Ertblog

Back to snowy Hodgemoor Wood

I've got the mountain biking bug again. So while sensible people were indoors next to the fire, I set off this afternoon on my ancient mountain bike for my new haunt, Hodgemoor Wood near Chalfont St Giles. I wanted to explore the woods while the snow still lay very crisp and not so even. Last weekend's snow was lingering, with a fresh coating on Thursday night.

Botterills Lane was easy going (a contrast to last Sunday's treacherous ice) but the wood was again a fun challenge. I missed my way at first but my sense of direction helped me gain the bridleway (The Mount) that runs westwards. 

I had stuffed my Canon SLR in my Camelbak Mule so I could take some proper photos. I was lucky: the sun bathed parts of the wood even after 4pm on this bitterly cold February afternoon. In the deep of the wood, I propped the bike against the route sign and started capturing the scene. As last weekend, I barely saw a soul - although a friendly dog took a mild interest as I took a few photos. 

This was almost certainly my last outing on the Diamondback Ascent bike I bought at Roylan Cycles in Cheltenham in April 1994. The gearshift has failed and I could only use the bottom 4 (out of 21) gears. It made me even slower than normal! I can't wait to get its replacement later this month. 

PS: last night was bitterly, bitterly cold. The photo below shows the temperature reading on my Mini as I drove Owen to his football class at 8.45 this morning. (I thought last Saturday's minus 6.5C was cold enough!)

 

Snow Sunday

Winter is here. The snow arrived on Saturday night, at the end of a day that began with a bitterly cold night. (It was minus 6.5C when I drove Owen to his football class at 8.40am.) The mild winter had turned real.

We enjoyed an unforgettable day. Owen is now big enough to relish snow, especially five inches of the white stuff. (Proof above in the shape of Karen's old school ruler.) He joined friends Martha and Betrys (aka Betty) on the sleds, and built an interestingly shaped snowman. 

I also turned intrepid explorer, venturing through Hodgemoor Wood on my 18 year ol mountain bike. It was an exhilarating experience, slipsliding on road and trail. There was barely a soul in the deep dark wood, and I was the only cyclist to pedal the route since the snows fell. My Garmin shows that the ride took 45 minutes compared with 23 the previous, snow-free day. (But my average heart rate was almost the same.) The ride whet my appetite for adventures on my new mountain bike, which should arrive later this month. But it's probably just as well that my ancient Diamond Back Ascent took the icy punishment today...

Is this the last of 2012's snow? Time will tell...

PS: here's my blogpost about February 2009's snowday, Simply Snow... And my praise for my Mini's winter driving abilities 10 months later.

I love my Garmin Edge 800

I had a wonderful Christmas surprise: a Garmin Edge 800 GPS device for my bike. Karen has always been very generous! It's been a revelation. 

Years ago, I couldn't see the point of satnav for cyclists. But I realised I was wrong late last year. The Garmin is so much more than a navigation device. It captures an enormous amount of information about your ride, from the usual bike info (speed, average speed, time spent), to heart rate info (heart rate, average heart rate, time in various heart zones) and plots all this and more online so you can share your ride - and download details of other people's routes. Even more fun, you can race against your earlier rides - and your target performance. 

This screenshot shows details of my ride today, uploaded to Garmin Connect. You'll gather that I set no speed records, although I knocked a modest four minutes of the time I took to ride the route on 28 December - my first Garmin ride. (Not as impressive as the four hours I cut from my Bucks century time in summer 2005!) I wish I'd had this remarkable gadget on my Land's End to John O'Groats ride in 2002...

The Garmin has given a real spur to my new year resolution to get back to cycling. And to lose a few pounds!

High speed ahead for HS2

The government has given the go ahead to a new high speed rail line from London to Birmingham: HS2.

It's a hugely symbolic act. It marks a new era for the country's railways. At last, Britain won't be the poor relation to its continental cousins, who have been building high speed lines for the past 30 years. We'll have our first new domestic intercity railway since 1899, the year Great Central trains started running from the north to London Marylebone.

But HS2 has been hugely controversial, especially in the Chilterns. As I blogged when Labour announced the original HS2 plan, our own village, Chalfont St Giles, is on the route. As you'd expect, few people here are in favour of a railway that won't benefit us (there won't be any local stations) but whose construction will blight the area for many years. The anti HS2 campaign has been witty and well organised - with posters on the road to Chequers asking prime minister David Cameron if he's on the right track. Local MP Cheryl Gillan has supposedly threatened to resign as Wales Secretary if the government gave the green light. We'll see if she's still in the Cabinet at the end of the week...

