Ellee Seymour

This year is the first time that my husband and I will not be joined by our two teenage sons on holiday – our eldest will be with his girlfriend’s family in Majorca and our youngest prefers to work hard at his summer job to save for a car having just passed his driving test. However, we will not be alone as pa-in-law will be joining us. It will be his first holiday without Vera, the land army girl he married, but sadly died last year.

I don’t find the thought of luggage restrictions and airport queues relaxing, and my husband has long wanted to visit Portmeirion where The Prisoner was filmed, so we have booked to stay in an unpronounceable area in Wales near Caernarfon Bay.  We used Trip Advisor and would have made some howling errors if we had not heeded the advice of others who posted warnings about their Basil Fawlty experiences and huge disappointments, despite the fabulous photos and description posted by hotels.

Pa-in-law was grumpy about the prospect of having to pay a single room surcharge, but we negotiated a good deal with the hotel – and my husband and I even have a four poster bed to look forward to – and stunning sea views – as that was the last double room available.

Unfortunately, we have to wait a while yet as we will not be packing our bags until the end of August. What are your holiday plans this summer?

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Last night I joined Cambridge’s popular historian and the city’s best known road sweeper, Allan Brigham,  for a guided tour of Chesterton – old and new. He’s a bit like the Pied Piper and attracts hordes of enthusiastic followers who lap up his every word. Last night was no exception, and a score of disappointed folk had to be turned away as they had not booked in advance. He decided that a group of  50, including my blogging mentor Geoff Jones, a new Chesterton resident who was nursing a bruised rib after falling off his bike during a cycle ride through the Rhine, and his girlfriend Sally, was more than enough.

These numbers are a testament to the success of his illuminating tours. We soaked up endless little known historical facts as we snaked our way through the streets, including an ancient footpath once walked by diarist Samuel Pepys, comparing the sturdy and thoughtful designs of Victorian and Edwardian properties, to the cramped new modern styles of homes built to meet local needs rather than being aesthetically pleasing.

Our walk took us to Chesterton Tower – the second oldest building in Cambridge, and now used an office block. I asked Allan why this wonderful medieval monument, which must surely be a listed building and is owned by Trinity, is allowed to have horrid and unsightly white PVC windows. For once, he had no answer.

As Allan amused us with tales about the raucous goings-on in Roebuck House, the owner stepped out, Donald Mackay, who confirmed there had been naked frolicking in the garden with an academic and young women, and kindly invited us to tour the gardens. Sadly, there was no time, but the offer added to the infectious high spirits of the group, many of us ashamed by our lack of local historical knowledge.

We also saw a special monument at St Andrew’s Church for the four-year-old daughter of black slave Olaudah Equiano, who had married a local girl in Soham after buying his freedom. He actively campaigned with the anti-slavery movement being led by Thomas Clarkson and William Wilberforce. And many thanks Allan for the book you gave me about Olaudah’s daughter Joanna which I thoroughly enjoyed reading this morning.

There is so much more I could say. If you want to learn more about Chesterton and other parts of Cambridge, then here is the link to Allan’s inspiring Town Not Gown tours. You can see a video of him being interviewed about his well deserved honorary degree from Cambridge University for his services to the community as a tour guide. I couldn’t resist taking these pics during the walk and using EveryTrail on my iPhone to record it:

Allan Brigham’s tour of Chesterton

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My mother has a disabled badge and it is always a scramble to find a blue badge parking spot when I take her to Asda in Wisbech. However, I was reminded how easy it is to jump to conclusions when seeing a young and fit looking driver behind the wheel and parked in a disabled bay.

That was the case last week when I loaded up our shopping, and the pretty young woman parked next to me in a large vehicle waited patiently for me to close my car door. The reason soon became clear – she needed to get her wheelchair out, as well as her new best friend, a Canine Partner called Lex, who has been specially trained to assist her with different chores as she is disabled.

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My walking buddy Heather and I found ourselves making a return visit to Dunwich Museum at the weekend, captivated by the story of how this once thriving town, or even a city, had vanished into the sea, helpless against the force of the crushing waves against its crumbling cliffs. We had visited it last two years ago, and I can still remember being told as a child about the church bells that still ring from below the sea. It was such an evocative and powerful image.

The story is a reminder of how vulnerable our coastline communities are, and I used my 4G iPhone to record a brief video outlining the Dunwich story which you can view here:

And here is the trail which Heather and I enjoyed. How much longer it will be there remains to be seen ….

