Violets and a snowdrop seen on walk

The weather being reasonably settled and my needing both vegetables and eggs, obtainable from a roadside stall, led a friend and myself to go on a four to five mile walk this morning. We had another motive as this particular route would take us past a favoured spot for violets near Calstock Church and also by a garden where we normally see quite a profusion of snowdrops at the edge of the lawn. I'm pleased to say that we weren't disappointed there being several violets out but with many more to come. As to the garden with the snowdrops there were plenty of bulbs showing above ground with one of them actually in flower! Not too bad for the end of December.

Instead of coming straight home from Calstock we made a slight diversion to see how well the daffodils were coming on in the Danescombe Valley. Much too early for those to be out but we were gladdened to see many clumps of these magical flowers well above the surface. Hogweed and red campion were two species that we noticed in flower. We also had an excellent sighting of a favourite bird - the nuthatch, and heard a number of birds singing.

It's great to see signs of Spring so soon after the shortest day.

The weather forecast for Christmas

Exactly three weeks ago I penned a piece under the title "Differing weather forecasts for Christmas". I wrote this because I was aware of two very different expectations on the weather the country would experience at this time. So on one side we had the BBC weather centre represented by John Hammond who, using conventional forecasting techniques, used the phrase "More settled conditions develop" in reference to the second half of the month. Against him was Piers Corbyn whose firm 'Weatheraction' forecasts over a much longer time span and insists that it is the activity of the sun that drives our weather.

Time then for a reality check - how did they do? Both pretty badly I would say. So far as I can see it was a typical Christmas for weather, a mix of some rain with drier spells between, windy at times but not the severe storm predicted by Piers with attendant problems of travellers having massive disruptions. Regarding John Hammond, if he had applied the "settled conditions" to the middle two weeks there would have been little cause for complaint. In other words he was about a week out.

Once again it's the weather itself having the last laugh. Clever we may be but not that clever in getting medium to long term forecasts correct.

An enjoyable Christmas

Having survived another Christmas blogging can start again in earnest! This year I and other members of the family had been invited by my youngest brother and his wife to share Christmas with them at their new home in south east Dorset. In 2006 I stayed in my own village over the yuletide and back then wrote "travelling over the holiday is for me the stuff of nightmares!". There were really two options for me: to drive up to Wimborne Minster from Cornwall or to pay a little more and let the train take the strain. I opted for the latter having looked at the practicalities of the journey on the internet.

I am an enthusiast for rail travel but the thought of late and overcrowded trains filled me with dread! However I needn't have worried. The particular service I got from Gunnislake goes on east part way up the main line and I changed at Newton Abbot to get on the Waterloo train that took me without any other changes to Salisbury. At this point I met my eldest brother who had come down the line from Herefordshire and from Salisbury we were picked up by yet another brother whose normal route passed within a mile or so of Salisbury station. Each of these trains was reasonably empty and ran close to time. Similarly on the way home, with just one change at Exeter St Davids, the journey was uneventful. Although there were more people on the return trip there were still more than enough seats to accommodate everyone. I had used part of this Exeter to Waterloo line before and never had problems with it to be honest.

Scenically though I have to say that once east of Exeter there is a certain lack of drama in what you see out of the window and that the view is much of a muchness all the way to Salisbury. In fact this lack of drama and lack of variety in 'Middle England' is one of the downsides to this part of the country for me. I don't doubt that there are subtleties between the various counties that make up this part of England but they can't compare with the glories and individuality of Devon and Cornwall. You can see I'm not at all biased!

One of the things that happen when my family gets together is that we have lively discussions about all subjects under the sun. There is often a divergence of opinion but my views are always the best ones of course!! I'm glad to say that none of us are slaves to the TV and that the weather on boxing day morning was good enough for a 5 to 6 mile walk. We drove out to 'Win Green', a National Trust spot just over the border in Wiltshire and from there had a downland walk taking in typical scenery of Cranborne Chase. Win Green itself is high up with really extensive views and, although only approachable by a rough track, seems to be popular with visitors. Little did we know at the time but this walk took us very close to the country estate owned by Madonna and her husband!

I had toyed with the idea of bringing walking boots with me but instead wore a trusty pair of Dr Martens shoes with a pair of lighter footwear for indoors. Just as well I did have spare shoes as my docs got plastered with mud from the walk! I remember from a Christmas stay at Lewes in East Sussex a few years ago how messy paths on the chalk downland can get - I think boots on any Christmas visit will be the order of the day from now on. Although on chalk there doesn't seem to be the very deep mud that I'm used to back home it does seem to take an age to get one's footwear clean again after a cross country walk.

All in all a very enjoyable and relaxing Christmas. A great chance to meet the family and to see our hosts in their new home in Wimborne - many thanks to them for their hospitality.

Princess Diana, Dr Kelly, and their inquests

I am writing this piece to compare two very different inquests, the first spread over many months and costing many millions of pounds whilst the other was completed very quickly and was totally unsatisfactory.

So, the Diana inquest first of all. This is about half way through at the moment. Although the inquest is I think specifically in relation to the late Princess its conclusions would presumably apply to Dodi Fayed as well. There was some talk about the process costing about £10 million, even if that figure is incorrect it will doubtless be a heck of a lot of money. Although it is early days to make a prophecy as to what reason the jury will give as to her death I would be incredibly surprised if it is anything other than the most obvious one. The main thing here is that whatever the expense the due process is being followed.

Now let us compare and contrast her inquest with one completed some little time ago: I talk of that of weapons inspector Dr David Kelly. Just to remind ourselves of some of the known facts - Dr Kelly set off for a walk from his home in Southmoor in Oxfordshire at about 3 pm on Thursday 17 June 2003. He failed to come home. He was found dead in a wood at Harrowdown Hill, which lies to the north of the village, at about 8.30 the following morning by volunteer searcher Louise Holmes. Of course the police were quickly appraised of the discovery and the coroner, Nicholas Gardiner, informed. Pathologist Dr Nicholas Hunt subsequently arrived to make a detailed examination of the body but we are led to believe didn't take Dr Kelly's rectal temperature until four minutes before he left the scene! Taking this temperature can be a very good indicator as to when death took place, information that the police would want to know as soon as possible. If he hadn't checked this temperature at an earlier opportunity then it would constitute in my opinion a 'schoolboy' error and betray a lack of competence. I have to say here that I'm taking this information from 'The Strange Death of David Kelly' by Norman Baker.

An inquest was opened and adjourned. The British government were very fast off the mark and appointed Lord Hutton to conduct a public enquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr Kelly. Amazingly the option was taken of making this enquiry one of an informal nature so that witnesses didn't have to attend if they didn't want to and even if they did appear they didn't have to say anything under oath! Lord Hutton decided that Dr Kelly had committed suicide without seemingly tested the evidence. If that wasn't enough the proper inquest was reconvened at very short notice whilst the Hutton enquiry was proceeding, took evidence from just two witnesses, pathologist Dr Hunt and toxicologist Alex Allan and issued a full death certificate, the cause of death 'Suicide'. This mockery of an inquest was completed without the knowledge of Hutton.

Space doesn't permit me to go into all the conflicts of evidence surrounding Dr Kelly's death, you need to read Norman Baker's 399 page book for that. Suffice to say that even if Baker was wrong in some of his conjectures there is more than enough evidence that Dr Kelly did not kill himself. Apart from the book mentioned it is worth reading Rowena Thursby's blog here.

At the start of the third paragraph above I said "compare and contrast" when considering both inquests. I shall say no more now other than Dr Kelly's death and its aftermath is a real stain on the reputation of this country.

MSC Napoli enquiry still on track

I have stated in previous blog entries that Devon County Council, to their credit, had decided that they would hold a public enquiry into the loss of the MSC Napoli and, as I had anticipated, they are waiting until the final removal of the stern section off Branscombe before doing this. You can get confirmation of this fact plus a situation update on the wreck by going here.

There has been a multi-agency de-brief concerning emergency response and recovery issues during the early months of the Napoli saga and the report including several recommendations is here in a pdf file. So if you are desperate for some Christmas reading look no further!

It looks as if we will have to wait to the summer at least to get our public enquiry; as soon as I know more I shall flag it up.

Blair - much ado about not much

Just when you thought that the name 'Tony Blair' had passed into history up he pops as the lead item on the BBC TV news. For a long time now it's been known that he would as likely as not join his wife as a member of the Roman Catholic Church. If he was still prime minister then I can understand that his becoming a RC could have been a piece of news of some consequence bearing in mind that his government have been passing legislation of considerable concern to Catholics. But in his present role as a peace envoy for the Middle East is his 'conversion' of such importance that it should be the lead item on the national news? Hardly, I would have thought. The announcement of holiday company 'Travelscope' going into administration causing more than 10,000 people to rethink their holiday plans this Christmas was surely a much bigger story.

