Transport Archives - Page 13 of 16

Grampian Transport Museum Gears Up For 2013 Season

Events, Featured, History No Responses »

Mar 282013

The launch of Grampian Transport Museum’s 2013 season offers the public a host of exciting additions. Aberdeen Voice photographer Rob attended a preview and was highly impressed with the pride and passion which museum personnel have invested in the preparation of the exhibitions, epitomised by Marketing and Events Organiser Chris Anderson spending 3 hours polishing the chrome on the royal Daimler.

In this its 30th anniversary year, staff and volunteers at the Grampian Transport Museum in Alford have been busy making preparations for it re-opening on Friday the 29th of March.
A brand new exhibition area, ‘Pop Icons’, will reflect popular culture and design from the 1960s to the 1990s, bookended by one of the first and last Minis ever built.

This winter has also seen the addition of several exciting new exhibits to the museum’s collection including Billy Connolly’s motor trike – as featured in his world tour of England, Wales and Ireland – and a stunning supercar manufactured by Ascari, a company with fascinating connections to the North East of Scotland.

Grampian Transport Museum are also delighted to announce that a star of the big screen will also be unveiled at it’s preview event tomorrow evening.

A late addition to the 2013 season, ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ will be on display to visitors from this Friday.
The car is one of 6 built for filming the iconic 1960’s movie and is coming to the end of an extensive restoration which GTM visitors will be able to view for the first time.

For the first time those visiting the museum in 2013 will be able to scan QR codes to view further content on their mobile device.

To facilitate this, codes will be placed next to various exhibits in order that visitors can view a range of images and video content from both the museum’s own archive and the British Pathe archives.

Looking forward to the opening Museum Curator Mike Ward said:

“Our staff and volunteers have been working hard to prepare for the new season and we are now putting the final touches together before we welcome our first visitors of 2013 on the 29th March.

“We are sure that visitors will enjoy the new exhibition and the opportunity to interact further with the collection through the use of new technology.”

The new season will be launched when the museum opens at 10am on Friday 29th March.

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Grumpy Jacks Corner No.6: Bus Stops And Boxes

Aberdeenshire, History, Opinion 2 Responses »

Feb 212013

Duncan Harley reflects on Life, the Universe and Everything. A sideways look at the world and its foibles.

What’s in the Box?

For reasons best known to herself the daughter of the Laird of Balquhain made a bet with a stranger that she could bake a batch of bannocks in less time than it took him to build a road to the top of Bennachie.

Of course the stranger was the devil himself and on losing the bet he turned the unfortunate lady to stone as she fled from his advances.

This late Pictish monolith dates back some 1200 years and stands 3.2 metres tall.

There are over 200 known symbol stones in Scotland and many more of them displaced or built into walls and dwellings. The Maiden Stone is probably the finest example of these.

In the last 10 years or so the Maiden Stone has been boxed up during the winter months. It’s not a pretty sight. An upright coffin like box greets the visitor with a sign which reads:

“This temporary shelter will be in place until the spring. It has been fitted to protect the site from the combined effects of rain and frost over the winter months.”

Inside the box is The Maiden Stone, one of the finest Pictish monuments in the north east of Scotland.

Or is it all an illusion?

Royal Mail (Type C) Pillar Box – Painted in Post Office Red

In 1840 Rowland Hill suggested the idea of roadside pillar boxes for use in the UK mainland. Folk at that time seemingly took their letters to the post office for posting and the postal authorities were keen to grow the communication business using modern innovations. These were pre-internet days of course but the railways were about to revolutionise both transport of goods and mass communication.

Letter boxes were already being used in Europe of course. However there were no roadside letter boxes in the British Isles until about 1852, when the first pillar boxes were erected at St Hellier in Jersey at the recommendation of one Anthony Trollope (author of Barchester Towers and Framley Parsonage), who at the time was working as a Surveyors Clerk for the Post Office.

In 1853 the first pillar box on the UK mainland was erected at in Carlisle. A similar box from the same year still stands at Barnes Cross in Dorset and is seemingly the oldest pillar box still in use today on the mainland.

In Scotland there were protests when the first boxes made in the reign of Elizabeth II were produced. These bore the inscription “E II R” but there were objections because Queen Elizabeth is the first Queen of Scotland and of the United Kingdom to bear that name, Elizabeth I having been Queen of England only.

