Jenna Witts sings "Bring me News"

In my last entry I was quite scathing about the present programme strategy of 'Radio Devon'. I don't take back any of the criticism I made but I should point out that it's not all bad with this broadcaster. They do have the occasional programme, particularly at weekends it seems, where you get what you hope for and one example is a folk music show on Sundays and although I didn't listen to it they had advertised that a young singer/songwriter, Jenna Pitts from Woolacombe in North Devon, would be featured yesterday. Jenna has a sweet voice in my opinion and I thought it an idea to post this video of her singing her song "Bring me News".

I hope that her music brings her success.

Radio Devon gets it wrong

Although living in Cornwall (just) I seem to have much more trouble receiving BBC Radio Cornwall than its Devon counterpart. Perhaps I should try listening on line. I don't listen to the radio continuously, in fact I enjoy the contrast of having no man made sounds around me on occasion although some people seem to be scared of silence. At various moments of my day I am likely to tune into Radio Devon but these times are disappearing rapidly. Why? Well Radio Devon have had a bit of a shakeout dropping some of their presenters. Those remaining it would seem are being asked to do longer stints. Researching today's 'Western Morning News' I see that there are just six shows between 6 in the morning and 1 am: Five of these are single handed and 3 hours each whilst the other one of 4 hours duration has co-presenters.

Now if you are going to have one person doing a three hour programme it needs some music to give the presenter a breather now and then - of course some of these programmes are primarily there to play music anyway. Why my annoyance then? I'm particularly bothered by 'The Interactive Lunch' which runs from midday till 3 pm. Previously there had been a 2 hour phone in programme at lunchtime in which the public could sound off about various issues, in fact I've expressed an opinion on it on one or two occasions. It was hosted by Justin Leigh and he did a very professional job it has to be said, he couldn't be faulted. He was followed by Michael Chequer who I also found to be a good presenter. This programme was totally devoted to the expression of opinions, yes it had the occasional expert being quizzed by the presenter about a subject but this was part and parcel of the broadcast. You understood exactly what the programme was there for.

Move on to the here and now and we have 'The Interactive Lunch' hosted by David Fitzgerald who likes to be called 'Fitz'. Fitz is a genial sort of chap, very much reminding me of Harry Secombe but TIL is such a mish-mash you're not quite sure what it's trying to do. Like its predecessor it has people phoning in and specialists in the studio but every so often it is interrupted by music or should I say "so called music". There is a good deal of pop music that I'm OK with but on his show most of it is so dire I have to hit the off switch! You get the impression that a producer is randomly pulling them from the rack but the bulk is instantly forgettable. I can see that Radio Devon have a bit of a problem because just one person doing a phone in for more than two hours is too much in my opinion. The station has gone from having a very well defined and interesting programme to one that is very bland with occasional assaults on my eardrums. The worst aspect for me is when a presenter starts talking about something else over the top of a song before the last strains thankfully disappear - this isn't Radio1 for heaven's sake (not to cast aspersions on that channel but it is a case of "horses for courses")

It seems that others are getting fed up with what is going on judging by a letter in the paper from Tony Elliott of Kingsteignton. He is less concerned about music peppering the day's programmes but notes how the selection of this music has changed. He reasonably points out that a good number of the daytime listeners are retired folk who are not into the latest pop music. He suggest writing to Mark Grinnell, the managing editor of BBC Radio Devon. Not a bad idea Mr Elliott, not a bad idea at all!

Last Tuesday's snow event

Writing about the better weather in my last post reminds me that I haven't commented yet on the snow event last Tuesday (the 12th) which caused so many problems for drivers in my two counties. I say "snow event", here tucked down in the valley we had no more than sleet that day. A depression coming in off the Atlantic had its weather fronts bumping into the existing cold air that was dominating the UK, a classic situation where substantial falls of snow can occur and one I've seen before a few times. It was very well forecasted by the Met Office and it was always evident that altitude would have a substantial affect on snow quantities.

For those not familiar with my two counties it has to be said that the topography has an absolutely enormous influence on the weather we experience. This weather can be incredibly local, one classic example being the rain that caused such havoc at Boscastle and Crackington Haven in August 2004. This flood was over a geographically small area, villages a few miles away were unaffected. The hills and valleys in the south west that please the tourist's eye (and mine it should be said) have always been a nightmare for road and railway builders. So far as the railway is concerned Brunel hugged the river estuaries and coast between Exeter and Newton Abbot. OK he kept the route pretty flat but we all know about the huge problems there have been with the sea wall at Dawlish!

