The Government has announced the launch of eight new renewable energy projects as part of its electricity reforms. The announcement is part of government plans to use greener forms of power generation, and it is estimated that more than 8,500 jobs will be created as a result.
The projects have been made possible by Contracts for Difference, which is part of the Government's Electricity Market Reform programme. The projects include offshore wind farms, coal to biomass conversions, and a dedicated biomass plant. Under Contracts for Difference, or CIDS, generators and developers are entitled to a fixed strike price for the electricity that they produce for 15 years.
It is estimated that by 2020 the new projects will add 4.5GW of low carbon energy and attract 12 billion pounds' worth of private investment. The Government says that this announcement will help the UK towards the goal of meeting its renewable energy targets and will generate enough green energy to power 3 million homes.
"These contracts for major renewable electricity projects mark a new stage in Britain's green energy investment boom.
"By themselves they will bring green jobs and growth across the UK, but they are a significant part of our efforts to give Britain cleaner and more secure energy.
In recent years there has been a significant growth in the green energy sector and The Government predicts that 30% of energy production will come from renewable energy by 2020.
The eight contracts were awarded under The Government's Final Investment Decision and Enabling for Renewables process. A new legislative framework that was announced as part of the Energy Act 2013 has made the renewable energy projects possible and The Government says that the investment will help to provide a secure and affordable supply of electricity, while also providing skilled jobs and boosting growth.
57 projects applied to be part of the scheme, and more of the winning contracts will be announced later this year. Some of the successful applicants include Beatrice, Burbo Bank Extension, Drax, Hornsea 1 and Teesside.


N. Aunai, G. Belmont, R. Smets, The proton pressure tensor as a new proxy of the proton decoupling region in collisionless magnetic reconnection. Ann. Geophys., 29, 1571-1579, doi:10.5194/angeo-29-1571-2011, 2011.
N. Aunai, G. Belmont, and R. Smets (2011), Proton acceleration in antiparallel collisionless magnetic reconnection: Kinetic mechanisms behind the fluid dynamics, J. Geophys. Res., 116(A), 09232, doi:10.1029/2011JA016688.
R. Smets, G. Belmont, N. Aunai, and L. Rezeau (2011), Plasma diffusion in self-consistent fluctuations, Phys. Plasmas, 18(1), 2310, doi:10.1063/1.3647558.


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Feature Stories • Local
Queer Eye's Tan France is here to make a better you
by Joshua Adamson-Pickett
Written by Joshua Adamson-Pickett
Salt Lake's own style master and new Fab 5 member talks fame, fashion, and finding a home.
Life for Salt Lake City resident Tan France has been, to put it lightly, thrilling.
Since this year's debut of Netflix's Queer Eye, Tan — one of the show's "Fab 5" life coaches for style-inept men — spends a lot of his time traveling between Los Angeles, New York, and Salt Lake.
Queer Eye — a reboot of the 2003 series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy — has been a stellar hit with audiences across the globe. And within weeks, Tan has gone from Salt Lake and Instagram fashion big-name to international media darling.
He's met Jon Bon Jovi who asked for a selfie. He's attended Elton John's Oscar Party and kicked it with SNL's Pete Davidson. He's Facetimed with Gigi Hadid and exchanged tweets with Chrissy Teigen.
But don't expect Tan to be packing up for a permanent residence in Hollywood anytime soon. He's happiest here in Salt Lake with his husband and friends and prefers the slow-paced Utah lifestyle.
Tan, who hails from London and has Pakistani heritage, talked to me about being recognized on the street, his favorite things about Utah and which Fab 5 member he'd need the most help from.
How long have you lived in Utah?
I have been living temporarily in Utah for about 10 years, and for the last four years, I've lived here permanently.
Do you get recognized a lot in Utah since Queer Eye debuted?
At this point, it doesn't matter where we go. There aren't that many people of color in Salt Lake, so I definitely get recognized more here than anywhere else. On the whole, it's lovely. But sometimes when they scream my name it scares the crap out of me. Other than that, it's been amazing.
Could the show work here?
Absolutely, it could. I'm desperately trying to convince them, if we do get to do more seasons, to do one in Utah. Because I think it would be incredible.
I could see the Fab Five take Salt Lake City.
Actually, I wouldn't want to do Salt Lake. Salt Lake's liberal enough. I would want to go to Heber or Provo. Actually, Provo is too big. I'd want to do it in, like, Pleasant Grove.
That's where I grew up!
Oh really? I love Pleasant Grove. I worked there for a couple of years. My favorite thing about Pleasant Grove is that people assume I'm Mexican. And even when I'm speaking in my very firm English accent, they slow down as if I don't speak English.
That is hilarious and not at all surprising having grown up there.
Pleasant Grove can be very strange. There are definitely other places I would like to go. If we got seasons five, six, seven, I would love to do an international version. I would love to go to countries where they don't have exposure to gay men like we do in the West and open some minds.
I've heard you talk about how much you love Utah. What is it that you love so much?
There are so many things. I have the best friends I could dream of — people I've known since I met my husband. They're the people who make this home for me.
I love the fact that we have seasons. And the people are just the nicest I've ever come across. Life is so easy and the people are so friendly. And they treat me extra nice because — even way before the show — people around here love Brits. As soon as I speak, they just want to be my friend, and that's so lovely.
It's definitely quiet, and it's a much easier life than Hollywood or New York.
I learned recently that you have a strong fan base among liberal-minded Mormon women.
Yes! I've known that for many years. I created a couple of modest clothing brands for the LDS community. It was different from what was offered by the other modest clothing brands in Utah. So I've known for a long time about that fan base. They want to be friends, they're very liberal, they understand my life and they're very happy about it. And almost every one of my closest friends is LDS, and that makes me very happy.
The show has resonated strongly with people. It's taken off in a way that I haven't really seen before.
It's the most real show I've ever seen, and I'm not just saying that because I'm on it. We don't reshoot anything. We are five very opinionated men, and we say what we want when we want. And we're offering an insight into our little world that nobody's seen before. The only version you see of our community is stereotypical and doesn't depict us particularly well.
In this current [political] climate, it's shock and disbelief. So to have a space where we're able to show that we are still people, that we have similarities and that we can come together and love each other and be friends. I think that's revolutionary.
The show has highlighted a closeness between men — regardless of sexuality — that you don't often see. How does that feel?
The majority of people who stop me and ask to talk to me are straight men. They tell me how they never thought they would watch a show like this, and somebody convinced them to watch. And now they feel comfortable enough to say to their partners, their wives or their family, "I want to be the best version of myself."
And they've been given permission by these five gay men who are saying, "You can be curious about skin care. You can be curious about wanting to be a better husband. You can be curious about how to be a better husband by dressing up in a certain way or by cooking for her."
We gave them permission to ask questions and to be more curious about bettering their life. We're not chastising them for wanting to be better, for wanting to change their lives. We're showing them that it's okay, we want them to be the best version of themselves.
We know that our culture encourages you to be macho. We show you a different version of that. That's why I think it works so well.
I heard you say in another interview, "If you can't take care of yourself, how the heck are you going to take care of everyone around you?" Was that a RuPaul's Drag Race reference?
Okay, I know our community is going to hate me for this. I've never seen an episode of Drag Race.
You're just on the same page.
I'm just as fabulous as RuPaul, actually.
More fabulous. Why do you think that having good style and taking care of your clothes is important?
I'm glad you asked that because I've never seen style or fashion as superficial. I know it's just something on your body, but it can affect how you feel about yourself. Most importantly, it's a sign of respect for your partner and the people around you.
I mentioned in the Bobby [Camp] episode that I was once dumped by my first boyfriend after many years because I let myself go. It was a major eyeopener because it reminded me that me making an effort isn't just about me. It's not a vanity thing. It's showing my partner that I'm there for them, that I respect them. I should show that I'm willing to step up and be there for them. And that's not just about clothes. That's in every facet of my life.
So I do think it's important that people make an effort to dress appropriately for whichever situation they're in because it's not just about them.
What advice would you give men who want to start their wardrobe?
The most important thing for men — and this is based on what I saw when rummaging through literally every hero's wardrobe — is that they're all wearing the wrong size.
Find out what your size is. Go to a store, try something on and make sure that shoulder seam hits your shoulder. If it's at your elbow, it is not your size. It really is simple. Make sure that shoulder seam is on your shoulder — unless you're having a fashion moment and you want to wear it dropped. If you are worried about it, if you have any doubt, there are salespersons there for a reason and most of them will know how to help you with finding the right size.
And there are many things that can be added to a capsule wardrobe that should stand the test of time, for at least ten years. I like are a dark suit that's very simple but incredibly well-tailored to your body. I'm not saying a custom suit — it can be a really inexpensive suit that you've had tailored to make sure it fits you to perfection. That's good for weddings, funerals or any other occasion.
I also think every man needs a great pair of black Oxfords or brogues. They will be appropriate for a formal occasion.
Next, a great pair of jeans. A great pair of jeans can make or break a look. Don't go for a boot cut pair of jeans — they don't suit many people. Go for either straight leg, if you don't want to go for skinny, or skinny if you feel like you want to try something cooler.
If you're worried and you're in doubt, all you've got to do is put on your great pair of jeans, a great white or black tee and a great jacket, and you're good to go.
If you had a "make better" moment yourself, which of the other Fab 5 guys would you need the most help from?
I would say design, but I did just design my home all myself, and I think it's gorgeous, so I'm not going to say interior design. And as far as grooming, I'm obsessed with grooming. I have been my whole life. Jonathan [Van Ness] does a great job with our heroes, but I definitely don't feel I'd [need his help] personally.
I'm going to say cooking. Antoni [Porowski] cooks incredibly well. He cooks for me most nights because we live in the same apartment block. We don't really go out to bars or clubs, so we spend a lot of time together in the evenings. I do cook Indian food incredibly well. I love Indian food, and it's what I was raised on. But I don't cook non-Indian food super well, so that's the one area [I would need help with].
Is there anything you'd like to say especially for the QSaltLake audience and Utah LGBTQ community?
I hear a lot of negativity toward the boys who are coming out of the [LDS Church] and identify as gay and who toe the line between their Mormon upbringing and their gay life. I don't love how we chastise them. I don't love how we make them feel bad for it, and how we won't date them because they're going through such a hard time.
My husband was going through that, and we've been in a relationship for ten years. It turned out to be wonderful, and it is the healthiest relationship I've ever had. Don't discredit somebody just because they're having a hard time finding a balance between their religion and their sexuality.
I would say that of the Mormon boys more than any other culture or religion I've come across. There are a lot of boys who are struggling out here, and the last thing they need is our disdain. They need our support.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Joshua is a freelance writer, and you can reach him on Twitter at @joshuaradamson.
Feature photo by David Daniels, Dav.d Photography
Salt Lake bartenders open first-of-its-kind arcade bar
Update: Utah Pride Festival Events Schedule
Joshua Adamson-Pickett
Joshua is a Utah-born freelance writer with a passion for storytelling and helping people understand a complicated world. A bona fide grammar nerd, he spends way too much time binge-watching Netflix, loves the outdoors and has a cat who tolerates him.
Kevin Dorrell says:
Daniel Fuentes says:
I had. I idea he lived here
Jennafer Martin says:
Excellent profile. Thanks!
Macahl Evans says:
Literally same

