A simple matter of UK National Debt, spiraling out of control. I suppose it's all a matter of numbers, at least according to the Bank of England, who warn of people piling up far too much debt and posing a high risk to the rest of the country. A seemingly recent shift in high credit card, car loan and unreliable mortgage lending debt all brought about due to the low borrowing interest rates. And said to be pushing Britain towards another financial meltdown.
The warning comes about after years of low interest rates falling to as little as 0.25 per cent and showing a marked increase in borrowing, coupled with years of little or no increase in average wages.
Chief areas of concern are the recent splurge of PCP deals, upon new cars, where the vehicle is basically purchased upon a lease deal, which will in theory lead to the customer buying the car outright over a given timescale, but with increasing debt levels may well bring about a greater number of repossessions, which in turn could mean a glut and lower prices in the second-hand car market.
Mortgage Deals, which were largely blamed for the last financial crisis, haven't seen any particular increase in recent times, although limits are being pushed to longer terms of loans, smaller repayments and remortgages, all adding a greater pressure to the borrower and the length of time needed to fulfill the payments.
Of course the reliable alternative to money, the credit card, chip and pin, tap and go, etc. Largely encouraged by Banks and their affiliates for various commercial reasons, have almost been at the forefront of the recent financial debt explosion. A simple, quick and easy payment method, which, if used correctly is the ideal payment method. Except it can be very tempting to spend the money you haven't got, not bother to keep a track of your receipts and assume you will make good on your payments at the end of each month. Only people recently defaulting upon their credit card payments, have seen a sudden and worrying increase, a trend which can only spiral should this go unchecked.
In the short term, there are plans to reduce the amounts of available credit and also a potential rise in interest rates, for which households must be prepared, the last actual rise being as long ago as July 2007.
I suppose my family has always had a certain interest in the exploits of the Royal Navy and paticularly aircraft carriers, ever since my uncle survived a kamikaze attack whilst serving upon HMS Indefatigable in 1944 with the British Pacific Fleet.
This the Royal Navy's newest warship HMS Queen Elizabeth and with her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales, at 932 feet and 65,000 tons are the Royal Navy's largest ships ever. And will fill a gap in the navy's maritime operations, supposedly for the next 50 years.
The ship is well supported with modern aircraft and helicopters, all manner of attack and defence firepower and a large contingent of troops, not forgetting all the latest radar and surveillance technology, in short a floating fortress.
And yet in some circles there is a certain disquiet, not just down to the scale of the costs, which always seem to run out of control upon such projects, but the thinking at the time of their planning was supposedly with the intention of turning Britain into a "modern sea power." The original cost being planned at £4 billion now already passed £6 billion and two years late upon delivery. Another problem arising from the purchase of the Lockheed American F-35 jets which are seven years late in production and with costs hitting the US at over £150 billion above the planned price. It's now been agreed Fleet Air Arm will cut their intended allocation of aircraft to just twelve per carrier.
The original plan was also to build eight Type-45 Destroyers to act as escorts, four per carrier, although their production was finally cut back to six with some being more or less permanently at anchor, not forgetting their recent well reported problems with operations in warmer waters. It is now thought by many, if and when the carriers put to sea, almost the whole of the Royal Navy's fighting ships will be required to act as escorts.
Elizabeth: The forgotten Years, got it in paperback, a recent re-release. Elizabeth the first of England a heroine queen in any and every perspective, last of the Tudor dynasty, a lifetime fending off foreign invaders, (on land and at sea) suitors, desirable and otherwise, not to forget several attempts upon her life and dealing with people such as Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots.
The Forgotten Years, John Guy's title, concentrates upon the final two decades of her life, sometimes described as the second reign, a period in which she had to deal with Mary's claim to her throne and also Phillip ll and the Spanish Armada. She often kept a difficult relationship with her court, which was filled with dangerous and ambitious courtiers, yet essential to her rule, men such as Francis Walsingham her spymaster, the devoted adviser William Cecil. Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, the Earl of Essex, whom, perhaps not surprisingly, comes to something of a sticky end. All are intertwined in a story of high powered medieval intrigue and political diplomacy.
