Anything and Everything

Immigration: We have to have the debate

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 09:23:58 GMT

Apparently I am a racist, extremist, far right terrorist

I always thought of myself as slightly centre right – but in the space of 5 weeks the labels changed to the point where the Left consider me a racist, extremist, far right terrorist.

Let’s start – I think immigration is a good thing. Immigrants contribute to society – I love to see people from other countries coming here and becoming part of the community. I, personally, have helped a friend from India get his residence and work permits, totally legally. Another friend from India came over to work on a genuine programme and I helped him when he was here.

Our visitors book at home reads like the United Nations – friends from India, Africa, South America, Hong Kong, Western Europe, Eastern Europe. I have good friends who are Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Hindu – but as far as the Left is concerned I am a racist, far-right extremist.

This country has a proud record of giving safe haven to refugees – I’m thinking of the Jews in the 30s, the Ugandan Asians, the Vietnamese Boat People and, recently, Ukrainians. I can remember Vietnamese Boat People being housed in a centre in the small town where I grew up. They were overwhelmed by the welcome and support they got from the local community – so much so that some of them settled there. More recently I have worked with Ukrainian refugees and I have a friend who is an Afghan refugee – but as far as the Left is concerned, I am a racist, far-right extremist.

The problem is that what is happening now is ‘taking the proverbial’. The Labour government under Blair and Brown threw open the borders to uncontrolled mass immigration and we are now reaping that whirlwind.

The mass of people coming in now are not refugees or genuine asylum seekers. There are illegal immigrants. The problem is – the Left sees them ALL as refugees.

Refugees flee war zones. Let's just focus on the people coming into the country illegally on boats. and let's have a look where they come from in order of number: Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Vietnam, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Turkey. For a start, as far as I know not many, if any, of those are war zones which is what refugees flee from. Now let's have a look at typical refugee behaviour - most of them tend to be women, children and families and they get out into the first safe country. Ukraine is a case in point - they fled across the border and then there was an organised programme to disperse them to different countries who put procedures in place to host them.

The majority of those entering the country illegally are young men - the percentage ranges from 76% to 91%. Not only have they not stopped in the first safe country - look how many safe countries they have had to pass through to get here! and if they were refugees why is there not a dispersal programme as there was with the Ukrainians? When the Ukrainians fled it was women, children and families. The ones coming on the boat are predominantly young, single men – and, as an aside, all bar one of the countries in the list are Muslim countries and they bring with them values that are incompatible with ours.

OK, so let's assume they are NOT refugees as I said, let's look at ‘asylum seekers’. Where do they come from? The top two countries are Afghanistan and Pakistan. OK, I can understand why some people would want to flee Afghanistan and seek asylum. In fact one of my friends is an Afghan asylum seeker - however not all of them are. I can also understand why people would have claimed asylum from Syria - Assad was a bastard. Now I can see why others would claim asylum from Syria as the new regime is ISIS backed (have you seen the footage of them throwing Druze Christians off roofs?)

Coming in on the boats many of them are coached what to say and they jettison their documents. There are also documented cases of some of them having their asylum claims accepted and then immediately going on holiday to the place they allegedly fled from.

Now, then - Pakistan - the only people who could legitimately claim asylum from Pakistan are gays and apostates. I can see why they would want to claim asylum – the ‘religion of peace’ sets out to kill them. So how come there are so many from Pakistan? The only logical conclusion is that many of them are fake asylum seekers. 40%-70% of these claims are approved. This doesn't necessarily mean the claims are genuine, more likely the system is overwhelmed. You probably know what I think about bureaucrats - most of them aren't fit for purpose. The joy for the bureaucrat is not in the outcome but in the process and they take the path of least resistance. I read recently a first hand account of someone who worked in an asylum team. She reckoned a mere 5% were genuine, but the Government gives amnesties just to cut the numbers.

Once they are in, they can then bring their families (but if they feared for their lives why are the families still there?). I naively thought family meant immediate family – but no I have seen cases of ‘great aunt’ being brought over, too. When the families come over – they don’t work. The females often aren’t allowed to work.

And the cost of all this - just in terms of hotels alone the cost is £5.7m per day! On top of that there is the cost to the welfare state in terms of these fake asylum seekers (bear in mind that the woman with first hand experience said 5% were genuine).

And the question still has to be asked - why come through so many safe countries where you could seek asylum, but keep on going to make a dangerous crossing. Why here? Why not one of the myriad other countries they have passed through that could provide safe haven?

People coming here legitimately tend to integrate and contribute. The ones coming in illegally (either on boats or suspicious student visas) tend to do neither but want things handed to them on a plate and make demands that Britain changes to suit THEM. They demand that their laws and culture take precedence. Let’s have a look at some real world examples:

Recently I watched an interview with a guy from Morocco (why would anyone be a refugee or asylum seeker from Morocco). He had 4 wives (but bigamy is illegal over here). That is 3 wives in 3 houses in the UK and a wife back in Morocco – again, that begs the question, if Morocco is so bad that he had to get out why does he have a wife there. Between them they have 12 children. Not one person in the family works – and yet benefits are paid to all 3 households here AND the one in Morocco. The interview with this guy was because he was complaining that he wanted a bigger house.
I also saw an interview with Abdul from Afghanistan – he had come over illegally and was now wanting to bring his wife and six children.
I read an email from a surgeon who was about to perform a life-saving Caesarean when the (Afghan) husband burst in with an iron bar to stop the operation, because male staff were treating his wife. He had been concerned so he had contact elders back in Afghanistan and the Taliban had instructed him to stop the operation. If he has to refer to the Taliban in Afghanistan what is he doing here?
One of my friends is a police officer. She attended a domestic incident in West Yorkshire. All they could get out of the female was ‘House! You give me house. I want house’
I spoke to a gentleman from Tamworth who told me about a hotel there housing migrants. He told me about the free laundry twice a week, the free on-site medical and dental provision. One paramedic was called and was met with so many demands and so much abuse from the migrant he had come to attend that he contacted his controller and said he refused to deal with the individual. They were well fed and they were granted free access to human rights lawyers to fight their case.
From this same hotel the migrants hang round the local park and film the young girls. One of the girls filmed the migrants filming the girls and posted the video online. I’ll give you one guess as to who the police approached. Yes – they made her take it down. Sadly one of the girls WAS raped, just 2 weeks later.

There are plenty more examples, but we'll leave it at that for now.

How are the authorities dealing with this? They take the easy way out.

