Having just finished my latest piece of writing ..........and this doesn't somehow include this blog, though writing it certainly is, this made me reflect on the fact that for over 50 years I have been in a very small way writing. Clearly I am not on the best sellers list nor the acknowledged authority on some important science or philosophy, but I think with all due modesty that I have been able to find an outlet for my creative inner being through words. Probably just as well, as art and music are ones that having tried at various times, I clearly lack any talent.
My earliest recollection, omitting school essays, was a short fictional piece on the origin and habits of the haggis, I am not even sure I have a copy, that being in the days of typewriters not computers. I did some other short pieces when the muse took me, including ones designed to impress young ladies. I ventured into poetry occasionally, again memory is dimmed by age, but I think I penned my late wife a poem, which as she did marry me can't perhaps been that bad.
I did some more non fiction for the College Magazine back in the late 60s and this was probably the first actually published by someone else piece, this was about the perceived differences between University and Polytechnic. Of course Polytechnics have all now been upgraded to University so history has rendered this first effort irrelevant.
The non fiction theme continues as, related to my work, I submitted and had published, several pieces to professional journals. The fictional root briefly flourished when I did, I think for three years or so, a Christmas Story for my Department at Asda. Full of insider references that even I cannot remember now, I was reminded of them quite recently when a old colleague made contact via that strange beast called Facebook and admitted she had just found a copy when clearing out, she didn't say whether having found it, she then cleared it out properly or put it back into storage for future generations. I don't think I will ask.
More recently I have taken up the pen as an adjunct to various hobbies I was involved in. I became the newsletter editor for the Pines Park Archers, a Field Archery Club, and as anyone who has ever taken on this job knows, the editor doesn't just edit but usually has to create most of the content ! I enlivened the editions with some short fiction and as well as in the Club, some got published in the National Field Archery Society's magazine, fame indeed.
I have been following a similar vein with my Greenlaning (see other post) and have submitted and had printed both factual articles and more whimsical humourous pieces.
They say that everyone has one novel in them, well I have tried to extract my novel and at the current time have three on the go. One is a Science Fiction piece on time travel, one is a French Detective in Britttany and the last and most progressed, thirteen chapters in the hard drive, is about......well its about people, families, relationships and fears, hopes and aspirations with a bit of travel, some romance and sex and themes from the world..........interestingly I wrote this with the absolute vanity that it would make a great film. This is maybe from my other creative writing strand which was screenplays and scripts for training and corporate communication, with Asda and later Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Police.
I am not sure why the novels got stalled and I tell myself, as no one else is interested, though maybe now I have confessed on the web, others may, that it was time and other distractions. Perhaps but I find that writing has to come, you have an idea and follow it. Just like todays blog which I though about it for some reason and then immediately took to the keyboard.
The novel ............ oh well as you asked so nicely ............... is called "the Start of Something Else" and writing it has shown that my creative track is very loose, I like to write and move on, but having not finished it, I have to go back and read the chapters I have, before I can pick up again. Sometimes a new idea pops into my head and very often when I do sit to write I have some mental plan but the fingers on the keyboard take over and what emerges is different, hopefully better, but who knows. I keep telling myself to finish it, even just for my own sense of achievement and of course with the hope that it will be published, I will sell the screen rights and become rich and famous.
In the meantime I shall hopefully continue writing and creating, after all its a harmless pursuit.
Wednesday 29 September 2010
Sunday 19 September 2010
Technology
I have seen the future and it is tech shaped
You are either technophobe or a technophile, I don't think there is a half way house. Once upon a time you could survive without gadgets that do things you didn't used to need, no more.
I must confuse that I tend to be the 'early adopter' the person beloved of marketing people who wants a new gadget, because ......... well because it's new.
I remember the first PDAs I had several versions of Psion Organisers, I remember the early mobile phones and I wondered why they couldn't combine them with the Psion ! I was just ahead of my time, I had the various incarnations of Nokia Communicators and loved having all my calendars and contacts and other stuff with me, though getting them to sync with my works computer networks was a bit of an issue. I find that some IT people don't like being asked why they can't do things like that !
