A round tuit...

Polperro, Looe, then Fowey

2010-09-20T18:26:00.001+01:00

Whilst Polperro still has that special little charm, it smells of foul water and just feels damp and under invested, Looe had a spritely buzz to it, downed some ice cream on the harbour wall, then randomly visited Fowey, which was very nice, had a good level of investment to make it popular, but not so much to make it naff. Photo above is of course Polperro and after the abysmal picture quality of my old iPhone, I have to say that over the last couple of months found the iPhone 4 camera significantly better at rendering colour and getting good exposure... However, it's still a way to go to match my entry level DSLR !

Room with a view

2010-09-19T15:42:00.000+01:00

Just arrived at the next place, nice view is a good start.

Pasty in Padstow

2010-09-19T14:12:00.000+01:00

So there we were, outside Rick Stein's cafe in Padstow and i ask.... what do you fancy to eat Lesley ? Ermmm... I think I fancy a pasty to be honest !!!

It's warm today, but generally overcast... Heading off to our final destination later, it's about an hour from here, just north of Looe.

Coastline walk completed !

2010-09-18T17:05:00.000+01:00

And it was well and truly worth it ! About 6-7km, 3hrs walking including 15 minutes in the pub 2/3rds of the way around and a killer of a 1 in 4 hill climb from the pub back to the place we are staying at. Both sat here in our underwear, drinking tea and waiting for each other to get up and run the bath ;-)

Lynton & Lynmouth

2010-09-18T13:28:00.001+01:00

Had a few hours in the nearby towns, very pretty and generally unspoilt by the trappings of tourism. Shame that the coast is north facing, because it goes damn cold in the shade, especially with an inshore wind ;-) heading out for a walk along the cliffs and into one of the nearby valleys... The boots are out !

Easy tea tonight

2010-09-17T21:34:00.000+01:00

After the high brow food of the last two nights, it's really nice to go back to basics here at the old rectory... Great rooms, lovely hosts, nice food....

The Old Rectory

2010-09-17T17:42:00.000+01:00

Arrived about 5pm after a circuit that took us into the Brecon Beacons, down through the valleys, along the M4, across the Second Seven Crossing (the free way) then south via the M5 and back onto the A39 through Bridgwater, Minehead and finally Lynmouth - wow ! Lynmouth looks a little treasure, will be taking a look there in the morning ;-)

Another rich tea !

2010-09-16T21:19:00.000+01:00

Phew, tonight... We both had an Amuse Bouche of Tempura Anchovy, with a tomato volute, I then had for starter quail done four ways including as a scotch egg ! Followed by venison and rounded off with a chocolate, hazelnut, salted caramel and apricot ;-) I also had a different wine for each course ! Hic !

Lesley had her fill of fish, with mackerel and White chocolate for a starter, skate with an exotic dressing and salad followed by a strawberry, rhubarb and Rose water sorbet !

Yay ! WiFi Signal !

2010-09-16T16:49:00.000+01:00

Yeah OK, I'm missing a few photos, had a day out driving around the Wye Valley and the Forest of Dean, had a couple of short walks, also a walk around Monmouth, which isn't a bad town, although is crying out for wider footways !

Working up to another amazing evening meal from James Sommerin... Link for ya !

BBC Food page on James Sommerin

Out of signal !

2010-09-16T15:04:00.000+01:00

So, just got some signal, we arrived late at The Crown last night, took the slow drive down via Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Shrewsbury, Hereford etc.

Room is OK, wifi not working though, food wise, we both had an Amuse Bouche of a quails egg and crispy bacon on a small piece of broche, I then had Red Mullet and Scallop with a ginger and lime dressing, Lesley had lobster, with a cocoa foam and a lobster bisque, for our mains, I had lamb two ways, with smoked loin served with celeriac and some neck served with a herb crumble, Lesley had Pigeon, then for pud, we both had a lovely lemon, blackcurrent and mint creation... All washed down with lovely wine and served with intermediate courses !!!

Great meal !

See, sunshine in the lakes !

2010-09-12T16:55:00.000+01:00

We have survived a whole day without rain in the lakes ! Is this a record ????

Mmmmm.... Scones !

2010-09-12T14:35:00.001+01:00

Made it to the top, heading back down...