After several “EiiR” pillar boxes were blown up and vandalised by Scottish Nationalists protesting “No Unlimited Sovereignty for Westminster in Scotland” including one in the Scottish capital, the General Post Office (as it was at that time) had the remaining boxes North of the border replaced with ones which only bore the Crown of Scotland with no Royal cipher.

This is one such box and it sits proudly outside the main postal depot in Inverurie.

It is I think a Royal Mail (Type C) Pillar Box of 1950’s circa and is painted in that familiar Post Office Red paint unlike its Irish counterparts which are in Green or those strange metallic pillar boxes from the Greek Games of 2012.

I use it often but wonder who would want to spend their entire working day cooped up inside such a confined environment.

Bus Shelters.

Bus shelters were once boringly functional affairs built by local councils. Some were iron-and-glass edifices covered in peeling municipal green paint. Others were made of brick and some in rural areas even had thatched roofs.

Then in 1969, two advertising billboard companies, “More O’Ferrall” and “London and Provincial”, joined together to form a company called Adshel.

The idea behind the new firm was simple. Adshel would supply bus shelters to local authorities for nothing in return for the right to display advertising on them. In the early 1970s, it began installing its very first shelters in Leeds.

It’s a big market. But quite how big can be hard to find unless you dig into the National Public Transport Data Repository at http://data.gov.uk/dataset/nptg

There you can find out which place in Britain has the least bus stops – and which the most. Seemingly the Shetland Isles have the least at only 168 while Greater London has a massive 24,122!

I think that this inequality is a brilliant argument for Scottish Independence.

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Future Choices £1 Appeal To Assist With Mobility

Aberdeen City, News No Responses »

Feb 212013

With thanks to David Forbes.

Future Choices provides much-needed social and recreational facilities to people with disabilities, at Inchgarth Community Centre in Aberdeen.

The charity has support from many people, including Mr Paul O’Connor MBE, Dame Anne Begg MP, and Kenneth Watt, the Press Officer for Aberdeen City Youth Council.

The charity celebrates its first five years this year. However, it is in dire need of a much bigger bus to enable the folk it supports to get out and about.

Colleen McMillan, a fund raiser for Future Choices, says:

“This appeal is a massive challenge, but it’s needed as so many disabled people rely heavily on transport to get from A to B safely. To get this 17-seater bus, we’re going to have to raise approx £15,000, which is a huge project, but it can be done”

Fundraisers will be at various locations in the city to collect your cash donations. You can keep up to date at www.future-choices.org.uk .

Future Choices has also teamed up with local author Kathleen Kennedy, who has published a book describing how disability affects day-to-day lives. It can be purchased via Amazon, and it’s called ‘Yes, I Can, and I Will’. Proceeds of the book sales will go towards the Appeal. You can find it at http://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Can-Will-Kathleen-Kennedy/dp/0956554822

There’s also a video on YouTube that the Charity has released to explain why this appeal is so important. It’s at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D42XOq2Jwys

Anyone interested in supporting the appeal can contact Colleen McMillan on 079 410 33205 or David Forbes, Chairman on 078 217 00046.

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Potholes

Creative Writing, Opinion No Responses »

Feb 082013

By Bob Smith.

The roddies in oor toon
Are in an affa kirn
Potholes aa ower the place
Street surfaces nae aat firm
.
Potholies o a descripshun
Fae kypies tae big craters
Gettin fowk aa weel vexed
Be they teachers or roof slaters
.
The cooncil is cash strappit
O iss we ken richt weel
Iss is nae consolation
Tae a bodie wi a connach’t wheel
.
Noo some potholes richt aneuch
Hiv bin patched bi the “tarry gang”
Bit wi bad wither an the traffic
Iss disna laist ower lang
.
The potholes are a menace
Wi aa the trouble they bring
Be it a puncture o a tyre
Or much worse – a broken spring

