock Chase in a little old fashioned nursery where they

make their own. At only £2 for a big bag they seemed a bargain, but when I got them back to the

allotments I realised they were made from Pine. Bark chips will remove nitrogen from the soil any-

way and pine is even worse because they are poisonous to most plants. That is why not much grows

in an old pine forest. Having bought them and put them down I am going to take a chance, but it

pays to be cautious of bargains!

Recently I had to abandon my allotment in the next village and dig up lots of fruit bushes and trees

that were all potted and taken home as I didn‟t have enough space on my plot at Hixon. You really

shouldn‟t uproot plants, especially large bushes and trees, when they have leafed up, so some have

really suffered. The smaller currents don‟t look too bad, but the fruit trees look awful with all of

their leaves shrivelled up. Hopefully, the dormant buds will throw out new leaves later on when the

roots have had chance to recover. In the meantime I am keeping them in a very shady and sheltered

spot, so the sun doesn‟t dry them and the wind doesn‟t rock them in their pots.

As yet I haven‟t decided to put any of the Rhubarb or Raspberries that were dug up, in at Hixon, but

my brick built compost heap at home provided a simple solution for the Rhubarb. They like very

rich soil full of manure, so it was an easy matter to level it all out and add a little spent potting com-

post from the winter planted tubs at home that were going to be emptied and replanted soon any-

way. This made a tidy surface around the plants and a new home for half a dozen plants. For the red

raspberries, I rolled down some old compost bags and “Potted,” a quantity of canes in the bottom of

each as if I were roughly “Healing them in,” as you would bunches of canes in open ground. My

prized yellow canes were potted up individually, though. When I had originally dug up

my Raspberry bed at home a couple of years ago, I had kept the canes for a full season

in old compost bags like this before replanting them, so they should be ok until I find a

more permanent home for the all fruit.

“ALL THAT

JAZZ”

Won the vote and

will be the next

RBW farce.

ALL THAT JAZZ. CAST OF CHARACTERS

Many of these characters are two dimensional as yet: where you have a physical description in mind please write it in some-where so that we all know about it. AND check these notes for updates and send in any updates please.

Hotel staff free for all to use - opening gambits by CMH. Nigel Thomas Bluddschott – Manager part owner of ‗Hotel Bluddschott'. Married to Winifred. Tubby, balding, brown hair,

brown eyes, 34, 5' 7‖ tall. Tenor voice but wobbly and hesitant unless using a prepared script. Not good at thinking on his feet. If something CAN go wrong it WILL. Smuggles brandy, fags and other taxable goods as a part time job.

Winfred Alice Bluddschott (nee Gray) – Manager part owner of ‗Hotel Bluddschott'. Wife of Nigel. Plump more than tubby, brown hair bleached blonde, brown eyes, 35, 5' 6‖ tall. MUCH more capable than hubby with a hard edge to her speech.

CMH.

Sally Gray. - A MYSTERY WOMAN in any case. Don't know (yet) if she's staff, entertainer (torch singer or fan dancer) or

guest. Youngish woman. Tall, hazel eyes, auburn hair, very capable. I have her earmarked as an ex-QA/WRNS/WRAF

officer who has just completed her time & wants to 'get away from it all'. BUT, she could be something entirely different! Norbert Bunbury. Staff, driver and odd job man at the HB. Was Infantryman – possibly W.O.2 (Sgt. Maj.) or higher. I fancy a field promotion, mid 1918, not a Sandhurst man – with a few gongs to his credit. Tall, brown eyes, dark brown hair. Well built.

Blackleg Bill Bluddschott - the ghost of. AT and CMH Comic relief characters. You never know! These ladies may, possibly, be descended from those who went with Captain Fowlnett onboard 'The Star' in 'Packet to India'. They are middle aged, overweight, often slightly 1-over-the-8 and about to be tented! Vera Accrington -

Gloria Stanley - Dorothy Calcutt (their much younger niece) Ronnie Manservant only lasts a day.

NP Griggleswade (Griggles). Flyboy. Ex-RAF now working for M.I.5 (or something) as some kind of 'Air Detective'. Ch. Supt. Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Previously Colonel. Griggles superior officer in M.I.5

Mossy. Working with Griggles. Windle. Working with Griggles. Jones. Aircraft mechanic works for Griggles.

