Football Museum moving to Manchester, loss or opportunity?

Posted on 20 November 2009 by Pete of MIP

The National Football Museum trustees announced on their website that the museum will move to the Urbis in central Manchester opening in 2011 with some items remaining in Preston if funding can be found. Newspaper reports say Manchester is paying an £8m transfer fee plus £2m a year subsidy for the museum.  Cheap by Cristiano Ronaldo standards but quite a lot if you’re looking for a job in what was said to be Britains poorest area when the casino was located there (from Blackpool).

If longer term funding can be found a display will remain at Preston. Although my own opinion is that it won’t be viable. Some other use of the facility will need to be found. It is easily accessible by road with plenty of free parking and is a modern building.

Disappointing news for Preston, once more fuelling the opinion that Manchester gets priority in the North West from both the government and regional bodies.  Although it can be seen as a difficult call as I’d rather the museum and any other facility was in Manchester than in London or Birmingham in our centralised state.  Even so, it isn’t clear that this museum has any natural home as football is built on loyalty, to the supporters at least. Yet it seems difficult to factor the pride and loyalty into the displays.

Also the choice of the Urbis isn’t an obvious one. I’m a keen art gallery and museum attender and havn’t been as there are too many better things in the area and I doubt the NFM will change that. The appeal of the NFM is to those interested in football so it isn’t a particularly female or family outing.  The Urbis is close to Victoria Station, recently named the worst station in Britain, car parking in central Manchester costs a fortune and in general people who go there are more interested in the shops.  The Science Museum and the revamped Peoples History Museums aren’t too far away. The Science Museum being one of the best museums of its type in the country and of educational value. The other well known museums and galleries being quite a distance away.  On the other hand it is another item to the list of Manchester attractions that as a minimum add to its appeal as a destination worth more than a day and a good option if you’re looking to fill an hour in the centre. 

It isn’t known if the funding offered by Lancashire and Preston councils will still be there for a reduced football museum or for a different type of museum. I’d guess not as times are hard and nationally we’ve yet to start repaying. How much councils should fund a museum for a sport with such riches is questionable.

If an alternative in Preston was to be founded I’d prefer a museum and a futurama. Perhaps with a broader theme using football as focus to take advantage of the location. The Football Museum’s view over the Deepdale pitch making it come alive.  Maybe it could be an office and  / or cafe as it would be an attractive working environment.

Overall it’s a loss to Preston as the museum has a national and international awareness and advertising like that can’t be replaced.

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Preston Railway Station investment

Posted on 17 November 2009 by Pete of MIP

Preston station was named as the 6th worst station in the UK with platform access via the steps as one of the worst features. The government announced that the worst stations would get a total of £50m spent on them to improve car parking, platform access, refreshments and toilets etc. The top ten includes: Manchester Victoria, Preston, Wigan, Warrington, Stockport, Crewe, Liverpool Central in the north west.

I didn’t think Preston station was that bad although maybe my expectations aren’t very high.  I always expect to stand in a cold wind with some water dripping off the roof on any station.  I expect to only be able to get coffee in a cardboard cup and not be sure if its tea or coffee and a choice of Club biscuits or Penguins. A dark subway. To pay a fortune to park your car so you would only do it if on expenses.  The toilets to be somewhere distant, cleanish in a 19th century way but cold and suspicious with the feeling someone is in a cubicle doing something you don’t want to know about. 

Railway staff tend to look cleaner nowadays especially the Virgin Rail ones. I recall not too long ago a gent with what looked like an oilskin walking down the platform, he turned out to be a porter, wouldn’t be keen for him to brush against my bags.

Preston has some of these features, especially the outer platforms.  It has TV displays which give it a more modern feel, although I made the mistake of reading the arrivals and stood on the wrong platform, my wife wasn’t impressed with me.

Preston station is an impressive building in total and it should be preserved, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be modernised. Some enclosing to protect more from the elements, a few escalators, an update of the amenities and covered walkway into the Fishergate Centre. Perhaps diversion of buses into the forecourt.

