Garstang Agricultural Show

Posted on 7 August 2010 by Pete of MIP

Went to the Garstang Show today. Bit worried the car would be stuck in the field but it was pretty dry. 

The bulls are creatures of awe bellowing at the cows, not sure what it was about but imagined. Horses, sheep, miniature goats, bantams, rabbits, dogs, budgerigars and some alpaca they’re all there.  The miniature goats had quite a following and made quite a nice squeaking sound.

Enjoyed the country tent with the vegetables, flowers, cakes and childrens work. Cheese tent as well. The children in Garstang did a great job with those displays. Especially the poems, miniature gardens and drawings.  There was a nice crocodile made from a cucumber and several excellent drawings of grandad and grandma and other good ideas.

The food tent was good as well. Nice looking pies, jams and other  good stuff. Quite fancied a hot pot in the Eden Valley tent but my wifes a vegetarian and so we went to separate stands.

The Womens Institute tent had a lot going on and learnt the Roman name for Garstang but forgot it. Had a coffee in the Methodist tent.

Overall a lot going on and stayed a lot longer than intended.

Garstang Agricultural Show 2010, childrens competition

Garstang Agricultural Show 2010, childrens section

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PNE 0 Doncaster Rovers 2

Posted on 7 August 2010 by Pete of MIP

First game of the season and PNE are in good company as Middlesbrough and Reading lost at home as well.  Do names matter though. 

Last season PNE won all their opening games and in the end just managed to escape relegation.  This season they might lose all their opening games and get promoted.  Hope is what makes humans resilient.

As part of a personal campaign for summer relaxation, football is being almost ignored until 1st September.

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Inception

Posted on 2 August 2010 by Pete of MIP

Best film for ages, began to feel high at the fantastic idea behind it. Need to keep alert to follow the multi-threaded story. Great music. Was I dreaming?

Couldn’t help thinking Leonardo Di Caprio has developed a hint of Marlon Brando or was it the part.

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Leyland bus name slips into Blackburn

Posted on 1 August 2010 by Pete of MIP

The Leyland name is once more associating itself with bus manufacture in Lancashire.  Optare the Leeds based bus manufacturer who bought out East Lancashire Coachbuilders of Blackburn have agreed that Ashkok-Leyland of India will buy a 26% stake in the company.   There is quite a mis-match in size as the Indian company makes thousands of commercial vehicles a year and is higher valued than Optare.

Ashkok-Leyland is owned by Hinduja Group and has factories in India as well as the UAE and East Europe. The company began in 1948, although the tie up with Leyland in the 1950’s created the name Ashkok-Leyland. It has manufacturing and technology agreements with Nissan and Avia as well as its own research.  The tie up with Optare provides Optare technology while giving Optare access to A-L lower cost sources and wider market base.

It is forecast that the total Indian workforce will grow to be larger than that of China by 2030 and rise to a billion by 2040. If the forecast is accurate and the planet can sustain such numbers it will create a massive market that will be a magnet for worldwide manufacturers. India is training engineers at a rate not heard of here for a long time and they are generally looking to be self sufficient.  Survival in the world market requires strategic intelligence as well as technological prowess and carefully controlled costs and it is hoped that Optare can cleverly tread through this minefield to continue as a British manufacturer with design and development in the UK.

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PNE pre-season friendlies start

Posted on 26 July 2010 by Pete of MIP

July, and next years season is getting into gear with the first friendlies.   Seems a bad idea.  Surely the season should start on 1st September or maybe August Bank Holiday with a couple of friendlies in the week before. Especially with the World Cup ending what seems like yesterday.

Sir Alec Ferguson is backing a winter break to the season.  It seems a good idea.  Long ago players would skate on ice and wade through mud but now they are superfit athletes playing at lightning speed and it seems inappopriate. Not to mention such conditions favouring the physical players who like to give the more skilful players we all want to see a hard time. It also means clubs need more players to ensure they can rotate and cover for injuries so a break might make those clubs more solvent and enable better players to move to lower clubs.  A break would make the fixture list more compressed so something else might have to give and that sometimes takes money away from less wealthy clubs. Not to mention the TV companies not being in favour. So overall it looks like a non-starter.

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Sunday morning cruising in Preston

Posted on 25 July 2010 by Pete of MIP

This morning, Sunday, was warm and bright and it was necessary to drive across Preston quite early. Just the day to take a leisurely detour. It’s times like this when Preston looks very pleasing, so much greenery, several old buildings and generally looking in decent condition.

