Bennett's World

About to Leave for Denmark

2010-09-24T15:15:00.003+01:00

Tomorrow, 25 October 2010, I'm going by bus form Brighton to Aalborg, Denmark. I shall be attending the ADBN conference and the USG meeting before it. ADBN stands for Acquired Deafblind Network and USG stands for Usher Study Group. You knew that, didn't you? In the last few weeks, my new techie reader, Ash, has been updating my computer system and removing viruses. He has also updated my Flickr photo gallery and all my photos are now on it. I remind you that you can go to my Flickr photo gallery by clicking on this link: http://www.flickr.com/hova Over and out Colin

News Update: 19 September 2010

2010-09-19T12:05:00.005+01:00

I must apologise to the readers of my blog (both of them) for my long silence. The silence is due to my having been out of the UK for many weeks this Summer. In June and July, I was back in Hungary and in August I went to the European Deafblind Holiday in Tubingen, Germany. After that Holiday, I went on a short coach tour with Annina to Austria. On returning home, I encountered problems with my computer which have now been remedied by my new reader, Ash. Alice, my wonderful reader for some years, gained her MA in Brighton and has moved away to Kent, although I do see her every couple of months.

The main purpose of this posting is for Ash to make himself au fait with the workings of my blog. I hope soon to post some photos and some articles on my blog.

Greetings from Hove. We have very pleasant early Autumn weather here at present. September is usually a nice month here in Brighton & Hove.

Colin Bennett

A Winter in Hungary

2010-07-22T10:57:00.001+01:00

Most British people have some idea where Hungary is but would be hard put to place it exactly or to tell you much about it. They might know it has one of Europe's most difficult and "lonely" languages with no connection to its Germanic or Slavic neighbours and they would be right. It so happens that I am interested in all countries. Every year I attend the European Deaf Blind Holiday which in 2008 was held in Sopron, western Hungary. It was very well organised by the Hungarian Deafblind Association and I enjoyed it enormously. I gained some good friends employed or volunteering for the association and I made some vague noise about perhaps being able to do some voluntary work in Hungary in the future. I was told that this would be very difficult because Hungary is a bureaucratic country. In fact it is not particularly bureaucratic, in my view and by pulling one or two strings I was able to get a "job" in the city of Debrecen in eastern Hungary during the winter of 2009 to 2010. Debrecen is the second city of Hungary and a long way from Budapest which I was pleased about. I was pleased about this because Budapest does dominate the country.

It was agreed that I would start work at the Feher Bot Alipetveny which as we all know means the White Cane Foundation in late September 2009. In fact, events interpose and I was not able to start until 6 November 2009.

Dr Szabo Miklos (in Hungarian they always put the surname first) is totally blind and the founder and current President of the Foundation. He made this offer to me; they would provide board and lodging in the Foundation's main building in Debrecen but could not pay me any salary. That was ok by me. I would help by encouraging "clients" to learn or improve their English as part of rehabilitation work. I would also help the staff if they desired that. So, early on 6 November I took the National Express bus to Gatwick from Brighton where as always I had a very speedy passage through all the formalities right up until the departure lounge. In fact the driver of the coach had arrived at Gatwick a little early and left his machine and took me right into Gatwick airport right up to the check-in desk. I do get spoilt rotten but I suppose it does have something to do with the £50 tips I give! Seriously, I often send thank you letters to travel providers and I think these are appreciated. It was a beautiful sunny Autumn day and I was looking forward to arriving in Budapest at the scheduled time of 1pm as my friend Marta was waiting for me there at the airport. We all boarded and we taxied towards the take off and then the aeroplane had to go back to the terminal block because there had been some bomb scare on the plane. There was no real problem but an hour was wasted and of course I was an hour late at Budapest. I arrived at Budapest Terminal 2B which is the most inconvenient terminal for the Budapest airport railway station. You have to catch a bus and then mount interminable steps over a main highway, my suitcase was heavy and Marta is only slightly built. She is good at egging me on but not so good at carrying things. Hungarian trains are not the easiest to board especially if you have heavy luggage because there are several steps up. However, we found a burly man and his son and they hauled me up into the train and put me into my reserved seat. It is generally necessary to get a reservation on a long distance train in Hungary. The only problem for me with that is that if I am alone I cannot see the numbers of the carriages or the seat numbers. So, I never know where to wait on the platform. Anyway, as always things went ok. Hungarian long distance trains are very satisfactory they are clean comfortable and well lit and I soon found myself sitting next to an amiable Hungarian woman who turned out to speak good English. She had been working in London for 2 years but had hardly met any English people there so she was glad to practise her English on me. The journey to Debrecen took a bit over 2 hours and it soon became dark. I HATE DARKNESS and every RP or Usher person will agree. I was going to be met at Debrecen railway station but even so it is an ordeal for us arriving at a strange place after dark. I was helped off the train and my suitcase was taken away from me by whom I did not know. It was actually by Alex from the Foundation who had come to meet me. It was cold, rainy, windy and dark and I could not understand any of the people who were meeting me. Eventually I was bundled into a minibus (I couldn't see anything) and driven to the Foundation which I was told was only 5 minutes away. It took 20 minutes because of the fiendish 1 way system and then I found myself walking up a ramp into a kitchen where I was sat down and given cheese on toast and a bottle of red wine. Nobody else wanted any of the wine so I downed the whole bottle. I thought this was all right if I was going to get a bottle of wine every night but that didn't happen again. I think they wanted me to get a good nights sleep, which I did.

In the morning I saw that my bedroom was quite nice. It was blue, I was told, and was of a good size with two large windows overlooking the court yard in which there was a peach tree. No peaches in November though. I had a good sized bed, a new wardrobe, a work table, two chairs and a very efficient gas heater. That was my home for the next 4 months. I had access to a bathroom with 24 hour piping hot water and also to a kitchen with all the things you need. I never did any of my own cooking as people who know me will not be surprised to learn.

I would get up every day at about 7, potter around in the bathroom and kitchen until I went to the main part of the Foundation next door where I would begin my daily work at 8. This would consist of lessons to clients or staff for a few hours in the morning and afternoon. Quite often I would go to outlying branches of the Foundation in towns some way from Debrecen where I would give classes. This usually involved staying overnight in the buildings which I enjoyed. I was also able to go sometimes on their outreach work visiting and collecting clients. Of course it was winter and there was often snow on the ground and Hungarian winters are cold. However, all the buildings are warm, not to say overheated and my little flat was very cosy for those 4 months.

What I particularly enjoyed doing was visiting some schools in the City. One was for visually impaired children and was partly a boarding school. The classes were small and the children very polite and eager to learn. Hungarian children are quite well-educated and they all had some knowledge of English but had never spoken to an English person. I had a lot of fun in those classes especially as my unorthodox methods (we will say no more!) spread through the school and I had more and more classes to attend. Some of my pupils were autistic and were extremely knowledgeable about certain subjects which they were eager to talk about. They could be a bit taxing. Another school I visited was a vocational school for children who were going to join the health service and they had a few visually impaired children in their classes. I enjoyed that too.

Public transport in Debrecen is good. They have a tram system and I like trams. They were two types of trams: Old and clanky, new and silent. I didn't like the latter because I could not hear them coming and nor could other people. I never went out alone at night when the trams could be seen coming because they were lit. Incidentally they were very well lit inside. In the day time, when I often did go out alone and when the trams were not lit I tended not to hear or see them coming so I always stayed with the crowd. By the way, all the tram stops are announced and that is a great help. In Budapest, the tram stops are announced in Hungarian and English. The bus system is good too and all the stops are announced automatically. At most street junctions audible announcements tell you what street you are crossing. There are virtually no obstructions on the pavements. Something surprised me. They don't seem to use "articles for the blind" stickers or envelopes. You take your letter to the post office and tell them they are for blind people. This seems to be a complicated way of doing things. Also, they no longer seem to use cassette tapes but CDs and memory sticks. They have the same problems as we do in older people not wanting to come to terms with their disabilities and not going out or declining to carry white canes. Unemployment is a very big social problem in Hungary especially among blind people who are generally not expected to work. The State does subsidise organisations that employ disabled people but usually disabled people do not work. Travel is quite good for blind people because there is a 90 percent discount on all public transport including the Budapest Metro. Public transport is free for all people over 65 - not that I can imagine being over 65.

Debrecen is in the Great Hungarian Plain and the land is really, really flat. In the Summer because the land is so flat there are mirages as there are in the desert where you can see pools of water that do not exist. The land is extremely fertile and is considered to be the best in Europe and until the great changes of 1989 the area was one vast fruit field but their main markets, the Comecom countries have shrunk. The health system is still good although it has been partly privatised. Education is good by our standards although the older Hungarians complain about it. The population has shrunk from 11 million to 10 million in the last decade or so because of emigration and the lower birth rate among indigenous Hungarians. There is a lot of conflict in the country between what we have to call Roma and the Hungarians and this is not swept under the carpet. Hungarians are quite elegantly dressed and compared to us are homogeneous. Nearly everyone has very dark brown hair, brown eyes and very fair skin. The language is supposed to be connected to Finnish but I did not find that to be the case and I have lived in Finland for a year. The people are reserved and polite and there appears to be no underclass of very poor people such as you find in the UK. By our standards the people, especially the children, are overdressed. Because Hungarian is such a unique language English is widely understood by younger people although they are shy to speak it.

I was due to stay in Debrecen for a probationary period of 4 or 5 months. Everything was quite satisfactory and they were pleased with me but my classes of adults slowly shrank. I discussed this with Dr Szabo. The problem was that it is very difficult for ordinary Hungarians to learn English without formal English lessons ie by mere conversations with an English person. The structure of Hungarian is quite different from all other European languages. We decided that the best way to help Hungarians learn English is tuition by an English speaking Hungarian backed up by a conversation with an English person. It was decided that I would return to England in March and perhaps come back another time. So I did that.

I am returning to Hungary in June partly to attend the wedding of a very good friend I made in Debrecen and also to see eastern Hungary in the summer. I am also going to visit the city of Pecs in southern Hungary where there is a blind school that is eager for me to do some voluntary work there. I am very keen to encourage cooperation by organisations of and for people with sensory problems and I am an active member of the World Federation of Deafblind People. I do hope to visit and perhaps work in other countries in future years and I will write about my experiences. I took many photos while I was in Debrecen and you can see them on my Flickr Photo Gallery by going to this site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hova/

These photos need to be weeded out and I will try and get around to weeding them. I was not able to make contributions to my blog while I was in Hungary because it was difficult to find someone whose English was good enough for me to dictate to. You could say that I should type myself and you are quite right. In England I am spoilt rotten by having readers but I realise I must become more self sufficient.

End of Hungary Chapter

2010-03-14T17:03:00.003Z

I arrived home in Hove on 3 March 2010 after 4 months in Debrecen, Hungary. It is very cold here in Hove and I miss my nice warm bedroom in Debrecen. I have had uploaded to my Flickr Photo Gallery all the photos I took in Hungary up until 3 March 2010. I have no time to write a proper blog now but I wanted to tell my readers (both of them) that I have returned safely. To see the photos click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hova

Blog update from Debrecen, Hungary 3 February 2010

2010-02-03T12:40:00.007Z

Readers have noticed then I have been silent since for 4 November 2009. Sorry about that.I have not been inactive.As you can see if you visit my www.flickr.com. Colin

What has been happening to me?

