Sunday 20 April 2008
Cotherstone Post Office
The village post office in Cotherstone is to remain open, despite six other sub-branches of the post office being closed down across Teesdale. It is one of the few post offices in Teesdale to remain open after proposals were made by the Post Office to close 2,500 branches across the country.
Dorothy Christon and her husband Allen have run the post office in Cotherstone for 24 years. She believes that the post office is extremely important to the village. She said: “It’s really a place for people to meet within the village. Not only do we dispense pensions and let people pay their bills but we act as a bit of a social service as well. If somebody’s poorly we notice it’s not just about dispensing pensions.”
Teesdale has been one of the areas most affected by the decision to close branches of the post office. Mrs Christon believes that the decision is understandable as some of the post offices are used very little. She said: “I think it’s sad but it’s understandable if they are not used by the general public.”
The
As Cotherstone is a village with a strong demographic the Post Office has decided to keep the branch open. If the shop was to be shut down or was put for sale but could not be sold; then there would be other alternatives. Mrs Christon said: “There would always be some sort of post office facility in Cotherstone. It might be in the village hall two days a week or in a pub a couple of sessions a week.”
Mrs Christon believes that the blame to shut down the post offices should lie with the government rather than the Post Office. The government recently made a decision to pull out some of the subsidies that are used to keep the rural network of post offices running. She said: “I think that the Post Office is reacting to a decision made by the government. I think that the Post Office are trying their best to work to the criteria set down by the government.”
The MP for Teesdale Helen Goodman has been campaigning to save some of the post offices that are due to close. Mrs Christon believes that she is being slightly hypocritical as it was her government that put the Post Office into this situation. She said: “I think she’s being a bit hypocritical going out drumming up support when it’s her government who have put the Post Office into this situation.”
Post Office Closures In Teesdale
Dozens of sub-post offices across the North-East and
One of the areas worst affected by these new proposals is the largely rural area of Teesdale in
If these sub- post offices were to close then it would be another damaging blow to the region. In many rural communities the post office is the only amenity available to the people who live there. If they were to close down then many residents, especially the elderly would be forced to travel further a field to carry out their business. A lack of public transport is also a problem for people who need to use post offices elsewhere.
The MP for Teesdale, Helen Goodman, plans to fight the proposals to close the post offices. Already a petition has been launched against the closures and residents have been urged to make their voices heard. She said: “I am very concerned about these closures. Post offices are one of our most cherished community amenities.” Mrs Goodman is also concerned that the proposals will see a reduction in the quality of the service and will leave people more dependant on car use.
Many of the small village shops that contain the sub-post offices will be forced to close as well. This is because they will be unable to support themselves without the post office. The planned post office closures are not the first and won’t be the last to affect the region. In the past 18 months the post office at Ingleton was forced to close and another post office at Bowes remains under threat.
One of the villages worst affected by the proposals is Hutton Magna. Under the guidelines set out by Network Change 95% of the rural population should be within 3 miles of their nearest branch. However, if Hutton Magna was to close the closest branch would be almost 6 miles away in Gainford. This problem is made worse as there is no direct public transport between the two villages.
The Post Office claim that under the new proposals 99% of the area’s population will either see no change, or will remain within one mile of an alternative branch. Plans are already afoot to help the communities that are set to lose their post office. Plans include using mobile libraries or using a third party premise such as pub as a post office.
The proposals are part of the Post Office’s plan to close 2,500 branches out of a current network of 14,000.
Friday 29 February 2008
Thursday 28 February 2008
Like the previous week many people's blogs on cricket have been dominated by the Indian Premier League. This new event seems to have captured the imagination of people the world over, although for many of the purists it is not seen as a good thing for the world game. Not suprisingly the most excited fans seem to be the Indian fans who live and breathe cricket.
Away from the IPL, England have come in for heavy criticism following their one day series defeat to New Zealand. With the test series just a few days away England will be going all out for revenge. One of the biggest critics of England is the BBC radio commentator Jonathon Agnew. Agnew's opinions on cricket are very highly respected so it is unsuprising that the BBC have set up a blog for 'Aggers.' One of Agnew's main concerns about England is their batting order, especially at the top of the order. His main concern is about Alastair Cook and Ian Bell being in the same team. Agnew says: "Both are fine batsmen, don't get me wrong, but they are one-dimensional and incapable of innovation in one-day cricket - it just isn't the way they bat." In his opinion Kevin Pietersen, England's most talented batsman, should be promoted to bat at number 3. The blog can be viewed at - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tms/2008/02/england_pay_for_batting_uncert.shtml
The BBC website, especially on the cricket site, use blogs a lot. Especially for touring parties such as the England team. Other blogs available are by the cricketer Graeme Swann and another journalists called Adam Mountford. Swann's blog gives an insight into the life of a cricketer and the feelings inside the team. It has some use for people who are interested in having a deeper look at cricket.