The A6 from Broughton, left at the Black Bull to pass the hospital, nice area. The old hospital and workhouse at Sharoe Green is a character building and some kind of public museum facility would be a great feature there. Then all those trees lining Watling Street Road and it was tempting to go into some of the side streets as they have a  lot of character as well. Turning right at the old 1840 Barracks into Deepdale Road.  Past the PNE football ground which is so transformed and contrasting with the trees and  park across the road.  The former Park Grammar school looking quite small nowadays.  Was impressed by the cleaned up architecture of the offices at the old Bus Depot, had never noticed it before. Then a bit further on the original former Preston Royal Infirmary is an attractive building. The well built stone fronted terraced houses are a stand out feature as is the small green area just further along the road.  At the end of Deepdale Road is the old harsh looking prison building. Deepdale Road has a barracks at one end and a prison at the other and they’re both built using those large old stone blocks that look like they would withstand a bomb.  

Just round the corner on London Road is the remaining wall of the former Horrocks Mill complex that once took up a quarter of Prestons centre. While across the road is the Lancashire Museum building in a fine old house, a church and another Horrocks Mill just along New Hall Lane. Travelling out of Preston on London Road down the hill to the river is a view of trees and hills that reminds you that Preston is on the edge of lush and remote countryside. At the bottom of the hill is the river bridge where Jacobite armies crossed and fought and Joseph Livesey lived nearby while forming the Teetotallers. There’s so much heritage in Preston.  It was a pleasant drive, quite lifting.

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What’s in a name: The Mall re-named St Georges

Posted on 25 July 2010 by Pete of MIP

Will confess that it isn’t too long ago that I realised that the name of St Georges Shopping Centre had been changed to The Mall mall and now it’s reverted to St Georges.  Seems a mistake to call a mall The Mall. Like calling your house House, perhaps in Street Street.  St Georges is the long term name of the area of Preston it is in and is England’s patron saint so there are two good reasons for it to be known as St Georges. It was always St Georges Shopping Centre, not mall, but no worries.  Good to move forward without breaking all links with the past.

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Defence Minister fires warning shots at Farnborough

Posted on 22 July 2010 by Pete of MIP

Liam Fox the Defence Minister made a speech at Farnborough giving a warning about the affordability of defence projects in the current climate.  Although some might say in any climate.

The most promising part of the speech was the support for export programmes. This is quite different from what Robin Cook started out with in the last government, although he soon found out it was easier said than done.

Some of it sounded like fine words and it will be interesting to find what happens in the longer term. Statements like upgrading existing products is taking funding away from new technology. This sounds real enough yet getting those few extra years or enabling an existing item to meet a new threat sound more cost effective than letting them become incapable. Also the statement about too much optimisation also sounds good but with many defence products you either win or lose and being unable to hit the target isn’t a useful option.  In reality watch out for less upgrading, more new technology, less gold plating.

Other statements like recognising sovereignty for some items but co-operating more with the French are things that the aircraft industry has done for years.  Cutting numbers to make up for cost overruns isn’t that new either. Co-operating with the French is something that has been mentioned in both nuclear and aircraft carrier work so perhaps that is a clue to his thinking on one or both of those.

In conclusion the export support and new technology themes are positive. We await the defence review.

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Preston entrepreneur wins over Dragons

Posted on 15 July 2010 by Pete of MIP

Kirsty Henshaw of Preston coolly put out the Dragons fire on BBC Dragons Den last night. Entering the room with her Worthenshaws Iced Pudding Kirsty presented the product with a modest certainty and assuredness that couldn’t fail to impress.  At times it all seemed too good to be true; a product that was healthy, gluten and nut free, looked like ice cream but wasn’t, all done by one young person who admits to not being academic, works 2 and a half jobs to pay for it and has a young son. 

Having been encouraged by a large supermarket and a large ice cream manufacturer it seemed all the boxes had been ticked.  Theo offered a substantial investment more than requested, and then Peter and Duncan coming in equal, Kirsty was comfortable in accepting a joint offer that took 30% of the business for the sum she wanted, £65,000.  In the end this iced pudding might be invented in Preston but didn’t seem likely to be made in Preston, even so this is a good example of entrepreneurial activity. Let’s watch this space, this is really good stuff.  No doubt the appearance was a great advert and reading the website the product is already out there in many health shops.

Here is a link to the BBC Kirsty page: 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/entrepreneurs/kirstyhenshaw.shtml

Here is a link to Worthenshaw’s website: http://www.worthenshaws.co.uk/

Coconuca, coconice.

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Broughton Roundabout No Change

Posted on 13 July 2010 by Pete of MIP

Today the council announced that widening the M55 / Broughton roundabout and associated work wouldn’t go ahead.   The previous plan to by-pass Broughton with a  road from the roundabout east to Whittingham Lane and back to the A6 has also foundered several times.