2009-11-04T13:51:00.005Z

I have been so, so busy since I returned from my European trip in late August 2009. The most important activity was preparing to represent Sense (and therefore the UK since I was the only UK rep) at the Helen Keller World Conference (HKWC) and World Federation of Deafblind (WFDB) Conferences held in Munyonyo on Lake Victoria not far from Kampala which is the capital of Uganda. I shall be writing about those ten days elsewhere and I will probably put some of my reports on my blog. For the moment I just mention that it was a success from all points of view. You can see seven photos giving a taster of that time here. All the photos I took (in fact, nearly all were not taken by me!) can be found on my flickr photogallery. Click the link here to reach that gallery. My next adventure will be in Hungary. Before 6am on Friday 6 November I leave home to travel to Gatwick whence I fly to Budapest and thence to Debrecen in eastern Hungary. I'm taking up a post at the White Cane Foundation in that city which is well to the east of Budapest. I shall be teaching English to blind children and to blind adults undergoing rehabilitation training. I shall be there for some months. If you want to follow my progress I refer you to this blog. I do intend to write a book about my experiences at the foundation and I hope it will be interesting. If I knew the Hungarian for 'bye for now' I would write it. But I don't yet know it. In fact I only know five words in Hungarian, three of which I have forgotten already. Colin Bennett, Hove 4 November 2009

Today's news...

2009-09-18T16:48:00.004+01:00

Readers may wonder what I'm up to at the moment. Well, I'm preparing for two big events in my life. 1. I am representing sense at the Helen Keller World Conference near Kampala, Uganda in the last week of October 2009. I shall be writing a full report of this Conference afterwards. I hope to re-submit my Paper on weapons that I submitted to the DbI World Conference that was held in Perth, Western Australia in September 2007. 2. I am very fortunate in that I have accepted a job teaching English at the White Cane Foundation in Debrecen in eastern Hungary from early November 2009. I am really looking forward to this adventure and I shall be writing about my experiences. I hope to improve on my current stock of five Hungarian words. Here in Hove, September has been wonderful, and as I write at nearly 5pm it is still sunny outside and fairly warm. Yesterday I had some fun. I went to an auction and I bought some jewellery. In particular I bought what I consider to be a very attractive necklace of freshwater pearls. In the same auction lot was an amber necklace and another necklace with amber beads and freshwater pearls. You can see these necklaces around the lovely neck of Natalie. Who is Natalie? She is the very co-operative young woman who works in the offices just below my flat. She agreed to be the model for the necklaces. My understanding is that this is the first time she's ever been approached by a strange man asking her to model necklaces. There's always a first time... The other two photos attached to this posting are of the Beast himself at his computer- pretending to work. Sunny Hove, September 2009

I am back in circulation!

2009-09-09T14:24:00.002+01:00

Loyal readers of my blog will wonder where I have been. Have I disappeared down the great plug-hole of history? No, I have been travelling in mainland Europe. On 12 July I took off from Gatwick for Vienna where I stayed for 3 weeks. Why Vienna? Well, my "step-daughter", Kamila, lives in that city with her husband and two their two young children. Wanda, Kamila's mother who is Polish came to Vienna at the same time as I did and we attended the Christening of her two granddaughters together. We then stayed in Kamila's flat for 3 weeks visiting all the interesting parts of Vienna as well as engaging in family activities. You can see many photos of Vienna on my Flickr Photo Gallery and here is the link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hova After our successful spell in Vienna Wanda and I went by bus to Radom in Poland which is her native city via Bratislava, Slovakia. We spent some days in Radom and round about. We then went on a very interesting trip to Lwow in the Ukraine. There have been disputes between and her neighbours: Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, Germany over the centuries. Currently, Lwow is in the Ukraine and it is the most interesting and attractive city. On our return to Radom we spent some more days in that city before I went down to Salesesia where an old acquaintance of mine, Jim Parton is living in some style with his new Polish wife, Anna. more about that another day. Attached to this posting are 6 representative photos. I remind you that if you wish to see all the photos form those memorable 6 weeks I boringly repeat the link which you must click. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hova Happy viewing. I welcome comments either onto my blog or directly to me by email at : colinbbennett@palmeira.org.uk Colin Bennett, Hove

Eighth posting of 3 July 2009

2009-07-03T12:51:00.003+01:00

This is my last posting of today. I want to mention some interesting things that are going to happen to me in the next months. On about 14 July I shall be visiting Kamila and her family in Vienna. Who Kamila is will be revealed another day. After a couple of weeks I travel with Vanda to Polnad and thence to Lwow (Lvov) in the Ukraine. I return to the UK in mid-August and in mid-September I shall be attending the European DbI Conference in Senigalia, Italy. I am leaving the most exciting part to the end: I have agreed to work in a "blind" Foundation and school in eastern Hungary this Autumn, probably from October. I shall be there for some months and I think it will be an adventure. I shall be reporting on this blog.

Seventh posting of 3 July 2009

2009-07-03T12:40:00.002+01:00

I have been greatly troubled by a personal problem from the beginning of 2009. I am not going to say here what that was but it is and was very sad. However, an important and perhaps the final chapter was ended on 19 June 2009. Here is a photo of my solicitor and my reader, Alice, as we celebrated-mildly-of course, after a Court Hearing that morning. It was only the second beer I had had in the whole year.

Sixth posting of 3 July 2009

2009-07-03T12:35:00.002+01:00

Another successful City Synergy outing was held on 13 June 2009 when we attended the Worthing Regatta at-blow me down-Worthing. It was a contest of rowers so perhaps it should have been called a Rogatta. here are some photos to whet your appetite and there are others on the Flickr Photo Gallery. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hova/

Fifth posting of 3 July 2009

2009-07-03T12:31:00.002+01:00

As always, the Hearing and Sight Impaired branch of Sense (HSI) had a successful Christmas Party in 2008. This was the first one we had held at the new Sense HQ in Pentonville Road, London. Here are some illustrative photos. There are more photos on my Flickr Photo Gallery.

Fouth posting of 3 July 2009

2009-07-03T12:26:00.004+01:00

It seems a long time ago now but City Synergy held a successful Christmas Party at the White Horse, Rottingdean at the end of 2008. here are 4 representative photos.All the photos taken that day are on my Flickr Photo Gallery.

Fourth posting of 3 July 2009

2009-07-03T12:21:00.002+01:00

Those of us who have campaigned in the last few years for the retention of the Carnegie Library in Hove received a further fillip on 20 April 2009. The Council had agreed to open this library every Monday afternoon. This was to encourage school children, who perhaps did not have ideal facilities at home, to attend the library after school. The Library is now thus open 6 days a week-a situation that has not obtained for many, many years. Here I pay tribute to Christopher Hawtree of Hove, an ardent public library enthusiast, who led the campaign to save the Library from closure by the Council who must have been crazy to decide to do that.

Third posting of 3 July 2009

2009-07-03T12:15:00.004+01:00

We (my ever-efficient reader and I) just did not have the time in October to do a posting about the RNIB-led Lobby concerning DLA at the House of Commons on 15 October 2008. Attached to this posting are 4 representative photos but you can see many more by going to my Flickr Photo Gallery. here again is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hova/ As I hope everyone knows the two Lobbys (this one and the one in December 2006) were very worthwhile as success was achieved on 17 March 2009 when the Government announced that it had accepted the purpose of these Lobbys. Visually-impaired people will be entitled to claim for the Higher Rate of the Mobility Component of DLA from April 2011.

Second posting of 3 July 2009

2009-07-03T11:27:00.003+01:00

In this posting I mention a very successful trip to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight which I undertook with City Synergy on 6 June 2009. Osborne House was the home for most of her reign of Queen Victoria and is well worth visiting. It is set in lovely grounds which Victoria increased by purchasing adjacent land whenever it came on the market.To a tree freak like myself, the giant trees were particularly appealing. I am pleased to say that our guide, employed by Natural England, allowed, nay encouraged us to touch the statues etc. In this posting are 4 representative photos but as you can imagine there are more on my Flickr Photo Gallery.

Update on Colin Bennett's activities in the last quarter year

2009-07-03T11:19:00.002+01:00

I have been very busy in the months since I attended the RNIB Campaigns Weekend in Aston, Birmingham at the end of March 2009. that was the subject of my last posting. I am going to make a series of postings today, each one saying a few words about an activity accompanied by a small number of photos. One can access all the photos for all the activities by going to my Flickr Photo Gallery thus: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hova/

RNIB Campaigns weekend at Aston Convention Centre, Birmingham

2009-03-30T14:27:00.003+01:00

I attended this fruitful weekend at Aston University, Birmingham during the weekend 28-29 March 2009. The purpose was to encourage campaigning especially by VIPs themselves. England (and Wales?) has been divided into 6 areas and each area is headed by an RNIB staff member who will seek to keep his/her volunteers in line! There is nothing much to say about the weekend except that I enjoyed the wine at dinner very much. It was red, strong and plentiful-all adjectives I appreciate when it comes to wine. Attached are 4 representative photos. There are about another 18 on my Flickr web site which you can access by clicking here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hova/

Spring trip to Falmer by City Synergy

2009-03-16T11:53:00.002Z

The Ides of March, 15 March 2009, saw a break in the drap, chilly weather that we have experienced for what seems ages. That day was sunny and warm and that was very good because this was the day that City Synergy took a trip to the Swan at Falmer, near the University of Sussex north-east of Brighton. City Synergy is a social group based in Brighton and Hove of visually-impaired people their friends and helpers. There were about twenty of us yesterday and we had a very successful day. we started with lunch at the Swan and after nearly two hours (!) we staggered out to walk over the busy main road via a foot bridge to Falmer Village. WE wondered aimlessly around the green and pond for an hour or so doing nothing in particular except somewhat optimistically using a fishing met in the pond. I did catch a salmon although to be fair it was in a tin. You can see many photos of the day on my Flickr Photo Gallery by clicking the link here. In the meantime you can see 4 photos attached to this posting as an appetiser. Bon Appetit! http://www.flickr.com/photos/hova

Music week at Lauriston Hotel, weston-super-Mare

2009-03-10T12:51:00.005Z

I spent a pleasant week concerning classical music at the Lauriston Hotel, Weston-super-Mare on 28 February to 7 March 2009. I will write more about this later. The purpose of this posting is just to let people to whom I gave my business card know how to access the many photos I took that week. They are on my Flickr Photo Gallery and you can reach it by clicking here: www.flickr.com/photos/hova/ Today is 3 July 2009 and I am editing this posting. I am not going to write more about that week as it is so long ago now. However, I do now add 4 representative photos and remind you that you can see all my other photos on my Flickr Photo Gallery.

Today's Bulletin

2008-11-25T12:57:00.002Z

At last I have finished editing my article about the 11th European DB Holiday. This took place in Sopron, Hungary in August 2008. You can find this article if you go "my dossiers" and thence to travel. Happy hunting! Off to lunch!

90 years since the end of WWI

2008-11-12T14:03:00.005Z

On Saturday, 8 November 2008 I went with a group of City Synergy chums to a commemoration of the end of WWI on 11 November 1918. THis event was held at Newhaven Fort, about 9 miles east of Brighton. I have a family connection with the Fort because my late father, a gunnery expert whose military career was in the Royal Artillery had been Commandant of the Fort in the 1960s. At that time, the Fort was the centre for arranging for the disposal of World War 2 bombs on the South Downs. These were mainly British mortar shells that remained from testing ranges on the Downs. People will know that quite often mortar shells do not explode on impact but may do so many years or decades later. YOu can see more photos on my Flickr Photo Gallery and the link is www.flickr.com

Sense Lecture, November 2008

2008-11-12T13:56:00.004Z

Thursday, 6 November 2008 saw the second Annual Sense Lecture. This year it was held at the Eastman Dental School in Grays Inn Road, London. Here are 3 representative photos of this event which I attended. It was packed! You can see more photos by going to my Flickr Photo Gallery by going to www.flickr.com

Historic day: 21 October 2008

2008-10-21T11:08:00.003+01:00

For the first time I (or rather my reader , Alice) have uploaded short video clips onto my computer and thence to my Flickr Photo Gallery. You can see them and they were taken in Normandy by doing the normal thing and clicking on the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/hova/ In order to view these video clips you need to have on your computer the programme Adobe Flash Player. Most modern computers have this installed but you might need to update the version.

Keeping my hand in

2008-10-14T17:30:00.003+01:00

This is my second attempt at publishing my video in a posting. I have just learnt that I can only publish one video like this at a time.

