User:Parrot of Doom

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About me     Hello. I'm a bit of a hotch-potch of things really. A cyclist. A television cameraman. A person with a keen interest in local history. A music lover. An amateur piano player and an artist. My image contributions to Wikipedia may be found here. For an example of some of the material I shoot, see the Rugby footage here. More detailed gubbins about me may be found here I enjoy editing Wikipedia mainly because it's a learning experience—as one edits, one learns about the subject he is editing. For me this is particularly true with local history, and hence many of my edits are related to the history of what is now Greater Manchester - particularly the Irwell Valley. If there is one thing that annoys me about Wikipedia it is the number of articles that are poorly referenced, or not referenced at all. Many of the edits that I make concentrate on this failing. I'm one of the primary contributors to the article on Nick Griffin. Normally I wouldn't make a fuss, but in this instance I feel I should point out to those who might assume that I have some interest in supporting Mr Griffin, that I find the man, and his odious views, to be quite repulsive. I do however believe that such topics are where Wikipedia can shine—by presenting the most neutral and informative articles that the internet has to offer. I want people to be able to come to Wikipedia, read an article, and feel that they've been allowed to form their own opinions on whatever it is they're interested in. 175,000 page views over two days would suggest that improving this article may have been a good thing. To those who come here suggesting that I have not been critical enough of Griffin, I suggest they have a sit down and read the pages and pages and pages and pages of reviews where we have, collaboratively, attempted to remove any trace of bias whatsoever. You can't keep everyone happy, but I choose to let the facts speak for themselves. As well as my line of work I'm a keen photographer, and enjoy adding images to articles, where possible. If you need a photograph of something in the Manchester area, please feel free to drop me a line. Some userboxes 52YThis Wikipedian was born on 07 June 1972 and is 52 years, 6 months, and 16 days old. This user lives in the United Kingdom. This user is from Greater Manchester. This user is of English ancestry. enThis user is a native speaker of the English language. This user is interested in maps. This user is interested in his local history. This user has rollback rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify) 30,000+This user has made more than 30,000 contributions to Wikipedia. ~~~~Parrot of Doom signs his posts and thinks you should too! <ref>This user recognizes the importance of citing sources. This user has reviewed 15 Good Article nominations on Wikipedia. This user has been on Wikipedia for 18 years, 11 months and 28 days. This user received a Four Award for working on Carrington Moss. Wikiprojects This user participates in WikiProject Greater Manchester. This user is a member of WikiProject UK Waterways This user is a member of the Pink Floyd WikiProject. Significant contributions A chronological list of featured articles, good articles, and DYKs to which I have contributed significantly: Manchester Bolton & Bury CanalTFA'd Radcliffe Gropecunt LaneTFA'd Carrington MossTFA'd Mary ToftTFA'd Wish You Were Here No longer watched The Dark Side of the MoonTFA'd Moors murdersTFA'd The Final Cut (album) Gunpowder PlotTFA'd Dick TurpinTFA'd Wife selling (English custom)TFA'd Cock Lane ghostTFA'd A Momentary Lapse of ReasonTFA'd Elizabeth CanningTFA'd BlackbeardTFA'd Guy Fawkes 1910 London to Manchester air raceTFA'd Eagle (comic)TFA'd Robert Catesby Ambrose Rookwood Francis TreshamTFA'd Thomas Percy (Gunpowder Plot)TFA'd Gunpowder Plot FT Hanged, drawn and quarteredTFA'd Guy Fawkes Night Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies Manchester Ship CanalTFA'd Lord Lucan Resurrectionists in the United KingdomTFA'd Manchester and Bolton Railway Bridgewater Canal River Irwell Worsley Eccles East Lancashire Railway 1844–1859 Jean Michel Jarre Meddle No longer watched Nick Griffin Fred Dibnah The Wall No longer watched Pink Floyd No longer watched Animals (Pink Floyd album) No longer watched The Division Bell No longer watched Anjem Choudary Pail closet Tobacco smoke enema Thomas Bates Everard Digby John Grant (Gunpowder Plot) John and Christopher Wright Robert and Thomas Wintour Robert Keyes David Starkey Henry Garnet Flixton, Greater Manchester Burning of women in England Manchester and Bolton Railway Hugh Henshall Turnpike trusts in Greater Manchester Worsley Emma (ship) Carrington Moss Grub Street Wife selling (English custom) Pail closet The Bottle Conjuror 1910 London to Manchester air race Burning of women in England Articles I have created Turnpike trusts in Greater Manchester - Hugh Henshall - Manchester, Bury and Rossendale Railway Bucklow (hundred) Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Act 1791 - Stub class Philips Park, Bury - Fletcher's Canal - Manchester and Bolton Railway - Manchester Cathedral Steps - Daisyfield Viaduct - Outwood Viaduct - Cheesden Valley Clifton Viaduct - Stub class Radcliffe Power Station - Agecroft Power Station - Stub class Kearsley Power Station - Pilkington Lancastrian Pottery - Ladyshore Colliery - Lever Bank Bleach Works - Stub class Outwood Colliery - Template:Bridgewater Canal map Emma (ship) - Carrington Moss - The Bottle Conjuror 1910 London to Manchester air race - List of Eagle comic strips Cock ale Francis Goold Morony Stoney Victoria Bridge, Manchester Blackfriars Bridge, Manchester Albert Bridge, Manchester Palatine Bridge, Salford Great Manchester Cycle Resurrectionists in the United Kingdom Burning of women in England

Activity     ...articles on my 'must get around to' list: The Great Cat Massacre Cycling Devil's Footprints Elizabeth Brownrigg Bury John Kay (spinning frame) Piano Concerto No. 20 (Mozart) Terence Trent D'Arby Binaural recording Man in the Iron Mask Francis Charteris (Scottish aristocrat) John George Haigh Gillingham Fair fire disaster Tommy Godwin (cyclist born 1912) baby farming

Spinny things

		The Editor's Barnstar
		I noticed that nobody has awarded you with a barnstar yet! I think it is long overdue for all your work on Wikipedia and even your petition for information accessible to all and most of all your contributions to the Greater Manchester Project. └and-rew┘┌talk┐ 03:01, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

		The WikiProject Greater Manchester Award of Merit
		For your hard work on the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal! Congratulations on getting it to GA level! --Jza84 |  Talk  23:02, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

		The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
		This barnstar is awarded for being the prime mover in bringing Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal to featured article status, as well as making many other contributions to the GM project. Richerman (talk) 10:14, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

		The Original Barnstar
		For all the hard work that you put into getting the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal article through both GA and FA, and to mark the fact that it was the Main Page featured article on 15th November 2008. Congratulations Mayalld (talk) 10:11, 15 November 2008 (UTC)

		The Original Barnstar
		For carefully researching and writing Mary Toft, one of those intriguing anecdotes that now has a full-fledged featured article. Contributions such as yours make Wikipedia unique. Awadewit (talk) 04:46, 3 August 2009 (UTC)