The Archers is recorded weeks in advance but there has been a heatwave since June.
So far little or no mention of:
Climate Change
Drought
Poor crop yields
Wildfires
Veg Boxes
David decides
Sgt Burns has put Monty in the frame for the attack on Brookfield’s sheep and the dog in his custody. His record on sleuthing is not brilliant- the bunting is still missing- so this may not be definitive. Meanwhile David has been offered a chance to suggest a community resolution. Given that he was convicted of badger murder and was present when Nigel fell off the roof of Lower Loxley he may not be the best judge.. Unsurprisingly he opted for not supporting Monty
Lower Loxley
Freddie is concerned that he is being frozen out of opportunities at Lower Loxley despite the fact that he already has a perfectly good job. Elizabeth who has reappeared is, as usual, not hugely sympathetic. The Ambridge ruling class at war again.
In other news
The vicar has gone into the field of financial advice checking Carol’s banking app for her. Meanwhile his plan to raise money for the church by charging for the fete failed.
Lily has returned and had chat with Amber in the tea room. Understandably they are not convinced about men in general but also specifically..
Meanwhile Keira and Amber have had a discussion. Chatham House Rules.
Peter Jukes has analysed the media pile on that took place before and indeed on the day of the tragic death of Jason Arday. A key conclusion is below
One honest finding up front: this was not a red-top phenomenon. The Mirror ran two pieces and the Daily Star one; the BBC and Sky covered it as news, at news volume. The pile-on was led from the top of the market: The Times, the Telegraph, the Mail, the Spectator and the Express account for 158 of the articles counted here.
The most racism came from the ‘quality’ media rather than the popular press with the Times and Telegraph leading the way.
The tournament director of The Hundred which concludes at Lords on 16th August Vikram Banerjee is on record as saying that the newly franchised business is now second only to the Indian Premier League in terms of short form leagues.
Anyone who has watched the IPL will know that the bottom line KPI are the number of sixes hit.
Below are the figures for The Hundred 2026 (not including the Finals)
Most sixes
1. Mitchell Marsh (Sunrisers Leeds) – 29
2. Ryan Rickelton (Sunrisers Leeds) – 23
3. Jos Buttler (Manchester Super Giants) – 22
=4. Paul Walter (Manchester Super Giant), Harry Brook (Sunrisers Leeds) & Joe Clarke (Birmingham Phoenix) – 17
Most sixes
1. Marizanne Kapp (London Spirit) – 11
2. Annabel Sutherland (Sunrisers Leeds) – 10
=3. Sophie Devine (Welsh Fire) & Smriti Mandhana (Manchester Super Giants) – 9
=5. Nadine de Klerk (London Spirit) & Chinelle Henry (MI London) – 8
The Spectator edited by Michael Gove is Reform friendly but not 100% so. Below is an extract from a report by Madeline Grant (14th August) with a rare account of what was going on at Farage Fest, a festival at an airfield near Harwich in Essex. Its 25 minutes drive away from Clacton.
Farage was there in the early hours of Friday 14th August rather than being his own By-Election Count
This ‘political festival’ included Farage-branded plastic pint holders, a ‘Farage wheel’ (which ground to a halt with GB News’s Political Correspondent Christopher Hope on board) and the mind-boggling opportunity to ‘have a sleepover with Farage’. It was compared to Glastonbury, but it seemed to be more like a theme park that had been taken over by a personality cult. Peppa Pig World meets Heaven’s Gate. The man himself gave a three-hour long speech in which he ticked all the standard Farage boxes; he railed against the establishment, he told jokes, he made oblique references to being proved right in the future.
The Times(15th August) reports that the event lasted from midnight until 7am. There was a free bar & Farage spoke at 3am
Engels was not a cricket fan, but as the letter below underlines he was aware of Lords (he lived quite nearby in Regents Park Rd) and of cricket. He mentions both in a matter of fact way. Sam Moore was the US translator of Marx’s Capital into English. The scorecard from that day’s cricket featured another great Victorian beard wearer W G Grace. Thanks to the Lords Archivist Alan Rees. It was the second day of a scheduled three day match between the MCC and Nottinghamshire. W G Grace was of course playing for the MCC
Harney is gone to Macclesfield yesterday, and arrived safely. He is a good deal better, intrinsically, but of course the pains do not go all at once, and as soon as he is a bit better, he begins stirring about in cabs; he did so for two days before he left, then the journey, and of course arrived worse. I am afraid he will never get quite over it, part- ly because the complaint is too inveterate and partly on account of his inconsistency and listening to everybody who has a remedy to propose. It has been a hard time for poor Nim, and I am glad for her sake it has come to an end. Sam Moore had to go to Pumps’, I think he rather liked it this time as he was bent on exhibitions, picture galleries, Royal Academies and the like, and so he and Pumps have a fine time of it. Today they are gone to see a cricket match at Lords.