I had the first IBM compatible the Amstrad 1512, young readers may not know that the first PCS all came from IBM until Alan Sugar got involved, I had the deluxe model with twin 5 inch floppy disks !
More recently I have gone Apple, first with an IMac with a stunning 27 inch all in one screen, processor, hard disk etc and wireless keyboard and mouse and now with the magical IPAD. Only worrying thing is they are already planning IPAD2 !
But back to the point, all this means I constantly have to review what I've got, what I need, and what I want, astute readers will note that need and want are NOT the same thing.
Since IPAD appeared, I have replaced my IPOD, my Sat Nav (bye bye Garmin), saved having to buy a Kindle, disposed of a nearly new netbook and retired the makeshift setup under the TV which allowed web surfing in the lounge. I have also found that my latest smartphone, a Nokia E71 is increasingly only a phone again.
Now I know many who use all the features on their smartphone, but I still think a stand alone camera is better, and I speak from starting with 2 megapixels, via a semi pro digital SLR with separate lens and any settings you could imagine, back to a Panasonic lumix, probably out of date now, but with 10 of those essential megapixies and a really great Intelligent Auto mode which sorts out the settings and takes fab pictures.
I want calendar, I wants contacts and other data, but the IPAD does those and Itunes syncs everything. The Nokia died on holiday, so not yet time to check out the battery charging .......... but phone lust is rising within me. I bought an old LG from Ebay for £12, it works well and rescued me when the Nokia died, but it doesn't seem right, though it will make and receive calls fine, I find myself looking at adverts for new touchscreen phones with all the features I don't need.
You see the problem, the IPAD does everything but phone calls, though check out Truphone or Skype and then it partly does, but since I retired no body really rings me, so a £30 a month contract on an Iphone is not economic, though attractive in a subtle, cunning way.
I shall continue the exploitation of tech but my recent experiences on the Continent were marred not by the gadgets but by the suppliers who supply what is in fact the one essential tech needed by everyone, I mean of course connectivity to the web and email.
There is a long saga as to why I lost connection, partly due to 3 forgetting to tell me things I needed when I asked for the IPAD to be activated for roaming, ie that you had to pay on account, partly because the hotel advertised wifi but didn't state it was chargeable and that their speeds were abysmal and their router didn't like IPADs. Like having to ring the UK to charge up the account, and of course why your inclusive data is restricted to the UK, who owns 3 ITaly anyway ????????? for heaven's sake .... Especially hurtful and surprisingly disorientating however was the loss of instant on, instant access to the net, any question any time being available for answer. All the apps that need Internet, news, weather, maps.............
So the tech we need is connections, always on, always fast, always there, anywhere, affordable, ........ "one day my prince" will come as the song says, in the meantime thanks Macdonalds.
You are either technophobe or a technophile, I don't think there is a half way house. Once upon a time you could survive without gadgets that do things you didn't used to need, no more.
I must confuse that I tend to be the 'early adopter' the person beloved of marketing people who wants a new gadget, because ......... well because it's new.
I remember the first PDAs I had several versions of Psion Organisers, I remember the early mobile phones and I wondered why they couldn't combine them with the Psion ! I was just ahead of my time, I had the various incarnations of Nokia Communicators and loved having all my calendars and contacts and other stuff with me, though getting them to sync with my works computer networks was a bit of an issue. I find that some IT people don't like being asked why they can't do things like that !
I had the first IBM compatible the Amstrad 1512, young readers may not know that the first PCS all came from IBM until Alan Sugar got involved, I had the deluxe model with twin 5 inch floppy disks !
More recently I have gone Apple, first with an IMac with a stunning 27 inch all in one screen, processor, hard disk etc and wireless keyboard and mouse and now with the magical IPAD. Only worrying thing is they are already planning IPAD2 !
But back to the point, all this means I constantly have to review what I've got, what I need, and what I want, astute readers will note that need and want are NOT the same thing.
Since IPAD appeared, I have replaced my IPOD, my Sat Nav (bye bye Garmin), saved having to buy a Kindle, disposed of a nearly new netbook and retired the makeshift setup under the TV which allowed web surfing in the lounge. I have also found that my latest smartphone, a Nokia E71 is increasingly only a phone again.