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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You are here: Home / Martin Paine / Affluent freehold-owning couple's lease terms bring ruin to families who bought flats that are virtually worthless
Affluent freehold-owning couple's lease terms bring ruin to families who bought flats that are virtually worthless
January 21, 2016 // by Sebastian O'Kelly
An affluent couple living in the idyllic Cotswold village of Lower Slaughter are funding their lives through leasehold property cleverness that is costing poorer property buyers thousands of pounds.
Martin Paine and his wife Margaret Anne Kirmond are benefiting from the sale of flats at Blythe Court in Coleshill, Birmingham, which have a trap in the lease that ends up costing homeowners thousands a year.
The lease terms are so unobvious that so far four – and possibly seven – firms of solicitors acting for buyers have failed to spot them.
Kadian Kennelly, 32, a social worker and first-time buyer, paid £58,000 for 7 Blythe Court flat on October 7 last year and was told by her solicitors that the ground rents would be £250 a year.
She was horrified later to be presented by Martin Paine with a demand for a ground rent of £8,000 a year.
The ground rent increments, which double every ten years, are so designed that in 90 years time they will amount to more than £4 million a year.
Kadian Kennelly, a social worker, faces ground rent demands of £8,000 a year
"I feel absolutely devastated by this," says Kadian. "I sank my savings into this flat and borrowed off a friend to buy it, although I now have a mortgage.
"This is just blatant exploitation of obscure legal rules to prey upon the naïve, the poor or the very poorly advised."
Martin Paine, who is not a lawyer, presented the ground rent demand as "head of legal services" of Circle Residential Management Limited on behalf of the freehold-owning company Mercia Investment Properties Limited. What he does not tell residents is that both companies are ultimately owned by him or his wife Margaret Anne Kirmond.
"My solicitor did not spot what is a deliberate trap in the lease," says Kadian. "This means Martin Paine and his wife are now in the position to extract this money from me, or force me to sell and take a chunk of the proceeds.
"Put frankly, their behaviour is repugnant."
Kadian has fallen victim to perhaps the worse scam in leasehold, explained in detail here
On February 9 2011 solicitors acting for a previous owner, who had died, agreed to a deed of variation to extend the lease by 99 years added to the 50 years already existing. So, 149 in total.
Martin Paine has admitted to LKP that he is not a member of the Housing Law Practitioners' Association
In fact, hidden in the document is a clause that means that this extension does not start from 2011 – as all these solicitors have assumed – but from 1961, when Blythe Court was built. The lease variation also doubles ground rent every ten years from an initial £250.
As a result, Kadian faces the demand that has risen to £8,000 a year.
It would be possible to challenge the deed of variation in court, and there are grounds to do so even with the wording of the deed of variation as it stands, according to a barrister who has studied the documents. But that could cost the families at Blythe Court thousands of pounds.
Kadian is far from being the first victim-owner at 7 Blythe Court.
The first purchaser of the flat after the deed of variation was Michael Herring, a buy-to-let investor who paid £85,000 in February 2011, of which £24,000 was cash.
"It was a nightmare for more than three years that cost everyone involved a lot of time, effort and money," says Herring.
He sorted the problem out by taking a professional negligence action against his conveyancing solicitors, whose insurers paid up.
"It cost the insurers £109,000 to sort everything, which is a staggering amount of money. I got £30,000 back," says Herring. "I was so glad to see the back of the place."
As part of the deal the flat was sold to Martin Paine's company Kirmond PP Investments Limited (of which he owns 100 per cent) for £30,000.
On February 12 2015 Kirmond transferred the ownership of the flat – for a declared £70,000 – to F.t.z. Limited, which is 100 per cent owned by Mrs Paine (Margaret Anne Kirmond).
On April 30 2015, 7 Blythe Court sold at auction for £72,000 to Julian Carter.
Anne Kirmond, aka Mrs Martin Paine, either owns or co-owns the companies involved in Blythe Court
Carter evidently decided to get out quick after receiving the £8,000 a year ground rent demand, and the flat went to auction again in July, but did not sell.
In September, it was set to be auctioned again when Kadian purchased the flat for £58,000.
In October, Martin Paine demanded his £8,000 ground rent dating back to March 2015: in other words, for nearly two months when the flat was actually owned by the Paines' own companies.
Kadian and her solicitors had agreed to pay outstanding ground rent when she purchased the flat, believing this to be no more than £250.
"All I was trying to do was to buy a flat so that I could commute to work," says Kadian. "I have fallen into a deliberate trap set by Martin Paine to catch the unwary and their solicitors."
£58,000 is a bargain price that may have alerted some buyers, but then recorded prices at Blythe Court vary from £30,000 to £105,000.
Kadian used solicitors John W Dawes of Newport, who could not jettison her fast enough when the scale of the disaster unfolded.
Having informed Kadian in writing that her total ground rent would be £250 a year for the flat and £10 for a garage that she had also bought, John W Davies could not make it clearer that the £8,000 a year ground rent that subsequently emerged was her problem alone.
On December 2 the solicitors told her that they had received the demand for £8,000 and she had agreed to pay outstanding ground rent and service charges from March 2015.
"Accordingly, please arrange to contact Circle Residential Management Limited directly to make payment to settle this demand," wrote Michael Jenkinson for John W Dawes in his last communication to his client.
Martin Paine bought the freehold to Blythe Court on September 15 2004.
At first he seems to have behaved like most other freeholders, extending the leases of two flats by 99 years the date of the application.
As a result, the flat at 2 Blythe Court was extended on January 28 2005 for 99 years from a start date of 25.3.2005; flat 6 Blythe Court was extended on February 4 2005 for 99 years with a start date of 25.3.2004.
Thereafter the cleverness began.
In total, six other flats in the block are in the same position as Kadian. All have lease extensions for 144 or 149 years and ALL are dated back to 1961. (The numbers differ depending on the date of the extension application in order to add up to a 99-year extension to the lease.)
Sarah and Chris Cherry, with daughter Aimee, have ground rent demands of £1,000 a year
Chris, a landscape gardener, and Sarah Cherry (left), an admin supervisor, bought the flat 11 Blythe Court for £105,000 in 2007, when they were 25 and 19 years old. They put down £5,000 in cash.
Advised by solicitors, they extended their lease with Martin Paine. But rather than extend the lease by 99 years from the date of application as they thought, the lease was increased to 144 years dating from 1961.
"We brought the flat in 2007 and renewed the lease to start from that date," Sarah explains. "Me and Chris were both on minimum wage when we purchased this our first property together.
"We literally scraped all the money together that we could to do this as we wanted to stand on our own two feet.
"Martin Paine started the ground rent demand from 1961 at £250 doubling every 25 years."
At first, the couple were paying £500 a year in ground rent, but it doubled in 2011 to £1,000 as another 25-year stretch began.
On top of the ground rent, the couple, who now have a three-year-old daughter Aimee, have to pay the service charges as well and contributions to insure the building, as do all the leaseholders.
Ground rents of £1,000 would typically be seen in areas such as Knightsbridge or Chelsea, rather than Colehill, Birmingham.
"We feel that we have been utterly conned."
The couple almost certainly had a valid claim against local solicitors Waters & Co, who advised them. The firm was well aware that there were issues with the leases at Blythe Court, writing to Paine on September 3 2007:
"May we respectfully remind you to check the calculation of the ground rent in the lease. We had dealings with a property recently in the same development where an error was made in this regard and the lease in its new form would have been completely unworkable insofar as payment of the ground rent is concerned."
The Cherrys did, in fact, take the matter to the Legal Services Ombudsman, and were repaid Waters & Co's conveyancing fees of £707.94.
Unaccountably, they then did not proceed further with a claim against the solicitors in the courts.
In January this year, the Cherrys again protested about the £1,000 ground rent to Martin Paine, which they were having difficulty paying.
On January 6 Paine emailed saying that "The freeholder [that is, Mrs Paine] is willing to look at a revised rent review mechanism for your lease."
But he made clear that the landlord would need compensating for loss of income and he urged the Cherrys to take legal action against their solicitors Waters & Co using a no-win no-fee solicitor found on the internet.
But, Mr Paine, was sensitive to the issue of a six-year limitation period on professional negligence claims.
"… however, I can see that it is also arguable that your "sufficient level of knowledge" occurred after the last rent review date in 2011 when the first £1,000 rental payment fell due … I think it is vital that you immediately seek legal advice (some firms offer a no win no fee negligence claim service, try a google search).
"I also think that the date of any admission made by Waters & Co will be critical in deciding on the commencement date of the limitation period."
Patrick and Wieslawa Majszyk, from Poland, face ground rent demands from Paine for £2,800 a year
Young Polish couple Patrick Majszyk, 32, and Wieslawa [Vanessa] Chudzik, 30, paid £100,000 for flat 3 Blythe Court on December 20 2013, borrowing £85,000. Both are employed working in a warehouse.
They had previously been tenants in the property.
Here the lease was extended to 150 years on November 7 2012, back dated to 1961. Ground rents are £350 a year doubling every 15 years, so Patrick and Wieslawa now receive demands from Paine for £2,800 a year.
They are paying this off with £75 a month instalments, increasing to £100 in six months' time.
"We are from Poland and we had no idea that you could buy a flat with these sorts of problems," says Patrick. "We have put all our money into this flat and now we learn it is unsellable and almost worthless."
Patrick and Wieslawa contacted their solicitors Birchall Blackburn Law, who had carried out the conveyancing when they bought the flat.
The firm wrote a detailed letter to Paine in May 18 2015, hoping to sort out what they imagined was a simple lease extension error.
Five months later on September 2, DF Legal replied on behalf of the Paines' company Mercia, rejecting the arguments and explaining that backdated rent had been upheld in the case Bradshaw v Pawley 1979.
On September 18 Birchall Blackburn Law told Patrick and Wieslawa that it could not act for them as "we consider there is a conflict of interest".
Having carried out the conveyancing, the solicitors are aware that Patrick and Wieslawa will almost certainly seek redress from them.
Sir Peter Bottomley MP, who campaigns for justice for leasehold flat owners, says that Blythe Court is a scandal.
"I am shocked by this unjustifiable attempt to devalue a home and to extract a fortune.
"It is illegal to stop someone on the highway and to take the contents of their wallet.
"It should be illegal to impose unfair leasehold terms that have the same effect.
"The law and the courts should give protection, retrospectively when necessary.
"Unfair terms need to be condemned and declared unenforceable."
Last month, LKP contacted Mr Paine about concerns regarding Blythe Court on December 17 and December 25.
In addition, a draft version of this article was send to him, and received, on Monday January 18.
He claims that the article is inaccurate, but has declined to provide details.
He has acknowledged that he is not a member of the Housing Law Practitioners' Association, as was stated on the Circle Residential Management website.
Paine's website also has the undertaking in its code of practice: "To deal with Tenants both in the spirit of the legal requirements as well as in the letter of the law."
He has been contacted for a statement prior to the publication of this article.
BBC R4's You & Yours feature Blythe Court … and now the freeholder wants 'more ethical approach to charges' Martin Paine demanded ground rents of thousands from two London leaseholders Barnard Marcus withdraws Blythe Court flat from auction Martin Paine sells on Blythe Court, where ground rents reach £8,000 a year Stop auction of 'worthless' flat at Blythe Court and alert authorities, Commons asked
Category: Martin Paine, Slider2Tag: Birchall Blackburn Law Solicitors, Blythe Court, Circle Residential Management Limited, Housing Law Practitioners' Association, John W Dawes Solicitors, Legal Services Ombudsman, Lower Slaughter, Margaret Anne Kirmond, Martin Paine, Mercia Investment Properties Limited, Waters & Co Solicitors
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Patrick Majszyk
Before I start my speech, I'm sorry for my English.It is not perfect but it's enough to say what he feel. I agree with Kardian That means a lot to us and the comments today have been truly amazing. . We know that we are not alone on this. There are many so many things I would like to change in this flat, but its been two years and I can not do anything about it because I do not know if 'll be still here tomorrow . I met the owner of flat no 1. He put all his savings in to the flat (before was a total mess here) now is one of the places where you can just enter by bringing your belongings, but he had to sell the flat as soon as ahe recived a bill for 8k pounds. When I got the bill at 2,800 pounds, I thought( like everybody else ) that this is a mistake. For Two years I asked my lawyers who helped me in buying the flat for help . Two years I have asked my lawyers to help me to solve this problem. At the end I received a message that they can not help me, and I was left alone. Thanks to Kardain, thing started, and within two days was said and done more than in two years thanks to my lawyers. I thank God that he put right people on our way to sow us we are not alone , and if this metter can help people who is having same proplem as we have it's going to be great 🙂
Kadian Kennelly
We are all in this together and thanks to LKP and their many patrons we are not alone. All of your comments and support today have been overwhelming and tonight I feel a real sense of change.
So from my heart to all the many posters thank you. Thanks for taking the time to share your views and for joining in our fight.
Paul Joseph
Is it possible that we have reached leasehold's Milly Dowler moment?
Leasehold injustices affect a lot more people than were ever affected by phone hacking. It's a disgrace that it has not received the attention it deserves. The reason is obvious enough. The Conservative Party is on the take from wealthy freeholders (people like Vincent Tchenguiz). The corruption goes all the way to the top. Former chancellor of the exchequer Norman Lamont has been on £1,000/day consultancies (for "advice") to the Tchenguiz group, which has donated six figure sums to the Tories. David Cameron's brother in law is a monetising freeholder.
The lives of millions of people are blighted by this corrupted, antiquated institution. It has been abolished everywhere that inherited it from English common law, except in England and Wales.
Australia, America, South Africa, Hong Kong, Scotland, Ireland. Canada etc. GONE.
The hypocrisy of the Conservatives pretending to be the party of aspiring home owners is breathtaking. This is the party, let's not forget, of duck houses and moats. They need to remember
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
Could it be that apart from political donations (to any party) one key reason for stopping leasehold reform is the exposure of banks to loans granted to freeholder/connected managing agents? After all, was it not the Tchenguiz family trust portfolio, that not only was overvalued, but was securitised against a 150 year income stream?
Suppose for a moment the true value of freehold portfolios if sold to leaseholders was 40% of the funds borrowed? What effect would that have on the lending institutions?
Rumour in the city suggests that one high profile bank may be exposed to upwards of 63billions of property related loans.?
By holding off on leasehold reform, debts can be kept of the balance sheet. Very useful if you are a government that wants to sell off a bank!
Simply disgraceful!!!!! They should be ashamed of themselves and their greed…I sympathised with the flat owners, hopefully you guys will get some justice!
Sharon Crossland AIRPM
It should always be remembered that long leasehold tenure was created by freeholders for freeholders.There are 4 main areas of a lease that allow for profit to be made: those of buildings insurance, ground rent ( as in this story), lease extensions and various consents that have to be obtained from the freeholder.
The conveyancing solicitors acting for the buyers should have spotted the ground rent provisions even if the lease was of considerable length as the reliance of them to get things right is a heavy one. They all have to be read through fully to spot such things, particulary those written before 2006 which are usually written in legalise (with no punctuation) and may be as many as 50 pages in length!
I'm not sure it is does a lot of good imploring those that utilise the profit making elements of a lease to its full advantage to 'do the right thing' because in their eyes, they have done so, by operating within the terms of what the lease allows them to do.
There will be undoubtedly be more stories of this type, despite the continued efforts to ensure that prospective leaseholders get as much information during the conveyancing process as possible. It must be understood that the long lease (bottom line) is a money making document for freeholders and it is vitally important that the type of freeholder a block of flats has is never overlooked.
Michael Hollands
You say that it is not worth imploring those who are profiting from this situation to do the right thing.. Because they are operating within the terms of the lease. More likely reason is they will not care.about the harm they do.
Will it not be a similar type of people who with some devious solicitors, drew up this odious lease in the first place.
They must know full well that their lives of luxury are being funded by leaseholders who are having their lives ruined.
They should receive a long ban from operating in the Leasehold industry, as they would be in many other professions, if they caused harm to society like this.
Just checking the type (reputation) of freeholder is no guarantee of ethical behaviour in the long term. There has been a well established pattern of behaviour in the industry of transferring freeholds to associated companies done in such a way and for the sole purpose of denying leaseholders right of first refusal to acquire the freehold.
The leaseholder is powerless to prevent a freeholder selling out to a diabolical monetising landlord — the kind who pay over the odds for freeholds because they have a well developed repertoire of creative ways of getting their money back and earning above normal returns with little risk to their capital.
Leaseholder
Very well put Paul Joseph. This has been my experience also. Leasehold needs strict regulation/ radical reform, rather than leaving it, to the freeholders philanthropic tendencies.
Fleeced
This case is reminiscent of the Peter Rachman scandal in the 1950/60s, that became known as Rachmanism … [REDACTED]
Wholeheartedly agree with you. Criminal legislation for white collar fraud and change.org for leasehold reform. The difficulty is coming up with sufficiently sweeping reform to actually make a difference. For reporting solicitors there is the SRA, though not sure if they actually ever do anything.
John Henche
Looking at the Land Registry's register of title to flat 7 it is curious that the Property Register, showing short particulars of the property and of the lease, is silent as to the Rent. Such titles would usually read something like, "Rent: as therein mentioned", not as in this particular title, "Rent : — ".
Relief for Kadian must begin with a claim against her former solicitors. Her mortgagees' valuation report would probably have been qualified on the assumption that the lease did not contain unusual or onerous provisions. Kadian might suggest to her mortgagee that the valuer should be asked to re-value the flat after reading the lease and understanding the ground rent terms.
The mortgagee should take an interest when it is realised that its security is not worth what was previously believed and its solicitors (perhaps the same solicitors acted for Kadian and her mortgagee) will be required to explain how they were able to certify that a good and marketable title was being acquired.
Yes, it is a mess but there is hope and Kadian is assured of sound advice and support from LKP, its patrons and admirers. There must be specialist solicitors taking an interest and ready to act on a conditional fee basis?
Sharon Crossland in her comment above states: "..it is vitally important that the type of freeholder a block of flats has is never overlooked."
And this is a central point. There are good freeholders and there are bad freeholders. Milking vulnerable leaseholders has become a game for the baddies out there, and Ground Rents, Informal Lease Extensions, and Buildings Insurance, along with a host pf dodgy "fees" for various, are the tools of the trade for this unscrupulous bunch.
And so long as they remain unregulated they will continue without let or hindrance.
These people are utterly ruthless in pursuit of their ill-gotten gains and, aided and abetted by unprincipled legal advisers, they customarily ignore bad publicity and continue unabated..
Only proper regulation of the leasehold sector will root these practices out.
Paul J, Stuart R and Leaseholder,
I could not find any articles in Saturdays press so I did not do my paper round
If you do want to contact me Sebastian O'K has my e mail
Mr Martin Paine, of Circle Residential Management, Chapel Court (Tewkesbury) Management, Mercia Investment Properties Limited, Kirmond PP Investments, Malvern Court Management … and many others undoubtedly.
A reoccurring pain at the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. It's a wonder he has not been allocated his own parking space.
This is what Martin Paine does. Extortionate charges through any method available to him.
In one Tribunal case, Circle Residential Management (aka Mr Martin Paine) representing Mercia Investment Properties (aka Mr Martin Paine again), failed to justify to the Tribunal why he wanted a leaseholder to pay £4,000 to grant consent for an extension. This was after charging the leaseholder £115 for administrative consent, wanted an additional £4k. The tribunal said no and Mr Martin Paine was sent on his way.
If any one of Mr Paine's property management companies manages your leasehold flat, you can be sure to expect extortionate service charges.
What has happened here is most unfortunate, but sadly not surprising giving the individual involved.
Well done to LKP for this exposure. It has been a long time coming.
Let's give Mr Martin Paine the much needed exposure and reviews he truly deserves. Let's ensure that this story remains in a prominent place under Google Search.
Everyone commenting on this article, please state his full name (Martin Paine) when making reference to him and do so as many times as possible, so that Google continues to pick it up. Also, please use the word 'review' wherever possible. Keep Martin Paine on the front page.
Resident's featured in this article and all others reading this article who have been personally been affected by Martin Paine, send your story to BBC Watchdog.
https://ssl.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg74/contact
For those not personally affected, but feel the great injustice, please contact Watchdog and urge them to investigate Mr Martin Paine. Their email is watchdog@bbc.co.uk. You can forward them the link to this story to read. Let's apply the pressure.
Everyone, both the affected and unaffected, please email Daily Mail. Those directly affected, tell them your story, those unaffected, again forward the link and urge them to investigate. Their email is news@mailonline.co.uk
I have already done so. Please join me.
Information obtained from "companycheck" figures as of today
All of the companies are registered at the same address in
Leckhampton, Gloucestershire.
Circle Residential Management Ltd. Comp No 05131646
Owned by Martin Paine & Margaret Anne Kirmond
Dirctr Martin Paine. Secretary Ms Margret Anne Kilmond
Net Worth £1.2K
F.t.z Ltd. Comp No 04010802
Owned by Margret Ann Kirmond (aka Mrs Margaret Anne Paine)
Dirctr Martin Paine. Secretary Martin Paine
Net worth £1.1M
Mercia Investment Properties Ltd. Comp No 03287391
Owned by F.t.z Ltd. (Martin Paine's wife)
Dirctrs F.t.z Ltd & Martin Paine
Secretary Ms Margaret Ann Kilmond (aka Mrs Margaret Anne Paine)
Meryon Properties Ltd. Comp No 06805418
Net worth £380K
Martin Paine & his wife also have approx. 9 other companies with their
names against but they are either dormant, dissolved or whatever.
Martin Paine certainly appears to do a lot of ducking and diving
Sorry, Circle Residential Management Ltd should read Net Worth of £1.1M
Can admin amend my error by any chance and then delete this post
No matter how many observations are made with regard to this situation, the long lease was designed by freeholder for freeholders, hence the money making elements contained therein.
Making unreasonable amounts ofmoney from leases is in direct opposition to the fundamental right of leaseholders, that of 'reasonableness' but how do you balance this with the right to make a profit, however obscene this may be and something the lease allows to occur?
From my own perspective of working for the Directors of the RMC that own the freehold of the block of flats in which I live, any money made from the areas of the lease that allow this are ploughed straight back into the building, enhancing the value of the interests of all who own a flat here (and this includes 'rogue landlords of which we have a number).
LKP are doing a great job of highlighting abuses within the leasehold sector but perhaps they should be putting as much effort into promoting Commonhold?
Sid Peacock
I just heard about this on R4.
Can I suggest the flat owners set up a FB page and twitter account?
It would be easier to alert more people (esp in Birmingham) and gain support. I will share widely with my friends for sure.
A Strachan
Just reading this and I am totally disgusted by the behaviour of these two high-way robbers. I think they need to be exposed on a current television programme maybe Inside Out BBC?
This is a real eye opener.
My sympathies to all involved.
T Merlin
Do you have the right to manage?
The right to manage was granted in a change to leasehold law in 2002 for blocks with at least two flats. It enables leasehold owners, who generally hold the majority of value in the property, to take responsibility for the management of their block.
The process is simple and usually costs about £500. The landlord or freeholder's consent is not required, but notice must be served on the freeholder. The right to manage company must then appoint a managing agent with professional indemnity insurance to act on their behalf. To find out more about right to manage, visit the Leasehold Advisory Service website at: lease-advice.org, or call 020 7374 5380
Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-1611394/Fight-back-against-rogue-freeholders.html#ixzz40FKpLLnC
The right to manage (RTM) info is welcome though it doesn't help with a ground rent problem caused by a monetising freeholder.
We obtained RTM at our development a few years ago and promptly had to put service charges up as we undertook repairs to the fabric of our building which had gone to rack and ruin in the care of the landlord and his own managing agent.
All they were ever interested in was in charging as much as possible for the least amount of effort; and given a commission based management fee it was in their interest to cause large repair bills.
Our bills will eventually go down. However, we remain vulnerable to various other kinds of monetisation by the freeholder. The tricks pulled by or on behalf of someone who owns one half of one percent of the equity in the building to maximise income, which is then sent to entities in the Carribbean, never cease to amaze.
Leasehold remains a cesspit of corruption, double-dealing and predatory behaviour. It is not just tolerated, it is effectively condoned by the Conservative party which prefers to look the other way and which recently lobbied the EU PRIVATELY to exempt Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands from crackdowns on tax havens which it called for PUBLICLY.
The continuing refusal to legislate reform may lead in the end to change at the point of a pitchfork, and, if so, when it happens there will much gnashing of teeth and wondering why LKP, Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation and others weren't listened to earlier.
Far fetched? Popular frustration with growing inequality and with rigged markets and political systems is growing globally and it WILL boil over in the West eventually if nothing is done (That which is unsustainable tends in the end to be unsustained, and all that).. Smart capitalists like Nick Hanaeur have been saying it for some time.
Who said:
There is no prouder word in our history than "freeholder".
It was Margaret Thatcher. I don't think she had the kind of monetising freeholder whose exploitative behaviour has been documented here in mind. Time for the Conservatives to wake up and smell the commonhold before the tumbrils arrive — or maybe just because it's the right thing to do if they're capable of acting on that.
A very interesting comment. I personally agree with you: public confidence in the free market being remotely fair is at the lowest ebb I have ever known it.
This is a view common to the young, who have material grounds to feel it, and the old, who don't being the richest pensioners ever, but have the age and experience to know that things should not be like this.
The National Crime Agency figures from the Land Registry on offshore owned property assets beggars belief. Property Week's crunching the figures to reach a total of £263 billion of commercial and residential assets held offshore is astonishing (echoed by Private Eye, which has a slightly lower figure).
The British are utterly mad to put up with this nonsense, especially when many of own fellow citizens are unlikely to be property owning at all.
The view that the market is basically rigged against the small, middle and the comfortable but not that comfortable is widespread.
It has been addressed in highly disillusioned terms by the irreproachably conservative Charles Moore, the biographer of Margaret Thatcher.
The rebellion against inequality and rigged markets and politics is growing. It's covered in The Week with respect to Donald Trump's supporters here: http://theweek.com/articles/605312/conservatives-have-failed-donald-trumps-supporters. I think it's relevant to the Conservative establishment on this side of the Atlantic too. It's sleepwalking toward the cliff.
Bernie Sanders supporters look like outmatching Hillary's Wall Street donors and are overwhelmingly younger. His agenda will outlast his candidacy whatever the outcome..
Reform, including reducing the ability of rich to buy elections, rig markets and hide wealth in tax havens, cannot be put off indefinitely.
When reform is refused for long enough the correction ends up being explosive.
Would the charities here be happy to associated with such a company and appear on their website? Has anyone contacted the charities?
http://www.circlemanagement.co.uk/charitable-support.html
Sue Ryder
Breast Cancer Campaign
Scoo-B-Doo
Goedgedacht Trust


