Book review - Sharpes escape

With Sharpe novels you know what to expect, they follow a largely formulaic plot. Sharpe the underdog up from the ranks hunts down challenges in the face of adversity against the establishment that he hates and loves. Not satisfied with impossible odds success Mr Cornwall throws in a classic gory battle scene, where the entire army relies on Sharpe and Wellington to save them. Throw in a very loose romance a few dead ensigns and worthy villain and you have a Sharpe novel. So you'd expect them to rather tedious yet like titanic and the Easter story, knowing the story doesn't detract from the humanity of the story. This is what Sharpe's Escape does very well.

All through the story Sharpe, Harper and Vincente, are put in impossible situations with 0% chance of success each time they must surely die, yet as a reader you know they must survive you don't know how but they simply must survive. Even though Sharpe is locked in an impregnable cell behind enemy lines with the 95th Light company on the other side of the country led by a fool, you know that somehow it is Sharpe that will burst in just in the nick of time to rescue the day and then go on to lead by example and show that in its day the British army and in particular the Baker rifle was the best in the world. He'll do all this with a inane loyalty that is never repaved, and shear bloody mindedness.

One difference between this and other books in the series is that previous encounters have had the classic parallel story of Sharpe's personal mission building along side a major army ambition led by Wellington. This has inevitably meant a highly descriptive detailed battle scene at the end of the book, and whilst Sharpe's escape does deliver a battle at the end the far more interesting one is at the start and in truth the battle never really stops, but in this book you get right into the action from page 1.

If you've read and enjoyed the previous shapre novels don't hesitate, jump straight into this one, you'll love it. If your new to Sharpe then there is as always a question as to where to start, the consciousness seems to be to start with Sharpe's Tiger and work through chronologically, that makes the most sense. Ultimately, however, it doesn't matter where, and Sharpes Escape is as good as any place to start, it is a self contained story that provides you with all the background you need to get straight into it. Sharpes Tiger remains one of my favorite books and this latest offering is every bit the book it needs to be and as always on a grey day on the metropolitan line, Sharpe has proved to be this bloggers perfect Escape.

Chesham Blossom - A photo blog

Here’s my first attempt at a photo blog, not sure what makes it different from a normal photo album but lets see. Some of you may know that I’ve helped to set up a community orchard in Chesham and at present there is Blossom everywhere you look so I spent Saturday taking some photos with my phone in and around Chesham to show what an amazing place our orchard will be in a few years time.

So heres the output, lots of photos of Blossom.

This ones from Four Acre Field in chesham, Its a wild apple tree taken which appears to have grown from a wild apple thrown from a footpath which runs across some community land owned by waterside school.

. Ok, so this isn't a Blossom picture but it is another lovely sight in the springtime

Blossom from an ornamental Quince in my back garden, The fruit is horrid but the flowers are lovely.  

 Taken later in the afternoon, its of an unknown variety, again from a footpath in Chesham, just by the McMinn depot, on an unused factory site.

I think this is a wild Cherry but to be honest im not sure, Its from Lowndes park but could be anywhere. With the blue sky background its positively inviting the Summer to draw in. 

One from Amersham Where you have to pay for such a beautiful blossom display.

Just for the record please free to use these pictures as you see fit, for non-commercial use with attribution. I'm happy for you to re-use them and will upload them on to commons.wikimedia.org before too long.

Latimer Road, Chesham

This post is about a particular road in Chesham which I drive down each and every day so if your not local maybe just wait for my next post. Latimer Road is a a 2 mile stretch of road just wide enough for 2 cars and only a few junctions. When we moved to Chesham it used to have a speed limit of 60 miles per hour and I would enjoy driving down it at speed it was that sort of enjoyable road. I would convince myself that I knew the road well and that it was safe for me to go at that speed. However, its not the case for everyone, and in the 3 years that I had been diving along the road at 60 mph I personally witnessed the direct aftermath of 4 crashes, speed was undoubtedly a factor in all of them. So I don't really have any real complaint that for the last year the speed limit has been lowered to 40mph and in parts 30mph. Especially when in the last year I know of no significant accident along that stretch.

The road itself comes into a quiet bit of Chesham and turns in to Waterside, which is a built up 30 mph zone and always has been, living just off waterside I still see cars traveling at great speed coming into town past a school and a local park. My dog was hit by a 4x4 in this stretch of road (no lasting damage) and several cats have perished. I fear its only a matter of time till something worse happens. I'm quite unforgiving with people who have little awareness of their surroundings thus risking the lives of others without even realizing. Lets hope the police commissioner is willing to take action.