Some people think this announcement which seems to effect mainly the north-west is a pre-election vote buyer. It might be, but never look a gift horse in the mouth.

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House Prices Down but Turning (perhaps)

Posted on 13 November 2009 by Pete of MIP

The Land Registry figures for the end of September show the North West having one of the lowest average house prices in the UK. The North West being Lancashire, Cumbria, Cheshire, Manchester and Merseyside.

Overall in the North West the house price average is £116k down 8% over a year but up 0.8% in September alone.

In Lancashire the picture isn’t as good with an average of £113k down 12.7% over a year and down by 0.3% in September. The peak being December 2007 at £137k.

Preston is in the Lancashire figures but Blackpool and Blackburn having unitary authorities are shown with an average of £94k and £82k respectively.  Others shown separately are Warrington £137k, Stoke £76k. Hull is the lowest English figure at £75k.  House prices in Oldham and Rochdale have fallen around 18% in a year.  The lowest London borough, Barking and Dagenham is £196k a fall of around 19%.

The number of houses sold is rising as well.

In September the average house price in Lancashire continued to fall at a rate of around three hundred pounds a month which is a lot better than year earlier. Also the number of houses sold has recovered from its trough early this year but is still well below its peak.  You can feel that as 2 houses have sold near us after being on the market for a while.

We last moved house in a late January after making an offer in late November. We thought January wasn’t a bad month to move as we settled in and had time to plan for a spring redecoration.

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Competition Commission says Stagecoach must sell Preston Bus

Posted on 11 November 2009 by Pete of MIP

 The Evening Post alerted me to the Competition Commission announcement released today that Stagecoach must sell Preston Bus to a bidder able to provide a competitive service. It seems a bit late for this as the deal was done months ago, buses have been re-branded and staff laid off or moved. 

The sale was never a good thing from the perspective of local pride and autonomy but in the bus wars Stagecoach attracted enough passengers to make Preston Bus unable to carry on. This probably wasn’t too difficult against a big organisation.

Although I don’t use the bus I have been reading comments, that might be biased, that fares are increasing and the services less frequent since the takeover.  Also that Stagecoach will move the good buses to other depots where they are seeking more customers.  Whether this is true I don’t know but in my rare experience of travelling on Stagecoach I thought the buses were of a high standard.  Also it’s a British company and is expanding overseas and into other areas like rail. Companies like this are needed to provide ‘British jobs for British workers’ and companies that contribute to the taxpayer in the long term rather than take subsidies.

I’m not clear on how the Competition Commission normally works but it seems a strange arrangement that a buy-out occurs, people and infrastructure are disrupted then months later it’s decided to put the clock back.  Who pays for putting the clock back? At the time of the purchase the Competition Commission (CC) reported that no-one else had been willing to buy Preston Bus who was able to compete with Stagecoach. So who is going to do it now noting that the CC say the buyer must be strong enough to compete?

The announcement says “The sale will include a bus depot, other assets and a network of routes, including services formerly run by Preston Bus but since transferred to Stagecoach following the acquisition.”  Does this mean all routes, just some and include non-former PB routes, and which ones?  The full report is on the CC website and perhaps that explains more.

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Nuclear Irish Sea announced

Posted on 9 November 2009 by Pete of MIP

Today the government announced 5 new nuclear power stations on the shore of the Irish Sea. Three in Cumbria, 1 at Heysham, 1 in Anglesey. There are currently 3 that have limited life remaining.

The government has also announced a ‘quick’ planning process which some people say will over-rule peoples rights. In general the location of the sites in this area are in places where nuclear stations exist and the jobs they bring are welcomed. So planning is not likely to be a major obstacle anyway.

The Irish Sea already has banks of wind turbines and more are planned. The hills of the Lake District and Lancashire have groups of wind turbines and more of those are planned.

It is forecast that electrical demand will increase by 10% in the next 10 years although this could be reduced as easily as building a new power station.

Overall nuclear is a necessary part of the energy supply system to ensure capacity is sufficient.

