One of my more recent articles can now be read online, just click on the link – Articles – Recent. He lived in the 18th century and had a connection to Hook Norton. A brief reference is made in the article about severe gales which hampered the voyage to the West Indies in 1795. A follow up article has been written – Disaster at Chesil Beach. This too can be found under Articles – Recent
The wall at the front of our house collapsed overnight…….
The outgoing Chief Medical Officer for England, Dame Sally Davies, tempted controversy recently. Why? She felt that in order to help combat obesity eating should be banned on public transport.
It is true to say obesity in the UK has grown in recent years particularly among the young. Lack of exercise and lack of places to play outdoors are a couple of factors. Outdoor play is almost a thing of the past as electronic devices now compete for our children’s attention.
Banning eating on public transport? Most of us, I am sure, are guilty of eating on a bus or train. On my infrequent visits to London I tend to buy a coffee to drink on the way home, depending on the time of day I might also have a sandwich or other snack as I do not like eating late at night. Far from being alone in this pastime others on the train are doing the same.
I think it depends on the journey length. My rail trips to London are about 60 minutes each way. As bus and underground journeys tend to be much shorter I can see there is not such a great need to eat. On a long railway journey of 4 hours are more are we meant to sit there salivating over what we would like to eat but cannot owing to this type of measure? A few years ago my wife and I had an enjoyable picnic lunch bought from the buffet car as we made our way to Edinburgh. We even washed it down with a (small) bottle of wine – each! Heaven forbid what our fellow passengers thought of us – probably nothing as many were doing the same.
The food and drink outlets at our train stations rely on passengers for much of their business. There are enough shops closing on the high streets up and down the country without those in transport hubs closing too.
A reader can, I hope, see both sides of this argument. Yes, a larger proportion of the population are heavier than previous generations. We do not need to be told what, when and where we can eat. It is a question of balance by eating more healthier foods but with the odd treat not doing any real harm. Education plays a part too, we do need to educate people to eat what is better for us. Banning food and drink on public transport cannot really happen unless, of course, parliamentary laws are introduced. Then the UK will become more of a “nanny” state than it already is.
Earlier this month I spent a long weekend in Edinburgh visiting family and spent some time visiting The Trossachs and some Fife coastal towns and villages. Here are a selection of photographs from this trip.
We are doing a river cruise for the first time this year sailing up the Rhône from Arles to Beaune before finishing in Paris. A change from ocean cruises, in a way more relaxing but not long enough in some places. This morning we were in Tain l’Hermitage but only had 2 hours there before we set sail for Viennes. Actually it was more than 2 hours but who wants to go out when we arrived at 3am!
Have seen some interesting things so far from posh cars in Cannes – how the other half live to vineyards in the hills bordering the river bank.
A few years ago we bought a planter. We were so happy with it that we asked the company if we could buy another. Sadly they have stopped this side of their business and now concentrate on supplying trees and plants. The only option was to make my own…..
The next exercise was to describe “a place near me”. Here is my effort.
Steam rises from the frother as the barista prepares the steamed milk for my cappuccino, the hissing sound filling the air around me. My drink is placed on the counter, I pay and take a seat by the window. Cheerful classical music emanates from the hidden speakers dotted around as I take stock of my surroundings.
Young mums with babes in prams sit in groups discussing the joys of motherhood. Other customers are hunched over their laptops The advent of flexible working means cafes now serve as inexpensive office space. A couple of cups of coffee is a cheap price to pay for somewhere to hold a meeting. What kind of business are they in? No suits, just casually dressed. Maybe every day is a dress down day like it is for me.
Pedestrians scurry past the window wrapped up to ward off the biting cold wind. This is Chipping Norton, one of the highest places in the Cotswolds. The cafe is a refuge from the cold and is extremely popular on days like this and indeed every day. I jokingly refer to it as my “Chipping Norton office”!
I take a tentative sip of my drink. Today it is frothier and more chocolatey than usual, a trainee barista served me, it still tastes good but I end up with a milky moustache. No one notices as I wipe my face. Everyone is either chatting away or studying their laptops or newspapers to pay any attention to my predicament.
Over the past week or so I have been revamping my website and decided to adopt a WordPress style for www.davidmcgill.co.uk. Previously this was a site dedicated to my photography which has moved to my other domain name – www.davidmcgill.co.uk.
I hope that readers – if there are any – will find something of interest on this site. There are articles I have written for publication and photographs. Who knows what else will find its way on to this site.