My issue now is that so many people just ignore the speed limit and drive too fast along even the 30mph bit. I understand its difficult, it takes great effort on my part to drive so slowly along a stretch of road I know so well but I manage it. I've turned it into a bit of a game, in which I drive at the speed limit all the way and then by the time I get to my road, I count the number of cars that I have caught. Most days I have snared at least 4 cars and my record believe it or not is 12. I also get regularly overtaken along the winding narrow road and quickly lose sight of them as they disappear into the path of oncoming traffic. Also a problem is that without an opportunity to overtake safely drivers often feel the need to drive within a single car length of my bumper as if they can pressure me into going that little bit faster but leaving them no room to react let alone break if something where to go wrong. The only safe thing for me to do is to reduce my speed so as to try and give me more time to react knowing that if something happens i'm going to have a car in my backside.

You might expect the speeders to fit a certain category, young boy racers in low riding cars, but from my anecdotal reckoning they don't fit a particular profile. They are young and old men and women. It does seem that 4x4's are over represented as are white vans, but apart from that i haven't noticed any trend. I don't know why they want to go so fast, though I do understand that their is a certain adrenaline and a belief that you'll get somewhere quicker, but the reality is that it makes no discernible difference. If you could drive the whole stretch at 60 it would take you 2 minutes to get the whole way, at 30 for a mile and 40 for the other it would take you 3 1/2 . So really for a minute and half can't they just relax, the journey would really be a lot simpler.

Could NHS £10 a month charge be a good thing

A few weeks ago, there was statement by Lord Warner suggesting  that a £10 month charge for NHS services could stop it sliding further into decline. See more at

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/31/nhs-users-pay-membership-charge

It has proved controversial to a number of people as one of the core principals of the NHS is that it is for everyone, and free at point of use, so any charging mechanism is a difficult thing to swallow. However with a few changes i think a monthly charge could work.

• £10 a month is a lot of money for some but nothing for others, so I would change it to a sliding scale of charges with those unemployed paying nothing and those earning the most paying much much more. 
• a separate fee makes it very difficult to administer so I'd set it up to run via HMRC and take it directly from peoples payroll's and thus ensuring income is maximised. 
• In the same way we are moving to universal credit, we should also move to universal charging where all government charges are collected through the same general mechanism. We could call this system Income Tax?

So yes if the NHS needs more money to survive and to ensure we all get the services that we need then increasing costs need to be met by the country and a charge as suggested should be introduced, but instead of a separate charge why not just progressive and general taxation, its far simpler, fairer and requires less administration .

Chesham 2 - St Neots 0

In the past people have been far too quick to talk down Chesham, as a sleepy backwater full of urbane degenerates. More recently though I've noticed that the town has begun to have a bit of a spring in its step, a certain vibrancy and positivity within its population which could really make it into something special in the future. The people of Chesham never used to know how lucky they were, and now they are beginning to realize and it feels great. So i'm going to take a quick look at a few things that Chesham does really well.

Community

There may be several distinct area in Chesham but each has its own personality and each belongs to Chesham. Collectively there are some real positive things going on, Be it my own Community Orchard project, The Pop-Up restaurant, The Art shop, Local food market, Carnival, Transition town. The list is literally endless and full of people getting together to do something fun locally. None of these activities cost the earth, and they aren't essential but that's whats good about them. They all are generated from the ground up, and they are led by local people who just want to do something locally. We're not short of local heroes either, you don't have to look to hard to bump into someone doing something good locally, and you know what it makes a difference. The local facilities too are good We have our own Library, 2 swimming pools and a number of local community halls. The churches and mosques are open and inclusive and together they pull together in the name of Chesham. I've even heard rumors of something awesome happening on the High street on the 12th at 1pm, involving foxes perhaps? Something that St Neots can only dream of.

Sport

Who'd of thought it but even from a sporting perspective things are on the up At the weekend the mighty Generals beat St Neots 2 Nil to stretch the unbeaten run to 11 games, we have a fairly decent cricket club a brilliant community focused rugby club not to mention a burgeoning Bowls league that St Neots can only dream of. International sport too finds its home in Chesham, this year stage 6 of the Tour of Britain brings the worlds best cyclists to our doorstep. Hands down we beat St Neots int he sporting department.

Commercial activities

Now here you must all think St Neots has a chance but you know what its blown out of the water. OK we don't have a McDonalds, a KFC, or a pizza Express. OK, so all the chain stores don't see value in our little high street and you won't find an M&S in our town, but you know what? We don't need any of that rubbish, they are what kills a high street and makes it just like any other so if you do want a New Look go ahead move to St Neots, We'll keep our Butcher, Baker and our Candlestick maker. Does St Neots have a brewery shop? No, what about 2 different markets? A cobbled High Street that kids can run around and enjoy themselves with ease? Ok so we have a few too many charity shops and not enough restaurants, but even our charity shops are good, well stocked and with lots of rich peoples cast offs. So what if we're a quiet Waitrose Town but at least you can do your shopping in piece. There are also some hidden gems in Chesham too that only the aficionados would discover, How about a bit Chiltern ridge apple juice for  Or Auberge de Chocolate, which make high class chocolaty goodness right on our doorstep. We've even got an entirely fictional bus service. So St Neots Do your worst what have you got that our high street doesn't?

