Back to the Future for Henbury Rail

There have been a few (not many) doubters about the Henbury Loop Line. But although in so many ways we have progressed in recent decades, in some ways, we've gone backwards. So I'm looking on going on a journey to the past to show that the Henbury Loop Line can indeed exist. Why? Because it has before!

There was a time when Henbury Station was alive, buzzing and steaming and taking people from Henbury over to the Severn Beach
Line and beyond.

We're looking for your recollections, old photos, memories (which we can record) about your (or your parents' or grandparents') recollections of the Henbury Loop.

If you have memories or memorabilia to share, or know anyone who does, drop us a line at henburyloop@charlotteleslie.com or write to us at:

Henbury Loop Campaign
184 Henleaze Road
Bristol BS9 4NE

And let's go back to the future! ( ... Can't promise hover boards.)

Merry Christmas and here's to a drier 2013

It's been an amazing, if wet, run up to Christmas. I never tire of eating mince-pies and celebrating across the constituency. To all those Santas whose knees I kindly didn't sit on, and everyone who put together events for the festive season, thank you - and may the New Year bring health and happiness to all.

MPs get real in the boxing gym

Sky Ringside's  Johnny Nelson, former WBO Cruiserweight champion, put me through my paces, watched by boxing commentator legend, Adam Smith

Ok, ok, so it's been ages since I've blogged. Yes, yes, I've been busy, and 'doing' got in the way of blogging about it. But anyone who's suffered a minor blog-lapse will know that once you know you've let things lapse, it becomes an awful lot harder to face things and get back into it again! What's prompted this? A similar experience in the gym this morning. Pushing pens around in parliament and even running around the constituency is no substitute for proper regular exercise and, like updating my blog, I'd, er, let things slip a bit. But I was forced back into the gym to face the extent of the rot this morning, thanks to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Boxing 'MP's Taster Session' I'd organised.

The session at Fitzroy Lodge Boxing Club was designed to help highlight the social impact of boxing to decision-makers, show MPs who had perhaps never ventured into an amateur gym what it is all about , provide us with somewhere to keep fit, as well as support the club and link the young boxers there up with politics.

Fitzroy Lodge Boxing Club has produced fighters like David Haye, and is just minutes away from Parliament. But it is a different world. It's vital that us MPs can escape the Westminster Bubble, and few places are more gritty and real than an amateur boxing gym - so, in a way, this is also about building a bridge between the Westminster bubble, and the real world outside that it is supposed to serve. If politics was a bit more connected with reality, perhaps a few more people would feel like voting, and getting involved.

We all had a great, if gruelling work out, and special thanks must go to the fantastic Kate Hoey MP, in whose constituency the gym lies, and who has been such a long-term advocate for boxing and sport in general. We are hoping that this is is only the beginning and the start of a 'twinning' relationship between Fitzroy Lodge and Parliament, helping politics, in its own small way, to keep it real while we're in Westminster.  

You can follow the All Party Parliamentary Group on Boxing at @appgboxing

Thanks Johnny Nelson, and Mark for expert tuition!

 

Brailsford Brothers light up Brentry and the lives of many

With Brentry's heroes, Lee and Paul B

Seldom am I more proud to be the MP for Bristol North West than on the night of the Brailsford Brothers' Christmas Switch-on in aid of the Wallace and Gromit Appeal. I've seen the lights on their mum's house on Oakbourn Road get more and more, and the crowds get larger and larger as each year goes by. After being featured in a Channel Four Documentary last year, this year, the extravaganza reached new hights with some outstanding performances from local artists, which held us all spell-bound.

I first came across Lee and Paul when I was out canvassing in Brentry, one scorching hot September day. It was once of those boiling hot days left over from mid-summer, and I was amazed to find the two brothers working away in their garage in the heat , on Father Christmas light displays. "It's a bit early, isn't it?!" I asked, incredulously. Then they told me of the mammoth task they undertake each year in transforming their mum's house into a winter wonderland. It takes months.

They also told me how they fork out for the electricity bill from their own money, in order to raise funds for the Wallace and Gromit appeal. For years in succession we wrote to the energy company to ask them to give them some help on the bill, since it was for charity. Appallingly, we never managed to persuade them. Now, thanks to some superb sponsors, the brothers have some help in putting on the big Brentry Christmas Light Up.

The event certainly kickstarts my Christmas, and makes me tremendously proud to be the MP for this amazing community.  The Brailsford Brothers are on twitter @brailsfordxmas;   you can go to their website to donate: http://www.brailsfordlights.co.uk/  or text text rixy88 and £1, £5 or £10 to 70070.

Lee and Paul Brailsford, and all the team, thank you so much for making our Christmas so special, and raising thousands of pounds over the years for all those children helped by the Wallace and Gromit Appeal.

Syria's 'shattered beauty'

One of the pieces of art at the Syria Relief art exhibition, 'Shattered Beauty' in aid of the humanitarian crisis in Syria

The humanitarian crisis continues and escalates in Syria, with unspeakable hardship being suffered and cruelty being inflicted on innocent citizens.

I visited Syria as late as February 2011, just before the uprising happened, and I don't think I've so appreciated getting back to the UK, and what freedom and democracy actually means. We were of course constantly closely watched and monitored  and for some of the time driven about by the Syrian regime, who were anxious we should see all the 'right' things.

What they couldn't hide from us, in the blacked-out black cars that sped through the streets of Damascus with disdain for the citizens in the roads, an old man crossing, or for traffic lights, was the look of dread and fear on the faces of the people as the cars approached, and the look of fear and hatred on their faces as the cars passed and they thought they were out of sight. Loathing was palpable in the air.

Depiction of the regime, coming like inhuman shadows, bats in the night, anonymously to take people away.

We went to the British Council, and met with some frightened and angry young people. Once the drivers of the black cars were not in sight, one described the British Council as their 'bubble of oxygen' -the only place where they could think and talk freely; and discussed the dangers of going on facebook and sharing what life was really like in Syria. I am not sure what has happened to all those bright and vibrant young people now. I won't forget that meeting as long as I live.

Events of the last year have been all the more poignant because the Syrian people are so vibrant, cultured and full of life, and Damascus and the rest of Syria so beautiful. 

One effort to raise money for those in distress is the 'Shattered Beauty' exhibition of Syrian art in London, organised by SYRIA RELIEF, which also helps Syrian artists, and their families and helps save the art from destruction, which depicts the realities of the regime and the struggle.

If you want a good blog on which to follow events, try Robin Yassin-Kassab's excellent Qunfuz blog  (Qunfuz is Arabic for 'hedgehog, by the way.)

The West cannot turn its back as this country is torn apart in the most brutal way. The humanitarian crisis is diabolical, and hitting the most vulnerable and innocent - and with winter approaching, things will only get harder.

If you can, please donate.