Now I know many who use all the features on their smartphone, but I still think a stand alone camera is better, and I speak from starting with 2 megapixels, via a semi pro digital SLR with separate lens and any settings you could imagine, back to a Panasonic lumix, probably out of date now, but with 10 of those essential megapixies and a really great Intelligent Auto mode which sorts out the settings and takes fab pictures.
I want calendar, I wants contacts and other data, but the IPAD does those and Itunes syncs everything. The Nokia died on holiday, so not yet time to check out the battery charging .......... but phone lust is rising within me. I bought an old LG from Ebay for £12, it works well and rescued me when the Nokia died, but it doesn't seem right, though it will make and receive calls fine, I find myself looking at adverts for new touchscreen phones with all the features I don't need.
You see the problem, the IPAD does everything but phone calls, though check out Truphone or Skype and then it partly does, but since I retired no body really rings me, so a £30 a month contract on an Iphone is not economic, though attractive in a subtle, cunning way.
I shall continue the exploitation of tech but my recent experiences on the Continent were marred not by the gadgets but by the suppliers who supply what is in fact the one essential tech needed by everyone, I mean of course connectivity to the web and email.
There is a long saga as to why I lost connection, partly due to 3 forgetting to tell me things I needed when I asked for the IPAD to be activated for roaming, ie that you had to pay on account, partly because the hotel advertised wifi but didn't state it was chargeable and that their speeds were abysmal and their router didn't like IPADs. Like having to ring the UK to charge up the account, and of course why your inclusive data is restricted to the UK, who owns 3 ITaly anyway ????????? for heaven's sake .... Especially hurtful and surprisingly disorientating however was the loss of instant on, instant access to the net, any question any time being available for answer. All the apps that need Internet, news, weather, maps.............
So the tech we need is connections, always on, always fast, always there, anywhere, affordable, ........ "one day my prince" will come as the song says, in the meantime thanks Macdonalds.
Europe
What is Europe and why the UK isn't in it.
Having spent the last ten days or so traveling to, staying and traveling back, through parts of Europe I am prompted to reflect a little on what Europe means - starting with the conclusion, I think it's to do with landmass and that the UK suffers from being an Island or maybe it's just insular in outlook rather than geography !
I went to the Italian lakes and in getting there by car, went through Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland, narrowly missing Germany. This wasn't an attempt to do as many countries as I could, but just the way the roads go. Did you know that the EU introduced euroroutes, spot them on a road signpost they have an E in front, and we actually have them going through Britain but the UK government don't sign them. Anyway what it means is that the shortest or quickest routes your satnav chooses may well pass through several countries.
This is easy because you don't have to stop and get on a ferry as you do when leaving the UK. People on the mainland can now just drive or stay on the same train. The Euro and the Schengen agreement also mean things are simpler, through language still varies and each country does have it's own style and culture. What's interesting is that mainland Europeans, unlike the perhaps reluctant UK Europeans, are quite happy. Indeed around the border areas there are many people who live in one country but work in the next and shop or do leisure things in any one they feel like. Indeed I understand that several tax jurisdictions recognise these people with special tax rules.
This trip as I said was to the Italian Lakes and I was based on Lake Maggiore and here it gets more complicated, that Lake is part in Italy but part in Switzerland, as is the Lake Logano. Travelling round those lakes took me in and out of Switzerland and Italy often. No doubt once upon a time ie last war, these borders were real and closed, but there are actually towns where the border is down the middle and a little bit of Italy completely surrounded by Switzerland. Petrol seems cheaper in Switzerland, at least that must be why on the Swiss side of every border with Italy there are several petrol stations and none on the Italian side, guess where the residents fill up !
Now Switzerland is not in the Euro, nor part of Schengen but being practical the borders are generally open, though the employment in the Swiss and also Italian Border Forces apparently still is healthy, though it seems to be mainly looking at cars as they pass slowly and occasionally stopping someone.
Just by looking at the car number plates, it seems the various populations are mixing well and being practical Europeans, the national boundaries don't really make a lot of sense nor much difference.