Siller fer the Aiberdeen bypass
It seems cooncillors can trot oot
Yet lots o toonsers winna benefit
Jist the fowk fae oot aboot
.
The ceetizens o Aiberdeen are telt
The 21st ceentury we maan embrace
Yet the potholes in oor toon
Hiv geen cooncillors a richt reid face
.
Lits aa noo jist hae a think
Aboot roddies aa ower the city
Spen some o the AWPR bawbees
On potholes fit are richt shitty
.
So cooncillors sit doon an think
O the troubles potholes cause
Dinna pit iss aff nae mair
Grab the problem bi the ba’s
.
O coorse there cwid be
Anither wye fit is best
Jist cut doon on car usage
An the roads micht langer laist

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Snow In Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire, Satire and Humour No Responses »

Jan 142013

With a wet but generally mild period behind us, could we hope for a snow-free winter? Not a chance, reports Duncan Harley. This is N.E. Scotland!

We Scots are always bleetering on about how unprepared other folk in the UK are for winter weather.

Newspapers and pubs are full of comments about how English cities grind to a halt after a couple of centimetres of the white stuff plunges from the sky.

It reminds me of the leaves on the line headlines of a few years ago following train delays in autumn, except that leaves really do cause locomotives to slip about and lose traction, hence the sand boxes they are now equipped with.

Well, I personally think that we Scots should take it all back. Last night it snowed in Aberdeenshire and, no doubt, elsewhere as well.

Just a bit of wet snow, if truth be told and, as far as snow in this part of the world gets, just a light covering. It was well forecast and the gritters were seemingly out in force.

What happened?

Three-hour tailbacks on the roads into and out of Aberdeen is what happened. Cars on their roofs, in ditches and in fields. Folk unable to get to work, schools closed and transport links in chaos.

On behalf of the Scottish people, I would like to apologise to the rest of the UK for the disparaging comments last year, the year before and the year before that, as well.

Youth Councillor Says Young People ‘Are Engaged’

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Jan 142013

City youth councillor Kenneth Watt says young people ‘are engaged’ after MSP faces Twitter backlash on proposed curfew for young drivers.

Watt, 18, Press Officer of the Aberdeen City Youth Council, has said that young people in the north east are engaging in local politics following a national backlash from young drivers on Twitter.
This comes after the youth group condemned proposals from a local MSP who proposed a curfew on driving hours for 17-25 year-olds.

Mark McDonald MSP has faced criticism from the youngest councillor in Scotland, Glasgow Cllr Austin Sheridan, said:

“I agree the insurance for young people is crazy. I don’t think age restriction is the solution though.”

Certainly not something I will be supporting. I can be a councillor but restricted on when I can drive?” (https://twitter.com/ASheridanSNP)

Kenneth said:

“Following extensive coverage of our criticism of Mark’s proposals, it was encouraging to see so many young people taking to Twitter to voice their opinions.”

“This is proof that youngsters are involved in politics, and I think that Twitter and Facebook are ideal platforms for elected members and their electorate to talk together about policy.”

Last month, Mr McDonald recommended a curfew on 17-25 year-old drivers as well as a zero-alcohol limit, which youth councillors considered as ageist. Barry Black MSYP (chair), Struan King (vice chair) and Kenneth sent a letter to Mr McDonald on the 3rd January, as well as Kris Chapman MSYP who openly criticised the MSP.

Kenneth added:

“The public response to Mark’s curfew idea has been significant. Everyone is in favour of better road safety tactics, but a curfew is not what is needed. That is simply trying to criminalise under-25 drivers. The logistics of policing such a policy have not been considered, especially with savage cuts to the justice system being pushed through by the Scottish government.”

“Hopefully Mark is picking up on the substantial points being made to him on Twitter and the youth council will relay these to him at our extraordinary meeting with the MSP later this month.”

Ross Thomson – Cycling Champion

Aberdeen City, Environment, Featured No Responses »

Dec 142012

Whilst the headlines have been grabbed by the magnificent Wiggo, the delightful Laura Trott, Sir Chris Hoy and our old Paralympic gold medallist Neil Fachie in a vintage year for two-wheeled endeavour, little publicity has been afforded another Aberdeen Cycling Champion, Ross Thomson, Conservative Councillor for Hazlehead, Ashley and Queens Cross and occupant of that Council role.
David Innes freewheeled alongside Ross over Town House coffee.

How did the role of Cycling Champion come about?