August 1848: Chartists meet daily to plan an armed rising in central London
It’s a largely forgotten part of London’s radical history. Frustrated by peaceful attempts to secure the vote, sections of London Chartism decided to try an armed rising instead.
There had been a gradual move towards militant action after the failure of the petition for the vote which had been presented from the meeting on Kennington Common on 10th April 1848. There were militant meetings (far from just in London) in June and July 1848. By the beginning of August this had turned into planning for an armed rising in central London, designed to take control of the Capital.
There was a long history of conspiratorial politics in London and elsewhere but the majority tradition certainly represented by the weekly Chartist paper the Northern Star was for open organising and campaigning.
The details below are only part of what was happening in London in the first weeks of August 1848. There were parallel meetings of Irish reformers concerned to protest at a significant State crack down on political activity in Ireland. On occasion the reformers, or repealers, met at the same location and were certainly present at the same demonstrations
Below are the details of where those planning the armed rising (due to take place on 16th August at Seven Dials) met during August.
We have the details because the meetings were infiltrated by what are now known as SpyCops. A significant and known issue with the conspiratorial tradition. The picture of radical activity in London in early August is likely to be far from complete. The Northern Star didn’t carry reports until the conspirators were arrested and trials took place. Even there we have to rely on what was likely to have been the unreliable evidence of Government spies.
Most of the meetings were in coffee houses, reflecting perhaps the teetotal traditions of some Chartists, but also the reality that such places did not require a licence or official oversight and hence more difficult for the authorities to keep an eye on.
Farage addresses Farage Fest in a field near Clacton in the early hours of Friday morning
Everyone in England and Wales received a mobile phone alert about wild fires on Friday evening.
Some Councils had already issue warnings including Tendring in Essex, which covers Clacton
Farage did not attend the Count for the By-Election he called in the early hours of Friday morning. He was at a Clactonbury party elsewhere in Essex celebrating Reform’s campaign. As Reform are climate change deniers the Council warning on wildfires was ignored.
The event has been little reported- the Guardian was refused entry- but Reform friendly GBNews and the Telegraph did carry reports. An extract from the Telegraph report (14th August) is below. Fortunately it does not appear any wildfires resulted
He(Farage) was speaking at “Farage Fest”, a pop-up Reform festival in the Essex countryside, half an hour away from the official count. Earlier in the day, Tendring district council had issued a statement reminding people there was a high fire risk. “Residents and visitors are reminded that fires and barbecues should not be lit on open land.”
Ignoring those jobsworth local authorities, Reform put firepits everywhere – along with live music, bars, festoon lights and giant Jenga. “Clactonbury” even had rows of glamping tipis. Given the last hotel room in Clacton was going for £1,285 on Wednesday (and people say Farage doesn’t do enough for the local economy), they might have been needed.
Nigel Farage won the Clacton By-Election on Friday morning. The result was announced at 6.30am. He was not there.
As often with Farage there were several explanations. He claimed he didn’t want to share the stage with ‘nobodies’. But then he also claimed there was a, not detailed, security issue. The police did not agree.
I don’t usually quote the BBC’s Chris Mason who has been something of a Farage fan, but this underlines Farage’s vanished status
The Clacton by-election has been unorthodox from the start – and results day has been no different, with winning candidate Nigel Farage choosing not to turn up to the result of a contest he himself triggered.
Not only that – I got up this morning anticipating being in the audience, on your behalf, for a Farage victory speech, here in Clacton, and then doing an interview him afterwards.
Neither of those things have happened. The Reform UK leader cancelled all of the interviews he had planned, with the BBC and others.
Again there are several alternative stories. Firstly and most obviously Farage wanted to avoid questions about his £5m. The Parliamentary Inquiry has re-opened. Secondly as the Guardian revealed. Farage had been at an all night Farage Fest in the Essex countryside. Perhaps he was just sleeping off the hangover.
Even so its odd behaviour to promote a By-Election and then vanish when you win it.
A bottom line is that Farage got 22,000 votes. The campaign against the racism and bigotry he is stirring up must not vanish
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