2010-09-12T14:13:00.001+01:00

Great view from the top, shame I couldn't post up there ! Anyways, the route down was very precarious compared to the route up... Back at the Drunken Duck now, having afternoon tea and awaiting our scones ! Ah, this is the life ;-)

Walking we go...

2010-09-12T10:10:00.000+01:00

Heading of for a gentle walk up Latterbarrow... Maps, check, walking gear, check, camera, check, Lesley ? Put that DS down, CHECK ;-)

Day Two

2010-09-12T08:13:00.000+01:00

Mmmmm.... Great nights sleep, feeling very chilled this morning and looking forward to a gentle walk near Hawkshead... Plus a full English too ;-)

Day One !

2010-09-11T20:55:00.001+01:00

Arrived at The Drunken Duck just before 7pm, quick wash and down for tea... Amuse Bouche of onion and thyme soup, we both tucked into some tasty crusty bread, then scallops, with crisp dried ham and pea purée, Lesley then had halibut, I had pork loin, with black pudding, anna potato and a port reduction and I alone finished off with a apple tart with vanilla ice cream and a very tasty £9.50 dessert wine... Yum !

A few days away

2010-09-11T12:15:00.005+01:00

OK, for you nosy ones, here's where we are going...

Sat-Sun - The Drunken Duck Inn - Lake District
Wed-Thu - The Crown at Whitebrook - Monmouthshire < Doesn't open on iPad !
Fri-Sat - The Old Rectory - Exmoor National Park
Sun-Mon - The Well House - Cornwall

Well, we like our food !

A funny thing happend in the pub

2010-06-12T16:02:00.001+01:00

Just bumped into Guy Ritchie... The place we are staying at is his local. He was all dressed up like the country gent, with pretty new girlfriend on one arm, fashion statement spaniel on a lead... Oi! Geezer, any tables for tonite yeah ?

A tad mixed

2010-06-09T20:57:00.000+01:00

Lovely food tonight, excellent wine, but something didn't quite feel right with the place, the staff were great and attentive but the place seemed tired and in need of a boot up the bum to stop it being aloof... Anyways, laid out now chilling.

Arrived in the New Forest

2010-06-09T18:57:00.000+01:00

Got here about 5pm, it's gone a bit muggy after a lovely sunny day out in Dorset. We have been to Lulworth Cove, Swanage, Sandbanks and Christchurch today, big news down here is a big new airport terminal... Ohhhh... Had a lovely bath and we are heading down for some food again ;-)

Nice and sunny

2010-06-09T12:09:00.000+01:00

The view from the top towards Weymouth... Time for anice cream ;-)

Go west young man

2010-06-09T11:53:00.001+01:00

Just got to Lulworth Cove... Going for a walk

Lamb again

2010-06-08T21:12:00.000+01:00

Well who could blame me, lamb and mash, washed down with Rijoa, followed by baked cheesecake washed down with a lovely dessert wine.... Yum... Laid in bed now watching Great British Menu from last week ;-)

Portsmouth isn't so bad afterall

2010-06-08T21:09:00.001+01:00

After the shock of old town centre we went down to the Historic Dockyard area, visited HMS Warrior, the adjoining museum and the low headroom HMS Victory, which was all very interesting... Jumped on the harbour tour boat which chugged around the Navy dockyards past UK and US warships then got dropped off at a second dock... Ooohhhh.... What's this, the area around the Spinicer Tower is lovely, loads of shops and resturants, nice streetscapes... Lovely...

Enjoying the shops in Rotherham... Erm, no it's Portsmouth

2010-06-08T11:44:00.000+01:00

Odd place Portsmouth, grand entry via a motorway, nice open seafront areas, then you get into the centre and it's like a supersized Rotherham !!! Shocking ;-)

Taking it easy....

2010-06-07T21:28:00.000+01:00

Back at the cottage now after dinner. I'm a bit tipsy after drinking almost a full bottle, but laid out watching telly now. Went for a drive this afternoon exploring around Goodwood, drove into the car park of Rolls Royce factory, had a nosy around Chichester too... Waiting to see what the weather brings tommorrow before we decide what to do....

It's so quiet here...

2010-06-07T11:33:00.001+01:00

Very quiet down here, just been to Selsey Bill, which is famed from the Madness song, moving further west towards Portsmouth, the Coastal villages seem to get more wealthy and prettier the closer to Portsmouth.... Mmmmm... Suns lovely on my back, the cloulds are inland, we are getting sun from the seaward direction, where there are no cloulds.