Wilhelm von Eisenbahn, aka Osbert Lessly or 'Big Shorts'. Khaki Shorts leader. Comrade 'Ironside' aka Joseph. Lenin boys leader. Comrade Plotskie aka Leon. Assistant to 'Ironside'.

ACW.

Christiana Aggott posing as Lady Arbuthnot Christian. Novelist. Actually married to Col. Beaumont Walsgrave but using a nom-de-plume for secrecy; & for advertising purposes about her new book, 'The man who shed crocodile tears'. (This neatly gets the requisite reptile into the plot line)

Arbuthnot Aggott or Uncle Arbuthnot. Head of a Security Organisation (Home Office?) Christiana is working for him.

General Arbuthnot Aggott. Christiana's father and brother of Arbuthnott Aggott. Something in the War Office (as the

MoD (Army) was known then) to do with Counter Espionage. Col. Beaumont Walsgrave. Christiana's sorely missed hubby.

Bright Young Things: Ruby Rawlings, Charlotte Ponsonby-Smythe & Katherine Wallasey. Bright Young Things brothers: Everet Rawlings, Eugene Ponsonby-Smythe & Virgil Wallasey.

Communists et al ACW Comrade St. John. Lenin boys Comrade Bunson-Smythe. Lenin boys

Bro.?? Muckleby. Leader of 'The Workers Party' also something to do with Arbuthnot Aggott. Bruder Wilhelm Bergmann. German trades union leader.

Bro. Kevin Harvey. A Workers Party member. (Changed from Hardy) Ernst Graf von Rockenbaker. Sir John Keithly.

Lord John Markham. Sir Martin Wickham.

SMS. Barnard Hot Sax Player Musician and nice guy. Errol Holiday. Band leader and piano player Tallulah tubby torch singer Errol‘s girl friend, hates Jo-Jo Jo-Jo. Fan dancer from Red Parrot Club, Paris sister of Errol. Hates Tallulah.

Cpt Digby Makepeace — hotel guest Barrington nephew of Makepeace knew Jo-Jo in Paris and knows PoWales.

LF Rooster Pearmaine detective — drunkard

Balsom Fry valet Cpt Hove-Brighton assistant on trail of missing novelist

AP

Boys and Girls Camp‘s characters and storyline Gilbert and Walter

Simon Bligh pack leader Jenny H.B. STAFF LIST. Awaiting names/descriptions and free to use. Head Waiter. Head Gardener. Head Chef. (Unnamed but has been used) Geordie pretending to be a French Chef, as they get paid more. No good at accents. Head porter/Concierge. 'Dell boy'. He knows about the smuggling racket. Wine Waiter/Sommelier/barman. All on the take from the 'duty free' wine.

CMH Helpful ? NOTE 1. If you are going to involve Security Forces (police and military) then please note that there was nothing like the MoD, it was FOUR (4) separate organisations. Admiralty for the Royal Navy. War Office for the Army. Air Ministry for the RAF. The Home Office for the Police. However, Policing was done by County/Borough. The Home Secretary couldn't give orders to the Chief Constable and the Met. was ―Asked to assist‖ if he thought they were required. I would think that Trentby, being a City or Borough would have its own Police force. Just to make things interesting H.M.Customs was – still is - a part of the Treasury. As civil servants, they did NOT have military rank equivalence or titles nor, except for two of the higher grades, dress uniforms. It gets complicated because in 1923 there were a few organisational 'hold-overs' from earlier times and some officers did get working uniforms issued.

Gloria and Vera had heard whispers about a fashion party to be held in the hotel

Lounge, that night. They were excited, since they came into money they had been waiting to spend some of it on luxuries and nice clothes. Clothes shops were a little none existence on Trentby

Island. The fact that it was an undergarment party and not a sale of lovely dresses and party frocks passed

them by and they counted their pennies and planed how many garments they would be able to pur-chase.

