text:
Weißenthurm is a Verbandsgemeinde ("collective municipality") in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the municipality is in Weißenthurm.

The Verbandsgemeinde Weißenthurm consists of the following Ortsgemeinden ("local municipalities"):

 Bassenheim
 Kaltenengers
 Kettig
 Mülheim-Kärlich
 Sankt Sebastian
 Urmitz
 Weißenthurm

Verbandsgemeinde in Rhineland-Palatinate

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text:
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Heritage Roofing Gallery
Church of England welcomes further government support for churches
Listed Churches in need of vital repairs are to benefit after the Government announced the extension of a grant scheme.
The listed places of worship grants scheme (LPWGS) is to be extended by the Treasury for a further year until March 2021.
The scheme pays grants equal to the VAT incurred on repairs such as urgent structural work and new roofs, reducing the fundraising burden on churches and congregations.
Churches and cathedrals are responsible for fundraising for their own repairs. They contribute £220m a year to the economy and collectively run around 33,000 social action projects.
The Taylor Review which was published in 2017 concluded that church buildings play a "vital role" in providing public services and a focal point for communities across the country.
This extension of funding directly supports the aims of the Taylor Report which makes recommendations aimed at targeting resources and funding to support the care, maintenance and community use of church buildings to ensure their sustainability in the future.
The listed places of worship grant scheme will be guaranteed until 31 March 2021 under the new extended plans giving hundreds more churches the opportunity to benefit from the scheme.
Dr David Knight, Senior Church Buildings Officer, said: "We want to thank the Government for their continuing support for churches through the Taylor Pilots and the extension of this scheme. It will be a welcome reassurance to many churches with plans for the next year or two that they have certainty over VAT."
Helen Whately, Heritage Minister, said: "Listed places of worship are a precious part of our heritage and we want to make sure they are properly protected and preserved for future generations. I'm pleased that many more of these wonderful historic buildings across the country will now benefit from the government's grant scheme."
More information about the scheme available via http://www.lpwscheme.org.uk/grant_scheme.html
Copyright © 2018 Ecclesiastical and Heritage World. All Rights Reserved. Designed by DMM Hosting Ltd.

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HASTINGS (Minister-elect, Rev. G. T. Macann).—The ministry of Dr and Mrs V. F. Anderson over the last eleven weeks has drawn to a close. This has been a time of real spiritual blessing that will long be remembered. Dr Anderson's challenging messages on such a variety of subjects have given us all food for thought and a clearer understanding of the scriptures. At the Annual Meeting Messrs C. Burt, N. Donaldson, K. Fear, B. Mitcherson and N. McLean were elected to the diaconate. We rejoice with Mr and Mrs G. Love on their adoption of a wee sister for their three boys. Congratulations to Miss Janice Taylor and Mr John Paynter, and to Miss Carol Duggan and Mr John Bell (of Wellington) on their engagements. The Life Boys team paraded at morning service. The end-of-year functions are under way—B.B. display; Ladies' Friendly Hour party; Primary party and Sunday School parents' night when prizes for attendance and scripture examinations were presented.—M. F. S.
HASTINGS (Rev. G. T. Macann).—With great joy we welcomed Rev. G. T. Macann and Mrs Macann at an evening of musical items and bright speeches followed by supper. We pray God's blessing on them as they commence their ministry here. The next day the induction service was conducted by Rev. Lloyd Crawford of Palmerston North. At the Communion Service which followed Mr and Mrs Macann were received into membership together with Mr G. Love who was recently baptised. After a short prayer service in our church we joined with other churches in an open-air carol service. Our youth choir sang at a family service and Mr and Mrs B. Kater brought Natalie Grace and Mr and Mrs G. Love brought Karen Joy for dedication. We congratulate Mr and Mrs Bernard Stanton on the birth of a son. Mr Ron Shakespeare spoke of his experiences as assistant manager of the New Zealand team at the Olympic Games in Tokyo at the Havelock North Fellowship social evening.—M. F. S.
HASTINGS (Rev. G. T. Macann, L.Th.).—We were pleased to have so many visitors at our services both on Christmas Day and over the holiday period. The President of the Baptist Union of New Zealand, Mr E. S. Carey, gave a challenging address at a recent morning service. An after church social hour was arranged to farewell Dr and Mrs Anderson who have returned to America. A time of fellowship followed by a Watch-night service brought 1964 to a close. We were interested to see slides of the Auckland Baptist Youth Hostel and of the Auckland City Mission at two after church meetings. The Ladies' Friendly Hour started the year with an enjoyable picnic at Havelock North. We welcome home again Miss Glenys Hoskins. Messrs Alan Foster and Murray Burt from overseas trips. Our prayers are with all our sick friends especially Mrs Stewart in hospital at Palmerston North. We congratulate all our young folk who have passed their examinations.— M.F.S.
HASTINGS (Rev. G. T. Macann. L.Th.).—Our sincere sympathy to the family of Mrs E. Stewart on her "Home-call" after a long illness patiently borne. Mr and Mrs Allred were received into membership on transfer from Nelson. We were glad to see Janis Rawlings who has returned from Fiji to further her education in Auckland, and Derek Christensen who preached at an evening service prior to his return to the Baptist College. Little Craig Stanton was brought by his parents for dedication. We welcome the baby boy adopted by Mr and Mrs Jack Braithwaite. We congratulate our young friends, Dianne Ferguson and David Baker on their marriage in our church and Glen Caves who was married at Lower Hutt congratulations also to our Life Boy Team on winning the swimming sports held recently. Boys from the N.C.O.'s training course of the Boys' Brigade paraded at our morning service A time of fellowship and fun was experienced at the church picnic held at Maraekakaho.—M. F. S.
HASTINGS (Rev. G. T. Macann. L.Th.).—Rev. A. J. Jamieson spoke at an evening service and later showed a film and slides on leprosy work. Our choir arranged an effective display of produce for the Harvest Festival. After many years of faithful service Mrs C. Baker has gone to be with her Lord. Our loving sympathy is extended to her loved ones, and to Mrs J. Palmer and Mrs M. Matheson, who have also suffered bereavement. Welcomed into membership were Mr and Mrs E. Knowlson, Mrs M. Bradley and Miss Pamela Burt. Best wishes to Anne Morton and Tony Page, also Elizabeth Hanna and Wallace Potts, on their marriages, and to John Bunce on his engagement. Congratulations on the birth of their daughter to Mr and Mrs Barrie Price. An enjoyable social evening helped along the finances for our B.W.M.U. The Ladies' Friendly Hour spent an interesting afternoon at a local food factory. We were glad to see our former secretary, Mr Chas. Rawlings, visiting us from Fiji.
HASTINGS (Rev. G. T. Macann, L.Th.).—Other churches joined us in a National Broadcast Service on Good Friday, the preacher, assisting ministers and the Woodford House choir all helping to make this a notable occasion. We will miss Mrs L. M. Thetford, a faithful member, who has passed into the presence of her Lord. Our sympathy goes to her family and to her husband who has been in hospital for so long. Mr and Mrs J. Braithwaite brought wee Mark for dedication. We were privileged to have the great athlete, Mr Peter Snell, speak from our pulpit and Mrs Faith Turner at a prayer meeting. The Girls' Brigade, Cadets, Boys' Brigade and Life Boys paraded for the Enrolment Service at which Corporals Alan McEwan and David Spurdle received the Queen's Badge. Members of the Ladies' Friendly Hour enjoyed a talk by Miss M. Sowersby on her recent trip overseas. Our thoughts and prayers are directed towards the Trans-Pacific Crusade and we look forward to a time of great spiritual blessing in September.—M. F. S.
HASTINGS (Rev. G. T. Macann, L.Th.).—We welcome home again our minister, Mrs Macann and family from their holiday and thank Rev. R. Taylor (Dannevirke), Messrs B. Mitcherson, N. Williams and G. Fear for conducting services during this time. We were privileged to hear two missionaries, Rev. Edward Mills (South Tipura) and Mr Len Twynham (New Guinea). A combined service arranged by the National Council of Churches was held in the Municipal Theatre, Rev. E. H. Moody, Secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, being the speaker. Mrs Parker, on transfer from England, was welcomed into membership. Miss Joyce McEwan and Mrs Taggart were recently baptised. Mr and Mrs B. Price brought Felicity Joy for dedication. A sacred concert was held in our church when vocal solos by Rev. Clive Way, an Anglican Curate of Australia, and other items by local artists were enjoyed by all. A Children's Week arranged by the N.C.C. Youth Committee was a happy occasion for the many children who attended.—M. F. S.
HASTINGS (Rev. G. T. Macann, L.Th.).—We were privileged to hear Rev. D. T. Eade, Miss Delsie Guy, and members of the United Maori Mission speak from our pulpit. At a church dinner about 200 people heard more about the Transpacific Crusade from Rev. A. Finlay, response cards being handed out and a special congregational dedication service held the following Sunday. Mr G. Hewitt has been received into membership. Congratulations on their engagements to Miss Meryl Hunt and Mr Harvey Price and to Miss Margaret Hallam and Mr Rex Read. Our best wishes to Miss Diane Rowlands on her marriage to Mr Samuel Holmes. We have said farewell to Mr and Mrs John McKean and family who have returned to America and Miss Glenys Hoskins who has gone to England. We welcome home again Dr and Mrs Velvin and Mr and Mrs Burt from trips overseas. Our G.L.B. and Cadets paraded in their special week.—M. F. S.