Join the 2015-2016 AD2ATX Board!
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Does anyone here play the Fallout series? If so, please post your pictures, information, and other cool tidbits like mods and what not! I will post mine.
Have only played Fallout 3 for a short time but gonna get Fallout 4.
I played through Fallout 1 & 2 several times and I tried Fallout: New Vegas (did not like it) and now I gonna try out Fallout 3 These are good games and would be better withour the retrofuturistic aesthetics. I really don't like the 1950s feel to them.
I feel there are too few non-fantasy RPGs - pretty much only Fallout and Mass Effect. It makes more sense to make an RPG about the war in Ukraine than another one about elves and orcs. Who is for?
People complaining on 4chan and reddit about graphics and how Stalker Clear Sky had better textures.
Remind you, I believe these screens are form the Xbox one or PS4 systems.
Put money down on a copy today. Now to wait for the 10th!
Actually it's the 11th for all of us guys in the Southern Hemisphere, because y'know, we couldn't have it first, that would be terrible.
sepheronx wrote: Peoples complaining on 4chan and reddit about graphics and how Stalker Clear Sky had better textures.
Couldn't care less to be honest... the gameplay looks very solid. If us PC boys hate the look we'll just mod the hell out of it.
I'm a huge fan of the series, but I'm gonna wait until I buy a new computer before getting it.
slightly offtop: Seph, IIRC you're quite knowledgeable when it comes to processors, so in your opinion, should I get a skylake processor and build around it?
The GPU still matters the most. But a good processor will last long. Intel is currently at top in raw performance. But are pricy.
I have Fallout 3,Fallout new vegas and Fallout 4...I also have many many mods for some reason I have tend to download to many AK mods so my weapon selection consists AKs AKs and more AKs.
Some of my favorite games lots of freedom and highly modable so you can install glorious communist mods to take away said freedom.
I have played all the main ones, i.e Fallout 1, 2, 3, New Vegas, and 4 (finished all except 4 multiple times).
Couldn't get into 4 as much as 3 or New Vegas for some reason and stopped mid way through, maybe I will give it another go at some point.
Personally my favorite was New Vegas with 3 following closely behind.


