Living in Longton I find this interesting.
After the great festival that Longton held a few weeks ago as part of the centenary celebrations a new website, I Love Longton, has appeared and although it is only in its infancy there seems to be the start of some civic pride going on.
Already there is some litter picking going on around the town and today ‘Radical Ed’ is going to clean the Reginald Mitchell memorial tiles in Bennet Precinct.
I have noticed on a number of occasions as I have walked through Longton that the tiled memorial looked dirty, it is bad enough it being stuck where not many people see it any more, but now it appears to be covered in the remains of a chocolate milk shake.
I suppose it is especially sad as RJ Mitchell lived in the outskirts of Longton, everyone knows he was born at Butt Lane but less people know he spent most of his early life living in Dresden.
I asked the council about it and it seems that it is the responsibility of the private landlord that owns Bennett Precinct, to clean it and the chances of that happening were ‘like getting blood out of a stone’.
The Prime Minister has launched his ‘Big Society’initiative this week and in some small way it seems to have started in Longton already. We know that there are going to be cuts locally and nationally, whether we like it or not, now in my mind we can whinge about the cuts or we can do something to make sure that the spaces where we live, shop & work remain clean and tidy, maybe even improving them a little.
Lots of people doing relatively small things can amount to something bigger happening, maybe we can’t get the railway bridge painted but at least we can do something.
I’m going to go along to get involved and try and make a small difference, what are you going to do in your town?
Hiya Mike, I was just checking your site “I Love Longton” out yesterday, I really like the use of photography on it. Helps carry the stories and draw you in.
Nice one on cleaning up the town as well. How many people stopped you and asked if you work for the council?
Not my site mate, they have just used some of my stuff. They are welcome to use it if it does something to get Longton tidied up and a bit more vibrant.
Mike, we (locals ,that is) call the section of Chaplin Rd where Mitchell lived Normacot, and from Dresden you go through Florence to get there.No offense, you know that you need to have been in Dresden 30 years to be accepted.Not as a person, or a friend but as a local.
Reminds me of when I was in Cornwall once, Mousehole, I think it was, whilst in a cafe a lady came in obviously to me local, but when she left she was “talked’ about, it was said that she was not from round here.Someone not as familiar with her as the speaker, asked more. It was said that her ancestors were probably Phoenicians that originally came to steal the tin. Now that is taking a long time to be accepted.
I’m glad I only have to wait a mere 30 years to be accepted as a local then.
I’m fully aware of the geography of this side of town, if you want to be parochial then yes it is Normacot and I’m all for keeping these local names, but as a generalisation I think Longton is fine. Where do you end? He used to live on Chaplin Road and don’t mention where that is?
Hello Webby, thanks for checking out the site.
I’m currently the only one adding stuff to the site, but if you have a pressing local issue you want to sort out with the use of the website.
Pictures tell a story, which is so important, I just need to sort out some pictures for the work today and I’ll be putting up another post on ilovelongton
Nobody asked if we were the council, but I did take the chance to ask people their thoughts on it, good to hear so many people care about the history behind the great little mosaic.
Have a nice weekend everyone,
Radical Ed.
Why is there nothing on that site about the Congress? You can get a great atmosphere and a pint of real ale, it’s one of the best things about the town and it doesn’t get enough attention because it’s in such a random hard to find location.
Why not write one then and send it in.
Hyperlocal sites need all the support they can get.
Radical Ed, anything I can help you with dude, just get my e-mail address off Mick, I’m local.
Lets start pulling it back, lets start makeing that diffrance.
Cheers Warren, any help at all is excellent news.
Going to be getting rid of the cigarette butts (and anything else there) on Strand Passage on Wednesday, haven’t decided on a time yet, will get your email off Mike and contact you directly on monday.
Have a nice weekend,
Radical Ed
Because I haven’t been there in months. I will be in my old haunts next time I go, but I can’t just casually ask my chauffeur to take me around places, believe it or not.
I’m sorry guys, I don’t resent or begrudge you your enthusiasm, but Big Society is a con. It’s just spin, a far more palatable slogan than “Small State”.
