I’ve just returned from Scotland as very proud father after my son’s graduation. He has a Master of Science degree from Southampton University and now a Doctorate from Dundee University. If “Quantifying soil reinforcement by fibrous roots” interests you then he’s your man :-)
It isn’t long ago that I wrote about bus fires and now we have another one! And lightning has struck twice in the same place …. not exactly the same place, but the same bus company. This fire was on a road which is also serviced by Stagecoach on our Winchester to Salisbury route, the one I drive daily.
I’m naming the company but it’s one of their driver’s that I really would like to name and shame. He drives the Wheeler’s coach which passes through Crawley (near Winchester) around 16:00 on a school run. He’s the most arrogant, objectionable driver it’s ever been my misfortune to encounter. This week I met him head on in a section through the village where it’s impossible to pass due to parked cars. No problem, I was nearer to a wider section so selected reverse and backed up for about 50 metres. He then drove by without a thank you, a wave, or even a glance in my direction. The previous week I’d seen him coming toward me outside of the village where the lane is still narrow but you can pass if one of you pulls over tight to the verge. Yes, it was me who pulled over so that he could sail past with neither a thank you nor an acknowledgement.
Not since I was a child, over 50 years ago, have I scrumped apples but I did scrump one today. My route takes me through one village where a garden has several apple trees near the wall which separates it from the road. I’ve watched the apples ripen over the past month and have been more and more tempted. Today I couldn’t resist it any more, I slid my window open and slowed as I passed the tree putting my arm out and plucking an apple whilst keeping moving. That was this morning and it was quite cold and pouring with rain. The apple was cold and very wet, I couldn’t wait, I just had to bite into it there and then. It was the tastiest, juiciest, crispest apple I think I’ve ever eaten!
Big I always thought …… but not quite this big! Click on the image to see a larger version.
Essy’s birthday was on Saturday and I would be on a 5 day break so it would have been nice to do something over the weekend but Essy had work commitments. Then, suddenly on Thursday, she announced that she didn’t need to work until today! I finished work on Thursday at 19:00, rushed home to the computer and booked us on the 08:00 Dover – Dunquerque crossing in the morning, by midday we were in Lille checking into the Hotel Art Deco Romarin – several aspects of the hotel were below par but it was clean and tidy. We just wouldn’t choose to stay there again.
Since this blog should be about bus and public transportation I’ll sing the praises of Transpole, the public transport operator for the Lille Métropole area. The Transpole website has an excellent English language version obviously translated and written by English speakers rather than being computer translated. The network comprises bus, metro and tram transportation with the same ticket being valid on all three. A single journey costs 1.30 Euro (£1.13) and is for one continuous journey – you can for example get a tram to a Metro station and then use the Metro, after leaving the Metro you can then transfer to a bus to reach your final destination. Each time you change transport system you must put your ticket into a machine which date and time stamps it – your journey must be one continuous journey without breaks for shopping, coffee etc. A day ticket allowing unlimited travel is 3.60 Euro (£3.14) or 1.60 Euros after 19:00. Compared to UK prices these fares are amazing value. A day ticket covering Winchester only on the bus is £3.00 where the longest possible journey would be around 4 miles. In Lille the pass not only covers Lille but Roubaix and Tourcoing as well!
Transpole also hire electric bicycles and Segways! I’ve always wanted to try a Segway but, sadly, I didn’t realise that they hired Segways until Saturday morning and then discovered that they only hire them Monday to Friday :-( Here’s a photo of one of the closed hire points. 30 minutes hire would have been 4 Euros.
