FOR ANYONE WHO WAS UNABLE TO ACCESS THE COMMENTS FOR EACH SURVEY QUESTION, this should work better.

QUESTION 1


QUESTION 2


QUESTION 3


QUESTION 4


QUESTION 5


QUESTION 6

FINAL UPDATES FOR THE WISBECH SURVEY - I have decided to provide a direct link to the comment documents, which should make them easier to read.

COMMENTS ABOUT THE 'SCHOOLS' QUESTION

COMMENTS ABOUT THE 'SAFETY' QUESTION

 COMMENTS ABOUT THE 'POLICE' QUESTION

 COMMENTS ABOUT THE 'MEDIA' QUESTION

QUESTIONS 5 and 6. Caveats as before, links to comments as before.

QUESTIONS 3 and 4 OF THE ONLINE SURVEY. Please bear in mind the Health Warning I posted earlier. This survey is NOT the answer, or even the beginning of a solution, but I hope that people will continue to talk about the issues. The link to the comments is below - you will need to go into the 'My Documents' folder. I have not edited anything, except to remove  offensive remarks, and cut out a couple of personal references.

https://skydrive.live.com/#cid=852A347210F16629&id=852A347210F16629!106

INTERESTING NEWS FROM SPALDING - IT'S NOT JUST US, THEN. It seems that some Spalding residents are feeling the same way as some people in Wisbech.

THE DIFFERENCE SEEMS TO BE that the Spalding local press are giving some column space to their readers' concerns. To be fair, it is a very tricky path to negotiate. It is almost impossible in Britain to have a rational debate about immigration. The 'race cards' are stacked up on every available shelf, and will come clattering down on anyone unwise enough to say, "Can't we just at least have a discussion about this ..?"

Here is the link to the actual website:

http://www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/news/latest-news/spalding_facebook_page_on_immigration_proving_popular_1_3550651

WELL, HERE GOES. I set up the survey, and so here are the first results, warts and all. I have recognised the shortcomings of the format, and issue the following caveat.

THE GRAPHICS BELOW ARE  BASED ON EXCEL FILES, informed by the survey data.

THERE WERE MANY COMMENTS posted for each question. I have pasted most of these into separate Word documents. Those for Question 1 can be found below. I have not edited grammar or spelling, but I have removed comments which some people might have found offensive.YOU NEED TO CLICK ON THE 'MY DOCUMENTS' FOLDER, and you should be able to read the .doc file.

https://skydrive.live.com/#!/view.aspx?cid=852A347210F16629&resid=852A347210F16629!108

AND QUESTION 2 - same reservations apply as for previous question ....

COMMENTS HERE : Click on the 'My Documents' folder, as before.

https://skydrive.live.com/#!/view.aspx?cid=852A347210F16629&resid=852A347210F16629!109

IN WHICH YOUR BLOGGER DISCOVERS A BURIED REMINDER OF WISBECH'S WARTIME PAST.

CALL ME A SAD OLD GIT IF YOU MUST ......... (pausing for the inevitable chorus) but I am interested in bits of the past which are still with us, but not obviously so. For example, later in the week, we are going to explore parts of the old canal route, in search of half-buried remains of hardware and ironwork. For a few months now, I have been searching for one of these:

It is, as everyone will recognise, a 1940 spigot mortar emplacement. These were put up all over England, but particularly in places where the jackboots of the Nazi hordes were hourly expected to be stamping their way along the cobbles. A mortar would have been slotted onto the central pin, and a crew of highly trained Corporal Joneses and Private Frasers would be able to rain down high explosive on the advancing oppressors. The Archaeology Data Service shows that there was one of these somewhere near Wisbch Rugby Club's clubhouse. I searched, but found nothing. Then, after some kindly advice from the club chairman, I found it.

PUZZLED, I CONSULTED THE RESIDENT BATTLEFIELD ARCHAEOLOGIST, Young Pickwick. He informed me that where appropriate, these emplacements would have been built in a pit, and that the pit would have been filled in after the war. He expected that if someone were to dig down and around the top metal plate, they would find the bulk of the concrete support column. Who says University education is a waste of time?