My apologies (to both my readers) about the somewhat duplicate post. I'm going to reboot this series of posts. I kept putting it off because it was too ambitious to start with. I'm going to try to make this just two posts.
Originally I wanted to go in depth about each of the RDF options in Ruby, but--although I have done a good bit of research--I don't have the time or knowledge to actually do that. Instead I'm going going to give an overview of each RDF library, and in my second post I'll talk about where I think the Ruby community should go from here.
The Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a framework for adding a layer of machine readable metadata to the Internet. The simplest example is declaring information about web pages such as the author, date of publication, etc. See the classic "semantic web" article in Scientific American for more information about the vision of the Semantic Web.
RDF differs from other methods for declaring metadata in that it is made to be generic, and it is really the foundation for much richer information. RDF is designed to be one of the lower levels in the Semantic Web Layer Cake, and as a standard it is designed to enable the free interchange of knowledge.
Scripting languages are well positioned--perhaps uniquely positioned--for handling RDF data, and Ruby is no exception. There are two presentations to view to get you excited about the prospects for a Ruby/RDF integration.
Obie Fernadez' "Deep Integration of Ruby with Semantic Web Ontologies"
Rich Kilmer's "Semitar: Programming with the Semantic Web"
So, RDF is the future direction of the World Wide Web, and mature RDF support in Ruby is crucial to the future of Ruby as a language, if it is going to be used to process data from the Internet.
What is the state of RDF support in Ruby?
Not all of the projects are active, but most of the code is out there for use.
This was I believe the first Ruby related RDF project. During its time it subsumed a couple of other RDF projects (one called RDF4R and another an XSLT based RDF parser). Aside from being a dead project RubyRDF is also incomplete. A couple of the query forms were never implemented. However, that is not to say that we shouldn't appreciate the work that went into this project, and the code is available for use. Here is an example that uses the library.
Dan Brickley (author of RubyRDF) has also said that he would be happy to retire the name if someone else wanted to use it for an RDF based Ruby library, since it is a generic name.
Modeled after Jena (surprise!), Rena seems to be a relatively complete implementation. It has an NTriples format parser as well as a (partial) implementation of the RDQL query language. This is a dead query language (not unusual considering this projects age), and if you're interested in RDF query languages you should really start with SPARQL.
Rena does not have any RDocs, nor does it have much external documentation. There is an samples folder in the download with several example uses. Plus picking through the code it seems pretty straightforward to understand. Additionally, there is an old tutorial online.
Semitar is an RDF library that also supports OWL, and has some built-in rules based reasoning. It has a C based parser that is very fast. It has a slick DSL based interfaces for querying and creating triples. Heres an example of the query DSL in action.
It is sparse on documentation, and you basically have to browse through the code to understand everything. It has a lot of potential, but unfortunately it is inactive.
RDF Redland is a Ruby wrapper to the librdf library. This presumably makes it fast. Unfortunately, this library seems to have suffered from a lack of love. Originally created by Dominic Sisneros, as I understand it got handed off to Dave Beckett (author of librdf) and the code is included in the librdf distribution.
The code for this wrapper could use some cleanup. It could be rewritten to be more Rubyish, and there are some minor features of librdf that it doesn't support. It is basically a SWIG binding wrapped in some Ruby classes.
In May of 2007, Dave posted to the redland-dev mailing list that he was going to have to discontinue directly supporting most of the language bindings for librdf because he (understandably) doesn't have the time or the expertise in all of the languages. At this point the Ruby bindings seem to be orphaned. I believe Dave is accepting patches for, but he is not actively developing, the Ruby bindings.
Samizdat is more of an application than an RDF library. However, its author Dmitry Borodaenko has made strides towards a standard RDF layer for Ruby that could talk to any number of implementations. He has also split the RDF layer from Samizdat into a separate package (libsamizdat-ruby on Debian). This has a lot of potential to be a great RDF library for Ruby. It supports multiple RDBMSes as a backend. It has query support with Squish.
However, (as of 0.6.0) it does not have support for data-typed literals nor does it honor language tags for literals.
ActiveRDF is the most recent and active RDF library for Ruby. It is meant to be a layer on top of an RDF triple store. It is very resource centric in its view of the world, but also has a Ruby DSL for querying triple stores. It has federation support, so you can bring together data from several sources and view and query them as a single triple store. It has support for rewriting the Ruby DSL queries into SPARQL to send them to a SPARQL endpoint. There are several examples of ActiveRDF in action on the homepage and wiki.
It does not have support for blank nodes, in fact it converts them into URI nodes when they are processed. It does support attaching a datatype to a literal node, but I don't believe it does anything more than that (such as validating the structure of an XMLLiteral). So in this sense it is not a fully compliant RDF implementation.
If you want to work with RDF in Ruby you have three viable options: Samizdat, ActiveRDF, and RDF Redland. If you want to work with a fully compliant RDF implementation, you have one option RDF Redland. If you want to work with a fully compliant and actively developed implementation, then you are out-of-luck.
This is a problem, and I'd like to talk about were we should go from here in my next post.
Thanks for an excellent summary, Paul! Your explanation of status of RDF support in Samizdat is correct, so I suspect your assessment of other alternatives which I'm less familiar with is also quite close.
In the last couple of years I didn't do much work on RDF side of Samizdat and focused on the application side. RDF storage library provided by Samizdat is even older than 2006-11-29 (except bugfixes and minor improvements here and there), while Samizdat application is being constantly developed, with snapshots uploaded to Debian/experimental every couple of months. This means that while Samizdat's RDF library is stagnant and misses several important features, for some uses it is sufficient as it is.


