I am afeared I have been so overcome with tiers that my writing has been a washout. Actually much water has passed under the bridge since my last missive, in some cases literally. This past week I visited our house in Wiltshire which is temporarily empty pending the arrival of new tenants from France. Such is the world we live in, they agreed to take No.17 after a virtual tour, as they currently live in London. When they did risk leaving the Capital for the outer reaches of Empire they were overwhelmed by the stillness and silence of our rural abode; which is actually in the bustling market town of Bradford on Avon, but is nonetheless a peaceful retreat when compared to the twenty four hour raucousness of Londinium. I was able to enjoy a few peaceful and pleasurable moments there myself and left feeling slightly saddened that it won’t be us moving in there for awhile yet. Journey down the hill into the centre of Bradford and you find testament to the recent deluginous (if there isn’t there ought to be!) weather. The historic old stone bridge is still functioning as a passage between the two sides of the town, but the fast flowing River Avon is lapping at the top of its arches, threatening to pass not just under the bridge.
Part of my brief visit to Wessex involved an even briefer excursion into my favourite English City, Bath. Because of the revolting Tiers and Lockdowns, Bath’s famous Christmas Market, which attracts thousands of visitors from far and wide, has been given a year off. Nonetheless the charming Georgian streets were bustling with shoppers anxious to fill their stockings. It’s alarming to see how many shops now stand empty, some providing temporary shelter for charity shops, but I was particularly depressed to see that Maythers is closing down. It’s a card and stationery shop that’s been a privately owned stalwart of Milsom Street (Bath’s main thoroughfare) for longer than I can remember. Apparently the lease is up and it’s just too expensive for the owner to renew. No matter what time of day you went there, it was always busy and doing a roaring trade. How very sad that even they can’t withstand the onslaught of Covid.
I remember when I did my post-graduate radio journalism diploma course, learning about the findings of “The Glasgow School”, which had highlighted how the use of incorrect or inflammatory language in news bulletins can almost subliminally influence the way one thinks. They aimed their ire particularly at the BBC, which as a traditionalist and long time supporter of Auntie I found annoying. However……listen very carefully to the adjectives and phrases used nowadays and, like me, you may find they have a point. We can no longer have just a “plane crash”, it has to be a “deadly” one. When the story tells you that three hundred and fifty people died, I guess it’s pretty obvious it’s deadly! If you have to use an adjective at all, wouldn’t “fatal” be better. In the same way Covid or Coronavirus can’t be mentioned now without calling it “deadly” or “awful” or “terrifying”. Matt Handsup declared this morning that the new “mutant” variant is out of control. So bulletins all day have been leading with the story that “the Secretary of State for Health has declared that the new virus is out of control”, as if we are all about to be overrun with the Black Death. In my humble opinion it’s the most outrageous scaremongering, both by our inadequate politicians and the manipulated and manipulative media. When pressed, the so called “experts” concede that whilst it APPEARS that the latest variant is more easily transmitted, there is no evidence that it is any more virulent or dangerous, which means that the vast majority of the population will not suffer any serious ill-effects whatsoever. Do listen carefully to the news and analyse the language used. Even Auntie can longer be trusted to tell it in an unbiased and objective manner.
Talking of water passing, I’m relieved to report that a recent PSA blood test revealed that the Tutt prostate seems to be in fine working order…….just thought you’d like to know that.
ADayInTheStrifeOf 