The area north and east of Preston has some attractive countryside blighted by the continual spread of warehouses and offices.  Building another road doesn’t seem a good idea.  Widening the roundabout will only move the congestion elsewhere. Somehow the traffic should be fitted onto existing roads perhaps using the motorway and creating new junctions, restricting speeds during rush hours and perhaps using the hard shoulder.

Now that the government has removed building targets outlying housing projects should be stopped and more built in areas with ready made transport and employment and on brown field sites. The concept of distant commuting should be deterred, perhaps by congested roads. Then again most people are tired of government dictators and a more libertarian position is now expected.

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Taranis Unmanned Aircraft unveiled

Posted on 13 July 2010 by Pete of MIP

Yesterday July 12th, BAE SYSTEMS at Warton held a ceremony to unveil the Taranis Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle concept demonstrator which is due to fly in 2011 around 5 years after the programme was launched. The aircraft is the size of a Hawk training aircraft which presumably determines its range, which is said to be long, and its carrying capability.

This aircraft demonstrates the UK capability to produce the stealthy airframe, electronics and engine with the complex ground control system. Positioning for the future is important with BAE SYSTEMS and Rolls Royce being two of the biggest and most advanced engineering companies in the UK. The market for these vehicles will be substantial and international partnerships, leadership and workshare isn’t yet established. At this time we also await the government strategic defence review output which will examine the UK’s requirements.

With Tornado, Typhoon and Lightning II the manned element has at least 30 years life unless technology overtakes it as it frequently threatens, but not succeeding, to do. Although it seems likely the two types will complement each other for some time. Interesting imagining how quickly things could change.

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Industrial Revolutionaries at the Harris Museum

Posted on 4 July 2010 by Pete of MIP

In tune with the theme of this website, www.madeinpreston.co.uk, the Harris Museum has a new exhibition.

Industrial Revolutionaries
Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston
26 June – 6 November 2010
Think the Industrial Revolution was just about machinery and smog? Think again….

http://www.revolutionaries.org.uk/

Will be going to have a look. Nice website and sounds interesting, although www.madeinpreston.co.uk  is 8 years old and similar in content.

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Bad Sewage Day with United Utilities

Posted on 29 June 2010 by Pete of MIP

Rained at last after several weeks with only a drop or two. Woke up to a sewage smell but thought nothing of it.  Should have been suspicious when the loo flush didn’t go down properly.

An hour later the neighbour came round with big wellies on looking a bit upset. Seemed the drains in the street had blocked and raw sewage was covering her neighbours drive.

Is it the local council or the county council who look after street drains. Yes and no. United Utilities need to investigate but depending on the problem it might be the county council.  Discovered UU have a novel way of spending your money by putting a long message about there being no hosepipe ban before you speak to anyone.

At 10am we logged our call with UU and were told it would be 3-4 hours for an engineer to assess it with a warning that as it’s a joint street drain / sewage drain it would be a council job to clear it.

Rang the council to see if it could be speeded but was told it needed logging with UU and they usually turn up within 4hrs.

9pm no-one has turned up even though at 3pm we were told it he’d be here in an hour. Smell is still about and the drains round our house and in the street are still full. Also I hadn’t noticed but our back garden has a lot of white stuff that seems to be also on the front of the neighbours.

There’s still raw sewage at the neighbours. Can’t say I’m impressed by United Utilities how much sXXt in the garden does it take to get attention.

UPDATE 10.30PM. Call from United Utilities saying they’ve been delayed but can come round. Told them if they do they can see from the road that the grid is full. Either now or first thing. So that is impressive from United Utilities, they’re trying to make up even at this hour.

UPDATE DAY AFTER: They turned up at noon the following day and then a tanker with a very large hose arrived around 5pm and worked for a few hours.  Fixed it, although it gurgled badly that night when it rained. Staff very courteous.

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Leyland Trucks Best British Manufacturer 2010 (and 2009)

Posted on 25 June 2010 by Pete of MIP

On June 23rd the Institute of Mechanical Engineers announced that Leyland Trucks were overall winner of the Manufacturing Excellence Award 2010 (MX Award).  This is the second year running Leyland have won this award.

Not only overall winners but were also finalists in 8 out of the 12 categories including also winning the Business Development and Change Management Award.

The company currently employs 970 people at the Leyland site and exports around 50% of it’s products. Two years ago it made 25,000 vehicles and has recently expanded the capability of the factory to include fully bodied trucks straight to the customer.

Read More – Click here to go to our website page and other links

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PNE get new Chairman

Posted on 22 June 2010 by Pete of MIP

Maurice Lindsay has been appointed Chairman of Preston North End to replace Derek Shaw who has been given the post of  Vice President of PNE.

Maurice was on the board of Wigan Athletic and before that was Chief Executive of the Rugby League and Wigan Rugby Club.  Experience at the high end of sport administration.