That’s not just my opinion, but also the opinion of David Davies – the man Cameron beat to the Tory top job.
They want to cutback government to give their rich mates tax cuts. Same old Tories.
[quote=tonyjohnt]I’m sorry guys, I don’t resent or begrudge you your enthusiasm, but Big Society is a con. It’s just spin, a far more palatable slogan than “Small State”.
That’s not just my opinion, but also the opinion of David Davies – the man Cameron beat to the Tory top job.[/quote]
Beat me to it!! To be honest I don’t thinks it’s just David Davies, he’s just been caught saying it. To me Big Society is getting people to run public services free on a voluntary amateur basis so they don’t have to pay a professional to do it. So, how long is this coalition going to last…?
David Perry, I’m surprised at you! So you really think the state delivers everything better than anyone else possibly could? Bit of a contrast to your opinions on most other things.
I admit, Big Society has not been presented or explained very well, but really what David Cameron is saying is that we need to start thinking outside the box on how to deliver services and improve our communities. It doesn’t mean cutting everything and handing all services over to others, but getting a balance of the two, that means the right people provide the right services in the best way for everyone.
It’s time we started taking responsibility for ourselves and our areas a bit too. If you don’t like what’s happening in your area, do something about it! You don’t have to be a councillor to do that, there’s some great community groups out their getting REAL change by just taking the initiative. What happened to pride in where you live?
Personally, I applaud Radical Ed and what’s happening with ‘I Love Longton’, and I’ll be going along to help soon.
As a generalisation, Longton IS fine, but Dresden is not a generalisation and as such is not “fine”.Dresden became a specific and is incorrect. I don’t think the hairdresser, who lives in the house that was occupied by Mitchell, would advertise that he practiced his tonsorial expertise in Dresden. Rather than being parochial, I have a bias towards the article being corrigible.
You will recollect I said,” no offense” I was not annoyed ,by, or dismayed at, your article as it related to Mitchell.
With regards the painting of the railway bridge (the one in Longton) Mr Flello has had no impact on the appropriate authorities regarding this matter, he has now brought out a private members bill relating to the growing of Soya. It is a major concern to the farmers of Normacot, Florence and Dresden. It will however distract from other things, and endeavour to keep him in the forefront during ” the parliamentary holidays”
My approach to the railway authority would have been along the lines of, without protective paint the bridge will not only look a mess, but will be prone to ravages of weather and in time, not a long time, will rust and become unsafe. The closing of the bridge to both rail and road traffic whilst remedial work is carried out will be a major problem, and compensation should be sought for the inconvenience caused.
Whatever his approach was I don’t know, obviously it was not very convincing. How effective he will be with “world wide” Soya remains to be seen.
[quote=mikefire]My approach to the railway authority would have been along the lines of, without protective paint the bridge will not only look a mess, but will be prone to ravages of weather and in time, not a long time, will rust and become unsafe. The closing of the bridge to both rail and road traffic whilst remedial work is carried out will be a major problem, and compensation should be sought for the inconvenience caused.[/quote]
from what I have read the bridge has not been panted for 50 years and as far as Network Rail are concerned there is nothing structurally wrong with the bridge due to the lack of painting. Maybe this is a testament to the old days when things were build with a sense of pride and to last…
[quote=Abi Brown]David Perry, I’m surprised at you! So you really think the state delivers everything better than anyone else possibly could? Bit of a contrast to your opinions on most other things.[/quote]
Not quite what I said or meant. Why do think it differs from my usual opinions? I used to be a Tory? The Tory party covers a broad spectrum as you should know. On other stories I express the fact that people need to take responsibility for themselves? With some issues like personal health that is most definitely the case.
The role of government is to facilitate, and to provide services that private businesses won’t, can’t, or can’t be trusted with. Therefore universal education and health, defence, law and order etc… should be in the hands of govt, and those involved ideally be trained professionals.