‗We need at least one evening dress and two day dresses each and anything else that takes our

fancy.‘ cried Gloria, ‗Let‘s make a list our Vera. Oh we‘ll have such fun!‘ Their excitement lasted throughout the day until a thought hit them. Rosemary

Glibworth and her daughter Gillian. ‗Oh no!‘ cried Gloria, ‗they will bound to be there. We will walk right into them

and they will spoil our fun.‘

‗I‘ve got an idea. We‘ll go in disguise!‘ ‗Disguise?‘

‗Yes! Do you remember those fancy dresses and wigs we brought with us, in case the hotel had a Fancy Dress party. Well, we‘ll dress up and go to the clothes party and no one will recognise us, not

even Rosemary Glibworth, will know it‘s us.‘ ‗What a clever idea,‘ cried Gloria So it was at around seven thirty that evening two strange figures were seated in the hotel bar.

Gloria wore a bright auburn wig and a long flowing evening dress in navy blue and Vera wore a men‘s black dinner suit and her hair was tied up under a black cap. They both wore dark glasses. Unfortu-

nately it was rather dingy in the and both ladies were having difficulty in seeing properly. Vera stood up and knocked into the table.

‗Come on Gloria the door is open!‘ Feeling their way through the bar they made for the lounge, only to be stopped at the door by

Winfred Bluddschott.

‗Sorry sir,‘ she cried, putting a restrictive arm across Vera. ‗I can‘t let you in. Ladies only!‘ ‗But, but I am a lady!‘ protested Vera.

Gloria took control of the situation ‘It‘s an insult!‘ she rounded on Winfred who stood back in amazement. ‗My friend is a very impor-

tant lady and she is in disguise. I am sure you will not wish to endanger her in any way. Her very life

could be in danger as we speak.‘ Vera raised her cap to reveal her tied up hair.

Winfred was overcome with apologises. ‘Oh no your Grace, oh no, of course, you must enter but may I suggest you slip in unnoticed and

sit at the back of the room.‘ Vera and Gloria enter the lounge and felt their way towards the rear of the room, as Winfred had

suggested. They saw Rosemary and her daughter Gillian sitting on the front row but thankfully they

did not recognise them. After short time the fashion show began. It was quite dim and Vera and Glo-ria, because of the dark glasses did not notice the models were in underwear.

‗Very short dresses,‘ remarked Gloria ‗For beachwear,‘ replied Vera, ‗I suppose,‘

Models swept around the room in all stages of undress and Vera and Gloria became more impa-tient for the glamour dresses to appear. It was just as they were about to make a protest to the com-pare when suddenly the lounge door burst open and there came a shout, ‗Don‘t move! Everyone is

under arrest!‘ Of course that this was an excuse for a joint panic to set in and everyone made for the door, shov-

ing and pushing trying to get out of the place all at once. Vera and Gloria were left high and dry still at the back of the room unable to escape the uproar. Suddenly Vera felt a hand grab her collar.

Worcester Pearmane was staring into her face.

‗Now, now, what have we here? Sneaked into the show, did you? You‘re nicked good and proper chummy! Come along with me.‘

AT

BBC investigation: 8,000 library jobs lost in last six

years Published March 29, 2016 Libraries Campaign Update

Article may be shared by social media

Widespread library closures across the UK have resulted in the loss of almost 8,000 jobs in the last six years, according to a report

by the BBC.

Using data assembled by freedom of information requests, the BBC's investigation has revealed that the amount of volun-

teers in use in libraries has almost doubled since 2010, rising from 15,861 to 31,403. In this time, the number of paid staff fell from

31,977 to 24,044, which is a drop of 25% for the 182 libraries that provided comparable data.

A total of 343 libraries have closed in the same time period, with a further 111 closures planned this year, the report

found. This number of closures in England is higher than the government‟s official estimate of 110 closures.

Children‟s author Alan Gibbons has said that the public library service is facing “the greatest crisis in its history”.

Gibbons told the BBC: "Opening hours are slashed, book stocks reduced. Volunteers are no longer people who supplement

full time staff, but their replacements. This constitutes the hollowing out of the service. We are in dangerous territory."

