Search found 17 matches

by esseesee
21 Aug 2010, 10:19pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Southdowns way randonee, disgruntled of Petersfield
Replies: 38
Views: 4179

Re: Southdowns way randonee, disgruntled of Petersfield

I used to live in an area frequented by sponsored charity walkers and MTBers; it sent me CRACKERS to hear the lament 'but we're doing this for CHARITY!' as if that should excuse arrogance, noise, litter, damage, delays, and simply disgusting messes every single weekend - sometimes twice a weekend! - from April until October. A tiny, unfenced roadside copse, which should have been a pretty corner of the English countryside, would stink like an open latrine. Not surprising, really, given that it was used as one every weekend all summer long.

Given that the SDW is a bridleway, I would have loved to have been slightly behind flattyre on my large, stolid, solid horse - trailing a couple of equally solid, clod-hopping, well-laden pack ponies behind me, all of whom would have stopped to deposit large steaming piles of dung just round the bend behind us ...

...and if flattyre did have the problem suggested by his name, I'm sure I'd have found room for a couple of spares in the panniers of one of the pack ponies!
by esseesee
15 Aug 2010, 9:20pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Age is ...
Replies: 21
Views: 2062

Re: Age is ...

I have a friend who is 78; she helps out with the local over-60s club. 'Poor old dears!' she sighs when she asks me if I can print out instructions for them, for day-trips on their bus-passes.
My granddad was riding his sit-up-and-beg bike to the pub and back until he was 86 at least.

Conversely, I have known people who were 'middle-aged' or even elderly from the time they were about 14...
by esseesee
16 Dec 2009, 9:33pm
Forum: Off-road Cycling.
Topic: Help to Protect the Lake District's Garburn Road!
Replies: 8
Views: 2946

Re: Help to Protect the Lake District's Garburn Road!

How about contacting the Fell Pony Society and seeing if any of their elderly members have knowledge? I am perfectly certain that horse-drawn vehicles and pack-ponies would have used a passable road long before motor vehicles were even dreamed about!
The Fell Pony museum might be an even better source of information, if they have records of routes in use..
www.fellponysociety.org/
www.fellpony.f9.co.uk

Best of luck! These roads which were constructed with foot and hoof traffic in mind are in general so totally unsuited to motorised traffic that it beggars belief that 'engined' vehicles should be permitted to access them freely. If I had my way I would permit restricted use by landowner/occupier vehicles, and emergency access only, all other access being either on foot, on hoof or via human or animal-propelled vehicles only.
by esseesee
9 Dec 2009, 11:58pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Internet Woes
Replies: 9
Views: 457

Re: Internet Woes

I've had a PAYG mobile BB dongle since February 2008 as my only internet connection,and have found it perfectly satisfactory. The only problem is that in some places the signal is non-existent and in others the signal is poor so that downloads are reminiscent of the old dial-up connections, when you needed special programs to protect those half-hour-long downloads from being lost when your connection suddenly dropped out.

I imagine downloading lots of video clips would rapidly use up your data allowance, though.

Beware of the 'free laptop' deals. They are accompanied by an 18 or 24-mo contract, the costs during which generally amount to more than the cost of the computer, dongle and monthly data allowance purchased separately.
by esseesee
30 Nov 2009, 2:11pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Betamax
Replies: 169
Views: 8656

Re: Betamax

... since most people claiming they don't have a TV actually do,


Actually, according to the TV licencing people, almost half of the people who claim not to have a TV in fact do.

In other words, a majority of those who say they do not have a TV are in fact TELLING THE TRUTH.

Of course I am not arguing about people who are licence evaders - the ones who make up both the prosecution statistics, as well as the TV licence company's employees pay by buying on the doorstep in the hope of avoiding prosecution - but those of us who have attempted to be open and honest with TV licensing by informing them in writing and over the phone about the situation, yet whose honesty and openness has been totally ignored, then thrown back directly in our face when months and years of insulting correspondence and worse is aimed directly at us.

I stand by my opinion that the door-to-door employees of Capita/TV licencing have about as much authority over me as the Avon lady, and considerably less in the way of manners and trustworthiness.
by esseesee
29 Nov 2009, 10:07am
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Betamax
Replies: 169
Views: 8656

Re: Betamax

As a non-TV owner of many many years I object in the strongest possible way to the antics of the TVL 'A' (it is not in actual fact an Authority).