They fined a couple who found they had a stowaway on the back of their campervan and reported the stowaway to the authorities. They fined them £1500 for bringing in an illegal immigrant – yet the RNLI brings in 50 at a time!
They approve up to 70% of asylum applications, when a professional in one of the asylum teams stated that in her experience only 5% were genuine.
They give amnesties and block approve applications so they can show they are getting the backlog down.
They deny visas to genuine applicants so they can show they are ‘doing something.’ I have personal experience of this. I am an administrator for a sport and we have had immense problems with people being refused visas when wanting to come here for education or competition. Africa is a real growth area for our sport and recently we had the Head of the African Development for the sport planning to come for ten days – we were due to have meetings, provide him with training, were taking him to schools and clubs. We committed to hosting him, providing all internal travel and subsistence, would collect him from the airport and guaranteed to return him to the airport – visa refused.
Illegal immigrants used to be housed in camps whilst their applications were processed but human rights lawyers (like Keir Starmer) took the UK to the ECHR who ruled that we could not ‘detain’ illegal immigrants.
Labour fought the Tories tooth and nail on every single thing they tried. For example the Tories set up the Rwanda programme and it WAS a deterrent. The Premier of Ireland said the threat of it was working. The immigrants in Calais said it was a deterrent and that they were just waiting for a Labour government – and that is exactly what happened. As soon as the Rwanda programme was stopped (at a cost of how much money?) the number of boats increased.

Britain is a very tolerant country – but we can only be pushed so far and we are rapidly reaching that point (if we haven’t got there already).

I hate the fact that some migrant families are getting abuse in the streets. I hate racism. I repeat we have to keep providing safe haven for refugees and genuine asylum seekers - that is a human responsibility.

However this uncontrolled mass immigration has to be addressed and stopped. We need a factory reset for the asylum system. Merely for wanting to have the discussion the Left consider me an extremist far-right terrorist. *sigh*

The Arrogance of Councils

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 08:30:25 GMT

Yorkshire is in drought - and this is how North Yorkshire Council responds

OK, so Yorkshire Water has declared a drought and today start enforcing a hosepipe ban for households in Yorkshire.

Yesterday I was in Spa Gardens in Ripon. I had a bit of time to fill so I sat on a bench in the shade. A Council worker was already in the process of watering a small flower bed with a hosepipe. I don’t know how long he had been at it but it was a full ten minutes from me sitting down to him moving on to the next bed, which was much larger.

I was there for about another five minutes and he had barely moved along this bed. After that there was another small bed and then a massive bed the full length of the bowling green. This begs the questions – how many times a week is this done and across how many parks in North Yorkshire?

I know the ban only applies to households and I know it wasn’t in place yesterday. I know some businesses rely on water for their business – commercial car washes, laundries, agriculture, horticulture, care homes, hospitals etc but when we are all being urged to save water as a matter of urgency for a Council to be using so much water to water flower beds in parks is totally irresponsible. In fact it’s disgraceful.

When Yorkshire Water tell a hot tub owner who needs to full the hot tub after a service that there is no problem filling the hot tub, but they must use buckets – let’s assume the hot tub holds 1000 gallons. It will take 1000 gallons whether from a hose or buckets. I remember in a previous hosepipe ban someone tried to be responsible and syphoned their bathwater onto the garden – they were fined for using a hosepipe to do so. When households are being faced with such restrictions I find the attitude of North Yorkshire Council in this matter to be incomprehensible.

Councils used to be Public Servants. Now they consider themselves to be our lords and masters and this incident is a perfect example of their arrogance

Bradford City Council - Robbing Bastards

Sun, 09 Feb 2025 14:38:49 GMT

I'm still fuming - I've been scammed by Bradford City Council

Rant alert!

Not long ago I had a day's work in a school on the outskirts of Bradford. A couple of days ago I got an

envelope from Bradford – I figured it was a remittance advice for the work I did. It wasn’t – it was a bloody penalty charge notice. Apparently I had ventured into the Bradford Low Emission Zone. I knew they had one – there are notices on the motorway and I had read about it a while ago so I knew it was there. As the school is in Allerton which is not in the city at all. I decided to go via Harrogate and up round the top so that I avoided the city.

I'm very boring - I try to stick to the speed limit, I avoid bus lanes and I've never even had a parking ticket never mind a speeding ticket. I try to be courteous and observant but I never saw a single bloody sign. Add in that it was a totally unfamiliar area and you are following directions, observing speed limits, bus lanes, junctions, pedestrians and other traffic. Surely if you are entering a charging zone there should be CLEAR signage, not zero of minimal signage.

If I had known, then I would simply have added the charge to the invoice and charged it to the client, the same as I charged them travel expenses. The first time I knew I had entered the charging zone was when the fine arrived.

It looks like I'm not alone, either:

(a) I saw this online when I searched for what the signs might look like <<BE WARNED>>>> have just received a £120 fine (reduced to £60) for non payment of driving in the Bradford area clean air zone. I drive a T5 campervan and had absolutely no idea that Bradford had a clean air zone, or saw any sign advertising the fact. I visited Haworth in my van for the first time on 28/4 and today (15/5) received a fine in the post for non payment of fine. The £9 a day charge is steep enough without having to pay £60 when there was no obvious signage to inform me to pay. First and last trip to the area from Lincolnshire. If you appeal the fine then you risk having to pay £180 if you lose the appeal. I understand now that I had to pay £9 but feel there should be at least some warning, and a one off chance of explaining that I had no idea there was a clean air zone!>>

b) a friend commented: << Me and my brother got caught out by this last year when we drove into Saltaire from Harrogate, neither of us knew about, oblivious we were, neither of us could remember seeing any signs. >>

c) another friend commented: <<I got caught out by that last year too. I just crossed over the long thin bit for a mile or so visiting friends in Bingley and then back across it again the next day. Luckily they only got me going in one direction otherwise I would have had 2 fines. Totally inadequate signage. I had no idea until the fine came through the door >>

d) and someone else: <<The LEZ around Bradford is huge and frankly ridiculous. We use a garage near Keighley for our trucks and one is a Euro 5 spec so costs £50 every time we take it into the LEZ! We have to travel towards Skipton then through Silsden to avoid it. Not the best journey in a 44t HGV.

The whole LEZ and ULEZ system a racketeering at it finest. >>

And then I find out that this doesn't apply to private vehicles, only commercial vehicles. I could drive a diesel vehicle the same age through with no charge. Of course, charging private vehicles would have cost them votes, so it clearly is NOT about emissions but about revenue from a council that can't balance its books (they are one of the councils given the go ahead by Angela Rainer to increase their council tax way above what is normally allowed. My business is still struggling to rebuild after the ravages of Covid and yet councils like this just see businesses as an easy target for revenue generation.

All the same, if there had been clear signage to make it crystal clear that you are entering a chargeable zone I wouldn't have felt so aggrieved. As I say, I'd have been able to add it to the invoice (or I could have just paid the damn thing). The thing that really pisses me off is that it really isn't clear and the first you know about it is when the fine arrives, and then it is difficult to contest. So you set up something that you are going to charge people for, but don't make it clear when it applies and then fine them for not paying because they didn't know. Surely that 's deception. Tell me that isn't a scam!

I have never known such an appalling start to a period of Government

Sun, 24 Nov 2024 15:25:27 GMT

I fear for the future

In all my 65 years I have never known a government make such an appalling start to their term of office.

