Westhoughton’s Maxine Peake is getting behind plans to celebrate the Battle of Winter Hill in 1896. In September that year, thousands of people from Halliwell and surrounding areas, took part in huge protests in defiance of wealthy landowner, Colonel Richard Ainsworth, after he blocked off public access to the moors to host private grouse shooting parties with his friends. There was widespread anger when public access to the moors was blocked. On September 6, thousands walked from the bottom of Halliwell Road, up Smithills Dean Roan and then via Coal Pit Road onto the moors, defying Col Ainsworth, demanding their right to access the Winter Hill moors.
ZeroAvia’s hydrogen fuel cell plane ambitions clouded by technical challenges
Aspirations remain sky high
When ZeroAvia’s six-seater aircraft completed an eight-minute flight from Cranfield Airfield in the U.K. last September, the company claimed a “major breakthrough” with the first-ever hydrogen fuel cell flight of a commercial-size aircraft.
The modified Piper Malibu propeller plane was now the largest hydrogen-powered aircraft in the world, wrote the company. “While some experimental aircraft have flown using hydrogen fuel cells, the size of this aircraft shows that paying passengers could be boarding a truly zero-emission flight very soon,” added Val Miftakhov, ZeroAvia’s CEO.
ACTOR Maxine Peake urged people to continue fighting for their rights of way as she joined the launch event celebrating the 125th anniversary of Bolton s fight to walk up Winter Hill. Maxine, who was born in Westhoughton, joined an open meeting via Zoom to hear more about the historical event and how the fight to enjoy the open countryside continues to this day with warnings on how rights to enjoy the open countryside are hugely curtailed. Up to 10,000 people marched in the Winter Hill Trespass of 1896 to reclaim their right of way, after landowner Colonel Richard Ainsworth of Smithills Hall closed off a well-used track that crossed his land on the slopes of Winter Hill, so he could pursue his love of game shooting uninterrupted.
Speaking at a Chamber of Digital Commerce panel discussion in late February, City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez noted that his city’s employees, like others, are worried about the “potential devaluation of the dollar,” so he proposed to the Miami City Commission a resolution to allow “our employees to take a percentage of their salaries in Bitcoin if they so desired.”
After all, notes Suarez, “The highest-paid player in the National Football League” Carolina Panthers offensive tackle Russell Okung won’t be earning the most because he’s the best player in the NFL but “because he asked for 50% of his salary in Bitcoin.”