A step closer.

On Wednesday I attended the Driving Standards agency office in Peterborough to take my HGV Theory test and Hazard Perception test. You are allowed an hour on each test but I managed them both in under 1 hour with a pass result of 94% & 77% respectively. Needless to say I was over the moon with those results.

Next phase is a driver assessment with Apex Driving school in Peterborough. No doubt they will want to extract some money from my wallet for lessons but as a retired professional driver of 30+ years experience and close to a million miles travelled I don’t give much for their chances. All I need is a suitable vehicle to undergo the driving test.

Following the narrowboat blogs since the thaw started a couple of days ago, it is interesting to note that they are all reporting that it will still be a good week or more before there is likely to be any movement on the water. There is also the down side that another cold snap could hit before the thaw is complete and everybody could be back to square one again. You guys on the Cut have our deepest sympathies for what you are having to endure at present.

It throws my mind back to the big freeze of 1963 (I think I got that right) which was the death knell of commercial freight on the Cut when the barges were iced in for about 6 weeks. In the mean time road transport had taken over contracts never to be returned to the Cut. With traffic congestion on the roads I think it might be a good time to reconsider and get freight back on the waterways. It might also help BW’s cause.

How much longer?

I trust everybody had a good Christmas day and didn’t over indulge, I certainly didn’t despite attempts by Mick, my landlord, to overload the dinner plates.

Boxing day has dawned crisp and cold again with a minus 5degC temperature. When is the big thaw going to arrive? I can only sympathise with all our canal friends still frozen in around the Cut probably wondering when are they ever going to be able to start cruising again? Good luck guy’s.

Unbelievable!

Imagine an Eskimo stooped over a hole he has cut in the ice to catch some fish for supper. While on my daily walkabouts I have twice now seen local anglers fishing through holes in the frozen river Nene. The only difference was they were sitting on the bank not the ice. That’s what you call devotion to the sport.

The snow that I spoke of on Wednesday didn’t last long. It only snowed for a short while and then turned to rain. Later in the afternoon it snowed again briefly but with the ground being wet it didn’t settle and during the evening it started to freeze over. Walking to the Model Railway club meeting I began to wonder as to the wisdom of going as the footpath’s were treacherous. Wednesday’s weather was very weird as all around Cambridgeshire they were reporting 2-4 inches of snow and yet around here we barely got 1 inch.

It’s snowing here now.

There hasn’t been any serious snow fall around here since last Thursday but when I threw open the curtains this morning it was snowing very lightly. An hour later and the snow is becoming quite steady and heavy. Are we finally going to join the rest of the country weatherwise?

With overnight minus 18degC temperatures farmers in the area are now unable to harvest root crop’s, carrots, beet and parsnip, due to the ground being rock hard. There is every likelihood that when they do thaw out there will be a race to harvest them or they will rot in the ground and then there will be a shortage on the supermarket shelves. Ho hum, such is life!

Winter Solstice

The Editor in Chief of this blog may be on the other side of the world but she is still keeping the pressure on the sole scribe (me) to produce articles. It is also due to her absence that there is a lack of pictures. Computers and I speak a different language, neither understanding each other.

The recent visit to the National Railway Museum would be better displayed in pictures rather than words. I will say that there  has been a lot of work done at the museum since our last visit and the opening up to the public of the thousands of items in the bulk warehouse was awesome. Everything from scale model loco’s and rolling stock to trackside memorabilia, LMS boardroom table to L & Y signalman training system, station names to stained glass windows. Every rack held untold treasures thankfully saved for future generations to marvel over. I did read that as the museum has so much to offer another museum at Shildon, Co Durham has been opened to cope with the ever growing list of artefacts. Visit their website but be prepared to spend hours there.

Thankfully here in March we seem to be missing the worst of the current Winter weather with only heavy frosts and –5degC temperatures. I must say that the freezing fog on the tree’s and hedgerows making everything white does look like a Christmas card picture. Today being the shortest day of the year can only be good news that things can only improve from here on in. Here’s hoping.

Steam train to York.

A short while ago we booked tickets for the York Yuletide Express. With Dot having to return to NZ suddenly it meant that their was a spare ticket going begging as the tickets were non refundable. Mentioning this to Gary, the model railway club secretary, it transpired that he was on holiday and Thursday was his birthday so what better present than a steam train trip to York.

Thursday duly arrived but that couldn’t be said for the tickets. Even phone calls to the tour company only revealed at the last minute, that tickets had been sent out 1st class mail, but if they didn’t arrive they did supply me with seat numbers. On boarding the train, the crew must have known something because nobody asked for tickets, the latter arrived a day too late. Another change was the timetable which was changed by Network Rail to an hour later than scheduled.

Gary picked me up by car and arriving at the station a good 45 minutes premature we were surprised to find the train had already arrived and was in the goods yard taking on water supplied by the local fire brigade. Another surprise that the engine was not the scheduled class 7 Brittania, 70013 “Oliver Cromwell” but LNER A4 Pacific 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley, Fantastic. It became evident that Oliver Cromwell was out of service under going repairs.

When the train finally arrived at the platform only half of it was on the platform so we had to board where ever we could and walk through the train to our designated carriage. There was only one more designated pick up at Peterborough and a water stop at Doncaster. It was here we were delayed by half an hour due to class 66 diesel stopped at exactly the same place we were to take on water from a conveniently parked tanker. The 66 was taking on fuel also supplied from a road tanker. What happened to loco service depot’s?

We eventually arrived in York at 13.40hrs which gave us 3 hours to do whatever we chose. Naturally Gary and I headed off to the National Railway Museum just across the yard from the station. The last time we had been here was 30 years ago for Gary and quite a few for me. I will dedicate the next blog to this hallowed turf of railway men.

Report from the Antipodes.

A phone call from Dot this evening reports that she is well but tired. Her father has improved slightly over the past 24 hours and has been out of bed.

In the short time that Dot has been back in NZ she has been very busy not only with her father but also an ever growing social calendar from friends and relatives all wanting to see her while she is home. She wishes to thank all the well wishers who have been sending supportive messages .