#House clearance Liverpool

[skiphireliverpool]

Skip Hire Service: Why Do You Need It?

Although house clearances are often performed after the death of the property's owner or occupant, it's important to remember that cleaning is not limited to such occasions. A house clearance service in Liverpool might be needed for a variety of reasons, including the removal of undesired objects, cleaning of rooms, and the relocation of furniture.

You're free to handle this on your own, but be aware that it might take a while.

Professionals in the field of house clearance have compiled a list of what they consider to be the advantages of using their services.

Reliable and Prompt Assistance.

A qualified house clearance agency will know just what to do with each and everything. They promise careful handling of your furniture, gadgets and appliances to prevent any malfunctions.

It will be simple and fast for them to do clearance chores since they are accustomed to executing them. Providers of clearance services also make use of sophisticated tools, which boosts their productivity. Hiring an experienced company ensures a smooth process with little hassle.

They Go Beyond What's Expected and Deliver.

A clearance company can offer services such as item relocation, expert cleaning and probate assessment. No reputable house cleaning service will ever abandon you with incomplete clearance work.

They will carefully pack and transport even the largest items, like refrigerators, huge fixtures and home cinema systems, to anywhere you need them. If you attempt clearance on your own, you run the risk of destroying your own belongings and spending a lot of time.

Effective Time Management and Planning.

The cost of your home's renovation is covered by the insurance company. You may use the estimates they provide to plan for the cost of the desired services. The time and money you save by not going with a professional house clearance service might be wasted. This occurs because they don't take the time to create a plan of action before beginning.

A house clearance service will take care of any and all cleaning and moving for you. Choose the one that has been around for a while and comes well recommended.

Keep in mind that emptying out a house is a difficult undertaking and that not everyone is up to the challenge. As a result, you should always use skip hire in Liverpool.

[rubbishcollectionliverpool]

Most Effective Waste Management Strategies a Business Must Implement

The need of the hour for individuals and businesses is playing an instrumental role in ensuring proper management of waste. Taking well-planned initiatives at frequent intervals is becoming increasingly crucial to keep the planet cleaner and greener. Every household, company and organisation must do their bit to maintain a sustainable environment.

You must put in substantial effort to ensure that your business generates low waste. Doing so will reduce the quantity of waste that ends up in a landfill every day. It is advisable to get in touch with a company that provides top-quality service to households and businesses pertinent to rubbish removal in St Helens.

Still, your business must implement the below-mentioned effective strategies to manage waste better.

Refuse

It is of paramount importance to practice refusing waste elements. Doing so will contribute immensely to waste minimisation. You must avoid purchasing non-recyclable substances and opt for owning products that can be easily recyclable. Refuse unwanted items for the packaging of products when you work with your vendors. Choose and use items that have reusable value.

Reduce

Your business's priority has to be keeping the surroundings cleaner and the environment healthier. Try to reduce the usage of non-recyclable, non-environmentally friendly and hazardous stuff. The more individuals and businesses reduce their dependency on such products, the less the waste will be in landfills.

It is advisable to reduce the use of plastic packaging, single-use plastic, and relevant items. Call a business that performs waste or rubbish collection in Liverpool to dispose of unwanted office substances in a waste yard properly.

Reuse

Styrofoam cups and a wide array of one-time-use plastic products make up for the maximum percentage of daily generated waste. Everyone in society has almost normalised the throw-away habit. So, buying single-use plastic items means throwing the same away in the end.

The consumption of non-recyclable plastic products is increasing with each passing year. Thus, the current situation is terrible and simply unimaginable. The future generations have to bear the brunt of such careless acts at present. The environment is sustaining the adverse effects of using plastic.

You must make it clear to everyone in your office to prioritise reusing items as often as possible. Try to reuse elements in every way possible while producing your business products in the facility. Do so to generate less waste and protect the environment.

Repurpose

Repurposing products you cannot refuse reduce, or reuse is a great habit. Many conservationists and everyone who conducts environmental awareness campaigns regard repurposing as upcycling. Multiple elements in your business space can serve more than one purpose. So, make the most of every item in your office that can help meet various needs.

Recycle

Focus more on recycling as many elements as possible in your commercial space. Doing so will generate less amount of waste. Make sure you rely on professionals with extensive experience conducting business rubbish removal in Liverpool whenever you want to clear office waste. The most eco-friendly method of waste disposal is recycling.

Your business can contribute positively to the environment when it generates less waste. So, start implementing the aforementioned waste management strategies without delay to keep the planet cleaner, greener, and healthier. Contact a leading waste clearance service provider every time to dispose of office waste appropriately.

[shakespearenews]

Ronald Geoffrey Gittins was born in 1939, the middle child between two sisters, and grew up in a small terraced house that was later destroyed as part of Liverpool’s slum clearances. His father, James, a navy man, worked on the docks, and his mother, Alice, worked in service for a wealthy family. In their small, ramshackle yard, where his father kept ducks, there was an outside toilet. Here Gittins would sequester himself away, training his voice by reciting Shakespeare, frequently Richard III’s opening monologue:

Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this son of York;

“There were theories that he was on some sort of spectrum,” says Williams. “At school, teachers didn’t know how to handle him. He was obviously really bright—but he didn’t know how to fit in.” 

[severus-snaps]

This website has a gallery of photos of life in city slums in the late 1960s early 1970s (coincidentally, probably around the time Lily and Snape met) for several cities including Bradford, Manchester, Sheffield, Manchester, etc. It's really worth a look when considering Spinner's End.