DManD seeks to house its equipment in facilities that create a vibrant, productive, impactful, highly-regarded research center that brings researchers together across disciplines in new, deeper ways to advance the exciting areas of DManD and positively impact SUTD's research and educational programs.
The DManD Office contains open seating work spaces to encourage interaction and meeting rooms to facilitate research group meetings.
The DManD Research Studio (562m2) contains most of the DManD's fabrication, synthesis/fusion and simulation/modelling equipment and tools. The Research Studio also contains open seating work spaces for researchers.
The DManD Research Lab contains a general workshop, a Metrology Lab and a Project Room. The Project Room serves as a space for research groups to build their prototypes and models.


In today's text in Revelation, we will see the whole creation attributing "blessing and honor and glory and power" to the Lamb on the throne. In eternity, even the fish in the sea will give Him praise. That is certainly not the case now. As Paul tells us in Romans 8, for now the whole creation is subject to decay and corruption so that even the creatures of the sea groan for the day when this universe will be fully redeemed. But soon the "seven seals" will be opened and the wicked will be judged; evil will be removed; the Lord will return to His earth; and the whole creation will be made to function in a way God originally intended it to — giving honor to our Creator!!! Maranatha!!!


As I've blogged before in my series about configuring Salesforce for usability, Image Formula Fields can be just the thing to make something pop on a page layout and let a user know at a glance if everything is looking good or if there is work to be done. Some of the images I use often with our clients here in Texas are the Flag, Star and Stoplight icons. They are great way to convey visually the status, aging, value, rating, or health of a record.
Though Salesforce provides some examples to get you started with Image Formula Fields, I thought a handful of real-life examples would be a good way to see how they are used as well as get used to the formula syntax.


I think it's something we'd all like to do – one day. To embark on the most epic motorcycle journey of a lifetime, as you overland across the globe on your trusted bike. But it's that very 'one day' that seems to never come around. However, it's when you come across videos like this, of bikers who have plucked up the courage, sold most of what they own, given the boss their notice and ditched life as they know it, which really makes you think – could I?
When I came across this video by Ça Coule de Source I felt truly inspired, so I wanted to share it with you fine adventure bike riding folks. Yvan and Jan are a team of two who have been friends, quite literally, since they were babies. Their fathers worked together as helicopter pilots and their mothers became friends. As by happy coincidence (or perhaps friends' secret as the two like to joke) the boys were born just nine days apart and have been friends ever since.
After a 26-year-old lifetime of friendship, growing up and previous travels, Yvan and Jan set off nearly a year ago on their two old school Triumph Scramblers and haven't looked back since. The pair have ridden side-by-side through 17 countries and have travelled more than 21,000 miles on their two wheels, documenting their life and experiences as they go.
When speaking to the lads about their trip so far, they said "to pick our favourite country it's hard to say, but we absolutely loved Peru, Bolivia and Namibia,". Of course, nothing is plain sailing on an epic motorcycle expedition of this proportion, Yvan fell off his bike in Peru and tore a ligament on his left foot. "Riding just before Lima City was horrible, it was really, really dangerous. I was scared,".
Though nothing could deter the two men from continuing their trip of a lifetime and when speaking to them just a few weeks ago, they were particularly looking forward to riding out to see a herd of wild horses close to the coast of Namibia in southern Africa, with Yvan's family coming out to visit them in the forthcoming days.
So, below you can watch Yvan and Jan's incredible video of their awesome round the world journey so far. You can also follow their adventure by liking their Facebook page, Instagram page or by heading over to the pair's website.
An around the world trip from Ça Coule de Source on Vimeo. You can check out more inspirational short films on the video section of our website.