I do appreciate how difficult it can be when the BBC's editorial panel discuss the order of news items to go out in a bulletin. They will seldom get it right for all viewers or listeners. But to make Blair's new religious allegiance, something that was expected, the big story of the day just seems barmy to me.

Nick Clegg is new LibDem leader

So now we know. Nick Clegg is the new party leader for the Liberal Democrats having beaten Chris Huhne by a few hundred votes when the result was announced yesterday. Some are thinking that Clegg is a bit of a Cameron clone and it will be fascinating to see how he makes his party distinctive to the electorate.

Clegg was asked today whether he believed in God and with a slight hesitation he said "No". However he is married to a Spanish lady who, surprise surprise, is a Roman Catholic! I think that their children are being brought up in that faith. So the multilingual Mr Clegg has been quite candid about this slightly taboo subject. I am someone who respects those with religious beliefs even though I'm not a practising churchgoer and have no problem with a party leader who doesn't believe in God. Incidentally like many I love the words and music of Christmas carols and of hymns generally come to that. In fact some religious music and hymn tunes played on a church organ can be incredibly special.

It looks as if it could be some time before the next General Election and people's intentions can change before then but Devon and Cornwall could be a right royal battleground between Tories and LibDems. When the time comes we can expect a lot more attention from parties and pundits than is usually the case as our results could be really crucial to the outcome.

Ryanair expands Newquay services

I've written before about Newquay Airport and how these days things seem to be on the up there - no pun intended. The latest news is that low cost giant Ryanair is to expand their services at Newquay. This might come as a surprise because airline and airport had a spat not so long ago because of the £5 levy on passengers flying out of the airport. Evidently they have now kissed and made up because the five times a week service to Stansted is being increased to two flights a day plus there will be new routes to Spanish destinations, Girona and Alicante, three times a week.

It's difficult to make a balanced judgment on this business of more flying I find. As a basic principle we should curtail the amount of flying that goes on but it's not that simple. I've had one overseas holiday, to the island of La Palma in the Canaries, which I thoroughly enjoyed but, for various reasons, don't have any imminent plans to take to the air again. However I fully appreciate just how much some folk want their two weeks in the sun and also how much business has a global dimension these days so that there is a (questionable) need for more business travel. And of course many families now live in different countries, on different continents even, and would like to meet up occasionally. Now add to that potent mix the increasing size of the World's population and it can be seen just how difficult it is to restrict the growth of aviation.

My hope would be that people from Cornwall currently using Gatwick as their departure point for Spain might now consider Newquay. If those taking advantage of Ryanair's new services are the same as those who would have used another airport anyway then I wouldn't be too upset because Newquay has plenty of spare capacity and would become a more viable operation but more likely the upshot would just be more flights such is our insatiable appetite to take to the skies.

Interestingly some of the most environmentally aware people I know, with for most of the year a very light carbon footprint, are happy to go on a long haul flight. They are not package holiday junkies but have good valid reasons for doing this. And as I think I've stated before if there is a disaster in another part of the world then we need successful airlines to transit men and equipment as quickly as possible.

The whole debate about the growth of aviation is sure to hot up in the months and years to come.

Boscastle's new bridge progresses

It was way back on the 12th of May I wrote a piece about the proposal to replace the old stone arched bridge in Boscastle's harbour area. The plans submitted at that time for an elegant steel structure provoked outrage in the community. Although I love Boscastle with a passion I blogged that trying to replicate the style of the old bridge but with a significantly greater span just wasn't on, the only solution being to construct something of a more contemporary appearance.

Now I must admit I hadn't been following the story since that time and was caught slightly on the hop when I saw television footage yesterday of the two precast concrete spans being lowered into position, the original design having been modified somewhat. Evidently the location of the new bridge is not quite where the old one is as we are told that the original structure is still there at the moment but will be demolished. From the pictures I've seen the new construction is quite a slender affair - I must make a visit in the Spring to see for myself.

There are places where you can look down on Boscastle's harbour area and I have a feeling that the new bridge will look far less offensive than the massive car park nearby full of shiny metal. But I don't really expect Boscastle's residents and visitors to see it that way!

Chris Venmore tears CFP to pieces

Last week I read a very interesting article by South Devon fisherman Chris Venmore. Chris and I went to the same school in the South Hams rather longer ago than I care to remember and he is very much the voice of Devon's shell fishermen but he wrote the aforementioned article in a personal capacity.

It's no surprise that Chris isn't exactly a cheerleader for the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). As he states in the first paragraph "British and other EU fishermen are being forced to throw away an estimated two million tonnes (yes, two million tonnes) of fish every year." Bearing in mind the hunger in this world, not to mention the need to make fishing a viable industry this discarding of prime edible fish is totally, utterly obscene. Unfortunately fishing as an occupation, like farming, is something the great majority of us never think about but of course we should. As long as we can still get cod and chips at the local takeaway then everything is OK it seems.

Following the observation about the dead fish being thrown back into the sea to rot and to pollute our waters with the threat to fishermen of a £50,000 fine if they fail to do so Chris then goes on to remind us of the sorry history of the CFP from when we joined the then EEC right up to the present day. He points out just how galling it is for our local fishermen having reached their quota to see French and Belgian vessels as close as six miles from our shores taking what we would regard as our fish.

Chris discusses "Quota Hoppers", boats from other EU states that register as British and then go ahead to fish against our quota. Another point raised is that of the EU making third party agreements with certain African countries to allow mainly Spanish boats to fish in their waters. The trouble that results is that those particular states find they are unable to stop the vessels from plundering the stocks of fish to deprive the local fishermen of both their income and their main source of protein.

Whatever one's views of the EU (and I find fishing aside that there is much that is wrong) there is no doubt that something drastic has to be done - killing off the CFP wouldn't be a bad idea.

Thanks Chris for your thought provoking article; every MP and MEP should read it.

Honesty in flower in December, honestly.

The very likable flower 'Honesty' can be seen in various hedgebanks in the Tamar Valley. But in December? Well not usually I would have thought. But whilst out walking yesterday we saw one fully in flower near Albaston. There's also a good place for them at Calstock - perhaps I had better check that location in case they are in flower there as well.

Residents don't want Weir Quay changes

Weir Quay is one of those very serene spots to be found on the banks of our wonderful Westcountry estuaries. In this particular instance we are talking about the eastern shore of the relatively wide Tamar to the north of Plymouth. Existing as it does in the deep Bere Peninsula formed by the confluence of the Rivers Tamar and Tavy it is one of those places slightly off the beaten track and, as a consequence, seldom gets overcrowded and to me always appeals as it has a timeless air about it. We are blessed in Devon and Cornwall with our peninsulas which have somehow halted the onward march of development.

The lack of formal development and the informal parking facilities at Weir Quay, where there is a sailing club and a scattering of houses and a minor road fronting the estuary, is evidently to the liking of those familiar with the area. I say this because the Tamar Valley AONB service had floated some alternatives to the status quo which involved what appeared to me to be quite modest changes. These were on display at Bere Ferrers Parish Hall recently and the public had a chance to vote on what future alternative would be best. About 90% said they didn't want any change thanks very much. Now I didn't get round to seeing the exhibition myself but did see the alternatives on the internet (I think this was from the Tamar Valley AONB website if I remember correctly). So it looks now as if the AONB will have to go along with the majority; there could be some very minor tidying up such as filling in potholes where cars presently stop just off the road. But no new parking facilities as the other alternatives had envisaged.

On balance I shall be pleased to see Weir Quay left much as it is.

American interest in Sat-Nav problems

Wedmore, a village not in my two counties but in neighbouring Somerset, lies not far west of Wells and where two 'B' roads cross. In the normal course of events it wouldn't show on my radar but a story concerning it in the 'Western Morning News' is the reason for this entry. Like many other villages and small towns it has fallen prey to the Sat-Nav problem. Once again local homeowners are subjected to noise, pollution and property damage as Sat-Navs direct lorries through a rural settlement. But what makes this WMN piece particularly interesting is that reporters from American(!) newspapers have picked up on Wedmore's difficulties and are running the SatNav story.

I've expressed my irritation before about the lack of progress in resolving the Sat-Nav trouble with respect to commercial traffic. On a radio phone-in one gentleman had suggested that his by no means top of the range Sat-Nav could be tuned for the benefit of lorries so that they weren't sent down country lanes and I've seen models specifically designed for lorries on the internet so the problem is solvable.

