Sheffield spam

One of my Sheffield-related posts is a frequent target of spam:

http://airnicetolivelands.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/sheffield-2.html

It keeps receiving comments about student accommodation, which I'm guessing is because the post uses the term "student accommodation" and spambots are drawn to the article because of it. Fortunately, all the spam comments are blocked.

Pleasant extras

The amount of people around here today has been a surprise. My Sheffield-based cousin was here with his girlfriend and one of my Nottingham cousins is here for the night; this is on top of my Lincoln cousin visiting for a few days. Thanks to this, today has been more exciting than it otherwise would have been; I had intended to go for a lengthy walk but the rain prevented me from doing so.

Nottingham, Sheffield and Lincoln

I was present in three British cities today: Nottingham, Sheffield and Lincoln. I have pictures from two of them:

 Here is Sheffield's city centre from a distance while the vehicle was in motion.

Here is Lincoln Cathedral from a distance while the vehicle was stationary.

I was travelling with my East of England uncle and cousins; my uncle was taking my cousins/his children back to their respective universities.

Asleep on the bus

When I rode the bus back home from college this evening, the person whom I was sat next to was asleep. They were sleeping for the vast majority of the journey and the usual noises of the bus appeared to have little effect on waking them.

I hope that they didn't miss their stop and that they made it safely to their destination. It becomes dark early here at this time of the year and it's cold outside. With any luck, the worst that will have happened is that the bus completed its loop and the person travelled past the point where they boarded.

The event reminded me of when I returned from Manchester on the train back at the end of September. When my train arrived in Nottingham, a guy asked me where the train had just stopped; I replied that we were in Nottingham. He and his friend were supposed to depart the train at Sheffield but had slept past their stop.

Sheffield again (2)

Here are four pictures from my recent visit to Sheffield:

This is a surprisingly high-quality shot of Sheffield from one of its bridges. I say "surprisingly" because the car was in motion when I took this photograph; that it's not blurred is astounding.

The weather changed throughout the day: it was cloudy when we arrived in the city but a quarter of an hour later, it became bright and sunny. It ultimately rained but not until we left Sheffield.

There was a small fair taking place. One of the songs that played was One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful", which I also heard at a fair I attended earlier this year back in Northamptonshire.

This is an upwards-looking view of a tower in the city. I do not know what the building's name is; I just thought that it would be a great idea to photograph it from this angle.

Most of my other pictures were similar to the above, similar to what I posted in my previous picture post for Sheffield or contained my relatives in them. I thought these four images were sufficient.

Sheffield again

My brother, grandfather and I travelled to Sheffield to visit my cousin at university there. We all enjoyed both a pleasant afternoon and a little bit of a walk around the centre of the city. I have a few pictures and will post them in a couple of days time.

Brother is here

I'm happy to announce that my brother is here and will not be returning to Northamptonshire until Sunday 2nd November. I have the chance to spend over a week with him, which I'm looking forward to. It's already been great having him present after my not seeing him for two months. The end of August 2014 to the end of October 2014 is, to date, the longest we've gone without seeing each other, excluding Skype.

We have one confirmed activity and one possible: it is guaranteed that we'll be in the Nottingham city centre together on Wednesday because that's when I'll be at college for the bonus English lesson. The possible activity is that my grandfather has talked about travelling to Sheffield to visit my cousin at university there.

Sheffield (2)

Here are four pictures from yesterday's visit to Sheffield. The primary reason for travelling to Sheffield was to view the student accommodation for one of my cousins; most pictures I took were of the accommodation.

This is Sheffield Hallam University, as viewed from the entrance to Sheffield's train station. The other university in the city is the University of Sheffield.

This is a Tesco Extra; Tesco is the largest retailer in the United Kingdom. Prior to visiting Sheffield, I had never been inside a Tesco Extra before; Tesco Extras are massive - way larger than the regular superstores. The above store also had a built-in parking garage and the shopping area was above it.

This is a bricked back street near the centre of Sheffield. I took this in the evening when we were walking to a pub for our dinner.

This is a street that is located in the centre of the city. Like the centres of other British cities, there is an abundance of commerce in the middle of Sheffield.

I think my cousin is going to have a great time in Sheffield during their stay at university. They have decent accommodation, are attending a respected educational institution and have easy access to local amenities.

Sheffield

I spent the day in the city of Sheffield, which is located in the county of South Yorkshire, with my East of England relatives. I have a few pictures of Sheffield for tomorrow's blog post.

On the results of the 2012 local elections

Most of the results from yesterday's elections are through, and I would say they are close to what I was expecting. On current estimates, the Labour Party has won over 770 council seats and taken control of at least 30 councils, the Conservatives are down almost 400 seats, the Liberal Democrats losses have surpassed 300, Doncaster has decided to keep its directly-elected mayor system, and Boris Johnson is on course to win re-election as the Mayor of London.

The most surprising results to me have been the cities holding referendums on having their own directly-elected mayors: results in nine of the ten have come through, and so far only Bristol has voted in favour of a mayor, with the votes still being counted in Leeds. I had presumed that people in the larger cities would be interested in having their own versions of the London mayoral system, but it seems I was wrong. Sheffield appears to have cast the strongest "no" voice, with over 60% of the people taking part in the referendum rejecting a mayor. By contrast, Doncaster kept its mayor with 62% of people saying "yes".

Some other results include the United Kingdom Independence Party's best showing to date in a local election without a concurrent European Parliament vote, with them averaging 12%-14% wherever they fielded candidates, although they only gained six new councillors at the expense of losing five. The Green Party has currently had a net increase of 11 councillors and in the London mayoral election their candidate, Jenny Jones, is hoping for a third-place finish . The Respect Party won five councillors in Bradford and even defeated the Labour council leader there. Finally, the British National Party failed to both gain new councillors and to keep its existing ones.

I do not expect the data in this post to be significantly out of date once all the results are through, but I will be sure to write an updated post with any new information.