The last few days have seen dramatic moments in the history of Swindons Mechanics Institute. For those who don't know, the Great Western Railway built a community centre for the benefit of its staff back in 1859 and it's been left to decay for decades, since no-one has any idea of what to do with the place or where to find the money to do it.

The owner, a property developer, has done little to maintain the listed building (that means it has historical significance and should be preserved) and might well have to foot a big bill very soon. In order to stop the roof collapsing completely, the council have had it removed. Streets are blocked off as the top of the building is taken away. I passed some distance away the other day and you could see exactly how poor the condition of te roof was. The beams were visibly sagging.

Well at least the building is going to get some remedial maintenance at last. Now all they have to do is decide what they're going to do with it. Because if they don't, the building will eventually have to come down. And that, I think, is what the developer is waiting for.

Will this all have a happy ending? We'll see.

Seeing Red

A few days ago I saw a news report about how the Red Sea really could have parted for Moses, way back in biblical times. Apparently a strong wind can force shallow water away, and the scientists responsible for this ground breaking research note the extensive shallows in the Red Sea area.

Maybe it's just me, or is this clutching at straws to give the Bible credibility in our educated and cynical modern world? For all I know the researchers might be right. Perhaps Moses did lead the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea which conveniently parted for them. I don't recall the Bible mentioning howling gales at the time though.

I get a bit tired of this biblical research stuff. At first glance it seems to be designed to please the believers, but then, these people already believe the bible is telling us how it was, so what difference would that make? No, it's designed to make us unbelievers realise we were wrong to doubt the bible in the first place. And boy oh boy, are we going to hear about it if someone actually does pull a rabbit out of the hat.

What do I believe? If Moses was a real person and did lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he certainly managed to confound the irate egyptians. But did God part the Red Sea for him? If he did, that woulkd have been pretty impressive. So why did the Israelites start worshipping golden calves instead? It's all a bit allegorical isn't it? But then the Old testament does that more than once. God seeing red when human beings don't do what they're told.

And there lies the truth of it.