A little video from Normandy

2008-10-14T17:19:00.004+01:00

Advancing the frontiers of knowledge.I am still learning with young tekkie friends, how to put video clips in a blog posting. I am trying to put a video clip from Bayeux Cathedral in Normandy into this posting. If this works i will be bolder next time...

Report from the Western Front (only 64 years late)

2008-10-09T15:38:00.004+01:00

I had the good fortune to participate in a Vitalise Holiday in Normandy from 3 to 8 October 2008 inclusive. I will write more about this another day but for the moment I will just state that it was a great success and I enjoyed myself very much. I took, or rather as usual, had most of them taken for me a good number of pictures. Five examples are shown here. I also had taken in error some short video clips using my digital camera. I knew I had this facility and supposed that one day I would use it but we took these videos by mistake. However, it's an ill wind....and you can see one of these video clips here on my blog. This is a first. The system does not allow me to put more than one video on each posting at a time. If you are desperate to see the other video clips then send me a telegram! As always, all the still pictures are on my Flickr Photo Gallery. Here is the link. http://www.flickr.com/ I have just discovered that the Flickr Photo Gallery will not take video clips. More another day.

Pavement Obstructions

2008-10-02T10:01:00.002+01:00

Readers will know that one of mmy obsessions is the obstruction of our pavements and public spaces by things that shouldn't be there. These photos show a completely unneccessary pole right in the middle of the pavement in Western Road, Brighton. I am about to write a letter to the Argus, my local daily, about this problem and enclosing one of these photos. You can't belive how sunny it is here today. The sun is streaming through my east-facing windows and all seems right with the world. Tomorrow morning I am setting off for a 6 day trip to Normandy; I shall be writing about that of course.

Musings on visit to Royal Garden Party on 15 July 2008

2008-10-01T13:46:00.003+01:00

Regular readers (both of you) may remember that Alice and I visited the Palace during the summer just gone. This is a more or less (perhaps more less than more) account of that pleasant day. In a posting below you will see some photos of us before we parted from Hove that day. In the next couple of weeks I will try to upload at least part of a purchased video made that day (by professionals) onto this blog. PS I'm going to Normandy for a few days from 3 October and will report on that in due course. Colin Bennett, Hove A Day to Remember. Consider this happy domestic scene: Alice, my reader, is typing away at my computer and I am bossily dictating. Such a heart-warming scene of bliss. Suddenly "brrrrr-brrrrr!". It is Dr Tony Best on the line. Tony was the Chief Executive of Sense and he wondered if I would like to represent Sense at the Royal Garden Party to be held on 15 July 2008. Tony was due to leave Sense later that summer and I suppose he felt he could be a bit reckless. I agreed and Tony said I could bring a companion. As I have no wife, live-in lover, concubine, courtesan, paramour or straightforward girlfriend I was a bit stuck! I thought I would have to rustle up a woman friend or perhaps the barmaid at The Royal Oak. However, I heard a little rustle and I turned and there was Alice, lips parted and with eyes gleaming. I sensed that she would like to come and silently I gestured to her "would you like to go?!". A squeak indicated assent. I had not known until that moment that Alice was a Royalist, although she doesn't go over the top; she seldom curtsies to me. What to wear? Readers maybe surprised to learn that I have a nice suit but strangely it's growing smaller. So I went along to Savile Row or rather the Hove branch which is known as Hove Red Cross shop. Amazingly, they had a smashing light-weight suit which fitted me like a glove. The ladies thought it was just the thing for the Garden Party and asked if I had a nice shirt to go with it. I told them I had plenty but they ignored that and produced an Italian silky job. Although I had many ties they insisted that I purchased this "special one". I was thus fully equipped for twenty quid (that's absolutely true). And now to Alice. Ladies are required to wear hats and so this was an excuse for her to buy one. She bought a floppy pink one with masses of oriental fruit atop with a squirrel draped down the back. Fortunately before the Big Day the fruit was eaten and the squirrel escaped so we did not create the sensation I had feared. The Big Day arrived with a threat of rain; it had been a damp week. However, the day turned out to be the sunniest and warmest for many weeks. I was eager to see if I could travel to London on my new free bus pass. It worked: We travelled to Victoria where we met Margaret Pickess and her daughter Ros. We all looked stunning and the crowds applauded us. There was a long queue outside Buckingham Palace but the sun was shining so.....no problem. Alice was a bit disappointed that we were all given very perfunctory searches but we all looked so respectable. We made our way to some open-air tables and queued up at the refreshment marquee for goodies. To my astonishment, the sandwiches were not square-cut. There was no alcohol but we were happy with the apple juice and iced coffee. I was content to sit by the band-stand listening to the military band playing Glen Miller numbers but Alice is made of sterner stuff. She made a good circuit of the gardens and reported back. I think she was glad to be free of me for awhile. The non-triangular sandwiches played on my mind. I button-holed the Queen and pointed out that as a loyal subject, I did expect triangular sandwiches and a bit of booze. She apologised profusely and invited Alice and myself to her Hospitality Marquee. There she plied us with exquisite sandwiches, all cut at 45 degrees, on silver plate and lashings of champagne and Pimms. HM sat there regally (a redundant word perhaps) drinking tea while her guests slipped slowly under the table. At 6pm two flunkey's arrived and scraped Alice and myself off the floor and into a Rolls-Royce. We were driven directly home to Hove. At Croydon, I woke up and noticed some peasants waiting for a bus on the kerb. I asked the chauffeur if he would drive at speed in the gutter and spray them with dirty puddle water. I've always wanted to do this as I have been a victim myself. The chauffeur was very pleased to do it and sped onto Hove. When we arrived home Alice and I were completely blotto what with the excitement the heat and the alcohol. Gently the footmen carried us inside, put us in our jim-jams and made us cups of Ovaltine. Two days later I received a very heavy envelope. It was from the Queen apologising again for the square sandwiches begging me to receive a hamper daily for the next year. Sure enough the hamper has arrived every day (except Sunday) and as I write this I am enjoying the contents. The day was very successful and although my memory may have played some tricks on me it was a day to remember. On a personal note, I found it very easy to hear people with whom I conversed on the day because we were in the open air with no walls to reflect sound. Also as most of the participants were middle aged and middle class they spoke clearly which is always a boon to me. I did find the Palace itself a bit dark but the largest private garden in London was splendid, especially for tree-freaks like Alice and myself.

European Deafblind Holiday, Sweden 2004

2008-09-18T12:42:00.007+01:00

At last I have got round to putting the article I wrote at the time about the European Deafblind Holiday held in Sweden in 2004 onto my blog. You can find it by going to All my Online Dossiers and then click on the link Travel (Conferences and Holidays). Then click on the Holidays link and then you will find the Sweden link. Don't forget you can access all the photos taken on the European DB Holidays for 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 by going to my Flickr Photo Gallery by clicking below http://www.flickr.com/photos/hova/

The article about Zagreb, April 2008

2008-09-18T12:42:00.004+01:00

We have now been able to publish on the blog my article about the EBU/EDBU Conferences held in Zagreb, Croatia in April 2008. Go to all my Online Dossiers and then click on Travel (Conferences and Holidays). Then click on Conferences and then you will see the link called EBU/EDBU Conferences in Zagreb, Croatia in April 2008. Don't forget you can look at all my photos (not only from Zagreb) by visiting my Flickr Photo Gallery. Happy viewing!

Another accomplishment!

2008-09-18T12:42:00.002+01:00

Today is sunny in Hove albeit with a touch of Autumn in the air. This has put Alice and I in the mood to accomplish a new task. we have just learned how to add a newspaper article with photo to the blog. We are talking about the article and photo referred to in my posting of 10 September 2008 see below. Here it is now!

Opening ceremony of refurbished Manor Cottage in Southwick, West Sussex

2008-09-15T10:14:00.005+01:00

Saturday, 13 September 2008 brought even more excitement into my life. I went to Southwick in West Sussex which is a large ancient village about 4 miles west of Hove. I went there because the refurbished Manor Cottage Heritage Centre was being opened. Manor Cottage is next to the House and dates from 1450 AD. I know a little about this project and I was also drawn there because there were going to be dancing displays by local Morrismen: 'Mythago'. The weather was lovely and I enjoyed myself imposing on others to take photos for me. I had some interesting conversations. You can see here 5 photos of the day. You can see all the photos taken on that day by going to Flickr. www.flickr.com/photos/hova/

Norma, her guide dog and the AVT film crew

2008-09-10T12:33:00.004+01:00

Life was quite exciting here in Brighton and Hove last week! The National Federation of the Blind UK of which I am an active member commissioned the filming of a DVD in the City. This took two days and featured Norma Town (from Darlington in NE England) who is President of the NFB, Keith Turner (Brighton) and myself (Hove). The purpose of this film was twofold: we wanted to show how blind or partially sighted people negotiate obstructions on our pavements; we also wanted to draw attention to the problems caused by the current introduction of so-called "shared spaces" schemes into our towns. When the DVD is completed I hope to do something new in my blog. I want to add a video of all or part of the DVD onto my blog. I don't know how to do this yet so don't hold your breath. I would like to add to this posting a photo and article that appeared in our local daily newspaper, The Argus, on 6 September 2008. However, I have not posted a newspaper photo before and I'm not quite sure how to do just now! We will fix this in the next week or so so look out. Hollywood, here we come!

Walkin', singin' in the rain

2008-09-02T11:55:00.007+01:00

According to the Met. Office, August 2008 was the gloomiest August since 1942. Anyway, despite the unpromising weather the Brighton and Hove City Synergy group embarked upon their planned walk to the Jack and Jill Windmills on 31 August 2008. We took the No. 79 bus from Old Steine, Brighton up to Ditchling Beacon. We then walked the 3 or 4 miles over to the windmill called Jill. It was raining just a little and on the way over the Downs there was a 20 minute serious downpour but we all had umbrellas. Jill and Jack are both corn-grinding windmills. Jack is in poor condition but is protected by being a listed building although the machinery is not in working order. Jill is in good nick and the machinery works. She is maintained by volunteers from the Jack and Jill Windmills Society who open her up to the public at weekends and some other days. For more info about Jack and Jill go to the web link below. www.jillwindmill.org.uk Our group had an interesting time at Jill and we explored her insides. Attached to this article are a few illustrative photos and you can see ALL the photos taken that day by going to my Flickr Photo Gallery by clicking here. www.flickr.com/photos/hova This was a great day out and I recommend it to anyone. I love windmills and watermills and it is interesting to realise that due to changing circumstances, we are likely to depend more on windmills and watermills (or rather tidal-driven turbines) in the future.

More Photos From Hungary

2008-08-19T12:12:00.007+01:00

Carine van Hulle of Belgium sent me these two photos by e-mail recently. If you have any photos from Hungary then I would be grateful if you could sent them to me by e-mail. If you like, I would put them on my blog or on my Flickr Photo Gallery or both! Just to remind you; my e-mail address is colinbbennett@palmeira.org.uk .

News from Hungary

2008-08-16T10:31:00.003+01:00

I'm back from the 11th European DB Holiday which was held in Sopron, Hungary this year. As always, I shall be writing an article about the hoiday and my experiences. In short, it was a wonderful success and everyone enjoyed themselves-not least myself. More than 200 photo's were taken on my behalf and I whet your appetite with four of them here. All the photo's are on my Flickr Photo Gallery and to access them, and indeed all my photo's from previous holidays just click on this link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hova/

New documents on the blog

2008-07-27T14:33:00.002+01:00

After the rigours of yesterday, today I have been house bound. Alice, George (our Greek tekkie) and I have updated the blog. The most strenuous part of this tripartite arrangement involved my lying on the floor trying to understand what was happening. The result of our labours was that we have improved our home-made Readers' Manual so that it deals better with the techniques with amending the blog. You can now find under a new dossier called "Travel (conferences and holidays)". there are two sub-folders there: Db Holidays and Conferences. You can see articles I have written about the very successful Db holidays I enjoyed in 2005, 2006 and 2007. You can also see accounts of the important Helen keller world Conference held in Tampere, Finland in 2005. Also there is an article about the 14th DBI World Conference held in Perth, Western Australia in 2007. More articles soon.