Meanwhile what happens insurance wise regarding homes and shops that get damaged by the juggernauts? No property owner should have to pay a penny towards repairs or have any loading applied to his cover. Government, councils and transport operators - just get the problem sorted.

Cornish nurse Barbara Ryder donates kidney

This must be the most heartwarming story of the month if not the year. Barbara Ryder who is 59 and comes from Launceston is a nurse at Derriford Hospital. It is now possible for someone to make an altruistic donation of a kidney and Barbara is one of four people in this country who have done this. The rules are such that she had no input as to who would receive the organ and of course a deciding factor was in finding someone with a good match.

Retired carpenter Andy Loudon, 68 from Bedfordshire was the lucky person to receive Barbara's gift and yesterday saw them meet up in London for the first time. Recorded by the cameras the moment had to be a wonderfully emotional and happy experience for both of them. With constant stories in the media about selfishness and money grabbing what a lovely contrast this has proved to be. I've always believed in the better aspects of human nature and applaud Barbara for her selfless act.

A final thought: it fascinates me that the human body has evolved in such a way that this particular organ, the kidney, seems to have duplicated itself for no obvious reason as we can get by with just one. Regardless of this I don't think many of us would contemplate giving our 'spare' kidney to a stranger!

Eden loses out as Sustrans get the votes

Up for grabs was a single chunk of lottery money, no less than £50 million! But unusually the population at large had the chance to decide which good cause should be the recipient of all at that dosh by voting on the phone or on the internet. This week saw the announcement of the eventual winner, the number of contenders having been reduced to a final four. Much local interest had centred on the Eden Project in mid Cornwall where they were looking to add to their existing iconic structures with what would be called 'The Edge'. This would have been a state-of-the-art building to demonstrate the impact of climate change. Now I have to admit that the publicity surrounding the build up to the final voting and any comparison between 'The Edge' and its three competitors had passed me by; not that I wasn't interested it's just the clock ticking too fast - if only one had more time to follow such things! Another finalist, a project called Connect2, was submitted by the charity Sustrans. So far as their overall mission is concerned I can't do better than quote from their website - "Sustrans is the UK's leading sustainable transport charity. Our vision is a world in which people can choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. Every day we are working on practical, innovative ways of dealing with the transport challenges that affect us all."

"Connect2 will transform local travel within 79 communities UK-wide. New bridges and crossings over busy roads, railways and rivers will link into newly created networks of paths, giving many more millions of people direct and continuous access by foot and bike to the places they want to get to every day" say Sustrans. An astonishing 42% of voters went with the transport charity to the bitter disappointment of the Eden team. I am a great admirer of Tim Smit and his team and am constantly amazed at what they have achieved in that former clay pit but I have to say that I'm not disappointed that Sustrans have landed this prize. The fact that this money will be spread over the whole country but in relatively small dollops appeals to me (who said I was too parochial!) and it means that these lottery millions will for years to come benefit local communities.

Sustrans win has a good knock on for Devon as well. Out of the 79 individual schemes two are earmarked for us. The first of these is a cycle route between the well populated centres of Newton Abbot and Kingsteignton in the heart of the county. This will incorporate a now redundant railway bridge; there had been a danger of this project being left out in the cold such was its cost. Moving to East Devon the second scheme is for a bridge over the River Otter at Ottery St Mary.

What was so sad for me was all that money squandered on the Millennium Dome at Greenwich could have been given to Sustrans. But that's what happens when things are left to the politicians!

Offshore windfarms drawback

We have now had a government announcement about their plans to massively increase the number of offshore windfarms in their bid to raise the percentage of renewables for our energy supplies. In fact it is reckoned that a wind turbine could be in view from almost every clifftop in Britain. Not surprisingly environmental organisations are well pleased with what they are hearing so why is this environmentalist not opening the champagne right now?

Superficially it all looks very good. But of course it will come at a high cost financially, although in fairness the better alternatives of tidal and current power would also be phenomenally expensive in their early days at least. As I have stated before the unreliability of wind strength is my overriding concern. You only have to look at the past few days to get a sense of this - last Sunday off the south west coast the winds were storm force 10 gusting to violent storm 11 yet on hearing the weather reports on Tuesday morning's shipping forecast what did I hear: "Scilly automatic, wind calm ... " In less than 48 hours the wind in that area had gone from one absolute extreme to the other, both situations being unsuitable for wind generation.

When government minister John Hutton talks about this new generation of wind farms being sufficient to supply all the electricity needed by domestic customers I start thinking that is typical political sleight of hand. It is possible that all these wind farms working at their absolute optimum just might supply all of our domestic needs although I'm sceptical of even this. But to imply as Hutton seems to be doing that they would be adequate 365 days a year is plain wrong. We really do need some sort of independent audit as to the degree to which they could supply our power needs over the course of a typical year rather than having to rely on the spin from the government and the wind turbine companies.

For the sake of balance I have to state that wind farms all round the coast (assuming they are working that is) would assist in reducing power losses because with the present situation in which a lot of the power generation is 'up North' the amount of power lost through the long transmission lines is colossal. But this doesn't invalidate my basic argument.

Calstock concert pleases

Last Saturday evening saw a pause in what was otherwise a very stormy weekend. Three friends and yours truly went off to a pre-booked concert at the old chapel in Calstock, the home of 'Peterloo Poets'. 'The Calstock Singers' and 'Under the Fingers' presented a programme described as "Mulled Music for a Winter's Evening". A very pleasant evening's entertainment it turned out to be. There were no less than 14 items in each half of the concert with it's fair to say something to please everyone. As happened in a similar event much earlier this year there was a very varied menu of music, song and poetry.

One of the busiest performers was Pauline who not only is the Musical Director for the Calstock Singers but plays Cello for 'Under the Fingers'. The other members of the group were Rosie (recorders and guitar - I swear she can pick up any instrument and play it), Liz (guitar) and Jenny (harp). Another instrumentalist taking part was Nicola who I was pleased to see playing 'Tamar Broom Dance' on her xylophone. This is a wonderfully simple uncluttered tune composed by Rosie that one never tires of hearing. Excellent though the Calstock Singers are I do have a slight leaning toward purely instrumental music, a bias inherited from my late father I think. The playing of Beethoven's Minuet in G was a special highlight.

The repertoire of The Calstock Singers is nothing if not varied and in truth one or two of their songs did absolutely nothing for me - no reflection on the quality of the singing I hasten to add, it was just the songs I didn't like. On the plus side there were a number of old favourites to enjoy: 'My Grandfather's Clock' and 'Little Brown Jug' were just two examples. And although I've heard 'Silent Night' so often before I don't think I've ever appreciated it so much as on this occasion.

There was a chance afterwards to thank one or two of the performers and what really came over in their replies was just how much they really really enjoyed what they did. And if all this wasn't enough the £4 ticket included a generous glass of mulled wine and a mince pie. I should have mentioned too that almost every seat was taken.

Well done one and all for yet another sparkling evening.

Royal Mail gets some flak

The Royal Mail is a great British institution that I happen to like. At the moment though in the lead up to Christmas it's under fire from some quarters. The problem is all down to the present pricing policy for letter post that takes into account not only the weight of item but the dimensions of the envelope or package as well. Last Christmas they were quite lenient not worrying if the size of letter was just in the next price bracket but this year they are applying the rules rigidly. It is not only in the matter of length and width that you can fall foul of the pricing regime but thickness is also taken into account. I am making an assumption here but imagine that their automatic sorting equipment tells the operator when there is a mismatch between the price of the stamp and the size of package and its weight as well of course.

From what I hear those Christmas and other celebratory cards with a degree of embossment on them tend to be just over the maximum permissible thickness for the lowest postage rate. Now I don't particularly like that type of card but certainly there are many who do. Should the stamps be of insufficient value then to receive the card the recipient is not only expected to cough up the cost of the additional postage but pay Royal Mail a £1 handling charge as well!

So here is the situation as I perceive it. The clever all singing all dancing sorting equipment used by the Royal Mail could have been designed, graduated or whatever to include the very slightly thicker cards that are embossed in part in the lowest postage rate. Senders of such cards would genuinely have thought that normal stamps would be OK. Even if they had thought about it would they have joined the very long queues so prevalent at post office counters to check? Most likely not. We have typically finished up with the worst of all worlds: Royal Mail under attack from their customers, senders of the cards embarrassed by the fact that the recipient has to find some money to pay the post office to receive the card not to mention that the recipients themselves having to pay up a sizable sum. We seem to be so good at messing things up in this country!

