Entries by Adrian Hollister

This could easily be a circular walk, but I'm still taking it easy with the knee so wanted to limited myself to 4 miles. It's an easy walk with no significant hills and it's mostly solid footpath. Good for the dogs and some good views of the Thames Valley and edge of the North Wessex Downs.

Start: Wantage Park. There is good parking and you could easily extend this route back to here (only add's a mile or so).
Waypoint: Childrey
End: East Challow
Distance: 3.9 miles
Time taken: 1 hour 16 mins
Elevation change: not recorded but there are no significant hills
Dog walking: 80% off lead. Few dogs or other walkers.
Track condition: Good gravel/tarmac short stretch of field grass and mud.
Accessibility: Some stiles, narrow paths, overgrown in places. No shelter. Occasional seat.
Difficulty: Easy romp.

Posted by Adrian Hollister

Simple walk here, from the centre of Wantage town via the old Wilts and Berks Canal to West Challow and back. There is quite a bit of off lead walking for the dogs and it's an easy level walk. From Wantage Town Centre, head towards the old canal following what appears to be an old branch in the canal. There is a tarmac and gravel foot path following the route which can be easily found next to the mill and passing to the west of the new housing development, I followed the path through the new shops car park and rejoined it over the bridge to the new houses. The path goes through the various housing estates in Wantage, keep going straight ahead and you will end up with a gravel section - this appears to be the start of a branch in the old Wilts and Berks Canal.



This track takes you directly to whats left of the Wilts and Berks Canal on the border between Wantage and Grove. It's here that you find a roundabout, best to follow the path on the road until you can rejoin the canal route. The route from here follows the canal West. Once over the road an in the field you can lets the dogs off to have a play. Follow the 'tree line' as it's what's left of the old canal. Towards the end of the field you should start to see canal workings again. Over another style at the end of the field and your straight onto a shallow silted and rubbish filled canal. Follow this into East Challow - beware that there is a fast road in East Challow that needs to be crossed - get the dogs back when you start to see houses.

Cross the road and your back onto what's left of the canal. It's built over and filled through most of East Challow, but when you start to leave the village it returns and it's possible to find canal workings. It's all off lead for the dogs now, straight to West Challow. What's left of what must have been a bridge has been filled in at West Challow, so it's a good place to stop and about face.

If you look at my other walks in the area, it's easily possible to join other footpaths that will take you back into Wantage via Childrey or past what's marked as an old Roman Villa (nothing to see though).

This is an easy walk that anyone who can climb a style can do. Whilst there are no seat's, there are plenty of opportunities to stop on bridges, canal workings and village facilities.

Start: Wantage Town Centre
Waypoint: West Challow Bridge
End: Wantage Town Centre
Distance: 5.4 miles
Time taken: 2 hours
Elevation change: flat
Dog walking: 70% off lead. Several dogs, walkers and cyclists.
Track condition: Good gravel/tarmac short stretches of field grass and mud.
Accessibility: Some stiles, narrow paths, overgrown in places.
Difficulty: Easy romp.

Posted by Adrian Hollister

Apart from MP Richard Benyon and his family estate, I'm struggling to find anyone in West Berkshire that benefits from the new budget. Whilst the Chancellor targets his version on 'morally repugnant' tax avoidance, he fails to tackle tax avoidance from Trust Funds and other vehicles set up to hide the super wealthy from the tax. If they were looking to be fair and honest, they would ensure that all loop holes for Trust Funds are closed and that these bodies pay their fair share. But with all his family silver tied up in one of these tax avoidance schemes, why would Richard Benyon want to do this?

Only the Green Party offers a fair tax system. Let's start with the closure of the nearly £30 billion a year lost to fraud and tax evasion. That would help balance the books and allow us to keep the NHS whilst investing in our future. If you feel suckered into voting Tory or Liberal Democrat in Newbury last time around - don't you think it's time for a real, honest and fair change? Join the Green Party, vote for us, and help us change this country for the better.

Posted by Adrian Hollister

The Land Rover I have, may be old, but she run's just fine on a combination of veggie oil, biodiesel and diesel. This gives me a good choice on how I fuel the vehicle and how much I pay to fuel the vehicle. With WVO being a premium now, I am finding it ever more difficult to get good consistent sources; and then why I do find something it ends up being 50% bit of crap and 50% WVO. SVO is not my ideal choice, not only for ethical reasons (we cannot produce enough of it), but also the added things like anti-foaming/gelling agents don't help combustion. I've no evidence to suggest that they are removed when used as cooking oil, but the stuff I use as WVO always seems to make a smoother sounding engine. So I've been testing Cetane boosters to see how effective they are with SVO and to see if they take some of the knock out of ordinary SVO.

First up is the Diesel Nitrox Cetane Booster. It claims to do the same as the much more expensive branded products. It's one of those bottles where you have to guess a bit on how much you add, but if your doing a whole tank full it's quite easy. It worked well and certainly reduced the diesel noise as well as appearing to give a little more performance. Nothing scientific here, it's all perception. For the money it's easily the best available.