The images and captions cover life and conditions living in the slums, in condemned housing, demolished areas, sanitation and health issues, etc. I've put some that stood out to me below (all captions from the photographer unless I've added Thoughts in brackets):

Letter regarding health and slum property, Birmingham 1971 [under the cut bc it got long]

An uncaptioned photo from Bradford; "Overflowing drains Winson Green 1971", Birmingham

Mrs Milne putting her children to bed Balsall Heath 1968 (note: no mattress, coat as a blanket)

Mother and baby, slum property Sparkbrook, 1971, Birmingham

Returning from work across clearance site Liverpool 8 1969

Medical certificate for rehousing, 1971, Liverpool

Left behind after slum clearance, Ladywood 1969; Family in slum property Saltley, 1969, Birmingham

Child skipping in a street of back to back houses, Leeds 1970

[Incidentally, the Wiki page for Back-to-back housing (including two-up two-down) gives you an idea of precisely how unsafe and unsatisfactory this type of housing was considered, since most houses only had the front-facing wall 'open'; not sure whether this was the type Snape had or if it had an alleyway behind?)]

Leeds back to backs 1970 (also, Bile Beans sound deeply unpleasant)

Vs Terraced house backs Salford 1970

Salford back to back and terraced housing 1971

And I'll stop after this one, because there's loads more:

Child at end of alleyway, Manchester 1972

And not only is all of this worth remembering in the context of real-life history, but it's interesting in the context of the story, because some readers (myself very much included) would struggle to even picture it.

It wasn't just a small, cramped house; it was potentially dangerous and unsanitary to live there. We see Snape gets mocked for his hygiene; many of the images/captions on the website discuss how these houses went without running water, or gas, or had faulty electricity, in addition to having outhouses instead of bathrooms. Some went without proper bedding, with animal and insect infestations, with dirty water. I imagine jobs would've been fast disappearing, the houses in various states of disrepair.

And returning to the comment above about going from living somewhere akin to the images here, to sharing a House/common room/dorm with the likes of the Malfoys - the same Malfoys who consider the Weasleys poor and destitute and mock and scorn them for it - and the Blacks (e.g. Bella considers Harry, with two magical parents, a 'filthy half blood' - so what might a Black/Lestrange think of a boy with a fully Muggle parent)... it doesn't even bear thinking about.

Two up, two down

We talk about Potter as a timeless series, as quills and parchment will never date, but there are a few key elements which are of their time, and I sometimes suspect that eventually, their original meaning may be lost.

Snape’s house in Spinner’s End is one of these.  If you visit Surrey, a house akin to Number 4 on Privet Drive can be found on hundreds of identical estates.  Indeed, the three-bedroom house with a garage, and both front and back gardens, situated on a private housing estate in leafy surburbia is one that most British people will have strolled through at some point.

But Snape’s house in Spinner’s End is the opposite of the Dursleys’ aspirational abode, and is somewhere that few modern readers will have seen in its original form with their own eyes.  Snape’s house in Spinner’s End is a traditional two up, two down through terraced house, mired deep in a maze of identical cobbled streets, overlooked by a looming mill chimney, and seemingly – by the 90s – entirely abandoned.

The difficulty that some may have in accurately picturing this scene is because these houses, in this state, no longer exist.  A large percentage of two up, two down terraces were demolished as part of slum clearance, which should tell you all that you need to know about the state of the houses.  

Those which remained have been extensively modified – usually knocking down the privy (outside toilet), and then building a two storey extension across the bulk of the yard to create a third room downstairs, and a bathroom upstairs.  Some houses only have a single extension; it is rather common in some areas of the Midlands to have a bathroom that leads off the kitchen downstairs – because the bathroom was the missing room, and it was cheaper to build one storey than two.

Pottermore had an article earlier in the year which explained how the filmmakers originally wanted to film on location, but could not, because the houses simply did not exist in their traditional state.

The houses were typically constructed with two rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs with a tiny backyard entry leading to the outhouse. Craig actually considered shooting on location, but even though the buildings were intact, they had been brought into the modern era, with up-to-date kitchens and plastic extensions, so the set was built at the studio.

Throughout the 20th century, cobbled streets were routinely replaced by various other road surfaces, namely tarmac and asphalt – and, of course, the scarcity of cobblestones now means that such streets are aesthetically desirable.  However, the cobblestones in Spinner’s End are not an indication of affluence, but an indication of an area left behind. This is further illustrated by the rusted railings, the broken streetlights, and the boarded up windows.

These were workers houses, often funded by the owners of the mill, and therefore tied – meaning that rent was deducted from your wage before you received it.  There were benefits to being in tied accommodation, including being close to work and having a guaranteed landlord – but that was as much benefit to the mill owner as the worker.  Seeing great competition, some mill owners invested in their properties to entice workers – but Spinner’s End is not an example of this; Spinner’s End would’ve been regarded as little better than a slum even when fully occupied.

The narrow streets are indicative of when these houses were built, presumably in the late 1800s – cars were not a concern, and the attitude was to build as many houses on as small a piece of land as possible.

By the time the 90s roll around, and we see Narcissa and Bellatrix descend upon the street, Spinner’s End appears to be mostly deserted.  With the closure of traditional manual industries, families would be keen to relocate to where work could be found.  Estates which hadn’t already been cleared by the 60s would find themselves left to rack and ruin, their former occupants long gone – whether seeking a new life elsewhere, or having died.

For once, Bellatrix is not being anti-Muggle when she sneers at the Muggle dunghill; she is unnervingly accurate. It is a slum by her standards, but most importantly, it was a slum by everyone else’s standards as well.  By the time Severus was born, work should’ve been well under way to clear the area, or to renovate it.  This evidently did not occur – which itself explains how undesirable the area is; nobody wanted to spruce it up - they wanted to leave.  There were no jobs, no amenities, no services – and eventually, no people.