Picnic in Hove Park

2008-07-27T14:15:00.002+01:00

In recent months I have enjoyed some social outings with City Synergy which is a social club for visually-impaired people in Brighton and Hove. These outings are always well conducted. On Sunday, 26 July 2008 the social consisted of a picnic in Hove Park. I did not find it too strenuous as I spent most of the picnic lying on my back in the shade of a large tree! It was a very sunny warm day and the shade was appreciated. After our picnic we visited the children's steam railway in the north end of the Park. This can carry about 5 passengers and the locomotive is about a metre long and fired by real coal and from time to time emitting satisfying blasts of steam. An evocative smell of coal hung over the tiny station of Hove Park North.

Day two of the peasant's revolt

2008-07-24T13:33:00.003+01:00

Today I returned to resume my protest outside the barristers chambers in Church Street, Brighton. I was only there today for just over an hour, I had a pleasant surprise in that an old chum of mine, Jack, came up to me and started chatting. I hadn't seen him for twenty years. We spent a lot of time together in the 1960s travelling to the East-before the hippy's. If I am described as an aging hippy, I point out that I am a pre-hippy. Please see the fresh photos taken today.

2008-07-24T09:57:00.000+01:00

Lawyers: a peasant strikes back!

2008-07-24T09:47:00.004+01:00

Some readers may have had problems with lawyers, as I have in particular I have been given a hard time by a shameless barrister whose chambers are in Brighton. There is a growing awareness of the unscrupulous behaviour of many lawyers but it is not easy to achieve redress through official mechanisms. However, I am attempting that but in parallel I am embarking on direct action. Wednesday, 23 July 2008 saw the first stage in this endevour. I demonstrated with my placard outside the barrister's chambers on the north side of Church Street, Brighton at its eastern end. Below you can see some of the photos taken. I would welcome comments. I was there for nearly four hours and it was quite hot. I would like to say that some shame-faced barrister's threw themselves on the pavement begging forgiveness. Alternatively I would like to say that some of them rushed at me with sabres and that I fought them off single handed. I have to be truthful and admit that neither of these things happened. However, I think I made an impact and I shall be returning.... I welcome information about the actions of others where lawyers are concerned.

Preparing to leave Hove for the Royal Garden Party in London on 15 July 2008

2008-07-18T09:46:00.003+01:00

There was yet more excitement in my drab life in July 2008. I had been asked to represent Sense at the Royal Garden Party to be held in Buckingham Palace on 15 July 2008. Alice kindly consented to be my companion for the day. Although the weather forecast had been grim the day itself was very fine. In fact it turned out to be the sunniest day so far this month. We both enjoyed ourselves. We didn't have a lot of time with the Queen herself because as Alice remarked; "she's awfully busy assigning things". You might think that we sipped Pimm's and champagne all afternoon but no alcohol was served. Mind you, secretly, we did enjoy a noggin or two with the Queen in her private marquee. To our frank astonishment the sandwiches were square-cut and not triangular. However, we overcame this problem. The grounds are magnificent and we wandered around the tree-studded park-like garden with its rose-gardens and duckpond. I fell in the pond much to Alice's embarrassment. For some unknown reason she saved me from drowning. After lying in the warm sunshine for an hour I'd dried out enough to wander into the Palace. I found that queues melted in front of me. I can't think why although I did notice that Alice also kept her distance.

My Metropolitan activities

2008-07-18T09:36:00.001+01:00

I had the pleasure of two activities in London in mid-July 2008. One was meeting my cousin, Pepita, after a gap of some 40 years. We had re-established contact this Spring and at last we met at the House of Commons on 9 July 2008. Pepi is married to Keith Simpson MP. Pepi, Alison and I had a very enjoyable conversation followed by lunch. We then did a very quick tour of Westminster Hall and you can see the four photos we took above.

Two Recent Social Outings

2008-07-02T16:56:00.004+01:00

I'm sorry but I rarely make postings these days because of other commitments. However, I would like to talk about two social outings I have had lately. The first was on 27 June 2008 when I attended an explanatory visit to Whitehawk Hill in Brighton which is one of the earliest archaeological sites in England. This site has been somewhat neglected by Brighton but there is a concerted effort now being made to protect it and make the public more aware of it. This event was attended by LAF members and councillors. On 28 June 2008 I attended an outing organised by City Synergy (a social group for blind people in Brighton and Hove) to Hollingbury Hill Fort in north Brighton. We were given a very interesting tour and explanation by John Funnell, secretary of Brighton and Hove archaeological society to whom we are indebted. You can see two pictures from Whitehawk and sixteen from Hollingbury on my Flickr photo gallery. This is the link http: www.flickr.com/photos/hova/

St James' Place, Brighton

2008-06-16T12:24:00.003+01:00

These photos were taken on 6 June 2008 of the gate at St James' Place, Brighton that was constructed as a result of the "stopping-up Order" made by Brighton and Hove City Council. They show that the gate was blocked shut in the middle of the day and that bell-pushes to the houses on the Place have been placed at this gate. The original planning permission that was granted only allowed the gate to be locked during the hours of darkness.

Farman Street, Hove (cont.)

2008-06-06T11:13:00.002+01:00

This posting is a carry-on from the previous one. The system wouldn't take five photos so we reduced it to four which it took. The other four are below.

Farman Street, Hove

2008-06-06T10:53:00.003+01:00

Brighton and Hove City Council have made a draft Gating Order to gate Farman Street, Hove under the Highways Act 1980. I and others have resisted this. I shall be adding a post and perhaps a dossier on this subject in the next few weeks. In the meantime please see four photos of Farman Street taken in January 2008. For technical reasons I have had to put another three into a seperate posting.

News from Hove

2008-05-13T12:15:00.003+01:00

You can see that my last blog posting was as long ago as February 2008. Does this mean that I have been inactive? Not at all: I have been too busy making history to write about it! One of the most interesting things in my recent life was my visit to Zagreb, Croatia on 25 April-4 May 2008. I was attending the Conference of the European Blind Union-deaf/blind section and also the General Assembly of the European Deaf Blind union. I will get around to writing about those events. After these meetings I was able to spend two days on KrK, an island on the Adriatic Coast. I went with my new chum Goron who so effectively managed the induction loop and microphone system during the whole period of the double conference. My thanks to him and also to everyone who made the experience so memorable-not forgetting Tajana, superCroat. I took-or rather had taken for me-131 photos in Croatia and you can see them by clicking on the link here: www.flickr.com/photos/hova/ Please note that if you go to these Croatia photos then you will automatically have access to all the other photos on my Flickr Gallery. Welcome! Good bye for today from warm and sunny Hove in southern England. Colin

A new month

2008-02-02T13:08:00.001Z

Now we are in February and the days are perceptibly becoming longer. Most of us with sight problems welcome the nearness of Spring with its increased light levels. Today I have added to this blog a letter I have written to the Law Society about Blue Badges. For those of you outside the UK, I explain that Blue Badges are licences (in fact cards) which disabled people put in their windscreens. A Blue Badge enables the holder to park a vehicle in privileged places. Blind people are also entitled to Blue Badges on the understanding that the blind person owns or has access to a car which is driven for his or her benefit. To see the Times article referred to in my letter click here

Another Article

2008-01-30T10:35:00.000Z

I'm catching up with my promise to update my blog. I think the readers might be interested in this article that I wrote about the Norwegian Holiday in August 2007. It has been translated into Norwegian and perhaps other languages. I hope you enjoy the article and perhaps it will encourage you to come and join us for the next holiday in Sopron, Hungary. Colin

Catching up on overlooked tasks

2008-01-29T12:07:00.000Z

I have neglected updating my blog somewhat. However, I am making amends by posting an article I wrote in Autumn 2005 concerning the Helen Keller World Conference held in Tampere, Finland in that year. You can read that article here. As I am in hyperactive mode today, I have decided to break new ground by trying to put a video (or rather a succession of stills) on my blog. It is announcing the 11th European Deafblind European Holiday which will be held in Sopron, Hungary in August 2008. I would like to encourage you or any adult you know to participate; it will be a holiday to remember. To see the "video" click here. More soon... Colin

Important Announcement

2008-01-27T10:52:00.000Z

Despite rumours I am still alive and very much so. The reason I have not updated my blog in recent months is that I have been too busy making history to write about it. However, I want to assure readers (both of them) that I will try to put postings on my blog more frequently. I have a comment and I am answering that very briefly. "Matt: the conference went very well for me but I have my observations. I shall be writing about the Conference and my trip northwards from Perth afterwards." In the meantime, I am letting you know that I took (or rather had taken for me) many photos with my new digital camera - which I must say is a joy. I can actually take pictures with it. There's no cost associated with taking false pictures with a digital camera (unlike a film camera) and so I can shoot away asking a sighted person to tell me whether I have captured anything interesting. All the photos I took in Western Australia are on my new Flickr photo gallery. If you would like to see them then just click here and your life will never be the same again. When you get onto my photo gallery you have access to all my photos there so happy browsing... End of today's posting.

Perth Paper by Colin Bennett of the UK

2007-08-31T21:02:00.000+01:00

Paper by Colin Bennett of the UK for the 14th DbI World Conference in Perth, WA, September 2007 I must apologise to my readers for not having put a posting on my blog for some time. This does not mean that I have been idle - far from it. I have just had so many other things to do including writing a Paper for the 14th DbI World Conference that will be held in Perth, Western Australia in September 2007. I am fortunate in that I am representing Sense at this conference and will be presenting the Paper there. I must stress that the Paper reflects my own views and not those of Sense. To see this paper which is called: Identification and Control by UN Member States of Weapons Designed to Cause Blindness and/or Deafness, click here. There is also a powerpoint 'slideshow' which you can see by clicking here.

Gratifying

2007-06-12T19:47:00.000+01:00

It was encouraging that my Blog received about 150 more hits in the last few days. I took the opportunity to mention this Blog in the article published in the Argus (my local newspaper). I welcome all the new readers. Don't forget that this Blog has a comments facility. You never know, I might comment back. Dear Readers, please note that due to the wonders of the internet, you can access two versions of the article : One Two (with photo)

Explanatory Note on the Debate in the House of Lords Concerning Cluster Munitions

2007-05-24T12:45:00.000+01:00

Lord Elton opened a debate in the House of Lords in connection with Lords Dubs' Private Member's Bill "Cluster munitions (Prohibition) Bill 2006-2007" on 17 May 2007. Will Moy, Parliamentary Assistant to Lord Low (who spoke in the debate and who is Chairman of the RNIB) has given this useful explanation of what happened on that day. "The proceedings yesterday were simply a debate in the House of Lords.They were completely separate from Lord Dubs' Bill. That Bill completed its passage through the Lords in February and is now waiting for a second reading in the House of Commons, so the Lords is done with it. The Commons is highly unlikely to ever give it a second reading; this is normal for Lords' Private Members Bills. Every Thursday, the Lords debate two motions on issues of general importance. If the debate is prompted by the publication of a report, the motion is 'to take note'. If the motion is not about a report, then the motion is 'for the papers'. Motions to take note are customarily agreed to; motions for the papers are always withdrawn by their proposer. Motions are used to have a discussion not as a way for the House to express its opinion, and that is why the motions get withdrawn at the end of the debate. When Lord Elton said (from memory) 'I beg leave, with some reluctance, to withdraw the motion' he was just sticking to the procedure of the House but just trying to underline the importance of the cause by saying 'with some reluctance' in that wistful fashion. The speakers in the debate were overwhelmingly supportive of Lord Elton and Lord Dubs, so it achieved its purpose. The hope now is that the Government will notice that and negotiate willingly in Lima at the next round of the Oslo process." You can access the whole debate by going to the Parliament website which is www.parliament.co.uk and under the section "PUBLICATIONS & RECORDS" you will find the link for "Lords Publications". Then go to "Lords Hansard" and "Lords Hansard - Past Editions" and find the record for 17 May 2007 and in it the topic "Cluster Munitions". The quickest way is to click here.

