Sat-Nav leads to ambulance problem

I notice that I have already penned seven entries relating to problems with drivers and their sat-navs. Well here is another one in my area, this time involving an ambulance. It happened on Christmas Eve, a time when there were huge worries about icy patches on minor roads. A privately run ambulance was taking an elderly couple and family member home to Polperro from Plymouth's Derriford Hospital. It would seem that they had another patient to drop off because they evidently went to Liskeard first. Now I can tell you that there is just one sensible way to get from Liskeard to Polperro after dark (this happened in the evening) and with the possibility of icy stretches. From Liskeard you head west along the Dobwalls Bypass, at the roundabout take the left turn on to the St Austell road and soon you will be arriving at the Taphouses. Here one turns left on to the B3359 which heads south down through Pelynt before terminating at a T junction where one turns right on the A387 Looe to Polperro road, the last named village just being a short distance away. I know it's possible to turn off in Dobwalls itself and take the road on the watershed between the East and West Looe Rivers and on through Duloe but then there is the potentially tricky hill down to Sandplace and one would have to climb up again from Looe on the '387'.

So what did the ambulance driver do? He engaged the sat-nav and disengaged his brain (I'm not sure whether he had the latter though). The sat-nav I suspect would have sent him along the twisty hilly road through St Keyne and on to Duloe. Now we know that the ambulance had its mishap near Sowden's Bridge which is one of the crossing points on the West Looe River. According to the newspaper the vehicle slid backwards down the icy hill before hitting a wall and tree and ending in a ditch. No injuries luckily but damage to the side door meant the passengers were trapped inside. This happened at about 6.30 pm but with lack of signal in the valley it wasn't until 8.16 pm that emergency services located them and over two hours after that before they got stretchered out of the stricken ambulance.

You might gather from what I have written that I have a fair idea of the geography of the area concerned and sat-nav or no sat-nav would realise the best route option in the circumstances. Even if the chump driving the ambulance was less familiar than I with that locality why didn't he have OS Landranger map 201 with him to get a better idea of the options available from Liskeard. The small number of roads that cross the West Looe River are narrow and steep - I happen to know that but the information is readily discernible from the map. It stands to reason that the bottom of the valley would be potentially icy - water gravitates downhill does it not, the narrow lanes deep in the valley would get very little sunlight in them to melt any ice, there would be no incentive for council gritters to go there as it is sparsely populated and, as events proved, there would be little chance of getting a signal if an emergency occurred. A further point: in the admittedly unlikely event of the ambulance meeting a vehicle in the lanes either party backing up in the dark would not have been a nice experience.

Compare this with the alternative route I suggested earlier in the piece. My way would almost certainly have been gritted throughout, it would be relatively level particularly once on the ridge road that heads in the direction of Pelynt, not sure about in Polperro itself but the rest of the route should be in an area where there is a good signal and the road is reasonably wide (by Cornish standards anyway!).

Interestingly someone in my village told me some time ago about another ambulance incident where the driver got it wrong. This person was coming back to Gunnislake from Derriford and this was OK but prior to her part of the journey someone else had to be dropped off in Plymouth, in Stoke if I remember rightly. Stoke is south west of Derriford so the patient was somewhat surprised when the ambulance departed in the direction of Plympton - the opposite direction! Despite his protestations the crew just followed the sat-nav: perhaps they had been given duff information or there was a duplication of street names, I don't know. As far as they were concerned the technology was right and the old chap wrong. Fortunately in the end the gentleman concerned was delivered to his home address. Whether it was the same idiots who caused the mayhem near Sowden's Bridge I don't know.

Even in good weather and broad daylight I wouldn't have thought the expedition through the lanes after Duloe would have been sensible, after dark on last Christmas Eve it was the height of stupidity. Yes sat-navs have their uses but a (so called) professional driver relying 100% on this technology whatever the circumstances should not be on the road. The stupidity shown could have had far more serious consequences.

Temporary respite from the ice

I think it was the weekend prior to Christmas in which I noted that we had a little snow here - 'nuisance snow' if you like - and then there followed almost a week of problems with ice. A block of really cold air had been resisting the ingress of warmer air from the south west and we experienced a number of days during the week of treacherous black ice, far far worse than we would normally get. At various times rain showers would occur with the wetness immediately freezing on contact with the sub-zero road surfaces, a lot of the precipitation occurring during the hours of darkness. The Highways people did a valiant job in salting and gritting the main roads but of course their actions were hampered by the rain washing the salt away at times.

