The finalsalary plans are closed to new staff The writer hired a Chevrolet Blazer which costs £269 for one week.Staying there: Accommodation in Gettysburg was at the Doubleday Inn Bed and Breakfast (001 717 334 9119; ). Farmers had to tend their crops around the corpses, while the smell of putrefaction was so bad the townsfolk could not bear to open their windows Farms, churches and barns were full of wounded men. Many of the corpses that had been given a quick burial - their graves a mere 18in-deep scratch in the soil - were promptly disinterred by relatives who came to search for husbands and sons. And if you feel like a walk after supper, try one of the ghost tours, which can be seen wandering the town at twilight, a bit like the restless souls whose stories they relate.More than 51,000 troops were killed, wounded or captured at Gettysburg. After the battle, the bodies lay piled in the fields throughout that hot summer and on into the autumn. They would never again be able to mount an offensive campaign.Whether your sympathies lie with Johnny Reb or Billy Yank, the stories you hear at Gettysburg are moving accounts of death and glory, heroism and sheer foolhardiness. How Pickett's men were cut to pieces; when ordered by Lee to re-form his division for a second attack, Pickett replied: "General, I have no division."Gettysburg was indeed a high-water mark, a turning point in the Civil War. It has been well spruced up since Burroughs' drug-fuelled days, but rooms cost a mere DH150 (£9.50). You can get to Tangier direct from Gatwick on GB Airways, which flies on behalf of British Airways (0870-850 9850; ), from around £160 return.CAN I BELIEVE EVERYTHING I READ?Only if you don't want your illusions shattered. It took 500 years for the medieval scribes' claims that Timbuktu was paved with gold to be proved sadly wrong when explorer Ren?aille finally reached the city - and reported back that its main components were dust and sand. A good time to go will be during the Festival in the Desert, 9-11 January, when artists from all over West Africa will be congregating in Timbuktu, Mali, to perform songs, dances, camel racing, sword fighting and poetry. Tim Best Travel (020 7591 0300, ) is offering 10-day trips that include the festival from £1,295 per person, including flights from Brussels, transfers, accommodation, some meals and entrance to the festival.ARE THERE ANY OTHER LITERARY FESTIVALS?There are plenty of music festivals in Africa, but not so many centred on books. A fast-track process to reform Britain's arcane gaming laws by the end of next year will be announced today by the Government, paving the way for an explosion in casinos around the country.
"The deficit is mainly due to poor performance of the stock markets and changes in life expectancy," he added.. This will take BA's pension funding requirements from £118m to £251m a year.John Rishton, BA's finance director, said the group was committed to the schemes but refused to speculate on how the problem would be addressed. The final-salary plans are closed to new staff.The triennial valuation of its Airways Pension Scheme (APS) and New Airways Pension Scheme (Naps) revealed the size of the problem yesterday. Naps' deficit has swelled to £928m from £221m and it needs contributions to rise by £107m a year to £225m.APS still has a surplus, despite a 14-year contributions holiday by BA, but this has slipped to just £45m from £820m in March 2000 It now needs annual contributions of £26m. British Airways admitted yesterday it will have to more than double funding to its pension schemes, which need an extra £133m a year. The struggling airline said it was in talks with staff and unions about finding "a sensible solution" to the funding problems in its two final-salary schemes, which may mean that staff are asked to help shoulder the additional costs.BA, whose £2.5bn market capitalisation is dwarfed by its £9bn pension funds, warned its pension costs were set to rise last week when it reported a 53 per cent drop in third-quarter profits. P&O said the plans to scale back between Dover and Calais would cost about £15m.Despite the cutback of the Dover-Calais service, P&O also announced a new route between Portsmouth and Caen using a high-speed catamaran with capacity for 800 passengers and 200 cars. This will launch next summer and P&O says it will cut up to five hours off the current crossing time.. We are not alone in experiencing such a downturn but we are the first to propose decisive action to match our capacity to current demand. We regret having to announce these proposals but we believe they are essential if we are to address current difficulties. We will not hesitate to expand our services if we can do so profitably."P&O plans to operate six multi-purpose ferries and one freight ship between Dover and Calais from January, compared with the seven multi-purpose ships and one freight ship that currently run between the ports. This could lead to the loss of 525 seafaring jobs, and further plans to cut down marketing and shore-based services would mean a further 96 employees are made redundant.The group employs about 8,600 in its ferries business. P&O said last week passenger numbers on its short crossings were down 10 per cent in the past quarter.Russ Peters, the managing director of P&O Ferries, said yesterday: "Over the past few months we have seen a continuation of the disappointing trends in our tourist business. |
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