Happy Christmas

nick

Isn't it time to fully trade on a Sunday?

I can’t help feeling that in the current economic climate, it just may be the right time to repeal the ludicrous Sunday trading hours. In fact I’m surprised that some of the large retail chains allegedly staring at the abyss in the New Year aren’t screaming that exact message from the rooftops. The Act says:

The Sunday Trading Act 1994

A large shop shall not be open on Sunday for the serving of retail customers except as permitted by the provisions of the Sunday Trading Act.
A shop is defined as:

"Any premises where a trade or business consisting mainly of the sale of goods is carried on."

The above Act is restricted to retail shops. Wholesale shops are not covered by the legislation.

The sale of goods does not include:
· the sale of meals or refreshments or intoxicating liquor for consumption on the premises
· the sale of meals or refreshments prepared to order for immediate consumption off the premises.

Such premises are not subject to Sunday trading controls.

Small shops are not covered by the legislation if they have a floor area used for serving customers, or for displaying goods, of less than 280 square metres. This is approximately 3015 square feet or an area 55 feet by 55 feet.

This area does not include:
· storerooms
· stockrooms
· canteens
· restrooms
· other areas which the public do not have access to.

There are no restrictions on the hours of opening of small shops on Sundays under the Sunday Trading Act.

Large shops are covered by the legislation if they have a floor area used for serving of customers, or for displaying goods, that exceeds 280 square metres.
Under the Sunday trading restrictions:

· Large retail shops may only open on a Sunday for a single, continuous period of up to six hours between 10.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m
· Large shops opening on a Sunday must display a public notice of their Sunday opening hours.
· Large shops may not open at all for the serving of retail customers on Easter Sunday or Christmas Day if it is a Sunday.
· Customers on a Sunday must have left the shop not later than half an hour after the closing time.

Exemptions
· farm shops selling mostly their own produce
· shops selling mainly intoxicating liquor
· shops selling mainly motor or cycle supplies or accessories
· pharmacies open only for the selling of medicinal products or medical or surgical appliances
· petrol filling stations
· stands used for retail sales at exhibitions
· some other retail shops (e.g. airport shops)

The maximum penalty under this legislation is a fine of £50,000


Now while I accept that there were concerns raised over jobs some 2 years ago when a review was last discussed, things are a whole lot different now and retail jobs aren’t just threatened they are being lost! In 2006 it was argued that repeal would generate an extra £1.4bn for the UK economy.

The Keep Sunday Special Campaign argue that full Sunday trading would lead to an "erosion of family life", but so does unemployment.


nick

A little piece of Britain in Spain?

Gibraltar of course and pictured here is Main Street which looks like any High Street in Britain.



I took these other pictures at the Parliament Building which is on Main Street by John Mackintosh Square.




At dusk we found ourselves up on the rock and enjoying watching the Barbary Apes making their way to their night time haunts, when I realised we could hear the call to prayer making its way 13 miles across the water which is just about visible in the photo.

Sexy football Spanish style

Pictured here is my first La Liga game on Sunday, which was a fantastic occasion as I watched Malaga CF defeat CD Numancia 2 – 0 at ‘La Rosaleda’, both goals coming in a tremendous last 5 minutes when it looked like the visitors had done enough to steal a point. Apono got the first with a penalty in the 86th minute and 3 minutes later Baha sewed it up with a fantastic solo run from just inside his own half before slotting the ball home and sending the home crowd wild.


Apono scoring from the spot. Apols for shaky picture, but the crowd movement made it difficult to hold my camera still.

I found the constant drum banging throughout the game just added to a wonderful atmosphere. Although the first half was fairly even, the second had drifted into a bitty game. Malaga appeared to have lost all accuracy with their passing and silly mistakes made for a less exciting half until the penalty.


Malaga defend a Numancia corner

Pre-match build up was as good as it gets anywhere in the world. A local bar with a beer and tapas to die for. And as for the company? The more European games I visit, the greater grows my frustration at that ridiculous Danny Dyer series about overseas football firms and how it could deter someone from visiting clubs in the fear that rabid hooligans rule the stadia. All I seem to meet are genuine people who take an interest in where you’re from and express a genuine delight that you’ve chosen their club to visit. The truth is Malaga CF is a dream to visit because it is so well served by budget airlines like Ryanair. This game was switched from Saturday evening to allow for a maximum television audience for El Clásico between Barcelona and Real Madrid so always be aware that fixtures in Europe get switched with far greater regularity than here.


nick

A £ by any other name

I have a feeling that I read about 12 months ago somewhere in the Blogosphere, intimations that the £ was going to lose its value against the Euro and that when parity was reached we'll see further developments towards linking into it with a view to our entering the zone. Not much longer to wait to see if mutings begin when parity happens then!