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Digital Switchover Day for BBC2

Posted on 5 November 2009 by Pete of MIP

Yesterday BBC2 went digital in the Granada region. The person managing the changeover said they’d only had 10,000 calls yesterday so it went well.  At the time I thought it sounds a lot as BBC2 doesn’t get a big audience. Later I found that those who already have a digital box need to retune both BBC1 and BBC2 so it isn’t just a switch off.  I thought I was clued up on this but now know I’m not. Just found that BBC1,2 and Sky News isn’t working on the box attached to my PC so need to do the retune.

There was a retune only a few weeks ago so don’t know why there is another. Sounds too complicated to me why don’t these boxes retune themselves automatically.

December 2nd for the full change-over. Can’t wait, I have an elderly relative who doesn’t understand the new remote and keeps using their old one and says they won’t watch BBC2 for now.

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Queueing for the 2012 Preston Guild

Posted on 3 November 2009 by Pete of MIP

Three weeks after the 2012 Olympic Games is the 2012 Preston Guild.

The Royal Lancashire Show suggested last week it could be in Preston in the 2012 Guild Year and yesterday the Corporate Games said they’d hold a Games in Preston in that year.  

It’s not long since the Royal Lancashire said it wouldn’t go to Preston for it’s annual show for reasons un-said,  but now the show has no home.  It sounds a good idea to have it in Preston and Moor Park has been suggested.  The show organisers say the show takes 150 acres of land – about 100 football pitches.  Moor Park has been suggested before but I once read it was 100 acres. Another 50 acres is needed, how much of this is car parking?  Deepdale is across the road and there are a couple of small parks nearby and maybe a park and ride can be set up. If the show is looking for a home it could scale down a bit. The show is normally in July which is well before the Guild which starts in early September and the Olympic Games which start on 27th July 2012.

The Corporate Games announced yesterday that an event could be held in Preston in 2012 and this is supported by Preston Council and the North West Development Agency. This is for company teams to compete and is held all over the world organised from a base in Peterborough.  I’d imagine that large local employers like BAE SYSTEMS and Leyland Trucks could have teams although the impression given is that teams from outside the area will be expected. Liverpool is hosting a games in 2010 and it will be interesting to see who is there.

Noticed that Preston Council website has dates for civic events in the Guild as shown below, the Guild Court starting the main festivities. The Council are consulting with local people about their own contributions.

Sat 18 August 1st Proclamation (announcement)
Sat 25 August 2nd Proclamation
Sat 1 September 3rd and Final Proclamation
Sun 2 September Guild Mayor’s Civic Procession and Divine Service at Minster
Mon 3 September Opening of the Guild Court
  Guild Inaugural Ball*
Wed 5 September Guild Mayoral Ball*
 Thur 6 September Mayoral reception for Oversees Visitors
Fri 7 September Guild Mayoress’ Church Procession
  Carnival Ball*
Sat 8 September Formal Adjournment of Guild Court
  Grand Firework Display and Final Reception
Sun 9 September Guild Mayor’s Church Procession to service of Thanksgiving

http://www.preston.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/guild-2012/

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Late October Spring

Posted on 29 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

17 degrees today, no wind, a watery sun. Set out across the Fylde and hundreds of geese were flying south in constantly changing V formations quite low. Opened the car window to hear them talking to each other.  Where had they flown from, Iceland? Wonderful sight and sound on a lovely day. Thankyou God.

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X factor prediction

Posted on 27 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

Started watching X factor last year and was hooked. Discounting YouTube hits, here are my predictions,  it was harder than I thought – and probably completely wrong.

9th – Lloyd – nice bloke, a bit overwhelmed, voice not strong.

8th – Ollie – started great, seems to be losing his sparkle but might be a winner.

7th – Danyl – great voice, loads of confidence, seems too easy and too many teeth on the high notes.

6th – Lucie – great voice, looks a very nice person, best performer on big band but doesn’t suit the action. Could do it.

5th – Jamie – great voice, good performer, not sure if there’s enough variation, age might tell.

