What the Faeroes was that about?

THE FRIDAY THING — Life, and other bits of the week...

I WAS much taken with the story about the BBC Radio’s Shipping forecast programme — a legendary and iconic precious few minutes of airtime — who let slip THE four-letter word when he mistimed his bulletin and it clashed with the traditional on-the-hour pips.

He thought his microphone was off and responded with much irritation making, I suppose you might say, something of a Faeroes of it.

Unlike Rockall mouth Jonathan Ross who seems to have a licence to Fisher and Fortes with impunity, the poor forecast man has been given the old German Bight and is out on his Biscay.

If none of this makes any sense to you find a regular radio Four listener (no pop music there, mercifully) and they’ll explain with some passion.

These are the people who know their South East Iceland from their Tyne and Dogger and even their North Utsire from their Cromarty.

But why they listen to the shipping forecast when they live in Derker or Diggle and the only fish they see are wrapped in batter is one of life’s less significant mysteries.

Mind you, the shipping forecast itself is something of a mystery because how many people actually know where Fitzroy, Malin and Trafalgar are?

Still, what would life be without little mysteries. Like, for instance, why there are so few people in Saddleworth Peace Movement.


NO Useless Tests said the message emblazoned on the T-shirts of the protesting NUT members in Oldham town centre on Saturday. Parents, if they galvanised to organise petitions could have worn NUT T-shirts too, theirs bearing the slogan No Useless Teachers.

By abandoning the SATS tests for 11 year olds, which is what the NUT wants to do, parents would be robbed of the only chance they have of finding out how well their child had been prepared for secondary education.

Teaching unions are the Luddites of the 21st century, against tests and against academies to protect their cosy, insulated world of good, threat-free jobs with ultra long holidays and no scrutiny. Bless!

SATS tests help to identify good teachers too. Is that so bad? And isn’t life a test and the sooner we get used to it the better?


FINAL WORD: Have you ever known Oldham Council deal with an unwanted building as quickly as Broadway Library has been wiped off the map? Is it a symbol of super efficiency or a sign that it might have become a call to the polling booths by Labour in next May’s elections?