Thank You Dorset History Centre

Sometimes a little reminder is all you need.

I have Dorset ancestors and have been making very good use of the Dorset parish records, provided by the Dorset History Centre to Ancestry. One of the key activities in compiling any family tree is to make sure that you "kill off" your forebears (i.e. find death and/or burial records). I was having great difficulty in doing this with families from Dorchester as the parochial burial records petered out from about 1856. What, I wondered, was the problem? Lost material? Poor storage? Failed microfilming?

Stupid me! A query to DHC elicited a very rapid response from Ed, an assistant at the Centre, who pointed out that the local municipal cemetery opened in 1856. Not only did he do that, but he reminded me of the existence of Dorset Online Parish Clerk, and pointed me to their page of transcribed records from the cemetery! Now, that's service. So, many thanks to DHC, and to Ed in particular. I've "killed off" several relatives and found one (who lasted only 1 year) of whom I knew nothing.

UK Norway Interconnecttor - A Step Closer

It seems to have been talked about for ages but the UK-Norway interconnector is a step closer to existence with the letting of contracts to 3 infrastructure contractors.

The link is promoted as a means for Norway to spill excess renewable generation to the UK while providing increased security of supply to Norway. This has to be the right way to look at this project. I have heard some suggest that there is a major boost for UK security of supply as well, but you only have to think about the likely conditions at both ends at times when there is a squeeze on UK supply to realise that this is just wishful thinking.

Another Low Carbon Commitment Down the Pan

Why does the Government seem to believe that there's a trade-off between low carbon construction and total number of houses built? The allowable solutions scheme and the proposed 2016 domestic building energy efficiency targets are both being scrapped. As the spokesman from Willmott Dixon said - "This announcement seriously undermines industry's confidence in government policy and will diminish future investment". And owners of new homes will be foisted with less efficient dwellings than they would otherwise have had.

The Scourge of the Selfie

I have just returned from an extremely enjoyable short break in Prague. As with any holiday there were a few minor blips of which possibly the most irritating was the huge number of tourists taking selfies (with or without sticks). There's plenty to see in Prague and it's quite reasonable that people will wish to photograph these sites as a reminder of their holiday. However, is it really necessary that they stick their own mugs if front of everyone else simply because they adhere to the cult of self? And when they get home what will they have? Here's a picture of me obliterating the view of the Charles Bridge. And in this one you can just make out the Hrad behind my grimace. Oh, and look here's the Spanish Syangogue peaking over my left shoulder. Really!

So, selfie takers, please remember that there are other people in this world who might wish to take photographs of historic sites without your ugly features gurning away in front of them. It is the site that is of interest - not you!!

Who are M and Jason?

Really disappointing response so far. Go on. Repost and let's find them.

WHO ARE M AND JASON? Close members of the family will know that I act as "buying agent" to satisfy the Old Man's penchant for second hand books. I recent acquired a copy of "Georgiana" for him. This was the book he was reading at the time Mum died and he wished to replace the copy recycled when we cleared the house. This replacement copy, despite being second hand, appears never to have been read. On the fly leaf there is a dedication "to M 199 from Jason XXX". This begs a whole lot of questions. Who is/was M and why did he/she not read the book. Had Jason completely misunderstood him/her. Was M insulted by the implication that he/she had reached the grand old age of 199? Or did he/she see no future in a life with someone who couldn't manage to inscribe a gift with the full date? So, WHO ARE M AND JASON? The search starts here! Repost!

Why the silence on electricity?

The value chain for any modern economy has as one of its earliest elements energy. Often that energy is delivered in the form of electricity. So you'd think, wouldn't you, that a political party interested in the well-being of the UK economy would be interested in electricty delivery. So why the silence on this in the run up to the election?

Electricity generators are on the horns of a trilemma. Allowing the lights to go out is very bad news. We expect the flick of a switch to work every time. But that means having sufficient capacity - including back-up for those pesky peaks in demand. Problem - this capacity costs money that has to come from the consumer's pocket. And consumers want cheap electricity. Trouble is - there's a third factor to take into account - lowering emissions. Fine - so let's have lots more green energy - except that it costs more and the cheapest forms are intermittent (wind, solar). Oh - we need more back-up!

It's a bit like rock-paper-scissors - there appears to be no win-win. All the main political parties appear to think that a free market solution can deliver (a rigged- and interferred-with-free market that is). Will the much vaunted capacity mechanism work? Don't hold your breath.

Perhaps the only way out of the trilemma is to consume less. That will require intervention on the demand side from parties that only intervene on the supply side when thay are dragged kicking and screaming to the decision point.

Silence may normally be golden but on this subject it is plain worrying.

Banning the Words "Climate Change"

Who are these nutcases?