4th – Twins – great show, loads of cheek, let down by singing unless a niche is created.

3rd – Joe – nice bloke, great musical voice, can perform, best performer on Robbie Williams show, somebody has to be next. Could win.

2nd – Stacey – good voice, can do it, very likeable, thinks she’s not worthy. Would be worthy winner.

X-factor winner – Rachel – good voice, able to perform, right age, was good in auditions, has learnt after struggling and might be on an up if handled right.

The above is trying to be logical my personal choices are Lucie, Jamie, Stacey with Joe to win.

Could hedge my bet and say 1,2,3, 6, 8 could be winners as each week I’ve changed my vote.

I wish I’d watched this show before.  A great example of endeavour at the end and delusion in the auditions.

Posted in Not particularly Preston, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Royal Lancashire Show to end. Perhaps?

Posted on 26 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

The show has had empty years before but today the Royal Lancashire Show committee put into place actions to put it on ice saying the costs of 2 flooded years have been too much. The Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society also say that Ribble Valley Borough Council put the final nail in the coffin by refusing to consider a revised traffic plan.  It appears there is still scope for compromise as further discussions are expected and the announcement might be thought to put some pressure on the council.

It is surprising that in a county as big as Lancashire, including its larger Palatine boundary, a location, cash and support can’t be found for such a show.  You would think that Lancashire County Council would feel strongly about it but it seems to be only local councils who are involved and they aren’t being helpful either.

On the other hand why does it have these problems. Is it the date, the location or bad planning.  As they say one mistake is unfortunate, two mistakes look like carelessness but three mistakes look like ………..

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National Football Museum Deferred Decision

Posted on 23 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

The leader of Preston Council says on his blog.

“Our bid (from Lancashire County Council, UCLan andPreston City Council) is the only one that guarantees the museum financial security. We are offering £400,000 a year plus up to £3.5m to invest in improving the museum in the future. Add to this the very considerable resources of the University and the Councils in helping to promote and market the museum to a wider audience, and it is clear our bid should be the winner.”

This is a generous offer and the effort put into keeping the museum in Preston is to be applauded. Also the option of not having to move and not moving into the unknown must be very strong to the Museum Trustees who are meeting today.  Being a regular visitor to museums and the centre of Manchester who has never been in the Urbis I can understand the Trustees having doubts.  Would I spend £6 on car parking to spend 2 hours in the Urbis, unlikely.

The Council Leaders blog says the Trustees have decided not to meet today. Their decision was expected.

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Tithebarn Syndrome and Blackpools Casino

Posted on 23 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

Is Preston heading along a cul-de-sac with the Tithebarn Project?  For many years the Casino was going to be the saviour of Blackpool, the ‘Las Vegas’ of Lancashire.  When the rug was pulled Blackpool had a spell of total loss of confidence having been frozen in anticipation for years. It seems Preston is going through a spell when the Tithebarn Project is it’s main development and until it is resolved then the bus station and buildings in that area are probably getting less maintenance than they would normally receive and who knows what else, a sort of Tithebarn Syndrome.

Blackpool did eventually have more plans and received a lot of cash for promenade extensions, new tram system, shopping malls and repaving the centre but this has happened late and its main conferences have been lost.  So what options are Preston exploring if the Tithebarn Project is lost or watered down and does it matter?

At present the council are not admitting there any unsurmountable problems and this is understandable.  Behind the scenes other options must be considered. For example the bus station is an impressive building but maybe it doesn’t need to be an island and maybe M&S would like a store on the west of the building using the car park as its drive in.

On the other hand I don’t know what M&S thinking on this is. Are they looking for an additional store or is this a drive in store.

The bus station / railway station location continues to be a big negative for Preston, not to mention where any high speed line, if it arrives, might be. Surely this needs an improvement.

Then there is the loss of face of admitting defeat to the glee of Blackburn and Blackpool. This should be discounted, although easily said.  Lend Lease the remaining Tithebarn contractor seem to be an adaptable company who have been involved in developments of all kinds the world over and maybe as a single lead developer they can offer a plan that doesn’t appear as threatening but over time will become as big as Tithebarn.

