Six of the Best 600

Allison Keyes on a rediscovered manuscript that casts light on the Tulsa massacre of 1921 - an attack on a thriving Black neighbourhood.

Alexandra Lange contrasts the reactions to Garden Bridge and Pier 55 - "Two cities, one designer and one strategy – to build a privately funded park above a river."

"Thanks to my older brother, I was an Observer reader as a schoolboy. On most Sundays in the year or two either side of 1960 he would take the bus six miles to our nearest town and return with a paper that augmented the Sunday Post – delivered to the door that morning by the village newsagent – and its claustrophobic worldview formed fifty years before in Presbyterian Dundee." Ian Jack reviews a new life of the paper's editor David Astor.

"[Jack] Cardiff achieved many of the visual effects in camera by drawing inspiration from the use of light and colour by such artists as Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh." David Parkinson looks back at Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus.

"One of the reasons I can’t stand United is the air of sanctimony that hovers over the club. If Mourinho takes them back to the summit it ought to puncture that – it’ll show they’re no better than anyone else, just another plaything for the great man’s ego." David Runciman is right about Jose's re-emergence at Old Trafford.

The Beauty of Transport celebrates Tynemouth Station.

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Disused Railway Stations in Dumfries and Galloway

There are plenty more of these slideshows on this blog.

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SNP candidate wrecks one of island's two phone boxes

A phone box yesterday

The Herald brings news of Danus Skene, who is challenging Tavish Scott for the Shetland seat at Holyrood:

Prize for the worst voter outreach effort of the whole election surely goes to the SNP's Danus Skene in Shetland. Canvassing Whalsay recently, the Old Etonian crashed his car into one of only two payphones on the island, wrecking it completely. 

The locals, who don’t have the world's best mobile coverage, are reportedly livid. "I didn’t wish to deprive them of it," sighs Danus. "I don’t have an excuse or an explanation."

And they said Alistair Carmichael was unpopular up there...

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Could Willie Rennie win North East Fife?

Embed from Getty Images

Early this week the Telegraph looked at the prospects for the Holyrood election in North East Fife, which is the seat Ming Campbell used to represent at Westminster.

The Liberal Democrat candidate is Willie Rennie:

Rennie is not prepared to predict victory in the constituency (he is more likely to get in as a regional list MSP), but says the fact the Lib Dems came second in the general election last year by around 4,000 votes is “not insurmountable”. 

He adds: “It’s the right combination of a good team, the right message and the right circumstances locally plus the best candidate you could possibly ever get.” This last comment is accompanied by a trademark chuckle. 

“Because I am from that part of the world I understand the area, I have got a good network of councillors, a good activist base. I would like to do it, but it’s up to the voters and I never take anything for granted.”

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Six of the Best 591

"This tells you everything you need to know about the desperate, empty campaign being run by a gang of politicians who’ve stepped beyond mere incompetence, and have ended up somewhere truly nasty, surrounded by supporters who love every bit of it." Rupert Myers is damning about the Brexiteers' assault on President Obama.

Monroe Palmer outlines the improvement to the government's Housing Bill that Liberal Democrat peers have battled to make.

"The premise of Russian foreign policy to the West is that the rule of law is one big joke; the practice of Russian foreign policy is to find prominent people in the West who agree. Moscow has found such people throughout Europe; until the rise of Trump the idea of an American who would volunteer to be a Kremlin client would have seemed unlikely." Timothy Snyder dissects Donald Trump's admiration for Vladimir Putin.

It is good to see Jerzy Skolimowski’s Deep End getting a mention alongside the usual suspects in this Steve Rose survey of films about Britain from the 1960s.

Jessica Fielding brings us the Yorkshire Television schedule for Monday 19 April 1971 - Richard Beckinsale, Austin Mitchell and Ena Sharples in unexpected colour.

The defunct Glasgow Central Railway line left behind a trail of stations, tunnels, shafts, cuttings and bridges throughout the west of the city. Alex Cochrane explores its remains.

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Peter Maxwell Davies: Farewell to Stromness

This popular short piece by Sir Peter Maxell Davies, who died last month, is taken from The Yellow Cake Revue.

This was a collection of cabaret-style pieces that he performed with Eleanor Bron, as part of the 1980 St Magnus Festival, in protest at plans to mine uranium ore in Orkney.

Farewell to Stromness is played here by Ezra Williams.

George Mackay Brown said Stromness "is but a tumbling stone wave, a network of closes, a marvel of steps from the seaweed up to the granite of Brinkie's Brae".