I understand the political differences but one connected continent does make sense. Maybe our governments of whatever hues, just don't like changes, as change might reduce their power, (oh cynical Malcolm), never mind about what really works. I am positive about the Euro, maybe if we had joined sometime ago the pound would have come in at a reasonable rate.
Which takes us back to the beginning, if you didn't have to get on a boat or plane, then you may feel more European, as it is I traveled over a thousand miles and the only people who wanted to see my passport was the UK customs - how about a nice big Channel Bridge you just drive over, ............... they have one between Denmark and Sweden, I might go and have a look at that next !
Having spent the last ten days or so traveling to, staying and traveling back, through parts of Europe I am prompted to reflect a little on what Europe means - starting with the conclusion, I think it's to do with landmass and that the UK suffers from being an Island or maybe it's just insular in outlook rather than geography !
I went to the Italian lakes and in getting there by car, went through Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland, narrowly missing Germany. This wasn't an attempt to do as many countries as I could, but just the way the roads go. Did you know that the EU introduced euroroutes, spot them on a road signpost they have an E in front, and we actually have them going through Britain but the UK government don't sign them. Anyway what it means is that the shortest or quickest routes your satnav chooses may well pass through several countries.
This is easy because you don't have to stop and get on a ferry as you do when leaving the UK. People on the mainland can now just drive or stay on the same train. The Euro and the Schengen agreement also mean things are simpler, through language still varies and each country does have it's own style and culture. What's interesting is that mainland Europeans, unlike the perhaps reluctant UK Europeans, are quite happy. Indeed around the border areas there are many people who live in one country but work in the next and shop or do leisure things in any one they feel like. Indeed I understand that several tax jurisdictions recognise these people with special tax rules.
This trip as I said was to the Italian Lakes and I was based on Lake Maggiore and here it gets more complicated, that Lake is part in Italy but part in Switzerland, as is the Lake Logano. Travelling round those lakes took me in and out of Switzerland and Italy often. No doubt once upon a time ie last war, these borders were real and closed, but there are actually towns where the border is down the middle and a little bit of Italy completely surrounded by Switzerland. Petrol seems cheaper in Switzerland, at least that must be why on the Swiss side of every border with Italy there are several petrol stations and none on the Italian side, guess where the residents fill up !
Now Switzerland is not in the Euro, nor part of Schengen but being practical the borders are generally open, though the employment in the Swiss and also Italian Border Forces apparently still is healthy, though it seems to be mainly looking at cars as they pass slowly and occasionally stopping someone.
Just by looking at the car number plates, it seems the various populations are mixing well and being practical Europeans, the national boundaries don't really make a lot of sense nor much difference.
I understand the political differences but one connected continent does make sense. Maybe our governments of whatever hues, just don't like changes, as change might reduce their power, (oh cynical Malcolm), never mind about what really works. I am positive about the Euro, maybe if we had joined sometime ago the pound would have come in at a reasonable rate.
Which takes us back to the beginning, if you didn't have to get on a boat or plane, then you may feel more European, as it is I traveled over a thousand miles and the only people who wanted to see my passport was the UK customs - how about a nice big Channel Bridge you just drive over, ............... they have one between Denmark and Sweden, I might go and have a look at that next !
Monday 6 September 2010
Thoughts on Age
The other day I went to a discussion group organised by Age UK, (they used to be called Age Concern but have amalgamated), it was just 8 people all over 60, meeting to talk about whatever they wanted.
A couple of things struck me, first of all, I initially felt that somehow I was in the wrong place, that is I didn't feel old enough to be at an Age Concern meeting. Not that they weren't welcoming although as you might expect, if the only thing you have in common is age then you ought to expect a wide variety and diversity of people.
Age is I think one of the dimensions that people are defined by, and perhaps as all present had retired, some for quite a while, the other usual label of the 'job' is less and less relevant. I found that I was still describing myself by what I had been and what I was doing, now in a voluntary capacity, some of the others also used this taxonomy but noticeably others did not. Maybe as you move further away from that working life you need to redefine yourself in different ways, but can you ever really separate yourself from your history ?