I’ve been around long enough to know it’s cyclical. I’ve seen it time and again. Labour tax and spend and bring the country to its knees financially. The Tories come in and have to make hard decisions but do get the country back on track financially. Then they get complacent and instead of fighting the opposition fight amongst themselves and hand it on a plate to Labour who go through the same old routine. Even after this last disastrous Tory administration when we should have been in a better place than we were they handed over the fastest growing economy in the G7. Now look where the pound is against the dollar? As I said – I have never known such an appalling and abject start to a government.

For a start I hate the lies and hypocrisy.

If this had been a Conservative government they would have been pilloried by the Left. Boris Johnson was absolutely hammered for a donor contributing to the refurb of No 10 – ‘wallpapergate.’ But this is a public building and it DID save the taxpayers’ money. Contrast it with Blair and Brown who spent hundreds of thousands of public money on their refurbs. Now look at Starmer - clothes, glasses, clothes for his wife. More and more about financial gifts from Lord Ali came out. I read a figure of £125K worth of freebies overall plus £30K worth of accommodation for his son to study – but it lasted 4 weeks after the exams ended. Then we hear about a box at Highbury – but he claims this saves the taxpayer money because he can’t sit in the stands, security, you know. Well, Rishi Sunak the leader of an unpopular government managed to do that. Then there is Lammy, Reaves and Raynor – all on the take from Lord Ali – but hidden, eg as office supplies. Wasn’t Starmer broadcasting from Lord Ali’s place in lockdown but had his own Christmas cards in the background to make it look like he was at home? A deliberate attempt to mislead. Yes, the Tories got complacent and needed teaching a lesson but all the time Labour have been as bad if not worse. The hypocrisy is mind-blowing. On top of all that, let’s not forget that Sue Gray was the bureaucrat that led the attacks on Boris Johnson – then we find out she is suddenly Starmer’s Chief of Staff. There is a terrible stench around all this.

They lied to get into government. You can see videos of them before the election – we won’t increase NI. We will look after pensioners. Council tax will be frozen. Starmer said £400 off energy bills In reality it was a 10% increase. In their manifesto they promised to abolish student fees from £9K pa but will be putting them up instead.

The £22billion black hole – I simply don’t believe it. It is just trotted out there and repeated until it becomes accepted fact to prepare us to be rinsed. We are going to be absolutely screwed.

Now for inconsistency – yes the riots were terrible. It isn’t the right way to go about things – but why didn’t Starmer say the same things when there were the BLM riots? On that occasion he took the knee!! And in order to make room for people who took part in the riots – he releases convicts even earlier than normal! Among them a kidnapper and a violent wife-beater.

Then we have 2-tier policing – a school governor who was in the riots was jailed for shouting and gesticulating at the police (note – not for rioting, looting, violence, but for shouting and gesticulating. Yet the union activist who actually threw things at Nigel Farage gets a suspended sentence. We are seeing paedophiles getting suspended sentences but people making social media posts getting custodial sentences. We see a white guy who swears at a ProPals protester warned to leave the area and threatened with arrest. A few minutes later that same ProPals protester uses the same language to someone else and is politely asked to tone down her language – by the same copper. We see individuals filming ProPals demonstrations told to leave and threatened with arrest because they are ‘causing offence, harm and distress’ to the protestors.

Yvette Cooper is set to expand ‘non-crime hate incidents.’ These are where no crime has been committed but the police will be knocking on your door for something you have said or posted. They are investigating children as young as 6 – one example was of a child saying another child ‘smelled like fish.’ In another example several officers turned up to arrest a 15 year old autistic girl who had said an officer ‘looked like her lesbian Nan.’ As if this wasn’t sinister enough, even though no crime has been committed it is recorded – so good luck with getting a job with a state entity!

There was immediate capitulation to the unions – making sure that every public sector union will now be threating strikes as they know they will get exactly what they want.

We knew when they said they wouldn’t increase income tax it was just another way of saying they’ll find other ways to tax us (plus ça change). Rachel Reeves’ budget was an ideological budget not a fiscal budget. As an example – the VAT on Private Schools was brought in without enough notice for families to make adjustments. The so called ‘independent’ IFS was done by a Labour MP’s best mate (who hates private schools) and funded by the Nuffield Foundation (and I hear they hate private schools, too). Ironically this has made private education even more elitist. Even the Bank of England has warned the budget is bad for business. UK growth has slowed and inflation has risen.

As we are talking about Rachel Reeves, how is she even still in post – it has come out that she lied on her CV. She isn’t what she claimed to be. If this were a Conservative politician they would have been hounded out of office. How come she is still there?

Ed Milliband with his net zero fanaticism. How is he still in office? He got an ‘independent report’ from an organisation that backed up what he was doing and he presented it as credible evidence. Now it comes out that that organisation has one person with significant control – Ed Milliband. He was advising himself. How is he still in office? Oh – and he has sneakily introduced a boiler tax to try and force us to buy heat pumps – but they don’t give enough heat and cost a fortune. I was talking to a plumber recently and a lot of his work is taking them out!

We kept hearing about a Starmer secret that was going to force his resignation. Then it all went away. If this had been a Conservative politician you can imaging the furore. How do non-stick-Starmer and his cronies keep getting away with it? The freebies? The cronyism? The lies?

Immigration - even the illegal immigrants in interviews said the Rwanda project was a deterrent and they were just waiting for a Labour government, and guess what – the numbers have soared. 13,180 in Labour’s first 100 days! When they arrive they are put up in 3* and 4* hotels, given pocket money, given a mobile phone, private health and dental care onsite, given English lessons and free access to immigration lawyers. I’ve read in more than one place that it is costing us £41K annually for each of them.

We are now taxed at a higher level than ever since 1948 when we were having to rebuild after the war. There are immediate savings we could make

• Why are we making foreign aid payments to a country that has a space programme?

• Why are we making payments to farmers in Brazil and Rwanda?

• Why is Ed Milliband given such a massive budget? £22 billion for carbon capture. (£22 billion – where have we heard that before?)

• Why are we paying £100m pa for interpreters in the NHS?

• GB Energy - £8 Billion (but it won’t generate any energy)

• £11.6 Billion to Africa for climate change

• Why aren’t they getting a grip on illegal immigration which is costing us billions?

• Hasn’t Starmer committed £117m to protect mosques? (am sure I read that somewhere)

• We have a commitment to the WHO but Labour have just made an extra donation of £350m

• The public sector pay rises alone cost £9 Billion

It looks like we are just picking up where Blair and Brown left off and making it even worse.

• Blair and Brown were responsible for more new laws and regulations than any previous government.

• It was Blair and Brown who threw open the borders to uncontrolled immigration

• It was Blair and Brown who saddled the NHS with the crippling Public Finance Initiatives and placed extra layers of bureaucrats.