I share the many of the misgivings of the protesters. I find it hard to justify the massive price when public spending is a being slashed to cut the deficit. (It seems a strange priority to splash out on an expensive rail line when youth clubs for deprived inner city teenagers are being closed.) If we're going to invest in rail, wouldn't it be better to improve existing rail lines?

But that kind of make do and mend approach isn't good enough. Britain's intercity rail network was born just before Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837. It was the wonder of the world. Nearly two centuries later, the world wonders why Britain is so reluctant to build a new railway. HS2 opponents say we should just modernise the west coast mainline. That line was created from a series of 19th century railways. It has been 'modernised' twice in the last fifty years. It's still in essence a Victorian railway. Its London terminus, Euston, is a soulless place. I pity anyone who has any time to kill there. The same is true at Reading, Cardiff Central, Bristol Parkway and countless stations across the country.

So HS2 is the right thing to do. It will transform the experience of train travel in Britain. Our village will suffer during the long construction years, but I'll be able to show Owen the building of our first new domestic railway since his great grandmother was a child in the 1890s. (I never thought I'd have the chance to emulate SWA Newton, who photographed the birth of the Great Central in Buckinghamshire and beyond.)

PS: Other mainlines were build in Britain after the Great Central, notably the Great Western's 'cut-off' lines before the Great War, but none was a complete inter city line.

At last: free parking in Chalfont St Giles

Back in 2008, I blogged about the threat to village shops in Chalfont St Giles from Chiltern District Council's car parking charges. The council dropped plans to charge for on-street parking - the reason for the blogpost. But it still charges an extortionate 60p for anyone using Blizzards Yard car park for a few minutes while they pick up a newspaper or pint of milk. 

Sense has finally prevailed. The Buckinghamshire Advertiser reports that the council is introducing an hour's free parking, matching the very successful arrangement in neighbouring Chalfont St Peter. But it appears that no thanks are due to Chiltern Coumcil - it's the parish council and Chalfonts Local Area Forum who have stumped up the cash to end Chiltern Council's drive to get everyone to shop at Tesco. 

It's great news, as it encourages people to use village shops and the brilliant local deli rather than go to Tesco in nearby Amersham. And it also means that people have no excuse to park illegally to avoid the punitive parking charges. 

In praise of Brindley House nursery, Beaconsfield

Today was a sad day. Our three year old son Owen spent his last day at his first nursery, Brindley House Childcare Centre, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. He's been going there since he was 11 months old. Owen starts at his school nursery in September.

We first heard about Brindley House when Karen was pregnant. A visit before the centre opened confirmed that this was the place for Owen. We've never regretted the choice. The care has been fantastic, especially in the early days when Owen was getting used to being looked after by someone other than his parents. Brindley House has reinforced our emphasis on good manners - so we were delighted when Owen said thank you to his carers today after yesterday's Gruffalo party! The party was a good example of the activities the centre runs. It also organises a very impressive Christmas concert at Beaconsfield's Curzon centre. 

Brindley House founder Sarah Fahey opened a second Beaconsfield childcare centre last year after the success of Brindley House. We've always been impressed by Sarah's professional and caring attitude, and haven't been surprised at how popular both centres have become. Parents want the best for their children, and that's exactly what Owen has enjoyed at Brindley House. 

We’ll always remember Brindley House with affection and gratitude. 

PS: just one less happy note. We've only today received the cheque returning the deposit we paid when Owen joined Brindley House - eight weeks and three chasing phone calls after Owen left. 

Twyford, Finmere and Calvert face high speed rail challenge - again

Above: the Great Central main line being built, 1890s. Photo: SWA Newton

BBC Radio 5 Live's Drive programme tonight featured protests against the proposed high speed rail line HS2 by villagers in Finmere, Calvert and Twyford in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.  

The people interviewed explained how the rail link would spoil their villages and the countryside around them without bringing them any benefits - other than the chance to watch a train tearing through at high speed. 

The comments echoed those of friends and neighbours in Chalfont St Giles, which is also on the route. (See my earlier post on HS2 and Chalfont St Giles.) But I was intrigued because Finmere, Calvert and Twyford lost an earlier battle against a new main line. In the 1890s, the Great Central Railway's London extension cut through this part of the world. It was the vision of Sir Edward Watkin, who dreamt of a mainline from the north of England to the continent via a channel tunnel. Its modest London terminus at Marylebone is one of the few remaining monuments to Watkin's dream - or folly. Most of this magnificent line was closed in 1966.