It’s something the Aberdeen Cycle Forum included in their manifesto, a list of things they wanted to see after the local elections. The Forum’s view is they wanted someone within the council to promote the views of cyclists. They felt there had been a barrier to them getting a voice, but now I’m working quite closely with the Forum. As an administration, we know the benefits of cycling, so wanted to promote it. It’s a role I was quite keen to take on. I’m surprised this wasn’t given prominence before, given the issues of pollution and cycling’s health benefits.

What about the specific role?

There was nothing set down, so I’m kind of writing my own job description! I discussed all the issues that concerned the Cycle Forum in numerous meetings and found out what they’d like to see happen in the city. I sat down with council officers, too. I found it surprising there was no one person responsible for cycling, that it was broken up between different services. I found myself going from pillar to post trying to get something done, whether it was about bike stands, or issues about a particular road junction

So, one commonsense thing I thought needed sorting out was communication, a frustration for the Forum too, so I’ve set up a meeting with all relevant players. This first proper meeting will be in January and will include people from Planning, Traffic Management and the Forum. This will mean that if the Forum has issues to raise with Planning about cycling, for example, on a new development, they can raise them directly with planners before and during the development, rather than comment on them afterwards.

On matters of junctions and the city cycle network, they can talk directly with staff from the Traffic Management team. The Forum now copies me in any correspondence they have with departments which will lessen the frustration the Forum has felt about not always getting responses. This will mean we can actually get things done!

Already there’s a review of junctions going on and the delay in installing cycle stands at Marischal College is being attended to. This is very much the beginning, but as long as there’s a voice in the council, in committee, including Education, we’ll start to see something positive come from the role, although we’re still defining it.

Getting cycling on to the agenda, then?

That’s the best way to put it. I’m not the expert. Derek from the Forum is very good in terms of keeping us up to date with Scottish Government regulations and is a fount of knowledge. I’m in a position to take that information to officers and exert a bit of influence.

How can individual cyclists with issues to raise get in touch and begin to influence what the council does?

I would actively encourage them to get in touch with me by e-mail. Some people have already been in touch about the inadequacy of the route connecting to the new development at Kingswells. The Cycling Champion role hasn’t been well-publicised, with just one mention in the Evening Express, I think, when the role was announced.

Send us your press releases!

We certainly will. We will look at getting something on the council website, a dedicated page maybe, as I want to be accessible. It’s a frustration for many of us in the council that initiatives don’t tend to get the publicity we feel they deserve.

In straitened economic times, is there a specific budget for the work you need to get done, and how best would you see that being best used?

In Planning, Enterprise and Infrastructure, one of the main departments I deal with, there is a team that deals with cycling but the resources are eaten up by many other issues too – pedestrian safety is an example. Funding comes from the PE&I Committee. There is specific ring-fenced funding for cycling from the Scottish Government.

We need to ensure that’s effectively used and we need to make sure we bid for resources when they’re made available. We’re trying to encourage more schools to provide Bikeability, a new form of Cycling Proficiency, and the Scottish Government has just launched a scheme to help provide for that and our officers will be bidding for funds.

You might be surprised to know that most schools aren’t doing it. I’ve persuaded the Director of Education to write to schools asking them what they need to encourage this – what are the obstacles and so on?

It took me a while to find out who was responsible. I eventually got a meeting with the City Wardens (who are), the Cycling Forum, some people from EP&I, and the education convenor. We all agreed we wanted Bikeability promoted in our schools. Some of the guys from the Cycling Forum volunteered to help with that and the City Wardens said they wanted to commit more resources to it. So, we’re engaging with schools now and once we get the responses we can get resources out there. It’s so important.

There are some things that don’t cost an awful lot. I did a cycle tour of the city centre which was great, and I found out where investment has been made and has paid off. Re-prioritising some of the routes, for example allowing cyclists exemptions on some one-way streets could make the network so much more permeable and easier for cyclists to negotiate and make it safer in some ways.

Safety-wise, Anderson Drive is a huge concern. There’s been a recent tragedy there and we need to get congestion out of the city to make it safer, easier and more enjoyable for cyclists. In the Planning department, there are pictures of Aberdeen from the 1920s and ‘30s with pedestrians walking about, crossing roads with no fear.