We often ponder why Snape remains at Spinner’s End, but perhaps there lies the answer; he wasn’t just hiding from the magical world, but he was also hiding from the Muggle world as well…

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Our man and van services reach out to Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, and Leeds. The experts report at the premise in the given scheduled time. They will have a brief and take a look at the things and start packing the things well. Once the packing is done, the loading starts.

[strangewolfbird]

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Moving furniture is what we do Best! No Big statements of how good we are,Find out for yourself! Thats the message you get from removals experts in Merseyside. Why wonder around the web looking for the kind of vanmen who dont turn up when you need them. GB Man and Van has everything needed to get that job done. With Top Reviews on Google & Facebook, what more do you need to get Removals and…

[tinyhistory2]

Nick Hedges is a documentary photographer who was hired by welfare organisations in the 1960s and 70s. They asked him to document the experiences of Brits living in slums and low-quality housing.

An unemployed son talks to his mother (Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 1971). At the time, Newcastle upon Tyne’s unemployment rate was nearly double that of Britain’s overall rate — and climbing. In 1970, 40% of Newcastle upon Tyne’s homes were council housing.

Father and child in a housing tenement in Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland (1971). Hedges recalls many of Maryhill’s tenements were deemed unfit for human inhabitation, and were being demolished. There was little communication with residents. One morning, a family woke to the sounds of their tenement being demolished, and frantically ran outside to scream at the workers to stop.

Mother and her family living in slum housing in Liverpool, England (1970). The homes in Liverpool slums frequently had no running water, no sinks, no toilets or bathrooms, no heating or insulation, and no hot water. In 1970, three million families lived in the slums of the UK.

Mother and daughter chat in their cellar flat in Liverpool, England (1969).

Michael (aged 11) holds his baby brother in the kitchen of his home (London, England, 1969). The family of eight lived in a two-bedroom cellar with no bathroom. Michael later came forward, fifty years later, to talk about his childhood experiences. He remembers being hungry and cold all the time, and stealing food so he could eat. “Mum never smiled. Ever,” Michael’s sister recalled. Hedges recalled the family’s home being very small, dark, and damp. He had to install a lightbulb so he could actually take photographs.

Children play outside their homes (Gorbals, Glasgow, Scotland, 1970). Gorbals was in the midst of a “slum clearance”. The government was slowly demolishing the Gorbals slum, and residents were left to live amongst rubble, their houses side-by-side with half-destroyed buildings.

A single mother with her daughter, living in one room in a boarding house (Notting Hill, London, England, 1972). Notting Hill was a hotspot for dilapidated bedsits and overcrowded flats. Unscrupulous landlords often blatantly overcharged tenants who belonged to marginalised ethnic groups, as they knew the tenants had usually been rejected from other places and were desperate to find housing.

A family living in a hostel for homeless people (London, England, 1969). The hostels were dormitory-style buildings with large rooms lined with up to 100 thin metal bunk-beds. The organisations who ran the hostels often referred to ‘warehousing’ people, and required people to ‘earn’ the right to stay by completing cleaning jobs or maintenance work. Hostels were very transient and short-term places; an uncertain half-step from sleeping rough.

A young mother prepares a bed for her three eldest children to share (with the fourth — the youngest — sleeping in the cot). There were no mattresses or blankets. She had two single seat cushions and a large raincoat instead. Of all the people Hedges photographed, he said it was this mother he worried about the most. He recalls it being winter when he took this photograph, with snow coming through the broken window. There was no heating or hot water. “She really was in dire straits,” Hedges said. He still worries about her, fifty years after the photograph was taken.

[lumsyfashionista]

bradford bid

BRADFORD IN THE 16TH CENTURY

. During the 16th century Bradford developed much bigger and more critical. This was despite flare-ups of torment. It struck Bradford in 1557-58. . The fleece industry proceeded to develop. By the 16th century, numerous individuals in towns close to Bradford wove fleece. It was at that point taken to the town to be filled and coloure .There was moreover an impressive calfskin tanning industry in Bradford. Approximately 1540 an author named Leland portrayed Bradford as: 'A lovely active showcase town, approximately half the measure of Wakefield. It has one area church and a chapel devoted to St Sitha. It lives for the most part by (making) clothing and is 4 miles far off from Halifax and 6 from Christ corridor (Kirkstall) Nunnery. There's a conversion in this town of 3 brooks'. By 1500 a language structure school existed in Bradford and within the late 16th century the wooden houses within the town were revamped in stone.

 BRADFORD IM THE 17TH CENTURY.

• In 1642 came the gracious war between the lord and parliament. The individuals of Bradford unequivocally upheld parliament but the encompassing farmland sided with the ruler. In October royalist troops made there, to begin with, endeavour to require Bradford but the townspeople effortlessly drove them off. The royalists returned in December 1642 but once more they were driven off. In January 1643 a drive of parliamentary warriors was sent to involve Bradford. • In June 1643 a royalist army was sent to require the town. Sometime recently they arrived the parliamentary commander chosen Bradford was as well troublesome to guard and he chose to slip absent. In any case, his men were captured by the royalists at Adwalton Field. The royalists were victorious. • The vanquished parliamentary armed force fled back to Bradford. After 2 days they chose to elude at night. Most of them battled their way through the royalist lines and gotten away.