Environment

So St Neots, Here is our trump card, does the Abbreviation AONB mean anything to you? Whats that you say your nearest bit of natural eye candy is the Norfolk broads? HA! I laugh in you general direction. Chesham is Beautiful Its official it is right next to An Area Of Natural Beauty, and a natural gateway to the Chilterns which is internationally recognized as a natural haven, right on the edge of one of the worlds greatest Cities, (No St Neots 60 miles is not close and Cambridge isn't that great). Not only do we have Red Kites everywhere, but we have several endangered and special species both of flowers, and animals, including a Butterflies which you only get on chalk aquifers. If your anywhere in Chesham I could spin you around and set you off in a straight line and within 5 minutes you would be in a natural wonder with vistas worthy of the lake district or the Highlands, and all of this is a well kept secret so you don't get overwhelmed with tourists, Other than the odd coach load of DofE students.

Killer Fact

I could go on about the History, the People, the gardens, not to mention the Beer. But i'll leave all that for later posts, so for now I'll leave you with one last Killer Fact and a challenge to St Neots. So the killer fact on why Chesham trounces St Neots is Lama's! Go on St Neots Show me the Lama*!

* This actual Lama is not actually a resident of Chesham, The real ones are a little camera Shy.

Devil May Care - Classic Bond, Re-told

Devil May Care captures the spirit of Fleming perfectly, and does so without the outdated attitudes of the time. In terms of plot its exactly what you'd expect from a bond story, even if it is a touch too movie orientated. All the key elements are there, the car chases, the gadgets, the women, the Megalomaniac with a physical deformity and a grand plan to bring down the British Empire. Its a good holiday read, and for fans of Fleming, the novel continues on smoothly from previous stories, but whilst Fleming seems to have grown tired by the end, Faulks is revitalized and brings the story alive with his creativity and a way of building a plot that despite the story having been told 20 times before still excites.

The original Bond novels where by today's standards racist, sexist and homophobic, which at times made them hard reading and would almost certainly have prevented Fleming from getting published in today's world. So Faulks had a challenge to keep true to a Bond that in its nature was outdated and a sociological dinosaur, especially as the story carries on directly from "The Man With The Golden Gun". Faulks does this by focusing on Bond's recovery and deliberately introducing an aspect of modernisation into the secret service, and the wider world order, which places Bond as the old guard, and allows significantly toned down views, so he remains sexist but realizes that its an outdated view, there is a gay character who is the figure of some ridicule, but its done in a way that openly reflects the time. What isn't there is the crass Bond who magically cures the Lesbian instincts of Pussy Galore, and gone too is the racisim, instead Faulks focuses on how Gorner (Arch Criminal with Anglophobia and a dodgy hand) manipulates and exploits those in poverty. The result is that it allows the Bond character to be re-positioned in a world and an age that Flemming lived but that has thankfully moved on from.

Another change in storytelling since Fleming's day, has been the increase in sex and swearing and violence in novels. So Devil may care certainly does notch up the descriptive nature , But comparatively to other modern fiction it remains conservative, and thankfully Faulks is very tasteful about Bond's woo'ng of the love interests, and has managed to stay away from swearing almost entirely. One thing that hasn't been modernised in Bonds character is the drinking and especially the smoking, we find the main characters smoking at every interval, and whilst it undoubtedly would have been the case at the time, i don't like the growing trend of role models smoking in modern fiction and TV.

There are some nice references to earlier novels that pop up throughout the book and for those who have read the Flemming back catalog they will jump off the page, but for those new to Bond they will just add a little bit of color to the story. A number of old stories are name checked and old arch-villains referenced all in order to give the bond character depth for new readers. Some of the familiar characters of the past make a reappearance too, Leiter, Ponesenby, Housekeeper May, and of course M and Moneypenny But sadly no reference to Quarrel,or his decadence.

I've certainly read more gripping stories with more complicated plots and better developed characters. I've read more realistic crime novels and certainly more believable plot lines. But none of this is what bond is about and ultimately as a Bond novel Devil May Care certainly stands its own, and it's up there with the best of Fleming Bond stories. Its light hearted even humorous at times yet still packs a punch rattles along at a pace and manages to make the incredible seem plausible and great evil seem laughable. The books should be great escapism for those stuck on a busy commuter train, and easy to read on the beach in some far off land. With such an expectations would have been very easy for a talented writer such as Faulks to have retained too much of his own depth and to have completely miss-played the story, but thankfully Devil May Care was an easy and enjoyable read throughout, and noble addition to the Bond plot line.