HASTINGS (Rev. G. T. Macann, L.Th.).—Our thoughts have been with our minister whose mother passed away in Christchurch. One of our oldest members, Mrs Stephens, has also received her "Home-call." To her niece, Miss Sims, we offer our loving sympathy; also to Mrs J. Bell and Mrs D. Rattray who have each suffered bereavement. Our thanks to Messrs Brian Mitcherson and George Wallace who ably conducted services in our minister's absence. We were indeed thrilled to have Rev. Roland Hart speak to us and our Napier friends on the coming Trans-Pacific Crusade. The visit of 45 Bible Class members from Te Hapara, social, question and answer service, the singing of our youth choir, missionary rally and tea were highlights of Bible Class week. Our Shareholders raised £55 for missions at their stall. The Boys' Brigade brought their special week to a close with a church parade followed by the film "God Loves You."—M. F. S.
HASTINGS (Rev. G. T. Macann, L.Th.) .—Preparations for the Trans-Pacific Crusade are well in hand. A decorated float, playing hymns and advertising the Crusade, was entered in the annual Blossom Procession. A tape of greetings was prepared and sent to our missioner, Dr William Welsh, and we were thrilled to hear him and members of his family and church speak to us in reply. We were indebted to Rev. J. J. Burt for conducting a seminar for teaching staff, preaching at an evening service and showing slides afterwards at a fellowship hour. Our congratulations to Mr John Paynter on his marriage to Miss Janice Taylor. Wayne O'Neil was brought by his parents for dedication. We extend our sympathy to Mr Jack Taylor on the death of his father. Congratulations to our G.L.B.. B.B. and L.B. on their successes in the recent intercompany competitions. A holiday camp at Te Karaka was enjoyed by thirty members of the G.L.B.—M. F. S.
HASTINGS (Rev. G. T. Macann, L.Th.).—The long awaited Trans-Pacific Crusade has come and gone and we will remember it as a time of spiritual blessing in the days that lie ahead. A large number of our people gathered at the airport where a traditional Maori welcome was extended to our "Man from Texas." We welcomed a stranger and farewelled a friend. May the Calvary Church at El Paso also receive blessing through the sending of Dr Welsh to us. Two of our young people, Miss Vivienne Kemp and Mr Peter Bradley, followed their Lord through the waters of baptism. Mr John Paynter was received into membership. Sympathy is extended to Dr Velvin on the death of his mother. Best wishes to Miss Glenys Hoskins on her marriage in England, and to Mr Gary Beattie on his engagement. Welcome home to our secretary, Mr Kenning, from his business trip abroad. We thank Mr Neil Donaldson for his capable work as acting secretary.—M. F. S.
HASTINGS (Rev. G. T. Macann, L.Th.).—Our sincere thanks to Messrs G. Kenning, R. Baker and N. Williams for conducting services in our minister's absence through illness and at Assembly, and to Mrs Wallace and Messrs Thorp and Fear for taking the prayer meetings. The B.M.M.F. held an open night when Mr Kenning showed slides of his recent travels overseas. We rejoice with Mr and Mrs B. Mitcherson and Mr and Mrs G. Fear whose homes have been blessed with wee daughters and Mr and Mrs J. Stott who have another son. Congratulations to Miss Olive Calder and Mr Maurice Clapperton who have announced their engagement. Members of the Boys' Brigade enjoyed a camp at the Tuki Tuki River over Labour weekend. We remember in our prayers our many sick folk and those who, through age, can no longer worship with us.—M. F. S.


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The granules contain Kale, well known for its high edible fiber content, and powdered low striped bamboo. These are combined with living vegetable lactic acid bacterium that can reach the digestive tract alive. The distinctive smell of Kale is alleviated by low-striped bamboo's green-tea fragrance, creating an easy-to-drink beverage with a well-rounded taste. Dissolve in hot water and drink instead of tea. Also delicious when dissolved in warm milk.


Brass & Copper Bright Dip | Technical Plating, Inc.
Bright Dip on copper and brass alloys is an acid based conversion coating used to both protect and increase the shelf life of the substrate. The parts are first cleaned to remove any oil or contamination from processing and manufacturing, and then are processed. TPI offers basket and barrel processes.
Copyright © 2018 Technical Plating, Inc. - All Rights Reserved.


150. You look excellent and I am certain, he will be the spouse you've generally been searching for.
151. Despite the fact that you are my sister-in-law, from the principal day he acquainted you with me I knew you were my sister. Cheerful marriage!
152. Much obliged to you for making him the manus as a whole knew he could be.
153. I feel fortunate to be a piece of this day where my lovely sister at long last finds the man she had always wanted.
154. Time to wake up and influence it to work my wonderful sister!! Happy married life.
155. May every day give you more motivations to love him and welcome him!
156. May he be the one you can't manage without and may you have a favored and wonderful marriage dear sister!
157. My sweet little princess has at long last discovered her Mr. Perfect. You've charmed every one of us with your grin my dear sister. I wish your fondest dreams would materialize.
158. As you venture out a vital voyage, you desert affectionate recollections and chuckles aplenty.
159. Your sweet grin that has topped off our days thus much love that we couldn't have requested more. Continue spreading daylight, love, and satisfaction my dearest sister. Heartiest congrats on your wedding.
160. Happy wedded life my dear sister. You will be a marvelous spouse simply the way you were an astonishing little girl, awesome sister and cute companion.
161. My dearest sister. Congrats on wedding the man you cherish to such an extent.
162. Both of you look consummate and frantically infatuated with each other.
163. Your big day will travel every which way, however, your adoration may always develop.
164. Congratulations to my closest companion and dear sister. Adore you my dear sister.
165. Made for each other are both of you, a flawless wedding wishes are here for brother by marriage and you!!! Cheerful wedding commemoration!!! Happy married life.
166. Many wishes will come to your direction, but pick the best one, which everlastingly will remain!!! Cheerful wedding commemoration!!!
167. I see genuine trust in you and your better half, Wish bliss in your life is plentiful!!!
168. Upbeat wedding commemoration!!! Look at glad wedding sister.
169. Wishes after wishes I wish for you, and a glad wedding commemoration to both of you!!! Cheerful wedding commemoration!!!
170. You gladly commend your marriage day, because now a perfect woman, with a total man, will remain!!! Cheerful wedding commemoration!!!
171. An affectionate dream is working out and I trust and implore that numerous more dreams and wishes will now become animated.
172. Warm wishes for a brilliant and prosperous future of my dearest sister.
173. Best wishes on this superb trip, as you fabricate your new lives together.
174. My mischievous younger sibling is strolling down the passageway and however, I will shed tears of satisfaction for some time; I wish you miles of a grin.
175. My sweetheart sister is altogether grown up and dressed as a lady of the hour.
176. Such a unique minute, to the point that I will recollect for a lifetime. Congrats my dearest sister.
177. Start another part of your existence with favors and great wishes. Congrats my charming dearest sweetest sister.
178. My dearest sister and friend, I am glad to the point that you have discovered your Mister Right who influences you to feel so unique. Happy married life.
179. You will dependably remain, my valuable sweet sister, with whom I have shared my fondest dreams. Remain favored and be glad dependably.
180. My all the best and endowments will dependably be with you my infant sister. Adore your parcels. Expectation you have a glad wedded life.
181. True is your affection as is your marriage, there is nobody, about this who could trash!!! Upbeat wedding commemoration!!!
182. Here is a cheer for the lovely lady and good-looking man of the hour, from everybody here in the room. How about we celebrate on this extraordinary day!
183. May the greater part of the joy will be digging in for the long haul!
184. You have been the best sister to me, And additionally, the best spouse, to your man you'll be!!! Upbeat wedding commemoration!!!
185. You both faced the world when it was brutal, that demonstrates, your affection was valid and genuine!!! Upbeat wedding commemoration!!! Happy married life.
186. From my stunning sister, you turned into somebody's lady of the hour, And to wish you upbeat commemoration I take full pride!!! Cheerful wedding commemoration!!!
187. You appear to have turned into a total woman, after getting hitched to your hubby!!! Glad wedding commemoration!!!
188. Many dreams of yours despite everything you need to satisfy, and I know, with the assistance your adoration, you certainly will!!! Glad wedding commemoration!!!
189. My spirit sister. Heartiest congrats for a match made in paradise.
190. Felicitations are aplenty to the sweetest sister in the world. I adore you and wish you have a super and duper wedded life ahead.
191. Of intimate romance, both of you are a good example, seeing you the disdain would be indulged!!! Cheerful wedding commemoration!!!
192. Here's wishing adoration, euphoria, and harmony to the most delightful sister on the planet.
193. Here are gifts to the upbeat couple! May your responsibility develop and your bliss increment.
194. The greater part of all, may your adoration become significantly more grounded!
195. Wishing you a lifetime of adoration and joy. Happy married life.
196. Dear sister, as your senior sibling I feel gigantically pleased with and glad for you.
197. You are the best sister and am certain that you will influence the best life as an accomplice.
198. Congratulations on finding a superb accomplice and a wonderful coexistence.
199. Another time of awesome love spent by you and brother by marriage, now it's a great opportunity to comment, so taste the drink with a similar straw!!! Cheerful wedding commemoration!!!
200. An impeccable woman currently has a flawless man, May God give you whatever he can!!! Glad wedding commemoration!!
I am to a great degree cheerful that you are getting hitched. Adore you my dear sister.
Love is the thing that I learned from you, Trust is the thing that I found in you, cheerful marriage sis.
Incredible marriage is of both of you, where you both are one, despite the fact that it looks too!!! Cheerful wedding commemoration!!!