There are many plus points living in this village but it suffers greatly under the rare weather conditions that we have just been enduring. Yes the main A390 road that bisects the village was OK to drive on most of the time but, live off this road as I do, and you are faced with a gradient of about 1 in 6 (uphill in my case) to get out to the main road. Walking up to this main road takes about 5 minutes I guess so no great distance then but when the streets leading off it are iced up it might just as well be on the moon! Things really came to a head on Christmas morning when the roads were undrivable as evidenced by a near neighbour with a modern Land Rover being quite unable to make the ascent. The cold relented a little later in the day and now things are more or less normal but it sounds as if another icy blast will welcome in 2010.

One of our younger residents in the Row did go out and try and scrounge grit where he could prior to the Christmas Day problems and there is plenty of evidence of self help in our area but we definitely need a grit bin very close by for times such as these. I know one or two of the Parish Councillors and will get on to them to chase Highways to make better provision for grit bins. We can't expect every road to be gritted by them but there are plenty of individuals nearby who will do their bit in getting the roads clear.

Political correctness alive and well

How is that most awful of things 'Political Correctness' doing at the moment? I can report that it is alive and well, at least in Sudbury in Suffolk. Not that I would normally run a story so far out of my patch but evidently the local council there have become over zealous regarding 'PC'. The unwitting victim of the latest nonsense is Mr John Sayer, 75 years old, a town councillor and former town mayor who runs charity bingo sessions. It's John's calling at the bingo that has led to him being advised to delete certain phrases that I believe have been used in bingo halls from the year dot. An instance is "two fat ladies - 88". It is understood that this might cause offence if for instance there happened to be a couple of fat ladies sitting together marking off their bingo cards!! Not that there have been any complaints - until now that is. According to Mr Sayer some people taking part aren't happy because the caller has stopped using this 'bingo speak' in the events.

It almost defies belief that anyone using a phrase such as "two fat ladies - 88" should be censured. What on earth is this country coming to?

Fantastic Christmas song from 'Astral Plane'

Yes, I know that I should have made this entry before Christmas Day but I had taken my eye off the ball, not appreciating that Kevin Romang and Silvia Plegniere had produced this marvellous video. If you follow this blog you will know that I've already featured some of the great music that Kevin and Silvia have produced and as this latest offering from them maintains their incredible standard well I couldn't resist adding it to the blog so readers can share it.

Prior to Christmas it will be recalled that there was a mighty tussle to see who could be number one in the Charts for Christmas 2009. I had to go to YouTube to hear what each of the two contenders was about! Big yawn! I hope that, like me, you will find "So Give unto Me" a great antidote to all the puffed up hype in the pop world.

Enjoy!

Train failures in Channel Tunnel

I have to say that I'm glad this weekend to be anywhere other than on a Eurostar passenger train between London and Paris! It must have been hellish to have been a passenger on one of the five trains that broke down in the Channel Tunnel and not a lot better if you were on the 'relief' train that came to an unscheduled stop in Kent. All this mayhem is we are told down to the weather. I don't know about the last mentioned breakdown but it seems as if the reason for the failures in the tunnel were because the trains and their operating systems had become cold out in the open countryside and then after entering the warm and humid atmosphere in the tunnel condensation had occurred on the electronics, enough to cause the breakdowns.

One or two observations here: firstly, although I understand the necessity of incorporating these clever electronics and no doubt 99.99% of the time they are fine, there does seem to be a degree of frailty when exposed to the most extreme weather. This reminds me f those failures on the Virgin trains at Dawlish when high tide and an easterly gale were throwing waves over the sea wall. The poor old electronics got a soaking and gave up on a number of occasions. This was some time ago and I guess these particular problems are resolved. No doubt the Eurostar engineers are 'burning the midnight oil' to find some solutions to their difficulties.

The other thing I want to comment on is the response of the train company at the time of the incidents. Unsurprisingly, following such a horrendous experience, many passengers affected have been quick to condemn the train company over things like lack of food and water while they were holed up in the tunnel. I can understand their reactions but I wonder what sort of provisioning is on the train should this sort of situation ever happen - would it be reasonable to expect these expresses to be prepared for the scenario of breaking down for a prolonged period of time.

I get the feeling that communication was poor or virtually non existent and this is where these companies seem not to get it. I may be maligning 'Brittany Ferries' but when they had a fire on one of their ships part way across the English Channel one of the main complaints from passengers was the lack of communication from the crew. Communication surely is key in these sorts of situations but is often lacking. The ferry incident was some time ago if you are wondering how you missed this story.

