Saturday
Well, Christmas is nearly upon us. I am shortly off to demonstrate my serious limitations as a singer down my local church. (I write this from Suffolk in eastern England at my folks' farm. The weather has been sunny although snow is promised later in the week). One of the things that I certainly valued this morning was my ability to get out of central London by car. People reliant on public transport have been reminded, alas, that public sector trade unions are among the most cussed groups of people around. The London Underground system is threatened with a strike on New Year's Eve, which would seriously mess up many people's celebration plans. And as this story suggests, it may even tempt some people to use their cars, even if they are over the alcohol limit.
Anyway, enough of such glum thoughts. May I wish my fellow contributors and Samizdata readers a very happy Christmas and prosperous 2006.
I hope you have an enjoyable Christmas. I grew up in Suffolk (RAF Woodbridge & Woodbridge town) and always associate the holiday season with England.
Posted by Nathan at December 24, 2005 07:12 PM
Well I shall be celebrating Christmas from Rural Suffolk as well (Saxmundham), alas being a native from this rather inbred part of the world.
Nathan: Did you know that RAF Woodbridge has been reponed by the MoD?
Posted by Gareth Russell at December 24, 2005 07:58 PM
Merry Christmas, Jonathan and your blogging colleagues who make this, IMHO, the best blog in Britain.
Posted by Verity at December 24, 2005 08:52 PM
Jonathan, a happy Christmas and an influencial New Year to you. You and the team have a great blog.
Posted by John East at December 24, 2005 09:29 PM
Gareth Russell:
Wow, I had no idea. Have they reactivated Bentwaters too? Do you know what are they using it for now? I know there were different ideas about what to do with the land once us Yanks pulled up our stakes, but my understanding is nothing ever really got off the ground. My parents (now at RAF Alconbury) visited a few years ago and said a lot of the support buildings (commisary, gym, school, etc) looked very run down, so its good to know that the MOD will be breathing a little life back into the place.
Posted by Nathan at December 24, 2005 10:30 PM
Yep, Marry Christmas and have a thoroughly incorrect new year to everyone.
Posted by Pete_London at December 25, 2005 09:49 AM
Nathan: As for RAF Bentwaters- the place is just falling apart and isn't being used for much of anything.
Except a couple of weeks ago it was used as the set for a spoof reality show called, "Space Cadets".
It's funny how much the area changed when you yanks left, particularly the speed at which people drove down the roads. ;)
Have a merry Christmas!
Posted by Gareth Russell at December 25, 2005 11:57 AM
I'm not sure an Underground strike would be such a bad thing: it will embarrass Ken Livingstone who was probably planning on boasting about how he gave Londoners free tube travel on New Year's Eve (at the expense of non-tube travelling tax payers), and it will be a great business opportunity for unlicensed (i.e. private) taxis.
But enough of that, merry Christmas all!
Posted by Rob Fisher at December 25, 2005 08:42 PM
For those interested, some of the old U.S. airbases in East Anglia, such as Bentwaters and Woodbridge, are still largely unused. The waste to the U.S. taxpayer is immense. There was a rumour some while back that Richard Branson wanted to use one of the bases as a supply depot for Virgin. Seems a good idea. The road connections are still not very good though.
Posted by Johnathan Pearce at December 28, 2005 09:22 AM
I believe Bentwaters was the base used as a stand-in for the imaginary Space Tourism Agency of Russia in the laudibly crazy but ultimately disappointing reality tv project Space Cadets.
Posted by guy herbert at December 29, 2005 09:43 AM
