Leek
Stephen Fry, himself a public institution, interviewed on Room 101 a few years ago, proposed an alternative to the cynical Room 101 programme by having a room fluffy where good things could be venerated which had made a positive contribution to the public good. In Fry’s opinion top of the list was the British Public Library. I share his enthusiasm. I also love libraries and I love the public libraries in Stoke because they largely introduced me to the world of Books.
Like others I have doubts about the concept of the Big Society. But I am prepared to explore and develop ideas if I feel that they could be to the betterment of the people of Leek. I think that there is a great deal of potential in the town, which all too often is overlooked. And I believe that the Big Society could offer something to the locality especially if people in the town could be encouraged to support an idea that develops a service that used to exist in the town but was removed.
I came across a very interesting tale in the archive of the Leek Post and Times of a formidable woman who perhaps deserves far more recognition in her home town than she gets. The story came from an article in the Post and Times dated January 31st 1980 and is headlined Harriet Ann- a dedicated woman. It is a very interesting tale, which I will restate augmented by addition information from the Internet gathered in the 30 years since the article was written.
I have known him for a number of years now. As far as I know he has been unemployed for at least 3 years. I bumped into him today in a café I use in Leek. He moved to sit next to me. I will admit to a sense of dread. Inevitably I asked him how things were. He is waiting to go on a course, yet another course. This seems to be his fate, which he accepts without complaint. He will again be temporary removed from the unemployment register.
I had no idea that Ken Coates one of the most eloquent voices in British Socialism over the last 50 years, and whose death was reported in the Guardian, was from Leek. He died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 79.
(I originally wrote this three years ago. I have been exchanging e-mails with David Martin who is putting forward a bid to get the area’s industrial heritage recognised as a World Heritage site including the canals and mines. I believe that there is a strong case to be made. I think that Brindley is something of a neglected figure and 2016 will see the 300th anniversary of his birth. It would be nice to think we are looking forward to see what could be made of the tercentenary)
Thomas Paine has always been a great hero of mine and before anyone asks what is the relevance of this to the 21st century that I invoke the shade of an 18th century figure bear with me
It is a very rare occasion that the antics of a Leek MP would be the subject of a question at a US Presidential Press Conference, but it did happen. The President was Lyndon Johnson, the Leek MP and the extraordinary incident was a secret peace mission to North Vietnam undertaken by Harold Davies at the behest of Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson in July 1965.
The Chancellor is about to undertake a public consultation exercise on the areas that he thinks that the state can leave to individual or community enterprise. This naturally follows from tne belief in the "Big Society" which was the main planke of the Tories election programme. In my role as concerned citizen I have actually written to my MP Karen Bradley with my idea. It is to scrap Job centres.
“At Leek we rested during an hour, took some refreshment and then resumed the journey towards Ashbourne. In passing through the streets we noticed a number of weavers at their looms and obtained permission to go into the weaving places and see them.
