November 4, 2026 · 4:16 am

#HeadlineTherapy Blue Lagoon owner plans to float as Icelandic tourism booms

Thanks to Richard Milne and Financial Times Online for the Headline.

Well I love a good spa and this one in Iceland sounds pretty wonderful. Apparently , Iceland is experiencing a explosive growth in tourism, for a population of only 400,000, tourism has become Iceland’s largest export industry. Post-covid and Volcanic Eruptions visitor numbers are increasing at 2.3million people in the last four years. With markets as diverse as America and China.

The Blue Lagoon Spa itself is amazing and during the summer months is fully booked, however, they want to expand their “winter ” business.

It is protected by a barrier built around the Power Plant which supplies heated water to the Lagoon as a by product of its geothermal energy creation and although the Spa was forced to close for a few weeks in 2023/4 due to volcanic eruptions, the work to provide the barrier and even use water to cool lava flow has meant that the Spa is protected.

Hence, the Blue Lagoon Spa wants to raise money from a listing on the Icelandic Stock Market so it can develop it’s business by adding a mountain retreat, glacier baths and acquire a adventure tourism group. Sounds very exciting.

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November 4, 2026 · 4:00 am

#HeadlineTherapy Rare ant colony stolen from nature reserve in Devon.

Thanks to Sky News online for the Headline

A nest of narrow-headed ants was dug out of the ground neatly with spade cuts and stolen in Devon by thieves presumably because they are so rare, the location they were stolen from being their only presence in England.

No doubt they are going to end up in some private collection somewhere. How evil is that?

The Queen narrow-headed ants can live up to 25 years and the nests can hold up to 10,000 ants. A well established nest will take a long time to replace in the location and has meant a lot of good work by Devon Wildlife Trust has been ruined.

It beggars belief that thieves would target a rare species like this when it is under pressure to survive.

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November 4, 2026 · 12:13 am

A revisit from November 2024. I wasn’t far off

Totally Grungey

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November 4, 2026 · 12:10 am

#HeadlineTherapy Residents urged to act as HGVs thunder through Malmesbury

Thanks to Peter Davison and The Gazette and Herald Online for the Headline.

It’s one of my pet hates seeing an oversized HGV lorry thundering down a Country lane into a scenic town, just because it saves them twenty minutes as a cut through on their journey.

Their route planning is from their Head Office , not GPS and tells them that this is the quickest route , and they use it . As time goes on more and more lorries use it and the damage to road infrastructure is significant.

Malmesbury Town Council are asking residents to take pictures (safely ) of lorries that they suspect are breaking the regulations within the town which has a 7.5tonne weight restriction except for access.

Seems fair, but Malmesbury is not the only town suffering from this and perhaps there should be more weight restrictions in place to protect our roads.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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November 3, 2026 · 11:15 pm

Dracula

What’s a book or movie that genuinely scared you?

To read Dracula , is to feel his touch and his smell,

The iron strength of his hand and his deal with hell,

The other characters they have to figure Dracula’s next move,

Lucy and Arthur never stood a chance,

Dracula wanted Lucy at first glance,

Her friend Mina totally unaware,

What her Jonathon had experienced in Dracula’s lair,

Van Hesling enters a good friend ,

Without him the story wouldn’t have a good end,

The touch, the feel the atmosphere,

It’s a book that establishes real fear,

The characters have to fight and stay one step ahead,

Not easy when you’re dealing with the undead.

Ghostly hands grip iron bars amid swirling crimson shadows and moonlit mist
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November 3, 2026 · 4:00 am

#HeadlineTherapy Verdict delayed on controversial sea defences

Thanks to Richard Hunt and BBC Online News for the Headline

The RNLI have objected to the proposal to build 17 Rocky Groynes(manmade rock headlands ) on Blackpool’s sandy beaches to prevent coastal erosion. The timing of the proposal and it’s approval is necessary to ensure that the funding from Central Government is available.

The Council has a “statutory” duty to protect the coastline, however, they cannot afford to lose the money that they have been allocated for the existing scheme, as an alternative new scheme would not be allocated the money as there have been reductions in the Budgets allocated by Central Government.

As the RNLI’s role as a Charity is saving lives, I’m sure they are objecting to the proposal for a good reason. Yet the Council may be forced to go forward with a scheme that might “endanger” lives because it does not want to lose funding from Central Government and still wants to maintain sea defences.

