Meet Councillor Mr Carson!

Congratulations to Niall, he was elected to Whitby Town Council in the elections last week. The ballots from his ward weren't counted until late Friday evening.

The sounds and smells of summer.

Well that's it summer's arrived. On Sunday the first swifts were first heard screaming overhead and then a few minutes later the squadron (of three so far) did a low level fly past to say, "we've arrived, summer starts here." Yesterday at tea time we had the first rain for nearly a month and it smelt like August, rain on hot dry earth – lovely. We may have had grey, cold, miserable weather for the last few weeks but no real rain. The ground has drunk it up but still looks parched we could do with a bit more.

More news of Niall.

He's still campaigning against the monstrous harbour development and has been interviewed for both our BBC local radio (Radio Cleveland) and also for Radio 4's Today programme. You can catch his interview on listen again until Thursday 12th at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/thursday.shtml (you need Real Player)

What's Niall up to now?

Is a question a few of you have asked. So, here's the answer -

Niall may have retired from CJS but like so many other retired people he's busier than ever and still standing up for what he believes in. He's a member of many local groups and is involved in campaigning for Whitby and district, in fact this week he's in the Whitby Gazette in his capacity as a 'concerned resident' and member if the Whitby & District Tourism Association. Read the article here.

If you'd like to keep up with his activities then read his Wildlife Diary and News Blog at on his Groves Dyke website.