I will concede that the tone of their letters has improved a little recently - and about time too! Demanding money with menaces and impugning the reputation of honest. law-abiding people is/was the least of their sins, though.

What I do not understand is how or why every OTHER sort of licence I need, or don't need, can be dealt with in a fairly courteous and non-intrusive way. No-one comes knocking at my door demanding to enter my home and conduct a search for fishing rods, as there is no evidence that a fishing licence is held at this address. I do not receive ugly letters from the postie, emblazoned with the fact for all to see that this address is GUILTY and that there is IMPENDING PROSECUTION because a law-abiding non-driver has not applied , and paid, for a driving licence.

The fact that 98% of the population choose to watch TV and buy a licence is no concern of mine. Still less is my choice the concern of any outside agency. No TVL'A' representative will ever be invited into my home. They are merely bullying, commission driven door-to-door salesmen with no more authority than the Avon lady and considerably less, in my experience, in the way of manners.
by esseesee
23 Oct 2009, 10:43pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Should CTC campaign for cyclists to use all footpaths?
Replies: 87
Views: 7313

Re: Should CTC campaign for cyclists to use all footpaths?

But ordinary cyclists CAN ALREADY (in law) use every single bridleway that there is - even though a large percentage of them were never intended for wheeled traffic of any type, except maybe an occasional wheelbarrow.

The fact is that bridleways - suitably repaired and maintained, NOT tarmaced - would be (and in many cases already are) perfectly suitable for a great many cyclists, but given their very nature, they would still remain unsuitable for a great other cyclists, whether for leisure use, utilitarian use or general mixed amenity use.
by esseesee
21 Oct 2009, 12:16am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Should CTC campaign for cyclists to use all footpaths?
Replies: 87
Views: 7313

Re: Should CTC campaign for cyclists to use all footpaths?

The thing is that bridleways are ALREADY available to any cyclist who wants to use them. You simply need a suitable bike. Bear in mind that they are BRIDLEways - the first part of the word should give a clue as to their original (and continuing) purpose - and so a surface suitable for those animals which wear bridles is really the best that should reasonably be expected.

I would reel in horror if there were to be any suggestion of tarmacing bridleways - too much of this country is already sealed over - for what would be next to wend its careless way down a tarmaced track do you think?? unless the culture of King Car somehow changes radically among the general population.
by esseesee
19 Oct 2009, 8:33pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Should CTC campaign for cyclists to use all footpaths?
Replies: 87
Views: 7313

Re: Should CTC campaign for cyclists to use all footpaths?

I think it would make far more sense to focus on identifying those bridleways which have potential as village-village or village-town links and improving their surfaces so they are fit for year-round local traffic using conventional cycles.


Sadly, most bridleways which would make village-to-village or village-to-town links long ago became lanes or roads; the remaining bridleways (if any) usually take the most indirect route imaginable and/or debouch onto a dual carriageway or roundabout with no practical or sometimes even possible safe crossing place.

And the usable bridleways in most areas are already in use by horseriders, off-road bikers and dog walkers, who do not want to take their steeds/animals on what is usually considered a suitable all-weather surface for conventional cyclists ie tarmac. Dogwalkers and horseriders would usually prefer some sort of well-drained chipping surface; off-road bikers would certainly not. None of the present users would be at all happy with what you propose - and for that matter, neither would most road cyclists.

The more vulnerable users of roads MUST receive a greater degree of consideration and respect from those who conduct four-or-more wheeled vehicles propelled by the infernal internal combustion engine; it surely cannot be beyond the wit of those who administer this joke of a country to enforce something effective in this regard. It may, of course, be beyond their will.
by esseesee
25 Sep 2009, 7:46pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Improving our image
Replies: 47
Views: 2861

Re: Improving our image

As an 'old lady' (well, I don't think I'm old but other people do ...) I find that yelling 'gerron the road ya big girl's blouse' works like a charm when I pass young male cyclists speeding on the pavement. I also cackle with laughter like the mad woman that I am, to take the 'sting' out of it. If it's uncertain-looking people wobbling on the pavement, I call out 'come on to the road - it's not that bad honestly!' and sometimes stop to have a chat with them. Then they can see that if even an old biddy like me can ride a bike on the road, they can certainly do so, too.
by esseesee
20 Sep 2009, 2:59pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: Stopped by Community Support Officer in London
Replies: 10
Views: 1596

Re: Stopped by Community Support Officer in London

Nothing said or done by a PCSO will ever surprise me since I learned that an acquaintance of mine was stopped by a PCSO while calmly leading her horse along a quiet country B road in order to get from one bridleway to another. He apparently stopped her and the horse in the middle of the carriageway (on a bend, no less) and proceeded to inform her that it was 'illegal' to lead a horse along a public road.