Sunny Chichester harbour

2010-06-07T10:46:00.000+01:00

Soaking up some sun whilst watching the boats bob up and down.

Breakfast

2010-06-07T08:46:00.000+01:00

Mmmmm... Full English and the weather is looking good too. Off to the coast in a bit.

Lesley is on the vino

2010-06-06T19:28:00.001+01:00

The lush ! She's hit the wine before 7pm !!!! She's ordered duck salad starter, turbot and crayfish main, I've gone for a beetroot and goats cheese tart and neck of lamb ;-) yummy

Arrived safe and sound, having a coffee

2010-06-06T16:36:00.001+01:00

Just under four hours from Sheffield with a small mistake of taking the M3 instead of the A3, we soon got back on track and probably missed a massive traffic jam on the M25. Arrived in East Lavant about 4:15pm, it's 24 degrees, sunny and there is a nice cooling breeze... Yay, holiday !

Snow business of mine

2010-02-04T12:12:00.003Z

Perhaps I'm missing something here, but what is it with people today who just panic when it snows ? Back in my youth, its a while back I know, most cars where rear wheel drive, most people drove around fine on the roads, most people didn't embed their car into a nearby wall.

Today, there seems to be a complete lack of respect for the snow and ice, I see people driving like there is nothing scary about driving on a slippery surface, I see drivers spinning their wheels in such a way they just polish the surface for the next car. Its not just about the rear wheel drive mob, its not unusual to see a big BMW or Porsche drive happily up a hill covered in snow, followed by a fidgitty little Corsa or Peugeot, wheels buzzing for all their might, before coming to a standstill halfway up and looking puzzled...

Roll on spring I say, I'm tired of the muppets !

Perhaps I should post more ?

2010-02-03T23:15:00.001Z

Given it's been a couple of months since I last posted, I either have nothing to say, been very busy or just plain lazy !

What's new ? Well Christmas has been and gone, had a great set of prezzies this year, including a load of map type stuff, a coffee machine with milk froffer and something called a Sonos - a music streaming device

My back is up and down, but mostly having issues with my shoulder, which is annoying to say the least... The snow has played havok with my schemes on site and I feel a real arse walking acros the icy carpark in three inch steps - roll on summer !!!

Speaking of which, hope to get down south this spring, then get over to Italy again, by car... Really enjoyed it last year, so why not do it again !

Anyways, bedtime for me... Night !

1300 miles later

2009-12-03T21:06:00.000Z

Whilst some might consider me mad, I'm quite pleased with what I have covered in the last three days. I've pushed my driving limits, visited places I've never been and fell in love with Skye again... The northern part of Skye that is, the southern bit still has the neon dancing girls ;-) Roll on the next roadtrip... I'll be taking Lesley next time though.

Mmmm... Mountains and Lochs

2009-12-01T14:23:00.000Z

I'll say no more, what was god thinking when he let the Scots have this to themselves !

Made it before nightfall

2009-11-30T18:00:00.000Z

After a slightly delayed start, with an accident on the A1(M), I went a slightly longer way to York via the M18, M62 and A19. Collected Ritchie, carried on up the A19 to Thirsk, then A1, A66, M6, A7 to Edinburgh.

Carrying on a slightly boring theme, A720 around Edinburgh, M8, M9, Forth Bridge then over towards Stirling onto the A84, A85 and finally A827 to our inn for the night. Got a great sunset picture, some snaps of the raging river next to the inn too. Looks like we are the only guests in tonight !!!! Food looks tasty though.

Weather has been great, dry clear skies all the way from Scotch Corner, but it's rather cold :-/

York traffic

2009-11-30T08:17:00.000Z

Yay, stuck on the A19 trying to get into York.

All packed, well almost

2009-11-29T18:35:00.000Z

Got my bag packed, the batteries for the camera and camcorder are on charge, maps and magazines are ready to go, car washer jets topped up, just need to fuel her up !

Where am I going ? Well heading of up the A1, picking up my roadtrip partner up in York, across the A66, back along the A7, north via the Forth Bridge and A9 to Tayside where we are booked into a pub overlooking the river. Next day push north to Ullapool via all those lovely Scotish A Roads, then work back via some coastal roads to Plockton (yes, location for The Wicker Man), where we have another pub booked, then head back to York the next day via some more coastal roads and perhaps the A68.. Depends on the weather ;-)

Scottish Breakfast 2 - The Return !