 The royalist officers at that point entered Bradford and sacked it. Bradford remained in the royalist's hands for a brief time but they surrendered the town at the starting of 1644. • In Walk 1644 the parliamentarians once more entered Bradford. It remained in parliamentary hands till the conclusion of the gracious war. Be that as it may, the enduring of the individuals of Bradford was not over. There was another flare-up of torment in Bradford in 1645. BRADFORD IN 18TH CENTURY • In the early 18th century Bradford was a little showcase town with a populace of, maybe, 4,000. Be that as it may, within the late 18th century Bradford was changed by the industrial revolution. • The material industry within the north of Britain boomed. The primary bank in Bradford opened in 1771. Bradford canal was built in 1774 and in 1777 it was connected to the Leeds-Liverpool canal. The advancement in communications boosted industry within the town. In 1793 a Bit Corridor was built where cloth can be bought and sold. Be that as it may, after 1800 the hand linger weavers.

 BRADFORD IN 19TH CENTURY

• In the late 18th century and early 19th Bradford developed exceptionally quickly. In 1780 it had a populace of around 4,500. By 1801 it had more than 6,000 tenants. By 1851 the populace of Bradford had come to an extraordinary 103,000. The gigantic rise in the populace was mostly due to migration from Germany and Ireland. • The exceptionally quick development of Bradford implied houses were built in an aimless design. There were no building controls until 1854 and most working-class lodgings were repulsive. There were no sewers or channels and stuffing was common. Most exceedingly bad of all were the cellar residences. Entirety families lived in clammy, ineffectively ventilated cellars. Regularly destitute families had no furniture. They utilized wooden boxes as tables and rested on straw or rags. • However there were a few enhancements in Bradford within the 19th century. In 1803 an Act of Parliament shaped a bunch of men called the Enhancement Commissioners who had powers to clean the lanes and light them with oil lights. They might too give a fire motor and a tidy cart. After 1823 the boulevards of Bradford were lit by gas. In 1847 an enterprise was shaped to run Bradford. • However, like all mechanical cities in those days, Bradford was terrifyingly unsanitary. In 1848-49 420 individuals kicked the bucket amid a cholera plague. In any case life in 19th century Bradford slowly moved forward. Within the 1860s and early 1870s, the organization made a organize of channels and sewers. From 1744 a private water company provided channelled water to anybody in Bradford who might pay. The committee obtained the company in 1854. After 1854 building directions progressed the quality of modern working-class houses. (Although dreadfully awful residences built some time recently at that point remained for decades). In 1877 Bradford organization started the work of ghetto clearance.

 • In the 19th century it was common to debase foodstuffs by including cheap substances. Calcium sulfate was included in peppermints. In 1858 a sweet creator in Bradford sent some person to get a few from a pharmacist. In any case, by botch, the pharmacist collaborator picked up a few arsenic considering it was calcium sulfate. Arsenic was included in the desserts. As a result, 200 individuals got to be genuinely sick and 20 died. • Meanwhile in 1853-71 Titus Salt built a show town at Saltaire. The town had better than average working-class homes, schools, and a church. • There were other enhancements to Bradford amid the 19th century. In 1843 a hospital was built. The primary stop, Peel Stop, opened in 1863. The enterprise obtained Peel Park in 1870. The primary open library in Bradford opened in 1872. • Meanwhile the railroad comes to Bradford in 1846 and from 1882 horse-drawn cable cars ran within the streets. Electricity was, to begin with, created in Bradford in 1889 and in 1898 the primary electric cable cars ran within the lanes. The

 BRADFORD Within The 20TH CENTURY

• In 1904 a Mechanical Show was held in Bradford. Cartwright Dedication Lobby was built in 1904. The Alhambra Theater opened in 1914. • to begin with board houses in Bradford were built-in 1907. Many more were built within the 1920s and 1930s to supplant annihilated ghettos. In 1919 the Church of St Dwindle was made Bradford Cathedral. Bradford Regal Hospital was built in 1936. • However on 21 Admirable 1916 blasts in a weapons production line slaughtered 39 individuals and harmed 2,000 houses. • Meanwhile in 1910 Benjamin and William Jowett began making cars in Bradford. The Jowett company made cars until 1954. Within the 1920s and 1930s, the material industry declined strongly and there was mass unemployment in Bradford. In any case, modern businesses came to Bradford such as a building. Printing moreover prospered and there was enormous increment within the number of clerical employments. Numerous more individuals worked in managing an account, protection, gracious benefit and neighbour hood government. In any case in 1939 the material industry.

 • In the late 20th-century tourism got to be a major industry in Bradford. Cliffe Castle Exhibition hall opened in 1959. Bradford Mechanical Historical centre opened in 1974. The Colour Exhibition hall opened in 1978. The Exhibition hall of Photography, Film and Tv opened in 1983. The Peace Exhibition hall opened in 1997. • In the 1950s Bradford was changed by expansive scale migration from the West Indies, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Bradford got to be a multicultural city. • In the 1950s and 1960s numerous more chamber houses were built and the city center was redeveloped. Bradford College opened in 1966. The Kirkgate Middle opened in 1971 and 1974 Bradford was made a Metropolitan Area Committee. In the meantime in 1977 a Transport Compatibility was built in Bradford.