Trevor Hemmings has taken his share holding to 75% which is the threshold he needs to take control.

The outstanding bill from HMRC has been paid and the insolvency case is to be dropped.

That’s the business end sorted so now it’s up to Darren. On the day the Chancellor announced he want’s more for less Darren announces he does as well.

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Tithebarn, the battle continues, Preston v Blackpool and Blackburn

Posted on 19 June 2010 by Pete of MIP

Since 18th May the inquiry has continued into whether Tithebarn is giving the City of Preston too much retail advantage in relation to the towns of Blackpool and Blackburn.

Some highlights of this week’s case by Blackpool and Blackburn against the proposal are that Preston is highly ranked at 38th in Britain in its retail shopping, while Blackpool is a lowly 95th and Blackburn 130th using the results of the National Survey of Retail Shopping Patterns.  Also that Preston is a regional transport hub and the proposed new bus station and surrounding roads are inadequate to support Tithebarn.

In many ways these arguments against Tithebarn strengthen its case. At the moment the hub of the North West is firmly in Manchester, with Liverpool also being a major centre, both cities being on the southern edge of the NW Region.  Both of these cities get a lot of attention and investment. There is a case for more investment further north.  England extends 130 miles north of Manchester, almost a third of its length, yet little investment goes beyond that city.  Areas further north should be encouraged to keep their wealth and not to feed places that already get a lot of investment. Preston is the first major stop for that large area of the north.

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2010 / 11 Preston Football Fixtures announced

Posted on 17 June 2010 by Pete of MIP

2010 / 11 season opens on the 7th August which is 2 weeks earlier than it should.  A home game for Preston North End against Doncaster should be a good demonstration of what to expect in the new season.  Portsmouth and Burnley are faced in the first few weeks but Leeds is the fixture that holds most attraction. Based on the second half of last season North End will be struggling next year and another season of anxiety beckons. Will Darren find his feet at this level, how long will it take, how long will he be given?  When will Mr Hemmings get the number of shares he needs and how much more is he willing to put into the club. More questions than answers.

Quite a shock looking at the Premier League table.  Blackburn 4th, Blackpool 5th, Bolton 6th. Blackpool visit Arsenal for their second game and Chelsea for their 5th. It’s a good advert for the holiday town anyway, they couldn’t afford to buy that much publicity.

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England 1 USA 1, a night to not remember

Posted on 12 June 2010 by Pete of MIP

If you believe in wearing a lucky pullover then maybe the ITV commentators comment 8 minutes before half-time that Fabio Capello would be satisfied at half-time was an omen of doom. Even without my pullover I knew they’d score when he said it.

No, not a good night in Africa. England blunt at the front and vulnerable at the back still expect to qualify.  Only occasionally from Lennon and Johnson was any attacking flair shown and even then the final cross into the middle was more a hopeful punt than a thoughtful pass. Gerrard played better than I’d seen him for England and Rooney was sucking their attention which detracted from his play but was probably good strategically.

Whether it was frustration or a bad night the vuvuzela’s and poor commentary and punditry on ITV only made it worse.  Even after the match the BBC News24 commentator was drowned out by excessively loud music. Might this be the Loud World Cup, better than a silent world cup but please turn it down a bit.

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England v USA

Posted on 12 June 2010 by Pete of MIP

Here’s hoping for a good result for England. One not too good that it brings over-expectation, one that’s good enough, like 2-0. No goals conceded, a couple of good goals from different players so there’s no over-dependency.

Here’s hoping that Wayne only gets hot in the right places. That the goalie plays a solid game behind a solid defence. That no forwards, like Emile, come back and give away dangerous free-kicks.

Here’s hoping the world class five – A.Cole, Terry, Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney – strut their stuff.  On their day Carrick and Carragher could be up there as well. Johnson, J.Cole, King and Heskey, yes.  That’s eleven exciting players and no goalie yet.

Prediction: England 2 USA 0.

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PNE take over by Trevor Hemmings

Posted on 4 June 2010 by Pete of MIP

Trevor Hemmings in the form of Deepdale PNE Holdings now has almost 52% of the clubs shares and following stock exchange rules is offering to buy out all other shareholders.  Failure to obtain adequate shares will result in financial support being withdrawn from the club and the club entering liquidation, unless someone else comes along.

It might seem hard to some people who are asked to sell their shares at 5p each but the club owes £30m and without a major beneficiary there is no way it can continue.

Some might think Trevor Hemmings is making a killing getting the shares so cheap but he has risked millions of pounds by supporting the club and there is no guarantee that he will get it back.  In reality it is probably every supporters dream to be wealthy enough to own the club you support. It is also a good thing that someone is willing to bankroll the club so let’s get the rest of the shares transferred and get the situation settled.

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