For a few pounds more, you can get Millers Oils - Diesel Power Eco Max 500ml. It claims similar things, but suggests it boosts the Cetane number by 5. It's much easier to measure how much you need to add with this bottle layout and it did just as good as job as the cheaper product's here. It doesn't claim anything fancy, but suggests your car will be more environmentally friendly by using less diesel and putting out less emissions. There is a tentative link to the claim, but your not saving the environment with these products directly, just helping WVO or SVO do their job better.

The last one is Morris Superclean DD. Nothing on the package to show it's a cetane booster, but it's in there. No claims on how high you can boost it by either; just simple honest - "this will make things a bit better" marketing. Give them credit for that. They seem to be a UK company too, but I can't see where the product is manufactured. Like the others, it did what it said on the tin and was definitely better than nothing and as good as the others. Like the Millers Oils product, it has an easy measure which makes it a lot easier to use.

Search around for the best prices for these products, but they are all around the £7-£12 bracket for their standard size. So which one do I use? I'm sticking with Morris Superclean DD as it's seems a good working product, with an easy measure and it does what it says on the product blurb.

Found anything better? Let me know and I will try it out. Adrian Hollister.

Posted by Adrian Hollister

Newbury Greens have slammed the McNulty review as potentially disastrous for Newbury's commuters and has suggested that Newbury and Thatcham area does not need fare increases and less station staff, but more investment and more regular trains to and from London and the West Country.

Adrian Hollister, Newbury Green Party said, "Roy McNulty perceives his 'value for money' report only in terms of immediate cost and not value for the community, our society or longer term value for the country.

“Newbury area train stations have seen a gradual reduction in quality of service provided to the communities they serve. Ever decreasing quality of station services will only go to show how detached McNulty is from the consumer.

“A clear example of this are the plans to remove station staff at our busiest stations. We cannot rely upon the current train information systems as they are most often out of date; and we cannot rely upon ticket machines to help us with the cheapest fare nor answer the question 'so which platform is that?', let alone 'can you help me with my bag?'.

“Twitter and iPhone app's are a much more reliable source of 'where the train has got to?' than First Great Westerns on station automated signs. Thinking that these systems and automated ticket machines can replace friendly station staff, is just not true.

“The icing on the McNulty cake is that to deliver less in a less convenient way he is suggesting that we increasing fares! For our commuters will be a real slap in the face and is completely contrary to the aim of reducing prices and encouraging lower carbon and sustainable travel models. Fares from Newbury to London are already ridiculous, they need to be reduced not increased. The way to reduce prices and ensure financial viability is to get more passengers by getting people out of cars and on to trains. We can only do this by making trains more appealing, more reliable and travelling to the place where people need to go.

"Privatisation has brought nothing but increasing costs to this country, however we should expect nothing less of Lib Dems and Conservatives who are wedded to the principle of putting markets before people."

Posted by Adrian Hollister

A BBC programme on Pedigree Dogs and the methods used to produce the 'perfect' dog has hit the headlines again for highlighting breeding issues for pedigree dogs. It's one of those shock programmes that highlights the risks to the welfare of pedigree dogs. The documentary, from 2008, was updated with a 'Three Years On' version highlighting that some positive changes have taken place, but that deeply troubling issues are still prevalent in an industry that has historically cared more about the appearance of dogs rather than the animal's health and well being.

Adrian Hollister, Newbury Green Party: "I agree with the recommendations to create an independent government-backed regulator. This will help the Kennel club as it's in a difficult position juggling their commitments to both breeders and dogs."

Green Party Deputy Leader Adrian Ramsay said on the Green Party web site:

"The breeding practices that have been exposed in the BBC documentary show that dog welfare is being disregarded. It is perverse that some breeders deliberately breed dogs with major health problems and deformities for prestige and to win competitions.

"The Green Party has long supported the measures that the journalist called for in the documentary. An independent regulatory committee is crucial to safeguarding the health of dogs."

Green Party Animal Welfare Spokesperson and Vet, Caroline Allen also comments:

"In my job as a small animal vet it is clear that the Kennel Club alone cannot deal with this problem. I have seen no sign of a decrease in breed related problems and there are many other issues associated with irresponsible dog breeding that the Kennel Club can simply do nothing about. Many breeders act outside of the Kennel Club, as do puppy farms. We need to regulate the whole industry to prevent the sort of suffering that vets are seeing on a daily basis. The financial cost of irresponsible breeding is also a high one, with increasing number of strays and dog attacks, costing local authorities and the NHS millions. The Green Party would introduce a requirement that all dogs be micro-chipped and would require that all breeders be licensed. It is time to tackle all aspects of irresponsible breeding."

References:
1. BBC Documentary: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2012/09/Pedigree-Dogs-Exposed-Three-Years-On.html and the original http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00d4ljk
2. Green Party call for action to end Dog Breeding Abuse: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/green-party-call-for-action-to-end-dog-breeding-abuse.html

Posted by Adrian Hollister

Well, my new power supply turned up today for my Pure Evoke-2 radio, the old one released magic smoke and gave up the ghost. Could have got a genuine part from Pure, but they are very expensive and ended up getting one from Amazon (Pure 9V YHAD-48-091500VB replacement power supply). Although only a couple of quid, the unit has turned up and seems quite substantial, run's cold and has all the right approvals stamped on the side. So far, so good. Good for the money for sure.