I've been there and he's right.

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Six of the Best 579

"Why is it that when Conference supports the leadership it’s binding and an act of disrespect to rebel, but when Conference disagrees with them its word is provisional, borderline advisory?" Graham Cowie on the Scottish Liberal Democrats' row over fracking.

Richard Kemp proposes a radical shake up of the way Liverpool is run.

Nick Clegg and the dogging site - a first post from Ben Rathe that went viral.

Northern Soul presents a striking piece of local history: "In 1859 the body of a man by the name of Harry Stokes washed up in the River Irwell. Upon examination, it was discovered that twice-married Stokes was biologically female and had been successfully living the life of a Victorian man in Manchester."

"The thrill of the aerial running shot and the suddenness of the ending mean that this, rather than The 400 Blows, is the film that leaves the viewer breathless. Even writing about it makes me shiver." Somewhere Boy has been to see Andrei Tarkovsky's first feature-length film, Ivan's Childhood.

A Clerk of Oxford visits Ramsey Abbey in the Fens.

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Two lost Glasgow termini: St Enoch and Buchanan Street stations

St Enoch station closed in 1966 and was demolished in 1977. Buchanan Street station was also closed in 1966 and was demolished the following year.

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Disused Railway Stations in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross and Cromarty

A short and sweet selection. People who favour places that end in -ster will find it particularly enjoyable.

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The making of Gregory's Girl

John Gordon Sinclair, Dee Hepburn and Clare Grogan reminisce about the making of this 1980 film in a discussion recorded last year.

If this were the Daily Mail I would be astounded that they look a lot older 35 years on.

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Six of the Best 570

Ed Miliband has an article on inequality in the London Review of Books.

"If you criticise the party of government, you become a pariah - all of a sudden, you're faced with a deluge of SNP warriors to defend yourself against. What is becoming of democracy in Scotland if this is the situation that we have been left in?" Jordan Daly on life in post-referendum Scotland.

David Brindle talks to Brian Rix, who was 92 this week, about his two careers: farceur and activist for people with learning disabilities.

Labour peer Lord Berkeley warns against a pause in Network Rail's work to protect and improve the route to the South West.

Roger Mills introduces us Lilian Bowes Lyon, the Queen Mother's rebel cousin.

The Liverbirds were Britain's first all-female rock band. Paul Fitzgerald describes how they found fame in Hamburg.

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Six of the Best 567

Are you sure about this? Ed.

Gareth Epps reports that Liberal Democrat Conference has lost a day.

"Contemporary advocates of No-Platforming have so far failed to provide any convincing, rigorous definition of ‘harm’ to justify their practice." Monica Richter argues that only the most noxious of speakers should be banned from university campuses.

Robbie Simpson has been to Tbilisi to visit our liberal colleagues, the Republican Party of Georgia.

"Imagine if Neil Young needed Simon Cowell’s approval in order to get the label backing necessary to become a known musician." POWERevolution thinks many millenials are uncool and think it knows why.

Cal Flyn writes on afforestation and clearance in the Flow Country in the far North of Scotland.

Teenagerdom was a result of jobs and trades requiring training and education, which cast UK society into a bit of uncertainty. Hence the title; the first generation where this phase of ambiguity – no longer a child, yet not quite an adult – existed." Kyle Turner has been watching Absolute Beginners - an unsuccessful Eighties film about the Fifties with a Bowie theme song.

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Happy Birthday to the oldest living former Liberal MP

James Davidson is 89 today - thanks to Mr Memory from telling me.

He gained Aberdeenshire West (roughly equivalent to the modern Kincardine & Deeside seat) for the Liberal Party.

Wikipedia says of him:

During the 1966 general election campaign one of Davidson's main policy points was the establishment of a development authority for the North East of Scotland (on the lines of the Highlands and Islands Development Board) and he was a strong advocate on behalf of small farmers and of improving communications in remote areas like the Highlands by improving road links to the major cities. He also campaigned for better air and sea links with Scandinavia.

Davidson was Liberal spokesman on foreign affairs and defence issues in Parliament, a particularly important brief given the ongoing war in Vietnam and the arguments over Britain's role East of Suez. 

In February 1967, he took a leading role in the opposition to the government's plans to raise fees for foreign students at British universities and introduced a Bill to give the people of Scotland and Wales referendums on devolution. This was as part of the Liberal strategy to draw the sting of the increasing popularity of the Scottish National Party and re-establish the Liberal position on 'home rule all round' with the Scottish electorate.