From my sister to somebody's better half, I wish all of you the integrity in your life!!! Cheerful wedding commemoration!!! Happy married life.
Gift of affection and wishes of trust, Hope, around your connection you have constructed a solid outside!!! Cheerful wedding commemoration!!!
Great love is something that ties you, so an extremely cheerful commemoration to brother by marriage and you!!! Cheerful wedding commemoration!!!
May your life be luxurious situation, and may positive attitude in your life come in various stances!!! Cheerful wedding commemoration!!!
All the care of yours was only for me until I needed to impart that to your hubby!!! Upbeat wedding commemoration!!!
Congratulations to the best sister and the most excellent lady of the hour.
Dear sister, weddings are continually testing, never surrender!
New things happen each day! Your marriage will be what you make it be. Ensure you pick right. Cheerful Married Life sister.
Enough of your stirred up life, this is the ideal opportunity to arrange your reasoning since you'll require it in your new home.
This marriage will enable you to screen everything nearly. Cheerful Married life sister. Miss you as of now. Happy married life.
Continuously create plans to make everybody upbeat at home and to make everything work simply like our mom frequently does.
Making everyone happy is part of a decent mother at home. Glad wedded life sister.
It's the ideal opportunity for you to be a solid lady, an opportunity to be overcome and centered.
It could get forlorn on occasion particularly when kids are still in transit. Cheerful wedded life sister.
Nothing will fill the vacuum you'll abandon in this house, I will miss you consistently until the point when I go out moreover. Cheerful Married Life flawless sister. Appreciate all of your marriage.
Congrats sister. Presently you're a lady, never stay in the shadows of a young woman any longer, now you have a gigantic duty which is your significant other.
Always remember to dependably put God first in the event that you need a consummately shaped home.
God is the premise of everything that your home will progress toward becoming. I trust you'll stick to that guideline. Glad Married Life sister.
Dear, sister! Bear in mind that nothing occurs coincidentally, your significant other today is similar.
Man, you should love until the end of time. Regardless of whether he's constantly right or not. Cheerful Married Life sister. May love to keep you associated! Happy married life.
Presently you'll know the sort of exertion mother puts to make the homework.
Lazy you, I know this marriage will roll out your improvement your lethargy to diligent work. Congrats on your marriage sister.
Cheerful Married Life sister. I wish mother will enable me to tail you to your new home since now that you're gone, nobody will enable me to mastermind my stuffs any longer. I'll miss you.
I recollect how you generally raced to mother's room whenever you have a bad dream. I trust you don't have bad dreams in your new home and in the event that you do, don't keep running here. Congratulations on your wedding sister.
I trust that your future is presently in great hands, so you should be rest guaranteed.
Never freeze for anything. Your home will be an awesome one. Glad Married Life sister.
Always remember that when life gets too difficult to remain in your marriage, stoop and tune in; for God dependably has something for your life and for your marriage. Congratulations sister.
You're on the way of a recently discovered home, your home will bloom on the off chance that you administer it well. Happy married life.
An astute lady will influence her home right and me to accept you're one. Upbeat Married Life sister.
Each woman needs the best for their home however not every person works in the correct method to guarantee that. Guarantee to appear as something else, at that point your home will flourish in the midst of challenges. Upbeat Married Life sister.
Absolutely never double-cross the adoration for your better half, and love constantly him for any reason, figure out how to know when he is experiencing tough circumstances and dependably enable him to out. Cheerful Married Life sister.
Ladies have the ability to mitigate or add to a man's concern, your way to deal with your better half when he's not himself will enable you to know which side to have a place. Upbeat Married Life sister.
A man will go out and move with his lady, and for a similar reason, the lady will interminably adore her man notwithstanding when he's not adorable. Congrats sister.
May this marriage bring onto you superb accumulation of recollections whenever you recall the day you settled on the choice. Cheerful Married Life sister.
It's a disgrace that another man has come to take my sister away, whom I've been with for my entire life. Happy marriage!
I can hardly wait for my opportunity to take someone else's sister as well, as you have been taken. Upbeat Married Life.
Whatever you put into your home will be what you'll appreciate. Make the most of your new home sister.
My dearest sister, you are extremely extraordinary in our lives. As you make a stride towards this awesome adventure, as you fabricate your new lives together, may God be your guide and the light in your way. Happy married life.
I'm pleased with you, sweet excellent sister. As you move into another family, be the best lady you have dependably been.
I miss you as of now yet additionally wishing you an extremely cheerful wedded life until the end of time.
You are the best, my dear sister. Congrats on your big day. May God favor your new home!
May God give all of you the delight and joy you merit! Wishing you heaps of adoration.
Congrats on finding a brilliant accomplice for an excellent life ahead.
I am so pleased and especially cheerful for you. Wishing you a cheerful marriage and a productive life. Remain favored delightful.
Dear, Sister! May you be honored and your heart loaded with insinuating bliss.
Dear sister, may God favor you with affection, joy, and harmony!
Dearest sister, may God favor your womb with lovely children. All the best on your wedding. Happy married life.
You have been my closest companion and my most loved sister. We never left each opposite's side for a bit. A great spouse to your significant other is the thing that I find in you. Congrats on your marriage.


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text:
Putting the Finishing Touches on My Second Story Collection
When I first submitted this manuscript to Delphinium, it looked a bit different. It was titled Big Guy (after the closing novella), and it contained two stories that were a little shorter than some of the others, but which I felt fit with the book's primary theme at the time: the effects of toxic masculinity on men and women alike. They were both grittier and more abrupt than the others, and both featured male protagonists. Joe Olshan liked the book, but rightly identified that those two stories weren't—well, they weren't as good as the others. They didn't go into particularly complicated emotional territory. That was what I needed to hear, honestly, and it was a clear sign that Joe was the right editor for this book.
Joe asked me to make a couple of big changes before publication. First, he wanted to change the book's title to You Would Have Told Me Not To, after the title of his favorite story. He also wanted me to write two new stories that would replace the weaker ones. What I came up with were the stories "Her Kind of People" (about a young woman in an uncertain relationship who's working as a server at a wedding reception, where she overhears two of the guests discuss the regrets they've had about their own marriages); and "This Will Come as a Surprise to You" (which begins with a new mother in her 30s unexpectedly encountering her abusive ex-husband, and then learning that he's both sober and engaged). These stories came about in part because of the change of the book's title, which allowed me more thematic room. "This Will Come as a Surprise to You" in particular was a surprise to me; I'd originally wanted to tell the story from the ex-husband's perspective, but whenever I did, his ex-wife Lisa—with her knowledge of all his bad behavior—became a kind of antagonist, a threat to his new marriage, which is absolutely what I didn't want. I came to understand that I'd have a much better and richer collection if I could find a way to tell the story of their marriage through Lisa's eyes, and to show that—no matter what steps her ex has taken to reform himself—Lisa still carries enormous damage with her, damage that guides the way she lives her second husband and infant son. The book became less hyperfocused on men and their regrets, and became more clearly a book about how damage ripples through a variety of relationships over time. I'm very proud of both those new stories, and grateful to Joe for pushing me to make each better and deeper as he looked at them in draft form.
You Would Have Told Me Not To (excerpt)
You Would Have Told Me Not To
By Christopher Coake
Just after midnight, Suzanne stopped for gas on the Indiana-Ohio border. Next to the gas station was a liquor store; without much hesitation, she went inside and bought a handful of miniature whiskey bottles. She drank one in the parking lot, then checked her phone one more time: still no messages—from Abby, Sean, a doctor, any- one. She called the hospital one more time, and received the same runaround: Sean had been admitted, and that was all they'd reveal. She said unkind things and hung up. When she'd gotten her Buick back to speed on the interstate, snow swirled past her windshield in a manner she could only describe as malevolent. The liquor burned her in her belly, and she focused on it, used it as a platform from which she could step back into her best and most rational self.
Fifty more miles of mostly empty highway, though, and she was back to remembering herself and Sean at their worst: what she had sworn she would not do, since her son's girlfriend Abby had called two hours ago, and left a message that he'd had been shot.
She hadn't spoken with Sean since early August, when he had called to tell her he was quitting his graduate program in anthropology. There was a reason to want a drink: the last conversation she might ever have had with her only child had been an argument, an ugly one.
From the tone of his voice (too honeyed and placating; he'd learned that trick from his father), and the over-solicitous way he'd asked after Miguel and the bank branch that she managed, she'd known what he was calling to tell her. She began to rage, not only because of Sean's irresponsibility (though, god, definitely because of that), but because of his predictability.
Sean told her his reasons—his heart wasn't in it; the work wasn't engaging him—but she filled in the real answers: You're quitting because grad school asked you to work very hard, and you don't like to. Because I wrote you several large checks last year to make grad school hap- pen, and some part of you takes joy in wasting my money. You're quitting because you know I wanted this for you.
You're quitting because you asked your father first, and I just know he told you to follow your heart, and your father is full of shit.
She said none of this aloud. What had she expected? She'd been too eager to help him, after all. Too eager for him to make something of himself, too eager to write him the checks, too exultant the night she'd toasted him in front of Abby, calling him "Dr. Sypes."
Finally she couldn't listen to any more. She'd interrupted, and told Sean she was disappointed in him. That he was twenty-seven, and too old to be leaving things like this unfinished. That sooner or later he'd have to make up his mind about who he was. She couldn't decide that for him— "I never asked you to!" he said. "Jesus, Mom—you're a really awful person, sometimes. You know that?" He'd hung up, and she had never called him back.
They often went weeks without talking, but this last silence had lasted nearly three months.