There are one or two questions with this idea that no-one seems to be talking about. Has anyone taken into account work-life balances and the fact the UK already work the longest hours in Europe. It’s all very well trying to get people to volunteer but what if they haven’t got the time? Work commitments, family commitments, etc… The biggest obstacle to this whole idea may well be the clock.
There’s already a voluntary sector so what’s going to get people who aren’t already volunteering to volunteer? Given what happened in Stalybridge a while ago there are some people who will never volunteer.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1296673/The-link-fashionable-cynicism-men-beaten-doing-good.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
A simple question that doesn’t seem to be being asked, why did society become broken in the first place? Some will argue that the legal system got soft. Others will say it’s a result of the people becoming overly self-absorbed and selfish. Why don’t people talk to their neighbours anymore?
The Big Society in principle looks like an excellent idea but there are questions that need to be asked and addressed if it’s going to work. We also need to wary that it could just be, as I believe it is, a euphemism for small state. It’s just that Dave can’t use the latter because of the connotations with Thatherism. The state does deliver on a lot of things better than private industry or an “army of volunteers” ever could. Individuals do need to take responsibility for themselves but there is also a role for the state to play.
Well the way I see it, with the public spending cuts, we can accept a reduction in service or we can step up to the mark and help each other.
By direct action in the town centre we can create a nicer area for shopping, and present our town centre positively to visitors from outside the area.
Not to mention it shows people that somebody cares about our town, not just the businesses there.
Some very good points I agree with David:
“The role of government is to facilitate, and to provide services that private businesses won’t, can’t, or can’t be trusted with. Therefore universal education and health, defence, law and order etc… should be in the hands of govt, and those involved ideally be trained professionals.”
Yes there is a real need for government in these areas. However one thing they should do is get the Transition Board to move their tanks out of our city. And I think they are wrong to want to bring in elected mayors to dictate over us. Putting too much power with one person is a bad thing.
“It’s all very well trying to get people to volunteer but what if they haven’t got the time? Work commitments, family commitments, etc… The biggest obstacle to this whole idea may well be the clock.”
Absolutely. There can be those who would want to volunteer but are very busy.
“There’s already a voluntary sector so what’s going to get people who aren’t already volunteering to volunteer?”
Agreed again.
The good aspects of the ‘big society’ are, if it happens, getting more democracy and more of a say for local people, but as a cynic I’ll believe that if it happens. How do they square that with taking schools out of local government control to central government funded?
The bad aspects are the cuts. It’s fine for people to make decisions locally, have an input, volunteer, but without resources it can’t go far.
It is their sense of pride that is Awol then,
How to shame them is required, if indeed the vast number of residents of Longton are “bothered”. Perhaps they can only be fixated on one thing at a time, as they don’t seem concerned about the cigarette ends that are dropped all over the place, and their associated paraphernalia.
The “worthies treated themselves to umbrellas recently, and awarded themselves a dinner to commemorate 100 years of something or other. Nothing they themselves were anything to do with, because they are in perpetual positions of authority, being labour,it is nevertheless unlikely ,that any of the present “worthies’ are over 100 years old. The centenary of our becoming a City, is a matter of pride, were it that we showed some pride in our city, that we kept it clean, that we were like Caesars wife, with regards the contracts that are given,and all the other thing that threaten to become ” national” almost daily.
As the “worthies” are prone to arrant ignorance when it comes to aesthetics, but are not to be found wanting when a project is likely to be self promoting , rather than of benefit to the residents. Maybe they could arrange via their much publisised P.R. dept to apologise , on the City site, to the visitors to the city for the eyesore, that is the Longton railway bridge. A couple of strategically placed signs as the City is approached would not come amiss, where the blame could be placed.
Would not be as effective as if the City were like Lichfield, Stone,and, well you know, the places you have visited and said, “how beautiful”I wish I didn’t have to go back to Stoke. It seems that to fixate on the bridge and ignore the other things that we have responsibility for is a bit shortsighted.