In fact however I enjoyed the session and will go again, as we got involved in discussing a variety of topics, people became people and you started to gain impressions about them. Some of the views expressed were perhaps a little odd or maybe extreme, some of the arguments were, perhaps for my taste, more emotional and reactive, than logical or analytical. One gentleman seemed to be playing the eccentric old man, or maybe that was how he really was !
What it did show, I believe, that the differences between us were not really age, we had some sharing of life experiences but the attraction was in the debate, which may not have been very different if it had involved younger people as well but could have been quite different with different people. I think that makes sense, if it doesn't blame it on my age !
The lesson, if there is one, is to be open minded.
The trip out however raised another dimension of age. I went on the bus, or rather two buses. Despite having a car, I was attracted by the fact that I now have the free bus pass (after 9:30 am) and therefore the journey was cost free, whereas the car would have cost me in parking as well as fuel. It wasn't that I couldn't afford it, rather the lure of 'free' made me trade convenience, comfort and time, the buses, with waiting and changes took nearly 1.5 hours, as opposed to 30 minutes and I still had to drive a short distance to get the bus in the first place! But then I had the time to spare and in fact went earlier and had lunch at a City bar, so probably spent more money anyway !
Maybe that's a sign of older age, time is less of a restriction than before, add the perhaps unstated belief that I had 'earned the right' for free travel and I make not entirely logical decisions................but then I am 'old' so no one expects me to be logical and sensible !
A couple of things struck me, first of all, I initially felt that somehow I was in the wrong place, that is I didn't feel old enough to be at an Age Concern meeting. Not that they weren't welcoming although as you might expect, if the only thing you have in common is age then you ought to expect a wide variety and diversity of people.
Age is I think one of the dimensions that people are defined by, and perhaps as all present had retired, some for quite a while, the other usual label of the 'job' is less and less relevant. I found that I was still describing myself by what I had been and what I was doing, now in a voluntary capacity, some of the others also used this taxonomy but noticeably others did not. Maybe as you move further away from that working life you need to redefine yourself in different ways, but can you ever really separate yourself from your history ?
In fact however I enjoyed the session and will go again, as we got involved in discussing a variety of topics, people became people and you started to gain impressions about them. Some of the views expressed were perhaps a little odd or maybe extreme, some of the arguments were, perhaps for my taste, more emotional and reactive, than logical or analytical. One gentleman seemed to be playing the eccentric old man, or maybe that was how he really was !
What it did show, I believe, that the differences between us were not really age, we had some sharing of life experiences but the attraction was in the debate, which may not have been very different if it had involved younger people as well but could have been quite different with different people. I think that makes sense, if it doesn't blame it on my age !
The lesson, if there is one, is to be open minded.
The trip out however raised another dimension of age. I went on the bus, or rather two buses. Despite having a car, I was attracted by the fact that I now have the free bus pass (after 9:30 am) and therefore the journey was cost free, whereas the car would have cost me in parking as well as fuel. It wasn't that I couldn't afford it, rather the lure of 'free' made me trade convenience, comfort and time, the buses, with waiting and changes took nearly 1.5 hours, as opposed to 30 minutes and I still had to drive a short distance to get the bus in the first place! But then I had the time to spare and in fact went earlier and had lunch at a City bar, so probably spent more money anyway !
Maybe that's a sign of older age, time is less of a restriction than before, add the perhaps unstated belief that I had 'earned the right' for free travel and I make not entirely logical decisions................but then I am 'old' so no one expects me to be logical and sensible !
Thursday 2 September 2010
On Fate and Randomness - or how did I get here ?
Lets be clear this is not a religious issue, I don't believe in predestination nor even in the invisible hand of a creator. The world and the lives of the people and other creatures in it, are so utterly random that no one can possibly be managing it on any systematic basis.
What I was musing is how a series of decisions made, altered the direction of life and hence brought me to where I am today. Now this is with the benefit of hindsight but it seems that it wasn't necessarily the 'big' decisions but small ones that perhaps could be described as altering your path. A bit like deciding to go right or left or straight ahead at a road junction.
Having survived to 61 I must have made thousands of such decisions, however a few stand out.
