THE VIEW FROM PENISTONE
Sunday 18th June 2023
THE VIEW FROM PENISTONE…
Welcome to my first weekly newsletter which I’m calling the View from Penistone.
BORIS, HONOURS AND DISHONOURS
Boris Johnson has managed to capture the headlines for almost the entire week. It started with his ham-fisted resignation honours list - possibly the most ill thought out and sycophantic list of honours since Harold Wilson’s “Lavender List” in 1976. The raising to the Lords of a twenty something Charlotte Owen and 30 year old Ross Kempsell raised some eyebrows - including mine. Then there was the knighthood to the MP for the Victorian Age and Secretary of State for hypocrisy, Jacob Rees-Mogg and a Damehood for the modern version of “something of the night about her”, Priti Patel.
It all goes to show that our honours system is totally and utterly morally bankrupt. It needs taking out of the hands of the politicians and on to an independent body.
Then Boris goes and resigns his seat in a huff at the report of the privileges committee - before their report is released, showing total contempt for the committee and its report in the process. I suppose we shouldn’t be at all surprised - it isn’t as if we haven’t seen this coming. The man is a charlatan. He thinks he is the second coming of Winston Churchill. In actual fact he is a British Trump and just like Trump, God willing, he is going to get his comeuppance.
TEACHERS STRIKES
The NEU have announced two more days of strike action in England’s schools. Wednesday the 5th and Friday 7th July. I’m not a member of the NEU so won’t be striking, but as a member of the NASUWT I sent my ballot paper back again last week approving of strike action in the autumn term should it come to that. I’m not convinced calling these two days and this point in the school term is right to be honest. Waiting till the results of the re-ballot by the NASUWT, ASCL and NAHT would, in my humble opinion, would be a better strategy and hopefully coordinating action in the autumn term. I believe parents are broadly supportive of what teachers are asking for even considering that when teachers strike it causes major issues for parents and carers. I’d have accepted the last government offer had the government fully funded it. The lies the Tory ministers have told about this are shocking. The offer the government made would have resulted in massive budget issues for schools across the country and almost certainly another wave of teacher redundancies. The government then said it wanted to wait till the School Teachers Review Body reported. They have sent their report to Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State, but she is refusing to make its findings public - at the moment. The rumours are they have suggested a 6.5% pay rise. I’d be more than happy with this - though I suspect it will be weighted more heavily to teachers in the first few years of their career - provided it is actually fully funded. We must keep the pressure up on the dishonesty coming from Westminster and this is better done when the teaching profession is united.
IGNORAMUS AT THE CHRONICLE
Reading this weeks letters page in the Barnsley Chronicle I read a letter from the Chief Executive of Barnsley Council, Sarah Norman. It drew my attention to the comment piece in the Chronicle two weeks ago. This was is response to the release of survey results from Barnsley Council Employees and specifically about working from home guidance … and I quote:
“Work-from-home guidance, issued by our bumbling government during the pandemic, has left an army of work-shy people who would rather sit in front of the telly watching This Morning’s beleaguered team recover from their own in house woes. The ‘workers’ will say they’re ‘more productive’ at home, but nobody with an ounce of sense is buying it. There’s no pandemic anymore; office working - as before the world lost its marbles - should be mandatory with no ‘flexible’ nonsense.”
End quote! Clearly this person has been reading Boris Johnson’s populist nonsense columns for style tips and also a total ignorance of facts and research. If this muppet had done a modicum of research they would have found out that working from home for part of the week, far from encouraging people to sit at home in front of the telly, actually makes them more productive. A hybrid system where, if it is possible, employees work part of the week at home has been found to make them much more productive. Of course not everyone can do this, but it doesn’t have to be just the preserve of office based workers. I’m not sure how it would work for me as a teacher, but hybrid working is here to stay and, despite what lazy ignoramuses who write anonymously in the local press say, it is economically productive.
A BIT OF FOOTBALL HISTORY IN PENISTONE
I’ve been reading a rather excellent book on the history of our local football team, Penistone Church FC by Stephen Lavender, Kevin Neill and Richard Galliford. In it a read about John Marsh who was born in Thurlstone, the next village on from Penistone down the A628. He was a fine footballer and played a massive part in the beginnings of football both here and in Sheffield. He moved to Sheffield and became the first every secretary AND captain of “The Wednesday” when they were formed in 1867. Of course they went on to become Sheffield Wednesday FC. Because of family issues he had to move back to Thurlstone where he continued to play football for local teams. In early 1876 he broke his arm playing for Thurlstone against Firvale. Unfortunately it didn’t set properly and he must have been in incredible pain. He suffered from depression and passed away at the ridiculously early age of 37. He is buried in the churchyard of St John the Baptist Church in Penistone. His grave stone is on the floor next to a large tree and is in a rather sad state, but is still readable. I’m intending on contacting Sheffield Wednesday in my role as a Penistone Town Councillor to see if they would help us celebrate the fact we have not just one of the original Wednesday players but their first ever captain buried in our churchyard. As a big Sheffield United fan of course that may seem strange, but I love football and we need to embrace our history.
Below is a picture of the gravestone that commemorates the last resting place of John Marsh, the first every captain of Sheffield Wednesday…
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
It is Father’s day as I write this, so I think this is appropriate (and true!)
“Any man can be a father, but it takes a special kind of man to be a Dad”
PICTURES OF THE WEEK
I’ve been walking Brian very early in the morning this week, before I go to work and because the weather has been so hot. I took this first one on the Pennine Trail which shows the sun rising towards Hoylandswaine…
The second one, again very early in the morning, at the top of Thurlstone crossing the fields between Old Anna Lane and Ingbirchworth Road. The hay has just been cut and bundled and their is a lovely view across to St Johns Church in Penistone. There was a Skylark singing away as I took this picture.
READING THIS WEEK
I’ve started re-reading Chris Mullin’s diaries starting with his first one, “A walk-on part” from 1994 to 1999. I love political diaries and his are some of the best! I heard him on a podcast interview with Iain Dale talking about the release of his fourth and most recent volume of diaries. I read his political memoir, “Hinterland” a few years ago which was superb and of course he wrote what I consider the best political thriller ever “A very British Coup”.
WATCHING THIS WEEK
As well as watching the first days of the first Ashes test match I watched The Lost King all about Phillipa Langley’s ultimately successful quest to find the remains of King Richard III. A quite wonderful film and the University of Leicester need to hang their heads in shame. I also think the Tudors were rather splendid spin doctors - the received wisdom about Richard III and the Princes in the Tower are, I believe, very far from the mark and King Richard III was a much maligned figure - unfairly so. I intend reading more about him.
Goodbye till next week!
All the best
Wayne Chadburn
Follow me on Twitter: @mrchadburn or on Instagram @mrwaynechadburn
Email me on wayne.chadburn@outlook.com