Durham

A few weeks ago it was time to renew my passport, and, after being given the option of Liverpool or Durham, I chose Durham. I had heard it was worth a visit, and I just hoped that, by then, we would finally have seen the last of the bloody snow.

We had a cold, sunny day, and spent it (between going to the passport office) looking round the excellent market, the shops and walking along the riverside.


A view of Durham Cathedral and the River Wear.

Durham has one of the UK's most picturesque cathedrals, and next time we plan to see more of the Cathedral and Castle area, and also to visit in the summer when the days are longer.

Illiteracy is alive and well in Scarborough

This is not the first time I’ve written about the appalling literacy standards among the employed (as opposed to the unemployed, who are often automatically regarded as illiterate) and it’s not the first time I’ve had a laugh at the apparent thickness of a particular travel agency’s staff.

Last week I just happened to be looking in the window of a high street travel agent in Scarborough (there isn’t any other kind in this useless dump) and could not believe just how thick their staff must be. The place was closed over dinner, with an apology for the “iconvenience caused”. In the window there was an advert for “painballing” alongside adverts for holidays with “dayitme” flights and some advising that people had to make their own “tarvel” arrangements.

The sad thing is that all we ever hear is that school leavers are getting so much more brainy with all the A* GCSEs they are suddenly achieving (if these “intelligent” individuals had to sit the old O level exam that would show them just how bright – or not – they really are!)

I can just imagine that those responsible for such open displays of illiteracy are those who are shown on TV each year jumping up and down and shrieking about how intelligent they are because they’ve passed a few exams which my cat would probably find easy.

RIP Casper the Bus Cat

I know this post is a bit late, I have had loads of problems with my
internet connection, but I felt I had to mention this sad story.

A while ago, I wrote a piece about Casper the Bus Cat, who used to
travel regularly on the number 3 bus in Plymouth. Casper caught the
imagination of people across the world who were charmed by his antics.

Sadly, this amazing cat died recently after being hit by a car. He
obviously gave alot of pleasure to other passengers as he waited in the
bus queue and then boarded the bus and chose his seat.

Farewell and RIP Casper.

Story here

When on Scarborough sea front, heed the warnings!

The weather has been quite poor in Scarborough over the past few days, with snow and ice making it quite unpleasant to walk about.

So imagine my surprise at seeing this article about some stupid holidaymakers who took their child (in a pushchair) for a walk along the sea front in the bad weather.

There are signs along the front warning about the danger from heavy seas, so it takes a particularly stupid, dense kind of person to take a walk along here when the weather is bad.

Take a look at the first photo in the newspaper report. The caption "calm before the storm" is not really appropriate, as that is anything but a calm sea! If the sea looks like that, then it is idiotic to walk right next to the sea wall!

The family should be ashamed for putting their young child in such danger. Those warning signs are there for a reason, and to ignore them is stupid. What is also maddening is that then people have to risk their safety to rescue these imbeciles.

When in Scarborough, heed the warnings, and if you don't have the brains to do that then stay away.

Scarborough at Christmas

I'd forgotten what Christmas in Scarborough was like, having spent each Christmas from 2006-2008 in Brugge. Unfortunately, the incompetence of the French brought it home to me this year, having to spend Christmas in Scarborough because a bloody useless French-designed train breaks down in snow.

In Brugge I had become used to Christmas markets, with stalls selling hot food and drinks in decorated market squares, ice skating and music and a party atmosphere, with pubs serving the best beers in the world when it was time to get inside out of the cold.

So imagine how drab Christmas in Scarborough is. No markets, no ice skating, pubs which sell beer more akin to water, no shops lit up. Indeed, the shops in this town made little or no effort for Christmas, unlike at Halloween, when all seemed to be in on the act and vying for the darkest displays. All we seemed to get, as a nod to Christmas, was a ghastly display in Boyes which consisted of toadstools, model elves and a grating, horrible racket of a song "we are Santa's elves" repeated over and over again ad nauseum.

If this is the best this boring town can do for Christmas it is time it called it a day.

Eurostar

Last week, the much-hyped Eurostar train ran into problems when several trains broke down in the Channel Tunnel. The trains had broken down because they had left the cold air of northern France and entered the warmer tunnel, causing condensation which played havoc with the onboard systems. They are now blaming the "wrong sort of snow".

The trains have not run for three days, and massive backlogs have built up with passengers stranded and not knowing when, or if, they would travel. I am one of the passengers who does not know what the situation will be regarding travel - I was due to go by Eurostar on Wednesday to Brussels.

This is the first (and certainly the last) Eurostar booking I made. Normally I have flown, and will do so in the future.

Why is it that the French, who are so above themselves and have such a superiority complex, are so bloody incompetent? The Eurostar is a French design, if it has problems in bad weather it is obviously a crap design.

Next time I am due to travel abroad, I shall avoid using any company that the French are involved with because I have no faith in anything French, especially technical stuff. All they are any good for is making bread and cheese, they should leave techie stuff to the countries that know what they are doing.

More hell for those who live near pubs

A new government idea is expected to make the lives of people who live near pubs hell. The government plans to allow pubs to put on live acts for audiences of less than 100 without having a licence.

Anyone who lives near a pub which features live acts will know how bad they are. Places in residential areas should not be allowed to have live bands playing after 11:30, it is not unknown for pubs to have loud music playing into the early hours, thanks to the appalling law which allowed them to be able to open any time they liked, and for anyone living near who maybe has to be up early for work they can be absolute hell.

Although I don't like to see pubs closing, those which have such antisocial attitudes should be consigned to the scrapheap.

More here.