Editorial

Ray encourages readers to find more contributors and wishes everyone a happy new year

Hello,

First may I wish all readers of The Village Pump, our contributors, advertisers and collators/distributors, a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2007. Without you we would be a "blank sheet" of paper.

Can I also welcome Ivor Hook, courtesy of the Northwold Times. Ivor pens some gentle stories of life along the River Wissey and I thought our readers would appreciate his gentle reviews of the river bank.

So, how many New Years resolutions did you make? And, perhaps, more important, how many have you managed to keep so far? Personally, I resolved not make any more amorous overtures to Jordan, now that she is married, and, so far, I have kept that resolution 100%. Mind you, I have never met her, spoken to her or even been, to my knowledge, within 100 miles of her - so it was quite an easy resolution to keep!

I have also resolved to try and recruit some new contributors. As I said above, so far I have been successful in recruiting Ivor Hook. So how about you dear readers? Why don't you resolve to encourage more people to contribute to the dear old Pump? The questionnaire for the Village Plan suggest there is a fair support for a free monthly Newsletter in Stoke Ferry. Clearly, this is NOT a role that could be accepted by The Pump. But it does mean we could very soon have stern competition and to survive such a battle we will need very strong support from our existing customer base.

We now know that 2006 was the wettest year for many a decade; but still the hose pipe bans applies in some areas of the UK. Thankfully, dear old Anglian Water has resisted such a move. But for how much longer? A recent survey reveals that a very high proportion of UK industry is now owned by foreign nationals; this is also the case for many of our Premiership Football Clubs. So how long before our foreign masters impose numerous bans on our way of life? Perhaps if Hitler had not been so impatient he could have ruled Europe without a single shot being fired

and with the blessing of our current crop of Charismatic leaders. But that is another of my new year resolutions; I must not criticise my government or its leader, Princess Tony. But, as a very long serving member of our Armed Forces I remain appalled by this government's inability to provide the vital resources and support our troops need. I wonder, is this because none of them have ever been a member of any uniformed service, including the Boy Scouts? Is that criticism? I don't think so - it is a statement of fact.

Have a great 2007,

Ray Thompson