Abby's message had been frantic, tearful—Sean's been shot, we're going to Riverside Hospital, come quick. She'd not called again, and her phone went right to voicemail. Suzanne had tried calling Sean's father, Rick, in London, but he didn't answer, either. Sean could very well be dead by now, a long pale form beneath a sheet. Suzanne imagined a doctor, tall and serious, wearily stripping off bloodied latex gloves.
No, remember something else. Remember him as a baby again, as fat at birth as he would someday be tall, squalling wetly in her arms, smelling both sweet and ob- scene, her body turned inside out and given to her to hold.
She had loved him—let no one ever doubt that she had loved him!—but she was someone (Be honest, she heard her therapist say) for whom relationships were complicated, and even then, even when he was a baby, the love she'd felt for her boy had been tinged with a bitter doom. I can't, she'd thought, feeling him begin to nurse. I can't do this. I'll ruin him.
Be honest.
More than once she had thought, He'll ruin me.
She could still feel the weight of him, then, the breath trickling out of him, the delicate redness of his skin. How fragile, how impermanent he'd seemed. She could have cut him open with a fingernail.
Sean was not only alive; when Suzanne entered his room an hour and a half later, she found him sitting up and laughing.
Abigail leaned across the bed, her hands clasped on his stomach; in her dazed, puffy face Suzanne saw, at least, some evidence that another human being had been put through hell tonight, too. Sean was drawn—skinnier! He'd lost weight—and his right arm was in a sling. He was pale, his chin coated by several days' stubble. A long brown scribble of dried blood rose from under his gown and ended in a smear below his earlobe.
"Mama!" Sean cried, holding out his free arm. "Mi madre!"
"Baby boy," she said—she heard herself say it—and, helpless, rushed to him, buried her face into the crook of his neck, which was warm and smelled of blood.
He'd been shot through the biceps, she learned; she trailed a surgeon (not at all the tall white movie star she'd imagined; he was slim, Japanese, and very cheerful) out of the room and got the full report. The bullet had trav- eled cleanly through the muscle, missing arteries and major nerves—which, the doctor told her, had been the most advantageous path it could have taken.
"It could have missed him!"
"My understanding," the doctor told her, smiling proudly, as though Sean were his own son, "is that Sean was shot protecting his wife. Shielding her, and the baby."
She stopped herself from asking, His wife? Who's that? And why had they been holding a baby?
When Suzanne returned to the room, Abby was standing up, and she saw clearly that Abby was pregnant, and well along, too. Oh. And Abby and Sean were both wearing rings on the proper fingers. Oh, again.
Sean was drowsy with painkiller. He smiled up at her, heartbreakingly sweet. "Mama," he said, slurring, "you must be so mad at me."
Sean was discharged only a couple of hours after her arrival, at four a.m., and Suzanne drove him and Abby home to their apartment. Abby sat in back with Sean, her legs across his, her fingers in his hair, and neither of them said anything about being married, or about Abigail's belly.
"Please," Suzanne said, watching Abby's ring finger in the rearview mirror. "Tell me what happened?"
The shooting, Abby told her, had happened at the bar where Sean was working. (Her son, a bartender!) Sean's shift had ended, and Abby had driven to pick him up—she didn't like him walking so late at night, especially when it was nasty out. The parking lot had mostly been empty, and when she'd gotten out of her car to walk in- side the rear door and talk to Sean and her good friend Mikki, she'd heard a man yell at her. He was probably just a drunk, or even a bum, she figured—so she'd hurried to the door, but then the man had run up and pulled on her arm, dug his fingers in—"I'm bruised, I showed the cops"—and she was sure she was about to get abduct- ed and raped—
But at the exact moment the man grabbed her, Sean opened the door, and saw what was going on, and he'd acted so fast, Abby couldn't even believe it; in an eye- blink—literally—Sean had yanked her away from the man and inside. And then he did something dumb–
"But very brave," Sean said, his eyes closed.
"Dumb, but very brave"—Abby pecked wetly at his cheek, then rubbed the kiss away—and then Sean had gone back out into the parking lot, yelling. And right away the guy pulled a gun out of his jacket pocket and pointed it at the door, or Sean—no one knew who he was really aiming at, but it didn't matter—Sean jumped at the door and slammed it, and on the other side Abby heard the gun go off, and part of her died, literally died, and she and Mikki started screaming, and she opened the door even though she knew she shouldn't have, and Sean ran inside, and they locked the door, and that was when they realized he had been shot.
"It's weird," Sean said. His eyes were closed, but his voice was hale and engaged. "Getting shot. I'd just had a bullet go through my arm, and—I don't know, my adrena- line was really going, and I'd had a couple of drinks—sorry, Mom—and I couldn't even figure out where it hurt."
"I was the one who felt it," Abby said. "I felt the blood coming out right under my palm."
"I was pretty numb then."
"I got your blood all over me," Abby said to him, in something like wonder. She'd begun to breathe too hard. Sean twisted to comfort her and groaned with pain, and then Abby was hugging him. "God, Sean, I was so scared—" And he was saying, "I know, baby, I know." In the mirror Suzanne saw them clinging tightly together. Sean was comforting his wife. Then his eyes opened, and met Suzanne's in the mirror.
"So, Ma, we're gonna have a baby."
Abby slapped his chest. "And she has to have a fucking father. You stupid stupid stupid asshole."
On the Line Between Memory and Invention Lies the Story by Kimberly Olson Fakih December 11, 2022
Six Thoughts on Historical Fiction by Don Zancanella, author of A Storm in the Stars August 8, 2022
Seeing Red – an essay by Margaret Hermes, author of The Opposite of Chance (available in paperback March 2022) April 20, 2022
In the Shadows of The Unknown Woman by Brooks Hansen October 18, 2021
Thoughts On Writing IN THE FIELD By Rachel Pastan August 3, 2021
Old Enough to Have Succeeded, but Also to Have Failed: on writing the short stories You Would Have Told Me Not To by Chris Coake available in paperback July 27, 2021 July 26, 2021
Delphinium Authors
1954 acceptance speech artists Austria autobiographical Books Booz Allen Hamilton bottoming out celebrity demotic Dostoyevsky dysfunctional Edward Snowden fame fiction fiction-writing Fitgerald Fuhrer George Elliot Germany Hemingway Historical Fiction holocaust imagination James Frey Jewish Karen Silkwood literature Memoir memoirist Middlemarch Nabokov Nazi Nazis Nobel Prize novelist novelists NSA Reading redemption Sobibor style World War II writers writing


When you visit our dental office, your comfort and satisfaction is our top priority. We are dedicated to providing you with the personalized, gentle care that you deserve. Part of our commitment to serving our patients includes providing information that helps them to make more informed decisions about their oral health needs. This website is a resource we hope you'll find both useful and interesting. Our most satisfying results are innovative solutions that will serve the patients well-- frequently for decades or even a lifetime.
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Building a Man Cave? Perhaps a new restaurant, office, haberdashery, or a gift. Maybe just a little pizzazz to your living room. American Boy is contemporary artwork by melting impressionism, abstract, and a pinch of realism together. ENJOY!
and the history of American Boy.


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Carol Rumens's poem of the week
Poem of the week: An Arab Love-Song by Francis Thompson
This intense and erotic lyric by a Victorian Englishman, set in an Arabia of the mind, may not be 'authentic' but its power is stunning
Carol Rumens
Mon 17 Dec 2012 05.52 EST First published on Mon 17 Dec 2012 05.52 EST
Fantastic stuff ... camels by moonlight. Photograph: Piyal Adhikary/EPA
This week's poem is "An Arab Love-Song", by Francis Thompson (1859-1907), author of the great Christian ode, "The Hound of Heaven" and not to be confused with the Scottish poet James Thomson (1834-82), who wrote "The City of Dreadful Night". Both men were utterly original, extremists in their work and in their sometimes wretched lives. But James was the true poète maudit, the "laureate of pessimism", as he was nicknamed, who could raise squalor to the level of the visionary. Francis, despite his own dreadful nights of homelessness and addiction, was blessed by a strong religious faith, and by the friendship and support of the Meynells. Thanks largely to their interventions, he kicked his opium habit for extensive periods, made his mark as an essayist, and published three collections of verse before a final descent into dereliction. This little erotic lyric is an oddity in his work, and yet it seems to possess, in miniature, the rhythmic drive and flexibility which make "The Hound Of Heaven" memorable on its more ambitious scale.
While living rough in London, Thompson found occasional refuge with a kindly woman who worked as a prostitute. But the inspiration of "An Arab Love-Song" is thought to be a later acquaintance, a young short story writer named Katie King. Her mother disapproved of Thompson's courtship, and warned him off in a hurtful letter. "Thy tribe's black tents" is eloquent code for what he felt about the King family.
Borrowing the mask of another culture, perhaps pretending to be a translation, the poem might, with some justification, be labelled pastiche. What Thompson knew first-hand about Arabic poetry is unclear. His English filters are plain to see. There's a Biblical tone, particularly audible in the third stanza. Coleridge's poetry, we know, had touched his imagination, and it seems very likely that he had fallen under the spell of Edward FitzGerald's The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. Of course, it's not impossible that Thompson had heard real Arabic love songs. He roamed the streets of England's capital city for three years, and must have met and talked with many passing strangers at the all-night coffee stalls he haunted – "those little centres of distressed humanity waiting for the dawn".
More likely, though, Thompson's song belongs to an Arabia of his imagination. Its very informality underlines that impression (Arabic poetry was traditionally highly formalised). With its episodic and asymmetrical stanzas, the verses have a strange and no doubt deliberate nomadic quality.