New DDA Claim : Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust

2007-05-18T17:43:00.000+01:00

On 15 May 2007 I issued proceedings in Brighton County Court against Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust under the DDA. This was because I have failed so far to get the Trust to install functioning induction loops or infra-red systems in their main chambers i.e. their Board Rooms. To find this new Dossier go to "All My Online Dossiers" and then "Claim against Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust".

Deafblind Holidays

2007-05-16T15:28:00.000+01:00

Readers might recall that I am a keen advocate of the European Deafblind holidays. I have attended the last three of these. You can see a list of all of the holidays here. We have to thank mainly Jan Jakes of the Czech Republic for the success of these holidays. As you may know, I took many photographs of the holidays in Sweden, Bulgaria and Moravia. If you wish to see these, please e-mail me and I will send an invitation to view them. I know that the deadline is 30 April but I think if you ask nicely, there are still places. I draw your attention to the European Deafblind Union (EDBU) whose website has the following information about the forthcoming holiday this summer :

European Deafblind Holiday 2007

The 10th European Deafblind Holiday takes place in Norway! This will be based at the Sogne Conference Centre, town of Sogne, which is near Kristiansand at the south coast of Norway. It will be held from Monday 6 August to Sunday 12 August 2007. The deadline for registration is 30 April 2007.

Also please note :

For the future

Holidays of deafblind people are moving across Europe! Wanted! Holiday Hosts for Summer 2008 and following in Europe!

It is hoped that a European deafblind holiday will be held every year, each time in a different country. It would be excellent if other national organisations of deafblind people would be willing to organise holidays in the future.

From : http://www.edbu.org/index.shtml I shall attend the holiday in Norway and look forward to meeting new people and making new friends as well as renewing old friendships.

Exciting News - Cluster Munitions

2007-02-25T17:36:00.000Z

There has recently been an upsurge in international attention to Cluster Munitions and the need to prohibit them. Earlier postings explain my interest in this subject. I have now created a dossier which seen here. This is devoted to links related to this subject. I have just begun it and so far it is mainly confined the the recent international conference held in Oslo to campaign against Cluster Munitions. 46 Governments were represented and that is surely good news. I would very much welcome any contributions to my dossier. You can e-mail me or leave a comment on this blog.

News Items you might have missed

2007-02-25T15:48:00.000Z

BBC radio has given little or no coverage to these items. 1. Denmark has announced that it is withdrawing its troops from Iraq by August 2007. The 500 Danish troops currently serve under British command. The bad news is apparently Denmark is sending troops to Afghanistan. 2. Lithuania has also made noises about withdrawing its troops from Iraq. It is difficult to get hard news about this. Link to above stories at Democracy Now here. 3. Poland and the Czech Republic have been earmarked by the US as countries to 'host' new installations for the so called 'Anti-Ballistic Weapons Defence System' (Son of Star Wars). Two major parties in the Czech Republic, the Communists and the Social democrats are supporting the Anti Bases Movement. Opinion polls show that the majority of Czechs are against this installation. I have no more news at present about opposition within Poland. Link to Radio Prague report here.

Latest news on 'cure' for Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)

2007-02-21T16:28:00.000Z

Those of us with RP know that from time to time we hear about cures for it. I remind readers that Usher Syndrome is a variant of RP whereby the retinal problem is associated with a hearing loss which may be very serious (Type 1) or less serious (Type 2). Sooner or later RP will be defeated but probably not in my lifetime. The latest advance seems to be taking place at the University of Southern California in the USA. This was covered by the BBC News website on Friday, 16 February 2007 which can be seen here. Links: Read more about RP at Wikipedia click here The British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society (BRPS)

A Useful Day in London

2007-02-20T19:21:00.000Z

I have been involved with DisabledGo for some years and I am well acquainted with its Chief Executive Dr Gregory Burke. DisabledGo is an organisation that seeks to improve access for disabled people to all kinds of premises; shops, restaurants, theatres, leisure centres etc. It is is now expanding its work into the area of jobs as was explained yesterday morning on the BBC Radio Today Programme (audio link). It wants to encourage employers to take on disabled people and points out that disabled people have a good record as employees in such areas as punctuality and commitment. DisabledGo launched its DisabledGo-Jobs website yesterday at the CBI in London. I was pleased to accept an invitation to attend. It was considered a success and I was pleased to have a few minutes exchanging jokes with Gregory. Afterwards I was accompanied by two burly DisabledGo employees on a trip to the nearby Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. I had a reason to do this in connection with a current legal action in Brighton County Court. This revolved around my commitment and understanding of infra-red systems which assist dealing with hearing problems. We barged in unannounced and asked the Management if they could show us the equipment connected with the infra-red system. They were happy to do so and willingly provided this letter (link to pdf) to state that I had visited. They also gave me two audio cassetttes explaining their provision for disabled people. Altogether a pleasant and satisfactory day. And a rare day out for me. A link to the Royal Opera house website Disability Access page is here.

DisabledGo Returns

2007-02-11T11:26:00.000Z

There is now a fairly satisfactory outcome with the DisbledGo/Brighton & Hove City Council saga (see recent posts below). On 9 February this article was published in the Brighton local newspaper (The Argus). Obviously I know more about the background. If any more hard news emerges, I will make another posting.

New Development St James' Place in Brighton

2007-02-07T09:25:00.000Z

The phenomenon of 'Stopping-Up' Orders on public rights of way causes many of us great concern. When an application to 'stop up' St James' Place in Brighton a couple of years ago was mooted, I reacted. St James' Place has been a public thoroughfare for at least two centuries. The residents wanted it stopped up and it seemed to some of us that this was merely to turn their attractive houses into a 'gated community'. I objected and the matter went to a Public Enquiry. I lost there although I was supported by the Ramblers' Association and the Open Spaces Society. I then took the matter to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg where it now sits. As with other initiatives I have launched including my successful DDA claim against Brighton & Hove City Council, I decided to put all the documents (all 113) in this case online. There are two main reasons for this :

I am an advocate of greater transparency in legal processes and these documents are now available to all.
I wish to show these documents to likely Barristers in pursuit of Pro Bono help: this seems an easy way to provide access to the documents instead of moving large quantities of paper around.

These documents are part of my collection of dossiers which can be seen here.

Access Issues

2007-02-07T09:12:00.000Z

Readers might remember that I am a member of the Brighton & Hove Local Access Forum (LAF). These LAFs were set up under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW). Arguably that Act was one of the most life enhancing Acts of recent years. You can read about our local LAF here. Our LAF works in full co-operation with the neighbouring LAFs in East Sussex and West Sussex and with the Authorities charged with running the prospective South Downs National Park It is gratifying that more and more people are becoming aware of the opportunities for getting to know our interesting City and its environs. An example of the interest shown by our elected representatives is demonstrated by Councillor Dee Simson's comments here (Item 'Rights of Way' dated 31 January 2007). She draws attention to the draft Rights of Way Improvement Plan and 'missing links'.

Progress: Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill 2006-07

2007-01-31T19:27:00.000Z

What is happening with the Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill ? This Parliamentary initiative is one that I take a strong interest in. The Bill has been introduced into the House of Lords by Lord Dubs as a Private Members Bill. He was briefed by Landmine Action. Readers can follow the progress of this Bill on the special Parliament website, using the link here. Australian Senate By the way there is also a similar Bill that was introduced into the Australian Senate by Senator Lyn Allison (Australian Democrat/Victoria) in 2006. Details are here. In writing this post, it has come to my attention that the Australian Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade is inquiring into the Bill. It is due to report by 29 March 2007 and written submissions close in mid February 2007. Details are here.

DAAG Meeting of 30 January 2007

2007-01-30T14:00:00.000Z

I am pleased to report that todays meeting of Brighton & Hove's Disability Access Advisory Group (DAAG) discussed in a cordial way our Council's recent decision to end its arrangement with DisabledGo. A motion was carried with only one vote against, informing the Council that it should rescind its decision to stop its funding for DisabledGo. Further it asked the Council to pay all outstanding sums to DisabledGo and to be more open with everyone about what it does in relation to other bodies. We also asked the Council to co-operate with Brighton & Hove Federation of Disabled People and to keep DAAG informed. There have been some comments on this blog concerning the DisabledGo issue. I welcome comments and encourage readers to participate. Please click the word comments below the relevant posting. You will then be able to see any previous comments and add your own. You may well find that I respond too.

DisabledGo Comments

2007-01-29T18:49:00.000Z

Below the post Disabledgo Disappears is the word comments. Please click on this to see and join in the conversation about this topic. I welcome all contributions.

Disabledgo Disappears

2007-01-28T12:53:00.000Z

To start the year I wrote a letter to my local paper the Brighton Argus about blind people and pedestrian crossings. I was glad to see it published as a lead letter on 12 January 2007. This is part of my never-ending campaign to improve access in all areas of life. Also published on that day was an alarming letter about the difficulty disabled people had trying to arrange a visit to Brighton. In particular they highlighted the disappearance of any reference to Brighton & Hove on the DisabledGo website. This is the first I heard about this omission. This stirred me into action within DAAG (Disabled Access Advisory Group) and led to an article published on Monday 22 January 2007. DisabledGo is a national charity whose main function is to encourage better access to places in the public and private domain such as Council offices, Transport facilities, shops, restaurants and hotels. The main mechanism for achieving this is the gathering of information about accessibility in various UK cities and putting all of this on the DisabledGo website. I was involved at an early stage in the creation of DisabledGo and attended its national launch at the Marks & Spencers branch in Oxford Street, London. I am personally well acquainted with DisabledGo's founder Dr Gregory Burke. Further, I attended the launch of DisbledGo's work in Brighton at the Marks & Spencers branch in Western Road, Brighton (M&S have given great support to DisabledGo). This launch was of course supported by Brighton & Hove City Council. We were all please about that. Thus it is sad the Council has seen fit to end the DisabledGo relationship. I am seeking to have this decision rescinded and to find out exactly what the Council is doing. We have to ferret out this information ! Luckily I am not alone so I am glad to see Councillor Roy Pennington's comments on the Council website. Cllr Pennington and I are raising the matter at the 5 February 2007 meeting of the Council's Equalities and Social Justice Forum. Tim Williamson, who is an active member of DAAG and also a Trustee of the Brighton and Hove Federation of Disabled People, is also assisting in finding out exactly what has been going on.

DDA Claim Against Old Market Arts Centre, Hove

2007-01-22T20:29:00.000Z

After years of warning the Old Market Arts Centre, Hove that I would issue a summons against them under the DDA if they did not pull their socks up, I finally did so on 10 January 2007. The reason for my action was that OMAC showed no sign of obeying the DDA in respect of provision for hearing-impaired people. You can see below the documents so far in this case. It may well be that OMAC decides to settle the matter without a Court hearing. Sadly, the letter from OMAC dated 16 January 2007 gives no sign that they will come to their senses without such a hearing. You can see my OMAC dossier here.

Some Good News to End 2006

2006-12-29T09:26:00.000Z

It is encouraging that Lord Dubs (formerly the Labour MP Alf Dubs) introduced a Private Bill into the House of Lords on 15 December 2006. He had queued for hours to be the first Peer to introduce a Private Bill in the new Session. I was able to speak to Lord Dubs on the telephone the day before and offered to co-operate. The Private Bill is called Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill [HL] and it is a great importance to those campaigning against anti-personnel weapons. This has a connection to my paper I intend to present next year at the 14th Deafblind International (Dbl) World Conference in Perth about weapons which are designed to intentionally blind and/or deafen people. Here is a Hansard transcript of the debate on 15 December 2006. The full text of the Bill available in PDF or html format is available here. It will be helpful if readers wishing to support Lord Dubs would write to him at the House of Lords, London SW1A 0PW. The Bill was carried at the First Reading but its future is uncertain so support is essential. I have just learned that a similar Bill has been introduced into the Australian Senate on 5 December 2006 by Senator Lyn Allison. A brief description on Wikipedia is here and details from the Australian Senate website is here.

