On the election trail: Day 2 - B is for Beadnell and Boats
After a chilly start in Beadnell, the sun decided to come out and our glorious blue Northumbrian sky returned over Bamburgh Castle.
Beadnell was surprisingly busy, considering so many of the village's houses are holiday homes. This is a continuing challenge for the community, not only during winter months, but also more widely in that large numbers of those house owners manage to avoid making contributions to the local economy by avoiding business rates or council tax. I am determined to work with the new Conservative administration at County Hall to find a better solution. We love our tourists, they bring much to the local economy and support many seasonal jobs, but the village and local roads & buses infrastructure could do with fairer support from all householders, not just those who are based in glorious Beadnell 12 months of the year.
Stopping off in Bamburgh to catch up with some of the local businesses (& a sneaky cream tea for elevenses!) we discovered a creative hub of gentlemen who are building a traditional skiff. Truly beautiful workmanship and a delightful team spirit to build one of the old-style Northumbrian boats. I can't wait to go back and visit later in the year to see how this Grace Darling (its almost compulsory for any boat from Bamburgh to be so named, she being the young lighthouse keeper's daughter who helped rescue the crew of the Forfarshire in a great storm off the Farne Islands in 1838).
The critical component of day 2 was that I have submitted my nomination papers to the Council to stand as the nominated Conservative candidate and they have been accepted. So it is actually official! We don't yet know who else will definitely be standing, because nothing is certain until the nomination deadline at 4pm this Thursday: but we are expecting Labour, Libdem and Green candidates, and UKIP have said that they are not fielding a candidate. So we shall see if there are others yet declared who choose to participate in the great democratic process of a British general election. It is a humbling experience to present yourself for election, and certainly unlike anything else!
Tomorrow: C is for ... cat?
Requests for Cat of the Day to challenge my Dog of the Day are coming in - its just much harder to take a picture of a cat!