• Blair and Brown found more and more new ways of taxing us – they are why you pay tax on your insurance. They are why you pay tax on your holiday

• Blair and Brown practically bankrupted the country – the incoming finance minister found a letter from his predecessor ‘there’s no money left. We’ve spent it all’

OK, I can think of three good things Blair and Brown did – the School Sports Partnerships were great; they brought in the smoking ban and they brought in the fox-hunting ban (but even that was a fudge and has so many loopholes as to be almost unworkable)

I am seeing more and more state control – the actions of the police who knock on the door at 4am because a guy has posted on X that he doesn’t want to see Palestinian flags flying across the country. The police trawling through social media posts. The two-tier policing outlined above. 1984 and Animal Farm were supposed to be warnings. This lot seem to regard them as policy documents.

In the early 1990s I was warning of the Sovietisation of the UK. It’s almost here – if not here already. Two years ago I was warning of riots, revolution and civil war. We’ve had riots within the first few weeks of this administration. I fear for the future. We are screwed. Britain is a tolerant country but we can only be pushed so far.

However, I’ll finish on a positive note for non-stick Starmer – I am delighted that he is standing firm on Ukraine. We are where we were in the 30s only this time the megalomaniac dictator is Putin. We have to be resolute in our support of Ukraine who are in the front line of defence.

Product Review 4: Spirit of Masham

Thu, 11 May 2023 18:46:41 GMT

I've found my new 'Go To' gin

You might remember from an earlier blog post that I had come across a local artisan gin distillery with lovely gin but that I stopped being a customer because they could or would not condemn blood sports. Well, for Christmas Tom and Abi bought us and Abi's parents a 'gin experience' at Spirit of Masham. Here's what happened.

The four of us arrived at the distillery at the appointed time and found another pair of guests already there. The owner prepared us each a gin and tonic and we all chatted. I related my experience with the other gin distillery and the owner was very quick to jump in and say they do not support any blood sports - on the contrary they are concerned for animal welfare and are very active in the Masham Save Our Swifts programme - a great start.

Whilst we enjoyed our G&Ts the owner gave us a fascinating history of both gin and of his company, delivered in a knowledgeable, humorous and entertaining style. After this we were given a tour of the distillery - interesting and very, very impressive.

Then came the highlight, the chance to make our own gin. We were each allocated a small still that would make enough gin for a 70cl bottle and a bit. The spirit and water had already been measured out and we added them to the still. Then a binding agent - for me I chose Liquorice powder. Next came the dried juniper berries which had also been measured out for us. After that it was up to us to choose our own botanicals from the wide range on the shelf. We had to record what we added as we went along. My choice was Cardamom (I LOVE Cardamom), Vanilla, Ginger, Star Anise and Mango. During this period the owner/tutor made each of us a cocktail (we could choose from a list) using their own gin.

Once the distilling was finished the owner/tutor measured the strength of the alcohol and brought it down to the required level. It was bottled and with the bit left over he made us a Gin and Tonic using our own gins. Good job, Tom had said he would act as taxi for us.

The best bit of all - they keep your 'recipe' card on file and if you want another bottle they'll make you one using one of the small stills.

Guess what - everyone on the 'experience' also bought some of the company's own gins, too. There is their 'original' which is their signature gin (and it is seriously awesome), the classic (which is a standard gin) and others. They also do a pretty special rum.

This was a simply wonderful afternoon. We all thoroughly enjoyed it - and this is the gin we are going to be buying from now on.

Seriously - this was a great experience - give it a go.

You can find them on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/spiritofmasham

and on the Web: https://spiritofmasham.co.uk/

Thank you, Tom and Abi, for an amazing Christmas present!

Product Review 3: Ho-dee-ay

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 12:50:33 GMT

Play without rules - making connections through the dementia barrier

Some time ago I was approached by a couple of young ladies in America, Emily Rinkema and Deb Emerson, who had developed a concept called Hodie (pronounce Ho-dee-ay). Hodie is Latin and means 'this day.' Emily and Deb explain that this is what (ho-dee-ay) is all about: enjoying the time we have together at this moment.

Emily and Deb had both gone through the pain of seeing loved ones descend into the long goodbye of dementia. The two friends tried to engage actively with their family members despite the cognitive challenges - they struggled to find simple, fun activities.

Together they came up with the concept of a card game with no rules, just various activities that the cards can be used for. This innovative idea allows people to make connections with loved ones who are going through dementia. Their first card pack featured 20 or so photos of birds by Vermont photographer Peter Riley. As Emily and Deb explain << While there are no rules to (ho-dee-ay), each set comes with an insert that has suggested activities: cards can be matched, stacked, organized, clumped, sequenced, and sorted; stories can be told, memories can be shared, and knowledge can be passed along. Most importantly, those playing can make up their own rules!>>

Following the success of their birds cards they planned that the second set would feature classic cars. They found me on my Instagram (@pmhimages.co.uk) and got in touch. It goes without saying that I was honoured and delighted to be invited to be part of this exciting and worthwhile project.

Emily and Deb tell me that they have taken advance orders for 33% of the first production run of the classic car packs and today - mine arrived in the post. They have turned out brilliantly and I love the insert with the suggested activities.

Quite simply, these two ladies should be extremely proud of themselves for what they have created. I, myself, am very proud that they asked me to be part of it.

Now - surely there must be a distributor in the UK that would like to have these as part of their portfolio to bring the benefits to dementia patients over here!

You can find Ho-dee-ay on www.hodeeay.com

and the link to the classic car pack is https://hodeeay.com/product/car-show/

I hope this is a great success for them. It deserves to be.

Product Review 2: Whittaker's Gin

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 16:35:41 GMT

Very, very disappointed

OK, let's get this out of the way first - this is an excellent product. I was delighted when I discovered Whittaker's gin. I bought some for my wife - it's wonderfully smooth. I took my wife up in the Triumph Herald and we took some photos and bought some more. When you take a bottle back for a refill you get a £5 discount - I've done this, too. I was getting excited about their whisky plans. In Spring we were going up as a family in my son's '66 Mustang and doing a distillery tour. We were enthusiastic customers.

BUT

as I am sure you know, I hate all forms of animal abuse and am active in this field. In one of the forums of which I was a part I noticed a post naming Whittaker's gin as people who proactively support fox hunting and who used to go hunting. An extract from the post read <<Now, when you mention companies – Whittaker Gin from Dacre Banks – they support hunts. They used to go to them>> and supported this by claiming << ‘it’s the country way, it’s tradition’ >> to excuse it.

I wrote to them to ask about it - I made it clear who I was and referred back to our visit with the Herald so they could put a face to the message. I didn't even get the courtesy of a reply. A quick check on the owners' FaceBook pages, however, revealed photos of them hunting and a photo of a fox with a lamb that had been debunked as staged ages ago, so there appears to be no doubt as to where the sympathies lie.

I'm not going to do a fake review and say the product is rubbish. I don't do that. I don't need to lie and do fake reviews. The product itself really is excellent and supremely smooth. If you are comfortable with animal abuse then you will of course be happy to buy from here but I personally simply cannot recommend or patronise a business or organisation when I know that they are part of the kill for fun community, and for that reason they can now count me as an ex-customer, a former customer. The empty bottle has gone in the re-cycling and we will not be going there again.