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Forensic Science Services Laboratory at Euxton to close

Posted on 22 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

There has been speculation about re-organising the Forensic Science Service (FSS) for a few months and today it was announced the laboratory in Euxton, near Chorley, will close with the loss of 185 jobs possibly in 2011. The jobs will be focussed on certain key locations based on skills rather than local police support and 3 sites will close.

There was a debate in parliament in June in which Lindsay Hoyle, David Borrow and Ben Wallace spoke on behalf of their constituents in this area and against the way the government was implementing cost cutting in the FSS.  The point was also made that the nearby University of Central Lancashire has an acclaimed course on forensic science in conjunction with the FSS.

If the government is serious about regeneration of industrial areas these skilled and specialised jobs are a key part of the mix.

Whether there is a loss of local service isn’t clear to me.  How do the FSS work if their lab is 100 miles away – do they have travelling forensic scientists who are always on the road or are there forensic staff in each police force who send samples to the FSS labs.

It seems the service is likely to be sold and to get the most value it is being set up in a commercial way. It is also selling its services abroad so it isn’t just supporting local police.  The point was made in the June debate that the government isn’t so good at supervising these arrangements and people sometimes walk away with sacksful of money.  Although in my own opinion that might be  a red herring depending on the overall gain / loss.

As a side issue the FSS proudly holds the DNA database containing 4 million samples.  I’m sure there are a lot of benefits of such a database and the police would like everyone to be on it, but in my opinion keeping samples from people who are not charged or proven guilty is a breach of civil liberties and should be stopped immediately.

In conclusion this area of Lancashire doesn’t want job losses, skilled job losses, effect on police service, effect on UCLAN and a step backwards on regeneration.

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Internet Explorer Version 8 and 10 minutes to get football results in the brave new digital TV world

Posted on 21 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

As a part-time web designer I find IE8 has gone from the extreme of earlier issues to the other extreme in terms of using web-standards. My web-design software puts special code into pages to allow for the foibles of earlier versions of Internet Explorer. Now I find that even using the latest updates from Adobe to create code the CSS on my sites doesn’t render correctly in IE8 without clicking on ‘compatibility view’ which I’m not using.

Who-ever in Microsoft invented ‘compatibility view’ must have had a very strict upbringing, it’s a completely unnecessary discipline. Firefox has been the recommended tool for checking websites and I find nothing has changed.

Microsoft also upset some people by enforcing use of the Outlook Connector on Hotmail accounts.  It forced me to tidy up my e-mail accounts and it was goodbye to Hotmail.  If you own domains you can use forwarding addresses so changing isn’t difficult.

The latest version of Windows (Windows 7) is out tomorrow and seems to have had good reviews to date.  I’ll let it settle as Vista seems pretty good now.  Although I wonder if we’ll ever get to the time when you turn on your PC and start work immediately. My Quad core Vista PC takes minutes to boot up.

With the digital switch-over I’ll miss terrestrial TV teletext in that I can put on the TV and go straight to the football results in seconds – unless it’s one of those multi-page ones. The BBC Digital Text on Sky takes about 2 minutes to come on and switching it off is something else.  Maybe using mobile phone web is the faster answer but it costs. We step bravely into the future and it seems like walking in mud, overly complicated mud.

What about older folk. It wasn’t too bad once just turning a switch to operate the TV.  We once had a TV with a little box screwed on the back containing a fairly substantial metal rod which you pulled to get ITV. Set top boxes aren’t new.

Oh no, just remembered we turn off our Sky Box as a ‘green’ measure but find that after switch on it takes 5 minutes to find all the channels.  Teletext will be so missed. It’ll be 5 minutes to get the channels, 2 minutes to get to the text.  Then another couple of minutes to load the page. So it could be 10 minutes to get the football results with a Sky Box. Need to think about that!