One person who has put his oar in is Anthony Steen, the somewhat eccentric Tory MP for Totnes. This matter of envelope sizes featured on the 'south west' bit of BBC1's Politics Show the other day. Mr Steen, a bit fed up with the way Royal Mail runs its business, was on the programme to say he thought that the Mail needed competition, that we should have a choice in this matter. I have to say that one of the best aspects of Royal Mail is the fact that post is actually delivered to your door not to some anonymous post box in the nearest town and that the cost of postage is universal: the person sending a letter from the Isles of Scilly to the Isle of Lewes is not disadvantaged compared with me writing to someone in the next parish. For competition to be fair any other company would have to replicate what Royal Mail do - they would have their own post boxes, sorting offices and delivery personnel and would have to have the same style of universal delivery. In a small island like ours can this work? Of course not! Royal Mail is far from perfect I know but Mr Steen shouldn't be spouting such nonsense.

Differing weather forecasts for Christmas

Unusually for me I'm planning to be away from home, visiting Dorset in fact, over the Christmas period. One of those rare occasions I forsake my two counties! So what sort of weather will occur over the festive season? In the blue corner we have genial John Hammond on the BBC Weather website here making his predictions for the whole of December. For the second half of the month it's a case of "More settled conditions develop" according to John. Now it has to be said that a fortnight is a very long time in terms of UK weather so that it would be possible to have a big storm over say three days of the holiday period with the rest of the period dominated by anticyclonic weather. If that happened he could possibly claim success looking at the two weeks as a whole. In other words a long range forecast from the Met Office can be what you decide to make it!

In the red corner we have Piers Corbyn and his company 'Weatheraction'. Piers puts his neck on the line with his very specific forecast as to when severe weather events will occur. See here for his ideas about December (incidentally you can see why I say "In the red corner", his pages on the internet just scream at you although some of them are far worse than this - it puts my back up!). He is quite correct about the stormy weather we are enduring this weekend; however I don't know whether that was in his long range forecast from many months ago or just in his update at the start of December. I'm more interested in his anticipations for the 23rd to the 26th. All being well I shall return home on the 27th of the month by which time I shall be able to make a judgement on the accuracy of his prophecy.

I have been critical of Piers Corbyn in the past (scroll down the right hand side of this blog page and click on his name to read everything I've written about him so far) so this Christmas will be a chance for him to redeem himself.

Crediton church clock keeps chiming

Crediton with its lovely red sandstone church and surrounding fertile farmland doesn't feature in the news that often. But new residents Claire Robinson and her partner have caused a bit of a stir recently. It's all down to the chiming of the church clock! Since the installation of the clock in the mid nineteenth century it's been possible to hear the chimes every quarter of an hour and the aforementioned couple although living some distance from the church (half a mile I believe) aver that the chimes are noisy and disturbing their sleep.

They collected a few names on a petition which was sent to Mid Devon District Council. Apparently Ms Robinson, who moved to Crediton last year, wants the chimes silenced between 7 pm and 9 am, no less than 14 hours of the day! The sound has been monitored from her house by officials from the council who have declared that it does not constitute a noise nuisance.

There appear to have been far more residents supporting the status quo than siding with Ms Robinson. I have to say I don't have any problems with clock chimes but there is one particular sound I really don't like: peacocks calling. I think that horrible noise is only in the mating season. Although as a rule I'm very fond of our feathered friends exotic birds like peacocks do absolutely nothing for me. Fortunately I don't have neighbours with peafowl but if I did I would just live with that ear jarring sound I guess.

Back to the church clock, I remember a similar complaint arising in Totnes not so long ago. Again it was an incomer who complained and again I believe that person was given short shrift by the locals. It looks at the moment that Crediton's church clock will go on chiming - three cheers for that!

Book now for Calstock concert

On the 31st May I recorded how much a friend and I had enjoyed a concert at Calstock. This was an amalgam of items from 'The Calstock Rubber Band', 'The Calstock Singers' and 'Under the Fingers' together with a few poetry readings. So it's good news to hear that there will be another concert at the same former Methodist Church, now the home of 'Peterloo Poets', on this coming Saturday evening.

Evidently the programme will be relatively genteel as 'The Rubber Band' with their very vibrant music won't be participating. 'Under the Fingers' are technically part of the rubber band but they play the notably quieter stuff using recorder, harp, cello and guitar. I believe that they will be joined by Nicola (Xylophone).

I and three friends have booked our seats. This Christmas Concert is called 'Mulled Music', it starts at 7.30 pm this Saturday the 8th and the price of £4 includes a glass of wine and a mince pie - can't be bad! More information and to book please phone 01822 835833.

Tin mining to restart in Devon and Cornwall

I have to say it's unusual for Cornwall to get a mention on both Radio 4's 'Today' programme and BBC1's 'Six o'clock News' but a few days ago just such an event occurred. The reason: the closed South Crofty tin mine down in the Camborne/Redruth area has been woken from its slumber and will be mining tin again.

Then today we hear that it is intended to reopen the Hemerdon Mine for tin and tungsten. Hemerdon village is tucked away to the north east of Plympton in Devon. It sounds as if a new access road would be built which would keep lorries out of the village itself. Tin and tungsten are much in demand at the moment particularly with the fast developing economies such as those of China and Brazil. The Australian company developing Hemerdon are talking about reserves for 20 years mining and a direct and indirect workforce numbering about 500.

With the scaling back of the china clay business together with associated redundancies in Devon and Cornwall this shot in the arm for the metal extraction industries will be welcomed by many.

Piers Corbyn still getting it wrong

We certainly had rain and strong winds on Sunday morning but, as explained in a recent post, the full force of the storm was never going to be felt in my part of the village because of the combination of wind direction and local topography. However one or two places in the peninsula did see a maximum gust of 75 mph.

A couple of weather related incidents in Devon that occurred on that day are worth recording. A young lad from Barbrook in North Devon fell into the swollen West Lyn River where it tumbles down on its final mile to Lynmouth. His father just wearing coat and pyjamas rushed to the scene and waded into the river; such was the force of the current they were both carried several hundred yards downstream until the son was able to grab hold of a rock. It was about an hour before a rescue could be completed and miraculously they both survived.

Further south in the county a lady living at Starcross on the west side of the Exe estuary was the recipient of a small tornado. The whirlwind picked up a trampoline that normally would take several people to lift and waltzed it down to the end of the road bumping in to several cars on its journey! Happily there were no injuries as a result of that event. It's a fact as I understand it that this country is very prone to tornado formation but usually they don't become newsworthy items.

From the foregoing it can be seen that it had been a blustery few hours and in fact had been well forecast by the met office for a few days. Windy though it was it certainly wasn't remarkable in the sense that a storm of that magnitude could be expected any year.

Now Piers Corbyn who insists that such weather is driven by sunspots and other solar activity and has nothing to do with 'Global Warming' reckons to have predicted this storm for a long time. He had gone public on this but his prediction was that it would be between November 24 and 28 and that we should expect gusts from 90 to 100mph! In other words comparable with the nighttime storm of 1987 (the Michael Fish Hurricane) or the daytime storm of January 1990 when for a time all of Cornwall lost its power from the National Grid. Shortly before last Sunday's gales he had come out with some reason I didn't really comprehend as to why this weather event had slowed down and was a few days late in arriving. So concerned had he been about the strength of the impending storm that he had been flashing warnings to the government about it. A personal thing but I find the way he words his press releases very irritating.

Piers Corbyn certainly polarises opinion; I would say that his detractors feel happier at the moment than his disciples.

Lights switched on

The rough weather relented somewhat yesterday evening. This was just as well because it was the night of the Christmas lights switch on in Gunnislake with associated street entertainment. As happened last year the marching band (bagpipes and drums) from Plymouth did their stuff and the Hele School steel band demonstrated their prowess this time in 'The Buccaneer' - last year they were in the dance studio. The Morris Dancers were the side based at Horrabridge (Dartmoor Border Morris?). There was a short firework display with very quiet bangs showing that they really don't need to be noisy. As usual Steve at the Post Office had sensibly utilised the afternoon in making mulled wine. Well up to standard Steve!

Even though there was a brief weather window before the heavy rain later in the night it seemed to me that there just weren't the number of people attending that we have had in the past. It was the same in August with the Saturday of our village festival. At the moment there looks to be some apathy setting in when it comes to community events and it's difficult to overcome it.

Windfarm developer's website misleads

Since writing my last piece I thought that really I should see if the developer for the proposed 'Davidstow Community Windfarm' had a website as I am keen to be fair in my argument. Like most I have my prejudices but do have some ability to look at matters very objectively and also I can be very forensic in my analysis.