UN Adopts Global Treaty for the Disabled

2006-12-29T09:06:00.000Z

Some readers will remember that I often listen to a online US news radio programme called Democracy Now (click here). I listen to this via my computer and this means that I always have clear reception. I recommend this programme hosted by Amy Goodman. Quite often I hear news items which are not covered by the BBC even though they concern British events. Thus I learned that there were protests in London and other British cities at the time of Tony Blair's announcement that he wanted to replace the Trident nuclear system. I heard nothing about those demonstrations on main BBC radio. On 14 December 2006, I heard on Democracy Now the following news item concerning the UN:

At the UN, the General Assembly has adopted a landmark treaty to uphold the rights of the disabled. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been hailed the first human rights treaty of the 21st century.

This text comes from here. As far as I know main BBC Radio news did not mention this important event. Full details from the UN website are here.

14th Deafblind International (Dbl) World Conference

2006-12-28T21:11:00.000Z

This is to remind readers of this important conference. This will be the biggest gathering of deafblind people ever and I would encourage readers of this blog to take an interest and consider participating. This applies in particular to those in the southern hemisphere. I will be attending and in fact I intend to present a paper. I have drawn up an abstract of my paper and this has been sent to the conference organisers. This draft has been forwarded to the section considering papers/workshops to be given at the conference. I am very excited about the opportunity to give this paper and welcome any contributions in this endeavour. I will update this blog with news of progress. Here is the text of my draft so far : TITLE: Identification and control by UN member states of weapons designed to cause blindness and /or deafness. A) Brief statement of contents. 1. Are there weapons designed to cause blindness and/ or deafness? Yes. Brief description of them. 2. Where are these weapons manufactured? Where have they been used? 3. What legislation have UN member states introduced to identify, regulate and licence the manufacture of such weapons. 4. What are the international controls on the export/import and use of these weapons by parties under the jurisdiction of UN member states? 5. How informed are their organisations of and for deaf, blind and deafblind people in all UN member states about this issue. 6. Should DbI and it's constituent organisations take a stand on this issue? 7. Should this subject be addressed in the UN Convention on Disability, now in gestation? B) DESCRIPTION OF PRESENTATION 1. I propose to begin my presentation by putting the above questions to the audience. 2. I will then give answers as far as I can to my own questions. 3. I will then seek the views on these topics of the audience. I prefer that those people writing to address these matters provide written contributions that can be distributed before the conference begins. C) SUMMARY OF MAIN PURPOSE OF PRESENTATION 1. Obviously the intention of the paper is to direct the attention of the DbI and the db movement in general to the existence of these weapons. I would like to use this paper as a springboard to force governments to debate these issues in their legislatures and in other forums. I am looking for a resolution emanating from this paper/ workshop directing the DbI ruling body to take note of the contents of this paper/ workshop and any decisions/ recommendations flowing from it. I am well aware that some organisations will wish to avert their eyes from the subject of this paper/ workshop.

Why do I Love My MP

2006-11-29T20:01:00.000Z

Readers of my Blog might like to know why I have such a deep admiration for my MP Celia Barlow. There follows the original text of a letter that I hoped my local newspaper, The Argus might publish. Sadly this did not happen. However due to the power of the internet, I can share it with you here. LETTER Earlier this month I received a circular letter from a lady purporting to be my MP. Her name is Celia Barlow. In this rambling waffle-filled letter she claims to be a "life long environmental campaigner". Such is her concern for the environment, she sent me TWO copies of this circular by the same post. It began with "Dear Colin B." - an unusual salutation reminiscent of an out of control database. The letter invited me to a meeting at Ralli Hall in Hove and she enticed me with the offer of winning some goodies such as a "sustainable weekend in Paris". I do not know what that means but I hope it was not one with Ms Barlow. If Ms Barlow is a "life long environmental campaigner" then I am a Dutchman. She seems never to speak about the pollution caused by ever-increasing air travel although, to be fair to her, she was parachuted into Hove to be a candidate at the last general election, rather than using an aeroplane. Before and after her election she took no part in the campaign so save Hove Library for the citizens of the City. She supports the monstrous over development proposed for King Alfred. She has been an ardent supporter of pouring concrete over The Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at Falmer which developers hiding behind Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club are promoting. I do not recall her supporting the outcome of the two public inquiries which rejected building any stadium on greenfield sights in favour of more suitable ones in the City. Ms Barlow never mentions that The Albion had a perfectly good football ground at the Goldstone in Hove before its owners evicted the team and its supporters in favour of commercial development on the site. Most importantly, Ms Barlow said not a word either before her election or subsequently about what must be the greatest threat to the planet's environment created by the current UK government. I refer to the bombardment, invasion, destruction and occupation of Iraq by UK and US forces. The horrendous cost of this illegal and immoral war is not only measured in the lives and limbs of Iraqis but in the destruction of the world's resources of oil and other assets of our planet. Any sincere campaigner for the environment would seek to divert the enormous costs of this war to the eradication of poverty and disease not only in our country but worldwide. Ms Barlow's two letters were in envelopes bearing the logo of the Legal and General insurance company who seem to be supporting her. Has Legal and General acquired the New Labour Party? That seems appropriate bearing in mind that that party supports private insurance rather than providing reasonable State pension for all of us. Like most people, I had thought that the New Labour Party was still a fully-owned UK subsidiary of the Pentagon.

King Alfred, Hove Proposed Redevelopment

2006-11-26T12:57:00.000Z

For some time I have taken an interest in the proposed redevelopment of the site known as King Alfred which is on the seafront at Hove about 1 KM from my home. The existing building on the site is a leisure centre including a fairly new swimming pool. I remember that when the new swimming pool was proposed, I pointed out that it would be too small for the large population it would serve. I am sorry to say that this prediction proved correct. In recent times a developer has proposed redevelopment of the site which in the view of many would constitute a gross over-development. There have been many twists and turns in the story. The Planning Application has now been made available for public comment for a third time. The main card in the hands of the developer is the name of the architect who has been associated with the proposals: Frank Gehry of the USA. The proposals have little merit and consequently I have lodged an objection to them. You can see this statutory objection via this link (pdf document). I would be pleased if readers of my blog would take an interest in this subject and act accordingly. Well argued letters to the Planning Department of Brighton & Hove City Council or the local newspaper, The Argus often have a powerful effect on decision makers. A recent trip around the city brought home to me how some run down areas are crying out for major housing redevelopments, perhaps even involving striking architecture. The King Alfred site is not such a place.

Recent News - Seminar and Maiden Speech

2006-11-22T10:19:00.000Z

Visit to Groningen I recently attended the Acquired Deafblind Network Seminar in Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands. These seminars take place every two years and this one was held from 1-5 November 2006. As is my practice for these events, I arrived a couple of days early in order to get a feel for the city. I was lucky enough to get an Easyjet ticket from Gatwick to Amsterdam for £17. The rail fare from Amsterdam to Groningen was about EUR 28. I was given amazing service right from the aeroplane to the correct platform at the railway station at Schiphol (Amsterdam Airport). I met by arrangement Hubert who has been a resident of Groningen for some years after having studied there. This often happens in that city as it does in Brighton. Hubert has very little sight and it was quite amusing how we asked passers by at the railway station to lookout for another blind man. We spent a little time together and visited the tourist office to find a 'pension'. I found a very convenient place right in the centre of the city and it cost only EUR 20. The proprietress was kindness itself. In fact I spent another day in Groningen after the conference and stayed at the same place. I was only one of I think two participants at the seminar who had Usher Syndrome (or a similar problem) but had no guide/communicator. I did get a lot of help from other people although sometimes it was difficult because of the lighting conditions. The main problem was the low light level in the dining room. Obviously the dining room of a standard hotel has lighting geared to suit the usual visitors. I have to say that every room used during the seminar was well equipped with an infra-red system (to help people with hearing problems) and so I was able to follow the proceedings very well. The seminar was very expensive especially for someone such as myself paying for it out of his own pocket. There are other points about the seminar which I will develop in a friendly way elsewhere. However, overall I found it useful and enjoyable. I could not obtain a cheap flight home so I took a Eurolines bus from Amsterdam to London Victoria. This cost EUR 42 inclusive and I have to say that the driver, a Dutchman called Derek, was amazingly helpful and understanding. He even walked me from his bus at the arrivals section of Victoria Coach station to the departure section - even to the stand for my bus to Brighton. That was 5:30 am and he had been working non-stop since 7:00 pm the previous evening. Off course I shall be e-mailing Eurolines to express my appreciation for this help which is characteristic of the help I receive on buses, trains, boats and aeroplanes. I have never had a bad travel experience. You might like to look at the website for the 2006 ADBN Seminar here. Visit to the House of Lords I had a very pleasant day at the House of Lords in London on 21 November 2006. This was the day of the maiden speech there of Colin Low who is now Lord Low of Dalston (in the London Borough of Hackney). This where he lives. Five peers were making their maiden speeches on that day. A group of Colin's friends met him near the reception area of the Peer's Entrance to the House. I got there early, and found the reception as helpful as always. He told me that Colin had already made his mark in the House of Lords dur to his amazing powers of navigation. I have been to that area before and there used be an open coal fire there which was so wonderful to sit by and wait for the person for whom you have an appointment. That has gone now and the receptionist and I jointly lamented its passing ! At about 2:15 pm Colin's party, (many of them blind) where led to the Peer's Lobby. We waited there for the Speakers procession to pass through on its way to the Chamber. We then went to the Public Gallery of the Chamber where we sat through two hours of normal business until 4:30 pm when Colin made his Maiden Speech. There was one other Maiden Speech before his. Colin's speech was faultless and very well received by the Peers. You can read his speech as recorded in Hansard here. This is well worth reading and is a cogent explanation of the situation of many blind people in the UK. It struck just the right note: informative, critical but not carping. It was clear to me that Colin already has a warm following in the House of Lords and he will be a great asset there for all blind people and indeed disabled people in general. Soon after Colin's speech, Lord Morris of Manchester made a supporting speech. Lord Morris was formerly Alf Morris the Labour MP, the first Minister for the Disabled. He took this post in 1974 and it is interesting that he is still an active Parliamentarian. I was able to hear every word of the proceedings and this is because there is an excellent induction loop system serving all parts of the Chamber including the Public Gallery. The same is true of the House of Commons and that fact has enabled me to hear debates in both Houses over the last decade. Regular readers of my blog will know that this area is an obsession with me ! At about 5:00 pm we were taken through to one of the tea rooms where we were entertained to an old fashioned tea, sandwiches and cake event although Colin himself could not join us until later. I was able to have a chat with Lord Morris who I had not spoken to for 42 years. At that time I was working in Manchester. We later adjourned to a nearby bar, of which there are many in the Houses of Parliament but I left early as I just cannot engage in conversations in noisy environments. There is no doubt that Colin will be able to make a very useful contribution in Parliament although as he is still Chairman of RNIB and has many commitments, he will not be able to spend a lot of time there yet. I know that he is willing to receive information that will assist him in informing our legislature.