He said: "Councils learnt early on how unpopular simply closing libraries is so they have had to cut the vital service in other, less

obvious ways. It can come across in many forms: reduced opening hours, reduced book fund, reduced maintenance and reduced

staffing. In all its incarnations, it is harmful to the service, creating the risk that once-loyal users of libraries will come away disap-

pointed and stop using them. Our public library system used to be envy of the world. Now it is used as a cautionary tale that librari-

ans use worldwide to scare their colleagues."

Data recently released from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) has also revealed that li-

brary funding has been cut by £180m and visits have fallen 14% since 2010. According to the BBC's report, a further 174 libraries

have been transferred to community groups, while 50 have been handed to external organisations to run.

Librarian Ian Anstice, editor of online resource Public Libraries News, who assisted the BBC with some of its research, said

that the cuts are "without precedent". He told The Bookseller that he was "really pleased" with the media coverage around the li-

brary closures but criticised claims by culture minister Ed Vaizey.***

Anstice said: "The research from the BBC puts to bed once and for all the ridiculous claim by Ed Vaizey that it is only La-

bour-run authorities that are cutting libraries. However, to hear him on BBC Radio Four saying that library closures are nothing to

do with budget cuts shows that he is still, worryingly, not entirely in touch with reality."

Laura Swaffield, chair of the Library Campaign, also praised the BBC's report but criticised the lack of government action.

She said: “This is the kind of research the DCMS should be doing - regularly. Without this BBC project, we'd be stuck as usual

with last December's CIPFA figures, which are now a full year old. The Taskforce was meant to be sorting out CIPFA, but I see no

sign of it yet.

“The shocking message of the report is, of course, not news to people who take an interest in libraries. He (Vaizey) was on

the radio this morning saying how important professional librarians are, and that volunteers are not a substitute. Yet up to now he

has positively encouraged volunteer-run libraries. As the libraries crisis has now become a full-scale disaster, it's high time to turn

the spotlight on to the government. The blame lies with savage cuts to local authorities - and the DCMS's total lack of guidance or

action on a situation we've all warned about for years.”

Veteran library campaigner Desmond Clarke said that the BBC's research has provided a "true picture of what is really hap-

pening within the public library service". He added: "The service continues to drift and users walk away while those responsible

for managing our libraries produce yet another report. Where is the leadership and the plan to re-invigorate the service?”

Nick Poole, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), said that the report

demonstrates "the damage caused by hastily implemented austerity and devolution policies without a robust strategic plan for li-

braries. Volunteers have always been a vibrant part of our library service, but they cannot replace the expertise, ethics and profes-

sional skills of qualified staff who are fundamental to providing the quality library services that we are entitled to by law", Poole

said. "Through CILIP‟s My Library By Right campaign we have called for our statutory rights to quality library services to be rec-

ognised, for a robust strategic plan, and for accurate and consistent use of statistics and evidence. We welcome the publicat ion last

week of Libraries Deliver, but essential that it is properly resourced and supported. A practical action plan, sufficient budget and

realistic long-term funding proposals, along with a transparent and timely approach to monitoring and reporting must be in place if

it is to success." Poole added: "Our public libraries are a vital part of the future of communities and the economy, we must ensure

that they are celebrated and developed in the future.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said: "Libraries are cornerstones of their commu-

nities and are part of the fabric of our society, so it's vital they continue to innovate in order to meet the changing demands of those

they serve. Government is helping libraries to modernise by funding a wi-fi roll-out across England that has benefitted more than

1,000 libraries and increasing access to digital services and e-lending. The Libraries Taskforce is also consulting on a new vision

for public libraries that will help reinvigorate the service and ensure they remain relevant to local communities."

Recently, the Taskforce published a draft document Libraries Deliver outlining its vision for the public library network.

***30th March: “Volunteers should not replace paid staff in libraries,” culture minister Ed Vaizey, it is reported on social me-

dia, has said. Source: http://bit.ly/1ROupPv

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/8k-library-jobs-lost-due-closures-325187

http://www.librarycampaign.com/libraries-news-round-up-29-march-2016/

Comment: Perhaps Mr Vaizey should have told Staffordshire County Council of this, apparent, govt. back tracking on an exposed

policy failure ... SCC are currently offloading their 23 branch libraries onto volunteers with the result of many staff redundancies

despite strong community opposition and the expectation that some branch libraries will close.

