It's like global warming?

Back in the heady days, when I set my blog up, last September to be accurate, one of my first blogs was about the US sub-prime market and its likely impact.

Take a look at,

http://soapboxcorner.blogspot.com/2007/09/only-birds-are-coming-home.html

The birds are now indeed coming home to roost and we are all going to catch the cold. Greed, overspending and misleading business practices is hitting us all, not just the villains this time.

I cannot predict where its all going to end but something tells me it wont be as bad as some suggest. Because we are linked in this global framework, democrats, communists and fascists alike.

Somehow I feel the storm will settle and the feared recession will simply become a bumpy, yet significant correction with no one fully escaping.

In the end, we will all have to pay something. Perhaps this will be justice after all. Some will lose their home and some will just lose money. A bit like global warming?

Porcelain & Pottery Restorer

The 16th January is a special day, it's the birthday of a very special lady, who I believe is one of England's finest and most dedicated antique ceramic restorers.

For some years, Polly Bacon has applied her delicate skill to some of the most beautiful pieces of porcelain and pottery to bring them back to their former glory having been damaged or broken by their owners.

Polly's work was featured in the Yorkshire Life magazine in April 2005 and her work has been widely recognised in the antiques trade as well as from many private clients.


To see examples of Polly's work, visit her website at: WWW.BODYTALK.COM


Many happy returns Polly Bacon, a very special lady.

Rhys Jones

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has had a private meeting with Stephen and Melanie Jones, the parents of murdered schoolboy Rhys Jones.

The meeting with Mr and Mrs Jones took place during a visit to Merseyside, where the 11-year-old was shot dead last summer, which horrified any right minded person, in a crime which is unsolved.

The quiet dignity displayed by Stephen and Melanie Jones after losing their precious child was both heartbreaking and inspirational.

No fanfare by Mr and Mrs Jones, no fancy PR spin machine paid for by wealthy backers, just an ordinary hard working couple, gripped by unimaginable grief.

Sadly, nothing will bring back young Reece Jones, but his mum and dad will ensure his memory is respected forever through their dignity and humility.

Charles Edward Bacon

Private Charles Edward Bacon 2935, 2nd/5th Bn., [Prince of Wales Own] West Yorkshire Regiment died in Le Harve hospital France, on the 26th January 1917. He joined up in 1914 at the age of 36 and trained in Harrogate and Bedfordshire until his embarkation on the 6th January 1917.

The regimental war diary confirms, the 2nd/5th Bn stayed under canvass on the night of the 6th January 1917 and the following day, one man [Private Bacon] was taken to Quai d' Escale hospital in Le Harve, where he died at the age of 38, on the 26th January 1917. His body was laid to rest in ST. Marie Cemetery, Le Harve.

What is extraordinary about this unremarkable story, is Private Bacon's wife, Hilda, a mother of five, was escorted by the War Department, from her home in Hawes, a sleepy backwater of Wensleydale in North Yorkshire all the way to France to see my Grandfather before he died. This was at a time time when hundreds of men were dieing for their King and Country and would never see their families again.

In the book Wensleydale Remembered by Keith Taylor published in 2004, it is suggested Private Bacon died of pneumonia but was ill before his battalion set off from France and that he should not have traveled at that time. Whatever the truth about his illness and subsequent death, Charles Edward Bacon joined the army in 1914 and served his Country until his death in 1917.

It has bee recently discovered Private Charles E Bacon 2935, was awarded The British Medal 1914-1918 and the Victory Medal 1914-1919, but sadly his wife and family never knew.

I take this opportunity to pay tribute to my Grandfather who served faithfully and gave his life for his country and to his late wife Hilda Isabel Auton who struggled on to raise five young children after he died.