Manic Ravings

Last Wednesday the NUS and UCU held a joint demonstration...

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 21:07:00 +0000

Last Wednesday the NUS and UCU held a joint demonstration against the coalition Government’s plans to increase tuition fees and drastically reduce funding for higher education institutions. A few people thought it would be fun to smash up Millbank tower, home of the Conservative Party’s Campaign HQ. As a result the demonstration (and the issues raised) made the front pages of most of the national newspapers instead of being buried deep inside the politics section.

A follow up to the previous post about the 2010 Brompton World...

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:55:46 +0100

A follow up to the previous post about the 2010 Brompton World Championship at Bike Blenheim Palace…. It didn’t rain all day, the sun eventually came out and shone down on the bike polo.

The Brompton World Championship 2010 at Blenheim Palace. It...

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:29:00 +0100

The Brompton World Championship 2010 at Blenheim Palace. It wasn’t the only event at Bike Blenheim- there were also time trials, cyclo-cross, sportives and bike polo.

What I did last weekend: The Dunwich Dynamo, a 120 mile night...

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 11:50:00 +0100

What I did last weekend: The Dunwich Dynamo, a 120 mile night ride from East London to Dunwich on the Suffolk coast.

The Dorset Dash, a 100 mile night ride that took place the...

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 15:38:00 +0100

The Dorset Dash, a 100 mile night ride that took place the weekend before the summer solstice. Left Broad Street in Oxford at 9pm, arrived at Avon beach in Christchurch, Dorset, just before 8am.

Cycle Oxford and ByBox join forces.

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:51:00 +0100

Cycle Oxford and ByBox join forces.

Cefn Coed viaduct. Originally built to carry the Brecon and...

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 01:27:00 +0100

Cefn Coed viaduct. Originally built to carry the Brecon and Merthyr Railway across the River Taff. Now it forms part of the Taff Trail cycling route.

Mumbles Head, Swansea Bay, taken on my trip to Wales last month....

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 00:03:00 +0100

Mumbles Head, Swansea Bay, taken on my trip to Wales last month. More photos on the way…

Cycling the high level route, over the hills/mountains of the...

Sat, 29 May 2010 20:27:00 +0100

Cycling the high level route, over the hills/mountains of the Welsh Valleys between Neath and Pontypridd.

Cycle Oxford Festival 2010

Tue, 25 May 2010 23:05:00 +0100

Cycle Oxford Festival 2010

Oxford alley cat last week. We don’t take it as seriously...

Thu, 13 May 2010 21:10:00 +0100

Oxford alley cat last week. We don’t take it as seriously as the London messengers… the task this time was to decorated by “artists” at each checkpoint.

Oxford May Day Celebrations

Sat, 01 May 2010 15:55:00 +0100

Oxford May Day Celebrations:

I went to bed at 2am and got up at 4.30am for this.

I was out cycling again this weekend, a 70 mile loop round...

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:18:00 +0100

I was out cycling again this weekend, a 70 mile loop round Oxford, Somerton and Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds.

I went cycling last Sunday. This is one of the mileposts...

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:35:00 +0100

I went cycling last Sunday. This is one of the mileposts installed by Sustrans to mark the National Cycle Network.

BP is on the verge of building the infrastructure to extract oil...

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:30:00 +0100

BP is on the verge of building the infrastructure to extract oil from tar sands in Alberta, Canada. Saturday 10 April was a national day of action to try and persuade them not to invest in tar sands, which require several times the energy to extract the oil compared to conventional sources, and which damage large areas of the environment.

This is from the protest in Oxford.

The Goat Race 2010 at Spitalfields City Farm, London, last...

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:02:00 +0100

The Goat Race 2010 at Spitalfields City Farm, London, last Saturday.

The Wolvercote viaduct just over week ago, as it was being...

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:09:00 +0100

The Wolvercote viaduct just over week ago, as it was being lifted prior to being slid sideways by 16 metres.

Court of Appeal: British Chiropractic Association v. Simon Singh

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 21:16:00 +0100

Court of Appeal: British Chiropractic Association v. Simon Singh:

A couple of years ago Simon Singh wrote in a Guardian comment piece:

“The British Chiropractic Association claims that their members can help treat children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying, even though there is not a jot of evidence. This organization is the respectable face of the chiropractic profession and yet it happily promotes bogus treatments.”

The BCA sued for libel, and a year ago Lord Justice Eady ruled that this was a statement of fact, and as a result Simon Singh would have to prove that the BCA knowingly promoted ineffective treatments.

Simon Singh appealed, and won. A ruling today from 3 of the most senior judges in the country said that he should have the right to the defence of “fair comment”, which they suggest should more accurately be termed “honest opinion”.

Their judgment is pretty scathing of the BCA, suggesting they should’ve taken the Guardian’s offer to write a similar piece to put their side of the story. They also take a dim view of the courts being used to decide on scientific controversies.

I took this photo last year from Moel Eilio, a mountain ridge...

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 12:24:00 +0100

I took this photo last year from Moel Eilio, a mountain ridge next to Snowdon in Wales. Technically it’s several photos stitched together into a panorama.

And another photo taken in the snow a couple of months ago. This...

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:53:00 +0000

And another photo taken in the snow a couple of months ago. This is looking down towards the centre of Oxford from the top of South Parks just after sunset.