Away from the IPL, England have come in for heavy criticism following their one day series defeat to New Zealand. With the test series just a few days away England will be going all out for revenge. One of the biggest critics of England is the BBC radio commentator Jonathon Agnew. Agnew's opinions on cricket are very highly respected so it is unsuprising that the BBC have set up a blog for 'Aggers.' One of Agnew's main concerns about England is their batting order, especially at the top of the order. His main concern is about Alastair Cook and Ian Bell being in the same team. Agnew says: "Both are fine batsmen, don't get me wrong, but they are one-dimensional and incapable of innovation in one-day cricket - it just isn't the way they bat." In his opinion Kevin Pietersen, England's most talented batsman, should be promoted to bat at number 3. The blog can be viewed at - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tms/2008/02/england_pay_for_batting_uncert.shtml
The BBC website, especially on the cricket site, use blogs a lot. Especially for touring parties such as the England team. Other blogs available are by the cricketer Graeme Swann and another journalists called Adam Mountford. Swann's blog gives an insight into the life of a cricketer and the feelings inside the team. It has some use for people who are interested in having a deeper look at cricket.
Thursday 21 February 2008
Cricket blogs
This week I have been looking at cricketing blogs to see what has been happening in the world of cricket.
The stand out event of the week has been the auction of players for the upcoming Indian Premier League. The Indian Premier League is a brand new event focused solely on Twenty20 cricket. The best players from around the world (apart from England) have been put up for auction for the eight competing teams to buy. This has attracted a lot of attention in the blogging world with people debating which players have been the best signings, who's over valued and who's over priced. There has also been debate over the ethics of auctioning players of and where cricket is heading at the moment with one day games over taking the more traditional test match.
Another good blog that I found was by Chemosit. He was arguing that the ICC was 'raping' the sport by cutting the number of teams allowed to compete in the next cricket world cup from to just 14. He was arguing that it was bad for the sport and unfair on the lesser teams.
Other matters that have been touched on in blogs but not so much as the IPL has been England's one day series against New Zealand and Australia's tri series featuring Sri Lanka and India. Despite England's remarkable draw with New Zealand on Tuesday there has been little mention of this. There has also been some focus on the under - 19 cricket world cup.
The stand out event of the week has been the auction of players for the upcoming Indian Premier League. The Indian Premier League is a brand new event focused solely on Twenty20 cricket. The best players from around the world (apart from England) have been put up for auction for the eight competing teams to buy. This has attracted a lot of attention in the blogging world with people debating which players have been the best signings, who's over valued and who's over priced. There has also been debate over the ethics of auctioning players of and where cricket is heading at the moment with one day games over taking the more traditional test match.
Another good blog that I found was by Chemosit. He was arguing that the ICC was 'raping' the sport by cutting the number of teams allowed to compete in the next cricket world cup from to just 14. He was arguing that it was bad for the sport and unfair on the lesser teams.
Other matters that have been touched on in blogs but not so much as the IPL has been England's one day series against New Zealand and Australia's tri series featuring Sri Lanka and India. Despite England's remarkable draw with New Zealand on Tuesday there has been little mention of this. There has also been some focus on the under - 19 cricket world cup.
Tuesday 12 February 2008
Cricket woes
After making a bright start to their tour of New Zealand, England appear to have returned to their bad old ways. The last two one day games have been nothing short of embarassing for England. Today's (Tuesday) defeat to New Zealand was England's 4th worse defeat in their one day international history.
Who would have thought that after their two commanding displays in the Twenty20 format. It seems strange that England have dropped two of their star performers in those games - Luke Wright and Dmitri Mascherenas. Both of these offer big hitting, along with some tidy medium pace bowling. The lack of boundaries in England's last 2 games has been shocking. Surely one of the pair should be recalled for the third ODI. There can be little doubt that this 3rd game is going to be a crunch game. Quite simply England cannot afford to lose. A big performance is needed.
The most worrying aspect of England's performances has been their batting form. Quite simply they have far too short in both innings. There has been no big knocks by any batsmen and no really decent partnerships. The big players such as Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen are yet to perform when they have been needed. Another worry is the running between the wickets, but thats nothing new for England. The bowling hasn't been great, but to be fair they have had nothing to bowl at.
Who would have thought that after their two commanding displays in the Twenty20 format. It seems strange that England have dropped two of their star performers in those games - Luke Wright and Dmitri Mascherenas. Both of these offer big hitting, along with some tidy medium pace bowling. The lack of boundaries in England's last 2 games has been shocking. Surely one of the pair should be recalled for the third ODI. There can be little doubt that this 3rd game is going to be a crunch game. Quite simply England cannot afford to lose. A big performance is needed.
The most worrying aspect of England's performances has been their batting form. Quite simply they have far too short in both innings. There has been no big knocks by any batsmen and no really decent partnerships. The big players such as Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen are yet to perform when they have been needed. Another worry is the running between the wickets, but thats nothing new for England. The bowling hasn't been great, but to be fair they have had nothing to bowl at.
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