So if you click here you can see what this scheme is all about from the developers point of view. Now the saying is that a picture is worth a thousand words and I would suggest that with a critical eye a map can also be worth a thousand words. So looking down the links on the left hand side of the page my eyes lit up when I saw the words 'Interactive Map' and I quickly went to it. Very interesting it turns out to be! On clicking to launch the map you are first presented with four locations outside the delineated area of development on which you can click to see how the windfarm would look after erection compared with the same view now. You might think these would be labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4. Wrong! They are shown as Viewpoints 3, 4, 8 and 13. H'm, no indication where there may be other viewpoints. Strange that! Number 13 at Showery Tor is the nearest of these 4 viewpoints and looking over Crowdy Reservoir it's not surprising that the windfarm is very visible. Very honest these windfarm people! Or are they. My eyesight might not be the best but I can't see the blades in the 'predicted view'. Perhaps they are turning too fast! They will add considerably to the height of the structures of course. And Showery Tor is very close indeed to the National Trust owned Rough Tor, Cornwall's second highest hill. It's worth mentioning at this point that Davidstow is not far from the Delabole Windfarm (Britain's first) where plans are afoot to upgrade to much larger turbines and so there would be a sort of cumulative affect to one's view, particularly from the 'Westdowns' area I would have thought (Viewpoint 8).

From this page one can now click on a close up view of the site plan where you can note exactly how the layout for the 20 turbines appears. But it's when you go to 'Show Zone of Visual Influence' that the developer's case can be really shot to pieces. Using four different colours on this very small scale map they show the following - 1 to 5 turbines fully visible, 6 to 10 turbines fully visible, 11 to 15 turbines fully visible, 16 to 20 turbines fully visible (my emphasis throughout). I never knew how important a little word 'fully' was! A cursory glance at the map might make you wonder just what the fuss is about. I wouldn't argue that the number of locations at which you can see the full height from base to tip of blade might be limited but what about the top 70% or 50% of the structure? You have to be absolutely forensic when looking at any developer's evidence I find.

I don't live many miles from the granite mound of Kit Hill, a Country Park, from which a great swathe of East Cornwall and West Devon is visible. As existing windfarms are visible from there then I have to suspect that much of the Davidstow scheme could also be seen. It is said that the very top of the new turbines will be pretty well level with 'Brown Willy' and I'm sure that eminence can be seen from far more places than the four colours on the map.

If I lived near Davidstow I would go through this website with a magnifying glass and read every word. Alas time is too short for me but I've seen enough to convince me that this scheme should be turned down.

Davidstow residents unhappy about windfarm

Residents at Davidstow on the north flank of Bodmin Moor are very unhappy about the latest wind farm proposal for Cornwall. When it comes to windswept acres North Cornwall has more than most areas I guess so naturally wind turbine companies look on it very favourably. Now there is a plan for another windfarm this time at the woodland location near the old airfield.

I've blogged in the past about my reservations concerning onshore wind farms (See here). This suggestion for Davidstow is for the new generation of tall turbines (to put this in perspective 3 times the height of Exeter Cathedral!) whereas up until now the much smaller first generation turbines have been built in Cornwall. The company behind this latest scheme have cheekily called their proposal "Davidstow Community Windfarm" I believe thus suggesting that the local residents are enthusiasts for it! And because that part of Bodmin Moor is a mix of disused airfield and forestry they consider it to be a brownfield site! Now in all honesty this isn't the most stunningly beautiful part of the county but its proximity to Brown Willy, Cornwall's highest peak, and that it's not that far from the wild North Cornwall coast means that the wind farm will be dominating the views from some of the most special parts of Cornwall.

Another factor regarding the proposed site is that it is a very significant winter roost for starlings - I must go and witness this myself one of these days. Local authorities are in a bind in Devon and Cornwall: I could advance arguments against the location of any new proposals in the two counties but it's obvious that if a developer goes to appeal some will get through as happened at Fullabrook Down near Ilfracombe.

This government will push through more and more windfarms and they will increasingly be of the much larger turbines.

Stormy weekend forecast

Yesterday was very pleasant weather wise but things have now turned for the worse with a fair bit of rain and increasing wind. We have been warned in the last few forecasts that the wind will be particularly strong on Sunday morning. It looks as if the airflow is coming from the west or southwest, good news for me as the rising ground behind this terrace tends to lessen the impact of the wind from that direction. When we have a gale from the due south though we really know about it because then it fairly whistles through this part of the valley there being little high ground twixt us and the sea.

With a gale from the west the MSC Napoli might be a little less battered than she was the other day when it blew from the due south. As I have previously remarked the salvage company have been lucky with the weather but that good fortune couldn't go on indefinitely.

I have blogged in the past about maverick meteorologist Piers Corbyn getting his forecasts wrong. He has produced some very dire warnings about storms for this past month and went public with them rather than expecting you to pay to visit his website. I'll see just how bad the winds are on Sunday and then pass judgement on these latest prophecies of his.

Gordon Brown and Des Browne

In a blog entry on the third of July I had expressed some thoughts on the make up of Gordon Brown's first cabinet. He took the opportunity to do some welcome reshuffling of the pack but there was one particular appointment, that of Defence Secretary, that caused me concern. At the time of the capture and subsequent release by Iran of some of our service personnel Des Browne rightly took a lot of flak. In the Commons the Opposition eventually managed to extract an apology from Browne who famously said that the buck stopped with him. Now this was towards the end of the Blair premiership and it was conjectured that there was little point in booting Browne out as he could be dropped when Gordon Brown took the reins.

So what happened? Not only did Browne retain his position but he was given the job of Scottish Secretary as well! When I first wrote about this I flagged up the point that with the possible closure of one of our shipyards hanging in the air there could well be a possible conflict of interest. What has now become an issue, with which I wholeheartedly agree, is the matter of Browne doing two jobs. It was just a few days ago that former Chiefs of Defence Staff savagely attacked Gordon Brown on his attitude toward spending on defence and one of them angrily queried why the present holder of the post of Defence Secretary was also doing another job. Now with devolution I'm sure that Browne's Scotland job isn't a major part of his workload but that's not the point. Defence Secretary should be a full time post regardless. Let's remember our forces are still engaged in two major combat zones apart from the more mundane stuff like maintaining a presence in The Falklands and doing drug busts in The Caribbean.

I understand that Tory peer Lord Tebbit has asked for a breakdown as to the time spent by Browne on his two jobs. That information has not been forthcoming. This is an absolutely outrageous situation; it's no wonder that we hold politicians in such contempt.

Competence, honesty, integrity, people management: these are qualities I look for from a Prime Minister as much as policies. At the moment Gordon Brown is desperately poor in these areas.

Heavy traffic blighting Cullompton

Cullompton By-Pass just to the east of this Devon market town was built some years prior to the completion of the southernmost part of the M5 and although not motorway on its opening it was evident that it would form part of the M5 in due course. Junction 28 is on the north eastern outskirts of the town and not only permits access to and egress from Cullompton but directly connects to the somewhat substandard A373 which wends its way to Honiton.

So far so reasonably good. But here's the problem: junction 28 is getting so heavily used that traffic will back right up the slip road to the motorway itself at times. Lorries heading for businesses to the south of the town at Bradninch and Silverton rattle their way through Cullompton's High Street, a thoroughfare designed for the horse and cart age. Understandably locals are getting fed up with the situation and would desperately like to see another two level junction to the south of the town.

In response the Highways Agency point out the downside of too many junctions on a motorway both in terms of disruption of traffic flow and increased accident risk. And of course there is the little matter of paying for a new junction. The Agency also point out that construction of a second junction for a relatively small town like Cullompton goes against National and Regional policies.

Gosh this is a tough one to sort out and I'm glad I don't have to come up with the answer! But this is a good example of the truly massive problems overtaking us in this country - more economic activity, more prosperity, more vehicle movements, more impact on our fragile town buildings and streets, lower quality of life for those in such towns, heavier carbon footprint, these things all follow each other. What is the way out of it? Answers on a very large postcard please!

Newquay's £1,000,000 apartment sales

It's amazing to see just how many property sales in Devon and Cornwall top the £million mark these days. I can understand it when the sale in question is for a really grand house with acres of land but get slightly bemused when apartments, admittedly with sea views, make this sort of price. In terms of price per square foot we may not be quite in the same league as Sandbanks on that narrow spit of land between Poole Harbour and Poole Bay in Dorset but certain spots in my two counties are trying to catch up.