The 5 point key test for entry is whether the UK economy is coming together with those of countries in the Eurozone and whether this can be sustained in the long-term. The second test, linked to this, is whether there is sufficient flexibility to cope with economic change.

The remaining three tests assess the impact of joining the Euro on jobs, on foreign investment and on the financial services industry. I've always understood the first key test was met, but the others weren't. Perhaps parity would indeed go towards meeting them.

nick

Sky really is the limit here on Treasure Island

Hmm…. Here’s a shocker, Sky TV in cha ching money grabbing scam! I know it’s difficult to believe that those awfully nice people who really only want to “help Wales make the most of the digital switchover” could possibly see the opportunity to make a quick buck, especially in these financially fraught times. Here’s the gist of what they’re up to.

The mark, that’s me and you, gets their leaflet through the door offering the wonders of digital television. That would be rubbish teletext, redundant VCRs and a freeze up of the picture in bad weather! See I know, I’ve already got digital. Well Sky have thought about that too and because they want to be so “helpful”, they can “upgrade” me to a Sky+ box so I can record “Shark Attack”, “Shark Island”, “Sharks do the funniest things” “When Sharks go bad” all the stuff on the H(itler) channel (History really is more than just WW2)…you get the drift. Normally that would cost existing customers £199, but as a special offer I can have it for £49. Only it isn’t that simple. In order to qualify for that offer I have to sign up for Multiroom at either £5 or more realistically to include sport & movies £10 per month. “Why would I want multiroom?” I asked the Scottish fellow at the Sky call centre, “one daughter’s in Australia and the other is in Cardiff.” “In that case it would be £199 to upgrade” was the scripted reply. Not very helpful.

Last year I asked my pal in California why he hadn’t got cable and ‘only’ received the free to air channels. “I don’t want to commit to $20 a month” was his reply. Here on Treasure Island, we’re already paying way over the odds for our service. Seems that isn’t enough and now the Golden Goose can lay another egg in the form of the equipment you use to receive that service.

So come on Sky, have a re-think about this ridiculous policy of existing subscribers and even those who live alone. Why would they want Multiroom? Stop being so damn greedy!


nick

The prettiest stadium in Europe?

I saw this photo of the wonderful Estádio do Dragão, home of FC Porto and I felt a future trip coming on! We have a trip booked for La Liga first, but I can't imagine a more pleasant stadium than this to watch football in and hopefully it won't be too long before I can turn that into reality.
I am almost jealous of that other North London club visiting there this week!


nick

Picture from www.footballplus.com

Muddy Belgian Fields a Century Apart

We visited the Menin Gate in Ypres on Saturday. 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers are remembered on its panels. That to me was just registering as a large figure until I actually saw the inscriptions. It is then that the true size of that number hits the emotions. And of course, the Gate only names those who were never found, those who have a final resting place are not included in the number.




On Passing the new Menin Gate
by Siegfried Sassoon

Who will remember, passing through this Gate,
The unheroic Dead who fed the guns?
Who shall absolve the foulness of their fate,—
Those doomed, conscripted, unvictorious ones?

Crudely renewed, the Salient holds its own.
Paid are its dim defenders by this pomp;
Paid, with a pile of peace-complacent stone,
The armies who endured that sullen swamp.

Here was the world’s worst wound. And here with pride
‘Their name liveth for ever,’ the Gateway claims.
Was ever an immolation so belied
As these intolerably nameless names?
Well might the Dead who struggled in the slime
Rise and deride this sepulchre of crime.






On Monday morning we visited Waterloo, where a century earlier the so-called glory of war had ended with the same net result. A victory, but at the cost of leaving so many behind in a muddy Belgian field. In the following 100 years that saw the Victorian era and the height of the Industrial Revolution and a period of significant social, economic and technological progress, we actually learnt nothing about the value of life.





nick

Lovely Continental Football

We were blessed with two 4-0 games on our visits to Belgian Jupiler league side KAA Gent's game at home to KSV Roeselare on Saturday evening and then Sparta Rotterdam's hosting of the then Dutch Eredivisie leaders NAC Breda.




Sorry it's a dodgy photo, but it was freezing!




Sunday afternoon in Rotterdam



Poor Breda could still be playing and they wouldn't score. They hit the woodwork 3 times and slipped from being joint leaders of the Eredivisie




I must make a special mention of one Rotterdammer who really stunned us with his kindness. On our arrival in the city, the GPS didn't have their Het Kasteel ground listed, so we ended up slightly lost. Stopping to ask for directions from a local walking his dog, we were amazed when he said 'It's complicated to get to, I'll take my car and you follow me' and then promptly walked to his car, got in and drove the 5kms to the main entrance of the ground and with a thumbs up drove off home. A remarkable gesture.


nick