Election Diary Day 22

What an amazing few days in which time I have met and shaken hands with

Eddie Izzard - the comedian went to Swansea University to encourage the students to vote (preferably Labour!) then back into town to do a walkabout round the town centre which certainly seemed to be well received.

Carwen Jones - for those who may not know he is Wales' First Minister of the Welsh Assembly, taking over from Rhodri Morgan last year. He came and spoke briefly at a morale boosting members get together last night.

Alistair Darling - yes, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, second most powerful person in Britain! Now not only did I shake his hand but was one of a select few asking him questions on behalf of the business organisation I belong to ie Federation of Small Businesses. He even sat next to me - OK so that might actually be a turn OFF for some of you but from a political stand point I was quite impressed!!

Oh, and I've also caught a cold but I spose you can't have everything!

Les

Election Diary Day 16

After a wonderful week away it's back down to earth again, on the campaign trail.

Keeping a fairly low profile since putting my head above the pulpit on Monday when Nick Clegg came to town. I'm not really one for protesting but I was persuaded to go and hold a placard on the education cuts that are currently happening in Swansea. Nationally Lib Dems are saying that they are the party of smaller classrooms but while the current Lib Dem council cuts teachers jobs the exact opposite is going to happen!

But that's it for me for a while on the protest front after being haranged by this guy who was very bitter about Labour. I don't think I handled it very well - I probably should have walked away but easier said than done, particularly when someone insults you personally.

But funnily enough the person who gained the most publicity was the main Socialist Worker protagonist in town, who got pushed to the ground by a policeman for having the audacity to try and speak using a loud hailer. He was apparently dragged away and had the offending article taken off him (that's stealing isn't it?!) but by the time I got there he was back again and heckling quite loudly without it!

I'm sticking to leafletting!!

Les

Easter at Tywyn

I'M BACK!

Well in body if not in spirit. Amazingly have managed to plough through all the e-mails received (still loads even with a gone-away-back-soon message!). But back to blog business ...

I will restart the Election Diary tomorrow but thought the obvious subject for today would be the events of the last week - our all too short period of relaxation in Tywyn, Mid Wales, home of the Talyllyn Railway. Those of you who are observant will notice something tends to get mentioned rather a lot - can you spot it, I wonder?!

Saturday 10th April
Left about midday (early start was a lovely thought but my body had other ideas!), travelling up with my brother Robin, via Pontardawe then the Black mountain road to Llangadog, across to Lampeter towards the coast but cutting off the corner more or less to Aberystwyth, and finally to Machynlleth and round the coast road to Tywyn. Sat on the promenade overlooking the sunny sea. And also a pile of rocks - apparently part of the new sea defences. Mmmm!
Early evening Jeff & I drove to first layby again overlooking the sea but with a truly beautiful view, one of our favourites. Then usual road to Bird Rock, over pass to Abergynolwyn then home for Cornish Pasties & bed, but not before a visit to the Railway Inn for 2 pints of London Pride and Doom Bar.

Sunday 11th April
No rush but finally caught the 1.45 down on the Talyllyn Railway & had a spot of lunch in Wharf cafe. Then the 3pm train all the way up the line to Nant Gwernol pulled by No 7 Tom Rolt again, and a sarnie at Abergynolwyn Station on the way down. But sacre bleu, no treacle tart or bakewell tart as they've stopped doing them - shame! A quick drive down to the sea before dinner then back for an evening in with a nice roast pork meal a le chef Jeff washed down with copious amounts of red wine.

Monday 12th April
Leisurely start then drove Robin to Machynlleth (or Mach-the-Knife as we call it - easier to pronounce!) to catch his bus back home. On to Ynys Hir RSPB bird reserve but we don't often bother going round any more as you can usually see as many birds in the car park! We then tried out new Osprey project but sadly no osprey although female had been seen earlier in the day. A short walk to Dovey Junction to give us an appetite & funnily enough discovered a much better osprey nest viewing spot which we will note for the future. Had a good evening meal at the Brittania Inn in Aberdovey, with Guinness, Banks Bitter & Cockahoop.

Tuesday 13th April
Drove round the coast, stopping off at usual layby - wonderful spot whatever the weather but still fine anyway. On to Penmaenpool and a couple of walks - in woods on the other side of the valley & then along the old railway track - but not many birds. After dinner at the van went to Tredegar Arms in Tywyn and to our unexpected delight it was quiz night! Good fun even though we didn't win, but enjoyed it and the lovely beer - HB & Doom Bar.

Wednesday 14th April
Day out up & down the main line to Machynlleth, then Porthmadog - home of the Ffestiniong Railway and soon to be terminus of the Welsh Highland Railway, newly relaid. In the station pub Spooners sank two very nice pints of Summat Gold. Then a lovely walk round birdspotting a few left over winter visitors. And back to the main line for another couple in the Station Inn - Pedigree & Cwrw Eryru. Lovely ride home sitting on the west side, watching the sun & sea. Back for TV, pizza & wine.

