Newquay Bans Mankinis
Newquay has banned mankinis and other inappropriate clothing, in a bid to improve its image according to this article in the Guardian.
Am I bothered? Not really, as I have no plans to visit Newquay and no plans to wear a mankini.
Cornwall Wins More Gold Medals Than Australia
The Aussie press is having a go at their athletes for failing to turn silver into gold, but what has happened to Australian sport? When I was growing up, Wimbledon was almost a suburb of Sydney or Brisbane, with win after win by a never-ending stream of players. Then more recently, the cricketers were invincible. So why has this happened?
I’ve just done a bit of research on London’s Olympic medallists and have found that one of the UK’s least populous counties, Cornwall, has won two gold medals; Helen Glover and Ben Ainslie, to Australia’s one.
Perhaps our athletes are doing better as they get a post box painted gold in their honour, in their home town. It costs us nothing, as we get bankers to do as a tax allowable expense.
And if that wasn’t enough shame, Wales, Scotland and Yorkshire have also got more gold medals than Australia. My adopted county, Suffolk may not get a gold medal. But here’s hoping!
BBC Ignores the Science and the History
Perhaps it’s symtomatic of our age, where people forget or ignore the science and history behind everything.
I watched the start of the torch relay at Land’s End on the BBC.
They didn’t mention that the miner’s lamp used to transport and safeguard the flame is a development of the Davy lamp. The original lamp was designed by Humpry Davy from Penzance. That was close to Land’s End, last time I looked.
The Future of Very Long Distance Trains in the UK
We may be a small island, but it is possible to do some of the longer train journeys in Europe in the UK, where you don’t have to change trains. The longest trip I did in Europe was Nice to Lille.
We have several major long distance routes starting or finishing in London. Some include.
- London (Kings Cross) to Inverness via Edinburgh
- London (Kings Cross) to Aberdeen via Edinburgh
- London (Euston) to Holyhead
- London (Paddington) to Fishguard
- London (Paddington) to Penzance
I should note that the longest route is actually Penzance to Aberdeen.
At present all of the routes use IC125s or other diesel trains, but for a lot of the journey some will be under wires used by high speed electric trains. It is probably for this reason that when civil servants specified the replacement for the incomparable IC125, they came up with the idea of a bi-mode train, that was electric, but hauled a diesel around for where there was no power supply. Just as with people obesity is not to be tolerated as it wastes fuel, causes more carbon dioxide to be emitted and probably causes all sorts of track problems because of the weight. As an engineer, I just don’t like it! But that’s my prejudice and what do I know about trains?
However, Ian Walmsley, a man who does know about trains, has proposed in the August edition of Modern Railways, that the ageing Class 90 electric locomotives and Mark 3 coaches on the London to Norwich line be replaced with Bombasrdier TRAXX electric locomotives, refurbished and modern styled Mark 3 coaches and perhaps a new set of driving van trailers. The article showed some impressive interiors proposed by a company called Dg8.
Would this concept work on say London to Inverness? I’ve travelled the northermost part of this line in the driver’s cab and it is a truly spectacular line, but it is unlikely that it will ever be able to be electrified further than Stirling. But there are diesel versions of TRAXX, so could an engine change be performed before the electricity runs out. If Bombardier has the engineering correct, which I suspect they do, I doubt that an engine change would take more than a few minutes. It would certainly be less hassle for the passengers than a train change.
As you are running engine facing London as trains do on the northern routes out of Kings Cross, there would be no need for any special operating procedures in London, but you would need to provide for perhaps a small amount of track work at the engine changeover. This point would have to be chosen with respect to driver availability, so perhaps on services via Edinburgh, this might be the point. But of course it would be a simple matter for the train company to work out the best place for the changeover.
In his article, Ian proposed new driving van trailers. When I went to Inverness on the IC125, the driver had no access to train services, so he had to disembark to use the toilet. So should the DVTs be provided with various facilities for the driver?
It should also be noted that the current trains on the route have no room for heavy luggage, so could they be used for such items as bicycles, surfboards for Cornwall and large cases.
If these long routes have more than just distance in common; many passengers will want an at-seat meal and many will be leisure passengers who would want to admire the view.
So should in some ways a retrograde step be taken and make sure everyone has a full table and that seats align with windows, just like they originally did when the Mark 3 coaches were built. In some ways all of the routes are premium routes, where many will book well in advance for a holiday or an event, so the extra cost of the trains would probably be affordable.
An idea I thought of was an observation car, but although it might be possible, it might make train operation difficult. But surely someone like Dg8 could come up with a Cafe Bar Car with large windows that sat in the middle of the train.
As the journey length could be up to about nine hours, it would probably need innovative entertainment systems. How about a front and back camera to show views.
I may be talking out of my backside. But as John Lennon said. Imagine!
