Photo: Ilfracombe
Rosie and I have canvassed in Ilfracombe for Cllr Sara Wilson the past two Saturdays. It was extremely breezy on the first one – easily as bracing as Skegness. Sara is a strong candidate for the county council elections on 1 May and the Greens are best placed to beat the Tory incumbent. The town is full of Green posters.
We wondered if Ilfracombe might, as Mediterranean countries become increasingly hot in the summer, once again become a favourite tourist destination – as it used to be before the era of cheap flights and package holidays.
Photo: The Barle below Cow Castle
On Monday I friend and I had a fine walk down the Barle at Simonsbath. I hoped that we would hear a cuckoo, as I did on my last walk there – they have migrated to higher, cooler altitudes. Instead, as we picnicked at the spot in the photo, we had a good view of several Dippers.
This is one of the best remarks on Trump and his vainglorious interventions into world trade through tariffs. The former Cabinet secretary Lord (Gus) O’Donnell said Trump’s effect on the world economy was ‘like trying to run a chemistry department and they put an alchemist in charge’. (BBCR4, The World at One, 8 April).
Photo by Frank Biederman: Ian Roome MP meeting members of the Palestine Soldarity Campaign at the Castle Centre, Barnstaple on Friday 11 April.
Ian Roome had a good long discussion with our members and received a letter demanding that the government sell no more arms to the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and also cease RAF surveillance flights from Cyprus which aid the IDF in identifying targets. Mr Roome is on our side in this as are many of his LibDem colleagues in Westminster – and of course our four Green MPs. The Labour government’s inaction is deeply shameful as is argued here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/07/when-is-this-labour-government-going-to-break-its-silence-on-gaza
Photo: Pothole near Hannaford in my ward
I have reported many potholes in my ward at the request of residents – one a farmer who is fed up with replacing super-expensive tractor tyres – only to be informed by Highways that the potholes do not meet their criteria for repair (4 cms deep at edge and over the size of a dinner plate in area). Are the criteria right if residents’ views on the size of a dangerous pothole are so different from Highways?
Residents are also perplexed by Highways repairing a couple of potholes but leaving nearby ones untouched – which then need repairing a few months later. Also, some potholes may not inconvenience motorists but can be lethal for cyclists. My fellow Green Cllr Ricky Knight will bring these matters up at HATOC, the Highway and Traffic Orders Committee. I shall be interested in what transpires.
Photo: Wild garlic near Swimbridge
What a marvellous Spring it is. One of my favourite moments is when Wild garlic, or Ramsons, appear in our local lanes, joining the Bluebells, Celandines, Primroses, Red Campions and Stitchworts.
Thanks for reading
Mark