2009-11-25T17:21:00.000Z

Heading up north again soon, at risk of making the thoughts on these pages an inquest into the state of the breakfast industry, I've spun things around and booked two places that suggest a full cooked breakfast, could these places return Scotland to the fore, could next week be the turning point of Scottish morning catering ? Watch this space as these and other questions are answered !

Bad ole breakfast

2009-10-23T17:31:00.001+01:00

Having just returned from Scotland, I'm left with a bad taste in so far as this... What are businesses thinking when they present a guest with a tatty buffet breakfast, with nasty gritty eggs, limp bacon and a toaster in the corner for toasting your own !

Now call me a snob, but for the extra cost of a freshly cooked breakfast, with egg of choice and a selection of ready toasted toast must be peanuts ! I'm making a note for myself to always check in advance about just what sort of breakfast is available. After all it sets your attitude for the whole day.

The upgrader !

2009-10-18T13:13:00.001+01:00

True to form, we check in and get an upgrade, a nice suite room, with a view of Loch Lomond and nicely decorated ! What more could I ask for ? Oh yeah, we have a great big bath too ;-) Mmmm...

Who said Scotland wasn't sunny ?

2009-10-17T12:49:00.000+01:00

Just who was it again who claimed Scotland was always cold and rainy ? Just sat on a beach overlooking Solway Firth... Last night was nice, mobile signal free zone, so we had to find other things to occupy ourselves ;-)

Sods Law

2009-10-10T18:49:00.000+01:00

Why is it that everytime I start to look at doing some accident reduction work on a road, start to think, "hmmm... Not really that bad along here", bang, we have a serious accident that pushes me into action. Some might call me the grim reaper ?

Economic crisis over ?

2009-10-07T17:41:00.000+01:00

Given my mobile has been very quiet for the last 12 months, during which time the entire global economy has been in meltdown, it comes as a shining light at the end of the tunnel that my phone has been alive with the sound of recruitment agents calling about jobs for the last week... A sign that they are desparate or a sign that the global economy has restarted ? Here's hoping it's the latter ;-)

Easing into winter

2009-10-07T17:37:00.001+01:00

Winter is never easy, so it's always nice to ease into the dark months with a few days away. We are heading up to Loch Lomond for a couple of days later on the month, staying an extra night on the way up in North Yorkshire and a fourth night on the way back in Cumbria.

Been to the beach

2009-09-05T16:24:00.000+01:00

Had a nice few hours on the beach, it was sunny (obviously we didn't have Dave with us), although the wind was blowing a tad too much for sun bathing !

Essentially completed a round tour of the North Norfolk coast, Wells by the Seas, Hotham Beach, Hunstanton (hmm, not nice) and then Fakenham (again not nice and all closed for the day). Currently sat chilling in our loft room in Holt, the sun is beaming through the velux along with the smell of tasty food from downstairs ;-)

And of course.... The bathroom

2009-09-04T18:19:00.000+01:00

No prizes for guessing what I'll be having after dinner ;-) complete with bubbles, wine and some soft classical music !

The snug

2009-09-04T18:16:00.000+01:00

The view

2009-09-04T18:12:00.000+01:00

A few days away

2009-09-04T18:11:00.000+01:00

Taken a few days away in Norfolk, as you can see, I'm laid on the bed chilling already !

Back to normal ?

2009-07-25T17:36:00.001+01:00

After five weeks away from work - ok, so I was there for three days in the middle - getting my head back into the work mode was never going to be easy ! I'd like to be able to say that I charged in and got back in the driving seat without a hitch, but alas, I haven't. I've now completed a full week, several design briefs completed, several small schemes are back on track and I'm about ready to hit the ground and face live fire on Monday ;-)

In the mean time though, I'm currently laid out, chilling, we have just had a minor tidy, shopping completed this morning and waiting for John to turn up for tea. Practically just like before I was married, or is it ? I've an odd unexplainable feeling in me, something I never expected to have last month, a feeling of being grown up, or should I say, not quite a bloke, more a man ? I'm not sure, but whatever the feeling, I seem to be cooking tea more !

Lesley in the hot seat

2009-07-04T13:36:00.000+01:00

The wedding went completely to plan, the venue was as good as it gets, food fantastic, staff very attentive and all the guests appeared to enjoy the whole thing. As for us, we loved every minute of the wedding. We are now heading south to Kent to spend our second night as a married couple on the first day of our honeymoon... And as you can see from the picture, I'm already in the passenger seat ;-) that's marriage I guess !