May 11th 2023 UPDATE

If you remember, when I found out about the hunting links I contacted Whittaker's Gin to get their side of things and didn't get a reply. I waited three weeks before I posted my blog. Within 90 minutes of the blog being advertised on FaceBook I got a response: << Whittaker’s Distillery does not support Fox Hunting or any other illegal activity. >>

That was it - a sort of stock response. I responded immediately: <<Hi. Thanks for finally getting back to me.

What is your explicit position on blood sports? I accept the photo of you with the hunt is very old and many people have realised the horror of what goes on and have turned their back on it. Please understand this was not a judgement based solely on one old photo. I did the search to try and cast some light on the post in the forum, seeing as I hadn’t heard back from you. I do understand that views and positions change over time. Please can you clarify your position here? The staged photo of the fox with the lamb is a recent photo/post that circulates on ‘pro’ forums and pages on FaceBook so would rather suggest a ‘pro’ stance.

I would also be grateful to know your position on shooting – as it is a blood sport (although sadly still legal). For example, are members of the distillery family adherents of shooting?

As for where I got the information – as I explained, it was in an on-line forum, and I was gutted. I love the product hence my messaging you for clarification

Regards

Paul >>

As you can see, I tried to enter into a dialogue to ascertain the position.

This was the reply:

<<I have been on your Facebook page and seen what you have written, so you obviously have made already made up your mind so this as far as we’re concerned, this conversation is now closed. >>

I think it was quite clear from my messages that I had not 'made up my mind' and was giving them the opportunity to clarify and give their position. I responded:

<< Tbh - I contacted you first. I didn’t just accept it. When I didn’t hear back I went to look to check.

If I am wrong and you are actually opposed to these activities now and can state that I would be delighted and perfectly happy to post an update. >>

Again, I gave them the opportunity to respond and offered to post an update.

That was on March 14th. I have waited since then to give them ample opportunity but the silence has been deafening.

I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Product Review 1: Guardian Angel

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 10:14:35 GMT

EVERYONE should read this: Changing the face of personal safety.

Let me tell you about when I was at University. It was in the late 70s and Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, was striking terror round West Yorkshire. Every evening after lectures I would accompany my female friends back out to their flats a couple of miles away from campus and then walk back to my accommodation on campus. Every evening they would complain and say I was over-reacting – that was until the horrible night when poor Jackie Hill, a student, was murdered and her body left on the very patch of ground we walked past every night. They never complained after that.

I don’t tell this story to big myself up or anything – just to set the scene because nothing has really changed. Women, men, children are still vulnerable when out and about. The name Suzy Lamplugh, the estate agent, is well-known to all. Poor Claudia Lawrence has still not been found and her name resonates with us all here in York. More recently the name Sarah Everard has been burned into our minds.

Wouldn’t it have been useful for all the victims if they had been able to call for help, or have someone looking out for them on their way home? Well now they can.

I’ve been having a look at Guardian Angel. This is a personal safety app created by my good friend, software developer Stuart Stead. He’s a father himself and the sad cases of lives lost to attackers made him want to do something. He’s been working on this for a long time and now he feels that technology has reached the point where he has been able to realise his vision.

The app has two main functions – HelpMe and TrackMe. A family or business will set up a ‘group’ of users.

With HelpMe, if someone is feeling vulnerable or threatened, they can trigger an alert either by voice command or button press. This immediately starts a recording and sends a notification to the group. A member of the group takes ownership of the call and this sends an audible confirmation to the user that the alert has been received. The supervisor can then listen to the recording and take appropriate action eg initiating a video call from within the app or calling the emergency services. The system continues to record and also displays an ongoing location on a map. The audible confirmation of receipt of the call for help could well deter any attacker. Even if it doesn’t it will mean the emergency services will be on their way very quickly and will know the location. Importantly the system uses data so it requires less signal than a phone call.

The TrackMe function is started before the user sets off on a journey – for example walking home, or travelling by car from a distant location. Again, a member of the group will take ownership and monitor the travel on a map.

This app clearly has many, many uses

Estate agents – they often have to meet prospects alone in houses
Care workers who visit homes alone
Council workers
University students
Taxi Drivers
Social Services
Ambulance crews
A young woman walking alone to or from work, or after an evening out can be monitored on her journey using TrackMe and if there is an incident can trigger an alert for assistance with HelpMe.
Families can use it to monitor their children coming home from school
It can be used where someone (be it adult or child) is being subjected to bullying, intimidation or harassment at work or school.
It is an ideal tool for the HR department to look after an organisation’s employees
It can provide evidence for the police in harassment cases via the recordings
If someone is walking home and has TrackMe activated and they are abducted the phone can provide tracking as long as they still have it on their person.

I’ve scratched the surface here – there are endless possibilities for this app.

The first version of the app to be launched is the Business Guardian Angel which is designed for businesses to take care of their employees. The Family Guardian Angel will follow soon and this is intended to be a free version, funded by adverts. Stuart told me he feels that times are hard enough for families and he doesn’t want any family to feel they have to compromise their safety and security because they can’t afford it.

Yes, I know there are a couple of other apps out there and I have looked at them – you know what? Guardian Angel blows them right out of the water. It’s quite simply in a different league.

I really hope that businesses jump on board with this – organisations have a duty of care to their employees and this is an affordable way in which they can do exactly that and when Family Guardian Angel is available then EVERY FAMILY SHOULD USE IT.

This is a game-changer!

Go and get it!

www.theguardianangelservice.com

Look Back at 2022

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 17:36:42 GMT

Must Try Harder!

New Year's Resolutions - what are they? Total fail on every single one of them. I'm not even going to bother re-making them this year, just have them as vague sort of targets or aims.

Having got the fails out of the way, let's have a look at what did happen.

In the world of VX Tom and I went with Dan Shuker to Graz in Austria where VX was to be a demonstration sport. Obviously VX was a real hit, as it always is, and it was nice to have a few days away with Tom. I also went to Bavaria. Sadly Maggie couldn't go because of passport hold ups. I love Bavaria - it's my spiritual second home. We have lots of friends down, there. Some are more friends than family and it was their Golden Wedding so I was keen to be there. Sadly my friend died suddenly and unexpectedly two weeks beforehand so instead of going for the celebrations, I went to just be with them. It was very strange without him.

Maggie and I did get away for an overnight - some friends won dinner, bed and breakfast at Stapleford Park Hotel, but couldn't go so they gave it to us. What a treat. We could never afford something like that. Absolutely stunning place, great photo opportunities and wonderful food.

I've managed to get much more time out with the Herald and Falcon this year. We've had much better weather and I've been able to use them for everyday use, plus we've been to three classic car rallies in them. As well as that the Herald made her filming debut. A local film company was doing a promotional video for a client and needed a pre-70s car. You can see the film here on YouTube . It's only about one and a half minutes long and the car sets the scene at the beginning. Obviously that's the best bit! I have to say - they did a good job.