I think the Western Peripheral Route will take traffic away from the city centre and if Union Street isn’t so clogged up it will encourage people who don’t cycle at the moment to take it up. When I did it for the very first time I had people with me, which helped, as they knew what they were doing.

How are you prioritising use of the funding you do have?

The meetings I’m planning will help set priorities. We need to build from the bottom up. An officer may have cycling as part of their brief, but that has never been prioritised. This role should help put cycling firmly on the agenda.

Sometimes, it’s the small things that make a big difference. Justice Mill Lane is currently under consideration and it’s proposed that it might be one-way and that right turns on to Holburn Street will be banned. The Cycle Forum feels that such a ban might deter people from cycling, so I’ll be trying to have that exempted for cyclists and EP&I will be looking at that, by engaging with the Cycle Forum.

It’s the same with the ban on traffic going straight ahead into Guild Street from Virginia Street. This has been criticised as it puts cyclists on to the Market Street dual carriageway with its narrow cycle lanes, heavy traffic and large vehicles. We’ve managed to get that made only temporary so the impact can be assessed. There will be a report on the findings at the next committee meeting, including usage by cyclists. They also need to consult the Forum about it. These are baby steps, but it’s improving consultation.

Does the council insist on cycling-friendly measures when discussing plans and applications for new developments?

It’s council policy to cover this. For example, new-build flats should have bike stands provided, but I’ve found out this doesn’t always happen and it’s not always included in reports. Officers tell me the developers said this is something they might not be able to achieve due to other concessions they’ve had to make in the design.

Now they’ve got someone here to say, ‘Well, no. We have a policy in place, we should be abiding by it.’ It frustrates me but it happens all the time when there is clear guidance in black and white, yet it’s not always being followed. You look through reports and you wonder why, whether it’s affordable housing or for cyclists. Why have a policy if you’re not going to commit to it, or deliver on it?

The meetings will help, especially with planners attending, since they deal with all the new applications coming in. It frustrates the Forum and many others that developers should be contributing to the road infrastructure and the community in some shape or form.

Aberdeen’s been pretty bad in getting its share of planning gain and developers will argue on the basis of margins being so tight, the cost of land and construction so high, that they can’t afford to give anything extra towards planning gain, that these additional costs would put the whole development at risk.

It’s a bit of a balancing act. Some people would like to see planning gain from the Kingswells development to the cycle corridor as it is unfit for purpose – it becomes so narrow and the hedges are so overgrown that it becomes quite dangerous.

The meetings will allow the Forum to see what applications are coming forward and they’ll be able to challenge the planners there and then. They know the town and the routes where cyclists like to travel – and will be able to ask ‘can you try at least to put a case to the developer?’ to invest in the cycle network in the area where it can make a positive difference. We may not always be successful but we can make sure we’re always making a good case.

We need to keep an eye on new developments to ensure that cycling provision is delivered. There’s not much I can do about the cycling provision at the Triple Kirks development, where, as well as there being not enough bike stands, cyclists will be forced on to the Denburn dual carriageway to get access to the bottom level car park. Coming out of the car park will force them down the dual carriageway into the one way system around the railway station when there could be something at the front of the development. It shows how cyclists were an afterthought in that case.

RossThomson@aberdeencity.gov.uk
http://www.cyclingscotland.org/our-projects/cycle-training/bikeability-scotland-2

A ‘Gift Horse’ for Charity?

Aberdeen City, Charity, Information No Responses »

Nov 162012

A Charity Race Night will be held in The New Greentrees pub, Dyce on Friday 23rd November to raise funds for Future Choices. With thanks to Aaron McIntosh

Future Choices celebrates its 5th birthday in 2013, having provided the disabled community with social interaction throughout this time. The services now offered range from arts and crafts to sports games, alternative therapy and singing.

The charity is about to open a new office where it can build on current success and hopefully provide more classes in the near future.

Sixteen year old Aaron McIntosh, Future Choices’ Chief Fundraiser told Aberdeen voice:

“The charity helps the disabled community gain much needed social inclusion and recreational activities.”

Key to social inclusion is the recent purchase of a minibus enabling members to travel safely and attend organised events and activities, as well as carrying out tasks that able bodied people take for granted.