For me personally there is no conceivable reason to travel through the Channel Tunnel. Following these recent events I won't be looking to find one!

Snow here today, enough to be a nuisance

Yesterday I was far too smug about the weather, pointing out the lovely sunshine we had enjoyed and comparing this with the snowfalls elsewhere - particularly in the south east. Should have kept quiet because the white stuff has been in evidence here today. Not that it has amounted to much but it is nuisance value one can say making things a little treacherous underfoot. Walked up the hill to the station in the early evening to meet a friend off the train and discovered that it had been bright and sunny in Exeter! It would appear that the showers plaguing my area today were mainly affecting West Devon and East Cornwall. The wind has dropped which is good from the point of view that the snow hasn't drifted; the downside is that today's showers have hung around rather than quickly passing through.

It had been my intention to go to the Wassail at Cotehele this morning but with the bitter cold I have to say that I chickened out. I'm told that there were lots of people there and that they had snow as well. Last year 'The Rubber Band' and friends led the (musical) procession up to the orchard but I can't imagine their instruments being happy about being in the snow so I don't know how they managed today. Wassails traditionally I think take place early in the new year - I suspect that the timing of this one has something to do with the National Trust's commercial considerations. Christmas is an important time for them at Cotehele because the main hall in the house is open so that people can go in and see the magnificent garland of dried flowers that is hung there every year and of course participants in the Wassail just might make some Christmas purchases in the Trust's shop!

I am wondering now if this winter will be like the last one, rather colder than the mild damp ones that have become the norm in recent years. I said in a recent post that I am undecided over the question of man made climate change but if this winter is cold overall and we have another summer lacking in sizzling temperatures then whatever government is in power will have one heck of a job convincing the population that 'global warming' is here. The sceptics will be very much in the ascendant.

No snow here ... and violets in flower

There are times, particularly when it's raining almost incessantly, that I envy those living in the east of this country with their much drier climate. However at the moment it's definitely a case of "west is best" for those needing to get about: whereas the south east is suffering heavy snow there isn't a flake in sight in the Tamar Valley. In fact we have had some brilliant sunshine with crystal clear visibility albeit that it has been bitterly cold.

Yesterday I had a brisk walk a short way down the river. Almost opposite the weir there are some patches of violets - it is a favoured spot and I normally expect to see the odd one in flower before Christmas. In fact two were visible with a bit of searching but a friend had seen them some time previously I was to subsequently learn! A little while ago winter heliotrope in flower was in evidence near the railway station: not a pretty flower in my opinion and an alien swamping any other vegetation in its vicinity but with flowers in generally short supply perhaps I shouldn't begrudge its presence!

Another import and a species much more amenable to me is the mimosa. I have written about these shrubs before and I love their smooth trunks, feathery leaves and bright yellow flowers. One or two hereabouts were totally devastated by last winter's weather. Another one though, in a courtyard in Tavistock was nipped by the frosts at that time but wasn't a total loss fortunately and a few weeks ago appeared to be in good health. I just hope that this cold spell doesn't persist and that once again we see it in flower.

Plymouth selected as World Cup host

It's very rare for me to touch sport on this blog but this is an item I think I should mention. Strangely, like my last story, it involves the year 2018. Should this country get to host the 2018 soccer World Cup then Plymouth Argyle's Home Park will be a venue in the competition! This is a huge accolade for the city and will help put the south west on the sporting map for once. It should be remembered too that Plymouth could be 'up in lights' prior to then if young diver Tom Daley does well at the 2012 Olympics. Although I'm not into sport myself I think it all bodes well for the major city in my two counties in this coming decade, there could be a real buzz about the place.

Death knell sounded for cheques

I see that it's been a week since I last blogged so I have some catching up to do! So I'll get cracking. It's been announced on today's UK news that there is a plan to get rid of cheques by 2018. The 'UK Payments Council', first time I have heard of them, have set a date of 31 October 2018 by which time they aver there should be no need to use cheques. They, quite rightly, point out that use of cheques has been declining for a number of years now and for various reasons I can see the process continuing and possibly accelerating. As an example - more and more purchases are being made 'on line' and usually the transactions will be done using a debit or credit card, partly because you get much quicker gratification in receiving your goods. There are an increasing number of supermarkets and large stores too not accepting cheques and isn't hard to believe that more of them will join in.