Someone's choice of career has a large influence on their life, mine seemed to be very random. I was 17 and my family had just relocated from Prestwick in Ayrshire, Scotland to Nottinghamshire. It was the summer before I was going to University and I needed a job. My Father took me into the City of Nottingham and dropped me in the Market Square. (Interesting to note that it would not be possible today due to pedestrianisation, road closures, bus and tram lanes). I got out of the car and looking around saw what appeared to be a very large Department Store, it was then known as Griffin & Spalding, now part of Debenhams. As it turns out is was/is quite large but bearing in mind that my previous local Department store was in a small town........it was know as Houston's and I remember it as the place where I lost my teddy bear........but that's not in this story.
I guess things will continue in the same vein, I idly think about making changes but inertia and lack of motivation seem to prevail, but I live on, confident that some day, somewhere, a small decision will be made, by me or by someone else, probably unknown, which may affect the next stage of my life. I think I look forward to the randomness, only time will tell.
What I was musing is how a series of decisions made, altered the direction of life and hence brought me to where I am today. Now this is with the benefit of hindsight but it seems that it wasn't necessarily the 'big' decisions but small ones that perhaps could be described as altering your path. A bit like deciding to go right or left or straight ahead at a road junction.
Having survived to 61 I must have made thousands of such decisions, however a few stand out.
Someone's choice of career has a large influence on their life, mine seemed to be very random. I was 17 and my family had just relocated from Prestwick in Ayrshire, Scotland to Nottinghamshire. It was the summer before I was going to University and I needed a job. My Father took me into the City of Nottingham and dropped me in the Market Square. (Interesting to note that it would not be possible today due to pedestrianisation, road closures, bus and tram lanes). I got out of the car and looking around saw what appeared to be a very large Department Store, it was then known as Griffin & Spalding, now part of Debenhams. As it turns out is was/is quite large but bearing in mind that my previous local Department store was in a small town........it was know as Houston's and I remember it as the place where I lost my teddy bear........but that's not in this story.
With the confidence of youth and the benefit of a different time, I went in and asked for and got a summer job. All of a sudden I was a Temporary Sales Assistant in the Linen Hall (sheets, pillows, towels etc)
Well I learnt lots from the experience not only about retailing per se but about people ........ customers and staff alike, were a rich vein of characters. I remember the praise and the feeling of pride when I sold a bedspread that had been in the department for years, I recall the attractive sales assistant, married to a Nottingham Forest Footballer, (I think that might have meant something then), who confided in us at coffee break that her husband had never seen her without her make-up. She removed it in the bathroom before getting into bed with the lights off and arose earlier than her partner to get made up before he could see her !
I had the sight of my first crisp sandwich and tasted my first spam fritter, but this random drop off point had an ongoing effect. Later I transferred courses to Business Studies and needed an industrial placement for 6 months of the year, my tutor asked where I wanted to go, I remembered the summer job and as a result I went back to Griffin & Spalding as a management trainee and also worked there on Saturdays whilst at College.
Then came the 15th February 1971, younger readers will not know, older ones may remember in general but this was Decimalisation Day, when the UK lost shillings, sixpences, pennies, half pennies and thruppny bits. Thus I got involved helping in training the staff for this major change in retailing and as a result spent the next 40 years in Training and Personnel Management. Thus two random accidents caused my life to be different than if I had been dropped somewhere else and the Government had delayed Decimalisation for another year, that's fate I think.
Another great life changing event is marriage and relationships many peoples' lives would have been different if they had married or not married a particular person but again here in my story I see the small randomness effect as more important.
I first met my wife, Mavis, because I joined a dating service, not computer controlled like nowadays but similar in concept matching people together. I joined because the company gave some free membership forms out to where I worked and I took one, rather than not taking one, which was equally as likely.
We met we went out a few times and then she decided she was staying with someone else. I wasn't devastated and didn't think much about it. Then that Christmas she sent me a card. I can't remember my initial reaction but it probably wasn't anything dramatic, but on Boxing Day I was admitted to Hospital with appendicitis, and when home and off work recovering I picked up the card again and rang Mavis.
We were married within a year and together for 30 years.