He chose not to defend his seat at the 1970 general election. Laura Grimond fought it for the Liberals but lost to the Conservative Colonel Colin 'Mad Mitch' Mitchell.*

By contrast, Eric Avebury is a mere boy of 87.

* Some sources suggest he was madder than Mad Jack McMad, the winner of last year's 'Mr. Madman' competition.

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Disused railway stations in Aberdeenshire

A list of all the videos in this series so far can be found under the Lancashire post.

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Alistair Darling: From Black Dwarf to Morgan Stanley

Photo: Scottish Republican Socialist Movement

From BBC News:

Morgan Stanley has said former Chancellor Alistair Darling will join the bank's board of directors. 

Mr Darling, who served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2007 to 2010, will take up the role in January ... 

Morgan Stanley's chief executive James Gorman said the US bank would "greatly benefit from his experience." 

"He brings strong leadership experience, as well as insight into both the global economy and the global financial system," said Mr Gorman. 

In 2014 members of Morgan Stanley's board of directors received $75,000 (£49,960) a year plus an additional $10,000 to $30,000 for leading or joining a committee within the board. Each board member also received $250,000 in stock awards.

All of which gives me an excuse to wheel out this blog's favourite quote from George Galloway.

Here he is reminiscing in the Daily Record in March 2008:

When I first met him 35 years ago Darling was pressing Trotskyite tracts on bewildered railwaymen at Waverley Station in Edinburgh. He was a supporter of the International Marxist Group, whose publication was entitled the Black Dwarf. 

Later, in preparation for his current role he became the treasurer of what was always termed the rebel Lothian Regional Council. Faced with swinging government spending cuts which would have decimated the council services or electorally ruinous increases in the rates, Alistair came up with a creative wheeze. 

The council, he said, should refuse to set a rate or even agree a budget at all, plunging the local authority into illegality and a vortex of creative accounting leading to bankruptcy. 

Surprisingly, this strategy had some celebrated friends. There was "Red Ted" Knight, the leader of Lambeth council, in London, and Red Ken Livingstone newly elected leader of Greater London Council. Red Ally and his friends around the Black Dwarf were for a time a colourful part of the Scottish left. 

The late Ron Brown, Red Ronnie as he was known, was Alistair's bosom buddy. He was thrown out of Parliament for placing a placard saying hands off Lothian Region on Mrs Thatcher's despatch box while she was addressing the House. And Darling loved it at the time. 

The former Scottish trade union leader Bill Speirs and I were dispatched by the Scottish Labour Party to try and talk Alistair Darling down from the ledge of this kamikaze strategy, pointing out that thousands of workers from home helps to headteachers would lose their jobs as a result and that the council leaders - including him - would be sequestrated, bankrupted and possibly incarcerated. How different things might have been. 

Anyway, I well remember Red Ally's denunciation of myself as a "reformist", then just about the unkindest cut I could have imagined.

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Recently lost railways 2

The second part of this film covers many lines, including a colliery branch at Moira filmed in the days when Leicestershire still had coal mines.

Two of the more substantial lines covered this time are Aberdeen to Fraserburgh and March to Spalding, I travelled on the latter line in 1979 of 1980.

Watch Part 1 (which includes the Woodhead route) on this blog.

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Lord Bonkers' Diary: How the Lib Dems won Loch Ness

How the Lib Dems won Loch Ness

A rare ray of light in the darkness for us Liberal Democrats was our capture of Loch Ness from the Scottish National Party. It would be remiss of me at this point not to pay tribute to the sterling efforts of my old friend Ruttie, the Rutland Water Monster. Her canvassing of the postal vote, I am told by those on the ground, proved particularly effective.

As far as I can gather, what happened was this. If a local has settled down to cast his or, indeed, her postal vote, Ruttie would crane her long neck in through the window. The voter would hover his biro above the box next to the SNP candidate, at which Ruttle would give a distinct curl of the lip. Alarmed, the voter would next try the box next to our candidate, whereupon Ruttie would nod vigorously. I gather she was also extremely helpful in saving the voter the need to take the completed vote to the nearest pillar box.

I shall do all I can to encourage the old girl to help in future by-elections, but I fear there are few wards where she has such a close family connection.

Lord Bonkers was Liberal MP for Rutland South-West 1906-10.

Previously in Lord Bonkers' Diary

• We are not downhearted

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