Today I cycled to the Wednesday market in Uppermill for the first time in weeks. Sometimes the weather has been uninviting, at other times I have been busy with something else on a Wednesday morning. And occasionally I have just felt like walking instead.
I was a little worried that the Donkey Line bridle path would be very muddy after the heavy rain of the last few days but in fact it was mostly quite dry. I think that the quite long dry spell has meant that the ground has to absorb a lot of water before we get back to muddy conditions on he bridle paths.
It was rather cool but not wet and windy. So all was well. And had I not cycled I would not have seen deer racing round the field where someone keeps highland cattle next to the Donkey Line. It was rather hard to video them while preventing my bike from falling over!
The market is still in a very subdued state: only the fishman (back from his holidays) and the man who sells shoes and slippers, with a sideline in secondhand books and now a new extra - bric a brac from his parents’ house clearance and stuff that others have handed on to him. It would be a shame for it to disappear. Uppermill is the largest of the Saddleworth villages. It still has a butcher’s, a baker’s (but no candlestick maker’s) and a greengrocer’s, a slightly larger co-op store than the one in Delph, and an independent chemist’s as well another which is one of a chain. Otherwise, it is
filling up with cafes, gift shops and charity shops, like so many pretty places.
They’re fighting wildfire in southern France. One person has died and nine others were injured as fire spread through part of the Corbières hills. They’re still fighting wildfire in California and in parts of Canada. Huge fires have become a regular feature of summer in recent years.
I read that the UK culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has said she won’t be watching the latest series of MasterChef on BBC because of the controversy over the conduct of its sacked presenters. She won’t go so far to say that the BBC should not show it: “It’s absolutely not for me, as the culture secretary and a member of the government, to tell broadcasters what they can and can’t broadcast.” Rather surprising in the current climate of controlling what we say and do.
But how self-sacrificing of Ms Nandy to decide not to watch the programme.
I’m surprised that a busy MP can find the time to watch TV at all but , I suppose that a busy Culture Secretary needs to keep up to date with what is being broadcast!
I came across a new bit of terminology today: AI Vegans. These are people who have chosen to abstain from using AI for environmental, ethical and personal wellness reasons. Does this mean that they abstain from using their iPhones as well? How will they know what influencers recommend that they should do with their lives?
The debate about sun screen rumbles on. Influencers suggest that sunscreen is bad for you, that using a sunbed helps stop you burning when you go out in the real sunshine And that itvs possible to,build up a tolerance to the sun’s rays. A survey by the skin cancer charity Melanoma Focus found that 28% of UK adults use sunbeds. But that goes up to 43% among 18-25 year olds. It’s not even a question of just a healthy glow for many of them; some are obsessed with getting a dark a tan as possible!
Coco Chanel, said to have made being tanned fashionable, has a lot to answer for. And yet, we all contribute to the myth every time we congratulate a sun-kissed person on how well they look!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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