Dunwich

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One of the walks my friend Heather and I had planned to do from a guide book was unexpectedly abandoned – because the footpaths had been swamped by the eroding coastline. We improvised, thanks to Heather’s brilliant map reading, and had a very pleasant walk around Blythburgh during our annual Suffolk walking weekend. I noticed a mysterious tombstone in the village churchyard marking the death of Charles Montague, “A Valiant Pilgrim”, with an engraved open book giving us a clue about his love of literature, but nobody I spoke to there seemed to know who he was. And I wondered who left the fresh African violet at the foot of his grave…

Blythburgh

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I have just spent the most wonderful few days in Aldeburgh with a dear friend and kind, generous hosts. It’s an annual retreat and point of reunion for Heather and myself, a former nurse from Cambridge who now lives in London, and plans to uproot to Somerset. We plan to continue our annual July walking weekend in that glorious Suffolk town wherever she moves to.

Here is a route of our walk around Benjamin Britten’s Aldeburgh, our leading 20th century composer, including a stop at his pink limestone home in Crabbe Street, having been directed there by an energetic 85-year-old who had just taken her daily dip in the grey sea, with Sizewell B’s white spherical landmark clearly visible on the horizon. We also saw the grey slate tombstones marking his burial place alongside his partner, the operatic tenor Peter Pears.

Many thanks to Heather for her patience while I took so many photos en route, some of which include her during our trail.

Benjamin Britten’s Aldeburgh

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This is Eastern Region MEP Robert’s Sturdy’s latest report from the European Parliament sitting in Strasbourg, which tackled issues including illegally harvested timber, AIDS treatment and new rules for bankers’ bonuses:

It is often the case that the plenary sessions in Strasbourg before the European Parliament’s summer recess are extremely busy, and last week was no exception.  Frequently the negotiation process between the different political groups and between MEPs and the other institutions leads to delays and postponements, causing a hurry to get through all the various reports before the summer break.

At the top of the log jam this month was Parliament’s vote to ban the sale of illegally harvested timber. Illegal deforestation has devastating effects. On a global level, deforestation as a whole is estimated to contribute 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. Where it occurs, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity and landslides are all potential problems. The plunder of this natural resource also hits forest-dependent peoples and the economies of developing countries.

The new legislation bans illegally-harvested timber or timber products from being placed on the EU market. This will prevent such wood from effectively being laundered once it reaches the EU. Currently, at least 20% of timber and timber products reaching the EU market are estimated to come from illegal sources.

Member States will be responsible for applying sanctions to operators who break the rules. The legislation sets out guidelines for imposing fines covering the environmental damage caused, the value of the timber and lost tax revenue and EU countries can also impose criminal-law penalties on unscrupulous dealers. To ensure traceability, each operator along the supply chain will need to declare from whom they bought timber and to whom they sold it.

I have kept a close eye on this piece of legislation, frequently meeting with NGO representatives who share my concerns about the disastrous effects of trade in illegal timber and from my point of view this vote could not come soon enough, we can only hope that the rest of the world takes a leaf out of the EU’s (recycled) book and follows suit in adopting similar measures themselves.

*With over 33 million people living with AIDS world wide, it is a real problem that access to antiretroviral treatments remains so poor. Last week Conservative MEPs submitted a resolution (a non-legislative text which officially expresses on record the opinion of the European Parliament) calling on governments to pass new laws ensuring more affordable medication for those suffering from HIV.

The resolution stresses the existing higher levels of infection among key groups such as sex workers, homosexuals, transgender people, prisoners, injecting drug users, migrants, refugees and mobile workers, and calls for specific targeted actions to ensure their access to public health and fight their discrimination and stigmatisation by society.

This opinion was specifically targeted at sending a strong message before the International AIDS conference in Vienna on the 18th to 23rd July.  There is currently an ongoing debate across a whole range of legislative texts, in particular trade agreements, as to how best we can protect the ability of Europe’s scientists to develop new drugs and market them while ensuring that those who need them most can afford them.

In the International Trade Committee this is particularly the case with the negotiations surrounding the Free Trade Agreement with India and the Anti-counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), both of which are ongoing.  Trade is an area where the EU works best, and it is essential that we get this right.  If we come down too strongly on the side of the pharmaceutical companies we could prevent access to life saving medicines, which is unacceptable.

*Elsewhere the Parliament also agreed on new rules for bankers’ bonuses, which I believe to be both fair and proportionate.  Caps will be imposed on upfront cash bonuses and at least half of any bonus will have to be paid in contingent capital and shares. MEPs also toughened rules on the capital reserves that banks must hold to guard against any risks from their trading activities and from their exposure to highly complex securities.

