Carlisle United, December 2015

STORM Desmond early in December flooded Brunton Park and the surrounding area of Carlisle. Unprecedented rainfall brought flooding throughout Cumbria from Thursday 3rd December (West Cumbria), through Friday 4th and Saturday 5th (Eden Valley) to Sunday 6th (Carlisle & North Cumbria). This has impacted on Carlisle United, as only three fixtures have been played in December. The results of which are as follows:

Sky Bet League Two - Season 2015-2016.

The FA Cup, Round Two : Sunday 6th : Welling United 0 - United 5 (Attendance: 2028)

League : Saturday 12th : Oxford United 1 - United 1 (Attendance: 5936)

League : Saturday 19th : United 3 - Notts County 0 [Match played at Deepdale, Preston] (Attendance: 3336)

Getty Images captured an image of Brunton Park from the air, when the flood waters were at their highest:

In the aftermath of the flooding, the Club and fans came together to support the community. In the days following the Welling United game, the players volunteered their time to help residents of Warwick Road and surrounding areas remove flood damaged goods from their homes:

United players Michael Raynes, Joe Thompson and Jason Kennedy (Pictured left to right, above) removing flood damaged goods. United also appealed to fans who could safely get to Brunton Park to help them with the clear out of flood damaged areas of the Club. The following video from Carlisle newspaper News & Star shows the fans helping to clear out Brunton Park.

As the results at the head of post show, United fulfilled their fixtures away at Oxford United on Saturday 12th and the home fixture against Notts County on Saturday 19th was played at Deepdale, the home of Preston North End. United playing their 'home' fixtures at other grounds was to the chagrin of John Coleman, the Accrington Stanley manager, whose own team have had matches postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. United were due to play Stanley at The Wham Stadium on Boxing Day (Saturday 26th), but this was postponed, due to... A waterlogged pitch.

United were due to play Hartlepool United at home on Bank Holiday Monday (28th) - It would have been United's final fixture of the year - But this match has been postponed. It has been rescheduled for the evening of Tuesday 23rd February. It was rumoured Newcastle United's St James' Park could have staged the game.

Following the visit to Deepdale for the Notts County match, United will be on a tour of Lancashire for their next two home fixtures: United will play a League Two fixture against Plymouth Argyle at Ewood Park, the home of Blackburn Rovers, on Saturday 2nd January; United will play Yeovil Town in Round Three of the FA Cup at Bloomfield Road, the home of Blackpool, on Sunday 10th.

United's other scheduled fixtures for January: Barnet (away), York City (home) and Dagenham & Redbridge (away).

It's nearly Christmas!

As it is nearly Christmas, here is a nice wintery image of Brough Castle, taken early 2015. Enjoy.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Taylor Alison!

TODAY, Sunday 13th December 2015.

Taylor Alison Swift is 26 years young.

Miss Swift is pictured wearing Roberto Cavalli at the Brit Awards 2015.

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Listening to the radio.

FIRST of all, welcome to December. Thoughts with those who have been involved in the Cumbrian floods, as a result of Storm Desmond.

This post leads with the logs of listening to the Tropical band late November, followed by logs of the Medium Wave band in early December. As always, times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz).

24 November 2015 (Tropical band):

• 2011 UTC, 3415 kHz : Shannon Volmet (Republic of Ireland). Fair to poor reception, Shannon Volmet, also known as Shannon Aeradio, North Atlantic Communications. Female voice reading data - 'Zero, Zero' - Service for weather reports and other information at Shannon Airport, Republic of Ireland. Continuous weather reports for the airport and times: 'Zero - Six - Zero - Zero'. To 2022 UTC.
• 2044 UTC, 3955 kHz : KBS World Radio (Seoul, South Korea). Fair to poor reception. German language service to Europe via Woofferton, UK. Speech from males (OM) and females (YL) in the German language. Music, speech: Sport - Boxing? Music, speech from male. To 2051 UTC.
• 2123 UTC, 5000 kHz : NIST Radio Station WWV (Boulder, Colorado, USA). Fair to poor reception. Time Signal broadcast, fluttery reception. To 2127 UTC.