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text:
GEORGE BOYCE vs. TOWN OF TEMPLETON (and two companion cases [Note page1-1]).
335 Mass. 1
September 24, 1956 - November 16, 1956
Present: WILKINS, C.J., SPALDING, WILLIAMS, COUNIHAN, & WHITTEMORE, JJ.
A way discontinued as a State highway by the department of public works with the concurrence of the county commissioners became a town way by operation of G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 81, Section 12, and could be discontinued by the town within two years after its so becoming a town way; c. 82, Section 30, was inapplicable. [3]
A vote of a town meeting to discontinue as a town way a certain section of road which had become a town way under G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 81, Section 12, upon an alteration of a State highway and discontinuance of that section as a part of the State highway was not invalid on the contended ground that it was an attempted alteration by the town rather than a discontinuance. [3-4]
A town is not liable under G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 84, Section 15, for defects in a way which has been discontinued as a public way. [4]
G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 84, Sections 23, 24, are not applicable to a way discontinued as a public way which joins an existing public way. [4-5]
A town is not liable apart from statute for failure of the public officers in charge of its highways to bar or post a way discontinued as a public way which joins an existing public way and appears itself to be a public way. [5-6]
A town was not liable for personal injuries sustained by occupants of an automobile when, at a time of poor visibility, it ran into a pile of black paving material standing in a former public way which had been discontinued and which led off an existing public way, appeared itself to be a public way, and was not barred or posted at its junction with the existing public way. [2, 6]
THREE ACTIONS OF TORT. Writs in the Superior Court dated May 27, 1950.
The actions were tried before Paquet, J.
John J. Philbin, for the plaintiffs.
Paul L. Hinckley, (J. Philip Howard with him,) for the defendant.
WHITTEMORE, J. The original plaintiffs in these three tort actions were, respectively, the driver of and two passengers in an automobile which at about 5 A.M. on April 24, 1949, when vision was obscured because of darkness or fog, ran into a pile of prepared paving material or macadam, black in color, on a part of Old Athol Road, so called, in Templeton which had been the subject of statutory actions for discontinuance as a public way by both the Commonwealth and the town. The plaintiffs excepted to the action of the trial judge in directing verdicts for the defendant. There was no error.
The facts were not in dispute.
The subject area was formerly a part of a town way laid out as such by the county in 1853. The way became a State highway in 1905, being more recently a part of the numbered Route 202. In 1947 the location of this State highway was altered and three disconnected parts of it, as formerly constituted, in Templeton, including the subject area, were excluded from the new layout. The excluded areas were discontinued as State highway in 1947
and each thereupon by express statutory provision became again a town way, the county commissioners having concurred in the discontinuance. G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 81, Section 12. In 1948 the town voted to discontinue these three newly constituted town ways.
The pile of material had been placed by the department of public works some five months before the accident. At the time of the accident a sign reading "Road Closed Ahead" was in place on a pole on the discontinued way, at its intersection with Prospect Street, a public way. This sign had been placed by the department of public works when the way had been discontinued as a State highway. Beyond the pile of paving material at the point where the discontinued way intersected with the new Route 202 there was a barrier of posts across the way and a sign reading "Road Ends," also placed seasonably by the department of public works. The automobile had passed and its occupants had not seen the sign on the pole at Prospect Street.
The vote of the town in 1948 was valid and operated to discontinue the subject area as a public way. G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 82, Section 21. Mahan v. Rockport, 287 Mass. 34, 37.
There is nothing in the contention of the plaintiffs that the 1947 discontinuance, concurred in by the county commissioners as the statute requires for valid action, constituted a layout of a town way by the county so that under G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 82, Section 30, there could be no discontinuance of such way within two years thereafter. The subject area became a town way in 1947 by operation of law. The manifest purpose of Section 30 is to protect for a two year period from discontinuance by the town, acting under the grant of power in Section 21, town ways which have been laid out, relocated or altered by the county commissioners pursuant to their discretionary powers given in Section 26.
Nor is there any basis for the contention that the town vote was in effect an attempted alteration of the way, invalid because not made by the selectmen under Sections 21 and 22 and accepted by the town under Section 23. See Lincoln v. Warren, 150 Mass. 309, cited by the plaintiffs. Here
the alteration of the location of the way had already occurred by the action of the department of public works.
The former public way having been discontinued, the town was not liable under G. L. (Ter. Ed.) c. 84, Section 15, which imposes the statutory liability for defects in public ways. Nicodemo v. Southborough, 173 Mass. 455, 458. Longley v. Worcester, 304 Mass. 580, 584.
The declarations averred that the injury occurred "on a public highway known as the Old Athol Road" and that "it was the duty of the defendant to keep said road in a good, safe and proper condition for those lawfully thereon." These declarations were reasonably construable as declarations only for the statutory liability in respect of public ways. Even if we were to hold that the averment of a public way could be disregarded and the declarations otherwise construed as stating the violation of a duty of the defendant to keep Old Athol Road reasonably safe because it was an apparent public way leading from an existing public way, our decisions, discussed below, make clear that there is no such duty upon the town for which recovery can be had.
General Laws (Ter. Ed.) c. 84, Sections 23 and 24, [Note page4-1] to which the plaintiffs refer, have no application here. It having been held in Hobbs v. Lowell, 19 Pick. 405, that a public way could be created by dedication of the owner and assent of the public so that statutory liability for defects would extend thereto, these sections, in earlier form, were passed to limit the statutory liability as applied to such ways and in no sense to extend or create liability not otherwise existing. Jones v. Boston, 201 Mass. 267. Sullivan v. Boston, 126 Mass. 540. Paine v. Brockton, 138 Mass. 564. In
Nicodemo v. Southborough, 173 Mass. 455, 460, it was held that these sections had no application to a public way which had been discontinued regardless of whether originally dedicated or laid out.
There is no liability on the town apart from statute for failure to bar or post a discontinued way. The question was stated and left open in Coakley v. Boston & Maine Railroad, 159 Mass. 32, 35. In L'Homme v. Winchendon, 288 Mass. 291, 294, it was referred to but not discussed because not argued. It is firmly established in this Commonwealth that municipalities are not liable for acts or omissions of public officers in the performance of their duties except as and to the extent that liability is imposed by statute. Molinari v. Boston, 333 Mass. 394, 395-396. The principle that "where a municipal corporation holds or deals with property as its own, not for the direct and immediate use of the public, but for its own benefit, by receiving rents or otherwise, in the same way as a private owner might, it is liable to the same extent as he would be . . . ," Oliver v. Worcester, 102 Mass. 489, 500, Galluzzi v. Beverly, 309 Mass. 135, 138, Cole Drug Co. of Massachusetts v. Boston, 326 Mass. 199, 201, is without application here. The town of Templeton was making no use of this area for its own "private" purposes as was the case in D'Amico v. Boston, 176 Mass. 599, where the city of Boston had taken land in Southborough, including a discontinued way, for a water supply area. There is no basis in the evidence for concluding that the town was taking any action in respect of public ways within it other than to elect the officials, who by statute have duties, or appoint those who have duties, to repair and maintain ways, and to provide necessary funds. Such action does not constitute the town a principal acting through agents so that it becomes liable for their negligent acts. Ryder v. Taunton, 306 Mass. 154, 157. Compare Butman v. Newton, 179 Mass. 1, 6. In law no obligation fell upon the town from any implied invitation of the appearance of Old Athol Road to use it as a way, as the town in its corporate capacity
was not in law maintaining it. The fact that elected or appointed public officers did not close or post warnings on Old Athol Road, if it was a failure in due care, was not an omission for which the town is liable. Compare Holmes v. Drew, 151 Mass. 578, for liability of a private owner in such a case.
Manifestly the jury could have found as a matter of fact that the injured persons, in the exercise of due care, were led into a dangerous place by the absence of any bar or warning of the kind which common experience had led users of apparent public ways to anticipate. The sign "Road Closed Ahead" was not notice of discontinuance or notice of the particular danger. But in this Commonwealth where the powers and obligations of municipalities are fixed and limited by statute, the argument for a duty or obligation on the town in these circumstances and corresponding rights in those injured must of necessity be addressed to the Legislature.
Exceptions overruled.
[Note page1-1] The companion cases are by Everett W. Schwab and Hugh G. Shea against the same defendant. Anne L. Shea, administratrix, following suggestion of death of Hugh G. Shea has been substituted as plaintiff in the action brought by him.
[Note page4-1] "Section 23. A way opened and dedicated to the public use, which has not become a public way, shall not, except as provided in the two following sections, be chargeable upon a town as a highway or town way unless laid out and established in the manner prescribed by statute. Section 24. The board or officer having authority over public ways in a town shall, if the public safety so requires, cause such ways to be closed where they enter upon and unite with an existing public way or may by other sufficient means caution the public against entering thereon; otherwise the town shall be liable for damages arising from defects therein as in the case of ways duly laid out and established."


(TORONTO) – The OPSEU bargaining team for frontline correctional services workers has reached an agreement to settle all outstanding issues in contract talks with the Government of Ontario. The announcement comes after marathon negotiations that began Friday and went through to the early hours of Saturday morning.
Tom O'Neill, Chair of the OPSEU Correctional Bargaining Team, said the agreement achieved enhancements over an earlier deal rejected by correctional workers in December. "All improvements in the November 23 agreement are in this deal, plus other improvements, most notably, transition to binding arbitration to settle bargaining disputes.
Some 6,000 Correctional workers, who have been without a contract since December 31, 2014, would have been in a legal strike or lockout position as of 12:01 on Sunday morning.


