Contradiction

Years ago I was waiting at a bus stop on Ecclesall Road in Sheffield, As the bus approached, I could see that two passengers were moving along to the driver's perspex cab. That meant the bus would be stopping so I didn't bother sticking out my arm.

When I got on the bus ready to pay my fare, the driver said, "If you want a bus to stop mate, you should stick your arm out!"

"But I could see two passengers were getting off here."

"It doesn't make any difference, You've still got to stick your arm out."

"Oh!"

Two weeks later, I was standing at the same bus stop. A number 88 appeared and once again I could see that a couple pf passengers were approaching the bus's exit door. Nevertheless, I stuck my arm out, remembering what the bus driver had said several days before.

When I mounted the bus ready to tender my fare, the driver spoke to me.

"Didn't you see that there were people getting off?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's obvious isn't it? When people are getting off a bus it's going to stop so there's no need to stick your arm out!"

Dodgers

It comes as no surprise but The Paradise Papers reveal that they are all at it. It appears that where ever there is wealth, there will also be unscrupulous tax dodging. 

At the top of the tree, there are huge companies like Apple and Amazon, exploiting all the tax loopholes they can find to avoid paying their dues. They move their millions across international borders to stay one step ahead of  legitimate pursuit.

At the other end of the wealth spectrum, you find minor comedy actors from television like Patrick Houlihan and Martin and Fiona Delany. They have had their fees paid into companies based in Mauritius which they later access in the form of tax-free loans.

In my way of thinking it is all quite disgusting. Of course, it has been going on for decades. Many of England's great eighteenth century country houses were funded by shameless tax dodgers who, just like Lewis Hamilton and  Bono, did their damnedest to avoid paying up.

Countries contain societies and to function effectively these societies  need numerous  things which require public funding. We need roads and schools, hospitals and social workers, police and fire officers,  refuse collection and environmental expertise, soldiers and coastguards. The list is very long and to have these necessities, taxation is vital. We must all pay up in the understanding that this is partly what being a member of a society is all about. If you avoid, evade or dodge your tax responsibilities you are effectively passing your part of the bill to fellow citizens.

It's like attending a group meal in a restaurant and then slipping away when the bill appears at the table. 

Ordinary salaried workers, low paid workers and  people who work in the public sector have  little potential for dodging tax. They pay their dues. Yet if they flee restaurants without paying their bills they will be pursued and brought to book for their dishonest evasion.

As you can deduce, I have no sympathy whatsoever for tax dodgers, They will often protest that their avoidance happens within the bounds of existing tax legislation but they know that what they are doing is selfish and immoral. As this morning's "Daily Mirror" headline suggests, they are indeed "parasites" and the sooner international laws catch up with them the better.

Tony

Old friend Tony was over in Sheffield for the weekend.

We saw our team, Hull City, sadly thrashed by Sheffield United  on Saturday afternoon. In the evening, we went for lovely curry meals in "Urban Choola" before calling in at the local pub for a pint. It was very noisy so after we had supped up we came home to watch "Match of the Day".

On Sunday morning, I made bacon sandwiches followed by hunks of melon. Then we went out into the diamond blue morning for a circular walk by Stanage Edge. Tony hadn't been up there for years because he moved away from Sheffield almost thirty years ago.

We all enjoyed the walk and the lovely colours that the autumn sunshine defined. Long time visitors to this blog may vaguely remember some of my previous solitary excursions to Stanage Edge. It was nice to be up there with Mrs Pudding and Tony. I was the best man at his wedding twenty nine years ago. 

It's nice to have a friend like Tony. We have so much mutual history and later this month we shall attend his youngest daughter's wedding back in East Yorkshire. It should be a happy and memorable event even though Tony split from his wife a few years back. It was painful and acrimonious. That''s how the world often seems to go these days

Guilty

The culprits were sitting nervously outside The Speaker's office. It was rather like waiting outside the headmaster's study back at prep school.

From behind the sturdy oak door, they could hear Mr Bercow berating the honourable member for Bilbury South in no uncertain  terms.

"Six complaints dating back to 1990 Mr Green-Gilbert! Six! You have let your family down! Your party down! Your country down! Your trousers down! And above all you have let parliament down!"

Rodney Green-Gilbert snivelled and looked up nervously at the Victorian wall clock  above Speaker Bercow's cluttered desk. It was time to hear the specific complaints listed in the official charge sheet.

"Number one. On April 17th 1990 in Moncrieff's Bar at approximately 1.30pm you fixed  your lecherous eyes upon the shapely buttocks of Miss Dikelele Ofinkanwa, who was clearing away glasses. She reported that it was as if your eyeballs were on stalks and she felt defiled by your piercing stare."

Rodney claimed no knowledge of this worrisome incident. His mind drifted back to his thatched family home in the rolling countryside near Bilbury. To his dear wife Felicity who he had first met up at Oxford and to their dear children - Rupert, Lilian and Edward.