The author and historian, John Guy, turns an often difficult and sometimes downright boring history into an enjoyable and interesting read. Although there is some modern terminology in this work, this is all part of Guy's easy style and a lot of his research has come through Elizabeth's handwritten letters, in which there are interesting notes upon Dudley, Sir Phillip Sydney and Walter Raleigh and not forgetting the daring exploits of Drake and Hawkins. Of course as you can probably expect, Essex is one of the main characters in the book, not only for his daring do, but also for his often vain, feckless and self-righteous outlook upon Elizabeth, the Court and even England, such a man is likely to make many enemies.
The yearly festival, Ambleside Rushbearing, usually the first Saturday in July, an ancient tradition dating back across the centuries, relating to the one time widespread and yearly practice of replacing the rushes of earthen church floors. Now mostly forgotten, the memory is kept alive in the form of a festival, particularly in Ambleside and other Lakeland locations, most notably nearby Grasmere.
The bearings, from the large harp to small baskets of flowers, consisting of a range of rushes, reeds and grasses, mixed with summer flowers and greenery. Is a community event, mainly for Ambleside's children, but also grown ups to carry the larger offerings.
The procession, upon a circuit of Ambleside town, is led by the larger bearings, followed by all the lesser, crosses, hoops, clusters, bundles and baskets, carried by the children of the infants and junior schools and assorted parents. Usually accompanied by a brass band and assorted members of the local clergy.
Perhaps the highlight of the procession happens when the bearers reach the Market Square, the marchers come to an halt and the bearings are raised to the heavens, with the cry of; "Bearing's Up" and then. "Bearings Down!" The traditional Rushbearing Hymn (revd Owen Lloyd circa 1835) is sung as the procession makes it's way back to St Mary's Church.
There follows a short church service, with all the bearings placed in the church, every child then receives a slice of traditional gingerbread, upon leaving the church. There then follows a light meal, known as the "tea" and afterwards the "Sports" for all the children and the wonderful "Junior's Fell Race" to Todd Crag and back.
The ancient and spectacular city of Timgad in the country of Algiers is Rome's largest city in North Africa. Created in 100 AD by the Emperor Trajan 98 to 117 AD. For some centuries the city was partially buried by the desert sands until it's rediscovery by the Scotsman James Bruce in 1765. This was the ancient Roman city of Thamugadi now Timgad. Originally built as part of a Roman plan to appease and even seduce the local population, by means of promoting the Roman citizen's lifestyle of such virtues as equality among it's people. This was a town for army veterans and for a period of twenty five years, a former legionnaire might expect an equal division of land to his neighbour with housing blocks in the well planned city of an equal 20 meters square. There was the free public baths, regular citizens meetings and games at the forum, there was also the open air theatre with seating for over 3500 people where they could frequently see, often violent and immoral productions. No doubt, effective and probably very appealing to the local population.
At the heart of the city stands the mighty arch of Trajan, the three arched gateway, a surviving relic of the city former glories. There is an inscription devoted to Trajan and Rome's need for continuous expansion.
As with other Roman provinces, North Africa, was encouraged to become a granary to serve the empire, with typical produce being Olive Oil, Grain and Wine, etc.
Eventually Rome lost control of North Africa, through, dispute, wars and invasion, the city being finaly burnt and destroyed by local tribesmen.
There are seven important World Heritage Sites within the country of Ukraine. Saint Sophia Cathedral and related Monastic structures is the first site on the list, an outstanding and architectural construction of Kievan Rus. Next is Kiev Pechersk Lavra, part of the Cathedral complex, but counted as two separate entries and classed as an Orthodox Christian Monastery.
Lviv Old Town, containing some 2000 historic sites within the centre of the city 214 of which are considered to be National Landmarks. The Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans, now part of the Chernivtsi University.
Struve Geodetic Arc, part of a chain of triangulations to yield the first accurate measurement of a Meridian. Wooden Tserkvas of Carpathian Region, an important group of wooden Orthodox Churches.
And the Ancient Greek City of Tauric, founded some 2500, years ago, which has survived on the Crimean Peninsula.
This is an aerial view of the £100k marquee erected in advance of the wedding of Phillipa Middleton and James Matthews on Saturday May 20. The marriage service will take place at St Marks Church, Englefield, Berkshire.