In my own case I find that there is a decreasing need to write cheques as modern technology comes into play. Having said that there are certain circumstances where cheques are an ideal method of money transfer and it will be interesting to see what could replace them. I'm particularly thinking of small societies and charitable groups. For instance I'm programme secretary of our local history group: having agreed a fee with a speaker I will inform our treasurer. She gives me a cheque for the amount which I then pass over to the speaker at the end of the meeting. All very practical. What I had forgotten about and should have remembered is that such cheques need countersigning signatures which is the norm for such organisations. This point was raised by a Radio Devon listener and having been a cheque signatory I should have spotted that. It will be very interesting to see how this problem gets dealt with.

There is the matter of many many small businesses (the life blood of this country I say) who find cheques really convenient. Think window cleaner, chimney sweep, piano tuner as examples of tradesmen coming to your door. Should they and their customers be forced to adopt some sort of technology to enact payment? What about the millions of private sales that take place. Surely we can't expect buyers to have to find an ATM and perhaps carry a considerable amount of cash on them with all the risk that that involves.

It might be reasonable for banks to charge their private customers something for a chequebook to reflect the additional cost that cheques create. This reminds me (I'm showing my age here!) of the time when each cheque cost 2 old pence, a book of 30 having a price tag of five shillings in old money. This wasn't a case of "greedy bankers" by the way - I'm pretty sure that all this money went to the government. I can't recall which administration removed this charge, I just remember it happening many moons ago.

This story today has brought to the fore a little bit of history. It seems as if it was some 350 years ago that saw the first cheque in this country and I understand it was for the sum of £400, a sizable amount of money in the mid seventeenth century I would have thought. A bit of trivia I thought you should know!

Random thoughts on climate change

I'm someone who takes a considerable interest in the environment and is concerned about the future of this planet. With the Climate Change Conference now taking place in Copenhagen I think it's time to make a few observations - for what they are worth. But before I start lets get rid of the use of the word "deniers". I don't know how the term came into being in connection with climate change but the most well known use of this word relates to the Holocaust and I think it's pretty disgraceful to use such a word here. For the purpose of this blogpost I shall call those who believe in man-made global warming "believers" and those who take the opposite viewpoint "sceptics". There are of course many people, of which yours truly is one, who have yet to be convinced by the arguments made by other side. Anyway, here are a few thoughts:

• "The science of man-made global warming is settled"

This is absolutely not the case. A number of observations and theories might point in one direction but this is most definitely not proof positive. It might make lots of sense to use the precautionary principle and try to stabilise the amount of man produced carbon dioxide but that is not to say that the science is right.

• The man on the Clapham Omnibus knows the answer - not
  

This might offend you gentle reader and sorry if it does but huge numbers of ordinary people will proffer an opinion on the veracity or otherwise of man-made global warming. Sadly 99.9% really have no valid idea, many of them just go by their own hunches.

• Our viewpoint might be influenced by our lifestyle

For those of us living in the developed world our feelings on the subject might just be influenced by whether or not we have a high consumption, high carbon use lifestyle, or maybe we don't live like that. Human nature being the way it is if one is the sort of person who say makes two or three holiday flights a year, uses appliances unnecessarily, drive a large uneconomic car out of choice and so on then you are perhaps likely to be more sceptical than someone who uses much less carbon. In other words enjoying a particularly comfortable and materialistic lifestyle is something such folk would be loath to give up and therefore their predisposition might well be towards scepticism. Although I personally am not into high consumption I'm not here to condemn those who are nor do I think I merit praise, it's just the way I naturally live combined with the circumstances which have influenced the direction my life has taken.

• "The climate has always changed and what is happening now is no different"
  

Yes, the climate has always fluctuated and so the sceptics will argue that changes occurring right now to the Earth's climate is just a continuation of this process. They will talk about the "Medieval Warm Period", the "Little Ice Age", the Thames freezing over in winter, the Romans growing grapes in England, Vikings settling in Greenland and so on to back up their statement. The "believers" need to accept these happenings which they used to be reluctant to do. However this is the really important thing that hardly anybody bothers to talk about: the reason(s) for the aforementioned climatic variations aren't understood - there are theories naturally but no proof - therefore it follows that any present day climatic change might be a part of this cyclical movement but it might not. What I'm saying is that we can't explain why the climate keeps changing so logic says that what happens now may be part of this regular variation. But equally it may not so of course it is still possible that we have runaway global warming. In a nutshell past unexplained events can't determine what will happen in the near future. I must say it frustrates me that people don't want to see the clear logic that I have just expressed.