Continuing the theme of cars - I found my photographic niche. I'd been messing around with different genres, not settling on anything but finally settled on automotive photography. I've set up a new Instagram account specifically for this (@pmhimages_cars) and hopefully in the New Year I'll have a website up. I've already got a gallery site up where people can buy downloads, prints, photoart, mugs etc but I need a website to feed into this. I also need to get more galleries up on the gallery site. I'm delighted with the response that my automotive photography has been getting. Now I need to develop this further by looking at light painting and incorporating the drone.

What else this year? I continue to be active in Animal Rights, and we continue the fight, spreading the word about the evils of fox-hunting. We've had outreaches and have done plenty of leafletting and have been working towards the annual propaganda events they call their Boxing Day meets. Their days are numbered - there has been so much incredible negative publicity for the hunts over the year, along with convictions. More and more people are realising that they are flouting the law with impunity and that this is an incredibly cruel and barbaric activity.

And yes, I'm still vegan and still wishing I had done it many years earlier!

You might remember that we lost our darling cat Izzy December last year. We still have Chloe - she's a real Daddy's girl, but she is getting slower and older before our eyes. She is sleeping her days away, but is warm, comfortable and very loved.

Here's wishing all friends and family a very happy Christmas and a healthy and successful 2023.

Vegan Review 12: Mr Chippy

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 14:19:25 GMT

At last!

Ages ago I read in a vegan FaceBook group that Mr Chippy in York was doing vegan fish and chips!! Wow - what a far thinking establishment.

Even though I don't live far from York I very rarely go in unless I absolutely have to and that's because of York City Council - I prefer to take my business to Thirsk, Harrogate, Northallerton etc, but that's another story.

Anyway, this week I had to go into York and was there around lunchtime - saw Mr Chippy and remembered they did vegan fish & chips so thought I would give it a try.

Please bear in mind that this is not a fish restaurant, it's a take away chippy but it has a bit of seating. In first place I was impressed when the young lady asked if I wanted the banana blossom or the pea protein version. Not only did I have a vegan option, but I had a choice of vegan options. Not only did I have a choice of vegan 'fish' options but there are other options in a vegan section of the menu, for example vegan onion rings, vegan jumbo sausage, pineapple fritter. I'd already tried banana blossom and tofu versions so thought I'd try the pea protein version. I was glad I did - I think it's my favourite of all the three. Even though there isn't a lot to choose between them I thought the pea protein version had the edge.

It looked like the sort of battered frozen fish fillet you get from the supermarket and the texture and taste were both good.

Full marks to Mr Chippy for making a vegan option available - it worked. It was precisely because of this that we went there. I was delighted and that would make me go back again. Might go with onion rings next time, too! Well done and thank you

you can find them on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/MrChippyyork

You are NOT going to believe this!

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 16:13:41 GMT

Council cancels correctly issued Parking Ticket on appeal

I'm 63 - and I've got this far without having had either a parking ticket or speeding ticket. I'm not getting holier than thou - I know it's a matter of time because no matter how careful you are to not break the speed limit they will get you at some point for straying over.

Anyway, that record came crashing down a couple of weeks ago when I had to go to Harrogate. As I run a sport I often have to deliver to and collect from Harrogate Sports Trophies. As I am in a commercial vehicle and delivering/collecting I use on of the parking bays, each of which has space for a couple of vehicles. If I approach from the Ripon direction there are two - see picture above. I use them regularly with no problem. I know they are parking bays and I know that at that time of day they are fine to use. So, on 24th November I arrive and I see that there is one vehicle at the front of the parking bay with space behind it, so I pull in behind the vehicle that is already there. I write on a pad that I am going to be at Harrogate Sports Trophies, put it in the windscreen and see the guy from the front vehicle arrive back, put stuff in the back of it and leave. I get out of the van, go to the back doors to get my stuff and go to the shop. 8 minutes later, I'm back and I see a parking ticket on the windscreen. WTF - I've only been 8 minutes!! The traffic warden is there so I say to him 'Mate - why have a I got a ticket?' He points at a notice on the wall about 8' up - the bay is suspended! Apparently coaches were going to be bringing kids into Harrogate during the day and dropping them off. The other side of the road (paid parking) was still OK but the loading bay round the corner (also on the opposite side of the road) was also suspended. As I'd got out of the driver's side and gone to the back of the van I obviously hadn't seen it (and just as obviously neither had the guy who was there before me and neither had the guys in the vehicles in the other loading bay)

At this point I need to say that I wasn't at all aggressive with the Traffic Warden and he was perfectly reasonable, courteous, friendly and professional. I have to say though - they aren't Traffic Wardens anymore, they are Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) - and doesn't that tell you everything about how councils now view us. It used to be that they were public servants, now they are out masters, but I digress.

At this point, I need

I still have more stuff to collect from the shop and by now I've got the ticket so I ask the warden if I can go back to the shop to get it . He says he shouldn't let me but if I'm quick, so off I run. I tell my friend in the shop that I have to dash as I've got a ticket and he comes down, too. He has a chat to the CEO and asks about the two vehicles in the other loading bay. As he approaches one, the driver returns and the CEO lets him go. The other driver hasn't got out of his cab yet so technically hasn't committed the 'infringement.' After a while they think he is being a long time - and find out he has got out of the cab without being seen, but returns at that moment. The CEO says he is going to have to issue a ticket; the driver says he parks there every day to collect from the charity shop. The CEO says if he goes now, he'll not write the ticket - his main aim is to keep the bays clear for the coaches, and he suggests to my friend that I should appeal.

So I do - I write and explain that I didn't see the sign and why, and that probably no regular user of that bay would see the sign as they get out of the cab and go to the back doors. I also mention the inconsistency - but I don't expect a positive result as, strictly speaking, the PCN had been correctly issued. Imagine my surprise when I get an email back saying that even though it had been correctly issued, they have taken my points into consideration and are overturning the PCN on this occasion.

Well done Harrogate Borough Council Parking - thank you for your even-handed and fair approach to this situation. It wouldn't have happened in York (robbing bar stewards that they are there)!

I do have to question the logic of closing the loading bays though. There are those two loading bays and one more further up (not accessible from this direction because of the one-way system). There are lots of paid parking bays plus a multi-storey car park. Why not close off a row of the paid parking bays? There would be plenty of other parking options for people who would have planned to park there and they would have seen the notice when they went to the payment machine. It makes far more sense than suspending the loading bays which are used by commercial vehicles to service local businesses and which use them for about 10 minutes at a time and which probably couldn't fit into the paid bay and certainly couldn't use the multi-storey. Don't tell me it is because of the kids getting off the coach because the other loading bay was also at the opposite side of the road.

Either way - on this occasion it was a happy ending and I again thank Harrogate Borough Council for their fair and even-handed approach.

Vegan Review 11: The Nut and Nettle

Sun, 04 Dec 2022 11:34:03 GMT

This place was recommended - and it didn't disappoint

After reading one of my other vegan reviews someone suggested we should try the Nut and Nettle at Bridlington - so we did. We had a ride over to Brid this week and figured the High Street would be a main road running down to the sea (like Filey) so we parked up in the harbour car park and got out Google Maps. Wrong - it was about 35 minutes walk away so off we went. I have to say parts of Brid look very tired indeed and on our walk there was nothing really attractive about the place - until we turned into the High Street. What a revelation - suddenly the traffic noise was muted and the surroundings were quaint, cute and delightful. We thought it was a time warp and we had stepped back in time. This is the High Street in the Old Town and it's beautiful. What a great start!