It opens with three sets of irregular couplets. A certain whimsicality is more than offset by that striking image of the clouds as "hunchèd camels". The expected adjective is "humped" but "hunched" both suggests the characteristic shape, and, in a stroke of realism, shows us animals huddled together on the sand, at rest, because it's night. Then, picking up the "moon" rhyme for the first line, and plainly echoing Fitzgerald, Thompson expands into a longer-lined, highly emotive tercet. The declaration of love leads to a thought that, for a Victorian poet, must remain un-sayable (even for a Victorian poet in Orientalist guise) but the erotic intensity is thoroughly insinuated: "And night will catch her breath up, and be dumb."
The voice of the dramatic lyric, as a genre, does not need to be authentic to the poet; though it has to be, or appear, emotionally authentic. Thompson's title demands we conjure up a speaker – or singer – from a different culture. The genuineness or otherwise of the original impulse can be judged only by criteria belonging to the poet's own language – the rhythmic energy, the linguistic inventiveness. Thompson's poem is endowed with both.
The last, seven-line, verse is structurally the boldest, closer to prose than poetry, with rhymes (mother/ brother/brother/mother) that seem casual, almost accidental, subdued to the rhetoric of invocation. Their sound is suitably breathy, almost gasping. The thought is bold, too, when the speaker claims, God-like, to be his beloved's father, brother and mother. Finally, Thompson leaves us with another vivid picture, earthbound this time, as if to balance the earlier imagery of the night sky. The contrast of the "black tents" and the "red pavilion" (recalling the exclamation, "blood of my heart") is almost simplistic, almost crude – yet it's a striking evocation of the polarity of death and life, resistance and invitation.
Thompson's quirky technique never detracts from the fluidity and inevitability of the utterance. Though it might seem one of the by-products of Victorian poetry, this poem actually expresses an essential quality of the age, its power of synthesis. An Arab love song sung by an Englishman, tenuously linked, if at all, to the real grandeur of Arabic literary tradition, the poem is a cunning disguise. It allows Thompson an intensity unlike anything we find in his other secular poems. If the right hand doesn't always know what the left is doing, this is a left-handed poem. I wish he'd written more.
An Arab Love-Song
The hunchèd camels of the night
Trouble the bright
And silver waters of the moon.
The Maiden of the Morn will soon
Through Heaven stray and sing,
Star gathering.
Now while the dark about our loves is strewn,
Light of my dark, blood of my heart, O come!
And night will catch her breath up, and be dumb.
Leave thy father, leave thy mother
And thy brother;
Leave the black tents of thy tribe apart!
Am I not thy father and thy brother,
And thy mother?
And thou – what needest with thy tribe's black tents
Who hast the red pavilion of my heart?


Welcome to Carnival of the Cats #326!
In an effort to get more submissions I tried a little Pep Talk, this week, for Carnival, and Bad Kitty #117, which I will also host.
I even spread the word to several other Pet Blogging News sites (Thanks, KC of the Cat Blogosphere, for helping the cause with a link to the Pep Talk!), but alas Carnival participation didn't increase, though we DID get a newcommer.
I tell you, my irrepressibility is being severly challenged!
The guy Daddy showed this picture (See the ball in the upper left?) to laughed, apologized, and said they would take care of it.
As of this posting...my torture continues.
3. Over at Life From a Cat's Perspective, for Samantha and Clementine, it's Paw Bump Time!
14. The three Cats of the new blog T.A.N. Cats, Nikolaus, Thumper, and Anakin Gryphon posted today about Mikey, a tan kitten awaiting his forever home at the CWA shelter, in Ohio.
What a wonderful carnival you put together.
Even so, we decided to give it one more try ... and I'm sure glad we did!
Great Carnival of the Cats Nikita and thanks for hosting!!
We are heading over to check out the posts now!!
Nikita, thank you so much for a great Carnival!
I wish I could give you a skritch and a bellyrub.
Great carnival. I am still not sure how it works.


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More Than Just Classical!
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Tag Archives: Govia
Aug 14, 2018 · 9:51 am
Govia Thameslink Rail and the complaint about the chiropodist's bill
Cattle never had it this bad… travelling by Govia Thameslink
The appalling Thameslink rail franchise run by Govia (who also currently have the equally appallingly-mismanaged Southern and Northern English franchises) is notorious for cancelling trains at the last moment.
Its recent catastrophic timetable change caused such chaos that they had to bring in a new changed timetable to the changed timetable and then another timetable with changes to the changes to the timetable and the current ' interim' timetable under which they have reportedly withdrawn 200 scheduled trains per day.
Thameslink is also notorious for not stopping at the scheduled and announced stations and for changing platforms (especially at West Hampstead) roughly 20, sometimes 10, seconds before the train arrives without any warning nor announcement with the result that passengers have to race over the footbridge and sometimes miss the train.
At St Albans station, apparently, they DO sometimes inform passengers. Someone who works for Thameslink Customer Services tells me of this complaint by a passenger (possibly but not certainly at St Albans):
A lady wrote in, enclosing an invoice from a chiropodist. She said:
"I arrived last Tuesday at the station to take a train to London. The signage said it would come in on Platform 4. So up I went over the bridge down onto the platform. Two minutes later, the announcer said: "Sorry, but the train to London will now arrive on Platform 1."
"I ran up the stairs, over the bridge, down onto Platform 1.
"Two minutes later and, yes, the train was now going to arrive back on Platform 4.
"Up over and back down again.
"Therefore please find enclosed a bill from my chiropodist and, as evidence, a zip lock bag containing the hard skin from the bottom of my feet."
Thameslink did not reimburse her.
Filed under Humor, Humour, Trains
Tagged as Govia, Thameslink, trains, UK rail franchises
The nightmare effect of travelling on too many Thameslink trains – beetroot
I very rarely remember my dreams but I woke up during one this morning.
I was working, freelance, for a TV company and, during the lunch hour, I had to go to hospital where one of the treatments was to put beetroot on my stomach.
Next, I was scheduled to see the oncologist, but I could not remember the name of the person I was working for to phone and tell them I would not be back after lunch and someone had, as a joke, tattooed the bottom half of both my legs while I was asleep during the beetroot treatment.
This is what happens when you have to travel four times on a Sunday during a Bank Holiday weekend on the anarchic rail service Govia Thameslink – as I did yesterday – it turns your head into a gooey mess.
The beetroot was not even edible.
It was a nightmare.
The journeys not the dream.
Happy Thameslink passengers enjoying the relaxed holiday atmosphere on one of the tranquil platforms at St Pancras station in London, untroubled by trains.
Filed under Dreams, Railway, Trains, Travel
Tagged as Bank Holiday, dream, Govia, nightmare, Thameslink, trains, travel, uk
Nov 21, 2017 · 8:00 pm
With other comedy clubs closing, a new one opens in maybe an ideal location…
Borehamwood view by Google with 96 pretty-much centred
I live in Borehamwood which is on the north west edge of London, just inside the M25, London's outer orbital road. This is relevant.
I moved here because of the easy access. It is close to and betwixt three motorways – the M1, the A1(M) and the M25.
It is also on the Thameslink railway line (appallingly managed by the incompetent Govia franchise but extremely convenient). Trains run direct from Luton and Bedford (north of London) to Brighton (on England's South Coast), connecting Luton Airport with Gatwick Airport and running through the middle of London, across Blackfriars Bridge, interchanging, I think, with every Underground line in London. And the trains run throughout the night.
Borehamwood (just to confuse visiting Americans) is home to Elstree Film Studios (which also hosts TV shows like Big Brother) and to the BBC's Elstree Studios (home of the TV soap EastEnders).
What is strange is that it has had no permanent comedy club.
Philip Simon outside Borehamwood's 96 venue
This Saturday, comic Philip Simon is opening the Borehamwood Comedy Club in the local Council-owned 96 venue, right slap-bang in the middle of the high street.
The Jongleurs comedy chain has staged a few sporadic 'On The Road' gigs at the venue. But, last month, Jongleurs went bust.
"I have always thought that Borehamwood is the perfect place for comedy," Philip told me. "It was just a case of finding the right venue. When Jongleurs ended, the Council was approached by every comedy booker you can imagine, including some that have no links whatever in London or even in the South. But I think the Council were more interested in working with a local one-man-band than a big company, so here I am."
"It's a great location for a comedy club," I said.
"Transport is really important," agreed Philip. "Elstree & Borehamwood station is the last stop on the Oyster (cheap travel) card and it's very easy to get to. I did a gig last night in Brixton (in South London) and I got back to Borehamwood in 45 minutes – and that was three trains. Acts can double-up very easily.
"I genuinely think you can get top-level acts who would have opened at maybe the Comedy Store in Central London and be looking for a second show to close and think: Oh! I can get to Borehamwood in half an hour! Because of the transport links, there's no reason we couldn't get Brighton acts. It's a direct train. The venue is a 5-minute – if that! – walk from the station…"
"And the trains run all night," I said.
Philip has written for TV's Mock the Week and Taskmaster
Philip was involved in setting up the Comedians' Network within the actors' union Equity.
"I've heard a lot of complaints," he told me, "about the way acts have been treated by promoters on the comedy circuit in general – not specifically related to Jongleurs. About how replaceable we comedians are and how irrelevant we are to the bigger picture. So when I found Jongleurs had booked acts here already, the first thing I said was: Those are the acts I want to replace themselves, if they're still available.
