Blog
North Norfolk’s links with Winston Churchill and Southern Rhodesia
We have just returned from a short Easter break to a fabulous North Norfolk hotel, somewhere I always wanted to stay after first setting sight on it back in 2009 when I joined Conservative European parliamentary candidates on a fact finding coastal erosion visit to...
Community support for YourEly tops 1,000
More than 1,000 people have signed up to YourEly within a month of dynamic Ely business woman Caroline Bailey announcing plans to launch a unique initiative for businesses in the city to engage with their community. It has also been 'liked' by more than 1,000...
What is the alternative to ineffective antibiotics?
It is terrifying to learn how resistant bacteria is becoming to antibiotics. They have been used as a last resort for both my sons, and I cannot bear to think of the pain they would have continued enduring without them, and what their recovery would have been like...
Cambs Police and my FOI request
I was stonewalled when I asked Cambridgeshire Police for migrant crime figures in Wisbech - my home town which has witnessed murders among its new Eastern European community - after submitting a Freedom of Information request for this information which I believed they...
Anglesey Abbey’s snowdrop walk
Now the weather has picked up, I recommend that all garden lovers visit Anglesey Abbey, just outside Cambridge, to enjoy the National Trust's first ever winter walk designed by their inspirational retired head gardener Richard Ayres. It now attracts thousands of...
Terence Stamp’s big regret, Vanessa Redgrave and his favourite East End mango
Perhaps it was because I had just been to a funeral that afternoon that Song for Marion was particularly poignant for me at its Cambridge preview. I was feeling the loss of a dear friend whose smile always lighted a room, she had a cheerfulness similar to Marion,...
YourEly plan for city’s businesses to unite
Ely may not have Mary Portas, but it is fortunate in having business woman Caroline Bailey in its midst to lead on the challenge of ensuring that local businesses and the city's high street remains vibrant for years to come. This is not the time for businesses to sit...
When will Sir Richard Branson and Prof Stephen Hawking head for space on Virgin Galactic?
Just over a year ago I recorded this video of Sir Richard Branson at Prof Stephen Hawkings' 70th birthday symposium in Cambridge. Branson told me he was planning to enter space on his Virgin Galactic by the end of 2012 with his children, and that Prof Hawking would...
How independent book stores can succeed
With the spotlight firmly on saving further shops in our high street from closure following the demise of HMV, Blockbuster, and, a favourite of mine, Jessop's, there is one independent store in Ely that shines like a beacon and has the support and admiration of its...