Opinion

Margaret Thatcher and the birth of two nations

“I am thoroughly in favour of Mrs Thatcher’s visit to the Falklands. I find a bit of hesitation, though, about her coming back.” John Mortimer, lawyer, author and playwright.

Date published: 09/04/2013

Greg Couzens

Free speech versus fair play

“There is a fine line between censorship and good taste and moral responsibility.” Stephen Spielberg

Working in the media in Rochdale can be a very trying affair. There is a fine...

Date published: 21/02/2013

Rochdale: A town of all the talents?

“Let the path be open to talent.” Napoleon Bonaparte

So, has Rochdale got talent? Of course it has. The recent report from Professor Greene of Birmingham University does however point out that talent in Rochdale is less likely to flourish here than 68 of the 74 towns he sampled.

Date published: 14/02/2013

Angels: flying and falling

“The closest thing to being cared for is to care for someone else.” Carson McCullers.

There has been much spoken and written about in recent months about the nature of the above. In reality, by the time we read and hear about these issues, it is inevitably in connection with a lack of care rather than that of care itself.

Date published: 12/02/2013

Homeless person

Homelessness: J’accuse

“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” (Falsely attributed to Samuel Johnson)

The Interim report on Homelessness from Housing Quality Network makes for depressing reading.

Date published: 05/02/2013

Savile’s Travails (sic)

“Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.” Julius Caesar (Attrib by Suetonius)

Of all the hogwash I have heard lately, and as a citizen of the fair borough of Rochdale, some of the furore surrounding the Jimmy Savile paedophilia accusations has truly amazed your correspondent.

Date published: 26/10/2012

The cut by a thousand deaths

Oh yes, I see now... you think I’ve got it the wrong way round. You think that Old Hardcastle has had a bit too much claret with his roast beef of Old England and has misplaced his ‘Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrases and Fable’ and that is why I got it a bit mixed up?

Well, I haven’t. This is MY column and I’ll write it, however, I please... or so my Editor tells me, so ‘The...

Date published: 23/09/2012

The Great, ‘Not in my Backyard’ Sweepstake and Handicap Hurdles

I have been following the debate on the proposed building of 200+ houses off Broad Lane with casual interest. I don’t live there so am not directly influenced by it.

At first, I thought it was basically a two-way affair; rapacious developers hell-bent on squeezing as much profit as they can versus concerned and outraged citizenry, keen to protect Green-Belt land for future...

Date published: 04/09/2012

The public’s right to know: Mr Toad’s last ride?

“At every word a reputation dies.” Alexander Pope

Let’s be clear about this from the very start. I do not know Councillor Phil Bethell, have never met him and have never voted either for or against him. He means nothing to me whatsoever. Got that? Right, let me begin...

Date published: 19/08/2012

The River Roch 1903

And a river runs through it

“Between flattery and admiration there often flows a river of contempt.” Minna Antrim

And so it appears, the long awaited plans to remove the greater proportion of the Roch covering are...

Date published: 16/07/2012

Good judgment: to have and to have not

“It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. “ Mark Twain

I have been reading the Rochdale Online news and comments on the forums regarding the furore over the appointment of Councillor Aftab Hussain as Chairman of the Pennine Township Committee. This, in the wake of him providing a character reference for one of the...

Date published: 19/06/2012

The reluctant republican?

Well, it’s all over; the Diamond Jubilee thrash. The bunting has been put away and I have carefully removed all traces of charcoal from the gaps between my teeth; the result of living on charred barbecue meats for the past few days. The recycling bin is brimful of cans and bottles barely a week since it was last emptied and the Hardcastle household is once more settling down...

Date published: 08/06/2012

BNP demonstrators and police in Heywood

Heywood: a silent victory?

I had to go into Heywood yesterday afternoon to buy a few bits and bats and do a few banking transactions. It was one of those lazy, sunny, late spring days. People were going about their...

Date published: 18/05/2012

Rochdale’s Olympic Spirit

In June, the Olympic torch will wend its way through Rochdale and Heywood, carried aloft by people deemed worthy of the honour no doubt but nary a mention for John Hardcastle – but I’ll come back to that one.

Date published: 29/03/2012

Election pledge: The Honesty Party

The month after next, the local elections will be upon us once again and I am minded to stand as a candidate. I have had a good look round at the local parties but to be honest, none of them really appeal to me so I thought I’d form my own.

I think that in Rochdale we really are due for a change. I know that they all say that but I really mean it. Like many, I don’t think...

Date published: 06/03/2012

Falinge: Lights, camera... obfuscation

I suppose by Hollywood standards, £54,000 is not much to spend on a film. I mean, it cost $200 million to make the film ‘Titanic’ (it only cost $7.5 million to build the original ship). However, this is not Hollywood, it’s dear old Rochdale or to be more precise, Falinge.

Date published: 08/02/2012

Is Rochdale troubled by its teens?

On Rochdale Online’s news pages I was interested in three separate and seemingly unrelated stories relating to young people.

Firstly, there is the truly shocking statistic that in Rochdale, 43 per cent of children are living below the official poverty line in the Smallbridge and Firgrove ward.

Date published: 16/01/2012

2012: Year of the Disabled?

Twenty one years ago this week, the United Nations declared 1981 as the Year of the Disabled Person. We were all encouraged to talk to the person in the wheelchair rather than the person pushing it.

Date published: 05/01/2012

Living with dignity: the great pension debate

And so, next Wednesday, we are to be treated to a one-day strike of public sector workers which, depending on your optimism-pessimism quotient will either bring the country to its knees in shades reminiscent of the ‘Winter of Discontent’ or will be a bit of a damp squib with a bit of chanting here and there and a few schools and public swimming pools being closed.

Date published: 24/11/2011

Remembrance Day 2011

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

So what is it all about, this Remembrance Day malarkey?

Date published: 14/11/2011

Leadership change: Spring clean or total makeover

Well, I don't know Wera personally but I wish her well in her new role and hope that she possesses the skills, vision and forebearence to bring about a sea-change within the culture of the Rochdale Liberal Democrats.

Rochdale as a whole can only benefit from an end to sleaze and infighting within its political parties.

Date published: 12/05/2011

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