"There was already a date booked in here by Jongleurs – this Saturday 25th November – so I took that and went back to the acts who were previously booked by Jongleurs and had been let down. I wanted to honour the bookings so the people who had potentially lost money were given first refusal on the new gig. There had been three acts booked. Two of them signed back up and one was busy elsewhere."
"And the two are?" I asked.
"Lateef Lovejoy and Trevor Crook. I added in Geoff Boyz to close and I am going to compere it. In future, it will be that same format – One act / a break / another act / a break / headline act. And I will compere it."
"How much per act?" I asked.
"That sounds quite high," I said. "How much are the tickets?"
"£12. The venue decided that. I have no control over it. The thing I am guaranteeing is that I will pay all of the acts on the day."
"Unlike Jongleurs," I laughed.
Are royal portraits all that comedy promoters care about?
"Well," said Philip, "speaking as an act… the thing that really frustrates me is that I have done gigs where I have seen promoters walk off with a wad of cash and then refuse to pay you for 30 days after the event. I don't have an agent and I don't want to spend all my time chasing payment when the money is in the hands of the promoter. Whatever happens, the acts here will get their money on the day of the gig provided the gig goes ahead and they turn up. If, for some totally unforeseen reason, the venue cancels the gig, then the act will be paid a cancellation fee."
"You don't have a gig here in December," I said, "because, obviously, 25th December is not an ideal date. But will you try to go weekly next year?"
"No. I don't think there's enough interest for a weekly comedy club of this level. When we re-launch in 2018, I am hoping we will take it monthly. What I might do is a monthly comedy show of this level and, in between, maybe another monthly new act/new material night. £12 a ticket is a lot of money to spend weekly and I'm not convinced that, by spreading myself so thin, I can give enough attention to the gig. Especially if I resident compere it."
"You said of this level," I pointed out.
"Yes. I would like it to be a high-end type of show. with faces that people will recognise and will represent the demographic of this area."
"You could," I suggested, "do a monthly Jewish gig here?"
"Well," said Philip, "I did a show at Camden Fringe last year with Aaron Levene called Jew-O-Rama and maybe in this venue here we could do a once-a-quarter Jew-O-Rama. We were intrigued that it did not appeal as much to the Jewish audience as it did to the non-Jewish audience. The nights we sold out, there was a predominantly non-Jewish audience.
Philip aims to heighten the glamorous world of Borehamwood
"As well as the main monthly show, there are two things I want to do – one is the Jewish gig; one is a local gig. To find a way of supporting local acts. If the venue is investing in me as a local act, then there is a benefit in extending that.
"I could do the main show monthly, here. And then, in between those main shows, on alternate months, I could do the Jewish gig and the local gig. There are loads of comedians in the Borehamwood/St Albans/Radlett/Barnet/Shenley/Watford area – comedians of all levels. Newcomers and pro-level comedians.
"What I probably cannot do in the main show is to give stage time as many local acts as I'd like. Because they are all at different levels. The level of the main show at this venue has to be at a high level. But, if I can find a way of supporting local comedians with maybe a lower-level gig that is going to involve less cost and less administration… And there are other projects I would like to do such as maybe a quarterly charity gig and a Christmas show."
"To be totally PC," I suggested, "you would need a white male… a female… gay… black… and Jewish… You would need to have five acts per show."
"I want funny," said Philip. "The diversity will come with finding the right funny people."
Tagged as Aaron Levene, Big Brother, Borehamwood, comedy clubs, EastEnders, Elstree, Equity Comedians' Network, Geoff Boyz, Govia, Jew-O-Rama, Jewish comedy, Jongleurs, Lateef Lovejoy, london, Mock The Week, Philip Simon, Taskmaster, Thameslink, Trevor Crook
Oct 13, 2015 · 11:53 pm
Chaos on Thameslink rail line continues
A typical late-night carriage, courtesy of Govia's Thameslink
I have blogged about the daily chaos on the Thameslink rail line through London before.
I have not mentioned it for a while because the cancellations, overcrowding, chaos and delays simply continue daily
Only two platforms were open at Hendon station: one going north; one going south.
I had a 26 minute wait for the 2301 northbound train. At 2300, it disappeared from the indicator board to be replaced by a 2334 train.
At 2305, I suddenly realised the train which had just arrived on the southbound platform had arrived heading north and I legged-it up the steps, across the bridge, down the steps and (with luck) got onto the train literally 4 seconds before the doors closed.
Of course, this being Thameslink, there had been no visual sign or audio announcement of the platform change, just the visual display changing the next train's time to 2334.
This has been going on for around a year and started about one month after Govia took over the contract to run the line from a previously perfectly-OK company.
It makes me long to live in North Korea.
You can get people shot there.
Filed under London, Trains
Tagged as Govia, london, Thameslink, trains
Govia Thameslink – ISIS duck-billed platypus of UK rail franchise holders
A few of the more experienced travellers waited on the bridge
I blogged about Govia Thameslink – London's comedy railway company – a fortnight ago and a week ago. I fear this may turn into a new running thread.
Thameslink is to efficiency and customer service what ISIS is to easy-going agnosticism and strawberries are to wildebeests.
Some waited on the platform but made sure they were close to the escape stairs
Govia Thameslink have now honed their management style to perfection – if you consider style and perfection to look like a duck-billed platypus wearing a kilt. And I have realised there is mileage in taking notes by sending Tweets.
Tonight I got on the very efficient TfL-run Overground to West Hampstead and then switched over to the Thameslink station. The indicator said the 2255 train would leave from Platform 2 although it almost always switches to Platform 4 with no warning about 10-20 seconds before its due time.
A collection of more experienced passengers (aka past victims) waited on both of the bridges between platforms 2 and 4 to hedge their bets. More passengers huddled at the foot of the stairs on Platform 2, ready to run. Foolish people actually stood on Platform 2.
Some just awaited their fate on and at the foot of the stairs
A perhaps even more foolhardy Japanese man asked that rarest of all beasts – a visible Thameslink employee – which platform the next train to Elstree would come in on.
"Platform 2," the equally foolhardy employee said with calm authority, pointing at the indicator board.
30 seconds later, as the train appeared, the Thameslink employee yelled in panic: "It's coming in on 4! It's coming in on 4!"
TWEET: Thameslink chaos @TLRailUK – W Hampstead platform changed 15 secs before train arrived. No warnings on signs or tannoys. Daily chaos.
I managed to squeeze into one of the overcrowded carriages because I was the first person onto the platform. Others were not so lucky.
But, as I say, Thameslink have refined their comedy act.
TWEET: Thameslink chaos @TLRailUK – W Hampstead train fails to stop at next 5 scheduled stations and ends up at St Albans. Daily chaos.
People piled out of the train at St Albans, many trekking over to another platform to return from whence they had passed through but had not stopped.
TWEET: Thameslink chaos @TLRailUK – One of around 30 passengers trying to return from St Albans says: "We can only pray". Daily chaos.
TWEET: Thameslink chaos @TLRailUK – One passenger says: "They couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery". Daily chaos…
TWEET: Thameslink chaos @TLRailUK – Second passenger says: "They wouldn't find the brewery". Daily chaos…
TWEET: Thameslink chaos @TLRailUK – Southbound service from St Albans stops as scheduled at Elstree. Some mistake, surely? Daily chaos…
The train from St Albans to Elstree ran on time. I receive a Tweet from Trainslate @TLRailGB which said:
How is anyone supposed to know where they stand with trains turning up on time?!
I look up the Twitter account for Thameslink. It says: Currently we are running a good service.
I look up the Trainslate account on Twitter. It says:
Thameslink – a not-fit-for-purpose 'service' from Govia. Treating customers with contempt whilst lining shareholder pockets (Go-Ahead/Keolis) #BrokenFranchise
At last. Sanity!
Filed under London, Trains, Travel
Tagged as @TLRailGB, @TLRailUK, franchise, Govia, london, rail chair, t/l, Thameslink, trains, Trainslate, travel, West Hampstead
Jun 28, 2015 · 10:34 am
Why the attractive Romanian girl was amazed by British train incompetence
Comedian Janet Bettesworth leaves Mama Biashara last night after buying the chair she sat on at Il Puma Londinese show
Not so much a blog, more a footnote to a blog I wrote a week ago about chaos on Thameslink trains. For myself and future historians of bureaucratic incompetence.
So last night I went to see Il Puma Londinese's Italian language Edinburgh Fringe preview at Mama Biashara in London, where I found out that, if a woman is feeling a bit lethargic, one cure is for her to take part of a Viagra tablet, which starts the blood rushing around and perks you (the lady) up. Who knew?
Afterwards, I got a civilised Overground train to West Hampstead where I changed stations. There are three stations at West Hampstead – all called West Hampstead – all in different locations about 2-minutes walk from each other. As usual at night, chaos reigned at West Hampstead's Thameslink station.
As I arrived, just before 2310 and went down the steps to the platform for my 2325 train, people on the crowded platform suddenly started to run en masse up the stairs towards me. Without warning, the train was coming in on another platform. This is normal.
20 seconds later, the train arrived on the other platform. Unusually, as far as I could see, only two passengers did not get over in time and were left stranded when the train left. This is an abnormally low number.
I realised it was going to be worth Tweeting, because Thameslink trains are like a man juggling spaghetti blindfold.
TWEET: W Hampstead chaos @TLRailUK – 2310 train platform changed at 20 secs notice. Unusually tannoy warning (but on wrong platform) Daily chaos.
TWEET: W Hampstead chaos @TLRailUK – Good news. Only 2 people missed train cos platform changed at 20 secs notice. Daily chaos.