Feeling Guilty
I hadn’t realised that the vicious floods at Boscastle had occurred on my birthday in 2004. I’ve been trying to think where I was, but can’t remember.
Perjhaps, I’m feeling guilty, whilst others were in so much peril.
Ice Cold in Cornwall
I went to Cornwall for the weekend with friends.
Cold wasn’t the word for the weather.
Icicles at Boscastle
This was the walk by the river in Boscastle. In the end we retreated to the Wellington Hotel for some delicious hot chocolate. We also had an early dinner there before returning to London. The menu was very coeliac and vegetarian friendly.
I had some delicious liver and bacon. All that B12 seems to have freshened up my skin quite a bit.
Rick Stein
Over the New Year, I went to Rick Stein‘s restaurant in Padstow.
It was expensive, but it was certainly worth it.
Their policy on gluten-free is very simple. They mark up the menu with what is gluten free.
Rick Stein's Gluten Free Menu
Note the detail. They have both normal and gluten-free soy sauce. So they are very prepared for trouble-makers like me.
Although we didn’t try any puddings, there was a good selection for coeliacs too.
The Puddings
Next time I’m in Padstow, I’ll go again. After all it costs a lot to get to Cornwall, so why shouldn’t you indulge.
Walking from Holywell near Newquay
These pictures were taken whilst walking from Holywell near Newquay.
Halfway round the walk, we stopped at the Bowgie Inn, where I sampled some Rattler Cloudy Cornish Cyder, spelt like Aspall with a “y”. It’s good to see another proper draught cyder.
Walking from Trebarwith Strand to Tintagel
These were pictures taken on Thursday as I walked from Trebarwith Strand to Tintagel and back.
When I got to Tintagel I had a salad in a pub called the Cornishman. It was washed down with some excellent mulled wine.
Dancing with Hippopotami
I have just returned from Cornwall. It was an easy drive in the Lotus, but it was made fraught because of the other clowns on the road and the fact that my new Sony radio failed. I suspect that it’s just a fuse, but the original radio lasted sixteen years.
I left Polzeath dead on eleven this morning and instead of taking the Wadebridge and Bodmin route to the A30, I went via Camelford and picked the main road up at Launceston. Now the 0-60 time for a Lotus Elan SE is 6.7 seconds. That sounds a bit slow compared to Bugatti Veyron at 2.7 seconds, but those between six and seven seconds include a lot of fast machinery. See TorqueStats for more details. But because the handling is so precise and the engine has a wide torque curve, an Elan can overtake where much faster cars struggle. Certainly on the B-road to Camelford and on to Launceston, I overtook upwards of twenty vehicles with ease.
What struck me on that road was the numbers of 4x4s loaded to the gunnells. Not to be content with filling the inside with junk, they often had a large pack on the roof. Now I know some people like to travel with the kitchen sink, but what you take tends to fit the space available. I can remember that the when the children were small we could fit all three in the back of a Porsche 911 and get everything we needed in the boot. Perhaps, we were poor and couldn’t afford all wheel drive push chairs.
Everything went well until a few miles after Exeter, when the radio failed. This was particularly disappointing as I have since found out that my third least favourite team (Leeds United) has beaten my second least favourite (Manchester United).
And then we had the first delay of an hour.
Some prat in a Jeep decided to run into the back of someone else in the outside lane of the motorway. Two other cars then joined the accident. I don’t know whether the Jeep was overloaded but there was obviously some misjudgement somewhere. Perhaps the driver didn’t realise that his car didn’t brake as well as the hot hatch he ran into the back of. I should also say that when I break hard in the Lotus, I watch both ends so I don’t get shunted up the arse.
And then a few miles further on, another 4×4 turned over and cost me another half-an-hour. I hope it didn’t cost anybody their life, as the Air Ambulance had landed in the field.
But perhaps we should ensure that they don’t travel at excessive speeds in the outside lane of the motorway, with drivers who are not competent to handle them at that weight and that speed.
I have been looking too at the specifications for a major manufacturer of roof boxes. I can’t find any warnings about how they will affect the handling and the maximum weight they can carry seems quite low. Perhaps the latter is correct, but how many overload them. I certainly wouldn’t put one on my Jaguar X-Type Estate.
Once past the last accident, I had no real problems and pushed on past Swindon, Oxford, Brackley, Northampton, Huntingdon and Cambridge. This may seem a long way to go, but it does avoid the M25 and all the roadworks.
I’d have done the journey under six hours but for the accidents!
At one point I followed a real car of a plonker; the BMW X6. Don’t just take my view on this, but read what Jeremy Clarkson has to say. He was a lot more scathing on Top Gear. Perhaps The Times needs the advertising and the BBC doesn’t.
But then I followed a Jaguar XF. I could hold it, but only just. When they produce an estate version, I’ll look at the Jag.
But I’ll still keep the Lotus.
The Anonymous Widower 