Stockport Air Raid Shelters

I went down into the old Stockport Air Raid Shelters yesterday. They are tunnels dug into the sandstone cliff and they go right underneath the town centre. During the Blitz thousands of people would hide in perfect safety in the tunnels while the bombs were dropping.

The tunnels are great. They are about 1 mile long and could provide shelter for 6,500 people. The shelters were fitted with basic amenities: electric lights, benches and bunk beds, flushing toilets (not pretty), first aid post and sick bay. During the war the shelters were nicknamed the Chestergate Hotel because of the ‘luxurious’ standard of accommodation they offered.

It only costs £4.50 to go down into the tunnels but guided tours do cost more. There is the inevitable gift shop but I didn’t see a café. If you are stuck for something to do this summer you could do a lot worse than visit the Stockport Air Raid Shelters.

BWFC Pre-Season

A lot of Bolton fans are kicking off about us having a “crap” pre-season. Pre-season form means absolutely nothing. The games are nothing more than semi-competitive training sessions. I wouldn’t mind this pre-season hasn’t actually been that bad so far.

I know relegation was painful and that Owen Coyle does need to regain the confidence of the fans. I just think that now, more than ever, it is important that we all get behind the team and the manager. If we can go straight back up we’ll be fine. If we get stuck in the Championship things could get a lot worst before they get better.

Let’s look forward to a good season that ends with a championship and promotion back to the Premier League.

COME ON YOU WHITES!!!

Guns!!!

There has been another mass-shooting in America. A 24 year old man got up half way through a screening of the new Batman film and opened fire on the other people in the theatre. At the time of writing this the current death toll is 14 with at least 50 others injured. I feel so sorry for the people caught up in the incident. It’s come to something when a night at the movies can end in such horrific circumstances.

How does a 24 year old man in the richest country on Earth become so fucked up that he decides to shoot a cinema full of young people just out for a good time? I’m not excusing what he has done and he should be locked up for life but people aren’t born evil. They usually end up that way because of years of systematic abuse or some other kind of serious childhood trauma. This might have been in the home or it could have been at school. I can’t believe movies, video games or rap music are the cause. Maybe he just had a chemical imbalance in his brain that led him into this tragedy.

Incidents like this do happen in other parts of the Western world but seem particularly prevalent in the US. So what is it about America that results in this type of incident occurring on a fairly regular basis? In the UK we do have a problem with violent crime and violent behaviour but guns are very hard to obtain and are generally only found in the hands of gang members and serious criminals. If someone with no criminal connections suddenly goes mental it doesn’t usually result in mass-murder. Even if the person wanted to shoot people it is unlikely they would be able to obtain a gun. A UK citizen who is not involved in gangs or serious criminality is very unlikely to be involved in a shooting incident.

Guns seem to be an integral part of American culture. It’s like a hangover from the Wild West. Combine that with the crazy US gun laws and you have a recipe for disaster. Guns are easy to obtain and many people keep a gun at their home. The right to bear arms is in the US constitution but surely the time has come re-evaluate the law and introduce much stricter gun controls. Sadly, I don’t think it will happen in an election year because Obama wouldn’t dare face the backlash from the powerful gun lobby and the right wing media. If the gun laws can’t be changed maybe a period of national self-reflection is needed to try and bring an end to the misery guns bring to thousands of Americans every year.

I'm Still Here....

I’ve not updated my BLOG for ages. I would say I’ve been busy but that would be bollocks. I just got out of the habit of updating it.

It’s been another year of highs and lows and peaks and troughs. I just count my blessings and keep on plodding along. In many ways I’m lucky. Despite redundancy offers I’m still in work and I’ve still got a roof over my head (mainly thanks to the roofer who sorted out my damaged slates this morning). I know a lot of people haven’t been so lucky and my thoughts are with them.

I’ve not been to many gigs so far this year as there haven’t been many I wanted to see. I went to Noel Gallagher a couple of months back where he proved beyond doubt that he is far more talented than his knob-head brother. I also went to the Stone Roses reunion gig at Heaton Park. I loved the Stone Roses when I was a teen so it was a very special night that brought back some great memories. It was dry the night we went so my specially purchased cool as fuck US Army surplus Poncho wasn’t needed!

There has been a lot of bad publicity in relation to the London Olympics over the last couple of weeks. The G4S security cock up, the thousands of tickets that have suddenly come on sale for the “sold out” events and the traffic / public transport problems in London are all genuine areas of concern. Despite all this I’m really looking forward to the Olympics. I admit I’m biased as I managed to get a ticket for the athletics but even if I wasn’t going I would still be excited about the games starting. I’ve loved watching the Olympics on the television since being a child. I think it’s great they are being held in Britain. I’m sure once it all gets going the media and public will be much more enthusiastic.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that at some point we will get something resembling a summer but I’m not holding my breath. They do say the Jet Stream is slowly starting to move north so we might get a bit of sunshine. I don’t know if it’s because of climate change or just part of the normal cycle of weather patterns but either way the seasons just seem to be totally screwed up.

That’s all for now but I will try and get back in the habit of updating regularly.