So we found the Nut and Nettle and in we went to a charming and warm welcome. We got seated and the young lady brought the lunch and drinks menu. I'll list the lunch menu here as it isn't too long

- Wild Mushroom, sage and cashew cream soup with homemade focaccia

- butternut squash, leek and 'mozzarella' arancini

- focaccia sandwich

- wild waffles topped with avocada, maple cashew cream, coconut 'bacon,' wild leaves and caramelised walnuts

we both went for the focaccia sandwich - it had plant-based sausage, garlic aioli, vine tomato, mini-gem, salad and fries , and it was absolutely out of this world. I had the sweet potato fries - beautifully seasoned.

Afterwards I chose the kids' hot chocolate with vegan marshmallows. I figured I'm a big kid at heart so qualified - hey, growing old is obligatory, growing up is optional. And what a treat.

I love the mismatched crockery - one of the drinks came in a 1970s Hornsea Pottery cup and this was what I liked second best about this place. Obviously the best thing is that it is vegan but the second best is that it is so delightfully retro - even though the lovely staff are so young it has a great retro feel to it - even the background music was predominantly 70s.

I really enjoyed my visit and can't wait to go again. Might just have to go for the waffle next time ...

If you're in Bridlington, this is the place to eat!

RIP Wilko Johnson

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 16:45:12 GMT

Wilko leaves the stage for the last time

Way back in 1975 I was still searching for my musical identity. One evening I turned onto Geordie Scene and saw a maniac, wild-eyed guitarist jerkily strutting across the stage while the lead singer growled out stuff like I'd never heard before. My mind was officially blown - I knew I'd found it. The band was Dr Feelgood. The guitarist was Wilko. I was hooked. The next day I went down to the local shop and ordered the LP Down By The Jetty.

Then I found out they were going to tour and the nearest they would be appearing would be Leeds University. I managed to get tickets and my parents drove a mate and me the 60 miles to Leeds and sat in the car park chatting and drinking tea while Andy and I experienced Feelgood live for the first time. It's still etched in my memory.

Sadly, that was the only time I saw Wilko with Feelgood. I continued buying and enjoying the music and like all Feelgood fans I was gutted when they parted company, but like all other Feelgood fans I just followed both.

When I went to University at Leeds I got to see Wilko with his Solid Senders down the road at Leeds Poly - one of the best gigs I've ever seen. Part way through the power went off everything except the bass. He and the drummer never dropped a beat, they just kept going. When the power came back 5 or 10 minutes later Wilko counted them in and they all just picked up again - absolutely amazing.

After university, marriage, new career and then later parenthood got in the way and there was a bit of a gap for me but then in the 90s I managed to start going to gigs again and see Wilko every time he was up North with his Wilko Johnson Band. I took friends along and converted them. It was always the same crowd, mainly blokes of a certain age - it felt like being a member of an elite club. Then came Oil City Confidential and suddenly the crowds were bigger, younger and mixed! Wilko was mainstream.

We felt for him when he lost Irene and stopped playing Paradise for a while (still one of my all time favourite songs)

We were all gutted for him with his cancer diagnosis - but I like to think I would have made the same decision he did. And how we all rejoiced for him when he got a reprieve, and then managed to tour again and we all got to see him again.

We were all so shocked and saddened by the news this week, that Wilko had left the stage for the last time. Our hearts go out to his family and we say thank you for the music, the performances and the enjoyment.

Forget all the big names - Wilko was my guitar hero

Vegan Review 10: Source, York

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 15:01:43 GMT

This place converted my friends

So, some friends wanted to go out for a meal with us and said they were quite happy to try vegan - very kind of them.

We'd heard good things about Source so made the booking.

What a great menu! I was absolutely spoilt for choice. I really fancied trying the Hawaiian Poke Bowl but sadly that was one of the two things not available - no problem there was a terrific choice. I'd once had vish n chips made with banana blossom before and hadn't been too impressed but had figured it was because I'd had a battered starter already and it was just too much batter. I thought, in that case, I'd give it another go - and I'm glad I did. It was great and I'll be happy to have that again anytime.

Maggie had the Buddha Bowl - see picture above, and wow, that was just awesome, both in terms of presentation and flavour (she let me try some).

Of my friends two had curries which were already vegan in their standard form and hadn't had to be veganised. Karen chose the burger and was absolutely blown away by it. She said she had no idea that vegan food could be like that.

Source - a big hit with all of us (even the non-vegans). Can't wait to go back - but I have no idea what I'll choose next time. Still spoilt for choice.

Find them

on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sourceyork

and on the web: https://www.source-york.co.uk

Vegan Review 9: The Retreat, Grassington

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Sat, 17 Sep 2022 09:22:16 GMT

Happy Cow is a brilliant app!!

We had a ride up to Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales. It's a fantastic little Dales town with a stunning walk down to Linton Falls. In fact it's the location Channel 5 has chosen to be Darrowby for their fantastic version of All Creatures Great and Small - on one of my visits I stumbled into a location shoot, but I digress ...

On this occasion we had taken a ride up in the Herald as it was a lovely day. When we arrived we were in need of something to eat and drink. Not knowing the eateries in the area and how much they cater for vegans I opened up HappyCow and found out that there was 'The Retreat' just up past the market place. No more trudging round a town poring over menus outside. Just look up on Happy Cow!

The Retreat has lots of vegan items on the menu and they can veganise many other of their items. First impressions were great - the options on the menu, the friendly and helpful staff.

It was mid-afternoon so I didn't want much to eat and opted for the Blackcurrant and Shortbread Crumble Cake with vegan ice-cream. It. Was. Awesome!! I absolutely loved it. When it came I thought it was a fairly small portion but by the time I had finished it I had to admit the portion size was just perfect.

Next time we're in Grassington, this is where we'll be going!

Vegan Review 8: the Blacksmith's Arms

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 18:07:22 GMT

Thanks for the support, Lesley

OK, this is a typical 'local' pub in a conservative (small c) rural area. It's not the place you would expect to find any vegan items on the menu. Indeed, there aren't many - but there are some. Unlike some pubs in this area where you have to ring and let them know that there will be a vegan in the group and they put something together from what they have in the kitchen, at the Blacksmiths , there is something on the menu.

Initially, when I first went vegan and we were going to eat here, we did ring in advance and the landlady, Lesley (who also does the cooking) was interested and very supportive.

On this occasion we were going to eat there. It was booked under our name and we had a look at the menu - on the main menu was a vegetable curry. I could have had that. On the specials were two vegan burgers. I chose the spicy bean burger - and it was really good. As they point out in a humorous notice in the bar, they don't serve fast food, they serve good food as fast as they can. Each time we have been (which isn't often enough) there has been something for me to have and I have never been disappointed.

