This involved touring the country and making recommendations as to whether houses were suitable for adoption by the Trust
Posted in General on 06. Aug, 2010
This involved touring the country and making recommendations as to whether houses were suitable for adoption by the Trust. On 1 January 1942, he began keeping a diary, which provided a fascinating record of the decline and fall of the landed gentry.The diary was not only poignant, but also very funny, for Lees-Milne (who had grown up with the Mitfords and had a sharp but affectionate eye for English eccentricity) was as interested in people as he was in places. THROUGH WOOD AND DALE:
DIARIES, 1975-1978
BY JAMES LEES-MILNE, JOHN MURRAY, pounds 20IN 1941, James Lees-Milne was invalided out of the army and returned to his civilian job as secretary of the National Trust’s “Country House Scheme”. None of this has anything whatsoever to do with a “knocking shop” and if Mr Walsh had done any research at all into the holiday guest industry he would know what these signs really mean, instead of making silly presumptions.In fact he refers to sex quite repeatedly, which I do find very unhealthy for a supposedly respectable journalist..
This gentleman is a legitimate London businessman who, again, has found his niche in the market, and when he advertises “just for adults – couples only” what he means, like many other proprietors who have the same sign, is that he does not cater for families (because the late-night bar would disturb children trying to sleep) or groups of a single sex (who are likely to get silly and cause damage or disturb other guests). It may not be his or my cup of tea, but who are we to criticise? Blackpool caters for every pocket, age and taste.Further on in his attack he refers to the Springbok Hotel (presumably the name has been changed to avoid court action). This particular hotel is owned and run by a very pleasant southerner who would be absolutely appalled at having it labelled a “genuine self-declared knocking-shop”. Perhaps Mr Walsh has got so tied up in the restraints of life that he has forgotten how to be silly and what good it can do you.Mr Walsh’s comments are incorrect and out of date Pontins caters for a certain niche in the market. I do not have a huge bust or an equally formidable attitude problem, nor do I have halitosis. I am very proud to live in Blackpool, a town that attracts more than 16.8 million visitors a year (more than Greece).
Are you telling me that all these people have got it wrong and the media are right? I do not think so.
You do not see the happy, smiling faces of the children and adults when they come back to our hotel after an exhausting day of fun and enjoyment. Yes, they are waving about the silly hats and cheap novelties they’ve purchased – and why? Because, for a short time, they can forget their troubles and just be silly and have fun. A Blackpool landlady responds to John Walsh’s critical feature about the seaside resort
I AM a Blackpool landlady. Offer China help in reforming its banking system, but do not feed its sense of self- importance by minimising the risks of economic failure. If you come in awe of China, you tend to go away with a more dangerous China.The writer is director of studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. Speak plainly to China about its risky behaviour in the South China Sea, threats to Taiwan, and destabilising exports of military systems. As China approaches the 50th anniversary of its Communist revolution, it becomes all the more alarming that, unlike Russia, it has not admitted that its revolution was a huge mistake.
What is more astounding is that supposedly innovative Western leaders cannot distinguish dying Communist rhetoric from stark reality.A truly innovative British approach to China would be one based on a more honest appreciation of China’s flaws: speak plainly to China, not only about its abysmal human rights record but also about the fact that it will be taken less seriously by the outside world unless it changes its economic and foreign policies. Crony capitalism, politically powerful armed forces, regional tensions, income inequality and some encouraging signs of the emergence of a civil society are all present in modern China. China is burdened both by its failure to understand that it cannot defeat or even remake the Western system that dominates our world, and by its failure to reject the Leninist solution. No wonder that China turned off CNN’s satellite feed when student demonstrators on the streets of Jakarta toppled President Suharto.In the final analysis, clarity about China’s fate will not be achieved until we understand that China and its foreign apologists have not truly broken with the past.
But as Chris Patten astutely notes in his recent book, East and West, a more likely future for China may be a version of Indonesia. China has also benefited from large inflows of capital from ethnic Chinese.An optimist about China will claim that Taiwan is the future, where a once-Leninist ruling party transformed itself and the surrounding political system into effective pluralism. Amazingly, bank lending has increased by 24 per cent in the first half of 1998, but in a rapidly deflating economy the government fears that closing SOEs will cause mass unemployment and social unrest. In the absence of a welfare system there seems to be no choice but to sustain SOEs as a proto-welfare net. Nevertheless, unemployment is at 10 per cent and rising.Of course, there are also important differences with Russia. China’s political system remains far less pluralist; there is no equivalent to an independent Duma or a freeish press.