 BRADFORD Within The MIDE 20TH CENTURY

• In 1955 the war of ghetto houses continued especially in Manchester where 68,000 were classified to be unfit. • In 1957 Henry Brooke the MP Serve of lodging and neighbourhood Government found that annihilated or condemned houses are expanding 20.000 in 1954 to 35,000 in 1956, whereas rehousing over 200.000 individuals amid the mid-1950s. • In 1960 a few neighbourhood specialists came to accumulate with a long term arrangement to address ghetto issues they found out that between 1955-1960, 416,706 houses were assessed unfit but as it were 65.372 were pulverized by 1960. Liverpool was one of the most noteworthy with around 88,000 taken after by Manchester. So they were one of the 38 areas that need that needs extraordinary attention. • Bradford board is arranging to make strides transportation system in Bradford within the another 15 a long time from 2018 Bradford Newsroom .by barging in the 21st-century cable cars which would connect to the proposed highspeed Northern Powerhouse Railroad.Got it from Bradford newsroom Thursday the 27th November 2018 at 11:30

 • City pioneers says that would too give unused extra capacity between Bradford and Leeds with a modern halt at Laisterdyke and line running through the South of Bradford with a halt in Moo Field sometime recently proceeding onto Dewsbury in Kirklees. • A London Underground fashion graph was one of the proposed lines, which would connect Leeds city middle with Bradford, Spen Valley, Castleford and East Leeds. They are moreover trusting to incorporate Leeds legs of HS2 Rail station which is anticipated to be done by 2023

 • The board says all usually within the early stages of improvement but guaranteeing that Bradford and the more out of control locale features a transport. organize fit for the 21st century that can take full advantage of a city middle station for Northern Powerhouse Rail. • washrooms Thursday the 27th November 2018 at 11:30 • City pioneers says that would too give modern extra capacity between Bradford and Leeds with a modern halt at Laisterdyke and line running through the South of Bradford with a halt in Moo Field sometime recently proceeding onto Dewsbury in Kirklees. • A London Underground fashion chart was one of the proposed lines, which would connect Leeds city middle with Bradford, spend Valley, Castleford and East Leeds. They are moreover trusting to include Leeds legs of HS2 Rail station which is anticipated to be done by 2023 • The chamber says all this can be within the early stages of improvement but guaranteeing that Bradford and the more out of control locale incorporates a transport organize fit for the 21st century that can take full advantage of a city centre station for Northern Powerhouse Rail.

[phoenixflames12]

Gotham’s Writing Workshop Week 6

A/N: This is set in my WW2 AU within chapter 8 of An Endless Night. 

Faith loses a patient at work in the hospital and seeks solace in her Mother. 

For extra feels, please listen to the Outlander Season 3 soundtrack- especially Rupert is Next. 

‘You can’t dwell on it’

April 1942

 She’s standing at the foot of the bed of one of her patients- a private named Johnny Keith in the Liverpool Scottish who’d come in with a gangrenous shot wound to the upper thigh. The gangrene was the result of a bodged operation job at the casualty clearing station, turning into the putridly soft mass of swollen purple-grey flesh that had reeked with the softly sweet stink of infection. She’s watching through blurred eyes as the ward sister briskly pulled the screens firmly together, greeting her questioning look with a firm shake of her head.

 ‘Too late to do anything now, Nurse,’ the ward sister says, her hazel eyes that remind Faith of her mother just a little bit, her voice void of any emotion as she glances down at the crumpled sheets where only moments before there had been a living, breathing body clinging onto life by a thread.

 She’d seen from his paperwork, what little there was of it to go by, that he’d only been twenty-two.

 He had been fading for days, she’d known that, but to see those crumpled sheets, the brisk fashion in which the orderlies come with a stretcher, tugging their forelocks to them both with looks that are just a little too understanding, had been too much to bear.

 She’d fled the scene on the instant that the ward sister had given her clearance, barely able to choke back the acidic torrent of bile rising steadily through her throat.

  ‘Faith, is that you?’

 Her mother’s voice comes as a shock.

 The bicycle ride from the hospital, weaving her way through the slowly thinning main street of Broch Mordha, feeling the sharp, sunset rays prick against the evening chill, had passed by in a blur.

 All she could see is Private Keith’s face, slack and clammy in death- his grey eyes shining with distant stars, burning his soul back to his parents in their slum house on the Clydebank. His face had been puffy and swollen, his breath forced out in harsh, shallow gasps that could only signal the worst.

 You can’t dwell on it, she had thought firmly; letting the sting of the wind slap cold against her cheek.

 But she had dwelt on it.

 It had been Keith’s face she had seen, cold and puffy and lifeless as she had walked down the rows of beds towards the ward sister’s office to fill in the necessary paperwork after the body had been moved. Keith’s hand that had squeezed her own when she bumped into Maggie purely by accident on her way to the surgical ward; eyes wide with concern.

 ‘Are ye alright, Faith? You look like ye’ve seen a ghost.’

 ‘Aye, I’m fine, Maggie.’ The lie had tasted bitter on her tongue.

 It had been Keith’s face she had seen grinning back at her instead of some of her cheekier charges; a wink and a grin always ready when she came to do their TPRs or hand them their requested cup of tea.

 Instead of the hard, worn rubber of her bicycle handles, it had been the greasy chill of dying skin that she’d felt, crawling against her palm.

 ‘Faith?’

 She finds herself standing in the hallway with no memory of getting there. Each breath is an effort, her lungs trapped against her ribcage. Her hands are trembling, cold and sore and blue against her dress. Each step she has taken from the kailyard to the hall has been a mile in pain, a mile in trying to steel herself against what she knows to be the truth.

 You can’t dwell on it.

 You can’t…

 You…

 ‘What’s the matter, mo chuisle?’

 Claire’s face swims in and out of focus and before she’s fully conscious of the great barrier of emotion that she has tried so hard to supress suddenly breaking forth, Faith finds herself clinging to her mother; incoherent sobs shattering into the silence.

  ‘One of my first patients died on me too,’ they are sitting in the kitchen, listening to the low, steady hum of the wireless.

