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June 21, 2007
Heading West
This will be my last posting until July 2 - and you may well ask why my blog has being rather blank this week.
It's just been one of those extremely busy weeks and everytime I have settled down to write an entry something else has cropped up and diverted my attentions.
It always seems that when you are planning to go on holiday a whole host of things crop up unexpectedly and the week becomes a race against the clock - that has certainly been the case for the last few days.
Anyway, I am heading off to the South West tomorrow for a week of relaxation and unlike what seems like the entire office will not be stopping anywhere near Glastonbury!.
My destination is a far more tranquil Dartmoor and although the weather forecast may paint a rather gloomy picture I am sure that a few Devon cream teas and the odd pint of cider will add to an enjoyable break.
Posted by aseal at 1:38 PM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2007
Alarms, frustration and pride...
It's been one of those days further disrupted by the second evacuation of Gazette House due to the fire alarms going off in successive days.
Thankfully it was yet another false alarm which seems to have been triggered off by workmen re-fitting the shop below us but again it caused some disruption to several of the papers we were still working on from a production point of view.
That apart, I have been dealing with all kinds of problems all day, none of them actually related to the Gazette, and consequently have had little time to catch up with the newsdesk over next week's edition.
However, what is turning out to be a highly frustrating day should improve by this evening when I am going along to our sister paper the Ealing Gazette's Pride in Our People Awards at the Ramada Hotel in Ealing.
Like the Uxbridge Gazette's Local Heroes Awards these events are always hugely enjoyable as the unsung heroes of the community are honoured for a number of tremendous achievements.
And I shall enjoy the evening even more as, unlike the Uxbridge awards, this time it's not me but my colleague at Ealing Shuz Azam's turn to make a speech.
In what is turning out to be an extremely busy week tomorrow I am off to the Reigate office for the day. Along with Ian Carter, editor of the Croydon Advertiser, I will be interviewing budding journalists who are hoping to win a sponsored place on our training scheme, which involves spending 16 weeks at a training centre in Newcastle.
It promises to be a long day but it can also be extremely rewarding when you come across a real gem of a person who has all the makings of becoming a highly successful reporter - that would certainly brighten my week up.
Posted by aseal at 3:20 PM | Comments (0)
June 13, 2007
Fire alarm
On your busiest production day of the week the last thing you need is any distractions or disruption.
So when earlier this morning the fire alarms started going off at Gazette House my heart sank. It was a case off all out and we headed into the sunshine in Uxbridge High Street along with hundreds of other workers from neighbouring businesses.
The fire brigade duly arrived and some 15-20 minutes later we were thankfully given the all clear to return to our desks and the production team could move into overdrive to hit the numerous deadlines for the other papers, apart from the Gazette, that we produce here.
This week's Gazette is now out on the streets and has a good mix of stories with my favourite being the page three lead on a car load of traffic wardens who were spotted asleep and parked on a yellow line in Ickenham.
They were captured by an eagle-eyed Gazette reader who duly sent in the pictures of the traffic wardens in the car which has led to an excellent story for us this week.
We had a late change with the front page splash but finally went for the story of a grandmother who was stabbed with a needle as she boarded a bus on the Uxbridge Road.
Incidents of violence and vandalism are becoming all too common on buses around the borough.
Also in this week's paper we report on a man being jailed for nine months for threatening to beat and kill a passenger and in another incident a teenage girl was found guilty of racially abusing a bus controller and being in possession of an immitation handgun.
At the same time assaults on bus passengers by under-16s rose last year across London with teenagers being linked to more than 5,500 separate crime allegations - a staggering increase of over 2,000 incidents from the previous year.
In recent weeks we have highlighted growing concerns over the number of attacks on passengers and drivers on buses across the borough and reported on numerous acts of vandalism so I have to say these latest figures released by Transport for London (TfL) come as no real surprise.
Posted by aseal at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2007
Picture perfect
While I was out and about yesterday afternoon I stumbled across something so typically English that I almost couldn't believe my eyes....
On a stunning day I came across a village green cricket match. Nothing unusual you may say about that as they occur up and down the country every weekend.
But, this was different had it had all the ingredients one truly associates with the great game and which has inspired so many writers over the year to describe the village cricket match.
There was the village green surrounded by a pond and weeping willows and over looked by picturesque cottages and the pub. Spectators watched from their deckchairs while youngsters scampered around by the boundary and the ice cream van was doing a roaring trade.
It was a truly wonderful sight and took me back to my days when I used to spend Sunday afternoons playing cricket, although never in a setting quite as picturesque as the one I discovered on the outskirts of Esher in Surrey.
Infact I had only gone out to a garden centre to buy some herbs to plant out in the garden but ended up being entralled by the scene I came across.
While on the subject of cricket I can remember in the days before the internet how many a lunchtime was spent in the summer, along with fellow workers, standing by the window of usually a Radio Rentals television shop watching the Test match action.
I only say that because this very lunchtime I spotted several people doing the very same thing in Uxbridge town centre, as they watched England secure victory over the West Indies in the third Test.
As for this week's Gazette, well it's shaping up nicely and we have a potentially cracking story for page three. It's the type of story where the pictures tell you everything and I am sure it will get our readers talking on a subject they are always vocal about.
Posted by aseal at 3:12 PM | Comments (0)
June 7, 2007
Recyling addict
Recyling is one of the biggest issues currently in the news and a political hot potatoe in many areas across the country.
When it comes to politics the Gazette is fiercely independent but, I have to say that Hillingdon council does have to be applauded over its approach to recyling and its promise that weekly collections of refuse will remain intact - unlike many other authorities who have switched to fortnightly.