Posted by Adrian Hollister

It's sad to see another accident on the A34 in West Berkshire/Oxfordshire again. This is so frustrating. It's clear that there is a problem on this stretch of road. It's clear that the impact is not only on the local community, but our economy and the reputation of West Berkshire. So why don't West Berkshire Council act? Where is Cllr George Chandler (Downlands Ward)? and why is this one stretch of road ignored by the Highways Agency?

Posted by Adrian Hollister

Our three year old Finnish Lapphund called Rauhan is ready to strut his stuff at Crufts this year. Rauhan is a three year old Finnish Lapphund dog, with a string of wins and top 3 places. A few notable wins are the following:

-Best puppy in breed 2009 in Welks and Southern Counties (Newbury)
-1st Junior Dog at the Finnish Lapphund Club 2009
-A string of 1st and top three places
-2nd Post Grad Dog at Crufts 2011
-My eldest daughter, Katy Hollister, has shown Rauhan twice in the 'Junior Handler' competition and won both times (Finnish Lapphund Club show 2009, 2010)

Rauhan is Finnish for Peace and despite his name, he is very noisy when excited and full of energy. Rauhan is often out with Adrian Hollister on long Downland walks, where he is happy to be running all day. He lives with a family and was brought up around children. He is completely soppy and the girls refer to him as 'posh dog' as he doesn't like getting dirty.

Finnish Lapphunds are an easy going pastoral dog and with their long thick double coats are water proof and usually happy to be outside in rain and deep snow. They are a highly intelligent and active breed - they take well to training. They moult once a year and shed over a short time, making them good for people who normally have dog allergies. They are also amazingly family friendly as they readily accept family life as pack life. They are great herders and are good rounding up the kids and making sure everyone is present. You can find more details of my walks in my blog.

Posted by Adrian Hollister

So what's Adrian Hollister's position on drug use in Newbury and the UK? I have a rather simple view: “Consumption of drugs should be a personal choice - not something promoted by society and not forced on other people (such as through obvious consumption in a public area).”

For such a general statement I need to qualify my comments some what. There are boundaries to personal choice and there are those that choose not to consume or be forced to consume.

To understand the where they can be consumed, I should qualify my definition: where anybody around would be in full consent. So, for example, train stations are an unlikely location to consume drugs as people would object either through forced consumption (in the example of smoking), but also because it's not something that should be promoted in or by society. Perhaps an acceptable example would be single drug private clubs that could be labeled as such.

We have examples of these already with alcohol being served in places where people choose to consume it and it's not acceptable to consume it on the streets or on the train. How many people now use cafe's or similar avoiding the association with drugs (alcohol or smoking).

Clearly there would have to be exclusions such as proximity children, the vulnerable and on health or welfare grounds, as well as input from the local community (including those that do not want to see or consume drugs).

Inherited need

The change in our society brought about by the smoking ban could facilitate this change. We are starting to look differently on drugs now, especially smoking, where it's no longer something generally promoted by society but people are still legally allowed to consume the drug. There is a long way to go to reduce our inherited need to consume drugs, but as the generations go by the approach taken to smoking could be used to removed all inherited need – and that should be our goal. Remove the inherited need for drugs and allow personal choice and freedom to take over.

The classic example is the need on a Friday and Saturday night to binge on alcohol. This is not something seen (to this extent) on the continent, but it does seem to be an inherited right of passage that we as a society don't seem to be able to break. It's what everyone does and it has it's own badges of honour and gives people a shared experience, and it is that that appears to be missing in our society. Bonding without drugs and the shared experience can be difficult in our society today.

The Shared Experience Gap

It's the shared experience gap – an excuse to meet and bond with peers, to gain badges of honour, to impress, and perhaps to find a mate. So what's missing and where do we differ from our friends overseas? To keep to the point, I will cover this in another blog entry.

Modern Society Drug Use

We have the starting point of a modern system today. In effect a pilot has been conducted, mostly on health grounds, to break the inherited need to smoke. It's a compromise that has allowed people to retain their personal freedom whilst respecting other peoples right to avoid drug consumption.

I would extend this scope to other drugs and would look to single drug private clubs (consenting clubs) to allow freedom of choice (to consume and to not consume), to provide for the shared experience gap, and to create an environment that would not be promoted by our society but accepted and tolerated.
I would also place further safeguards than there are today, for example, ban drugs from any where near children (even at home), the vulnerable etc. It's just not fair to inflict drugs onto people who are not able to choose for themselves.

The Summary

I would both extend the use of the current system for nicotine consumption through smoking and provide further safeguards for those that need it.

So going back to my original statement: Adrian Hollister's position on drug use “Consumption of drugs should be a personal choice - not something promoted by society and not forced on other people (such as through obvious consumption in a public area).”

Posted by Adrian Hollister