Several months ago the charity launched an appeal called Cash For Cans which successfully raised the cost of the minibus. Funding the upkeep of the vehicle has been more problematic, however.

As Aaron explained:

“We were struggling financially a while ago then we launched ‘Cash For Cans,’ asking members of the public for their empty used drink cans which we then exchanged for cash.

“That gave us the financial backing to go and buy a bus and then keep the appeal going to fund the maintenance, but due to the decline in metal price, we had to sadly terminate the appeal.

“My job as Chief Fundraiser for the charity is too raise as much money as possible, which is why we’re putting on a Charity Race Night.

“Everyone loves giving, especially at this time of year, and having a flutter and a boogie along with a raffle makes a cold evening joyful as the money raised helps the people who need it most.”

For those who haven’t been to a Charity Race Night, they are exciting events which give members of the public the opportunity to place a small bet on a filmed horse race, with a percentage of the winnings going to the charity in question – in this case, Future Choices.

The event will be held in The New Greentrees pub, Dyce on Friday 23 November from 19.30pm until midnight, with tickets £7 per person. There will also be stovies, a raffle and disco.

To buy tickets, please contact Aaron directly on 07591 598480

Raiders O The Lost Parks

Creative Writing, Satire and Humour No Responses »

Oct 222012

By Bob Smith.

Mair hooses are tae bi biggit
Near Pinewood, an Brig o’ Don
Is’t nae time tae ca a halt
An say noo jist haud on?

Faar there’s biggins ye hiv cars
At least een tae iverry hoose
Jist think o aa the clutter
If mair motorists are lit loose

Noo fowk div need a hoosie
Faar tae bide there’s nae doot
Yet a bittie sinse is needed
Afore the foons they are laid oot

Dinna bigg in the suburbs
Some planners noo div cry
Cos congestion on the roadies
Ye wull git by an by

Developer chiels they scoff at iss
Sayin new hooses they maan bigg
Tae maximise aa their profits
Be it Grandholm or near Nigg

Aboot aa iss hoose biggin
Fowks we maan hae a think
Afore iss gweed lan o oors
Ooner hooses it dis sink

So awa an bigg yer hooses
On an inner city broonfield site
Afore aa oor bonnie green parks
Are a mass o concrete shite

Old Susannah No. 99 – 99 Problems

Aberdeen City, Satire and Humour 4 Responses »

Oct 182012

Voice’s Old Susannah looks back on the week that was, complete with Zeppelins, BrewDogs, and a bad smell coming not from the Torry sewage plant, but a whiff of scandal from Edinburgh. By Suzanne Kelly

Tally Ho! By the time you read this, I’ll have been to the Led Zeppelin film ‘Celebration Day’ at the Belmont. Am counting the minutes. Another major highlight of this week was BrewDog Aberdeen’s second birthday party. I celebrated with great people, great beers, food and a lovely cake. Happy Birthday to Brew.

I also took in a bread-making course at Nick Nairn Cookery school; it was a great course, not least because of the lovely breads I got to take home (including the tutor’s lovely white loaf).

On the down side of this week, a dog has disappeared from its garden on Holburn Street. Grampian police downplayed earlier Facebook posts warning of potential dog thieves in our area.

The police issued a Facebook post about a week ago, saying dog-napping worries were just rumour-mongering, and several FB posters chimed in to ridicule the people worried about potential thefts.

The cops categorically claimed no such thing was going on. Fast-forward to 16 October, and a dog has mysteriously disappeared from its back garden in Holburn Street.

Unless the small dog, not tall enough on its hind legs to reach the lock, undid the lock, went away, and decided never to return again for food or shelter, it looks like theft is a possibility. However, the police refuse to treat this as a theft. There is no evidence you see.

Perhaps they had expected a smoking gun, guys in striped shirts wearing masks holding bags of swag? I wonder whether they even checked the gate for fingerprints – they certainly could have done so. The moral is – keep an eye on your pets as much as possible, and report anything like thefts or suspicions straight away to the Scottish SPCA – and/or email stop.dogfights@yahoo.co.uk. PS – dogs, cats, handbags, Led Zeppelin CDs , etc. are not safe left alone in cars for any length of time, either.