These then are just a few points I wanted to throw into the mix. One final observation to make: it has become really noticeable how shrill the two sides have become in trying to push their particular agendas. Rather than the likes of George Monbiot or Piers Corbyn name calling those who disagree with them can we have some reasoned debate - please!

LibDem candidate wastes money on Xmas Card

In my mail today I've just received a Christmas Card from ... Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate Karen Gillard! I'm assuming that all homes in the South East Cornwall Constituency are getting one. I really can't believe that what must be an expensive operation will garner more than a handful of extra votes come the General Election. Certainly in my case Ms Gillard's card will not encourage me to vote for her - if anything it might push me away as it seems to be a waste of paper and a waste of money. Sorry Karen your action is an absolute no-no for me!

Dr Kelly death - experts are found wanting

Following on from my last post I've found this recording of part of the Channel 4 News originally broadcast just under eight months after Dr Kelly's death. In it you can hear some of the concerned medical experts who were unconvinced by Hutton's conclusions but what really gobsmacked me was the opinions expressed by two forensic experts from Sheffield (this bit starts at about 3.55). It will be recalled that three used blister packs of co-proxomal each originally containing 10 tablets had been found at the scene - in Kelly's coat pocket I think I'm right in saying. There was one left. So, quick bit of mental arithmetic here, 30 minus one = 29. Our first forensic expert states that 29 tablets were more than enough to kill Kelly, or you or me come to that. What is this "expert" on for crying out loud. Because 29 tablets are missing from the blisters he is assuming that all 29 were taken by Kelly. The post mortem suggested that there was a non lethal amount inside Dr Kelly, certainly not all 29 of the tablets. If someone had murdered Kelly one can imagine that removing a number of the co-proxomal tablets (and perhaps conveniently leaving one to assist the police!) would have helped to give the illusion that the death was one of suicide.

I don't pretend to be that intelligent but even I can see just how ridiculous is the argument put forward by the two forensic professors. Sure there is a lot more information out there now about the death and I have the benefit of Norman Baker's excellent book and of Rowena Thursby's brilliant blog to help form some sort of judgment about the matter. Having said that these supposedly clever men seem to have added two and two together to make five with the greatest of ease.

Mentioning Norman Baker reminds me of a comment in his book wherein he notes that the Home Office pathologist who went out to Harrowdown Hill didn't take the rectal temperature of the deceased until he had completed the rest of his examination. Apparently this temperature is one of the most important things to ascertain in determining the time of death and should be done as soon as possible to get the most accurate estimate. So why wasn't this done as a priority? Truly the experts seem hopeless.

Dr David Kelly might get a proper inquest

Some really good news to note: six doctors (including trauma surgeon David Halpin who lives in Devon) have launched a legal action to get the inquest into the death of government scientist Dr David Kelly reopened. The inquest had in fact started soon after this tragic death but the due process was hijacked when Lord Hutton was given the responsibility of deciding how Kelly's demise came about. Hutton had no power to subpoena witnesses, didn't take evidence under oath, didn't have a jury to reach a verdict and is not a coroner. Blair's government decided that the procedure used when many deaths occur in an incident such as a bad train accident could be invoked here. That way of doing things is fair enough when you have multiple fatalities and it becomes somewhat pointless to have individual inquests for each person that died and an enquiry determines the root cause of the accident or whatever. The case of David Kelly is so obviously different - I won't mince my words here when I say that the decision to bypass the usual process of holding an inquest is one of the most disgraceful and unacceptable episodes in modern legal history.

I personally am convinced that Kelly was murdered. Now it may be that an inquest jury would not come up with a verdict of "murder by a person or persons unknown". They could well deliver an open verdict, even possibly suicide although I would doubt that if all the medical evidence is properly presented. What is certain is that Hutton didn't prove suicide "beyond reasonable doubt". We need a clear statement from the Tories now about whether they consider the inquest should be reopened. When Norman Baker's excellent book looking into the circumstances surrounding Kelly's death came out it was noticeable how the right wing bloggers ignored it. We must remember that the Tories in parliament were cheerleaders for Blair's participation in the Iraq war.

If you think the death was by Kelly's own hand I suggest that you read Rowena Thursby's blog here or pick up a copy of Mr Baker's book. Assuming that the subject is approached with an open mind I would be amazed if you didn't have any doubts about Hutton's conclusion re suicide.

Government Agencies - and Prize Draws

This week I have renewed my car tax having successfully got the vehicle through its MOT test. Nothing too remarkable about the tax renewal so why comment about it you may well ask. Actually it's the card I had from the DVLA, a day or two before the expiry date, that I want to write about.

