Fining cyclists - what a good idea!

Westminster Council have announced that they are going to crack down on cyclists who flout the Highway Code (which, if Scarborough is anything to go on, must be the vast majority!) by riding on pavements, through red lights and the wrong way along one way streets.

Those who ride bikes are generally possessed by a holier-than-thou attitude which makes them believe that, because they are using a "green" form of transport, they are above the law and everyone else must bow down to them. How many do we see happily riding along the pavement with a superior, smug smirk on their face? How many of them are obviously colour blind in that they seem to have problems telling the difference between a red and a green traffic light?

I have no problems with the tiny minority of cyclists who do ride on the road and observe traffic signals, but the vast majority of those who speed along the pavements, hurling abuse at anyone who doesn't get out of their way, and those who hurl abuse at pedestrians who happen to be crossing the road at the green man signal (thereby preventing the idiot on two wheels from jumping the red light) make me sick.

Anyone who buys a bike should have to take a test, pay annual insurance, have identification on their bike and also be heavily taxed.

Wallowing in nostalgia

Today I bought a set of three DVDs featuring childrens' programmes from the 1960s and 1970s. These are the programmes I grew up watching, and it was good to see them again after so long.

One DVD contains the complete series of Trumpton. Trumpton was part of a series of programmes featuring characters from three villages in "Trumptonshire". The first series was Camberwick Green which featured a character emerging from a music box at the beginning, Trumpton was the second series and featured the clock and the fire brigade (who always seem a bit thick!) and the third and final series was Chigley which featured a steam train, a biscuit factory, the six o'clock whistle and the end dance.

Another DVD contains a series of The Clangers. These are knitted pink creatures which live on a distant planet with friends such as the Soup Dragon, the Iron Chicken, the Music Tree and Hoots.

Last, but most certainly not least, there is the king of them all - Bagpuss. This was my favourite of them all, and each episode featured a "thing" which was brought back to a shop by a girl called Emily. Bagpuss and his friends - Gabriel the Toad, Madeleine the Rag Doll, Professor Yaffle the woodpecker bookend and the mice from the mouse organ - would find out what the "thing" was and then repair it and put it into the shop window in case the owner should be walking past and come in to collect it. Bagpuss was voted the most popular childrens' programme ever a few years ago.





Sorry for the lack of a Clangers video, I am still trying to find the opening titles!

Update on the sheep

The local paper finally included a report on the sheep accident today. It says that "at least 25" sheep were killed and it is believed they run onto the line after becoming scared by a low flying aircraft.

Sheep on the line

This morning the 09:57 Scarborough to Hull train hit and killed a flock of sheep in the Cayton area.

We were on the train on the way to Filey to collect our Eurostar tickets for our forthcoming trip to Belgium.

I had seen a couple of sheep running at the side of the track, and the next thing the train started jolting and making a rumbling noise, and then we stopped. Initially we thought the train had de-railed, as we were just standing for what seemed like ages, before moving slowly off and then stopping again. A loudspeaker announcement said there had been an "incident on the line" but when we asked the guard we were told that we had hit and killed "alot of sheep".

A clean up team was to be brought in, which could have caused delays for up to four hours on the line.

First the bus cat, now the train cat!

A few months ago, Casper the bus cat made the papers. Casper would regularly board a local bus in Plymouth and travel round until reaching a certain stop, where he would get off.

Now, here in Scarborough, we have Percy the Train Cat! Percy loves to ride on the North Bay Railway towards the Sea Life Centre, where he gets off and goes inside to look at the penguins, which, apparently, are his favourite exhibit there.

Read about Percy here and here.

Middlesbrough

Yesterday, 14th October, we had probably our last day trip of the year (with the days shortening rapidly, it is not as much fun going off for the day). After the hassle with the missing bus on our Guisborough/Redcar/Saltburn outing, we complained to Arriva and received two vouchers for a free journey. The furthest we could travel in one bus ride from Scarborough was Middlesbrough, so this is why we chose to go.

Middlesbrough and the River Tees are the boundary of Yorkshire - any further north and you are in County Durham. It was my first proper visit to the town.


Middlesbrough's iconic Transporter Bridge

The main landmark of Middlesbrough is the Transporter Bridge. We made our way to have a look at it, but we did not see it actually in operation, which was a shame, as I could have made a video of it, but I did manage to get some photos.

We thought Middlesbrough was a good shopping place - there were some indoor shopping centres with a good range of shops, which was much better than what we are used to in Scarborough. We would definitely go again some time.

Goole

Goole dockside - cranes, two water towers and no boats!

A couple of days ago (1st October) we had a trip to Goole.

We caught the train from Scarborough and changed in Hull and were in Goole two and a half hours after leaving Scarborough.

Goole is an inland port on the River Ouse in East Riding of Yorkshire. It was my first visit, and I had taken my camera along in the hope of getting some good shots of boats. However, the tide was not in my favour, and we saw no boats, but a few cranes and two water towers loomed over the docks!

The weather was good, and this helped. We had a walk along the river, saw the mudflats and a few resting herons. But no boats!

We had dinner in the cafe in the market. The market cafe served good, down to earth, honest food at good prices. I had a big cup of superb tea, and bacon, two fried eggs, and chips for my dinner. It was very good food, and not surprising that market cafes have a devoted, loyal customer base. We will eat there next time we go to Goole.

Next time we go, I hope the tide will be in our favour and that I get chance to photograph some boats!