Awesome !

2009-06-24T22:47:00.000+01:00

Was out on site today, usual mundane site visit looking at signs on a rural bend high up on the A6033 when suddenly the guy I was on site with drew my attention to an approaching Harrier Jump Jet coming in at a low level ! We were both in high vis yellow waistcoats and as the jet flew low over us the pilot dipped each wing to say hello ! A truely awesome sight to see especially one being made by probably my favorite aircraft ! Made my week !

Just another week... not quite...

2009-05-15T09:19:00.002+01:00

Its been quite an odd week, it was rounded off by hearing the news that the chap who gave me my first real job had passed away. Jeff Cowley will be remembered by many, sometimes for the wrong reasons as many people didn't get on with him, but what Jeff represented to me was a feeling of knowing where you stand. Jeff never lied to me, he never misled me, he often defended me and others, knowing that we were in the wrong.

Jeff was an Architect for Sheffield City Council, he put practicalities first, often upsetting the other Architects in the office, but perhaps Jeff's greatest achievement was helping to get the World Student Games to Sheffield in 1991, he attended the 1987 games in Sarajevo and worked hard in enabling the games in Sheffield to take place. The world is sadly lacking people like Jeff, who "tell it as it is". Farewell Jeff !

Another hit this week was the visit to hospital with mum, she has been freefalling for a few years now towards dialysis and if soon to go onto a transplant list, the words mean little to most, but actually getting into the details was quite a reality check for us both. Makes my cold and cough pale into insignificance really...

1000, 2000, 3000, Check Canopy !

2009-05-10T16:10:00.002+01:00

Well they say thats good advice for jumping out of an aircraft... Everything appears to be coming together for a very mad few months through May, June and July, what possibly could go wrong !

I've made loose arrangements for the 30th May to have a stroll around Sheffield by way of a "Stag Day", I have a few days in Gdansk in early June, then a 9 day tour of England, Wales and Scotland, culmanating in a mad dash on the 21st June from John o Groats to Lands End, then I get married in July followed by a glorious two weeks touring France, Italy and Switzerland.

Everything is booked bar a few little details, who said weddings were stressful, well perhaps its the paying for them that gets you ;¬)

Went for a little drive and ran out of country !

2009-04-02T10:36:00.001+01:00

Went for a bit of a drive last Sunday, well it was sunny, so we packed an overnight bag, filled a cool bag, popped the camera and a few other bits in the car (including a handful of paper maps) and off we went... Which way, left or right I asked...

We headed down the A616 to Ollerton, then south on the A614, picking up the A6097 to the A46 and following all the way down to just short of the M1. Avoiding the motorway, I picked up the B4114, then the classic B4455 Fosse Way all the way through to Halford, then taking a route across to Welford-on-Avon, picking the B4632 up through Broadway, Winchcombe, Cleeve Hill to Cheltenham.

Heading further west, along the A40, we turned off before Ross-on-Wye to visit Symonds Yat (open early after engineering works due to the recent TV coverage) and them picked up the A466 down the Wye Valley, past Tintern Abbey. At Chepstow, we started thinking about where we should stay that night, it was turned 5pm, so we continued a short while on the A48 towards M4 J24 before I remembered a place that I'm stopping at in June in Pembrooke Stackpole Inn. So we finally hit the motorway for a dash to Pembrooke via the M4, A48, A40 then the odd A477 and some little back roads... A glorious sunny days drive.

Next morning, a touch mistly and after a great breakfast, we did a bit of a tour around the area, B4319 (avoiding the tanks playing at shelling each other), back along the B4320, then up via Pembrook Dock and St Brides Bay running along the coastal unclassified routes to pick up the A487 at Newgale to St David's and onto Fishguard. The route home was opening up along the now primary A487 via Cardigan, Aberaeron and turning off onto the A44 at Aberystwyth. The climb over the hills was fun, but foggy enough to slow my progress, I managed to find several passing places along this section, a great drive until we hit the much busier A470, my progress slowed a little by slow natives along the A470 and A483 ;¬) The sat nav was suggesting I took a route home via Manchester and the Woodhead, then came up with a even less favourable route via Leek and Buxton (fine in the light, not so much fun when tired at night).