Letter to Brighton & Hove Argus

2006-09-27T20:11:00.000+01:00

Below is the original version of my letter, published today in the local Argus newspaper. Their headline for the published (edited) version was Cyclists should behave or be tamed. Peddling My Thoughts The question of bicycles looms large in our City. I think most of us would agree that a reduction in private motor car use would improve our lives. One way of achieving this is to promote walking, cycling and the greater use of public transport. I commend Brighton and Hove City Council for promoting these objectives. Below are some suggestions for helping the cause of cycling. One August night I was walking to Pool Valley from my home - a journey which takes me half an hour in daylight. It was 3.30 am when I went sprawling at the SW corner of North Street and East Street, Brighton. I had fallen over a bicycle horizontal on the pavement. I am a visually impaired person and had no chance of seeing it. My white cane caught in the spokes and was bent at right angles (comical but unhelpful to me). Surprisingly bearing in mind the suddenness of the fall and the fact that I was carrying a rucksack I was not hurt but merely badly shaken. My body had just missed the upturned pedal. You might wonder why I was not safely locked up at home at that ungodly hour. The reason is that I wanted to catch the very useful National Express coach that leaves Pool Valley at 4.15 am for Gatwick. I discovered on that walk that there were many other things that should also have been locked up at home at that time. These were the bicycles that festoon posts and railings. I constantly bumped into their handle bars and pedals. I suppose most of them had been abandoned or stolen and then dumped there. Later I made enquieries about how the City dealt with these bicycles. It seems that if they are clearly abandoned they are removed. Otherwise a label is attached giving the owner seven days to remove the bicycle before the Council takes it away. Bicycles reported as being a nuisance are removed quickly but otherwise the streets are only patrolled for this purpose two or three times a week - not enough! The problem is that there are too few staff to remove bicycles promptly. I think this problem could be solved by transferring other Council staff to this useful job. Some weeks ago I attended a long Council meeting in which I learned that an incredible 220 people were "employed" by the City in Human Resources (Personell to you and me). The managementspeak I heard then and the pointless presentations were worthy of a Turner Prize. If 10% of those staff were transferred to tidying up the City no one would notice and there would be 22 people making a useful contribution to Society. I wonder what happens to the removed bicycles? Perhaps they are taken to a pound and for a fee people can remove a spare part of whatever they like. If not, I propose that. I believe that the Council does not yet encourage proper provision for the storage of bicycles when considering planning applications for residential and commercial developments. With so many houses now divided into flats there is as problem about where the residents and visitors can but their bicycles. Fire regulations frown upon leaving bicycles in communal hall ways. Cyclists lean their bicycles against lamp posts and other up-rights. I am not against this as I sympathies with the cyclists. However some changes in their practices and the designs of bicycles would make it easier for pedestrians, especially those with sight problems. Every attempt should be made to keep the bicycle upright and in one plane. Bikes should be chained at two places to keep them verticle and the front wheels should be kept aligned with the frame. If possible the handle bars should be twisted through 90 degrees. I would welcome as standard practice pedals that could be twisted upwards so that they do not jut out. With imagination, bicycles could be better designed for the realities of urban life. The cycle racks provided by the Council (I think they are called Sheffield type) are not well designed. Essentially they are an up-turned U which means bicycles can slip and cause obstructions. To deter this, and also vandalism and theft, a horizontal bar should be added lower down so that the rack looks like the letter A. The object is to keep the bicycles verticle and in one plane. I think we could learn a lot from cities in Scandinavia and the Low Countries. I am not going to moan here about the behavior of some cyclists. I used to be a very keen cyclist myself. In those halcyon days, most cyclists were gentle creatures, usually wearing sandals when not in the saddle, read the New Statesman and were veggies. We would often stop at pedestrian crossings to help old ladies cross and rescue trapped kittens from trees. Ok, perhaps I exaggerate. I fear that if responsible cyclists do not crack down on their terrorist brethren then registration and licenses will ensue. I do not want this but I do want the law to crack down heavily on cyclists that do not have good quality functioning front and rear lights plus reflectors on their bikes. I learned recently that the bi-laws in Hove prohibit all cycling on the Promenade. These should be relaxed so that children can learn to ride there. I believe most blind people are in favor of responsible cycling by children on the Promenade. What better place to learn? What we don't like are fast silent adults weaving through groups of people doing what was intended on the Promenade: promenading.

The World Tonight 15 September 2006 : Listener Debate

2006-09-16T19:56:00.000+01:00

I am a regular listener to BBC Radio 4 The World Tonight. I recommend this to all my readers. Last night I heard a discussion about whether campaigners for disabled people have gone too far. As a campaigner myself this was obviously of major interest. After listening to the programme, I made the following contribution on the BBC programme website (this link might change shortly). My contribution: I think that Mr Binyon and his disabled adversary (Mr Kelly), each made the case for his opponent ! Both were unreasonable and did not deal with the real world. Mr Kelly grossly understated the progress made in the environment for disabled people since 1995. His manner was very aggressive and seemed designed to put peoples backs up. I am not politically correct but I do not like the term 'the disabled' rather than 'disabled people'. No mention was made of the hidden disability: deafness. It was particularly ironic the well-intentioned Caroline Goodey from the DRC conducted a discussion with Mr Kelly with intrusive background noise from a shopping centre. The programme producers should have realised that this meant that the discussion was very difficult for people with hearing impairment to understand. Perhaps Caroline Goodey should have insisted that the discussion take place in a quiet location.

Remembering Roznov pod Radhostem

2006-09-15T21:09:00.000+01:00

It is nearly one month since the holiday and the memories are still with me. I would like to share the following items with all of my friends who were at Orbita. Article in the International Herald Tribune Newspaper This is a Google Maps Satellite Image of the area. Have a look !

DDA Claim Latest Update

2006-09-13T20:05:00.000+01:00

Documents 55 and 56 are now added to my Dossier (see top link on top left of the main page of this Blog). This is now fully updated. I now have to lean on the Council to obey the Court Order. When they have complied with it, both sides go back to Court advising of compliance and seeking final hearing concerning damages and costs.

Local Threat to Protected Landscape

2006-09-02T18:48:00.000+01:00

An interest of mine is the protection of our countryside and the best parts of our towns. We used to have in the UK a relatively progressive method of protecting sensitive areas by means of planning control and the need to get planning permission for controversial proposals. In recent years protection afforded by the legislation has been weakened especially by the present Government. Regrettably there is now naked 'political' intervention to overturn decisions taken by the respected and neutral Planning Inspectorate. Perhaps the worst case is that of the proposal to locate a football stadium in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) at Falmer in East Sussex between Brighton and Lewes. After two comprehensive Planning Inquiries which gave the 'wrong' answer, John Prescott in his capacity as Overall Planning Minister ignored due process and gave the go ahead for this desecration. Brighton & Hove City Council, the Sussex newspaper The Argus and developers claiming to speak for football fans displayed great bias and vitriol in promoting the development. To their great credit, Falmer Parish Council and Lewes District Council have taken the matter to the High Court in London to uphold the law. They have been supported morally and with money by principled conservation bodies. The Press Release issued by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) sums up the situation well. Those who support their stance are encouraged to write to the media of their choice eg the main newspapers. The Royal Town Planning Institute has betrayed its principles by crazily supporting the urbanisation of Falmer. ### ### From the CPRE Press Release 30 August 2006 SUSSEX (building scheme) Status of threat: permission granted; subject to legal challenge Brighton and Hove Albion F.C Football Stadium and transport interchange at Falmer within Sussex Downs AONB (due to be confirmed as a new National Park). It would also have an adverse impact on Stanmer Historic Park and associated ancient woodland. The matter will proceed to the High Court on 5 and 6 December 2006. CPRE fought the planning proposals through two planning inquiries over six years and welcomed the challenge to Mr. Prescott’s decision. Other possible sites for the new stadium, that will not have adverse impacts on the designated landscape, should now be considered.

A Moravian Dream Holiday

2006-08-27T16:07:00.000+01:00

Gentle readers, I am back from a very enjoyable break in Moravia up near the Slovak border. I left my home at 3 am on 11 August to walk to Pool Valley (Brighton's Coach Station). I allowed over an hour for this journey which in daylight takes me half an hour. I was nearly at the Coach Station when I sprawled over a bicycle left horizontal on the pavement. Luckily I was not too badly hurt but very shaken. My white cane had got caught up in the spokes and was bent at right angles. This made it rather embarrassing to use. This episode reinforced the need for me to step up my campaign against obstructions on our pavements. I arrived at Pool Valley about 4 am and was utterly alone. At about 4:10 am some people arrived from nowhere and then the Coach arrived. The bus driver tried to straighten my cane but as it is made of thin aluminum alloy, it broke. Therefore for two weeks while using this, my urbane image was damaged. As always the National Express driver was helpfulness itself, even waiting with me until the connecting London Victoria bound coach arrived. The rest of the trip to Brno was fairly uneventful. This was mainly in the good company of two young West Indians from Lewisham (London) who were attending a walking holiday organised by Seventh Day Adventists. They were nice chaps but seemed utterly amazed that not every Czech could immediately understand their accent. I found my way to Brno Railway station and was met by Radka a lecturer at the Special Education faculty of Brno University. Soon we were joined by three equally charming young Czechs, her students. They were Mariana, Lenka and Pabla. We had a most enjoyable train journey to Roznov pod Radhostem which is a pleasant former Spa Town. The journey was enlivened by train changes with only a few minutes to spare. This involved a lot of dashing from one platform to another. When we arrived at our destination we were met by Jana and also Jiri (Jirka) who is a lecturer in Special Education at Olomouc University (I visited Olomouc last year). The location of the leisure centre Orbita where we stayed was exquisite being in the foothills of the mountains on the Czech/Slovak border. The air was pure, the scenery lovely and the company stimulating. I enjoyed a week of trips out including two mountain walks, a visit to the local Open Air Museum, tour of a Candle Factory, a session at a riding stable and several satisfyingly long adventures at local restaurants with copious Cesky Pivo. Back at Orbita the food was good and plentiful although one Swedish participant moaned that there was no fish. I tried to persuade him that the Czech Republic's relationship to the sea was slightly different to his native country. It is a cliche that the Czechs like their Dumplings. Some cliches are true ..... I had a wonderful time, spoilt rotten by the amiable Czech helpers, each one very well educated and gentle. I particularly enjoyed the two dances we had and am proud to say I learned the Czech Polka with a reasonable degree of confidence. 19 August was a sad day because most of the participants left for home including the large contingent of Belgians who played a very positive role in the holiday. I stayed at Orbita for a few more days as I wished to observe the half-yearly meeting of the European Deafblind Union. I shall be playing a bigger part in this organisation in the future and hope to post more about this in due course. I had intended to travel back to Brno by train or bus and pick up the Coach to London as I had an Open Ticket. However Fortune smiled on me and it turned out that Petra who is the head of the Czech Deafblind Organisation called Lorne, and her colleague Marta, were travelling westward by train to Prague. Both Petra and Marta are graduates in Special Education from Charles University Prague. I travelled with them to Prague and this was a big help as there were two changes of train with again, not much time to spare. Things got even better when Petra invited me to spend the evening with her in a Prague Restaurant. This was not a difficult decision to take. Finally, she put me on the Coach at Prague Coach Station at 9:30 pm on 21 August. I fell asleep immediately to be woken by a gentle shake by the German immigration officers. The journey back to Brighton was uneventful and I arrived just before 10 pm on 22 August. My dream holiday was over and the daily routine goes on. Before reality kicks in I must take this opportunity to thank the organisers of the 9th European Deafblind Holiday especially Jan Jakes and also all the staff at Orbita who treated all the participants with unfailing good humour and understanding. I would like to extend my thanks to everyone I met in the Czech Republic who was so kind and considerate to me in respect of my needs.