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Grosvenor pull out of Tithebarn

Posted on 16 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

Grosvenor pulled out of the £700m Preston Tithebarn development today saying they want to focus on smaller developments.  Lend Lease the other developer say they are staying in. It had seemed Grosvenor were the major developer but on looking at the Land Lease website they have involvement in a lot of large projects worldwide.

The project has been on the boards for a long time, is very ambitious, faces opposition from everyone not in Preston, is subject to a planning inquiry and there are attempts to list the main building to be knocked down.  Maybe this is standard fare in such developments and developers just keep chipping away and re-structuring their portfolios, but to the uninitiated it sounds like a story of continuous obstacles.  Grosvenor have spent quite a bit of money already buying up properties and in the planning process so there is a risk of making a loss on work to date and you might have thought that their commitment would have assured their continuation.

I’ve never been fully pro or anti-Tithebarn and my opinion changes as I read different articles. There is no doubt that Preston is a strange design overall and Tithebarn isn’t going to help.  Other factors such as; will a new high speed line go through Preston or round it or maybe not go this far north, will Preston be a stop for High Speed Trains, should the bus station and railway station be closer and link better to the motorway. Why is the shopping area going to be split between the railway station end of Fishergate and the Tithebarn area. The bus station is one of Preston’s most commented buildings and it is to be knocked down. Tithebarn doesn’t seem to help these.  On the plus side probably from the council’s view if someone is willing to put in money all these issues are the lesser of the evils of running down and unemployment.

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North v South and the meaning of life

Posted on 15 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

Watched John Prescott on TV last night with his wife on the subject of north v south.  Quite like John Prescott he’s a down to earth type who can stand his corner, although him and his wife especially like their fancy trimmings.

The programme touched on a few things that I’ve often thought such as the north grew out of industry and now the industry is gone what is the future.  Does it have a meaning?  A study was discussed that said some towns – I noticed Blackpool, Wigan and Blackburn on the list – should be left to rot as their purpose was gone.  To which John said if those people that could moved out you’d be left with the old and the unwanted which would lead to major social problems. So jobs must be moved to people. Although maybe his social problems could also include a fear of extreme political parties getting seats in parliament.

Yet these jobs need to have some meaning and ambition.  The region needs to have a meaning and some symbolic industries yet it seems hard to imagine what that is at present except for a mixed portfolio of foreign owned industries.  The few major industries remaining include defence and chemicals. Some headquarters need to be located in the region. The only ones I can think of are the Co-op which isn’t industrial and Pilkingtons which somehow managed to be taken by over a smaller  Japanese company. After 12 years of a government that you might think would try to spread wealth around the country it seems the north has a fairly transitory base and the only businesses based here were devastated by the credit crunch and allowed to collapse – Bradford & Bingley, Northern Rock to name two. A bit depressing if you let it be.  In someways a case for a breakaway country from the south could be made but I’d have no confidence of its success and I’d imagine it would be an unhappy socialist enclave. Although some Welsh and Scots think they can do it and I’d think the Welsh are further downhill than the north. So like the recession maybe this is a low point and the future is up but some higher than others.

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Visit to Manchester

Posted on 10 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

Drove to Manchester for a Saturday excursion, weather was very nice as well. Almost didn’t when we heard about the demonstration planned but we didn’t see anything like that although police on horseback were prominent.

Manchester gets more impressive each time we go. I was particularly impressed by the Spinningfields area with its modern buildings, open areas, apartments and cafes. Although there was one building right in the middle that looked a bit 70’s shabby.

The extension to the Arndale is a nice bright area making the old one look ancient although that’s been facelifted as well. There’s quite a good circular route down King Street, Market Street, back into the Arndale and the extension then onto the Triangle, Selfridges etc to St Annes Square.  There was a food market in St Annes Square that looked interesting.

Another thing I hadn’t seen before is the HMV GameBase in the basement a room of monitors and gamestations for computer battlers. Pretty impressive I thought although there was no-one using any at 11am on Saturday so I wonder where the trade is coming from.

Overall a pretty good day out, didn’t spend anything except £5.40 to park the car and a lunch, although my wife did. Can’t see Preston matching that even with 5 Tithebarn Projects.

