What are you all up to

Indeed, they have gone mad in the city putting in cycle lanes, and widening pavements for cafes to use as outside seating during/since Covid, reducing vehicle traffic to a crawl.  The wet weather in west of Scotland means generally little use of both cycles and outside seating, but "the Greens" have to be kept happy!

Similar in the city we lived in before moving.

During covid they put lanes in, with bollards,on a once 2way but for years 1 way road. Buses could stop at all the stops and traffic still flow. You've guessed it. Same on at least one more road. In fact when we drove down to the estate agent on the day we moved I found it almost impossible to throw OH out of the car to do the job. It's always been my shopping town so 60 years and I was stumped. I started my working life in that area too so I would have said I knew it well......

We've heard that it's all being removed and original reinstated as it hasn't worked and caused traffic chaos. It wasn't great before! Such a huge waste of money, but it doesn't hit their pockets does it? 🤐

Since living within walking distance of the city I'd had little need to drive there, but had seen the changes. Only realising the implications when we needed to hand over keys. A stressful, emotional day on top if the planning and sorting move. Didn't make for a calm start to our onward journey 😕 

Heddlo,  sounds like your Scotland trip was very busy,  glad you had a good time.

Actually had a day without any rain today, 🙂 lull before the storm apparently ! Not much happening at work, prepping the Vat return 🙄 

Had a trip down to our retail park,  OH picked up a couple of shirts for only £8. I wasn't as lucky, couldn't find anything.🙁

DEBSC hope you can soon get to your caravan, our river has gone down but with all the rain forecast for tomorrow it may flood again. 

Last evening's red sky promised a better day and it certainly turned out that way. Dry and clear, quite a strong wind though. Walked along the Gloucester & Sharpness canal from Slimbridge to Frampton on Severn, starting from the caravan site at Tudor Patch (one of the first sites we stayed at in a caravan some 30 odd years ago!) Great views over to Sugar Loaf. Along the towpath was this waymarker indicating the distance between Bristol and Gloucester cathedrals as 47 miles! The church at Frampton is mainly 14th century but has a 12th century lead font, one of 6 identical ones at local churches according to the notes in the church.

Tomorrow looks like being a washout in the morning, but hopefully better in the afternoon when we will be back to a full complement! 

Moulesy is Berkeley Castle open as it would make an excellent place to escape the rain? There's also Dr.Jenners museum/house adjacent if you have time.

An excellent meeting with Physios today to see how MiL progressing. The main Physio was off on holiday last week and he was surprised at how much improvement there had been. Her scan showed a significant reduction in brain swelling and her vision and walking both improved. It looks like she will be given "Parole" soon and may even get away without having to wear an ankle bracelet, although her next of kin carers might insist on one.

We had a pleasant walk this morning but heavy rain this afternoon.

Busy day for us, with a morning visit to the dentist for both a 1/2 yearly checkup and our quarterly hygienist cleanup. A bit of shopping on the way home before lunch then we took the caravan into the dealers for the replacement microwave to be fitted tomorrow.

Good to hear of the improvement in your MIL, WN. fingers crossed that if won't be long before they allow (send ) her home.

Certainly sounds as if many on here have had a busy weekend.

We rarely go into the city centre, but if we do we use our bus passes.  DD lives on a good bus route, so we drive to her place then get the bus.  Buses where we are take ages to get  into town.

There are several good shopping centres around the outskirts, most are undercover and with free parking, much nicer than in town with all the traffic, so we only venture in if absolutely necessary.

We are lucky in MK as the cycleway system was built at the same time as the road system so there tends not to be any conflict. Being built on a Grid System (more correctly a lazy grid!) it is easy to get around and if one road is blocked there are easy alternatives. I still like the buzz of the City Centre and fortunately parking is relatively easy except perhaps at Christmas and weekends, we tend to avoid the latter. We also have also have access to a regular bus service about 150 metres from our house.

Now contrast that to our weekend visit to Southampton where we had to cross from the west side to the east side, driving through the City. Complete nightmare to what we are used to. Nose to tail traffic most of the way. I suppose you get used to anything but MK is much easier and less stressful!

David  

I’m all for more cycle lanes, but they need to be safe, separate from other road traffic, not just a painted line. Alongside city roads aren’t good planning, too many negatives rather than positives. Then you have to hope that public awareness of cycle lanes is good, particularly if shared with pedestrians. Some places are good (Peterborough for example) but others are appalling. I’ve been knocked off my bike half a dozen times by pedestrians, despite letting them know I was there. Including going to the TdeF finish in Sheffield🤷‍♀️ Our town in terms of road and traffic planning is possibly where failed planners end up, and end now they are attempting cycle lanes……utter chaos with few positives. Cars can park over the lanes, and do, walkers insist on moving five abreast, and do, Children and dogs loose and all over. So you get back on the road and face abuse from motorists. Then there’s all the broken glass and other tyre snags that lurk in the dedicated cycle lanes. UK has a very long way to go to be cycling friendly, in lots of different ways. 

Great news on your MIL WN, hope things continue to go well for you all. 

Etsy shop open, it’s a learning curve😁