 Faith’s hands are clamped around a mug of steaming camomile tea, trying to stem the shivering that comes despite the tartan rug tucked tightly about her shoulders.

 Claire’s eyes are very big, soft and wide with love, glowing in the fading light.

 ‘When?’ The question comes out more like a squeak.

 ‘When I was nursing at the RMA. Before I met your Da. It… He wasn’t a cadet, just an unlucky civilian caught up in a car accident in the wrong place, at the wrong time. He-‘

 She pauses then, groping in her pocket for a handkerchief.

 ‘He made me promise,’ her mother’s voice is caught with tragedy, something that Faith can’t read flickering across her face.

 ‘He made me promise that I’d keep nursing. That I’d keep trying, despite it all. He’d sustained a punctured lung and there was nothing we could do but try to keep the blood from drowning him too quickly. I.. I haven’t thought about it for years.’

 Her voice is distant, her gaze seeming to be looking past Faith, past the front door and towards a great unknown expanse of time and space.

 Faith can do nothing but nod, her own eyes travelling towards the framed photograph of her parents, taken at their wedding that sits on the mantelpiece.

 ‘Did Da say that to you as well?’ She doesn’t trust her voice. Doesn’t trust herself to ask the real question that is burning on her lips, doesn’t trust herself to put a voice to the fears that have been burning at her heart ever since the newspapers got word of the Battle for France.

 ‘Do you think he’ll come home? When?’

 Her Da grins out at her from the carved, elm wood frame, tall and straight and firm in his Fraser tartan, the smile that she misses so much twinkling at the corner of his mouth, shining through his eyes; Claire glowing with her bouquet of summer roses cascading out of her arms.

 Claire nods sadly, following her gaze, reaching out a steadying hand to bury a kiss against her knuckles.

 ‘We mustn’t dwell on it, mo chridhe. He wouldn’t want us to.’

                                                        Fin 

[rubbishcollectionliverpool]

House Clearance Service: Why Do You Need It?

Although house clearances are often performed after the death of the property's owner or occupant, it's important to remember that cleaning is not limited to such occasions. A house clearance service in Liverpool might be needed for a variety of reasons, including the removal of undesired objects, cleaning of rooms and the relocation of furniture.

You're free to handle this on your own, but be aware that it might take a while.

Professionals in the field of house clearance have compiled a list of what they consider to be the advantages of using their services.

Reliable and Prompt Assistance.

A qualified house clearance agency will know just what to do with each and everything. They promise careful handling of your furniture, gadgets and appliances to prevent any malfunctions.

It will be simple and fast for them to do clearance chores since they are accustomed to executing them. Providers of clearance services also make use of sophisticated tools, which boosts their productivity. Hiring an experienced company ensures a smooth process with little hassle.

They Go Beyond What's Expected and Deliver.

A clearance company can offer services such as item relocation, expert cleaning and probate assessment. No reputable house cleaning service will ever abandon you with incomplete clearance work.

They will carefully pack and transport even the largest items, like refrigerators, huge fixtures and home cinema systems, to anywhere you need them. If you attempt clearance on your own, you run the risk of destroying your own belongings and spending a lot of time.

Effective Time Management and Planning.

The cost of your home's renovation is covered by the insurance company. You may use the estimates they provide to plan for the cost of the desired services. The time and money you save by not going with a professional house clearance service might be wasted. This occurs because they don't take the time to create a plan of action before beginning.

A house clearance service will take care of any and all cleaning and moving for you. Choose the one that has been around for a while and comes well recommended.

Keep in mind that emptying out a house is a difficult undertaking and that not everyone is up to the challenge. As a result, you should always use skip hire in Liverpool.

[classyfoxdestiny]

David Cameron met vaccines minister shortly before award of contracts to company he advises

David Cameron met vaccines minister shortly before award of contracts to company he advises

David Cameron met vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi with representatives of a private health firm which he advises, two months before the US company won public contracts worth up to £870,000.

The meeting, uncovered by Open Democracy, is listed in official government transparency records as taking place between Mr Zahawi, Mr Cameron and Illumina on 1 March 2021 “to discuss UK genomics sequencing”.

Shortly afterwards, on 29 April, Illumina Cambridge Ltd was awarded a £697,788 Public Health England contract to supply medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, personal care products and laboratory, optical and precision equipments. A week later on 7 May, a second PHE contract worth between £34,564 and £172,824 was awarded to the company for a similar range of supplies.

Mr Cameron was appointed as an adviser with Illumina in 2018. Applying for clearance to take up the role, he told the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments that he would be paid for working two to three days a month for the company.

His role involved assisting Illumina’s engagement with foreign governments and stakeholders as the company expanded into other countries, he said, and he would also be expected “to provide strategic advice; assist with business development, particularly in an international context; and perform other duties, as reasonably requested by the Board”.

Mr Cameron informed Acoba that he would not play any role in contract negotiations between Illumina and the DHSC or Genomics England – a DHSC-owned company which he set up while he was PM in 2013.

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And Acoba said he assured them that while his role might involve “some very limited contact with UK ministers from time to time”, he “would not lobby ministers or the UK government in any way on behalf of Illumina or its partners”.

The revelation of the meeting comes shortly after a parliamentary inquiry found that Mr Cameron showed “a significant lack of judgement” in his intensive lobbying of government ministers on behalf of finance firm Greensill Capital, which was seeking involvement in Treasury coronavirus support schemes in 2020.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner told Open Democracy: “David Cameron’s behaviour is evidence that the rules that are supposed to regulate lobbying are completely unfit for purpose and need a radical and urgent overhaul.