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Duke of Edinburgh’s wise words about TV technology

Posted on 10 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

The Duke of Edinburgh is reported as saying TV remotes are too complex.   I guess over 95% of the population are probably able to use them eventually without difficulty even if they don’t use all the functions. I have an elderly relative who now has a Set Top Box as part of the BBC / Government scheme for the elderly and hasn’t yet been able to master the technology.  Got the box fitted by a friendly young man, got some training, we wrote it down and repeated it several times. What it doesn’t say is what happens if you accidently catch the button next to the TV on button. Yes it turns the whole thing off. So what happens then. Panic.  I thought it can’t be that bad and had a go. But I got an information screen with a small window showing the picture and I couldn’t get rid of it without turning everything off. There’s a lag as well so you can’t be certain if the button you last pressed is about to do something or if you missed it. So yes the Duke of Edinburgh is right.  Where is the remote with just a few buttons?  Why the lag between press and effect?

The Government are hell bent on turning off FM radio as well. The UK has taken an independant route using a low fidelity first generation DAB technology and the rest of Europe is different. I’ve had a high quality FM receiver for years, it will probably outlast me and gives excellent sound reproduction that I also feed the TV through.  In 4 years it will go to landfill because the government wants to use the spectrum for mobile phones or something.  So here we go again high tech, low quality.

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Councillors Driver and Hudson man the barricades

Posted on 9 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

Two councillors, Geoff Driver of Lancashire County Council and Ken Hudson of Preston City Council have had a letter published in the Times (8th Oct)  defending the location of the National Football Museum in Preston.  This was after Matt Dickinson the Times Chief Sports Correspondent had written the museum should be at Wembley (6thOct).

Matt said he liked the museum but it’s one drawback was it is in Preston. Well he would say that as it’s a typical London reaction to anything they have to travel to even though Preston is surrounded by Premier and Football League clubs.  Last time I went to London we passed Wembley at 100 mph and it was quite a journey to Euston. On my previous trip from central London to Wembley I got a headache from the long slow claustrophobic journey, we don’t have such horror journey’s in our area.  Would anyone make such a such a journey to go to the museum when there is so much else to see in London?  At Preston you slip off the motorway and in under 10 minutes you are in the museum having parked free and suffered little traffic.

Another advantage of Preston is that the club is fairly neutral. I’ve met people in Liverpool who won’t go to Manchester or even say the word.  

There is a previous post setting these points out more clearly so I leave that topic.

Changing the subject a bit, I hope Rupert Murdoch won’t be upset that I’ve referenced one of his news products without paying an on-line news fee, ref todays Times. Then again I have paid £1.80 for the two copies of the Times and I think that’s excessive even though the main paper is a good read. Can I have a cheaper option without the unwanted supplements. If a charge for internet news comes in one of them will go.  Although I would imagine that a fee for viewing a package of publications could be arranged as I can’t see anyone paying to read a single news source on line.  I think I’d agree that a moderate fee for viewing a range of news sources might be acceptable although I’d have to consider my whole internet / newspaper / TV package  as I don’t believe in giving a monopoly or tying myself in to any one provider.

Posted in Preston North End, Technology | 2 Comments

Preston FM your community radio

Posted on 6 October 2009 by Pete of MIP

Driving round Preston the other day a radio station I hadn’t heard of popped onto my radio. Preston FM 103.2MHz. Sounded a bit ‘localish’ although I’ve listened to a couple of their music programmes and they’re OK. So I’m giving it a go through their on-line feed at the moment. The schedule says ‘chat’ show but it’s been uninterrupted music.  As a volunteer and charity funded station it’s worth a go.

If you’re living overseas and want to hear some homely Preston voices then maybe there’s a good reason to listen on line.

Maybe they should do some traffic announcements as that seems to be how most stations get listeners although for me it also can cause hostility. comm

Preston FM website:

http://www.preston.fm/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

Posted in Made in Preston, Technology | Comments Off on Preston FM your community radio