The main road from Exeter to Plymouth, the A38, has to cross the Haldon ridge soon after it leaves Exeter. Now the top of Haldon is approximately 800 feet above sea level but it's not just drivers having to ascend that much from the Exeter direction that can create problems, it's the degree of steepness. In a much earlier life I was involved in road design and although it was decades ago I do recall that the maximum gradient for trunk road design was 1 in 25 (4% in modern parlance I suppose). I was never involved with 'Haldon Hill' but it wasn't possible I know to get remotely near that figure - I can't remember for sure but I think it was more like 1 in 14, very very steep for a trunk road. Unsurprisingly a third crawler lane was put in place for the uphill carriageway. A similar arrangement holds for the also very steep 'Telegraph Hill', the Torquay A380 route that forks off the A38 at Splatford Split at the bottom of Haldon Hill.

Exact details of the way traffic ground to a halt on these two notorious hills on Tuesday remain a little sketchy but it seems that the rain on the ridge quickly turned to snow, a lorry jackknifed on the A38, traffic stopped and couldn't get going again and because some vehicles started sliding whilst others tried to pick their way through the gaps the whole road system got clogged up making it really difficult for gritting lorries and snowploughs to get through to where they were needed. Result: vehicles stuck for hours and hours with nowhere to go. Eventually, somehow, things did get sorted out and thankfully nobody was hurt. A few comments from me then:

• Although well forecasted the weather changed very rapidly at Haldon, many leaving Exeter in the rush hour I'm sure genuinely didn't perceive a problem just down the road.
• The authorities seemed to be very tardy about officially closing Haldon Hill, the result being that traffic was just joining the queue with nowhere to go. As I heard it on Radio Devon it seemed that they were suggesting traffic could just about get through, that doesn't seem to be the case for the general public although police, fire crews and Dartmoor Rescue Group volunteers seemed to have got through. A very muddled picture.
• There is an alternative coastal route from Exeter to Newton Abbot, a pretty lousy road in my opinion and this got clogged up with traffic. There is a pinch point on this 'A' road at Starcross where two pillars forming part of a property jut out into the carriageway so it's single file only there and it sounds as if this created a lot of trouble.
• All sorts of suggestions from the public and others about how to avoid similar problems in the future. One was to cone off an uphill lane on Haldon and Telegraph Hills when snow is forecast so that gritting lorries etc can get through without hindrance.
• From what I heard today it looks as if underoad heating is being looked at. Nice idea but surely a non-starter. Yes I know that there are heating elements in the Hammersmith Flyover but I'm sure that was all part of the design. I don't know anything about the newest technology but the area at Haldon would be huge and the disruption massive. I really can't see that one flying.
• Similar problems occurred at Telegraph and Haldon Hills less than 12 months ago, in February 2009. On that occasion the sudden snowfall was well into the evening , after I think most commuters would have been home.
• I have memories from decades back of getting stuck on Haldon. It was in the morning I think and I believe it was a similar case of waiting patiently for gritting lorries to clear a way through. Much less traffic back then and I don't recall having to wait for hours for it to be sorted out.
  
• Another morning memory is of going up Telegraph Hill in daylight but with snow on the ground in what was known as a "sit up and beg" Ford Popular of 1950's vintage. Side valve engine, three speed gearbox and 6 volt battery sums it up. But successful in the snow. It had tall wheels, excellent ground clearance and with very little power wheel spin didn't appear to be a big problem! I might have been more confident at the time as well of course.
• Although the Haldon area grabbed the headlines on Tuesday there were other parts of Devon and Cornwall where drivers became stuck. Particularly badly hit were the A386 between Tavistock and Okehampton and, west of the Tamar, the Liskeard area.

As I stated at the start of the piece so local is the weather that we experienced none of that particular bout of mayhem here. As ever the elements can make man look very puny indeed.

Gentle warming of weather

There has been a gentle warming up of the weather here in the last day or two and I have to say it's been good to be able to open the bedroom window a little bit. That one is a sash window, one of two I had replaced with timber double glazed units last year. I love sash windows with their ability to permit air circulation top and bottom; for a while yesterday and today it was possible to open it a fair bit and get a change of air in the room. And for part of the day I turned off the heating - I don't have central heating with a thermostatic control, I have a gas fire downstairs and gas heater in the stairwell to cover upstairs. Sufficient for my needs I guess, I try to keep room temperature in the 60 to 65 degree F range which no doubt is freezing for some!

