Ellee Seymour

Well I can honestly say that so far, nobody has ever got lost under my leadership as a guide for the Ramblers’ Association. Let’s hope my walk this evening is as successful as my previous jaunts.

I live very close to Wicken Fen, a stunning National Trust nature reserve, where I will lead my group of merry men and women.

In fact, when I led this same walk last year, romance blossomed amongst two of my ramblers and they are still going strong, they have also taken up bee keeping. I was told they might turn up this evening with some bubbly to mark their anniversary.

My great blogging friend Geoff met Sally while out walking last year - and they haven’t stopped, they have since walked hundreds of miles together across Europe. And they are still smiling.

I really enjoy walking, it’s lovely to feel the fresh air and gentle sun on my face, to watch nature evolve throughout the year - and it’s free! So you are most welcome to join me, and if you are footloose and fancy free, you could meet the person of your dreams, though I can’t make any promises.

You can always expect the unexpected on one of my walks - but hopefully we will all return in good spirits and safe and sound, and all the healthier for it.

Guest post by Linda Jones, campaigning for fairer benefits for parents of twins and triplets. 

I am a twin myself and so delighted to give a guest spot to Linda Jones who writes a site dedicated to multiple births called appropriately You’ve Got Your Hands Full. Her twin daughters, Emily and Melissa, look like cherubs, I’m sure they are lots of fun too, as well as keeping Linda on her toes. This is her story:

What’s the point of raising awareness about the “issuesâ€?  faced by multiple births families? I was asked last week.

That was after I’d written this post for Guardian Unlimited about how the fame-hungry sisters on Big Brother had re-ignited a debate over how twins can be seen, highlighting the moves over the last 30 years or so to strive for seeing all children as individuals.

You’d think that was a ‘given’ wouldn’t you? But there are twins, as Sam and Amanda show who do relish their ‘togetherness’ so very much, they’re willing to milk it for all its worth on the nation’s most loved and hated reality show.

But there are many more considerations for families with twins or more, that we would respectfully suggest are worthy of special consideration.

(For example, I personally would have liked some guidance last night when two eight-year-old girls both suddenly decided they should be allowed to watch The Bill for heaven’s sake…Short of making sure the telly stayed off and insisting they went to bed, what else could I do? But that’s beside the point!)

Most urgent for many families of course, are the financial pressures of having more than one baby at once.

That’s why a campaign is under way to press for equal payments for the younger and older children in the family.

The Child Poverty Action Group is spearheading a campaign for all families on this issue and is enthusiastically supported by Tamba, along with coalition of around 50 other organisations as well as more than 3,300 individuals.

It calls for an increase to child benefit to ensure that younger children get the same rate as the oldest child. Currently £17.45 is received for the oldest child, compared to £11.40 for younger children.

As you may be able to imagine, when there are but minutes or even seconds between the children, the fact that they don’t get the same amount, seems at its most ridiculous.

There are no hand-me downs, no stuff thoughtfully put up in the loft, when twins or more arrive, and expensive specialist equipment may also be needed.

CPAG’s Kate Green explains: “Child benefit has a much better take up rate than tax credits, reaching more children in poverty without causing overpayments or uncertainty over entitlement.

“But younger children lose out on the full level of support. That is why thousands of parents have joined us in calling for the Chancellor to increase child benefit and ensure that younger children get the same rate as the oldest child.

“Giving younger children the same amount of child benefit as the oldest child in a family would lift 250,000 children out of poverty. With the Government set to miss their target of halving child poverty by 2010 this would help get them back on track.�

Tamba director Helen Forbes says: “For families with twins and triplets or more, increasing the rate of child benefit for younger children is extremely important. Each child in a multiple birth costs as much to feed, clothe and care for and you can’t pass down clothes, toys and equipment for children born minutes apart.�

This is a campaign that has won the support of a small number of MPs, most notably the former Guildford Lib Dem MP Sue Doughty who tabled an Early Day Motion some years ago, and around the same time, Lembit Opik also spoke up in support of a constituent’s plight.

These days of course, that particular MP has a more high profile connection with twins.

Perhaps the less said about that, the better…especially when I reckon if you look closer at the twins in question, they may just have helped influence the ‘identikit’ antics of those two young girls currently gracing Big Brother with their presence!

We all know the Queen has the patience of a saint, the greatest difficulty for her must be not to show surprise or annoyance at other people’s odd behaviour.

She must have known by now that they do things differently on the other side of the pond. Take George Bush’s wink, he probably thought he was being friendly and putting our monarch at her ease; at the end of the day, it was no big deal really, the Americans simply do not share our sense of formality.

So it is not surprising that the Queen looks somewhat startled, perhaps even exasperated, in this portrait by America’s celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz. The Queen lost her cool in front of a BBC documentary team and stormed out of a photo shoot after being told she would look better without the crown, less dressy.

This Fox News report describes how the Americans regard our monarchy, there is no deference or regard at all for her regal position:

The Queen of England can be a royal pain if you dare to challenge her to remove her crown.

At the grand age of 81, the Queen is allowed to have an odd Victor Meldrew moment, she is probably one of the most photographed women in the world and knows how to pose and respond to their different requirements..

I would have expected a professional photographer to make it plain in advance the type of pictures he or she was after. These were official 80th birthday shots and required a formal look as she was dressed in the garter robes. Who knows what else led up this outburst, if it was the final straw.

I’ve been to a few press events with members of the royal family and the general rule of thumb seems to be that you do not speak to them unless they speak to you first. I haven’t broken any royal rules yet, I wondered if you had. Are your sympathies with the Queen or should we sympathise with Annie in trying to get that one extra shot?

Update: It appears that the BBC has apologised to the Queen and admitted it sexed up the story. Can we ever believe them again? And is it a crown the Queen is wearing, or a tiara?

Renee Aitken was abducted from her bedroom in New South Wales, Australia, in 1984 aged five. She would now be 29. 

Despite exhaustive police investigations and three massive land searches, no trace of her has ever been found.

An inquest was held into Renee’s disappearance four years ago when the coroner returned an open verdict. He concluded that Renee was dead and probably murdered on or around Feburary 16, 1984, the date she was abducted.

Police are convinced Brian James “Spider” Fitzpatrick kidnapped Renee, but the convicted sex offender died in a car crash just weeks before the inquest was due to start.

Her name still remains on the police files for missing people.

In memory of those who are still missing.