We decided to ditch the advice and headed up the A458 to Shrewbury, the sat nav going bonkers with all sorts of odd route combinations, onto the A5 bypass, where a little 1.6 Proton did its best to race me from the roundabouts - not much chance against my 272bhp ! The A5 led onto the M54, to the A460 and the M6T, we stopped at Norton Canes, perhaps the nicest service area I know to have a Latte, Panini and bun from Costa, I had to buy some maps just for the sheer hell of it ;¬) then headed home, I was torn between the A38 and jams at Derby or the A5/M42/M1 and the 50mph roadworks - I took the A38 to find the jams had gone by 6:30pm, then headed home on the last leg fueled by a bottle of coke and fruit pastels along the A61, M1 and finally back on the A6135 to home !

A great drive of about 650 miles in two days, set me up for the challenges of my two long road tours in June and July, but I paid the price, I was shattered on getting home, but my mind was too active to let me sleep, tuesday was a blur but I slept well on Tuesday night :¬)

Google Street View captures true crimes !

2009-03-21T16:55:00.002Z

Some of us are born lucky, but some born very unlucky, so how would it feel if on a empty rural dual carriageway your little lad was caught short, well, you would chance your hand and get him to have a tinkle next to the road, yes ?

No one will ever know would they ??? or would they ?

4000 Mile Honeymoon

2009-03-14T23:17:00.002Z

As some of you will know, I'm not one to do things by half if I can help it... so true to spirit, I'll be heading off on my Honeymoon with Lesley around France, Italy and back via the Swiss and French Alps...

I've started a specific blog called 4000 Mile Honeymoon, so do drop along and see what our Honeymoon turns out like...

Road to my first Million ?

2009-03-01T22:38:00.000Z

After spending the last few months on my desk, begging to have it's pages thumbed, I finally found time to read a book I bought sometime well before Christmas, called "How to make a Million from Property", by Gary McCausland. Sadly, whilst promising plenty on the cover, the meat inside is mostly what I had already figured out from the school of life. But, it's good to know that I'm thinking like a developer, now if only I could find that £20k I need to get things moving......

Working Buzz

2009-02-24T23:02:00.000Z

For the first week in ages, I've felt a real buzz about being at work, not sure if it's the coming of spring or if I'm feeling ill but there is certainly something going off ! I actually worked a full ten and a half hour day today too, that's been unheard of since well before Christmas, let's hope I can keep the pace up... Well for a few weeks at least !

Summer is here !

2009-02-21T11:05:00.001Z

Well perhaps not, but it's lovely and sunny here today, getting me in the mood for doing things and getting out of the house after what seemed a long dark winter. Roll on spring, BBQ's, drinks on the decking and lazy evenings watching the sun drop below the horizon.

Quick note to Gordon

2009-02-19T13:52:00.002Z

At what point does a road become number one priority for an upgrade ? I'd love to know the answer, because having being stuck today at three points on the Yorkshire motorway network that are in dire need of extra capacity, I'm wanting to grab the MP responsible, place them in a room with 1000's of other cross motorists and see what affect that has on future work !

My typical journey, three or four times a week is more or less fine in the morning, if I leave home at 6am ! But coming home, there are three sections that really get me cross, first is the M62 J26-27, which has been the scene of a innovative waste of money called a HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) Lane, which must be the most abused restriction in the entire country and done nothing for the journey times on the M62.

The second, on the M1 heading from Lofthouse (J42) to J41 is also an object lesson in how not to design motorways. Granted, back in the 1970's I'm sure this section was a great improvement over using the old a roads, but now, an inordinate number of vehicles have to weive here, with three lanes of vehicles joining from the southbound J42 slip wanting lanes two and three and half a city coming down the M1 wanting to leave at J41. This mind numbing experience each day strikes me as one of the hot top 10 locations on the network that if improved, could contribute in save time alone to the billions wasted on the banks.

Last up, the M1 passes Sheffield, whilst three lanes of motorway have been great between Wakefield and Sheffield, approaching the Tinsley Viaduct, the motorway loses capacity to a shopping centre ! Now dont get me wrong here, the shopping centre generates enough traffic to warrant a whole lane, if not two, but that shouldn’t be at cost to the strategic shipping of goods and the long haul drivers that face this nightmare daily.