Thursday 15th April
Spent the day driving round North Wales, visiting many of the usual haunts like Tanybwlch on the Ffestioniog Railway, in time to see two engines passing - Blanche & Dafydd Lloyd George. Lovely day, no hurry, but still managed to go as far as Caernarfon before returning back via Harlech then the coast road. Managed to get to our other favourite layby in time to watch the sun setting in a red glow. Back at the van watched the Swedish (and in my opinion much better version) Wallander followed by Shirley Valentine with a simple supper, and a lager / wine or two.

Friday 16th April
Caught the first train up the line pulled by Tom Rolt. Got off at Nant Gwernol so we could have an easy stroll through the woods by the river down to Abergwynolwyn Village. Spent a very leisurely afternoon having a very nice meal at the Railway Inn supplemented by Ruddles County & IPA. Then walked back up to the station for the last train down of the day. Not much to report after that - I fell asleep!

Saturday 17th April
Slow drive home, back by late afternoon. Amazingly one of the best bird spots of the week in our a garden - a sparrowhawk!!!

Overall I'm sure you will notice that it was very much a restful vacation summarised by : lots of little sheep, birds, daffodils, trains, & wonderful scenery, with a smattering of low flying jets (and more bizarrely a huge Hercules trying to do the same!) and a lot of much needed sleep! And what else? I wonder!

And finally for those who you who are interested here is the bird list in no particular order:
RED KITES; BUZZARD; CHAFFINCH; GREENFINCH; GOLDFINCH; MALLARD; SHELDUCK; PHEASANT; MUTE SWAN; CHIFFCHAFF; WILLOW WARBLER; TREE CREEPER; WHEATEAR; SKYLARK; WOOD PIGEON; GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER; BLUE TIT; GREAT TIT; ROOK; CROW; RAVEN; CHOUGH; JAY; JACKDAW; MAGPIE; STARLING; ROBIN; BLACKBIRD; WREN; HOUSE SPARROW; DUNNOCK; PIED WAGTAIL; GREY WAGTAIL; SWALLOW; HOUSE MARTIN; CORMORANT; CANADA GEESE; EIDER DUCK; COOT; TEAL; WIGEON; RED BREASTED MERGANSER; GOOSANDER; LITTLE EGRET; HERON; REDSHANK; OYSTERCATCHER; HERRING GULL; GREAT BLACK BACKED GULL; LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL; BLACK HEADED GULL; FULMAR plus a couple of 'not sures' as we were not able to see them for long enough to be certain - Pied Flycatcher & Yellowhammer.

Looking forward to next year already!

Les

Election Diary Day 4

One last post before I go away for a week - bliss!

Actually managed to get up at 7 this morning - am I crazy or what?! Went leafletting with my good friend and fellow politico Erika. Between us we delivered over 600 leaflets - not bad eh. Whether people will read the leaflet, understand it, take it in, believe it, agree with the comments, etc etc and then go and vote for anyone let alone 'us' is of course an entirely different matter!!

I think that is it for today. It's late and I still haven't packed so it's a 'chuck-everything-in-the-suitcase-and-see-if-it-closes' kind of thing - again!!!

Les

Election Diary Day 2

Today saw the official launch of the Labour Party campaign in Swansea, with Peter Hain, Sec State for Wales, coming over here for a walkabout around the city centre with our prospective candidate Geraint Davies. Amazingly the sun shone, and the people were pleasant (except for one heckler who kept shouting out expletives, but worse still then started playing a couple of drums - badly!)

My new claim to fame - on the local news tonight you could see the back of me as I walked past people being interviewed! And there is a possibility that I'll be in a pic in the local paper tomorrow.

Then this evening actually got 8 of us out doing canvassing & leafletting - that is almost a record!!

Les

Election Diary Day 1

You may have noticed that my promise of a blog entry every Friday hasn't quite materialised. Sadly the time warp which has before now just shifted the entry by a couple of days has now stretched to three weeks. (Where have those weeks gone?!!!) So I have a new cunning plan ...

Well it's finally here - Gordy went off to Buck Palace this morning to check with Queeny that it's OK to kick start the election campaign proper. So I had this daft idea of putting something down every day - a kind of 'diary of a seasoned campaigner' (or more to the point 'diary of a sad person who keeps walking the streets'!) But there are two flaws with this plan, the blatantly obvious one being if I haven't managed to make an entry every week what hope have I got of doing it every day. And the other one is that I'm on holiday for a week!

But have faith (or suspend reality!) as in theory it'll just be a few lines and when I'm back off hols I'll do a catch up. Ok, you'll believe it when you see it - I don't blame you!

Les