During an embarrassing spate of narcissistic indulgence last
night I found myself lost in my own post of the previous day, the one about the
misericords of St Mary The Virgin at Minster-in-Thanet. I find as I enter my
dotage this sort of self-appreciation only too common, and then it hit me.
Is this a carving of a witch and his or her familiars riding
on a broomstick? I suppose it could be a carving of a senior citizen dealing
with some sort of difficult personal problem with stick of some sort, while his
or her pets looked on.
As the carvings are datable to between 1410 and 1419, I
guess this must be the oldest depiction of a witch on a broomstick.
Perhaps witchfinding is something I have a special gift for,
I've never looked before and I doubt you get a special uniform these days, but
I quite fancy the hat ibid - inverted flowerpot with rim.
Perhaps there is somewhere I ought to report this possible
discovery, a witchfinder general, or some such person.
On to Manston, I can already hear the groan dear reader, but
this is a flying post, so here we go.
Viewing Manston Airport from broomstick height above Ramsgate,
at the height of the airport's activity - about four planes a day - you can see
(if you click compulsively on the picture above, sorry below, senior moment with itc broomstick and tarot pad) an aeroplane parked at Manston
(middle of the horizon).
Anyway despite Magna Carta saying loads of stuff about not
taking away someone's land, it seems it is possible to take land from a UK
landowner and hand it to an American if you use cpo powers
However as you can see from the photo that turning Manston
into an airfreight hub will affect lots of people, and one of the things about cpos
is that everyone affected can claim compensation.
My own feelings are, that if cpo proceedings start, there
will a spate of no win no fee offers to us locals from the men in wigs.
Think you are right. Being a cliffsend resident. I have already been offered over £1500 for blight caused by the EKA road. Manston plus the parkway will I am sure mean more blight chaser letters dropping through my letterbox
ReplyDeleteIt looks like TG Aviation has given up its lease and premises at Manston. This is a quote which just appeared on the I Love Ramsgate blog: "Following the closure and subsequent sale of Manston Airport in 2014, the new and the former landowners have reached agreement with TG Aviation Ltd for the surrender of the leasehold premises from which it formerly operated and its orderly departure from the same. Both the new and the former landowners wish TG Aviation Ltd well in its ongoing and future flying training activities."
ReplyDelete"It has been heart breaking but this should allow us to clear our debts and give us a chance to return to Manston should Riveroak want us to. We were unaware until late this afternoon that an application has already been made by Lothian Shelf 718 Ltd for change of use on our former premises to industrial use."
So if the quote that TG Aviation can now pay pf their debts is true, it begs the question of whether they were in financial trouble before the airport closed or because of the closure?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they will still be involved in organising the campaign to reopen the airport or whether they will call it a day now that they've taken the money.
ReplyDeleteDave,
ReplyDeleteI think that the evidence to the Select Committee, and a statement from TG implied that TG Aviation and the two other aviation tenants were in rent arrears before the closure announcement.
I would imagine that TG's failed attempt to get an injunction at the High Court last July wasn't cheap either...
All in all a very sad situation for anyone to find themselves in, I hope they are now able to rebuild their business from Lydd.
Personally, I have no objection in principle to an airport being retained (or re-opened) on the site. My overriding concern is a practical one - given the unsuccessful efforts of a succession of private enterprises, it seems pretty obvious that an airport is simply not viable. What amazes me is that right-wing politicians like Roger Gale - usually unswerving devotees of private enterprise - continue to kick against this conclusion and chase the fantasy of an aviation-based option. What also amazes me is that Gale still refuses, or fails, to reveal exactly what his "friends" in Government are doing to further what is fast becoming his vanity project. Their silence speaks volumes.
ReplyDelete