When searching for the best stainless steel solar light, it's always great to start with a quality brand, but I tend to be a bit peculiar I go and try new products from the not so branded companies first and then compare with the branded ones, I do the review myself and then decide which one to keep and which one to kick off (kind of).
This stainless steel solar path light from EZ Yard Tech is one of my favorite so far, their products may be a little pricey, but they are worth the price IMO.
This product contains 10 solar lights with 6 lumens of brightness in each light, constructed with stainless steel anti rust material which protects your LED lights from harsh weather condition no matter what the conditions are hot and cold or rain and snow, it can easily withstand against any season.
EZ Yard Techs promises that this light will give you 2x more brightness compare to its counterparts. The LED light fixture is ideal for any landscape lighting including sidewalk, patio, and driveway. This stainless steel light can also be used as a complement to any pool, pond, or fountain at night.
Although it is very easy to assemble and Install the light, but you have to keep few things in mind while placing them, first make sure you locate an area in your garden where they will receive maximum amount of full and direct sunlight and each light should be placed at least 6-7 foot from each other and away from other lights sources as this might keep the solar lights from automatically turning on at dusk.
Most people who have tried the product are very happy with the results and have seen improvements in lightening and appreciation from the neighbors.
This product provides 30-day money back guarantee, so if you don't like this product and/or your product is delivered in damage condition you can easily exchange or cancel this product without any hassles.
To be very honest, the EZ Yard stainless steel light didn't really have any major downsides to begin with, people loving this solar lights because there is so small work involved after they set up the light, they don't have to flip a switch to turn it ON and then forget to turn them OFF, all this will be happen automatically.
Speaking of cons, this is a cheap stainless steel solar light but cheap doesn't mean you provide material i.e. the body is built with thin stainless steel and the top globe is of plastic. Other issue is of not actually a product itself but with the packing and/or shipping the product, most people complaint about broken or defected product shipped. EZYard should take extra precaution while packing/shipping to avoid this type of complains. Apart from that, few customers also criticize about getting less working time (around 6 hours) normally solar lights works at least 8 hours on full recharge.
At the given price, though, the above concerns shouldn't keep you away from buying this product, the main purpose of this EZYard solar light is to make sure you get your garden lit up during night, and it does a great job at that. Sure there are better stainless steel lights available in the market, but do keep in mind that they are usually cost more. With that said, the EZYard solar light is 2x more brighter than their counterparts, Easy to setup and install and is great tool to complement pool, pond, or fountain at your garden.
If you are looking for a stainless steel light at a reasonable price, yet powerful bright solar light, then the EZ Yard Tech stainless steel solar light should be on your priority list.


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Inca Trail Peru | Blog
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All you need to know for the best Inca Trail Experience
The Inca Trail the iconic 4-day hike to the Inca Citadel Machu Picchu.
The classic Inca trail runs 42 km long high up in the beautiful Andes Mountains in Peru.
Machu Picchu and the Inca-Trail in COVID-19 times
Leave a Comment / Inca Trail, Machu Picchu / By Team Inca Trail
Machu Picchu and the Inca-Trail in COVID-19 times. | Machu Picchu re-opened for tourism on November 1, 2020 and is currently free to all who enter (foreigners and nationals). Machu Picchu was also awarded the Safe Travel seal, granted by the World Travel and Tourism Council, which certifies the site as a safe destination. Machu Picchu first opened its doors to Peruvians and citizens of Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, France, among others.
The train companies PeruRail and Inca Rail are currently operating its services to and from Machu Picchu on the Expedition and Vistadome trains. The company added that passengers must use their mask and face shield from the boarding points and on board the train. Likewise, no standing passengers may be transported and each passenger must respect the seat assigned on their ticket in order to guarantee the obligatory physical distance inside the train cars.
Read more about the health and safety protocols of Peru Rail
Last November 30, the capacity for visits to Machu Picchu increased from 675 to 1116 daily visitors. Those who want to visit Machu Picchu must generate the reservation and confirm it (an email will be sent to the address they register) within a period of no more than 48 hours before the issuance of the entry tickets.
There are currently four defined circuits at Machu Picchu right now:
Short High Circuit. This circuit includes the ascent to the lower or upper platform (general explanation area) of the so-called Guardian House to continue along the Main Facade, the Granitic Chaos sector (Quarries), the Plaza de los Templos, the Espejos de Agua complex and the exit by the Plaza del Pisonae.
High Long Circuit. This circuit includes the ascent to the lower or upper platform (general explanation area) of the so-called House of the Guardian to continue along the Main Facade, the Granitic Chaos sector (Quarries), the Plaza de los Templos, Llamakancha, Sacred Rock, Eastern Qolqas and the exit is through the lower terrace.
Short Low Circuit. This circuit includes entrance through the Qolqas sector, terraces adjacent to the Dry Moat (general explanation area), Casa del Inca, Espejos de Agua complex and the exit through the Plaza del Pisonae.
Low Long Circuit. This circuit includes entrance through the Qolqas sector, terraces adjacent to the Dry Moat (general explanation area), Casa del Inca, Llamakancha, Sacred Rock, Eastern Qolqas and the exit is through the lower terrace.
The visiting hours of the Intihuatana, the Templo del Cóndor, the Temple of the Sun, The Sun Gate (Intipunku), Machu Picchu Mountain, Huayna Picchu and the Inka Bridge (Puente Inka) will not be available for tourist visits until further notice.
Current rules of entry for Machu Picchu and the Inca-Trail in COVID-19 times:
First of all: the Inca Trail is still closed. UPDATE: The Inca Trail to Machu PIcchu will re-open on July 15th, 2021
For a visit to Machu Picchu, these are the rules:
Each person must have their own ticket for entry.
The ticket only includes the entrance to Machu Picchu.
The ticket is free, personal and no transferable. The change of date, document number or date is not allowed.
You must confirm your reservation within a maximum period of 48 hours, otherwise it will automatically be canceled. By confirming the reservation, you accept the Terms and Conditions, the Visit Regulations, the Prevention Protocol against COVID-19 and the Contractor and Visitors Health Declaration Form.
Only one reservation is allowed per person until December 31, 2020.
Arrive at the entrance gate to Machu Picchu at the exact time indicated on your ticket. If the entrance is early you must arrive to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo) the day before.
The daily visit schedule to Machu Picchu begins at 6:00 a.m. and ends at 5:00 p.m. There are nine time ranges for the entry of visitors to the citadel of Machu Picchu, the first time range being from 6:00 to 7:00 hours and the last being from 14:00 to 15:00 hours.
To enter, you must present your ticket in print or digitally, along with your original identity document and an affidavit of health in print or digital format.
Tourists will have their body temperature taken. Those who present a temperature of 38 ° C or more will not be allowed into the Inca citadel. If symptoms of COVID-19 are identified, the person will be isolated in the designated isolation area and the person will be immediately reported to the competent health authority.
During your visit, you must comply with the biosecurity protocol: disinfection of footwear, personal equipment and hands, temperature measurement, social distancing (20 meters between each group) and the permanent use of a mask that covers your nose and mouth.
The consumption of food is not allowed during the visit.
Children under 12 years of age can enter Machu Picchu, always with caregivers.
Only children under 3 years old do not require an entrance ticket.
Visitors must board the bus that transfers from Machu Picchu Pueblo (Aguas Calientes) to the citadel with a maximum of 30 minutes prior to the time range that appears on their respective entrance tickets.
The other routes at Machu Picchu are also not yet available for booking.
UPDATE JUNE 25, 2021: NEWS!The 4 day Inca trail will be reopening on July 15, 2021.
Inca Trail:
The Route 5 of the Inca Trail tour – also called the 2 day Inca Trail – has been open for tourists since November 1. Tours must be booked with an authorized guide or agency and you have to enter the trail with a licensed guide.
Route 5 begins at the archaeological site of Chachabamba (km 104), you then pass through the Wiñaywayna archeological site, next you arrive at the Intipunku sector where tourists will continue towards post No. 8 and continue to the exit of the Machu Picchu citadel. The next day you will tour the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.
Here are the current protocols for the Inca Trail in Covid-19 times:
Personnel and visitors must maintain a minimum social distance of 1.5 meters and wear a facemask that covers the nose and mouth.
Before starting the tour, it is necessary to disinfect footwear and the personal equipment of the visitors, as well as hand hygiene.
Visitors must fill out and sign the Affadavit of Health at the entrance to control post to Route 5. In case someone has tested positive with COVID-19 they must present a document that proves their discharge.
After the entry control, each group will start their tour with a difference no less than 5 minutes with respect to the previous group. During the tour it is recommended that the minimum distance between visitors is 4 meters and between different groups of at least 20 meters.
Body temperature will be taken upon entry and exit. If a result greater than 38 ° C is reported, entrance will not be allowed and the person will be isolated and the competent health authority will be notified.
The visitor control staff has the power to deny entry, interrupt the tour and, if necessary, withdraw any person who does not comply or refuses to comply with the biosecurity measures established in the protocol.
120 visitors are allowed to enter per day (just 30% of the total).
The maximum number of visitors per group is 8 (6 tourists, 1 guide and 1 support staff. The support staff can be replaced by a tourist).
The hours of entrance to Route 5 are from 6:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
While eating, tourists and staff must maintain a distance of 2 meters from one another. Food preparation is not allowed on Route 5.
There are hygienic service areas with hand washing stations located at Chachabamba and Wiñaywayna.
Extra: info about Cusco's Archeological Sites during the corona pandemic:
As of October 15th the Archaeological Parks of Sacsayhuamán, Pisaq, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, Tipón, Moray and Pikillaqta have been reopened for tourism.
The first phase was only for locals followed by subsequent phases for national and then foreign tourists.
The Ministry of Culture is opening these sites free of charge, provided that visitors comply with biosecurity protocols such as wearing masks, face shields and respecting the minimum distance during the tour.
Although entrance is free for all Cusco residents, a virtual ticket must be obtained before visiting each tourist complex, in order to avoid queues and crowds near the access gates.
To obtain these free passes you must go to this portal to make a reservation indicating the day and time of the visit:
Dirección Desconcentrada de Cultura de Cusco
According to the protocols, visit to all sites will be from Monday to Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and only at 50% of their capacity. For Sacsayhuamán, 1000 people per day will be able to enter. Pisaq, Ollantaytambo, Tipón and Pikillaqta will allow a maximum of 480 daily visitors with Chinchero and Moray allowing 360 people each day.
Please stay tuned for more updated 2021 rules and regulations.
UPDATE JUNE 25 2021: the 4 day Inca Trail will be reopening on July 15th, 2021!
Contact us with all your questions!
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is Reopening
4 Things you might NOT like about the Salkantay Trek
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Needles/Hooks Suggested: US 6 (4 mm) DPNs or circular needle or size to obtain gauge; Spare needles in size used to obtain gauge.
This unique hat offers a double dose of warmth and color! Knit in two pieces, the Snowpack Hat tops solid stockinette with a layer of lace. The stockinette beanie is worked first and the lacy layer is worked separately. The two layers are then joined from their provisional cast-ons and a thin brim is knit down. The cozy layer of Capra keeps you toasty warm while the lace layer glistens and shines with Stroll Glimmer.
Needles: US 6 (4 mm) DPNs or circular needle or size to obtain gauge; Spare needles in size used to obtain gauge.


