MYSTERY surrounds the identity of the donor who coughed up for the prime minister's turn-of-the-year holiday in the Caribbean.
Between Boxing Day and January 5, Boris Johnson and his partner, Carrie Symonds, relaxed on a private holiday to St Vincent and the Grenadines.
According to the latest edition of the MPs Register of Financial Interests, the cost of the accommodation - to the value of £15,000 - was provided by Grimsby-born tycoon David Ross.
Mr Ross (54) is co-founder of the Carphone Warehouse firm.
However, the Register entry has since been denied by the office of 54-year-old Mr Ross, according to reports.
In the interests of transparency, Labour is now calling for Kathryn Stone, the commissioner for standards who is in charge of monitoring declarations of interest, to launch an inquiry into the donation.
Mr Ross is a well-known bon viveur who has entertained many of the great and the good at his villa on Mustique.
His friends are said to include Rolling Stone Mick Jagger, David Cameron and Prince William and Kate.
In fairness to Mr Ross, he is also generous in his donations to charity.
His David Ross Education Trust sponsors 34 schools across the UK including, in North East Lincolnshire, at least three - Humberston Academy, Havelock Academy and the Edward Heneage Primary Academy.
Thursday, 13 February 2020
SEASIDE TOWNS IN 'RACE' TO BUILD SUPER-SLEEK WATERFRONT OBSERVATORIES
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| Outline impression of how the Sutton-on-Sea observatory might look |
TWO seaside towns have unveiled ambitious plans for modern waterfront amenity buildings.
This week, East Lindsey District Council has revealed a scheme for an observatory-style development overlooking the sea in Sutton-on-Sea.
The initiative comes hard on the heels of a project by North East Lincolnshire Council to create a new observatory-type building in Cleethorpes - one that will provide views over the Humber Estuary.
More details and pictures of the Sutton-on-Sea project are at:
https://bit.ly/3bA6sYA
Information about the Cleethorpes scheme is at: https://bit.ly/2SEVA2Z
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| A more circular look is favoured for the Cleethorpes building |
WHERE'S MERYL STREEP? STAGECOACH BUS PASSENGERS THOUGHT BLACK-THROATED THRUSH 'TWITCH' WAS FILM CREW SHOOTING SCENES FOR NEW MOVIE!
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| What's going on? Some passengers thought Hollywood had come to Grimsby |
However, it is not the thrush but the birders themselves who who have been in the eyeline of the steady stream of passing road traffic.
Motorists and their passengers, plus pedestrians and cyclists, have been intrigued by all the commotion - not to mention the sight of so many tripod-mounted optics.
On the passing Stagecoach buses, passengers have craned their necks both to view the drama and to try to figure out what was going on.
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| Anyone for the rare bird? The Stagecoach pulls up outside the institute |
“We were looking out for Hugh Grant, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep or someone famous.
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| Meryl Streep as you know whom |
“It was only later that someone told me, it was twitchers
who had spotted a rare kind of thrush.
“You wouldn’t think so many people would congregate just to look at a bird.
“But good luck to them. I think it’s quite exciting. In a strange way, it’s put Grimsby and the institute on the map - or at least on the birdspotting map.”
Meanwhile, management - plus staff and students - at the institute have earned plaudits for being so accommodating to the influx of visitors.
On Tuesday of last week, there was a report that security staff had asked birders to “vacate” the campus - partly because their tripods might be damaging the turf and partly because the presence of so many cameras might put the privacy of staff and students at risk.
But it was obvious the birders were only interested in the bird - and that they were behaving responsibly.
Subsequently, the institute put out a message on social media - one that expressed delight, albeit bemused, that its campus was being graced by such a rare and impressive bird
Not only that but it went on to emphasise that the ornithologists watching the black-throated thrush - the first time the species has been recorded in Lincolnshire - were very welcome.
Showbiz note: None of the named celebrities (nor Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johansson) is known ever to have visited Grimsby or the institute, though Tom Hanks was once in Lincoln during the making of The Da Vinci Code and Meryl Streep played a Lincolnshire-born politician in The Iron Lady. According to a spokesperson, the most famous (not counting the thrush) visitor to have looked in at the institute in recent times (last December) was prime minister Boris Johnson during his General Election campaign.