Recent News/Moravian Adventure

2006-08-10T18:41:00.000+01:00

Just before I set off on my latest adventure, a quick update. I have been instrumental in setting up a small group within Families Need Fathers (FNF). This group seeks to promote equal access for both parents to children in the event of seperation or divorce. The sub-group is called FNF Disability which consists of Non-Resident Parents (NRP) who have some knowledge of disability either because they are disabled themselves or because their children have disabilaties. If you are interested in this area, please click on FNF above. Some of you might notice a gap in posting to this Blog. I do not always have readers to help me do this and also I participated in a in a long walk in May. This was from St Martin's in the Fields (London) to Canterbury Cathedral. The 72 mile walk took 4 days and I did walk most of those miles. This annual event which I also did in 2005 is organised by Connections at St Martin in the Fields with the aim of helping vulnerable people in London & Kent. The walk website is here. Those TV fanatics amongst you be warned ! We had a film-maker embedded with us throughout. The film he made will be shown in three episodes on Channel 5 (in UK) early next year. You might see yours truly in this programme. The gap in posting to this blog might be due to me only just recovering from the walk. About my trip to Moravia : I leave the bus station at Pool Valley, Brighton (just near seafront) at 04:15 am on Friday 11 August. I am travelling by coach via Victoria Coach Station, London and Prague. I hope to at Brno Bus station at 09:00 am Saturday 12 August. Luckily I am going by coach and not by plane as many of my friends suggested. This seemed until today the most obvious thing to do. I think if I had booked a flight, I would never have left England this week and missed a much appreciated Holiday. So my quirky choice of travel has paid off ! I will be attending the 9th European Deafblind Holiday which is being held at the Orbita Leisure and Education Centre in Roznov pod Radhostem, (Moravia, Czech Republic). I am looking forward to a week with very good company in the Moravian mountains. In previous years I have attende d this holiday which has been in other countries and I expect that next week will be every bit as good. I hope that the organisers have kept some cold beer for me !! You can see details of this holiday online here. After the holiday I plan to spend a few days in Bohemia - I will be looking for the real Bohemians. I welcome any comments that you, readers (and I know there are many of you !) leave on this Blog. Just use the Comments facility by clicking on the word Comment below.

Life in the Farce Lane

2006-05-02T15:03:00.000+01:00

I have been having some problems with my Diary Secretary who was offered 75p to tell all. Will she accept ?

Better Access to Development Planning Documents

2006-03-28T18:03:00.000+01:00

Consideration of Development Planning in our society under the Town & Country Planning Act is a vital process. Not everyone understands it or takes advantage of the possibilities of influencing Planning decisions. Access to information about Planning issues has up to now been restricted to those who can visit specific Council Offices to consult the relevant files or attend the Planning Committee Meetings. The advent of the world-wide web (of which this Blog is a part) offers a very important opportunity for all people, including disabled people to participate in the Planning process which is an essential part of local democracy. As an active campaigner in Brighton & Hove and nationally, I welcome this development. I therefore have asked my local Planning Department at Brighton & Hove City Council about making full availability of Planning Documents. I am pleased to say that I have had encouraging news as a result of my enquiry. It appears that as part of a national initiative called e-planning which has been undertaken by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (the Government Department that oversees all Planning matters), more comprehensive information will be put online. I find this information most encouraging and I will not be the only one watching out for progress later this this year !

Local News : Council in court over hearing loop

2006-03-10T10:50:00.000Z

Yes my DDA case against Brighton & Hove City Council featured in the local Brighton & Hove Argus newspaper. Thanks to their online archives you can read this by clicking here.

DDA Dossier Document 55

2006-03-07T12:18:00.000Z

I have promised various people that I would inform them that the General Form of Judgment or Order from my recent day in Court is now online. Click here.

News about (lack of) Disabled Access to Brighton & Hove Council Buildings

2006-03-04T13:00:00.000Z

Front page news in the Brighton & Hove Argus on Friday. This is not related to my DDA Case (see the Dossier here) but it makes interesting reading.

My DDA Claim Dossier

2006-03-02T13:12:00.000Z

New additions to my dossier have been added up to and including Document 54. Please click here !

DDA Case : Colin Bennett V. B&H City Council

2006-02-21T14:45:00.000Z

The latest news about the case is that there was a hearing called at Brighton County Court before District Judge Merrick. No directions were agreed as it was decided that the action will be stayed until 22 May 2006 on the understanding that the Council would undertake practical steps to provide facilities for hearing impaired people in the seven venues which form the basis for mt complaint. This was embodied in an Order made by District Judge Merrick. An update to the Dossier is currently in preparation and will be available soon. All in all today has been a very successful day !

New Appearance

2006-02-04T10:20:00.000Z

Readers will note that this Blog now looks different. Due to a technical problem the previous layout was defective and this has now been addressed along with what I hope is a clearer appearance. One of the most popular parts of my Blog, the DDA Case (Induction Loop) Dossier is still here. You will also always be able to access this using the top link on the right.

CPRE Falmer Support

2006-02-02T12:02:00.000Z

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) has issued a Press Release about its support for the challange of Mr Prescott's stadium decision. Read this Press Release here. The Brighton & Hove Argus newspaper has reported this story today.

Lunar New Year Announcement

2006-02-01T19:45:00.000Z

I remind readers that we are in the first week of the New Lunar Year. I therefore extend best wishes on this occasion to all my lovely readers. This year is so auspicious for postings that I hear it has been named 'Year of the Blog'.

My DDA Claim Dossier

2006-01-28T15:53:00.000Z

My documents for the DDA Claim against Brighton & Hove City Council are now available here instead of via a post on this blog. I am adding to the new Dossier frequently and will post notifications to this Blog.

Worthing A Boards

2006-01-18T17:47:00.000Z

Read about this encouraging news for those campaihning about clutter on our pavements here.

A Blog called Deaf Blogs

2006-01-14T16:28:00.000Z

I saw this mentioned on the BBC 2 Ceefax magazine called Read Hear. It looks interesting and I would welcome your comments. Link is here

Claim Under the DDA in Brighton County Court by Colin Bennett Against Brighton & Hove City Council 3

2006-01-03T13:01:00.000Z

More new items have been added to this post originally placed on this Blog on 30 September. Direct link here.

Letter Published in the Brighton & Hove Argus

2006-01-03T12:42:00.000Z

My recent letter relating to my time in hospital was published in the local newspaper. Read it here.

Claim Under the DDA in Brighton County Court by Colin Bennett Against Brighton & Hove City Council 2

2005-12-16T18:46:00.000Z

New items have been added to this post originally placed on this Blog on 30 September. Direct link here.

Helen Keller World Conference (and WFDB) in Tampere, Finland in June 2005

2005-12-01T16:14:00.000Z

This article by Colin Bennett will appear in an edited form in the Winter 2005/06 edition of DbI Review. I have put the many photos I took during and after the conference on my Yahoo Photo Gallery. If you would like to view them just email me or add a comment to this blog (below). Suddenly a group of people moved across the pavement and cut me off from my quarry. I was momentarily disorientated. Where was I? And what was my quarry? Well, I was walking on the streets of Tampere, the second city of Finland (Ok: I know the good citizens of Turku claim that they are the second city of Finland but we will let that pass. It is certainly true that Turku, Abo in Swedish is the former capital of Finland and that should be enough for them). My quarry was one of those suitcase trolleys being pulled by a Swedish participant in the conference that we were about to attend. As long as I could keep sight of the trolley I could follow the Swedes in their quest to find their hotel. Everything was alright if I could stay a few metres behind them. I rushed forward and managed to capture the elusive trolley again - until the next time... Eventually we reached their hotel and I was able to get my bearings and so find mine. It was early June 2005 and I had just flown into Tampere Airport to attend The 8th Helen Keller World Conference, held every four years in different cities across the globe. Interestingly, Helen Keller had visited Finland and there exists a grainy film clip of her visit not long before her death. I was representing Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association: the UK's largest charity in this field. Also taking place at the conference centre was the 2nd General Assembly of the World Federation of the Deafblind (WFDB). I had last been in Tampere in 1967 and thought I would recognise it but I could not. At the Airport I had met a group of Swedish participants and we were waiting for a bus into town. Taxis are rather expensive. Eventually we boarded a bus which we thought was the right one but it terminated well before the city centre and we were all decanted albeit in a friendly way. Another bus came along and we alighted in the city centre but we were lost and I cannot read maps nowadays. I decided to follow the Swedes as they seemed to know where they were going - I was wrong, actually. After leaving the Swedes' hotel, I roamed around for half an hour (I recognised many of the street names but not where they led to) I found my hotel which turned out to be a very modern one. I collected my key from the receptionist and I asked her if someone could show me to my room. "No" she said. But I was not surprised or offended. This was Finland after all and people are expected to be self-sufficient and they are plain-speaking. Hotels are of a high standard but not over-staffed. I hung around the lift and eventually someone helped me find my room and I settled in. It was very comfortable but I was presented with that terrible Finnish phenomenon: tiny pillows. There is always a spare pillow but trying to sleep on one tiny pillow perched on another or side by side is just as bad as dealing with one. However, Life has brought bigger problems to me than that. The conference was based at Tampere Hall and lasted from 3 to 7 June 2005 and was attended by some 417 people from 45 different countries. The slogan of the conference was "Our Right to be Deafblind with Full Participation in Society" and the participation in and the organisation of the conference lived up to that ideal. The arrangement was the normal one nowadays of workshops and plenary sessions. Also normal was the dilemma over which workshop to attend as they clashed. A further complication was the fact that the 2nd General Assembly of the WFDB was being held largely in parallel. A welcome feature of the conference was the information desk where very competent Finns were able to answer any questions. There was an unobtrusive contingent of Finnish student sign language interpreters who popped up whenever you needed them, complete with their fetching neckerchiefs. They were very useful for people like me who had no guide or communicator even though I do not sign. They spoke excellent English (the language of the conference) and could sign in Finnish and other sign languages. They were a great aid to me. We all had name badges which we wore day and night (perhaps I exaggerate) but one deficiency was that they were normal-sized. I contend that in conferences attended by people with sight problems these badges should be jumbo-sized with large lettering in contrasting colours. The opening ceremony was preceded by a session in which the arrangements to assist people with sensory loss were explained. For me, an Usher Syndrome 2 person this meant induction loops and I am pleased to say that the quality of the induction loops was high. Also remarkable was the quality of the instantaneous translation into English and Finnish of other languages including sign languages. There was always a copious supply of sign language interpreters at the front of the auditorium. An interesting feature of the conference was the continuous description in English and Finnish of everything that was happening on the stage. We got to know the Finnish word for "description" (kuvailu) as this word was used whenever the skilful describers gave us very comprehensive information over our headphones. I will not give a blow-by-blow account of the proceedings of the conference as you can read about this in the published material. I want to mention the peripheral activities. Near the beginning of the conference we were all invited to a do at the Tampere Town Hall where we were welcomed by the Mayor using an excellent PA system. These functions are always difficult for people with serious hearing problems who cannot sign because of the background noise. I normally retreat to a corner to eat and drink the goodies (never a hardship) and hope that people will come up and talk to me which usually happens. Another big event was the outing to Viikiinsaari, an island in a nearby lake. The island was a typical Finnish holiday place with a dance hall, a sauna and bonfire provisions. I well know that June days in Finland can be really warm and pleasant but I had a job persuading many of the participants that this was the case. The day was so cold and drab and I felt sorry for the African delegates huddled around the bonfire. Still, I think we all had a good time although we were very unlucky with the weather throughout the conference. A memorable visit was that to the well-equipped Resource Centre and living quarters on the outskirts of Tampere. This is an exemplar not only for Finland but for the whole world. It is called Kuurosokeiden Toimintakeskus. I was slightly miffed as I couldn't detect a single mistake in the English of the interpretor for the day. However, we did forgive each other. The conference finished on the Tuesday morning but I decided to stay the extra night. It's good practice for Usher people to start a trip as early as possible in the morning to get maximum light - even in the Finnish summer. I wandered around the city and did a dry run at the station for the following morning. Early that next morning I got lost at the station because it is very big and mostly underground. At last I found the platform but I was three minutes late for the train. Amazingly, it was still there so I jumped in just as the doors were closing. When the ticket inspector came along I asked in mock indignation why the train was four minutes late: "What is the world coming to?" He hung his head in mock shame and the ice was broken among all the passengers in the compartment. Finns are like English people. They are rather reserved but they like a joke. So I was able to converse all the way to Helsinki Central Station and was taken right down to the correct line in the new Underground station there. The Metro system had been built since my last visit. I found my way - I don't know how - to Iiris, the headquarters of the Finnish Blind Association. The Finnish Deafblind Association has offices there and I met again new chums I had made at the Conference. I spent a couple of days in Helsinki with Heikki Majava, Organising Secretary of the Finnish Deafblind Association, and others. I then spent a few days with old friends near Lahti and departed from Tampere airport on the following Sunday. Will I see Finland again? Colin Bennett