Now the peaceful countryside that once echoed to Great Central expresses faces another rail invasion. Unlike the Great Central, HS2 will have no local stations or trains. But Watkin would have approved this bold project, regarding protest as a mere inconvenience. It will be interesting to see if the 21st century protesters are more successful than their Victorian predecessors. 

PS: the Great Central's construction created far more destruction in Leicester and Nottingham than in the villages on its route. In the words of LTC Rolt, it 'cut ruthlessly through the heart of the old city' of Nottingham. Photographer SWA Newton recorded the birth of the line in a series of extraordinary photos, including this graphic image of Nottingham, below. 

 

 

Farewell, Wrexham & Shropshire trains

Above: Wrexham & Shropshire staff pose for last-day photos at London Marylebone station

Today was a sad day. A rail company that was loved by its passengers closed, ending the short lived revival of train services from Wrexham to London. Wrexham & Shropshire achieved the best rail customer satisfaction ratings in Britain. But not enough people used the service to make it pay. 

We enjoyed seeing the Wrexham trains race through our local station in the days when Karen and I commuted to London. It was a nostalgic reminder of the days when expresses were hauled by locomotives (Wrexham & Shropshre used class 67 freight engines and sleek British Rail Mark 3 coaches, many still in 1970s blue & grey livery). I hoped to take Owen on the Wrexham train when he was a little older, but we won't get the chance now. 

We were always concerned that the coaches looked empty. Just a year after the service started, W&S ran a successful campaign against Virgin Trains, which threatened to launch a rival service, as I blogged in May 2009. W&S survived that threat, but the writing was on the wall. The Guardian's John Vidal reported that same month that the service was wonderful but slow. W&S was forbidden from calling at busy stations en route but had to crawl through them. But he waxed lyrically about the North Walian train crew and the lamb shank, veg and wine.

By chance, I was in London today and witnessed the sad scenes as W&S staff posed for photographers at Marylebone. I hope they find new jobs, as they will be a huge asset for any organisation that cares about its customers. As I write this, the very last train is on its way north to Wrexham. 

Here are some scenes from Wrexham & Shropshire's last day, including a mug they gave me at Marylebone!

 

 

 

In praise of the gritters

We're enjoying or enduring our harshest winter since 1982, and the critics are having a field day. Why can't Britain cope with a bit of snow? Why do our continental cousins do things so much better? Why didn't our councils grit the roads? 

It's easy to cheer the critics. But life isn't so simple. Few of us have any idea of how challenging it is to beat the weather. We don't know what it takes to keep roads, rails and runways clear. And we can't even tell if a road has been gritted. Our neighbour complained that a local side road hadn't been treated - but we thought it had. 

The photo above shows Buckinghamshire County Council workers treating a steep hill and replenishing a roadside grit bin in Chalfont St Giles. These workers will have been out in all hours, helping us keep moving. They earn a pittance, yet their reward will have been abuse from regulars in their local pub about their failure to clear every minor road. 

We should be praising them.

In praise of our favourite train driver - and Chiltern Railways' use of social media

Have you got a favourite train driver? We have. And thanks to the wonder of Twitter, I now know his name, and discovered that he has dedicated countless hours to visiting schools to teach children about the dangers of playing on the railway.  

Dave Newell is a train driver on Chiltern Railways. He became our favourite train driver on a Friday night over five years ago. Karen and I both commuted to London at the time, and were travelling home together after a night out in town. A group of drunken youths were behaving badly, and we were very impressed and reassured by the firm and effective way Mr Newell challenged them. Yesterday, I was delighted to recognise his voice on the tannoy as I travelled home. He was giving friendly advice to take care on icy platforms. I chatted to him when I got off at Beaconsfield. He greeted me with his characteristic smile and asked if the heating was working inside the train (it was) as he had no heating in the cab.

 

I tweeted about my favourite train driver yesterday, and Chiltern Railways (@chilternrailway) responded. As a result of our Twitter conversation, we confirmed the identity of the driver. Even better, I learned that Dave won Rail Safety Person of the Year award at the prestigious Rail Staff Awards in October. The prize was presented by Pete Waterman and Pino De Rosa.  Tom O’Connor, Rail Media Group, which organises the awards, said: ‘This is a highly deserved award for a person who saves lives and whose influence has directly made the railways a safer place. We should all thank people like Dave Newell." We certainly should, especially when Dave and his colleagues are doing all they can to keep the trains running in arctic conditions.

Chiltern Railways deserves credit for the way it has embraced social media. It responded very quickly to my tweet, and was keen to highlight Dave Newell's recognition. It is active on Twitter and Facebook. It clearly appreciates the benefits of keeping its customers and the community informed about its work.