We went out for a fairly short walk yesterday (Sunday) afternoon and it really is a relief not to watch every step you make in fear of falling over. No special wildlife sightings but no matter it's just nice enjoying the fresh air. My friend had previously seen a redwing in her garden and I've noticed one or two about the village, not surprising with the recent harsh weather. Interesting report from a lady I know in another Tamar Valley village of a snipe in their garden! She told that they had seen them in fields close to their home but this was the first time I think in their garden.

One thing I must check is how a favourite mimosa in a Tavistock courtyard is doing. It had been affected by last winter's cold weather but recovered well. I do hope it has survived the recent sharp frosts.

The horror in Haiti

Obviously the story of the moment is the devastating earthquake in Haiti and I can't add any suitable words to the very many that have already been written and spoken by others. Like I guess a good many other people my knowledge of this state is fairly hazy but click here to read an informative summary about Haiti with some clues as to why it is so impoverished. Thanks to 'The First Post' for this information by the way - it certainly enlightened me.

Speed is of the essence of course in bringing relief and hopefully saving some lives. I want to draw attention to two fantastic organisations from the south west right in the forefront in helping the situation. The first of these is the now well known charity 'Shelterbox' who I believe are already familiar with Haiti following earlier hurricane damage. I've written about them before so I'll just remind folk that they are based down west in Helston and are well geared up to move very fast. Their website is here.

The other one to mention is 'RAPID-UK'. Perhaps not so much in the public consciousness as Shelterbox. As they say on their website here :

"RAPID-UK exists to provide experienced disaster response personnel anywhere in the world when required and to facilitate sustainable training and mitigation programmes in disaster prone countries."

R.A.P.I.D is an acronym for Rescue and Preparedness in Disasters. I understand that it is based at Jacobstowe in West Devon. As with Shelterbox they are already there in Haiti, trying to do what they can. I think that both Shelterbox and RAPID-UK are absolutely brilliant; there may well be some aspects of life in my country that one should be embarrassed about but when it comes to disaster relief I can honestly state that "I'm proud to be British"

Alastair Campbell at Iraq Enquiry

Today is the day when Alastair Campbell is taking centre stage at the Chilcot Enquiry into the war in Iraq. Ignored by many blogs we have to thank Andrew Sparrow of 'The Guardian' who is blogging the enquiry as it happens. It can be read here. And thank goodness for Paul Waugh of 'The Evening Standard' who has taken a keen interest in the Enquiry and posted a lot of Twitter comments. Paul is the best of the political bloggers in my opinion, he really gets how it should be done. He's a journalist as well and has a nice lightness of touch with his blog and picks up on details others miss.

So what of Campbell? Obviously still loyal to Blair. We know how combative he is and so no surprise he attacked Andrew Gillingham in the course of giving his evidence. For Campbell it's pretty obvious that he believes in attack being the best form of defence at times. I've now just spotted as today's session finishes that the BBC have been supplying live video of proceedings. As has happened in previous enquiries Campbell wasn't subjected to really strong cross examination and probably got away with it again. The problem is that the inconsistencies will get lost in the overall narrative.

Slow thaw today, snow forecast tomorrow

It's certainly been less cold in my part of the world today and there has been a very gentle thaw of some of the snow and ice, the last mentioned being a greater problem than the snow. For a change the windows on the car were frost free when I first looked out, not that I needed to drive anywhere as it so happened. If there is just one thing to rejoice about in not having to commute to work by car it's the fact that I don't have to do the de-icing routine first thing in the morning. How did I put up with that for so many years?

Tomorrow is another day as they say and it looks like a sizeable dollop of snow might be on the way. It's the classic situation I've seen before where there is blocking high pressure over Scandinavia maintaining cold easterly winds whilst at the same time a low pressure system with its fronts is trying to make headway from the Atlantic. These situations are always notoriously difficult to predict as to whether one sees snow or rather cold rain - it only takes a degree or two difference to produce one or the other. At the moment the forecasters are going for heavy snow turning to rain. We shan't have to wait long to see the outcome. Strong winds are in the mix so drifting is certainly on the cards especially on the moors.

The really cold weather we have had has perhaps put extra strain on underground services: I'm assuming that is why Mortehoe up in North Devon was devoid of gas supply over much of the weekend - not much fun if you rely on it for cooking and heating. Not heard anything further today so I assume all the repairs are complete. There was also a gas leak at Tavistock bus station on Saturday morning but our local bus was able to drop off and pick up passengers nearby and there appeared to be very little inconvenience when we went in to do a small amount of shopping.