Normal daily service via Govia's Thameslink. Trains either cancelled or overcrowded.
Obviously, as always, I waited at the foot of the steps for my 2325 train, so I could make a quick dash across the bridge to the other platform and, sure enough…
TWEET: W Hampstead chaos @TLRailUK – 2325 train platform changed at 30 secs notice. No one able to get on 4-carriage train. Daily chaos.
Thameslink have what seems to be a policy that fast trains (stopping at fewer stations with fewer passengers) are 8-carriages and slow trains (stopping at more stations with more passengers) are 4-carriages.
The previous train (8 carriages) had left relatively empty (and leaving two punters stranded).
Passengers went back & forth along platform, unable to get on
This 4-carriage train I tried to get on was packed to the extent that, when the doors opened, bottoms, arms, bags and heads spilled out. As far as I could see, as about 40-60 would-be passengers like me ran from carriage to carriage, no-one could get on anywhere. The train left, leaving all the would-be 40-60 passengers behind.
No room on train for crowded paying passengers
TWEET: W Hampstead chaos @TLRailUK – No room on slow 4-carriage train. Fast 8-carriage train coming. No slow trains known.
There was a half-heard tannoy announcement (on the wrong platform) that the next train would be a fast train of 8 carriages.
TWEET – W Hampstead chaos @TLRailUK – Passengers still arriving on wrong platform as that's what signs say. Daily chaos. Hope of any train fading.
Passenger watches train he could not get on leave without him
The indicator board on our platform – the one where trains were leaving from – showed the next (fast) train. The indicator board on the wrong platform, from which trains were probably not leaving, indicated that my next (slow) train, due at 2355, would leave from there. New passengers continued to stream onto that wrong platform. We, the orphans of the previous slow train, stayed on our platform, taking bets our train would come in here.
A Dunkirk spirit broke out. People started talking to each other.
An attractive Romanian girl with a backpack told me she was amazed at the chaotic railway system in Britain.
I said: "Things are probably better in Romania."
She told me: "No," but not with much conviction.
The (fast) 8-carriage train came and left, half empty.
TWEET: W Hampstead chaos @TLRailUK – 2355 train platform changed at 2354. Although still signed on wrong platform. Daily chaos.
Cattle never had it this bad, courtesy of Govia's Thameslink
Our 4-carriage train, full to overflowing, arrived with passengers still legging it across from the wrong platform. Miraculously, some people got out and some of us squeezed into the train. Most were left behind on the platform.
TWEET: Thameslink chaos @TLRailUK – I got on cattle truck train at W Hampstead. Many did not. Daily chaos.
Squeezed into my carriage were three small-ish children aged about 8 or 9, coming back from some special day out with their parents. The family had been separated from the other people they had been with because they had been unable to get on a previous train. The children were clinging on to their parents (they did not have much choice) and had scared eyes. Their parents were trying to calm them.
TWEET: Result of 8-carriage fast trains & 4-carriage slow trains on Thameslink @TLRailUK – Daily chaos & scared children.
TWEET: Thameslink chaos @TLRailUK – Just took 70 minutes to do a 14 minute journey. Daily chaos.
It has been like this since Govia took over the Thameslink rail franchise towards the end of last year. It is now June. I imagine the Govia directors have chauffeur-driven cars.
Perhaps Govia should take corporate Viagra.
Tagged as @TLRailUK, Gov., Govia, Il Puma Londinese, london, Overground, rail franchise, Thameslink, trains, West Hampstead
Jun 20, 2015 · 11:33 pm
Govia Thameslink train incompetence makes me doubt Margaret Thatcher
Fear stalked the replacement bus yesterday
I am old enough to remember pre-Thatcherite stand-up comedy routines and the regular cliché butt of jokes was the inefficiency of the Gas Board and of British Railways.
British Gas remains incompetent but now has less incompetent competitors and British Rail was privatised into a whole series of regional franchises and rather bizarre subdivisions, so it is a less easy target for jokes on national TV because rail incompetence has been localised and there is no one organisation to blame.
I have always been fairly happy with rail privatisation. British Railways was so big and everyone had jobs for life, so they did not much care about any service standards or innovation.
I have lived in Borehamwood, using the Thameslink line (under various franchise holders) since 1986. The station here is slightly oddly called Elstree & Borehamwood. The station is not actually in Elstree. This becomes relevant later.
Until late last year, the Thameslink franchise was run by First Capital Connect and I never had any ongoing problems. I rarely travel in the rush hour. Daytime and late night trains were OK under First Capital Connect.
Then, late last year, Govia took over the Thameslink franchise. They also run Southern trains – officially recognised as the most inefficient train system in the UK. Within a month, utter chaos descended on Thameslink with trains cancelled willy nilly all over the place and late night trains a catastrophe of late-running and cancellations, often with the explanation "because no driver is available".
Govia's main apparent innovation has been, during crowded periods, to run 8-carriage fast trains (which stop at fewer stations, therefore have fewer passengers) and 4-carriage slow trains (which stop at more stations with more passengers). You cannot fault them for original thinking.
From Thameslink website – journeys + the added unexpected
Since January, every Sunday when I have arrived at St Pancras, the indicator boards have displayed the words BUS SERVICE. There are no directions to this bus service, because there is no bus service. In fact, the trains are still running as normal, but from a totally different, upper, level of the station accessed round a corner and up escalators. No signs. Seldom any staff to ask.
Last night (Friday) I arrived at West Hampstead station to get my slow 4-carriage train to Elstree. A fast 8-carriage train was due to arrive first on my platform. One minute before it was due, the train disappeared from the indicator board. It had been switched to another platform. There was, of course, no announcement. Those with experience of Thameslink's ways and of the station legged it up and over the bridge just in time to get on the train. Five people failed to make it.
20 seconds before my own train was due to arrive (I noted the time) the train disappeared from the indicator board. We all – maybe 30 of us – successfully raced up and over to the other platform. There had, of course, been no announcement.
Somewhere in NW London on my unguided tour yesterday
This weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, there are no trains between Elstree and St Pancras, only a replacement bus service. Imagine my joy.
I allowed two hours to make the normally 15-20 minute journey to West Hampstead station this afternoon. It was not enough. You should know that Elstree & Borehamwood station is on the edge of NW London. West Hampstead is to the south of this.
The Thameslink iPhone app said a bus would leave Elstree station at 1612.
When I asked the bus driver and his supervisor, they told me it would be leaving at 1609.
At 1605, the supervisor told the driver: "You might as well leave now. They haven't had a bus for a while."
I was happy enough. Presumably people arriving just before the announced time were not.
Replacement bus: every turn was an unknowable adventure
The bus, I think, was due to stop at Mill Hill, Hendon, Cricklewood, West Hampstead and St Pancras (although the sign on the front of the bus said King's Cross, which is not on the Thameslink line). We never went to Mill Hill, just straight down south to Hendon… sort of.
After a while, I started Tweeting, because I smelled a saga.
TWEET – Bus replacement driver had to ask direction to Hendon station from man in street. We arrived at wrong Hendon station.
TWEET – Bus replacement driver has just yelled out "Fuck!" – not good news.
TWEET – Heading north on M1 motorway (away from Hendon)
TWEET – Now north of Elstree, which we left over an hour ago.
TWEET – Bus replacement driver now apparently heading NW to Watford. London is SE.
TWEET – Bus replacement driver now complaining to passenger: "It's ridiculous".
TWEET – Bus now in open countryside outside London.
TWEET – Passenger now giving bus replacement driver directions.
TWEET – Bus replacement driver now apparently heading south to Elstree.
TWEET – Bus now heading to Edgware.
TWEET – At last! Houses! We are somewhere near Elstree.
TWEET – Soon we will be back where we started around 70 minutes ago.
TWEET – Phew! Back on route, about half mile off where we started 73 minutes ago.
TWEET – Bus replacement driver now taking route advised by passenger standing beside him at all times.
TWEET – Bus now at Hendon Central station. Wrong station. Attempting to get to Hendon Thameslink station.
TWEET – Apparently now not attempting to get to Hendon Thameslink as passenger doesn't know way.
TWEET – Bus replacement driver attempting to find Cricklewood. This seems unwise.
TWEET – I think I spotted Edinburgh Castle. May be getting delirious.
TWEET – First traffic jam. Pretty good after 90 mins but then we have mostly been in countryside.
TWEET – Passenger points out Cricklewood station to driver as we pass by without stopping.
TWEET – Bus replacement driver asks passenger: "Where do we go next?" Passenger suggests "West Hampstead".
TWEET – Now my stomach and head are feeling queasy.
TWEET – Bus replacement driver asks passenger: "How far is railway station?" Passenger (looking at his own mobile phone) says "Under half a mile."
TWEET – In Kilburn High Road.
TWEET – Have arrived W Hampstead station after 1 hr 46 min trip. Well, 1'50" exactly, as bus left 4 mins early. (It was actually 7 mins early but, by this point, I had lost touch with reality.)
TWEET – Thameslink @TLRailUK have just tweeted "SERVICE UPDATE: Good service." (I was not the only one who had lost touch with reality.)
The indicator board inside the closed station
The bus dropped us right outside the main entrance to West Hampstead station.
As you might imagine, I was interested to see what the trip back from West Hampstead would be like. Several hours later, I went and stood at the point, outside the main entrance to the station, where the bus had dropped us.
Inside the closed station, barely visible, was a train indicator showing the bus departure times.
TWEET – At West Hampstead station. Replacement bus to Elstree due 2144. I got here 2136. Do I feel lucky?