Common Good Aberdeen reached its financial target of £15K for a children’s play area in Union Terrace Gardens with ease, expect a play area in UTG sometime soon, hopefully with a volunteer-run, cafe, too (with all profits going directly on UTG). No one could object to putting a play area in a city centre park, could they?

But perhaps best of all this week was sharing joyful commuting stories with fellow bus travellers. To a man we’re all thrilled to bits at the reduction in routes. We are of course waiting for the corresponding reduction in bus fares, which must be just ‘round the corner‘. How wonderful that the No. 21 bus is no more, just as those wonderful Milne homes are going up in Cove.

I’m wondering exactly what kind of ‘independence’ Alex is actually offering

It must have been my imagination (and the imaginations of a few dozen other people), but it seemed as if quite a number of scheduled buses (no. 3s, 1s, etc) didn’t actually materialise when they should have. I got to learn a few more new words from fellow travellers while waiting for a No. 1 bus on Monday evening.

In the wider Scottish environment, this was the week that Cameron and Salmond signed up to a yes/no referendum (wish we’d done so over the gardens – but never mind). Alex smiled from the covers of most newspapers this past week, and he told the press:-

“I didn’t want to look too triumphant.”

Don’t worry about that, Alex, you didn’t.

In fact, Alex is starting to look like a man with Ninety-Nine Problems.

Old Susannah is looking at some of these minor worries. All things considered, I’m wondering exactly what kind of ‘independence’ Alex is actually offering. For openers, once you consider some of Alex’s pals, you come to one inescapable question: How independent exactly is Alex himself?

Is he offering Scots independence or perhaps a form of government that is just a little bit older?

Feudalism: (Eng. noun) – A system of governance/land steward ship prevalent in the middle ages in Europe where a small minority of wealthy property holders wielded power over those with less money, and a great gap existed between the haves and have-nots.

Believe it or not, it was not only the English who were oppressing the Scottish people throughout history, many Scottish nobles did so, too. Clan warfare, theft, battles, treachery, wife-stealing, drunkenness, cruelty – these are not just part of the daily grind at Holyrood. Indeed, there were many forms of Scot on Scot violence in the bad old days, too.

In the feudal societies of the past, a rich man owned everything in his territory and all those below him fell in line in accordance with his wishes. If this ‘lord’ (or sometimes the noble was given the title ‘Sir’, as in ‘Sir Ian Wood’) wanted a castle, a bit of land, or say a granite web, his lackeys ensured he got what he wanted by hook or crook, or compulsory purchase order or by an arm’s length management company or Aberdeen City Gardens Trust.

Thankfully, the days of the rich man dictating the future of the land to the common man are gone.

Alex Salmond will ensure that no rich men can possibly dictate policy, seize land (or public parks), bend Quangos to their will, shield their gold from the taxman via offshore schemes, etc. No, Alex won’t in any way favour the rich or help them gain unfair advantage.

If he did do so, say for a Murdoch (to whom he seems to have offered his services at one point), a Wood (whose web he favoured) or a Trump (who got permission to ruin the only moveable sand dune system on the UK mainland), then we would not have a free republic. We would have feudalism.

Intervention: (Eng. noun) to take action in a situation to try and prevent an undesirable outcome. Interventions can be legal or not. In Scottish politics – usually not.

When Aberdeenshire Council said no to Donald Trump, Alex’s Government weighed in and said ‘we’re open for business; c’mon over’. Thanks for the intervention!

But now it looks as if when Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) didn’t give the beautiful, sparkly granite web the thumbs up, Alex intervened again.

The cat is out of the bag, the chickens have come home to roost, and so on. No doubt with the best interests of Aberdonians at heart, Alex seems to have put the £140 million web into position to get TIF funding. Where would we have been without him?

This little intervention raises just one or two questions. Firstly, I wonder what first attracted politician Alex Salmond to Billionaire tycoon Sir Ian Wood and his Wood-Wide-Web?