So what’s the solution ? I say damn the banks, if a bank goes under, good riddance, let the government take over the mortgage loans, gaining income from the population and use the £100's of Billions being pumped into paperclips and champagne dinners back into industry to build roads and homes, manufacture bridges and structures, maintain crumbling infrastructure and create jobs.

Well would you credit it ?

2009-02-15T23:28:00.000Z

Had a call today from a hotel I'm staying at in June. I was a little cautious at first, the caller was via a mobile, began asking me if I had given my credit card details when I made the booking, I suspected a scam, but was wrong, the caller worked for the hotel and explained that the hotel had intruders in the night who had taken the whole safe, inside which could have been my credit card number, 3 digit code, expiry date, name an address ! To avoid any dodgy dealings, I phoned my bank to get the card cancelled ! Makes you wonder just how many times you details are actually aquired without your knowledge and just how much risk you really are at from credit card fraud ?

Last of the snow ?

2009-02-12T20:45:00.000Z

Just when we think it's all over, the cloulds close in and the fluffy white stuff starts to fill the air. Driving through the snow on the motorway at a reasonable motorway speed always gives me a buzz, perhaps it's because it looks so fresh, perhaps it's the science fiction look of going into hyperspace or maybe just the unique geometric patterns of the falling particles.... Have you got the feeling that I like the snow ? Yeah of course I do, sadly it would seem the last of the snow has passed us by.... Well just for this year at least.

Yellow snow ?

2009-02-11T17:11:00.002Z

What do you get when you empty your camera memory card ? Photos that you forgot that you had taken of course... Here is one of the snow in our back garden

iPhone a gogo

2009-02-11T11:13:00.002Z

New toys have to be played with, so now I can post from my iPhone which although initially seems a little geeky, I hope to use this method of posting when I go on my two mega road trips in the summer.

The first is a run around the UK, visiting places on the south coast and in Wales that I've never visited before, finishing with a mad dash from John O Groats to Lands End in 15hrs.... Can it be done ???

The second will be my honeymoon, so perhaps not as well reported, but never the less, I'm under instruction to keep the family updated on our progress around France, Italy and the Swiss Alps.

Read all about it in my second blog - http://operationbroadsword.blogspot.com/

Frustrated Traffic Engineer

2009-02-04T18:03:00.003Z

Many people ask me what my dream job is... I reply that I'd love to design and build roads, to which they say, isn't that what you do? Well the cold truth is that although I am an Engineer that is involved with the design, construction and management of the highway, it is becoming increasingly rare to be able to do what I originally got into the industry to do, that is, build roads...

Perhaps I've missed the golden age of road building, perhaps my aspirations are higher than the reality of life, but I'm often at odds with what I say in private and what I say to the public. As each year goes by, we are increasingly faced with more congestion on our roads, we spend more time in traffic queues that seemingly have no cause. We have more comfortable and powerful cars than ever before, yet we are more frustrated by the steel cage that we call a car.

I've become more mindful of the concept that perhaps traffic congestion has become too difficult for simpletons to understand and too costly for the tax payer to fund... so where do we go? We have a choice, we either continue into the black hole that we are currently heading, or we look to box clever and develop a vision for our children to inherit. I'm not simply talking about a big master plan for building new roads, I'm thinking about all aspects of our lives and how we use transport, how we shop and how we socialise. Transport is at the heart of modern day life, we need to embrace the reality that personal transport is here to stay, that short local trips could be made on foot, that anything over half a mile, for most, the car is the first choice and that public transport can only be a success when the alternatives are vastly more inconvenient and expensive.

Whats a round tuit ?

2009-02-04T17:57:00.005Z

We have a phrase in Sheffield when asked by our better halves if we have done something we should have done, days, weeks, even months ago... the male Sheffielders reply with "I haven't got a round tuit yet", so whats the solution ? I was given a steel plate with the phrase "A round tuit" written on the front, so now I've no excuse for not doing things and given that most of my musings are generally road related and that our roads in the UK are generally have no vision, it seems like a suitable name for a page...

A blog ?

2009-02-04T17:36:00.000Z

After more than 10 years of having a website, I felt to myself that it was high time I looked at contributing to a blog. The website has been my form of diary for many years, but like all of technology innovations, where do you find the time to keep such things up to date ? So, here I am, hopefully I'll keep things more current, but probably end up posting more irrelevance and waffle than I did before... Anyways, welcome to my blog !