I found it hard to believe this had really happened to her until she showed me the letter of apology from the police force concerned.

Anything said or claimed or reported by a PCSO I will now take with not just a pinch of salt but an entire year's production from the Saxa Saltworks. I can't blame the poor things for being born without any common sense, but I can blame them for not attempting to educate themselves about matters that I always thought to be common knowledge.
by esseesee
17 Aug 2009, 7:56pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Coroner calls for segregation on A and B Roads
Replies: 211
Views: 9923

Re: Coroner calls for segregation on A and B Roads

stoobs wrote:... as I alluded to in a previous posting, roads are historic rights of way (which does not apply to cars) which happen to have been covered with tarmac. These are historic rights which underpin freedom of movement in our country...

... I'd just like to knock on the head the idea that people who want to ride on the road, which is their ancient, inalienable right, are activists. Meekness might go a long way, but this kind of weak thinking is what is allowing our rights to be eroded at a ridiculous rate.


yes, YES and YES AGAIN!
by esseesee
16 Aug 2009, 9:02pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Coroner calls for segregation on A and B Roads
Replies: 211
Views: 9923

Re: Coroner calls for segregation on A and B Roads

Swizz69 wrote:
I'm going to stick my neck out here and ask whether all these calls from official and quasi-official bodies for cycle 'facilities' (as if a road were not a cycle facility!) are not more to do with the Big Brother is Watching You mindset of current government, rather than a genuine, if misguided, attempt to foster our safety and improve the nation's health?


I'll stick my neck out and agree with you upto a point. I agree that cycling is a little off the radar in many ways, not least in the fact that you pay very little for it & don't have to 'fill er up' every 400 miles or so. The economy would be crippled if everyone changed overnight & walked or cycled everywhere, such is its dependance on fuel. Not to mention debt - paying people two grand to buy a new car is hardly aimed at reducing the nations carbon footprint is it?


Perhaps I went a bit 'over the top' about the Big Brother analogy - I don't think the govt. wants to watch 'me' in particular, and even if they did, they'd find nothing of any interest or significance - but the culture of surveillance which I have found on returning to the UK does discomfit me somewhat, and I have to wonder just what is the reason for it all.

As far as crippling the economy if we all stopped driving overnight - well, 'they' seem to be doing a good enough job of the crippling even without our help!
by esseesee
16 Aug 2009, 10:38am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Coroner calls for segregation on A and B Roads
Replies: 211
Views: 9923

Re: Coroner calls for segregation on A and B Roads

I'm going to stick my neck out here and ask whether all these calls from official and quasi-official bodies for cycle 'facilities' (as if a road were not a cycle facility!) are not more to do with the Big Brother is Watching You mindset of current government, rather than a genuine, if misguided, attempt to foster our safety and improve the nation's health?

Pedal cyclists and, to a lesser extent, horseriders, use a mode of transport which enables them - if they wish - to travel independently, at reasonable speeds both on and off roads, without reference to the sort of places where CCTV cameras will monitor their presence and without reliance on heavily-taxed and regulated fuels.

Cyclists can go places that motorised transport could not dream of going, and at a speed which would only be in the dreams of a pedestrian, while carrying our means of reasonably comfortable existence with little effort.

Horses have been, for all practical purposes, virtually eliminated from the road system - not by the volume of traffic so much as by the junctions, access roads, crossings and roundabouts on the A & B road network, which can be impossible to negotiate safely when travelling on a horse, I know, I've done it! And had to pay to hire a horsebox to take us over a road ...

Is eliminating access - or making it impossibly impractical - to the major road network for cyclists the government's agenda? If so, this would make true freedom of movement in the UK well-nigh impossible. ANPR checks where I am driving my car, CCTV checks the trains and buses for which I buy tickets or which I use, and walking is an unfeasibly slow means of travel.

Maybe I'm totally off the wall in this. I've lived overseas and in regimes where constant monitoring of one's movements was such a part of everyday life, that I find it incredibly hard to believe that the government of the most-intensively-camera'ed nation in the world is really as benign as it tries to convince us all.

Not having a car and riding a bike to and from work keeps me just a little bit more 'under the radar' than I would be otherwise. I like this.