I hear that Cornwall's Newquay has now joined the £million league with the sale of a couple of penthouse apartments in a development with views over Fistral Beach. In fact the prices were £1.2 and £1.3 million if the report is correct and they haven't been completed yet. No doubt they will be very nice but worth that sort of money? Anyway there we are: a home is worth what you are prepared to pay for it I guess. As for me I'm happy to stay with my little Cornish cottage.

McClaren out and Holloway moves on

Regular readers of this blog (are you out there?) will know that I seldom comment on sport but I'll make an exception with this entry. The failure of the now ex England soccer coach Steve McClaren has unsurprisingly been the subject of much media attention in the last few days. I made the wrong decision and decided to watch what turned out to be a complete humiliation at the hands of Croatia. Congratulations then to Croatia who won by the odd goal in five, but if the winning margin had been two or three then that would be a fair reflection in my opinion. Yes England were international class, for all of about 5 seconds I would say. Beckham's pass and Crouch's finish for our first goal were worthy of a World Cup Final but as to the rest of the match we were so pathetic.

Once again our overpaid players and grossly overpaid manager were found wanting and have let the country down. This failure to qualify will have a knock on effect because when we enjoy modest success e.g. getting to the quarter finals then the excitement,hope and expectation is generally beneficial to the nation. And let's not forget that we invented football and a host of other sports that have an international following.

Of course after the debacle of the Croatia match it was obvious that McClaren had to go. So why didn't he do the right thing and immediately resign? My guess is that it was only by waiting to be sacked that he got his incredible pay off. So it would be money in other words. Now this is what absolutely nauseates me, the fact that you can be an absolute failure and then get payed a massive fortune on the back of it. I have to say here that there are many people in professional sport who get paid obscene amounts of money but am I envious? No! I recognise that is the way things are. If these people produce the goods and the market place pays them well then good luck to them. But it's when the very well paid are rewarded vast amounts of money when they totally fail (and I'm not just talking about sportsmen here) that really gets me. Yes I do get very angry about that.

At about the same time as the England International trauma local team Plymouth Argyle found itself in shock. Popular Argyle manager Ian Holloway who had been expressing his undying love for the team who are as I type seventh in the Championship has moved on to Leicester City. Money and gates seem to have been the motivation here. Fans feel very let down - expect him to get a bad reception next time Leicester visit Home Park.

New way to go to Brixham from Torquay

A new way to go to Brixham from Torquay? Well not quite yet. But bus company 'Stagecoach' have come up with an intriguing idea to speed folk between Torquay and Brixham. The proposal is to instigate a regular passenger ferry service running 365 days a year between the two towns. The firm would use catamarans or trimarans with a capacity for 144 people. It would be a direct service so wouldn't stop at Paignton. Of course there could be the rare occasion when a bad easterly gale would prohibit it from running but these times should be very infrequent in the summer at least when traffic jams in Torbay are at their worst.

An interesting point has been raised regarding the free bus fares available to senior citizens and registered disabled. Would they be able to use this facility on the ferry? Logic says they should but things don't always work by logic it has to be said.

I've long thought that fast passenger ferries over relatively modest distances have not been used enough in this country. So this plan is something I will follow with a great deal of interest.

A very late firework display

I thought I had blogged enough about this years fireworks but unexpectedly find myself making another entry. Well into last Saturday evening I witnessed and heard another display of fireworks, twelve days after November the fifth. Now this wasn't in the village but beyond the treeline on the Devon side of the Tamar Valley. Checking with the map I'm fairly sure that they were set off at a fairly isolated property out of sight from here but barely a mile away as the crow flies.

Some of the bangs were at the loud end of the spectrum so to speak and I just got the feeling that it was all put together by a professional outfit. It's possible that the timing less than two weeks from Guy Fawkes night was coincidence and it might have been in celebration of some sort of family event.

As certain sections of the population become better off it seems that they become ever more eager to spend their cash in this sort of way. Mercifully in this instance they didn't go on for too long but for pet owners and the rest of us who wish for a less noisy environment the increasing number of these firework displays are not welcome. A further reduction in the maximum decibels these explosives produce would be a very good idea.

MSC Napoli - accommodation block removed

I'm very pleased to report that the huge accommodation block on the stern section of the MSC Napoli has now been completely removed. This has taken little more than a week which is progress indeed.

That's the good news. A low pressure area, presently centred over our region, brought a southerly gale in on its eastern flank so that the Napoli is now listing at about 30 degrees. Up until this moment the weather has been incredibly kind to those working on the wreck but sooner or later some poor weather had to make its presence felt. With the listing has come the movement of small pieces of debris ashore in the Branscombe area.

We are told that the final removal of the stern section should be completed by the end of April 2008. I think that the experts have taken the most extreme pessimistic view of the completion time; I appreciate that the winter weather could play a huge role in the progress made by the salvage company and that a substantial weather window might be necessary when the stern section is eventually lifted onto a barge. However I would be very surprised if it took that long to finish the job.

Expect a lot of media attention on the anniversary of the grounding of the Napoli next January.

Launceston gets proactive on litter

"Volunteers helping to keep our beautiful Cornish town of Launceston and its surrounding parishes a cleaner, greener place to live and work, dedicated to eradicating dropped rubbish, through direct action and educational intervention". This is what you will read as a mission statement on a simple little website here.

Apparently local councillor Jacki Ellis-Martin discovered that litter was the big recurring concern of voters when she was out campaigning so she thought it was time to tackle the problem head on. She instigated the 'Lanson Initiative to Tackle Environmental Refuse' or 'LITTER' and her organisation now has a constitution and bank account! The bottom line is that Launceston now has a band of volunteers who regularly go out litter picking. North Cornwall District Council provides the bags, high visibility jackets, etc deemed necessary for the job.

Regarding the dropping of litter I have a totally uncompromising viewpoint: there is no excuse in any way, shape or form for dropping litter. End of story. I have to say that compared with many places our village is quite good on the litter front but unusually there were several pieces of clean litter I spotted on the way to the newspaper shop this morning and I picked them up to place in one of the bins in the village centre. On weekdays there is a council worker who does a good job in keeping the streets clean.

For a very long time I've thought "why don't they get people on community service orders up at 8 o'clock in the morning and do a litter pick in the centre of a large town or city". This would be putting something back into the community.

Reverting to the Launceston project for a moment I note that once again it is a relatively small but concerned community that takes action on a problem; this is somewhat reminiscent of Modbury becoming plastic bag free about which I've blogged before. It looks as if Bude and Truro are other places in Cornwall that might follow in the footsteps of Launceston.

Simple ideas like this help to maintain the pride of residents in their communities and, if they get schools involved, might one day eliminate the litter bug from our green and pleasant land. More power to their elbow.

Straw and wood used in Totnes home

It's not unusual to see innovation happening in Devon and Cornwall; there seems to be an inclination down here for people to "think out of the box", to be more individualistic. These are characteristics I'm passionate about and one of the many reasons I sing the praises of my two counties.

So I was really pleased to hear last week that the builder judged to be this year's constructor of the most energy efficient building at the Master Builder of the Year Awards in London comes from my patch. He is Robert Gulley from Totnes in South Devon. He was approached by Mr and Mrs Carfrae who wanted a house built at Totnes that had to be as sustainable as possible but with the proviso that it was within the same budget as a similarly sized conventional home. Now it turns out that Mr Carfrae is studying for a PhD in straw bale construction and suggested that they be incorporated in the construction. This was something new in Mr Gulley's long career as a builder but he went along with the idea and also used lime plaster and incorporated loose sheep's wool for the insulation.

For the main structure of the house a traditionally jointed frame in locally sourced Douglas Fir was used. Floorboards came from an old chapel, good recycling stuff.

This is all absolutely fascinating and just shows what can be achieved by trying things that are not in the mainstream at the moment. Congratulations to all concerned.

Time to read Sat-Nav instructions perhaps

In order to make sense of things going on around me and further afield I like to get as much information as possible, the only snag being that I could do with a 30 hour day! We really are into the information age aren't we but the problem can be taking on board the things that really matter.

Listening to the midday phone-in on Radio Devon yesterday the topic of sat-navs misdirecting lorry drivers down country lanes was raised. I don't have a sat-nav, have never knowingly seen one and was never really aware of all their capabilities. A listener phoned in to say that he has a sat-nav for his car, his sat-nav isn't a top of the range model but it can be set to suit different types of road users. Now this is fascinating stuff because it would appear that if only the instruction book was read a lorry driver's sat-nav could be set up so that his juggernaut is not sent along a car only type of route.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the manual that comes with a sat-nav is 60 pages long, today's technology is so sophisticated that we tend to just utilise a minute part of it. This laptop on which I'm presently typing is I know capable of doing much more than I am using it for and sometime I want to explore some of these possibilities.