It was a few years ago now when the gas main running down my road started leaking, the gas people appeared promptly enough and did the necessary repair. They came back some later to replace all the gas pipe serving this road. A good deal of upheaval because our road is only one vehicle in width (it can just accommodate the dustbin lorry). We were lucky though because our original gas leak didn't occur during cold weather; I guess it was just 'anno domini' catching up with it! The original gasworks for the village was built in 1872 with coal being brought up the Tamar and then through the little canal that bypasses the weir across the river. One used to hear complaints about service providers not co-ordinating their work but this certainly didn't apply here. At one time electricity cables crossed the lower part of some of the gardens in the Row and I can can recollect the power company coming out to do a little pruning to a tree in my own garden where the wires could easily make contact. At the time of the gas main replacement the contractors also inserted a duct in the road so that at a later date the electricity people could route their overhead line through it. It's difficult to remember the electricity cables over my garden now.

Inconvenient though snow is I must admit that there is something hypnotic about watching it falling. I'm at a low level here so it might be rain rather than the white fluffy stuff. Whichever, it's due here about lunchtime.

Lack of blogging - must do better!

I'm putting it down to the very cold weather demotivating me but I've managed only one post so far in 2010. Not that I'm short of things I would like to write about, there is more than enough stuff around for me to comment on. It's just a case of getting down to it ... Or giving up altogether. No I really don't want to do that but I can empathise with those people who start a blog full of enthusiasm but after a while find their blog starting to wither a bit, particularly if a few days are missed and one gets out of the routine!

Inevitably the weather is the hot topic of the moment, not a good use of the word "hot" perhaps bearing in mind the freezing temperatures. We have had minimal amounts of snow in the mid Tamar Valley and it's been the ice that has really caused problems in getting about. There has been a good deal of sunshine with the associated crystal clear visibility but with that sun so low in the sky there are many places permanently in the shade at this time of year and in those areas the ice has not released its grip. The big plus is the way that communities come together when the elements decide to cause mayhem. I don't know about other countries but folk in the UK can be very insular. A bit of this can be put down to our perhaps understandable desire to just hop in the car to travel from A to B. Our only communication then might be a few choice words when someone 'cuts you up' in the traffic! But with the recent weather phenomena there is a greater likelihood of people moving about on foot, or using public transport. Even if one ventures out in the car and gets stuck someone is likely to volunteer assistance.

Perhaps then the British are still upholders of the "nice" society, of politeness and of helping others in need. I certainly hope so!

Gentle walk eases me into New Year

First of all to my avid readers (there must be someone out there) and to anyone else who by some mishap stumbles on this blog - "Happy New Year" to you! As is my customary practice I did not go out on New Year's Eve, it's one of those things that is meaningless for me personally. As usual fireworks were let off from midnight onwards, I think that they were popping and banging for 20 to 25 minutes but, as noted 12 months ago, they don't seem to be as noisy as they used to be.

Today dawned bright and cold and, making use of the little warmth there was after lunch, we went for a relatively short walk: a stroll along the lower road towards Calstock and then down the 'cul-de-sac' lane that drops down to the forgotten quay at Slimeford. Returning the same way we enjoyed our perambulation - one of its joys being the lack of traffic and other noises. On 1st January 2009 we had walked over to Cotehele with a picnic lunch so our effort today was far more modest. In our defence I have to point out that my companion was just getting over a bad cold whilst I'm a bit out of practice doing decent length of walks! Nice to be out however and we both enjoyed that clarity of vision one can get on a winter's day - definitely no heat haze to spoil things!

Once clear of the main body of our village one passes the odd house or cottage and it's amazing to see how many birds flock to the feeders in people's gardens, at this time of year especially. My friend bemoaned the fact that birds hardly ever turn up at her own feeding stations and we both reckon it's down to ... cats! Whereas in our immediate locality one can hardly move for moggies, the more isolated properties we passed always seem to be happily devoid of felines. Although my friend has neither cat nor dog her garden gets visited by many examples of the former and she has seen them take birds. There is a relatively recent addition to the cat population in my Row and, although I don't have proof, he is the prime suspect concerning the 'murder' of a male blackbird whose dead body adorned my lawn recently. A very cheeky cat incidentally - he had the audacity to use the cat flap in the front door of a neighbour's cottage and eat the food in the resident cat's dish while it was asleep!!

Apart from this bad relationship with our feathered friends the other bit of unwelcome behaviour from the local cats is their tendency to poo in one's garden! Not very nice. I would be very happy to see far fewer cats around the neighbourhood.

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.