Lets skip to nearer the present day, how come I am living in a suburb of Nottingham and not in France ?
'Normal events' play their part, but 10 years of systematic and consistently consciously searching throughout France for the right place to retire to, changed when my wife got ill and her decision making was impaired.
I appreciate this is not a small decision point as above but one of life's cruelties in action, but the chain of events including being 'offered' early retirement, a property we were going to buy which failed to be built legally, so we pulled out and the need to buy something before we had to leave our previous home all lined up. Do you know that Property Websites idea of 'nearby' is quite esoteric, I put in Ilkeston, it throws up a property in Toton, as the crow flies only about 6 miles, but in a different County and not in an area we had ever considered. Hence I am here but maybe only because the Americians got into bit of financial bother and the property prices dropped like a stone.
I guess things will continue in the same vein, I idly think about making changes but inertia and lack of motivation seem to prevail, but I live on, confident that some day, somewhere, a small decision will be made, by me or by someone else, probably unknown, which may affect the next stage of my life. I think I look forward to the randomness, only time will tell.
Greenlaning
As threatened, I have returned from an enjoyable day in Co. Durham/N. Yorks and will reflect a little on it.
I am a recent convert to driving the byways of England and Wales and am pleased that it allows me to get into the countryside and see places off the beaten track whilst taking the challenge of traversing roads which are not the usual Tarmac. Despite changes to the law there are still routes open to motorised vehicles.......look for signs that say byway note NOT bridleways, thats for the horsey people, nor foot paths, those are for the ramblers and walkers, but also can have signage such as "not suitable for motor vehicles", which is code for public road but the council don't maintain it, so go down at your own risk. The responsible greenlaners spend much preparation time on checking on Ordnance Surveys maps for legal routes.
A 4x4 vehicle is a must and preferably one with proper low range gearbox, suitable tyres and which will not cause tears if it gets muddy or scratched, so ruling out 2010 BMWs or £60,000 worth of late model Range Rover. Most of them being confined to dropping the kids off at school and shopping at Sainsburys.
I have a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, others have Landrover, Discovery, Nissan Patrols, Suzuki and various others.
But perhaps the surprising thing is that there is still lots of space in this crowded isle, we were out for 7 hours and only saw one other group of cars and a handful of walkers on the more popular spots. We covered a Roman Road, part of the Pennine Way and some hills with spectacular views.
I offer this brief glimpse well aware that some readers may find such a pursuit strange or even objectionable, feel free to post a comment, I would welcome the debate.
Lots of clubs for those interested and as always you meet nice people, many of whom would be happy to offer prospective members the chance to ride along. It just shows that even at 60, there is still new challenges and opportunities available.
I am a recent convert to driving the byways of England and Wales and am pleased that it allows me to get into the countryside and see places off the beaten track whilst taking the challenge of traversing roads which are not the usual Tarmac. Despite changes to the law there are still routes open to motorised vehicles.......look for signs that say byway note NOT bridleways, thats for the horsey people, nor foot paths, those are for the ramblers and walkers, but also can have signage such as "not suitable for motor vehicles", which is code for public road but the council don't maintain it, so go down at your own risk. The responsible greenlaners spend much preparation time on checking on Ordnance Surveys maps for legal routes.
A 4x4 vehicle is a must and preferably one with proper low range gearbox, suitable tyres and which will not cause tears if it gets muddy or scratched, so ruling out 2010 BMWs or £60,000 worth of late model Range Rover. Most of them being confined to dropping the kids off at school and shopping at Sainsburys.
I have a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee, others have Landrover, Discovery, Nissan Patrols, Suzuki and various others.
But perhaps the surprising thing is that there is still lots of space in this crowded isle, we were out for 7 hours and only saw one other group of cars and a handful of walkers on the more popular spots. We covered a Roman Road, part of the Pennine Way and some hills with spectacular views.
I offer this brief glimpse well aware that some readers may find such a pursuit strange or even objectionable, feel free to post a comment, I would welcome the debate.
Lots of clubs for those interested and as always you meet nice people, many of whom would be happy to offer prospective members the chance to ride along. It just shows that even at 60, there is still new challenges and opportunities available.
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