England Expects ...

Do dim green light bulbs really work

or are we all going blind in gloomy-murk?

Is veggie salad really a trend setter,

swapping cheese burgers for rocket and feta?

When a wobbly size 22 is now the norm

cross-your-heart bras are going down a storm.

Turn off „standby‟: what a joke

whoever came up with that one was a bloke!

Spent chip fat running bespoke four-by-fours

how long before oil-conversion‟s statute laws?

Melting arctic glaciers not much fun „tis true

nor congestion charges to clear air that‟s blue,

but, if solar panels catch the sun

why are they so pricy? Sort it out! Come on!

„n if rooftop copper heats up cold water

didn‟t we, shouldn‟t we, really aughta

have pipes slapped up on the roof of every home

as ubiquitous as a garden gnome?

Blue bins, green bins, purple bins and brown

mar street corners in every town.

Pavement junk-food debris rots amidst vomit stains

and removing chewing gum defies the best of brains.

Plastic boxes and cardboard cartons pile up high

a mountain of rubbish, rises, kissing the sky

as landfill sites finally give up the ghost

the stink of corruption drifts breezily off the coast.

Ahhh . . . to be leaving England‟s

green(ish) unpleasantly smelling land.

Eco-Warriors are right; bless their all-seeing eyes,

a kick in the pants would pull us down to size!

Stop griping and bitching and pulling faces,

get off lazy butts and stop scratching places

unseen by others

except by girlfriends, or our mothers,

for England Expects - so heed the call

and switch that light out in the hall . . .

SMS March 2009

Find all RBW FREE e-publications

Online at www.issuu.com/risingbrookwriters

Control click image for direct hyperlink www.risingbrookwriters.org.uk/DynamicPage.aspx?PageID=15 www.issuu.com/risingbrookwriters or Facebook: Rising Brook Writers

https://www.forwardpoetry.co.uk

How to Write a Kyrielle

Forward Poetry provide examples and instruction in obscure poetic

forms, a site well worth a visit for those doing research.

A Kyrielle, apparently, is from medieval French church liturgy ...

If you are a subscribing email recipient to leave RBW Online is easy just email and say ‘unsubscribe’ and you will be immediately removed from the list. If you have any suggestions for improvement to this service please let us know. You don't have to take an active part to receive this workshop bulletin you can just sit back and enjoy the ride, but if you could send feedback, it is greatly appreciated. RBW Privacy Promise: A few simple contact details are all that are required and they will only be used for this bulletin service. RBW promise to:

Only send you details via the newsletter.

To never pass on your details to anyone else.

To always allow recipients to opt-out and unsubscribe at any time.

www.risingbrookwriters.org.uk

To contact RBW please use the website contact box.

PATRON Ian McMillan www.ian-mcmillan.co.uk

Present and Previous Memberships and Funders.

Rising Brook Writers strives to be compliant with the requirements of the Data Protection Act. RBW strives for accu-

racy and fairness, however, can take no responsibility for any error, misinterpretation or inaccuracy in any message

sent by this mode of publishing. The opinions expressed are not necessarily in accordance with the policy of the char-

ity. E-mails and attachments sent out by RBW are believed to be free from viruses which might affect computer sys-

tems into which they are received or opened but it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that they are virus

free. Rising Brook Writers accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage arising in any way from their receipt, open-

ing or use. Environment/ Recycling: Please consider carefully if you need to print out any part or all of this message.

To the best of our knowledge and belief all the material included in this publication is free to use in the public domain,

or has been reproduced with permission, and/or source acknowledgement. RBW have researched rights where possible,

if anyone’s copyright is accidentally breached please inform us and we will remove the item with apologies. RBW is a

community organisation, whose aims are purely educational, and is entirely non-profit making. If using material from

this collection for educational purposes please be so kind as to acknowledge RBW as the source. Contributors retain the

copyright to their own work. Fiction: names, characters, places and incidents are imaginary. Any resemblance to actual

people living or dead is entirely coincidental.

This bulletin is produced by volunteers. The editor’s decisions are final and not open to discussion.

© Rising Brook Writers 2016 — RCN 1117227 A voluntary charitable trust.