The new look, redesigned Service Dealer magazine is now bi-monthly and includes a host of new and familiar features.
Jan / Feb 2014 issue contains:
2014 STATE OF THE INDUSTRY REPORT HERITAGE AWARDS PROFILE OF DAVID WITHERS LIVES REMEMBERED BTME PREVIEW LAMMA PREVIEW DIARY OF A SEASON + 2014 EVENT PLANNER
THE WELLIES IN WESTMINSTER Breaking News: Parliament flooded by Chris Biddle
ON Valentines Day in 1597, the Great Hall at Westminster was flooded and according to one chronicler ‘some fishes were found to remain’.
Again in 1928, after the building of the Thames Embankment, the House of Commons was deluged with water, as was London Underground. 14 people drowned and 5000 Londoners were made homeless. Interestingly, the flooding was made worse by the dredging of the Thames which had taken place over the previous 20 years, making it easier for sea water to flow up the river.
But at least, the politicos would not then have had to move far to feel the impact of the floods.
The power of nature in the UK was felt most tellingly in 1947, 1963, 1976 (drought), 1987 (hurricane) and most recently in the floods of 2007 when almost ten times the number of homes were flooded than have been affected currently.
The debate about climate change rages on, but one inescapeable fact is that the planet is warmer, and today the floods are more likely to be caused by incessant rain sweeping in on the back of the Gulf Stream than by a rapid snow melt after a long deep freeze as happened in 1962.
In this country, the present flooding is being portrayed by the media as something approaching Armageddon. Yes, it is providing a horrible experience for many people, but nothing on the scale of Hurricane Katrina in the US which killed almost 2000 people in 2005 or the incessant earthquakes and floods in the Far East which result in huge death tolls.
The politicians are charged with ‘doing something’, of being modern day King Canutes. It can’t be long before we have a Minister for Floods, which in fact might just work.
During 1976, the late Denis Howell MP was appointed Minister for Drought during the hottest and driest summer for over 200 years. Days after his appointment, the heavens opened causing widespread flooding. He was considered so well qualified for the role, that he was then appointed Minister for Snow during the harsh winter of 1978/9.
The fact is Government have reacted to past extreme weather conditions, but will always get caught out because no amount of money can insulate us against every extreme weather condition that comes along. The Environment Agency claim that that 1.5 million homes have been saved from flooding this time around because of past actions.
But unfortunately that does not suit the headline writers.
If we take a parochial view of present conditions, more rain in the ground, even an excess, is better than dry and parched conditions - and maybe homeowners might now think twice before hard-landcaping their lawns.
