The Telegraph’s famous tin ear strikes again

Good article; thanks for sharing it. While drivers often see sensible restrictions as impinging on their liberty, it’s a narrative pushed by many of the right wing newspapers and tv/radio broadcasters. Anything else that regularly caused the mayhem collisions does would have far greater restrictions

What impact has 20mph had on road safety in Wales? The introduction of a default 20mph speed limit on restricted roads in Wales in September 2023 generated significant public debate. The policy increased the share of roads with a 20mph limit from 2% to 37% as of September 2023.

Latest Senedd Research report has shown that road casualties in Wales dropped significantly after implementing the default 20mph limit when compared to England and Scotland. Another reason to say #20splenty where people are.

A Facebook comment saying “I’m a member of the golf club and feel really sorry about access for all has been limited. The damage was caused by electric bikes, ripping up various and greens and fairways. You cannot see it from the path. It is the usual story, a mindless few are spoiling it for everyone.” A reply to this comment from an account whose name can be read as ‘I am fake’ states “a bit like affairs”

The well timed heckle…
The original FB post is about a golf club restricting access to a public footpath to stop damage caused by youths on motorbikes. However, this ‘heckle’ is a gem

And how often do you hear people mention parked cars slowing their journeys? But the minute they spend 30 seconds waiting to pass a cyclist…

Brilliant to see road.cc put Charles Windsor back in his box with a well reasoned article.

Also, what a hypocritical cock. He’s probably rocked up in a car or a helicopter and is calling people on e-bikes cheats.

A price cap on domestic heating oil would be much fairer. If the government can intervene to cap electricity/gas for urban homeowners, they must extend similar protection to rural heating oil users who have zero choice but to use oil. Scrap the tax, but also cap the volatility 3/3

Households on mains gas have the protection of the Ofgem price cap, limiting their price per unit. Households in North Cornwall on heating oil have zero protection. As we cannot be on fixes, as gas/electric ca, when global tensions spike, oil users are left exposed to massive, sudden hikes. 2/3

Absolutely right to highlight this, @BenMagGuireMP. Scrapping VAT is a first step to give rural households some relief. Every penny counts when you’re off mains gas as we are in Luckett

But while we're looking at the costs of heating oil, we have to address the structural unfairness here. 1/3

Allows me to ride further and enjoy uphills as much as downhills.

A ceremonial mug with photos of Andrew Windsor and Jeffery Epstein and text saying TO COMMEMORATE A SWEAT FREE AND HONOURABLE FRIENDSHIP

Could sit alongside my mug

Needs more wheelie bins with house numbers painted badly on them

And yet somehow I’m the flash git for having an ebike costing a couple of thousand with annual servicing costs in the very low hundreds

Earlier this Premier League season (maybe even as late as December) Own Goal was Fulham’s top scorer with 3 goals!

A Telegraph headline saying “It is time to make selfish cyclists display a licence plate” with the byline CLIVE ASLET

Here’s Clive outing himself as an idiot. Every study, and even the few times it’s been implemented, have shown this to be a stupid idea. Concentrate on where the real danger comes from Clive. Hint: it’s not cyclists, even selfish ones

One of the streets described by The Telegraph as the UK’s prettiest - this one in car free Clovelly

One of the streets described by The Telegraph as the UK’s prettiest - this one a narrow lane with tables outside what maybe a cafe in Tenby

One of the streets described by The Telegraph as the UK’s prettiest- this one is Grey Steer in Newcastle with the colonnaded theatre in the foreground and a pair of no entry signs alongside the road

One of the streets described by The Telegraph as the UK’s prettiest - this one cobbled Victoria Street in Edinburgh busy with pedestrians

One thing in common for the streets chosen by the Telegraph as Britain’s prettiest - almost no cars. there are a few parked up in the two seaside choices, but streets look better without them and they’re way more user friendly for people to live their lives and spend money

A middle aged couple stand in front of a thatched cottage. The bald, bearded, overweight man has a red v neck jumper that used to fit him and a grumpy look perfected for Angry People in Local Newspapers

How Telegraph headlines lie…in fact having grossly underestimated the rebuild costs (as they guessed them during the purchase), they finally shopped around and managed to get insurance for under £1,500 per year. Absolute non-story

Have you ever slowed, or been in a car with someone who has slowed, when passing a sign like that? The signs exist but I’m not sure they make any difference to driver behaviour.

Where councils try to slow drivers where pedestrians are numerous with 20mph schemes the objections are massive.

If we get our proper Brexit I can see the headlines now…

Spam To Take Over On Sharing Platters

Herbal Tea Outlawed As Britain Returns To “Milk And Three Please Luv”

Flat Cap Fridays To Replace Ghastly Baseball Caps

English Flowers Only - Roses Are Fine, Tulips Sent Packing

/End

While we are at it let’s have decent temperatures back - a hot day should be scorching and in the 80’s. Petrol will have the lead added again and be sold in gallons. We will be getting our own from under the North Sea so it’ll be a few crowns for each of those lovely brain destroying gallons too. 4/

No more asking still or sparkling as all water will come from the tap again, and wine will be reclassified as foreign grape juice - proper alcohol will be brown, warm, unapologetic and served in pint glasses. 3/

No more using olive oil as beef dripping makes a comeback especially in our caffs which get rid of that stupid French way of spelling them. Caff owners get rid of paninis in favour of pressed sandwiches. We will revert to having three cheeses - cheddar, red leicester and that white one 2/

They want to return to 1978, but with smartphones & no bolshy striking unions. Also foreign players in our Premier League are to be given proper English names - City will have Eric Hayland up front and Pete Groundsman as manager, Arsenal have Gary Jesus because the surname is foreign but proper 1/

And presumably one of the nightmares of tinted windows for cyclists. I’m sure, like me, you often look to see if it appears a driver at a junction has seen you (I know it’s not always a guarantee that they’re not looking through you due to inattentional blindness)

Charles Windsor (not my king but maybe yours) walking across a field with others on a bird shooting day

While I’m in favour of celebrities pushing forward environmental protection, it’s difficult to see bird shooting and fox hunting Charles Windsor as anything other than a bit of a hypocrite

And I run lists for different subjects that interest me. Each of these just shows the accounts I add. As I only scroll down these, I don’t see what I don’t choose to see.

And for me in Cornwall where we have to book a visit and B1KE wasn’t accepted as a VRN!

I didn’t have a newspaper article (more’s the pity) but I have the email to show to the staff member on the gate (in case they haven’t got or remembered the memo)

An #FACup weekend without VAR really shows how much better football is without it - especially for fans in the grounds.

Most decisions are correct and the game flows. Goal celebrations don’t need to be paused; emotions can be allowed to be free.

Time to scrap #VAR

Both things can be true:
1. Rental bikes left on pavements can be a pain and a better solution is needed
2. Parking on pavements is a pain and a full ban is needed (with better public transport so fewer people need their own car)

I’m still buzzing and it’s two days later! We are all Gentleman Jim “pick that out”