TWEET – Now 2150. Neither 2142 bus nor my 2144 bus arrived. Maybe, as before, drivers can't find London?
TWEET – Have discovered buses stop not at large glass-fronted main station but at small alleyway back exit round corner. No signs.
TWEET – I am on bus which left at 2156. Man in yellow jacket was supervising from pavement.
TWEET – I suggested he might tell anyone waiting at main ticket office building. He smiled inanely at me and did nothing.
TWEET – We drove off from the back alleyway entrance presumably leaving people at the main station/ticket office.
TWEET – Driver said this bus goes to Elstree. I neglected to ask "Via where?". I shall phone ahead to friends in Aberdeen.
TWEET – Bus driver has found Hendon Thameslink station. Maybe a lucky mistake. No Thameslink person outside, of course.
TWEET – So near and yet so far. Was about half mile from Elstree station. Bus has now veered off to take longer route.
TWEET – Now arrived at Elstree village, which is not where Elstree station is – It's at Borehamwood.
TWEET – Phew! Arrived at Elstree station in Borehamwood. 2242 (46 minute journey) I may take up religion.
West Hampstead station is the large grey-roofed building, centre bottom, with entrance on Iverson Road. The bus stopped top right of picture, near the blue square at end of 'Black Path' alleyway.
Thameslink man ignores main station – a bit of roof visible behind him on far left behind wall
I included the Thameslink Twitter account in the Tweets I sent because – for comic reasons – I was interested to see if there was any reaction. There was not, of course.
Being a PR for Thameslink must be a bit like being a PR for Saddam Hussein's human rights record. Their response (if they ever bothered) would be to blame other (dis)organisations. But it is part of an ongoing pattern of Govia incompetence and don't-give-a-flying-shit-ness. I thought the new Thameslink (dis)service had reached its twin peak of Govia surreality when:
– I got on a train a couple of weeks ago which both the indicator board and tannoy announcement said stopped at Elstree… It, in fact, whizzed though Elstree station and an on-train information board said the next stop was Harpenden, three stations further on. In fact, it stopped at St Albans (two stations further on). I thought I must have mis-read the indicator board and mis-heard the tannoy announcement until half the train disembarked to get back to a whole host of stations the train had failed to stop at… and another passenger told me this was the third time it had happened to him.
With St Pancras 11 miles behind us, this suddenly appeared…
– (As I mentioned in a blog on 30th May) after a series of catastrophes – as we approached Crystal Palace and arrived in East Croydon heading south, the on-train information board displayed the words "approaching St Pancras". We were travelling south. St Pancras was around 11 miles behind us to the north, as the pig flies.
Clearly I underestimated Govia Thameslink's capacity for incompetence and lack of any discernible professionalism or customer care.
Flying pig – suggested new logo for the Govia Thameslink line
I still do not think a return to a give-even-less-of-a-shit national British Railways is a good idea.
But, at West Hampstead yesterday, I got on the Overground, now very efficiently run (compared to what it was before) by the Mayor of London.
Apparently Boris has had his eyes on taking over the Thameslink route. I can only hope his successor does.
I do like a bit of surreality and have a high threshold of chaos. But there are limits.
I suppose the company name Govia – Go-via – should give a hint at their lack of any specific direction.
(MORE TALES OF THAMESLINK CHAOS HERE)
Filed under Humor, Humour, London, Trains
Tagged as @TLRailUK, Borehamwood, British Railways, Elstree, First Capital Connect, Govia, london, St Pancras, Thameslink, trains, transport, West Hampstead


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Astorg and Cinven to acquire LGC
A consortium jointly led by Astorg and Cinven today announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire LGC, a global leader in the Life Sciences Tools sector.
Press Release About Investment
LGC provides a comprehensive range of measurement tools, proficiency testing schemes, supply chain assurance standards and specialty genomics reagents underpinned by leading analytical and measurement science capabilities. Its scientific tools and solutions form an essential part of its customers' quality assurance procedures and enable organisations to develop and commercialise new scientific products and advance research. The company serves customers across a number of end markets, including human healthcare, agri-food and the environment.
Established in 1842, today LGC employs more than 3,200 people, including many internationally-recognised scientific experts in their field. LGC is headquartered in the UK and serves almost 50,000 laboratories worldwide from its global office network spanning 22 countries across five continents.
Astorg and Cinven identified LGC as an attractive investment opportunity given its:
Leading positions in the healthcare, food and agriculture markets, underpinned by its long-standing reputation for scientific expertise and high quality products;
Strong performance and organic growth aided by investment in people, key capabilities, scientific R&D and infrastructure across the world;
Several recent highly complementary acquisitions and significant future development opportunities, given the fragmented nature of its markets and the opportunity to extend its capabilities into complementary areas;
High calibre management team, with Cinven and Astorg backing a highly experienced senior management team, led by Tim Robinson, CEO.
Supraj Rajagopalan, Partner at Cinven, said:
"Cinven's investment in LGC was identified as a result of the Healthcare Sector team's focus on the life sciences space. LGC is exposed to a wide range of diversified and fast growing end markets across the Standards and Genomics sectors and we look forward to working with the highly experienced management team to continue investing in strengthening and broadening LGC's global footprint and portfolio of leading, high quality products."
Francois de Mitry, Managing Partner at Astorg, added:
"We have been actively monitoring developments in the Life Sciences Tools market, with a particular focus on LGC, for over five years, and have been very impressed by LGC's scientific capabilities and the resulting continuous organic growth. LGC represents a strong fit with Astorg's strategy of investing in differentiated leading global B2B players headquartered in Western Europe and North America. Based on our sector work, we have already identified promising future M&A opportunities to actively work on the M&A-led growth in close cooperation with management."
Tim Robinson, Chief Executive of LGC, commented:
"We are delighted that Astorg and Cinven have chosen to partner with LGC for the next chapter of our history. Cinven and Astorg have a strong track record of investing in and supporting the growth of global companies in the Life Sciences Tools sector. Together we will continue to invest in serving our customers and supporting the development of our employees. In the past few years, LGC has strengthened its international reach and grown significantly in its chosen markets. Astorg, Cinven and LGC's senior management are aligned in building on this momentum with a clear strategy for growth, delivering Science for a Safer World."
Cinven is a leading international private equity firm with a long track record of successfully investing in market-leading, growth-oriented companies serving the pharma and life sciences industry, including its investments in CeramTec, the manufacturer of high performance ceramics for application in the medical and industrial end-markets; and Sebia and Phadia – both in-vitro diagnostics companies. In addition, Cinven is currently invested in Synlab, a leading European clinical diagnostics laboratory group; and Stada, a leading global manufacturer of prescription generics and OTC products.
Astorg is a leading independent private equity firm with over €8 billion of assets under management. Astorg seeks to partner with entrepreneurial management teams to acquire market leading global companies headquartered in Western Europe and North America, working together to create value through the provision of strategic guidance, experienced governance, and adequate capital. Astorg enjoys a distinct entrepreneurial culture, a long-term shareholder perspective, and a lean decision-making body enhancing its reactivity. Though not specialised, Astorg has gathered valuable industry expertise in software, healthcare, business-to-business professional services, and technology-based industrial companies. Astorg has offices in London, Paris, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, and Milan.
Cinven and Astorg have more than 40 years history of investing in and supporting companies to drive value creation and reach their growth potential.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, with completion of the transaction subject to regulatory approval and other customary clearances.
About Cinven
Cinven is a leading international private equity firm focused on building world-class European and global companies.
Its funds invest in six key sectors: Business Services, Consumer, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrials, and Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT).
Cinven has offices in London, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Guernsey, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and New York.
Cinven takes a responsible approach towards its portfolio companies, their employees, suppliers, local communities, the environment and society.
Cinven Capital Management (V) General Partner Limited, Cinven Capital Management (VI) General Partner Limited and Cinven Capital Management (VII) General Partner Limited are each authorised and regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and Cinven Partners LLP, the advisor to the Managers of the Cinven Funds, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
In this press release 'Cinven' means, depending on the context, any of or collectively, Cinven Group Limited, Cinven Partners LLP, Cinven (LuxCo1) S.A., and their respective Associates (as defined in the Companies Act 2006) and/or funds managed or advised by the group.
For more information, please visit www.cinven.com
About Astorg
About LGC
LGC is a global leader in the Life Science Tools sector, which serves customers across a number of end markets, including human healthcare, agri-food & the environment. LGC provides a comprehensive range of measurement tools, proficiency testing schemes, supply chain assurance standards and specialty genomics reagents underpinned by leading analytical and measurement science capabilities. Its scientific tools and solutions form an essential part of its customers' quality assurance procedures and enable organisations to develop and commercialise new scientific products and advance research.
LGC's 3,200+ employees include internationally-recognised scientists who are experts in their field. Headquartered in London, it operates out of 22 countries worldwide and is extensively accredited to quality standards such as GMP, GLP, ISO 13485, ISO 17034, ISO 17043, ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 9001.
LGC has been home to the UK Government Chemist for more than 100 years and is the UK National Measurement Laboratory and Designated Institute for chemical and bio measurement. LGC has been privately-owned since 1996 and has diversified through internal investment and acquisition to be an international leader in its chosen markets.
For more information, please visit www.lgcgroup.com
Cinven Partners LLP (advisor to Cinven's Seventh Fund)
Vanessa Maydon
vanessa.maydon@cinven.com+ 44 (0) 207 661 3325
Clare Bradshaw
clare.bradshaw@cinven.com+44 (0) 207 667 3248
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