There is a consensus that while the bonuses may not have been the main cause of the crisis, they certainly contributed.  We need to prevent a future situation where the pay and bonus culture at our biggest investment banks do not encourage the kind of risks which led us to ruin and recession, and that includes other European banks taking risks on our markets.

That’s it from me until September when we have two voting sessions, so until then I would like to wish you all the best of summers, and of course if you ever have any questions about my work, or the Parliament in general, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

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As a nation we struggle with women in high office. The Church of England is currently in turmoil over the ordination of women bishops, an issue I first highlighted two years ago, the European Commission is considering introducing quotas to tackle gender imbalances on company boards where only 10% of members are women, and our Parliament still struggles to achieve more equal representation of women MPs in Westminster, despite supportive pledges from party leaders.

So I congratulate brave Norfolk headteacher Tim Phillips who has appointed two head girls at Acle High School, breaking with the tradition of choosing both a head boy and head girl, as the two girls were the best candidates. Twenty-four of the school’s 56 prefects applied, 18 girls and six boys.

The Eastern Daily Press reports that in a selection process involving a written application and rigorous interviews by the head and two senior teaching colleagues, it was decided that Melissa Willrich and Alix Williamson should both be appointed head girls. To rub salt into the wounded pride of any male contenders, they will be supported by two deputies who are also girls, Melissa Busby and Gabriella George.

“The strongest by a long way were all girls so we chose two head girls and two deputy head girls,” said Tim Phillips.

I hope these girls continue to succeed achieving leadership roles later in life. With fewer boys motivated to apply to become school head, and girls here taking an exceptional lead, it is quite clear we have some exceptional future women leaders in Norfolk. When does it all become so difficult for women to achieve high office in the same way as their male counterparts?

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My husband’s birthday is coming up soon and I did consider buying him The Fountain of Youth which Brucie swears by for keeping him fit and agile; it was given to him by his mother-in-law 27 years ago when he married the stunning Wilnelia who is 32 years younger.

The book claims that by following a regime of exercises based on five rites – energy, fire, water, earth and air, devised by Tibetan monks more than 2,500 years ago, the exercises are so potent they can turn back time  -  turning grey hair black, improving eyesight and memory and banishing wrinkles.

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I’ve just watched last night’s harrowing BBC documentary Between Life and Death, which tracked the fate of three seriously brain injured people at the Neurosciences Critical Care Unit in Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, following terrible road accidents.

No wonder it is a world famous hospital. I thought Neuro Intensive Care expert Prof David Menon was astounding in the way he began a dialogue with Richard Rudd by encouraging the paralysed man to use blinking when responding to his questions. And that was how Richard told Prof Menon (who lives in my village) that he wanted to stay alive; his family had been convinced there was no way in a million years that he would want to live with such severe injuries.

It clearly demonstrates that one can never be sure how one will feel in these catastrophic circumstances until it happens to you. The chances are that even if you have made a living will declaring in advance that you do not wish to be treated if you are seriously injured and unable to communicate, you could change your mind when faced with that final choice.

I remember thinking when I was younger that I would not want to continue living if I had a mastectomy. And then I became a mum and realised that my sons would still need me as their mother, regardless of how I looked and the effects of major life- saving surgery on my body. It would not be the end of the world, and last night’s sensitive documentary demonstrated that this could also be the case following a serious brain injury when a patient like Richard has “locked-in syndrome” – when someone can think, hear and feel, but is unable to speak or move their limbs. To see Richard’s smile now, one can clearly see that he is still glad to be alive.

Headway Cambridgeshire has a superb support officer at Addenbrooke’s who helps families through their horrendous trauma. Many of our service users in Cambridge have had road accidents and our professionally trained staff help rehabilitate them. I am reminded again of how wonderful our organisation is, and what a privilege it is to serve as their chair of trustees, knowing that our small charity is making a huge difference to their lives.

I attended a Headway conference at the weekend and learned that fewer people suffer brain injures today as a result of car accidents as our modern cars are much safer, but that increasing serious brain injures were caused by assaults. This is what makes me fearful as a mother of two teenage boys, I know these devastating accidents can happen to anyone without warning and shatter the lives of families for ever.

I would like to say a tremendous thank you to Prof Menon for your sensitivity and perception which came through in the documentary, as well as your brilliant skill as a surgeon, and to your superb team at Addenbrooke’s too.

Here is link to the programme on BBC iPlayer.

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