Now it's pretty self evident that DVLA are doing everything they can to get those wanting to renew their car tax to go directly to them by using the phone or the internet. The reason quite simply has to be that it is the most cost effective option for them. All well and good in one sense I guess in that it is our money that funds the DVLA and we should be pleased if they can cut costs. But, and it's a very big BUT, the more we go direct to them the less business there is for the Post Office! In my case the village Post Office is not much more than five minutes away, it deserves to be used and the couple who run it are exceptionally likable. As usual then it was the Post Office route I took to make my car legal to drive.

Back to the card I had from the DVLA. This was to inform me that I had an extra five working days to sort the tax; I think that the regulations have been amended to take account of the fact that they just can't get all the tax discs instantly back to their customers at the end of the month! They also drew one's attention again to their free prize draw giving you the chance to win a brand new car! Not a BMW or Jaguar by the way but a more modest model - a SEAT. Evidently the idea is to encourage you to go to their website and, oh while you there, why not renew your tax on line! Having as I said dealt with my tax up the road my curiosity was aroused enough to look at the website and then I saw that the free draw is open to all i.e. no purchase necessary. Thinking about this now I guess that it's a legal requirement that there should be no restriction on participating in the draw. I'm really getting to the point of this post now: is it ethical for the Government to allow one of its agencies to use the carrot of possibly winning a free car to draw people away from using the Post Office in order to to renew their car tax.

I think it is an interesting point to raise and just what a back bench MP should be asking Gordon Brown at PMQs!

Small scale hydroelectic schemes work

As someone who really is concerned about the environment and how we have the ability to mess it up it might seem strange that I am less than convinced that we should have massive wind farms all over the countryside. It's where I part company with 'Friends of the Earth' and other 'green' organisations of similar mind who think that anything to which you can attach a label that says "renewable" has to be supported no matter what. I can't go along with that outlook I'm afraid.

One particular renewable I've been enthusiastic about for a very long time however is that of small scale water power. I'm very pleased that on the BBC news website you can read here and here about how a Welsh hill farmer is utilising the energy of a fast flowing stream on his land to provide power some of which at least can go into the National Grid and give him a useful extra income. The thing is that we have huge numbers of streams and small rivers, not to mention long pipelines of water from reservoirs, all of which have the potential to turn turbines or Archimedes Screws to generate electricity. This is an absolutely classic instance of "small is beautiful" as they say - two massive plusses of these schemes are (1) that the generating equipment is compact and unobtrusive and hence is not blighting the landscape, and (2) by having these small schemes close to the user the huge power losses resulting from electricity being carried over huge distances from the large traditional power stations exist to a far far lesser extent.

OK I'm realistic enough to understand that such sources of power can only supply a little of our needs but the technology is well proved. The water used is only borrowed for goodness sake so, unlike fossil fuels which go on getting depleted, the water will continue to be available. It's not only in the Welsh hills that this potential exists: I understand that there is a river (or maybe more than one) in South Somerset from which numerous waterwheels for mills obtained their power. A number of these are in a scheme whereby the old water wheels have been replaced powerwise by modern turbines. So there is proved potential in the lowlands as well.

In my neck of the woods there is an interesting example of water power usage which dates in fact to before the Second World War. The water is taken from the River Tavy, one of England's fastest flowing rivers. The engineers utilised some existing leats originally used for mining purposes and built a small power station at Mary Tavy just off the western edge of Dartmoor. Later, down in Tavistock, some of the Tavy's water goes into the Tavistock Canal (a feature again resulting from the old mining boom). Terminating high above the old port of Morwellham the water is now diverted down a pipe into another hydro electric plant on the Devon bank of the Tamar.

The middle Tamar Valley was home to many leats in its industrial heyday as was Dartmoor as I hinted at in my last paragraph. Why can't the powers that be see the immense potential inland waterways and pipelines could have in generating electricity. A large part of the answer I'm sure is that each of the small schemes I enthuse about is exactly what I've said - "small". Unlike the wind energy people who no doubt are very powerful lobbyists in the corridors of power there is no one really to bend the ear of a Minister for the little projects which in total could add up to a lot.

Just one other example I'll mention here and that is one of my favourite locations - the twin villages of Lynton and Lynmouth on Devon's north coast. The West Lyn river drops rapidly off Exmoor to join its sister the East Lyn at, unsurprisingly, Lynmouth. In its short course the West Lyn not only powers a hydro electric station but also provides the means by which the steep cliff railway linking the two villages functions.

That's proper green energy for you!