“There appears to be nobody in government who the former prime minister has not lobbied in an effort to enrich himself and his clients during this pandemic.”

A spokesperson for Illumina said: “Illumina always follows the correct and necessary process in its negotiations with customers.

“We have worked with Genomics England since 2013, when we won a competitive tender process for the £78m contract for the 100,000 Genomes Project. Our ISO-accredited facilities in Cambridge were chosen by Genomics England as being the most appropriate in the UK in terms of being able to deliver this advanced genomics programme.

“The vast majority of David Cameron’s work with Illumina is outside the UK, representing the best practices of the UK in genomics to other countries.”

The Independent has reached out to DHSC, Public Health England and Mr Cameron’s office to request comment.

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[vanmanmax]

Whether you’re moving house, moving around some furniture, or simply need to move anything that doesn’t fit in your car, you can find a man (or woman!) with a van to get the job done, with Vanmanmax

[man-with-a-vans]

Man in a van: the easiest way to relocate goods

In a bustling city, you go to a glimmer once you got the chance to call an individual with the van. Maybe you're moving your organization area, or even you're moving house. Moving to another location or migrate with your whole home isn't simple whenever done independent. For this, there are different expulsion administrations gave by various trucking organizations. You can believe our dependable man with a van for the entirety of your needs. What are the services offered by a trucking company? They only utilize profoundly prepared experts with exceptional driving abilities and a lot of involvement during this field of work. They back them up with an expert and responsive help group ready to direct you all through the entire cycle of utilizing our administrations. Indeed, there are frequently various occasions when individuals have sensitive and delicate items to move. In these circumstances, they're generally unsure about the movers, regardless of whether they will show the ideal regard and care. With none questions, Man with a Van Liverpool and a man with a van Sheffield administration is here for you to complete the worries. You'll presently without a doubt, hand the things over to movers who are a lot of reliable and gifted. The danger of harming your bought bit of transportation is too high at that point are the costs furniture stores charge for conveyance. You can utilize the IKEA assortment administrations by the man with a van Liverpool and man with a van Sheffield. They're set up to choose up any household item or measure of development materials from a store and convey them to your home with incredible duty. There is a whole extent of different activities that unite to know moving a home. All the phases of moving have their specific essentials. Moreover, moving a house undoubtedly asks a raised degree of defending and care. During this case, a man with a van expulsion administrations is to be utilized. Following different severe stages, all the migrating is finished in significantly less time with the talented experts. Reasons to choose a man with a van service: • Affordable with low cost: Moving home or eliminating junk can immediately turn into an upscale undertaking. Man and van administrations are frequently littler activities, have lower overheads and may offer unfathomable assistance regardless of your spending plan. • Flexible job type: Man and van benefits frequently offer a larger number of types of assistance than a standard evacuations organization. From house expulsions, house clearances, student's migration, office evacuations, assortment and conveyance to apparatus expulsion and fitting and pressing administrations, an individual with a van administration will normally play out any work. • Knowledge and time: Man with a van administration understand single direction frameworks, stopping and tallness limitations and in this way the best gratitude to maintain a strategic distance from gridlocks during times of heavy traffic. There are many reasons to choose a different man with van services over a big shifting agency. With less costing and excess benefits, hellovans services are the best and smoothing services of a man with a van.

[harvard-art-museums-photography]

Housing, Conditions: Great Britain, England. Liverpool. Workmen's Dwellings: Social Conditions in Liverpool, England, 1903: Slum Clearance., Unidentified Artist, 1903, Harvard Art Museums: Photographs

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Transfer from the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Social Museum Collection Size: image: 11.3 x 16.8 cm (4 7/16 x 6 5/8 in.)

https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/153655

[blackdogsalvageuk]

And don't forget we offer any house clearance service and will take any scrap item for free so please contact us for all your inquiry (at Liverpool) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8mto-fnvad/?igshid=1mqwpzy67x4xr

[husheduphistory]

Ellen and William: A Well Crafted Plan for Freedom

The steamship captain was enjoying his breakfast and his company. They were headed for Charleston, South Carolina and although the young gentlemen joining him that morning was obviously very ill, he and his slave, William, were good listeners. He commended the gentleman on how attentive his slave was, he was an excellent servant. But, he needed to be careful once they arrived north, almost certainly some “cut-throat” abolitionist would try to kidnap William and bring him to freedom. The captain rattled on…he had no idea who he was talking to.

Ellen Craft was born into slavery in Clinton, Georgia in 1826, the daughter of her master Major James Smith and his biracial slave Maria. Ellen had an extremely fair complexion, so much so that she was often mistaken for one of the Major’s “legitimate” children. This frequent mistake bothered Smith’s wife enough that when Ellen was eleven years old she was sent away as a “wedding gift” to their daughter Eliza in Macon, Georgia. William Craft was born in Macon and after being sold to settle gambling debts he became a skilled cabinetmaker, working in a shop but with his master taking most of his wages. When Ellen was sixteen years old she met William and they married several years later in 1846. Within two years they hatched a plan that would change their lives and defy unimaginable odds.

A later illustration of Ellen and William Craft.

William came up with the extreme idea. His wife, being so fair skinned, could dress up like a man, claim William was “his” slave and they would gradually travel north to the freedom that lay in Philadelphia. Initially it sounded insane to Ellen but knowing how frequently she was mistaken for a white woman, she gradually accepted that the plan might actually work. She sewed a set of men’s clothing, they got their hands on a top hat and a pair of green glasses, and they asked their masters for a few days leave for the upcoming Christmas holiday. They knew they were “favorite slaves” and their request would be approved. Together they pieced together the disguise. Ellen, dressed in men’s clothing, would have her arm in a sling to hide the fact that she could not write. She would have bandages wrapped around much of her smooth face to hide that there was no beard and also to strengthen their story that the “gentleman” was ill and traveling north for medical care. This also ensured that conversation would be limited making it easier for her to hide her voice. William cut Ellen’s hair short and on December 21, 1848 the pair bought a ticket at the Macon train station and headed for Savannah, a 200 mile journey and the first leg of their “desperate leap for liberty.”