* Grimsby's other most famous rarity - American robin. Read all about it (and its sad demise) in A Birdwatching Guide to The Lincolnshire Coast (price £2 including postage)
https://bit.ly/39g03Qn
“You wouldn’t think so many people would congregate just to look at a bird.
“But good luck to them. I think it’s quite exciting. In a strange way, it’s put Grimsby and the institute on the map - or at least on the birdspotting map.”
Meanwhile, management - plus staff and students - at the institute have earned plaudits for being so accommodating to the influx of visitors.
On Tuesday of last week, there was a report that security staff had asked birders to “vacate” the campus - partly because their tripods might be damaging the turf and partly because the presence of so many cameras might put the privacy of staff and students at risk.
But it was obvious the birders were only interested in the bird - and that they were behaving responsibly.
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| Star appeal - the black-throated thrush |
Subsequently, the institute put out a message on social media - one that expressed delight, albeit bemused, that its campus was being graced by such a rare and impressive bird
Not only that but it went on to emphasise that the ornithologists watching the black-throated thrush - the first time the species has been recorded in Lincolnshire - were very welcome.
Showbiz note: None of the named celebrities (nor Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johansson) is known ever to have visited Grimsby or the institute, though Tom Hanks was once in Lincoln during the making of The Da Vinci Code and Meryl Streep played a Lincolnshire-born politician in The Iron Lady. According to a spokesperson, the most famous (not counting the thrush) visitor to have looked in at the institute in recent times (last December) was prime minister Boris Johnson during his General Election campaign.
* Grimsby's other most famous rarity - American robin. Read all about it (and its sad demise) in A Birdwatching Guide to The Lincolnshire Coast (price £2 including postage)
https://bit.ly/39g03Qn
NEW REPORT CHARTS THE FASCINATING HERITAGE OF GRIMSBY'S PORT ZONE
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| Those were the days - aerial view of the Grimsby of yesteryear |
PICTURES showing the change in Grimsby’s industrial and domestic landscape have been used to compile a unique report charting the town’s fortunes over more than a century.
Using rarely seen images from the archives of Historic England, the report offers a pictorial view of just how Grimsby’s central urban areas have evolved, the impact of the Second World War on the town, the changing face of the waterside and the importance of its historical buildings.
Author Matthew Oakey, Historic England’s Aerial Investigation & Mapping Manager (North), used extensive research work already carried out by colleagues within his organisation to put together the collection, which focuses on a 2.5 sq. km. area lying within what is known as the Great Grimsby Heritage Action Zone (Heritage Action Zone).
Author Matthew Oakey, Historic England’s Aerial Investigation & Mapping Manager (North), used extensive research work already carried out by colleagues within his organisation to put together the collection, which focuses on a 2.5 sq. km. area lying within what is known as the Great Grimsby Heritage Action Zone (Heritage Action Zone).
Says North East Lincolnshire council's deputy leader Cllr John Fenty: “When you walk around this part of Grimsby, including the Kasbah, you can sense the history and the vibrancy that once existed."
Highlights of the report include an insight into the development of the port area, from a pre-war boom in the timber and coal trade - in 1911 more than 1.7 million tons of coal was passing through Grimsby docks - to the onset of vehicles.
The report highlights the docks use, during the 1939-45 war, as a base for the Royal Naval Patrol Service, housing the largest minesweeper fleet in the UK.
The fishing industry and its decline is charted, with the aerial report also focusing on the switch from rail to road and a radical reshaping of areas such as Alexandra Dock, before moving further into the urban areas and looking at businesses ranging from brewing, to the flour mills and the emergence of retail.
In his conclusion, the author says: “The aerial photographs held in the Historic England Archive provide a fascinating record of landscape change in Grimsby spanning almost a century.
“Early Aerofilms images capture a town at the centre of the world’s fishing industry but also record other trades and businesses that were essential to Grimsby’s economy.
"The impact of air raids during the Second World War began to alter the character of the town - particularly in the East Marsh where the greatest damage occurred - but it was in the latter half of the 20th century that the most significant reshaping of the town can be seen.”
The full report is available to view online at: https://bit.ly/2wfB8OH
Highlights of the report include an insight into the development of the port area, from a pre-war boom in the timber and coal trade - in 1911 more than 1.7 million tons of coal was passing through Grimsby docks - to the onset of vehicles.