Certainly where I live in Surrey, household refuse is collected fortnightly and this does present problems especially this time of year when your bin does start to pong a bit after sitting in the baking heat for two weeks!
However, what it does do is train your mind to the values and necessity of recyling. I have to admit that I have become something of a recyling addict with bottles in this bin, paper and plastic in that one, kitchen waste in another and so on....
While local authorities have a responsibility to collect our refuse we also have the same responsibility to ensure that we do our bit towards recyling.
It only takes a few minutes each day and I would urge everyone to join the 'recyling club'. It can actually be quite rewarding - sad as that may seem....
For more on the borough's recyling efforts see this week's Gazette or for information on waste and recyling in the borough go to http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk and click the waste link.
PS: You will be glad to know that I have now been restored to full power at home - although I did spend most of last night - in between marvelling at David Beckham's performance for England - re-setting just about every electrical appliance in the house.
Posted by aseal at 8:10 AM | Comments (4)
June 6, 2007
Power-less
I am feeling rather jaded this morning and not in the best of spirits.
No, it's not because I had a heavy night out on the town but due to a lack of power in my house.
I was awoken in the night by the sound of alarms going off all around me and quickly realised that a power cut seemed to have triggered a series of alarms off in the shops at the top of my road.
With my alarm clock now disabled I stumbled for my watch saw it was 12.30am and turned over to try and get back to sleep - not easy with bells ringing in my ears.
Then horror of horrors, with the alarm clock wiped out, I woke up a good hour later than normal to discover that there was still no power and I was running desperately late.
It goes from bad to worse. No power means no shower, no hot water, no early morning cup of tea or a quick chance to catch the morning news headlines on TV - I am not in the best of moods by now.
Leaving the house much later than normal means I then hit all the M25 rush-hour traffic and have a tedious journey in to Uxbridge - finally arriving two hours later than my normal early morning start.
So, it's not been the perfect start to the day but, as they say, things can only get better....
Posted by aseal at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)
June 5, 2007
It's all change
It's been a pretty frantic deadline morning at Gazette House to say the least....
I feel as if I have been wearing two hats this morning, one as newspaper editor and the other as magazine editor.
We were already slightly behind on this week's Gazette when I made the decision to pull the original front page for Uxbridge, which had already been finished, and replace it with a new splash on the fact that Kate Beagley, who was found murdered yesterday just across the borough boundary, worked on the Stockley Business Park.
This also meant re-organising some of the other news pages so we could accommodate the original Uxbridge splash. As is always the case we got there in the end and the final pages are now safely with our pre-press department and we can all breath a huge sigh of relief.
At the same time as all this was going on I was also trying to sort out some problems with some of the magazines we produce in Uxbridge.
Our magazine editor Jo has gone off sick and as is always the case that's when the problems arise.
So far these have included trying to sort out a fashion page, attempting to discover when and where a full page feature on visiting London is meant to go and last, but not least, trying to convince someone that I was not the person who could include their advertisement in a Great Days Out publication.
And, with the final few pages still to be finished on our glossy Exclusively Yours lifestyle magazine, which will be going out soon with the Gazette, I am hoping that Jo will be back soon.
Anyway, as they say it's all in a day's work and I can now sit down and wade through the flood of emails that seem to have hit my inbox over the last few hours.
Posted by aseal at 3:19 PM | Comments (0)
June 4, 2007
Green fingers
I have just been reading an interesting feature for this week's paper about one man's passion for his garden.
It will be one of a number of local gardens which will be open to the public on June 24 to raise money for several local charities.
He has spent the past seven years transforming the garden into an oasis of calm and has been inspired by his many travels across the world in his job with British Airways.
However, I think it's fair to say that more than ever a large part of the nation now has a passion for their garden.
No doubt inspired by the numerous gardening programmes that now appear on our television screens it seems that a trip out to the garden centre is now almost as popular as a visit to the high street or out of town shopping centre at the weekend.
I have to admit that large parts of my last two weekends have been taken up by trips to various garden centres to stock up on plants which has resulted in me driving home with a boot - and back seat for that matter - laden with shrugs of various varities and a new collection of pots to put them in.
Infact, one garden centre I discovered yesterday was more like a giant supermarket selling just about everything but the kitchen sink and it was packed.
It also had the added bonus of having a delightful farm shop next door which was bursting with fresh local produce and other goodies which meant I dipped further into my pocket and came home with some tasty treats along with the plants!
This week's Gazette is coming together and although we have got some good stories on the boil it does seem a little quiet on the news front at present.
We have already earmarked splashes for each of our four edition fronts but there is still time for that to change although it always nice to know that you have a half decent lead story in the bag ahead of deadline day.
Posted by aseal at 3:22 PM | Comments (2)
June 1, 2007
Interesting story
A story in our free paper the Leader has aroused interest in high places.
Less than 24 hours after the paper appeared I received a phone call summons me to attend a meeting in London to discuss the contents of the story. Quite how they got to see the story quicker than many of our readers I don't quite know!
Anyway, I politely pointed out that I was a busy newspaper editor and could not dash off to London at the drop of the hat and had other appointments I needed to attend.
Not detered they then offered to come to Uxbridge to see me. For reasons that will become apparant later I can not really say anymore at this time, but I will break the full story after I have met to discuss the contents of the article next week.
Anyway, the weekend is fast approaching and with the promise of some sun at long last I might be tempted to fire up the barbecue and relax with a cool refreshing glass of beer. Have a good weekend.
Posted by aseal at 3:41 PM | Comments (0)