How could Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) criticised Wood’s wonderful web? Well, for openers here is how it scored ( click on table to enlarge ):-

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Finance/18232/FOI/TIFScoring

“…further detail / clarity could have been added in relation to:

The potential level of private sector activity created (in terms of NDR creation) and its likelihood
The underlying enabling nature of the assets themselves – i.e. why are these the right assets
The potential level of retail activity in comparison to the overall activity enabled by the TIF
The rationale for the redline
The key milestones of the project
The consideration of risk and risks beyond those detailed in the submission”
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Finance/18232/FOI/TIFComments

The SFT/Government fought tooth and nail (whatever that means) against Steve Vass of the Herald getting this information made public. For one thing, the SFT claimed people weren’t smart enough to understand their findings. Quite right. They argued people would not understand that Scottish Futures Trust and its reports were only meant to guide the Government, which was then free to ignore the report and do whatever it chose to do. Funny, this method of government consultation seems perfectly obvious to me.

You are of course as surprised and disappointed as I am that our web didn’t get higher scores. It’s hard to imagine SFT deciding there were some financial and risk elements.

We should have sent them some of those lovely glossy brochures from Vote for the City Gardens Trust – you know, the ones that promised 6,500 permanent jobs and £122 million flowing into Aberdeen every year if we got us a web. That would have swung the balance.

Some voters may well wonder why this SFT information wasn’t shared in advance of any referendum vote. I’m sure it was for our own good and not to confuse us with facts. However, if you are angry we had a referendum with crucial facts withheld deliberately, Go Ask Alex. Just drop him a line to find out who was playing at what, and why anyone thought we weren’t clever enough to understand a short report.

No doubt Alex is confident that an independent Scotland will demand a granite web

Perhaps this is all too complicated for us non-Government mortals after all. I’m so confused I’m thinking the Government wanted a trial run of the referendum system to see what the pros and cons were in advance of the Independence Referendum.

The pros? You can put anything you want to in a glossy brochure, true or not as long as you remain anonymous. Result! You can also hide the voting record from any scrutiny, as was done in Aberdeen.

The Cons? I think there were plenty of ‘cons’ involved, don’t you? In fact, I’m fighting the urge to list the cons by name.

You could also be forgiven for wondering why the SFT report was prepared in the first place, if the Government had its own ideas about what should or shouldn’t be given a TIF loan. (Old Susannah heard an unconfirmed rumour that Alex told Sir Ian to ‘leave his money on the table’ for a year. No doubt Alex is confident that an independent Scotland will demand a granite web. We could put it on the back of the new Scottish Banknotes).

So, Alex is going to try not to look too triumphant. If it helps, Alex, just think back to some of your finer moments:-

Testifying to the Leveson Inquiry – Alex claimed the Observer had hacked his banking account in 1999 (no evidence was found) – almost as if he were trying to deflect attention from the revelation that Mr Salmond’s adviser (Aberdein) – had agreed that the first minister would call Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt “whenever we need him to” on Murdoch’s behalf.
intervening in Aberdeenshire planning permission and giving Trump carte blanche to bulldoze the SSI, make life a misery for the existing residents, and run the area with heavy-handed security
Asking Donald Trump to back the return of Megrahi to Libya
Spending c. £48,000 to go to the premier of the film ‘Brave’ with an entourage
Claiming a sum adjacent to £1,800 per week for food and drink (four year period May 2007 onward)
Meddling in the future of the Granite Web, and elevating it over other areas’ projects
Cutting money to charities while allowing unelected quangos to thrive…..

It might not amount to quite 99 problems, Alex, but you’re getting there. Give it a week.

Teflon: (mod Eng.noun) a non-stick coating often applied to pots and pans.

Bill Clinton lurched from sex scandal to Whitewater financial scandal and back to sex scandal again, yet he escaped relatively unscathed. People called him ‘the Teflon President’: nothing stuck to him.

Not that our First Minister would ever do anything untoward of course, but it is almost like he’s using deflection techniques – sorry to even think it! Just because he showed up at Leveson with counter claims that he had been hacked when he was there to testify as to his relationship with Murdoch is no reason to think he’s a slippery character.

In fact I’ve written to Salmond to ask for his comments on some of these little trifling issues. As soon as he answers, I’ll let you know. Until then, just keep waving the Saltire, chant ‘Freedom!’ and believe everything you’re being promised. Would Alex ever steer you wrong?

Just one little thing to remember: sooner or later that non-stick pan stops working, and it gets thrown out.

Next week: A wee update on council finances, and an old FOI of mine updated.

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