The report highlights the docks use, during the 1939-45 war, as a base for the Royal Naval Patrol Service, housing the largest minesweeper fleet in the UK.
The fishing industry and its decline is charted, with the aerial report also focusing on the switch from rail to road and a radical reshaping of areas such as Alexandra Dock, before moving further into the urban areas and looking at businesses ranging from brewing, to the flour mills and the emergence of retail.
In his conclusion, the author says: “The aerial photographs held in the Historic England Archive provide a fascinating record of landscape change in Grimsby spanning almost a century.
“Early Aerofilms images capture a town at the centre of the world’s fishing industry but also record other trades and businesses that were essential to Grimsby’s economy.
"The impact of air raids during the Second World War began to alter the character of the town - particularly in the East Marsh where the greatest damage occurred - but it was in the latter half of the 20th century that the most significant reshaping of the town can be seen.”
The full report is available to view online at: https://bit.ly/2wfB8OH
An interactive map looking in more details at some of the historic buildings and places of importance within the HAZ is also available at: https://bit.ly/2tUEWEf
Tuesday, 11 February 2020
GIVING WILDLIFE A HELPING HAND ON EDGE OF GRIMSBY TOWN CENTRE
AN initiative aimed at helping wildlife to thrive is due to begin next week on the edge of Grimsby town centre.
Specialists in ecology and the natural environment will be deployed to conduct habitat survey in the Garth Lane area and along the River Freshney.
They will be examining the water conditions and assessing what clearance and planting work is required to protect the existing habitat and to encourage wildlife.
North East Lincolnshire Council’s ccology manager, Rachel Graham, already has pictorial evidence of the wildlife and plants that exist close to Garth Lane.
They include damselfly, Ramshorn snails, marsh marigold, water mint and forget-me-not.
Says she: “There is an abundance of plants, animals and birds that thrive along this stretch.
"Otters have even been spotted as they pass between different water bodies."
Water voles, kingfishers and wagtails have also been recorded.
An examination of the existing trees has already determined that a large and old willow tree needs to be removed and replaced.
The old tree has been confirmed as being the latter stages of its life and therefore its removal is deemed necessary.
However, it is hoped the wood from it can be recycled, and possibly included as part of the landscaping of the area.
Other native species will also be introduced.
The Garth Lane Waterfront Improvement Scheme is being revitalised as part of a £3.5million project supported by the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership and the Town Deal, funding which is dependent upon a start date for the work this spring.
This part of town is where Grim, the founder of Grimsby, is said to have landed, and there is also evidence of Anglo-Saxon settlements and shipbuilding in the area.
A recent archaeological dig unearthed a bronze pendant, likely to be a pierced coin from the medieval period.
Sunday, 2 February 2020
Saturday, 1 February 2020
WEEKEND TREAT: SCORES FLOCK TO GRIMSBY INSTITUTE TO WATCH RARE VISITOR
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| Putting on the style - Grimsby Institute's rare black-throated thrush |
THE rare black-throated thrush that turned up in Grimsby on Thursday was displaying better than ever this morning (Saturday).
For some periods, notably just after sunrise, it skulked in high branches in the trees on the Grimsby Institute campus.
But it spent far longer on the grass below, pecking (successfully) for worms and other insects to the delight of scores of birders who had come from all parts of Lincolnshire, the East Midlands and Yorkshire, plus a few from beyond.
With few students about, the handsome bird - a vagrant from Asia - was mostly undisturbed.
At lunchtime today, up to 100 pairs of eyes were trained on the thrush.
The black-throated belongs to the same family as our native song thrush and blackbird, but tends to favour damper habitat.
There is also a red-throated thrush, and the two species are thought occasionally to interbreed where their territories overlap.
Some observers believe that the bird has only just arrived in Lincolnshire, but there is also a theory that it may have been here for much longer but gone undetected until staff member Josh Forrester hit upon it last Thursday morning..
The hope is that it will stay longer, perhaps providing diversion and relaxation for students as they swot for exams.
In the meantime, a debt of thanks is due to the management at Grimsby Institute for so readily accommodating so many birders - plus the thrush - on their splendid campus.
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| Scores flocked to Grimsby to watch and photograph the vagrant bird from Asia |
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