Coastal erosion is far too serious a problem to be subject to the whims and changes in Central Government, and dare I say it changes in Political Leaders. There must be a way forward that is the “best solution ” it shouldn’t be a case of putting something in place just because the funding will be available , either it is the right solution or it is not.

Central Government should be able to review and understand the implications and take into account local concerns.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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November 3, 2026 · 12:51 am

#HeadlineTherapy Indians turn to start-ups to care for ageing parents as young become more mobile.

Thanks to Rachita Prasad and BBC Online News for the Headline.

By 2050 it is estimated that one in five Indians will be over the age of 60. In a culture where traditionally young people looked after their elderly parents a different model is developing.

Young people are more likely to move away for work and will have to be mobile to continue their careers. Thus it is not possible for them to stay and look after elderly parents particularly when they become infirm or are not well.

So what are the options? Well apparently it is an incredibly big market and is attracting forward thinking start-up businesses in areas which support the elderly to live independently , and their customers are not just the elderly but also the children of the elderly who want to know their parents are looked after if they cannot be there for them.

The reality though is a substantial number of India’s elderly population do not have pensions to support buying into these support services. So the Government will have to take some of the slack. This year the state of Kerlala in India became the first to pass a Law which ensured provision of rights to affordable care, legal aid , digital inclusion and safe public spaces.

However it is still a worrying situation , and perhaps the ethic of the family looking after elderly relatives should not be lost.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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November 3, 2026 · 12:32 am

#AIPoetryPrompt No rules, no cost restraints

If you had a free round trip ticket to anywhere , where would you go?

A free round trip ticket to anywhere,

I guess I’d only know when I got there,

What’s not to like?

Perhaps it would be the ultimate hike,

No rules no cost restraints,

The freedom would give me heady faints,

So perhaps health insurance would be necessary,

As to be ill while traveling would be scary,

Still let’s not think of things that could go wrong,

I’d really like to see Ha Long,

It’s not because it’s on a list,

But because Vietnam has the most beautiful mist.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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November 1, 2026 · 8:32 am

#HeadlineTherapy Plans to transform Seven Stars pub face Wiltshire decision

Thanks to the Jamie Singleton and The Salisbury Journal Online for the Headline.

Articles on the internet can have what I like to call a “pre-Headline”, some call it “click-bait” to catch your eye. In this case there was a mention of a “Billionaire Wife”.

However the article Headline is more to do with a “planning decision in Wiltshire” which perhaps only the local people would be interested in and seems to have garnered their support.

The planning decision does involve the wife of Nathaniel Rothschild, Lady Loretta and the redevelopment of the Seven Stars Pub in the Pewsey Vale . The “tasteful development” includes demolishing the old modern extension (probably plastic and breeze block) and restoring the site’s historic thatched inn while removing more recent rear additions to make the possibility of running the premises as a restaurant, a community facility, guest accommodation and a yoga barn. What is there not to like?

I’ve visited so many old pubs, with old buildings where the landlords struggle to get by and modern extensions with rooms for a 30 cover restaurant serving Brakes Best is the only option. In truth with fewer ordinary people being able to afford to eat out, warnings about drinking too much alcohol and pot- holes taking over Country Roads , is it not better to have this rather wonderful plan by Lady Loretta.

Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

Woman and architects inspect an old English pub

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November 1, 2026 · 8:00 am

#HeadlineTherapy Nord Stream pipeline won’t reopen after the war, Brussels tells the US and Russia

Thanks to Jorge Liboreiro and Euro News Online for the Headline.

Again “greenhouse gases” raise their ugly head, this time in the form of a gas supply. The EU has firmly put it’s foot down on the joint American and Russian effort to restart the Nord Stream pipeline to supply “gas” to Europe.

The only possiblity of the pipeline which runs across Germany coming on stream again is if Peace is established in Ukraine. So it is very odd that America is pushing to reestablish it now , what is it to them other than an “investment” ?

On the other hand the EU is adamant that it will never rely on Russia for a Gas Supply again, perhaps because they feel they have other alternatives (Nuclear and Environmental such as wind and wave ). Again it all comes down to cost and availability.

The pipe exists , the gas exists, people have gas boilers , perhaps if Peace is again established in Europe it is another string in the bow for energy supply although perhaps with the implication for emissions not a popular one.

Pipelines cross patchwork farmland toward a smoking industrial plant
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Namaste and Thank You for Reading.🙏

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