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Thursday August 19 2010 HERALD 9

NEWS E

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ver had haggis and chips? Well, I tasted my first ever portion (with loads of salt and vinegar), this week on the English-Scottish border, where I am staying with my partner Vanda. Although this holiday is meant to be a short break from politics, when I went into the Longtown Fish and Chip Shop (near Carlisle), there were pictures of the Prime Minister on the wall, as he had been there just before the election (haggis and chips is delicious by the way if a little strong!). We are staying in a farm where we are surrounded by sheep, cows, meadows and forest. Even though it has rained most days with black clouds above, we can still see far and wide. Being in such a place, you cant help but think we are in the most beautiful country in the world. We have been to the small Lake District village Glenridding with mountains behind and Ullswater lake in front. Another day we drove through the North Pennines, one of the most special drives I have ever done. The mountains and valleys in glorious green are a wonder to behold. When you go to such places and see nature at its best, you cant but believe in God. This is a place steeped in history. Hadrians Wall, in Northumberland, is not far away. It was good to visit the Birdosweld Fort, part of the wall. Hard to believe that this fort was built around 112AD for Roman soldiers. I hadnt realised that

Time to enjoy a break in the borders

Robert Halfon at Hadrians Wall

Rainbow Day at the fire station

ESSEX County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) will meet the gay and lesbian community during a special open day at Harlow Fire Station next Saturday (August 28). Rainbow Day will bring together firefighters from White Watch Harlow with West Essex Primary Care Trust, Essex Police, Harlow Council and various support networks who will be there to give help and advice to visitors. Private consultation rooms will be available for visitors to access information from any of the 15 organisations attending the day. Leading firefighter James Taylor said: Rainbow Day has been created to give the people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community a chance to find out more about the fire service and partner agencies and the work we are doing to help make them safer. Statistics show that some members of the gay community are at greater risk from fire in their homes and we as a fire service want to make sure that they are getting the best and most appropriate help and advice. We work to make all communities in Essex safer and as a service we have not traditionally engaged with the LGBT community and we hope that we can change that by having special open days like this one. The event takes place at the fire station on Fourth Avenue between 10am and 4pm.

ROBERT HALFON

MP

Hadrians Wall was originally much higher, but shrank as its stones were acquired by the Norman barons when they came to England 900 years later. Nevertheless, it is amazing to see how much of the wall has survived until the present day. As well as being on the Cumbrian-Northumberland border, we are only 20 minutes away from Scotland. You can drive through with ease: no border police to be seen or

passports needed. Given its tragic recent history, I wanted to visit Lockerbie, a small and peaceful town. It is shocking in my view, that the terrorist who perpetrated the bombing, was allowed back to Libya and now BP has commercial agreements with the Libyan leader Colonel Qadaafi. But back to Scotland. The countryside matches the English in beauty and it has been great to drive up and down the Scottish coast. We came across ruins of the wonderfully named Sweetheart Abbey. This monastery gets its name as it was commissioned in 1275 by the daughter of Lord Galloway in his honour. Walking through the ruined abbey, you

can imagine the monks doing their daily rituals. It is a serene place one in which you can stop, stand and stare a little. We will be back to Harlow soon. It has to be one of the best holidays I have had. It reminds me that our country despite the difficulties we face is still the best place on earth to live. To catch up with my work see www.roberthalfon.com and www. roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Charity Fund Raiser for

St Clare Hospice
October 8th 2010 7.30pm until late
AT

FAIRWAYS, PARSLOE ROAD, HARLOW, ESSEX CM19 4RT

WHAT'S GOING ON...

Celebrity Guest Appearance Live Performances

Laura jay, Diverse Divas, verity-Rae Martin, Spot Light Disco. Charity Auction, Charity Raffle: Amazing prizes to be won Evening buffet.
All monies raised will be donated to St Clare Hospice Please note this is a non profit event

Contact Joe to book your tickets on

07951 097465

Ticket 10

Tickets kindly printed and donated ny M&B Print solutions LTD