My guess is that the sat-nav when purchased has a default setting for normal car usage. Surely if it can be reset for a heavy commercial then that should be done. I would very much like to see lorry drivers and/or haulage companies fined heavily if they are using the technology incorrectly. If property owners or the highway authorities are having to pick up the bill when a lorry causes avoidable damage in a road where it shouldn't be well that is totally unacceptable in my book.

Another listener had phoned to say that a sat-nav could be set so that it followed motorways, 'A' roads and 'B' roads only, perhaps that is the same option that I had previously referred to. I have to say that I'm very disappointed but not surprised that journalists haven't investigated this subject properly. The media take a very superficial view on these sort of things which is very poor indeed in my opinion.

More Sat-Nav woes - this time at Forder

It was only just over a week ago that I was blogging about lorries getting stuck in rural lanes as their drivers blindly followed their sat-navs, the particular instance I focused on being a Czech juggernaut that found itself wedged near Ivybridge.

Fast forward a few days and we find another example this time just across the Tamar in Cornwall. Within a stones throw of the hustle and bustle of Saltash, well just down the hill that leads west from St Stephens Church to be more precise, lies the tiny village of Forder. It is one of those little gems that doesn't make the headlines in the media ... until last week anyway. What happened was a very large lorry found itself descending a hill into Forder, lost its brakes and only came to stop by the driver throwing it into reverse gear. The haulage company blamed the sat-nav for the driver taking an unsuitable road. The vehicle was stuck there till the next day when a massive crane turned up. The extraction process included the temporary removal of overhead cables and the lifting of the lorry's trailer section over the roofs of the nearby houses! Not surprisingly the TV cameras turned up to record "the rescue".

I am totally bemused by the fact that the haulage industry don't seem to be able to get to grips with these sat-nav headaches. Mishaps like this must cost them dear - I believe someone from the recovery team said they are getting this sort of incident every week now.

Perhaps it needs a pedestrian to be seriously injured or worse by one of these lorries to get this sat-nav problem sorted.

BBC Countryfile comes to Devon

Having observed the two minutes silence and listened to part of the proceedings at The Cenotaph on Radio 4 I turned my attention to the TV because I had a particular interest in today's BBC Countryfile programme. It's not always convenient to watch it but, as at least part of it was centred on Devon, I made a point of seeing it this time.

The main story was centred on Slapton which looks out on Start Bay, a long sweep of coast in The South Hams. Slapton's part in the Second World War is becoming increasingly well known but I'll give a very brief summary here.

Slapton Sands is a long quite steeply shelving shingle beach. Immediately behind it is the A379, the main road from Kingsbridge to Dartmouth. On the opposite side of the road lies a freshwater lagoon - Slapton Ley. The importance of this geography lies in the fact of its close resemblance to Utah Beach, one of the beaches in Normandy that the Americans were due to storm on D-Day; it was therefore deemed to be an ideal location to practise and prepare for the invasion. In order to do this the residents of not only Slapton but a number of neighbouring villages were told to evacuate their homes in 1943, they were given just 6 weeks to do this and it was even worse news for farmers who had to remove their livestock as well.

So the military took over the beach and a large chunk of the immediate hinterland. Many manoeuvres were rehearsed culminating in a particularly large operation toward the end of April 1944 codenamed 'Exercise Tiger'. This was going to be a mammoth affair with a number of landing craft and American troops involved. With a combination of cock ups on the Allied side and the presence of German E Boats in the channel some of the landing ships were picked off by the Germans and tragically 749 American troops died - a larger number than were lost on the assault on Utah Beach.

Understandably this whole disaster was hushed up at the time and it may have stayed like that but for the dogged determination many years later of one man. Ken Small ran a guest house with his wife at Torcross which is at the southern end of Slapton Sands. Now Ken, who died a year or two ago, was very into beachcombing and was for ever discovering odd small bits of military hardware during his searches. But what really intrigued him was the discovery by a fisherman of a very large object submerged out in the bay, an American Sherman tank no less. To cut a long story short Ken was very involved in recovering this tank (it can now be seen just across from the beach at Torcross) and this led him, with a great deal of dogged determination, to unravel the story of 'Exercise Tiger'. Ken Small wrote a book 'The Forgotten Dead' and I remember buying my copy personally from Ken when he sold them at the site of the tank in Torcross.

The Countryfile team did a pretty good job at relating the story and searched out the relevant people. In the programme they also had an item about the cost of homes at Salcombe and East Portlemouth ( the latter recently covered in this blog) and they interviewed Rebecca Hosking whose home is at Modbury because she has inspired that town to become the first community in Europe to be free of plastic bags. Again I've covered that story with a couple of entries.

A good useful programme I thought.

Remembrance Day thoughts

I consider myself very lucky in a number of ways. One of these is the fact that I didn't lose any close relatives in the two World Wars, many others weren't so fortunate. It is I find quite difficult to relate to the war dead when it comes to 11 o'clock on the eleventh of November when the horrendous events of the wars haven't really impinged on your own life. However quietly walking alongside the Tamar about an hour earlier I couldn't but reflect on the peace and tranquillity of the scene before me and contrasted that in my mind with the carnage man has wrought on fellow man, and all for what? But running parallel with this was the realisation that the pleasure of the freedom to enjoy that walk was partly down to those who lost their lives in the conflicts and to those who suffered permanent injury.

A few, a very few, communities never erected memorials to the fallen dead. These were the 'thankful villages', places to which their sevicemen all returned. I know that Herodsfoot, a sweet little village deep in the valley of the West Looe River in the quiet countryside between Looe and Liskeard was one such example. But were there any others in Devon and Cornwall? None that I know of.

The location of Herodsfoot can come as a surprise when you stumble on it. However with some mining in the valley and once a gunpowder works nearby its present feel of nothing has ever happened here can be misleading!

I certainly don't glorify war but as a person who is fascinated by history I take plenty of interest in wars from a purely historical perspective. That's as close as I want to get.

Noisy fireworks yesterday evening

On Tuesday evening I wrote a piece about the way fireworks are set off on days other than November the fifth. That evening, the sixth, witnessed one or two fireworks but quiet ones probably not enough to cause much distress. Sadly in the middle of yesterday evening a family about 100 yards away decided it was their turn. Many of the fireworks they let off were exceptionally loud, worse than others I had heard on previous days and they seem to have spread them out over quite a period of time so that you were repeatedly under the illusion that the mayhem was over only for another huge rocket to deafen you.

So far as I was concerned the family were totally irresponsible in doing what they did. One hears of dog owners going to the vet to get their pooches sedated for Guy Fawkes night but who would have been prepared for very noisy fireworks midweek and two days after the fifth.

Perhaps I'm naive but I believe the majority of people for all their imperfections (and I am far from perfect myself) try to behave in a responsible fashion with concern and respect for others. However certain individuals don't such as those last night. It's the same with picking up dog poo, the great majority of dog walkers in the village do the correct thing but there is always the odd one who doesn't.

Respect for others is surely something that we should all aim for.

Newton Ferrers and Noss Mayo have their say

Last Wednesday many people will have participated in Halloween activities or, in my case, avoided them. But in the twin villages of Newton and Noss which face each other across the River Yealm in the far south west of Devon parishioners had the chance to indulge in another activity ...

It was their turn to make their thoughts known on the matter of a national referendum on the European Constitution if they so wished. This follows the recent parish referendum at Shaldon on which I had previously blogged on 26th October. As in the Shaldon case Newton and Noss overwhelmingly demonstrated their desire for an EU referendum.

The figures for Newton and Noss: Yes 302 No 26.

Now ShelterBox to help Mexicans

In the aftermath of the huge Asian tsunami a charity based in Helston, Cornwall got a lot of media attention. ShelterBox, the brainchild of Tom Henderson, developed a very simple way of sending practical aid to people anywhere affected by natural and other disasters - floods, tidal waves, earthquakes, war whatever.

Their mission statement is "To provide humanitarian aid worldwide in the form of shelter, warmth and comfort to people displaced by natural and other disasters." The brilliantly simple way they do this is to provide tough green plastic boxes each of which contains a 10 person tent and ancillary equipment to enable 10 people to survive for at least 6 months. These ancillaries will depend on the location to which the boxes are destined. Examples of included items that have been sent are insulated groundsheets, thermal blankets, cooking equipment and water purification tablets. Having seen one of their boxes and what they can get into it well it's truly amazing.