"Number two.  On October 11th 1998 while walking along a corridor that leads to The Terrace Bar, The Right Honourable Member for Hastings accidentally dropped a sheaf of constituency papers on the floor. You bent down to help her to pick them up and as you did so you deliberately stared down the front of her blouse as if enraptured by her cleavage . Needless to say, she felt traumatised by this unwarranted and most ungentlemanly behaviour."

Rodney squirmed as the litany of charges continued. He pictured Felicity and the children waving from their front door framed by wisteria. Finally, Mr Bercow reached the final charge..

"Number six. On October 28th of this very year while riding in a crowded lift to the fifth floor of Portcullis House you lewdly and disgustingly pressed your body into the back of LibDem intern Miss Sara Pippin, aged twenty three. Miss Pippin is now receiving professional counselling and has been on compassionate leave for the past week."

John Bercow sighed and turning his back on Green-Gilbert he looked out of his leaded window towards The River Thames where a tourist boat was carrying international visitors towards Tower Bridge. Behind his back, he rubbed his stubby little hands together, realising that the purges had only just begun. Trembling, Rodney Green-Gilbert headed for the door, fully realising that his promising parliamentary career was now effectively over.

Greyness

What is it with these weather folk? On Wednesday, they were telling me that there would be a lot of sunshine in our region on Thursday but when Thursday morning came, they had changed their tune. Now they were forecasting a day of cloud cover. Is it possible to sue meteorologists for breach of promise?

Should I stay or should I go? At least there was no indication that there would be any rain. I had an interesting eight mile walk planned but beforehand I would have a fifty minute drive down to the Derbyshire village of Brassington. Perhaps I should have saved that walk for a sunny day but I decided to go anyway. 

St James's Church in Brassington

I had parked up on Well Street in Brassington by eleven o'clock. As I was donning my boots I eyeballed the nearby pub - "Ye Olde Gate Inn" which American and antipodean visitors to this blog may wish to note was established in 1616. Apparently, there are some oak beams in there which were taken from ships belonging to the Spanish Armada.

But your trusty correspondent had no intention of whiling away the afternoon quaffing jugs of foaming beer in a historic village pub. Instead, I set off on my long circular walk heading west then north to the former High Peak Railway, then east to Harborough Rocks, south to Carsington and then westwards back to Brassington.

I must apologise for the accompanying photographs. On a bright, sunny day they would have been sharp and colourful but on a grey, overcast day they emerge looking rather washed out. I guess there can be a certain subtle attractiveness with such pictures but I prefer to see the scenes around me illuminated nicely by the big spotlight in the  sky.

In Carsington

Guy Fawkes in Carsington before being moved
to a traditional bonfire on November 5th

Loncliffe

Triangulation pillar on Harborough Rocks
In the distance you can see Carsington Water

Hindsight

I am going out for more walking, exploration and photo-snapping in Derbyshire today but before putting my key in Clint's ignition, I thought I would share some more pictures with you. They were taken last Friday - the same day that I visited Alsop-en-le-Dale with its much-loved little church. It was a beautiful day.

Here's moss growing on a limestone wall near Tissington:- 

Here's the farmhouse of Manor Farm in Alsop-en-le-Dale:-

Here's a view of Johnson's Knoll south of Biggin:-

Here's a cow calmly observing me from a field north of Parwich:-

Here's the triangulation pillar on Aleck Low. It was erected here in the 1920's in relation to the Ordnance Survey's drive to map our country ever more accurately. The pillars are now largely redundant because modern technology has overtaken old-fashioned triangulation. Just behind the pillar, the raised ground is the site of a 4000 year old burial mound.

On my way home, I stopped to take this picture of the little mere in the village of Monyash:-

Soon it will be time to drive out there again. Perhaps I will gather more pictures to share with you. Cheerio!

Terminology

I think we all know what "misogyny" means. It is a word that has been cropping up quite a lot recently - stemming partly from the vile boasts of the present boorish inhabitant of The White House and from revelations about the seedy private life of film mogul Harvey Weinstein.

 misogyny - dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women.

Yes. The word "misogyny" is becoming a very current term. A spotlight has been scouring Britain's political institutions where misogyny has been rife in some quarters. It seems that many men in powerful roles have habitually taken advantage of junior females in the Westminster bubble. 

It's so wrong. I spent most of my years as a teacher working alongside women. They were my equals as they proved day after day. We were colleagues or what Americans call "co-workers". We were on the same mission and it was important to help and support one another.

However, just occasionally I would come across women who were what my late mother would have called "man haters". Their underlying prejudice towards men would in many ways echo the traits of the worst misogynists.

The other day it occurred to me that nobody ever seems to use the term that parallels "misogyny". Do you know what it is? I will tell you:-

misandry - dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against men.

Its lack of use suggests that this word is somehow taboo. What do you think? Perhaps I should have remained behind the parapet.