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Korea, South - Infrastructure, power, and communications
South Korea has a very advanced and modern infrastructure, which has been expanding since the 1960s. Both the South Korean government and the private sector are involved in the financing, construction, and operation of various infrastructure projects and services. Over the first 20 years of the 21st century, the government will spend more than US$300 billion on airports, roads, railways, and mega-resorts. Additionally, it will spend US$60 billion on the construction of more than 100 new power-generation facilities.
South Korea has an extensive and well-kept system of roads. In 1998, it boasted 64,808 kilometers (40,272 miles) of paved roads, including 1,996 kilometers (1,240 miles) of expressways, and 22,182 kilometers (13,784 miles) of unpaved roads. There are several major north-south and east-west highways, but the growing number of vehicles in use puts heavy pressure on the land transport network. The number of private cars rose from fewer than 500,000 in the early 1980s to 7.581 million in 1999 when there were also 2.1 million trucks and 749,000 buses in use. To deal with the growing pressure on roads, the South Korean government has initiated a multibillion dollar project to expand the highways. Land transportation also includes regular train and bus services around the country. The railways consist of 6,240 kilometers (3,878 miles) of standard gauge tracks of which 525 kilometers (326 miles) are electrified.
In 1999, South Korea's air transportation system was served by 103 airports, of which 67 have paved runways. Major international airports are in Seoul (Kimpo), Pusan, and on Cheju Island. A new international airport, Inchon, is scheduled to open in 2001, after which Kimpo will function as a domestic airport for Seoul.
South Korea's sea transportation network includes various ports and harbors, the most important of which are in Chinhae, Inchon, Kunsan, Masan, Mokpo, Pohang, Pusan, Tonghaehang, Ulsan, and Yosu. To meet the needs of its growing economy, the South Korean government is planning billions of dollars' worth of port/harbor expansion projects. In 1999, South Korea's merchant fleet consisted of 461 ships of various size and functions (bulk, cargo, container, passenger, vehicle carrier, and fuel tanker) with a net cargo capacity of 5 million metric tons.
South Korea has a growing power-generation system that provides electricity for private and commercial needs. Originally a state-owned sector, the power system is being privatized. During the 1990s, total production increased from 184,660 gigawatt-hours (gWh) in 1995 to 239,325 gWh in 1999, outpacing demand by a comfortable level. Over time, South Korea's dependency on thermal and hydroelectric generators has been reduced in favor of nuclear-powered generators. The country lacks domestic fossil-energy resources, so the growing cost of imported oil and natural gas has encouraged this shift. Still, thermal generators account for the bulk of generated electricity. In 1998, the percentage of electricity generated by various methods was as follows: fossil fuel generators (59.56 percent), nuclear-powered generators (38.51 percent), hydroelectric generators (1.91 percent), and other (0.02 percent). The share contributed by nuclear-power generators rose to 42.8 percent in 1999.
The South Korean telecommunications system is among the best, the most modern, and the fastest growing in the world. The number of fixed telephone lines increased from 763,200 in 1973 to 20,963,000 in 1999, while the number of cellular telephone lines jumped from 1,641,000 in 1995 to 12,019,000 in 1999, an eightfold increase over a 5-year period. In 1999, there were at least 11 Internet providers. With 14 million Internet users in 2000, South Korea ranked third in the world after the United States and the United Kingdom. Also in 1999, there were at least 106 AM, 97 FM, and 6 shortwave radio stations, and 121 television stations apart from the 8 stations operated by the U.S. Armed Forces in South Korea. In 1997, there were at least 47.5 million radios and 15.9 million television sets in use.
Country Newspapers Radios TV Sets a Cable subscribers a Mobile Phones a Fax Machines a Personal Computers a Internet Hosts b Internet Users b
South Korea 393 1,033 346 138.3 302 N/A 156.8 55.53 10,860
United States 215 2,146 847 244.3 256 78.4 458.6 1,508.77 74,100
Japan 578 955 707 114.8 374 126.8 237.2 163.75 27,060
North Korea 199 147 53 N/A 0 N/A N/A N/A N/A
a Data are from International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Development Report 1999 and are per 1,000 people.
b Data are from the Internet Software Consortium ( http://www.isc.org ) and are per 10,000 people.
SOURCE: World Bank. World Development Indicators 2000.
Korea, South forum
Korea, North Kuwait


Tower Tye has been described as a probable Timber Castle.
Despite some disturbance by tree root activity, Tower Tye ringwork survives reasonably well and remains unencumbered by modern development. Its earthworks in particular remain well preserved and the monument will retain significant archaeological evidence associated with the occupation of its interior and the construction of its defences.
Curwen says 'There is on the summit of a hill within the park a circular ring fort, with double ramparts of exaggerated proportions, known as Tower Tye'.
This site is in a natural defensive position, by a crossroads and close to river crossing at Lanercost. The C14 date in PastScape is odd and Gatehouse is quite at a loss as to why what would be a fairly major earthwork castle has been completely missed by King or Jackson. May be precursor to Naworth Castle. However an outer bank is not a feature of ringwork castles and this is dubious as a medieval castle ringwork despite the scheduling record. Is this a well preserved Iron Age small hill fort or large defended farmstead, possible with some later medieval reuse as a dwelling of low status? Have the usually, post Curwin (who was no earthworks expert), authorities ever considered this as anything other than Iron Age?
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 12671.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 307.


First, let me start off this post by saying that I am extremely grateful for everyone that I received gifts from this Christmas. The true meaning is giving, not receiving, and I enjoyed watching everyone open up presents from our family! Here are just a few of my favorites that I received this year and I can't wait to use them!
Sorel Boots – Let me tell you, I needed these and I needed these BAD. Prior to receiving these, I did not have a durable pair of winter boots that had a good amount of traction. A day later and I have already wore them a ton so I could not be more excited about them.
Victoria's Secret Bralettes – So when I saw that these were on sale about a month ago, I think I texted my mom at least a hundred times to tell her about them. These bralettes are a very high quality so naturally they are on the pricier end but when I saw them for super cheap, I couldn't resist.
Love Your Melon Hats – My favorite part about this company is they promote finding the cure to pediatric cancer with providing stylish hats and apparel that people of all ages can buy and wear. I'd be surprised if you haven't already heard of this company as they are extremely successful in their efforts!
Classic II Ugg Boots – Alright so I've had the same pair of Ugg Boots for about two years now and they are completely trashed. Originally, I had asked just for the simple and original short boots but my mom found these through a friend that was able to get them for cheaper than the originals! The Classic II's are weather and waterproof which will be very nice to have in these cold and sloppy Wisconsin winters.
Again, I am so thankful for everything I received as well as being able to spend time and make memories with my entire family. Being home with everyone after my first semester at college was very much needed and I could not be more grateful! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and got to spend it with friends and family members!


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Q: Write an SQL query to remove old orders in Woocommerce I would like to remove some OLD order data in Woocommerce, keeping only the last 12 months of order data
This is the SQL query that I use to remove ALL orders:
DELETE FROM wp_woocommerce_order_itemmeta
DELETE FROM wp_woocommerce_order_items
DELETE FROM wp_comments WHERE comment_type = 'order_note'
DELETE FROM wp_postmeta WHERE post_id IN ( SELECT ID FROM wp_posts WHERE post_type = 'shop_order' )
DELETE FROM wp_posts WHERE post_type = 'shop_order'

What would I need to add to REMOVE all order data BEFORE 1st January 2017 and KEEP Orders data since 1 Jan 2017?
I don't know so much about SQL, as I have used a few SQL queries over the years.
Any help is appreciated.
I'm amazed there isn't already a plugin for this and also to remove customers with no orders. I doubt I'm the only one trying to keep their WP/WC database clean.

A: This is the general idea, you delete the children items first and then remove the parents last.  DO NOT RUN THIS WITHOUT TESTING FIRST.  I accept no responsibility for lost data.
DELETE
FROM    wp_woocommerce_order_itemmeta
WHERE   order_item_id IN (
    SELECT  order_item_id
    FROM    wp_woocommerce_order_items
    WHERE   order_id IN (
        SELECT  ID
        FROM    wp_posts
        WHERE   post_date < '2017-01-01'
    )
)

DELETE
FROM    wp_woocommerce_order_items
WHERE   order_id IN (
    SELECT  ID
    FROM    wp_posts
    WHERE   post_date <= '2017-01-01'
)

DELETE
FROM    wp_comments
WHERE   comment_type = 'order_note'
AND     comment_post_ID IN (
    SELECT  ID
        FROM    wp_posts
        WHERE   post_date <= '2017-01-01'
)

DELETE
FROM    wp_postmeta
WHERE   post_id IN (
    SELECT  ID
    FROM    wp_posts
    WHERE   post_type = 'shop_order'
    AND     post_date <= '2017-01-01'
)

DELETE
FROM    wp_posts
WHERE   post_type = 'shop_order'
AND     post_date <= '2017-01-01'

A: If foreign key has been implemented in these tables then you have to first delete data from child table only when you will be able to delete data from parent table.
The SQL Query will be like below:
DELETE FROM wp_woocommerce_order_itemmeta
where Date(OrderDate Column) < '2017-01-01';

DELETE FROM wp_posts
WHERE post_type = 'shop_order'
and Date(OrderDate Column) < '2017-01-01';

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