April 2024

Thoughts from Sandie

Well spring has sprung as I drive around, I see lots of daffodils with their lovely yellow glow

As I am typing this, I am thinking of the lovely time I have just spent with Andy in Christchurch, Dorset. We usually go a few times a year, and over the 4 days we did what we always do, went to Kellys Kitchen for a cooked breakfast, followed it by a walk round Christchurch Priory and the quay feeding the swans and ducks. Later a walk over Hengistbury Head and down to Mudeford sandbank to see the expensive (£500k) beach huts. In the evening, a trip to Pinocchio’s Trattoria for supper and if I was lucky a visit to Dirty Girties Gin Parlour. Christchurch is a lovely, picturesque town and is one of our home away from home places.

What happened in the 1990s…. part 2

1995 - BSE OUTBREAK
One of the worst virus outbreaks in Britain until COVID-19, Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (more popularly known as “Mad Cow Disease”), was a neurodegenerative disease that struck cattle.  The virus had been identified as early as 1984 but experienced an alarming surge in 1995, with the United Kingdom experiencing 14,562 cases.  It was also discovered during this time that a variant of the virus could be passed to humans by eating BSE-tainted meat.

1996 - DOLLY THE SHEEP
What’s so remarkable about a sheep, you may wonder?  Well, Dolly has the distinction of being the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.  Prior to this, the only mammals cloned were other sheep from embryonic cells.  It was a leap forward in genetic engineering that no one at the time thought possible.
1997 - NEW LABOUR
As the Conservative Party slid further under the premiership of John Major, Tony Blair took charge of Labour’s leadership and formed a more centre-left coalition that was dubbed “New Labour.”  The results were striking as Blair’s Labour Party won 145 new seats in the 1997 General Election and reduced the Tories to a mere 165 seats to Labour’s 418.  The Labour government would last for the next thirteen years until the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in 2010.

1998 - GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT
Also known as the Belfast Agreement, the Good Friday Agreement finally put an end to most violence in Northern Ireland by giving the country a greater say over its affairs through devolved government and demilitarisation.  It was signed between the British and Irish governments and political parties in Northern Ireland in 1998. Voters in Northern Ireland accepted the agreement in a referendum on May 22 by an overwhelming majority of 71% (94% in the Republic of Ireland). The agreement aimed to end the decades-long conflict known as “The Troubles” and establish peace and stability in the region. The agreement established a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland, recognised the right to self-determination for Northern Ireland, and provided for the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons.
1999 - WELSH PARLIAMENT AND SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT OPEN.
The Labour government also helped to form and give power to the Senedd Cymru (the Welsh Parliament) as well as the Scottish Parliament.  Both institutions continue to have power over the internal affairs in Wales and Scotland to this day.