“You know it makes sense”
It is their sense of pride that is Awol then,
How to shame them is required, if indeed the vast number of residents of Longton are “bothered”. Perhaps they can only be fixated on one thing at a time, as they don’t seem concerned about the cigarette ends that are dropped all over the place, and their associated paraphernalia.
The “worthies treated themselves to umbrellas recently, and awarded themselves a dinner to commemorate 100 years of something or other. Nothing they themselves were anything to do with, because they are in perpetual positions of authority, being labour,it is nevertheless unlikely ,that any of the present “worthies’ are over 100 years old. The centenary of our becoming a City, is a matter of pride, were it that we showed some pride in our city, that we kept it clean, that we were like Caesars wife, with regards the contracts that are given,and all the other thing that threaten to become ” national” almost daily.
As the “worthies” are prone to arrant ignorance when it comes to aesthetics, but are not to be found wanting when a project is likely to be self promoting , rather than of benefit to the residents. Maybe they could arrange via their much publisised P.R. dept to apologise , on the City site, to the visitors to the city for the eyesore, that is the Longton railway bridge. A couple of strategically placed signs as the City is approached would not come amiss, where the blame could be placed.
Would not be as effective as if the City were like Lichfield, Stone,and, well you know, the places you have visited and said, “how beautiful”I wish I didn’t have to go back to Stoke. It seems that to fixate on the bridge and ignore the other things that we have responsibility for is a bit shortsighted.
“You know it makes sense”
My surprise is nothing to do with political persuasion, and more to do with your pessimistic and dismissive view of something that is actually all ready happening!
The Big Society isn’t saying let’s offload all our services, it’s saying maybe other bodies can help and are better in providing them. I don’t see anywhere the suggestion that services are going to be forced onto charities to provide without any financial support. Charities actually all ready provide services within this City, and in other authorities it’s been happening for years – yes, that’s right, the Big Society may be being pushed by the Conservatives, but it was actually happening a little under Labour too.
I get your point about volunteering ‘personally’, but I don’t see the Big Society saying that if you and I don’t promise to give up 5 hours each a week to run it, then they’re going to close the local library for 10hours. Equally, just because I might volunteer to teach at the local school, doesn’t mean the Council has to take me up on that offer. It’s very easy to point at the BIG services like education and social services and then say Big Society won’t work there – but local authorities provide so much more.
You’re right that governments have a role to play in providing services, but sometimes when you look at the plethora of services provided, you have to ask why exactly are we providing some of them? There’s duplication across services and across public bodies, and often voluntary and private sector bodies providing the very same service themselves in a much better way.
I don’t think David Cameron is dismissing the role of the state, and I certainly aren’t. Having worked for the NHS and in local government, I know we have many fantastic and dedicated professionals in the public sector, but equally I can’t close my eyes to the potential the Big Society idea has.
tonyjohnt….. Its got nowt to be with that half baked idea the PM spining about on a stick. Its about getting out there and sorting things that need sorting and we can sort out with out buggering about. I had a problem with a lamp post bin a few weeks ago, the bottom kept falling out of it, I went out with a screw driver and fixed it. Six weeks later and its stayed fixed, wheres the problem in that. To many people are to fast to whing about things, not doing thinks.
Warren, I have no problem with people taking pride in their community and doing things to improve it. You seem to grasp what bothers me, it is the way this chinless wonder of a PM is trying to credit himself with the concept.
The Tories are trying to monopolise any and all community spirit and tie it in with the notion that “we’re all in this together”, aswell as using it to distract from their disgraceful cuts in spending. These cuts are ideological, they go much further and deeper than is needed to satisfy the markets.
Thatcherism (spit) is a toxic brand and so some slick marketing and distraction was called for.
Oh, and I can’t walk past litter without picking it up and putting it in a bin.
Radical Ed, we have been acepting cuts in services for the last ten years in this city.
Whats changed?
Warren how far do we go to do the jobs our poll tax is supposed to pay for?
Empty our own bins?
Sweep the streets?
You could go on and on.
I’m all for keeping the area clean, but there is a limit to what residents can do.
Where are the cuts in the civic centre top brass, and their pay seeing as they have caused the shortfall.
