27/10/2009 by admin.

I have driven today along the M62 between Greater Manchester and the M1. It was horribly busy.

They are preparing for new roadworks -and building the gantries for average speed cameras along what seems to be a 10-mile stretch around Leeds.

Be very afraid

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26/10/2009 by admin.

A couple of weeks ago, a gym-owning friend of mine expressed some mild horror at the fact that I was able to go to the gym at Todmorden Sports Centre at 7am, an hour before the instructor started work. “What about Health and Safety?” he asked.

What indeed…

This morning, two of the three treadmills were not working properly. I was on the only one which was when a fellow fitness seeker of advancing years decided to switch off the mains plug to see if the two miscreants would reset themselves when switched back on.

But he managed to switch all three off – almost propelling me through the mirror on the wall in front of the machines.

Not wanting to upset him, I did not protest…and I swear he didn’t even realise what he had done!

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08/10/2009 by admin.

“Dear Alan,

Further to your application for the post of Education Editor/Transport Correspondent, I am writing to inform you that unfortunatly (sic) your application was unsuccessful and this position has now been filled.

Thank you for your interest.

Yours sincerely,”

At least, they had the decency to reply but I think we should have one rejection for the Education Correspondent and one for the Transport Correspondent. I only applied for one!

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07/10/2009 by admin.

The highlight of my Tory conference – a 1 to 1 with shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers – turned into a bit of a damp squib.

I was promised half an hour and got 20 minutes as she arrived late and then remembered she was in a hurry when I started to ask about buses.

Still, beggars can’t be choosers…and I’ll just have to analyse her responses even more carefully to get enough out my considerable efforts.

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29/09/2009 by admin.

I’m a big fan of Sarah Brown. I follow her on twitter.

But I groaned when she walked on stage for the second year running. I thought, though, that she was even better this year, brief, sincere, more confident, and a lot less sugary than last year.

Why, though, couldn’t he just get up and make a speech. If it takes two videos and his wife to get him going, it looks a bit like he hasn’t turned up on time.

He really does need to sort out his smile, though. And “Securing Britain’s Economic Recovery” was certainly not the catchiest of mottos to stick on the plaque in front of him.

A long list of Labour achievements, even if you are unimpressed by some of them, was the right way to start and went down well.

And his early jokes were good, too. “I would say Alistair Darling was the best chancellor we’ve ever had…but the press would report it as ‘Brown subs Brown’ was masterful.

It was a long time before he mentioned the Tories and that’s good.

“The economic call of the century” was a good description of the credit crunch. He’s doing well. He has laboured (sorry) the ‘Tories would do nothing’ line at PMQs this year but this time, it sounds quite fresh.

“Markets need morals” is a superb line and he’s done right to concentrate early on what we all think he’s good at – the economy.

I think the jury’s out on the distinction between a general election for a fourth Labour term and a general election for “the first Labour government of this global age”.

“Getting the deficit down while maintaining and improving front line services” would be a good trick but is it possible?

Restoring the earnings link for all pensioners will go down well…but it doesn’t necessarily mean that much, does it?

Raising the minimum wage and free child care? I’m getting dizzy now. And tackling teenage pregnancies sounds good, too. Now we are into anti-social behaviour with a vengeance. Family intervention projects to get a grip on 50,000 of “the most chaotic families” sounds good.

But punishing parents for broken ASBOs could end up in a mess. What are you going to do, lock them up and put the kids into care?

Giving councils the power to ban 24 hour drinking – even though it doesn’t really exist – sounds a splendid idea. And banning drunks from drinking is a superb line.

So, no compulsory ID cards in the next parliament. What about the one after that?

He’s relaxed and self-assured now. Seems even to be enjoying himself. It’s a round of applause for every sentence, almost.

The NHS stuff is boring but free personal care for the elderly is an impressive promise. And giving constituents the right to recall their MPs is what we all want to hear. Though judging by the reaction in the hall, abolishing hereditary peers is more important to the party faithful.

Gordon Brown finished? Not yet, by any means.

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17/09/2009 by admin.

Continuing the rural idyll, we went to two shows…very different in nature. To be honest the Westmorland Show at Crooklands was too busy and because we didn’t realise how early it started, we were caught in the most horrendous traffic jam. The sun shone and the crowds broke all records. It took us two hours to get there from Staveley, no more than half a dozen miles away – and ten minutes to get back.

When we enquired at the terrier ring about Lakelands, one winner looked at Roxy and said, with all the snobbery and contempt of a working dog owner: “Oh, the way she’s cut, you want the Kennel Club Show over there by the pylon.”

Over there by the pylon turned out to be in a separate field altogether and I wondered why the two events were kept so separate. It was a small affair and by the time we got there, it was winding up. There wasn’t a Lakeland Terrier in sight.

The highlight was a travelling sheep show introduced by a New Zealander living in Dereham, Norfolk…and awfully long way from the Lake District.

He introduced several different breeds, cracked a few jokes, and then sheered a sheep. Brilliant.