Illustration of Ellen dressed as a man.

The Craft’s first step was complete, but they almost never made it to step two. Once on the train William had to travel in the “negro car” and it was there that he encountered his first shock of the trip. Walking along the platform was the owner of the shop where William made cabinets. He spoke to the ticket seller and then began peering through all the windows searching the cars. Shrinking in his seat, the pair was saved by the bell, clanging to announce the train’s departure just before it pulled away from the station. William had a close call, but Ellen had one of her own in her car. Looking away from the window she turned back to discover that she had someone riding with her, a close friend of her master who had known Ellen for many years. It must have been a shocking jolt but her fears were put to rest when the man greeter her with a friendly “It is a very fine morning, sir.” Ellen was already feigning illness, but she then pretended to be deaf for several hours to avoid interacting with the familiar man. Both Ellen and William were safe.

Once the Crafts arrived in Savannah the next leg of their escape was to board a steamship bound for Charleston, South Carolina. The trip was marked with numerous encounters with people who never caught on that they were witnessing a huge plan unfolding before them. One morning found them in the company of the captain who warned them over breakfast to steer clear of those “cut-throat abolitionists” up north. At one point during the trip a military officer scolded Ellen when he overheard her saying thank you to William, and at another point a slave trader tried to purchase William from Ellen and take him back down south. They arrived in Charleston safely and spent the night at a hotel where Ellen’s fictitious illness and upper class appearance got them the highest quality care, an excellent room, and a table in the dining area.

It may have seemed like their journey was easy, but the truth is that at every stop, and with every step, the Crafts were perilously close to being discovered. As they made the dangerous journey to Philadelphia they were constantly surrounded by people and employees on every train, steamship, and ferry meaning Ellen could never let her deception waver. Southerners knew people were working to secretly free their slaves and they took steps to try to make any escape as difficult as possible. At one stop slave owners were required to write the names of their slaves in order to prove ownership, something Ellen had been able to avoid doing with her arm in the sling. One ticket seller however refused to sign for her, trapping them with no clearance to board their next ship. Their salvation came from a friendly ship captain who saw the stubborn seller and personally intervened to vouch for the pair being slave owner and slave. They were finally allowed to board unhindered. In Baltimore the Crafts were detained at a train station and told they had to appear before authorities to have slave ownership verified. Trapped with little to no hope an officer then approached the clerk and said “He is not well, it is a pity to stop him.” before imploring him to tell the conductor to “let this gentleman and slave pass.” They were allowed on the train and the next morning, on Christmas Day, Ellen and William stepped off the train and into the streets of Philadelphia.

The Crafts did not linger long in Pennsylvania and after obtaining temporary lodging from an abolitionist network the pair moved to Boston where they settled in the free black community on the north side of Beacon Hill. Ellen became a seamstress and William was able to resume his trade as a cabinet maker. Business thrived, the pair were married in a Christian ceremony, and over the next two years they made numerous public appearances speaking out against slavery and telling their stunning tale of escape.

Illustration of Beacon Hill in 1850.

After two years of freedom the Crafts probably assumed they were safe, but everything changed in 1850 with the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act. The highly controversial move struck terror into the not-yet-healed hearts of all escaped slaves requiring that they be captured and returned to their masters. Officers would be rewarded for capturing any slaves, penalties for aiding fugitives were increased, and residents and law enforcement of free states were now required to cooperate in the capturing and returning. Within a month of the act passing Ellen and William’s former master sent bounty hunters to Boston to track them down and bring them back.

Amazingly, Ellen and William were able to avoid the bounty hunters by moving to safe houses until they could once again flee. This time the journey wasn’t only across state lines, it was across the ocean. Moving up to Maine and through to Nova Scotia the Crafts boarded the Cambria, a ship bound for England. The next dry land they stepped on was in Liverpool and as William later stated, “It was not until we stepped ashore at Liverpool that we were free from every slavish fear.”

The Crafts spent nineteen years in England where they learned to read and write, had five children, spoke in public lectures about their escape from slavery, and became active in reform organizations. It was in 1860 that their account of their unbelievable escape was published under the title Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom.

When the Civil War ended and slaves were finally emancipated Ellen was able to locate her mother and she paid for her to relocate to England. But, they were still not done moving. In 1868 Ellen, William, Ellen’s mother, and three of their children moved back to the states and returned home to Georgia. In 1870 they were able to purchase 1800 acres of land and three years later they founded the Woodville Co-operative Farm School for the education and employment of former slaves. Sadly, it was not open for long and was forced to closed due to dropping prices of crops and the discrimination against former slaves that still festered long after the war.

In 1890 Ellen and William Craft were again on the move, moving in with their daughter Ellen and her husband, Dr. William D. Crum in Charleston, South Carolina. The elder Ellen would not have much time to enjoy her new home, she passed away just one year later and, as per her request, was buried under her favorite tree. William remained in the home until his death on January 27th 1900.

The grave of William Craft.  

The story of slavery is one of the most sickening to mark the pages of American history. Among the unfathomable horror there is the story of Ellen and William Craft, two people who through their sheer brilliance and determination were able to defy every evil placed in their way and obtain the life of freedom that they dreamed of.