Spirit of the age and the way we live now.
Spirit of the Age
Cambridgeshire:
Punt chauffeurs in Cambridge were advised this year that they must deliver a safety briefing before every trip up the River Cam. Among other things, passengers should be told not to let their hands dangle in the water, and that amplified singing is banned. Large illustrated “safety information” stickers in the punts will reinforce the message.
Norfolk:
Student union officials in Norwich stopped undergraduates wearing sombreros at a freshers’ fair because they deemed it offensive to Mexicans. University of East Anglia students were handed the straw hats by a Tex-Mex restaurant that was running a stall at the fair. But union representatives quickly confiscated the hats, saying that non-Mexicans wearing them were guilty of “cultural appropriation”.
Hertfordshire:
Britain’s oldest pub was urged to change its name. Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, in St Albans, was founded in the eighth century, and has had its current name since 1872. But the animal rights group Peta said it should now be changed, to “reflect today’s rejection of needless violence and help celebrate chickens as the intelligent, sensitive and social animals they are”. Peta associate director Mimi Bekhechi suggested, as a more suitable alternative, Ye Olde Clever Cocks.
Cornwall:
At Bodmin Town Council meetings, the biscuits were reportedly being handed around with blown-up photocopies of their packaging, so that attendees could check their ingredients before tucking in. New rules, to make life easier for allergy sufferers, also insisted that if necessary, the list of ingredients be translated into other languages and offered as a “talking book”.
Swansea:
An ORG45M is acceptable on British roads, but not a VA61ANA, according to the DVLA’s list of banned licence plates. The 46-page blacklist, made public in May, also includes such “potentially sensitive” plates as BL03 JOB, SLO5HED, PRO5 TAT and MO55 AD. Yet a PEN15 number plate went up for auction this year, having somehow slipped past the censors many years ago.
Oxfordshire:
An old red telephone box that residents of Banbury use as an informal library was scheduled for demolition – because BT was concerned that the shelf installed to hold the books might fall down and hurt somebody. “We had a complaint about the wobbly shelving from a resident,” a BT spokesman said. “Imagine if we had ignored it and little Janet or John had been injured.”
West Midlands:
Delegates at the National Union of Students’ Women’s Conference in Solihull were asked to use “jazz hands” instead of clapping, because of reports that the sound of applause was “triggering anxiety” among some attendees. In a tweet, the union’s Women’s Campaign said whooping could also be “super inaccessible” – and urged delegates to “be mindful”.
Lake District:
The producers of the BBC’s forthcoming remake of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons wanted it to be be faithful to the novel – but they faced a dilemma when it came to the Walkers’ youngest daughter. Could they really have a character called Titty? They decided not, and duly renamed her Tatty.
Yorkshire:
Inspectors marked down a Yorkshire care home because staff addressed residents as “love”, “darling” and the like. The Care Quality Commission described carers at the home in Harrogate as “very nice” – but said the terms of endearment could be regarded as “demeaning”.
Lincolnshire:
A man who went to a police station in Boston, Lincolnshire, to report a burglary was told to call 999 instead – and to use his own phone to do so. Peter Green told officers he thought the burglars were still in the house, but they said they couldn’t help and wouldn’t let him use their phone to ring the incident room. By the time officers arrived at the property 40 minutes later, the suspects had fled. “We shall review the matter to identify what we can learn from this to improve our service,” said Lincolnshire Police.
The way we live now
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In February, staff at B&Q were advised to familiarise themselves with the bondage novel Fifty Shades of Grey, in preparation for a likely surge in demand for ropes, cable ties and tape following the release of the film version. “Understanding the storyline, and how some products that B&Q stock feature in the film, will better prepare staff for incoming queries,” read an email sent to all branches.
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For a grand Edwardian family, the Crawleys had remarkably little to do with God – but that was no oversight. Producers deliberately kept religion out of Downton Abbey to avoid alienating viewers, says Alastair Bruce, the show’s historical adviser. That’s why, for instance, you never saw the family sitting down to dinner: they’d have had to be seen saying grace.
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Around 800 ambulances in the UK have been equipped to deal with severely obese patients. These “bariatric vehicles” have been designed or adapted, at a cost of up to £100,000 each, to deal with patients who weigh more than 50 stone.
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A woman who answered an advert for a flat-share in Clapham, south London, found that the £500 a month “room” she was being offered was a broom cupboard under the stairs. The space was just wide enough to contain a single mattress, and had some coat pegs on the wall for storage.
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Leicestershire Police came up with a novel way to save money: only investigating burglaries at even-numbered properties. In a three-month trial, forensic teams were not sent to odd-numbered homes unless a suspect had been arrested or there was blood at the scene. The scheme was described as “ridiculous” by a local MP, but police said it had not dented their victim satisfaction rates.