The whole box and its contents would cost about £500 but the wonderful thing is that ShelterBox tell you on their website here what the individual constituents cost. So maybe one would like to send them a donation for one sleeping bag say - you will know exactly what that is and you can be sure that is how your money will be spent. For those folk understandably wary of how much 'slippage' there is any donation to a charity for admin, wages, etc this is like a breath of fresh air.

As a passionate environmentalist I do get concerned at times about the ever increasing amount of air traffic but always try to look at issues from a balanced perspective. Thus I say thank goodness for successful airline companies who have the capacity to get the ShelterBoxes quickly and cheaply to foreign airports. Yes there are pluses when it comes to air travel!

Not surprisingly ShelterBox are organising deliveries to southern Mexico in response to the severe flooding in the Tabasco region. What I found interesting though was the deployment of some 200 boxes to North Korea last month following floods in that impoverished country. That state is usually pretty well out of bounds to westerners and I once saw some disturbing TV footage which demonstrated the complete indoctrination of children in North Korea to hate the west. So the efforts of ShelterBox in helping that country has an incalculable benefit in showing them that we are not all ogres, apart from the direct humanitarian aid that they are receiving.

I just cannot speak too highly of this wonderful charity.

MSC Napoli - work resuming this week

For those not living in the Branscombe/Sidmouth area the saga of the MSC Napoli is probably something you haven't thought about of late. But, as ever, if there is fresh activity relating to the Napoli this blog will let you know!

This week will see the commencement of the cutting up of the stern section of the wreck which will be followed by removal of the parts for recycling. It may be recalled that an earlier plan had been to lift the whole of the remainder of the ship with its massive accommodation block onto a barge and take it away. After some thought it seems that the salvage company would be taking on a bit too much with this idea but whether it was the men from the ministry or the salvers who got cold feet I don't know I'm afraid. Whatever the history it is evident that the stern section of Napoli is likely to be visible off Branscombe for a few months yet.

As I have blogged before it is a shame that the disposal decision couldn't have been made earlier bearing in mind the very quiet weather we have enjoyed over the past couple of months. Now everyone will keep their fingers crossed that the kind conditions continue.

Modbury plastic bag ban now permanent

I wrote on the First of May about a pioneering scheme in Modbury, South Devon where for six months traders would not be issuing plastic bags. That trial period is complete and not only will the plastic bag ban now go on indefinitely but many other places are into similar initiatives following intense media interest from far and wide.

Not only have the plastic bags gone but their replacements made of cornstarch for instance are far fewer in number demonstrating just how much these new alternatives are being repeatedly used rather than being discarded. We are in a win-win situation here.

It was local person and wildlife filmmaker Rebecca Hosking, having witnessed the appalling affects on marine life of discarded plastic, who decided to do something about it. I think she was taken aback by just how much both she and the town came into the spotlight. Having achieved what she hoped for, and more, she has decided to bow out and enjoy a slightly quieter life again and I don't blame her!

There is a specific website regarding plastic bag free Modbury which you can link to here.

Air Southwest on the up

One of our local low fare airlines, Air Southwest has announced that starting from next year it will be increasing the number of its services from Newquay and Plymouth. In particular both airports will now connect with Newcastle and with Glasgow. Additionally the Irish connection will develop with the Company's flights to Cork and Dublin and , for skiing enthusiasts, Chambery described as the "Gateway to the French Alps" will be in the itinerary.

On more than one occasion I've expressed concern about either more airports being built or of additional runways developed at existing facilities. But the great thing about our local airports in the two counties is that they can absorb more air traffic without devouring more countryside and Air Southwest's plans will make these two airports a little more viable , something they very much need.

Government edgy about 'Pay as You Throw'

I can't believe that it was as long ago as 2nd June that I blogged on the subject that has become known as 'Pay as You Throw'. At that time I highlighted a number of reasons why it was unfair, impractical and very bureaucratic and thus should not be adopted in this country. Similar schemes appear to have been successful in some countries on the continent so why not here? The answer is in the question - we are not these other countries, the way things work here I suggest is vastly different to those other places.

It seems that the government are in a predicament on this one. Having pulled back from the brink of setting up a system where we all pay for how much we throw out they are now keen on the idea of a few councils going through with pilot schemes. There's no doubt that as a nation we are incredibly wasteful but it's interesting to see that the subject of excessive packaging is getting aired more and more so this might be something on which inroads can be made to reduce landfill.

One thing that I never see discussed is the degree of waste to landfill the homeowner produces relative to that from other sources, shops, hotels, industry etc. Why don't we ever get the fuller picture?

Too many days for fireworks

Before I get started I just want to be clear that I'm not a killjoy. I'm not personally interested in firework displays but if others are well my dislike doesn't colour my attitude I hope. However one of my complaints about fireworks is that they are not confined to November 5th. In the village there have been quite a number let off on the two weekend evenings (third and fourth) but with the noisier ones seemingly reserved for the "correct" day. So far this evening practically nothing, just the odd quiet one. Now if only setting off fireworks was confined to the one evening what an improvement that would be.

There are a lot of dog owners and cat owners in the village - I'm not one of them - and it's horrendous for owners and pets as one just doesn't know when the next bang is coming. But it's not only the effect on domesticated animals that bothers me. We are in a deep V shaped valley with the village clinging to the western slope whilst the Devon side is densely wooded. A pleasure for me, and for many others I guess, is the sound of the gentle hoots of the tawny owls from the trees opposite that one hears on many a night. Owls have very sensitive hearing I believe so just what effect the sound of fireworks reverberating in the valley has on them I don't know. As I type this sentence at 8 pm I can hear some reassuring hoots so that's good news.

Maybe now there will be a lull until New Year's Eve when more explosions will be on the menu if the past few years are anything to go by.

Sat-Nav cause more problems

I seem to be stuck on the subject of traffic and driving at the moment but this entry is regarding a problem I've wanted to comment on for some time, and the front page story in today's Western Morning News has brought it to the fore.

According to the WMN story a Czech driver working for a Czech haulage company was on his way to Lee Moor to collect some TVs. His satellite navigation system (or sat-nav as they seem to be known as) directed him down a country lane between the A379 Plymouth to Kingsbridge road and the A38 Devon Expressway. This wasn't any old lorry but an articulated 40 tonne monster. Obviously the next part of the story is that the lorry got firmly wedged between the hedge banks. Fortunately for the non English speaking driver the mishap occurred close to a house where the housewife, a Croatian, was able to sufficiently understand his native tongue to communicate with him. Inexplicably it took three days before someone could pull the lorry out. Meantime the driver spent his nights in his vehicle (it had a bed) and the Croatian lady and her husband kept him fed and watered by inviting him in for meals.

These stories of HGVs getting stuck come up now and again ... and again and again and again. They just illustrate a situation that is ludicrous in that the drivers do not understand the fallibility of their sat-navs. By and large they seem to work for the ordinary car but obviously often not for bigger stuff. Isn't this the problem with this clever technology, before it came in one was reliant on a degree of common sense, an ability to read a map and a general feel of where you were. But now it's a case of "who needs common sense - we have the technology, stupid".

Some months ago a sign, the first in this country, was erected at Exton in Hampshire, telling drivers not to rely on their sat-navs after problems there. And only the other day there was the unveiling of a sign in the Vale of Glamorgan again advising that the technology should not be used. This latter one was of a pictorial design to avoid the linguistic problem that foreign drivers could encounter. OK such signage could be used in instances where there are regular problems but could hardly be erected in the hundreds of locations where lorries could come to grief.

I haven't seen the men from the ministry or the sat-nav manufacturers being very active in dealing with this issue, they need to be a darn sight more proactive. As usual you can expect the local authorities whose highway budgets are always being squeezed to do any repairs after such incidents occur. A lot of these minor roads are a few inches of blacktop on not very much and are certainly not designed for trans-continental juggernauts.

These large lorries should confine themselves to 'A' roads and 'B' roads except the very last part of the journey if the depot or whatever is off such roads. Looking at the 1:50,000 OS maps for my two counties it can be seen that you are never any great distance from 'A' and 'B' roads so there is no reason at all why big lorries can't stick to them. Drivers getting stuck in narrow lanes should be prosecuted for careless driving. Obviously I am excluding smaller lorries, the ones collecting farm milk for instance and the tankers that deliver calor gas for properties not on the mains.

Please note that I'm not decrying the use of technology, it's just a case of recognising that on occasion its usefulness is limited. Instead of us becoming techno-junkies 24/7 we should realise that commonsense still has a part to play.