Breathtaking

Carmarthenshire News may not have had anything to say about the recent budget with its swingeing cuts to public services and massive hike in council tax and other charges*, and the press office's "Newsroom" may not have had anything to say about the recruitment scandal at CWM Environmental or the serious concerns expressed by inspectors about Rhydygors school in Carmarthen, but when it comes to reporting on the things that really matter, you can be sure that they will churn something out.

So when there was a partial eclipse of the sun last Friday, it was obvious that Meryl would feature in the story somewhere.

There was fevered speculation ahead of the event that the press office would do something about Meryl and solar panels - praising the performance of the vast array of panels on the rooftops at Stradey Business Park in Llangennech, perhaps (now with retrospective planning permission!) - but somehow solar panels and the temporary disappearance of the sun just didn't seem right.

Fortunately Baroness Randerson, elected by nobody but still a LibDem Welsh Office minister, shipped up in Lanelli to meet Meryl and admire the eclipse:

Welsh Office Minister watches Eclipse in Llanelli


Lady R joined the thousands of visitors now "making their way to the breathtaking Millennium Coastal Park" to experience "first hand the breathtaking views and attractions the park has to offer" [all a bit too breathtaking, Ed.]. And once there, she joined a crowd of three others already scanning the heavens:

So without further ado, here is this week's caption competition:

* Rather oddly, several weeks after the budget was passed, the press office yesterday put out a story announcing that "school crossing patrols, flood defence, coastal protection and remedial earthworks have all been saved from budget cuts". No mention of the much longer list of services which have been cut.