trains

We leave the village, walk downhill, past a bench surrounded by primroses and daffodils. Over a stile and into fields where chocolate-coloured cows graze peacefully, their calves alongside or lying sleepy in the sun.

Our route is clear ahead, and in the near distance a raised railway track follows the valley floor from east to west.

We hear the rumble and thunder of an approaching train – it’s bright livery flashes through gaps in the sparsely leaved trees. Almost as soon as it’s there it’s gone.

train’s crescendo

diminuendo

silence returns

Before we reach the railway line three more passenger trains and a goods train charge by, shattering the peace, but briefly.

On other walks the insistent roar of traffic on our motorways cuts off conversation, renders impossible any awareness of the sounds of nature and hammers our ears as we approach, cross by bridge or tunnel, and finally experience the relief of leaving it behind us.

How many trucks and cars would it take to replace those trains?

The lock-keeper

His cup of tea on the window ledge

he watches through the glass

a narrowboat goes through the lock

a gleam of polished brass

Jack kept the lock when working boats

hauled goods along the water

Couples toiled and lived on board

along with sons and daughters.

The hour or so it took to rise

the seventy feet or more

was put to use in passing news

and building living lore.

Now Jack stands there, cast in bronze

beside the window still

to watch another motley crew

rise and descend this hill.

We walk the tow path one fine morn

and pause for tea and cake.

You stand near Jack in mirror pose

and bring the past awake.

driving in the rain

I drive south on the motorway with lights on and rain spray everywhere.  I turn the music up loud to compete with the swish and roar.

fast windscreen wipers

metronomes for marching beat

on the radio

Suddenly, nearing Leicester, the sky lightens, and the rain eases. Now I’m happy to stop for a break.

noise, excitement

drives us onward -

can we step aside?

Travel by train

. . . and are Northerners really more talkative with strangers?. . . or are my preconceptions showing?


I travelled from Southampton to London without chatting - my fault to some extent, nose in book, sitting in those 'bus seats where you only see people's backs! 


I took the tube and managed to avoid eye contact in the regulation manner. Why doesn't Waterloo station display an obvious tube map?  If it had, I could possibly have caught a train an hour earlier, but no matter,  I wasn't in a rush this time.


Later, waiting at St Pancras, I was seated on that metal tube in the upstairs area. Why doesn't Saint Pancras have enough seats? Walking by, just off the train from Derbyshire were a couple who are friends of my brother and his wife. 


On the train heading north, lots of smiles - and towards the end of the journey, the very friendly trolley man (from Nottingham area) chatted to the family at the table opposite me, asking where they were from - Switzerland.
Ah ha, so that's why I thought they were speaking German, but couldn't understand it!  So I tried my rusty German out! 

Speed cameras

While I'm in my safe motoring, and 'the motorist is not a victim' rant mode, I'll post a copy of the summary of an Independent article today. The black type below is reprinted from the article. My comments appear in blue.


So are speed cameras the answer?

Yes...
* Studies have shown that a reduction in the speed limit to 20mph in built-up areas causes a 60 per cent fall in accidents
* Evidence from Swindon showed a 30 per cent reduction in the numbers of people killed or injured since cameras were installed
* At 10 of the sites in Swindon where cameras were introduced, no road accident deaths have been recorded

All three look like factual evidence to me. The most relevant is the second one.

No...
* Critics say it's not speed that kills but tiredness and careless driving. It's this that should be targeted with safer driving campaigns - yes, I can see that working. Not. Do I hear cries of 'Nanny State'? Don't individuals always know best? Especially when travelling in a metal box.
* Speed cameras are being used as an easy way for the authorities to bump up their revenues, antagonising the public - as several people have said, you pay the voluntary tax if you decide to speed. Commit a crime, pay the fine. Your choice.
* Cameras are counter-productive in creating a tendency for drivers to break the speed limit when they are not around - surely only those who believe they have a divine right to speed.

Motoring costs have dropped 18% since 1988

A report by the motorists' organisation, the RAC, shows that in real terms motoring costs have fallen by 18% since 1988. Read the full report here . (I haven't yet.)

Cars cost less to buy, and less to maintain, and often do more miles per gallon, though the price of fuel has risen by 210%.

A third of motorists said they went on shorter journeys than they did 20 years ago, but 9% of drivers said they never walked anywhere.


So, why not stop whinging, folks? Well, 60% of those interviewed (a sample of 1,116 people) said they thought the biggest change over the last 20 years was a RISE in costs. It seems that the costs apart from petrol and road tax are not as clearly seen by drivers, and of course these vary according to the individual car.


A little later in the day, this article has vanished from the front page - no link to it from 2p fuel duty dropped.

My car bites back.

After yesterday's rant at motorists, what happens when I wish to join the mad throng today? My car gets the hump and has a flat battery. Ho hum.

Cycling mini-rant

We went out for a quiet cycle ride today, along the country roads.

I stopped to take a couple of photos, and just then, a car rushed by at high speed, its horn blaring. No one else in sight, and I was well off to the other side of the road. I'm afraid my immediate response was the traditional two fingers in the air. Then I started worrying about them coming back full of rage. They didn't. Of course it could just have been someone letting off steam after a family row....

About fifteen minutes later, another speed merchant came along a different road, and somehow I found my arm making rude signs again (you know the fist to forehead one). Maybe I should have waggled my pinky, as these Australian campaigners do.

Luckily I got away with it again. Maybe motorists really don't see cyclists?

Memo to self - remember you're the little guy when you're on a bike.

Petrol protests

How anyone dare complain about the cost of petrol here is beyond me. Many of us drive aggressively, with our foot hard on the accelerator pedal, as though we were taking part in some crazy race. Wasting the petrol we complain is so over-priced without a second's second thought. Pity we can't run our cars on the hot air we generate.
Yes, let the government tax petrol, as high as they need to. Then they should use the taxes to subsidise efficient public transport, and cycling and walking routes. More could be passed on to fund those whose car use really is essential.
We are too profligate. I include myself here, since if you are anything like me, you take the easy way out, and hop in the car. I've no doubt I'll continue to use mine as an outsize mobile handbag and office, unless it costs a lot more.

Note from BBC website - pretty small demos today.
Meanwhile a coalition of leading environmentalists have called on the government to improve public transport and encourage more efficient vehicles, rather than cut fuel tax.
Tony Bosworth of Friends of the Earth said: "If the government is serious about tackling climate change it must not cave in to pressure to make road travel even cheaper."
In October duty on fuel rose by 2p per litre. Duty rises over the last decade add up to 25% - less than the rate of inflation. But oil prices have gone up 270% in the same period.

Lottery Win for Connect 2 - but why is it a lottery?

It's great for Connect2 to have the lottery funding for expanding the cycle and walking network, but it seems wrong that this project, and the three which lost, should have to be funded like this.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we paid our petrol taxes in order to subsidise other means of transport? The system in this country really isn't logical - it's so much cheaper to travel by car, with all the extra carbon emissions, and the heavy traffic on the roads. So I have no objection to paying for the privilege of using my car. I don't consider that I have a god-given right to drive.

Trains are generally more expensive than flying, unless you can find your way through the maze of money-saving fares - something other people are always telling me about, but that I haven't got organised enough to do. Why is it an obstacle race?

Basically, we are discouraged from travelling in any other way than by road for short distances, or air for longer ones.