3 December 2015 (Medium Wave):

• 1630 UTC, 639 kHz : CRo2 (Prague, Czech Republic). Good to fair reception. Two males in conversation. 750 - 1500 kW transmission via Prague, TCH (Czech Republic). Speech, audio stab, speech includes telephone interview. Czech language programme. To 1652 UTC.
• 1720 UTC, 666 kHz : BBC Radio York (UK). Good to fair reception. Male host speaking to representatives of a hospital support group - See more on the BBC York Facebook page. ID for BBC Radio York. Trailer for 'Northern Powerhouse' programme. BBC York traffic and travel. ID and time check. Music: Roy Orbison 'Only The Lonely'. North Yorkshire Christmas drink drive campaign launched, interview with the Deputy Chief Constable. 1730 UTC news: Military action in Syria. Sport: York City Football Club, non-league football in the FA Vase competition. Gary Neville joins Valencia. FIFA Committe. Snooker in York: Robertson v Higgins. Hockey. 500 watt transmission via Fulford, York. Weather update with Paul. To 1736 UTC.
• 1748 UTC, 684 kHz : RNE Radio Nacional (Seville, Spain). Fair reception. Male speech in Spanish, including sound effects of emails being received, text messages and voicemails - Including speech from a female. 600 kW transmission via Seville, Spain. Male and female speech, music. Time signal for 1800 UTC, IDs by female and male voices at the top of the hour. To 1800 UTC.
• 1824 UTC, 693 kHz : BBC Radio 5 Live (UK). Strong to good reception. Male host speaking to correspondent with regards to British Prime Minister David Cameron's plan to hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU. 'Drivetime with Tony Livesey and Anna...'. Mass shootings in California. News headlines at 1730 UTC. Sport headlines: Gary Neville is the new Valencia manager. FIFA vice President David Gill and committee meet in Zurich, Switzerland. Snooker. Hockey. Weather and travel updates. 50 kW transmission via Stagshaw, Northumberland (North East England). Football promo. UN climate change conference continues in Paris. How can the UK reduce food waste? To 1840 UTC.

• 1850 UTC, 711 kHz : France Info (Rennes, France). Strong to good reception. French speaking female mentions 'Supermarché', also a mention of US President Barack Obama. Male speech, female speech - Travel update? Male voice: Sport with Bernard. ID at the top of the hour (1900 UTC). Continuous speech in a roundtable discussion. 300 kW transmission via Rennes, France. News headlines at 1915 UTC: Californian shootings, terrorism. To 1911 UTC.
• 1923 UTC, 720 kHz : BBC Radio 4 (UK). Fair reception. 'Front Row' (Arts programme). Male host speaks to female guest - An actress. The host brings in another male who introduces a song from a soundtrack. 10 kW transmission via Lisnagarvey, Northern Ireland. Male vocalist talks about being inspired by Marvin Gaye and Nat 'King' Cole. To 1934 UTC.
• 2110 UTC, 738 kHz : RNE Radio Nacional (Barcelona, Spain). Good reception. Male speaks of Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister. ID. Female speaks of terrorism. 500 kW transmission via Barcelona, Spain. Female speaks of Barack Obama. Music: Adele. Male speaks of Adele, her current album is '25'. To 2121 UTC.
• 2132 UTC, 756 kHz : Deutschlandfunk (Germany). Good reception. Classical concert, loud applause. German speech, female 'Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra', also 'New York Philharmonic Orchestra'. Next piece plays. Transmission via Ravensburg (100 kW) or Braunschweig [Brunswick] (200 kW). Classical piece from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra continues. Female host: 'Royal Philharmonic Orchestra'. Tone. Two 'Deutschlandfunk' ID's. Female speech: Corruption of FIFA, new arrests, links to the USA. To 2145 UTC.

• 2152 UTC, 756 kHz : BBC Radio Cumbria (UK). Fair reception. Male host promoting Georgie Spanswick (presenter). Music: 'Best of My Love'. ID for BBC Radio Cumbria, 2200 UTC news: Reaction following the implementation of RAF military action in Syria. Aftermath of the shootings in California. David Cameron seeks reform of the EU. Breastfeeding mum has baby taken off her. Ian Timms with news headlines here in Cumbria - Roads and railways affected by rain and flooding. BBC Radio Cumbria IDs - "Take care if out and about" - Ian Timms. Music: UB40 'Red Red Wine'. 1 kW transmission via Carlisle. Music: Roy Orbison 'Dreams of You'. 'Lilliburlero'. Text the studio. New music from Elton John, new music from Little Mix.. To 2210 UTC.
• 2231 UTC, 765 kHz : BBC Essex (UK). Poor reception. Music: Paul McCartney and Wings 'Silly Love Songs'. Male speech: "Hello to Bob, he's a truck driver just starting the night shift, so this is Bob's morning show". Music: Little Mix 'Love Me Like You'. Facebook task: 'Four Seasons or Three Degrees'. Text message; Email: "Could you please play my fab five?" Music: Frank Sinatra 'You Make Me Feel So Young'. 500 watt transmission via Chelmsford, Essex. Music: Glen Campbell 'Dreams of the Everyday Housewife', Michael Buble: 'Home'. To 2244 UTC.

I do hope that is comprehensive enough. Take care, catch up soon.