Offers of a reduction in the £900,000 grocery and dried goods bill, or the 4 year contract for bread and milk amounting to £390,000, or the £86,000 for toner cartridges for 4 years.
Instead its front line staff every time.
Hello Terry Turbo,
We don’t yet know where the cuts are going to fall, maybe bread and milk will be out the window next week?
But all this is rather pointless to discuss on a forum that has such a broad spectrum of political persuasions, take these concerns and complaints to the councillors, as you are unlikely to find any consensus on here.
For what its worth, I do agree that there are some (read: a lot of) jobs that should be done as a statutory service. However local authorities are so monolithic that every service has to be weighed against many others, meaning any improvements that do happen will take time.
In this period of weighing and planning, I am using some unpaid time off work to help fill the gap. I am greatly inspired to see so many other people who are willing to take responsibility for their town and help out with what little free time they have.
It is also heartening to hear words of support from local figureheads, and I look forward to meeting some of you in the weeks to come.
Enjoy manic monday,
Radical Ed
Radical Ed, is nice to have a civil reply.
See what you mean about Bread and Milk, just thought I’d use that as a instance.
What I don’t want to see is front line troops lose their jobs -as is so often the case- while top brass sit safe and comfortable in their ivory towers.
In a post a couple of weeks ago I had a go at the rising number of personel earning £50,000 and above.
In these times whn the average wage is about £13,000 to £15,000 it becomes a little too much for those at the bottom of the pay scale to accept more of those at the top.
I believe savings can be made without cuts to F/L/T.
This goes towards why I’m cynical, rather than pessimistic, about the Big Society.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/26/cameron-budget-cuts-diy-policing
We can’t allow these arseholes to experiment with our security this way. I’m getting old and have kids to worry about. They’ll spend a decade or more running down public services and neglecting the nation’s infrastructure, then accuse the next Labour government of profligacy when they try to put things right.
Sound economics, Big Society, new politics my arse… stop being so greedy you Tory shits!
Terry, we do what we can do to keep the areas we live and use up to standard, and we make it clear that we a doing it for us and others like us, to enhance public servises, not the replace them. I get out with a black bag round my area and do a bit of litter picking, but I have still asked for a reguler street cleaner to work it to, as for the street bin, the job took no more the five minites, it would have been a waste of someones time to call them out, and I think they would have taken the easy option of chanceing the bin, and wasteing money. I do these things becouse I want to, not becouse of some cooked up old bulls**t from a half breed PM.
Warren, it must be a joint effort of residents and Council.
Only by working together can an objective be achieved.
We cannot afford to loose front line troops as this surely means cuts if services.
This would only agravate the problem.
Our cuts need to be made from the top down.
I know Terry, and we could not do it if the service is cut. We had a trash bash last Saturday, council sent 2 bin wagons and 4 lads, we got a small group of eger bevers together and help from 3 of the local kids being bribed with some of my trash with included a PS1 with games, a x box with games and TV and DVD player, all in good working order. We got the job done in just under a hour and half, the lads breaking records on the amout of light trash that went on the wagon, and some of the gray bins got an extra emptying to. Good fun and smelt like a tinnker after it.
Nice one Warren
I’m going to be in Strand Passage from 12:30 (today, wednesday), but with the weather at the moment its not looking too good.
If you don’t mind the weather as it is now come on down and I’ll be there. If not, I’ll sort something out for Friday instead/as well.
Have a nice day!
Radical Ed
I’m out of the city on hols a few days, will be back on Sunday, and its pissed it down hear but it sunny now. The wife says might go into Cockermouth tomorrow, I’m takeing a wet sute and not useing the local taix’s. We were in Whitehaven this morning, I resised hanging my head out of the car window and shoting ‘Hear, Birdie, Birdie, Birdie.’
Enjoy your holiday Warren,
There’ll be a bigger action going on next Wednesday to finish off Strand passage, check out Ilovelongton.co.uk to see details.
Look forward to meeting you,
Regards,
Radical Ed