The International Sheep Dog Trial at Lowther Park, near Penrith was an altogether quieter affair. We watched one or two of the competitors, getting a free commentary from an old retired farmer from North Yorkshire who knew everyone and how good they were.

Watch a demonstration at the show by a chap from Cheshire at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElVt-RwNRNc

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14/09/2009 by admin.

I took a walk up Whernside, forgetting what happens there on a Wednesday.

Of course, as soon as I saw the crowds, I realised what they were waiting for – because I had been on it a few weeks earlier – so we decided to hang around for the arrival of Leander on its way across the Settle Carlisle line.

It was only when I found myself boasting to a chap from the south that not only had I been on the train but I had walked across the viaduct recently that I realised that I have been infected with this strange disease.

My excuse is that I do it for a living!

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09/09/2009 by admin.

Blackley MP Graham Stringer’s interest in transport is legendary…and so is his allegiance to the Labour Party.

So eyebrows were raised when it emerged that he was not only to attend an important meeting at the TORY party conference in Manchester next month but was actually to be the chairman.

Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce alerted its members to the lunch-time fringe meeting in the town hall on Monday, October 5, on the subject: “Making the best of our rail network - what is the future for tram/train?”.

The former city council leader would need all his debating skills to keep shadow transport minister Stephen Hammond, Salford Conservative councillor Ian Macdonald, vice chairman of Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority, Andrew Coombes of Network Rail and Richard Montagu from Alstom.

Politics apart, Mr Stringer, a senior member of the Commons Transport Select Committee, would be the perfect choice to lead the discussion. After all, Greater Manchester narrowly missed out on a government trial of running trams of train lines last year. Local transport leaders put forward the Marple to Piccadilly line but just lost out to Penistone to Sheffield.

And he takes an active interest in the Commons all-party light rail committee which is chaired by his fellow Greater Manchester MP Paul Rowen – a Liberal Democrat.

Mr Stringer was in no mood to celebrate his all-party credentials when contacted by me. As usual, he didn’t answer his mobile. I left a message and within minutes, I got a text: “It’s a mistake,” it said. “I’m not an never was.”

But he did see the funny side. “It would be interesting, if true,” a second text message added.

Investigations with Conservative Party Central Office have unravelled the mystery. The chairman of the meeting will be, in fact, Altrincham MP Graham Brady, one-time parliamentary private secretary to Tory leader David Cameron.

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01/09/2009 by admin.

The continuing tale of Roxy, the Lakeland Terrier

It was an early night for all last night after fleeing the deluge in the Lakes. Ten minutes after we went to bed, an irritating bark started up. Roxy had been skittish since we got home so I went downstairs to settle her down. She was fast asleep, curled up in her basket in the kitchen so I went back to bed. Five minutes later, it began again so this time, Irene went down, again to find the culprit fast asleep.

When it happened a third time, I went down, woke her up and brushed her to calm her nerves. But five minutes later, it began again.

From the kitchen, now the fourth time, I shouted upstairs that she was playing a game and pretending to be asleep as soon as we went down. “Hang on,” said Irene, checking another bedroom to find Boris (pictured, coated against foul weather on the Ribblehead Viaduct) locked in and protesting every five minutes.

Boris was returned to his usual sleeping spot on the bed and poor old Roxy was finally left alone to sleep!

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31/08/2009 by admin.

Fascinating area, Kendal.

Yesterday (because I wanted to watch the Belgian Grand Prix in the afternoon) we took the dogs on a little three miler to Cunswick Scar. This is all limestone country and you could be in the Dales.

Roxy still can’t be trusted off the lead and spends all her time on a flexi lead – but she doesn’t seem to mind. Boris, of course, can’t be trusted anywhere near sheep so he also stays on a flexi lead. Only Ted is mature enough to be left to wander off his lead.

Along the way, we came across this:

Not just another farmhouse but a farmhouse once visited by Henry VIII when he was wooing Catherine Parr.

Naturally, the rain started in the afternoon and carried on through the night so we left the caravan early on Bank Holiday Monday and drove along the A65 to Skipton – where it was sunny.

After a walk in Skipton woods, fish and chips by the canal, and a look in the market, we fancied a pint on the attractive-looking balcony of the Black Horse. MISTAKE.

Accosted by a polite young man as we about to make our way through the lounge to the outdoor area, he explained that it would be against health and safety to walk the dogs through the lounge where people were eating (presumably, because they were going to pee all over their lunches).

We were, however, welcome, he insisted. One person should go into the pub and onto the terrace while the other should take the dogs around the corner, down a snicket, and to a fire exit to the balcony, which could be opened from the inside to allow access.

Well, it was a nice spot, so we decided, against our better judgement to give it a try. Irene took the dogs to the snicket while I went to the bar. Eventually I attracted the attention of a bored (or was it distracted?) barmaid and asked for a pint of IPA. She went away and had a discussion with a colleague about red wine before returning to tell me the IPA was off.

“I’ll have a pint of best, then please.”

“That’s off too.”

I left.

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