As an example of how supportive Lesley has been, she came out of the kitchen and came over to our table to explain that they had been left 4 cartons of coconut milk in error and they couldn't use them. Knowing I am vegan she wondered if I would like them. Absolutely, and thank you.

So , as I say, this is not a place where you would expect to find vegan options on the menu but there has always been something for me and I've been delighted with what I've had. I thoroughly recommend this place. I still suggest mentioning, when booking, that there will be a vegan in the party and I can guarantee the response will be 'no problem.' The staff are great and there is always a warm welcome.

Thanks Lesley, for the support

Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the food for this blog post. I'll try to do better next time.

Vegan Review 7: Goathland Team Room & Gifts

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 12:00:20 GMT

The jury's still out

We took a ride out in the Herald to Heartbeat Country as I wanted to get a picture of her outside the Aidensfield Garage. We ended up there around lunchtime so opened up the Happy Cow app just to see if there was anything nearby that had vegan options - bingo! The Goathland Tea Room and gifts featured. We headed off to the Green and there was a tea room so in we went and asked about their vegan options. The lady was rather nonplussed, saying they had nothing vegan unless we could find something in the packets of biscuits on display. At that point my wife remembered that there was a tea room at the other end of the green so we headed off there. Result. They had a number of vegan options, for example a vegan breakfast, Linda McCartney sausage sandwich, soup, Jacket potato with baked beans or jacket potato with vegan chilli.

A vegan chilli would just hit the spot - except that it didn't! It was great that there was a choice of vegan items (that's always welcome) but the chilli was disappointing. Good that it came with a salad - but there was no salad dressing . It was just a very basic salad like we used to get in the 60s and 70s before we discovered exotic things like vinaigrette. As for the chilli, well I understand that they have to also cater for people who don't do spicy food but there is no way I could have described this as a chilli. There was no spice heat to it at all. Very disappointing (and let's face it, if you don't like spicy food don't order bloody chilli, that way they can cater for those of us who do like a bit of spice in our food!).

So, the option I chose was disappointing - but let's face it, the experience at this tea room was in extreme contrast to the experience at the other one.

Would I go again? yes, when I'm up there again I'll go to this tea room again because they are the only ones with vegan options, but I'd try something else off the menu!

We need a new way of thinking

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 13:06:29 GMT

Apologies for the pictures

This picture above was posted on twitter, apparently by Vinnie Jones in 2017 with the caption: “A real night lamping #foxes anyone beat this?” It was later deleted and Vinnie Jones claimed he had been hacked - but whoever posted it is irrelevant. I reproduce it here as an illustration for what I am about to say.

OK, the hunting season is over. You might think the poor fox now has a bit of respite to bring up its family, feed its cubs and see them through to adulthood. Not a bit of it.

Gamekeepers are still laying snares, creating their vile stink pits, and setting traps and poisons. The lampers, ‘pest controllers’ and shooters are still out night after night and proudly displaying their toll of dead bodies on Facebook. They have high-powered rifles and night sights and can kill in the region of 20 foxes a night! Generally these foxes at this time of year will be dog foxes hunting to feed a growing family. They might be accompanied by a young fox from the previous year’s litter that is helping to feed the new family. Make no mistake – these are intelligent, sentient creatures with familial, social and emotional bonds. Life is hard enough for these unfairly persecuted and demonised animals without humans throwing so much effort into killing them. It is a sad fact that only 1 in 5 cubs will make it to its first birthday.

Even assuming the family manages to survive the efforts of the shooters, it won’t be long before the hunts are starting their evil activity of ‘cubbing’ or, as they euphemistically call it (to hide what they are really doing) ‘autumn hunting.’ When cubbing they will be out early morning and won’t be wearing the bright red – cubbing is one of hunting’s dirty little secrets so they try to be unobtrusive. They will surround an area such as a copse or maize field where they know there are foxes. The cubs are now adolescents – young teenagers in human terms, still dependent on the family unit. The hunts will send the dogs in and the foxes try to escape but as they leave the area the surrounding riders make lots of noise to scare the poor creatures back into the jaws of the dogs. The purpose of this - It is to train the latest generation of dogs to kill!

These killers will all give you reasons why they do this – they are all lies designed to demonise the fox who is only trying to survive.

They will tell you the foxes kill chickens for fun – it’s not true. Even a prominent huntsman admitted that only 5% of UK foxes will taste chicken. Their diet is mainly rats, rabbits, other rodents, grubs and worms. The fox is also a scavenger that will take road kill and other dead animals. If he does get in a hen house and kill several chickens it is NOT for fun. It is because he plans to come back for them to cache them. I have several friends who have lost hens to a fox and their reaction has been to improve security, NOT to kill a wild animal trying to survive.

They will tell you it’s ‘pest control’ – the fox isn’t even classed as a pest by DEFRA. In studies accepted by DEFRA fox predation accounts for 1% of livestock loss. On the other hand the fox preys on rats and rabbits that cause £100m worth of damage to agriculture. We need a new way of thinking!

The thing is – the fox is one of the most efficient ‘pest’ (and how I hate that word) controllers there is. One old pest controller had a pet fox that he used to hunt rats and rabbits as the fox was so efficient.

I find it highly ironic that the hunting/shooting/killing brigade put so much effort into killing foxes and then pay people to come and deal with the rats and rabbits that the fox would have been preying on. We need a new way of thinking.

Let’s not forget – these people do it BECAUSE THEY LIKE IT! They kill for fun! Just recently in a local forum someone wrote ‘I have been doing this as a hobby for many years and so I can provide this service for free.’ He was wanting permission from farmers to go into the fields to shoot wild animals and he was dressing it up as a ‘service.’ He wasn’t going to charge – because it’s his hobby. They do it because they enjoy killing – I have just had a quick look on FaceBook and in two minutes come up with this list of closed groups:

• Fox shooting UK

• Shooting Foxes

• Fox Shooting Ireland and UK

• Fox shooting Yorkshire

• Cornwall Fox Shooting

• Fox Shooting Available with James Gordon - Fox shooting available.if you are tired staying in come and have some fun.James Gordon offers tower shooting and lamping.theres always foxes about only had two blanks in over 20 nights out

• The lampers way

• Lamping Crew

I can’t get my head round how so many people find an animal an inconvenience and their immediate reaction is to kill it. We need a new way of thinking.

It makes my blood boil that there are people who get their fun by killing wild animals who are simply struggling to survive. We need a new way of thinking.

Growing up in the country in the 60s and 70s we knew of plenty of farmers who were quite happy to have foxes on their land – just because you are a farmer doesn’t mean you have to kill foxes. Those farmers who were happy to have foxes on their land already had the new way of thinking but the kill for thrills brigade has demonised the fox to the extent that people believe the lies.

Let me give you an example of someone who does demonstrate a new way of thinking – I read recently of a guy who has a commercial flock of birds. I can’t remember whether they were poultry, pheasants, ducks or whatever, but that is irrelevant. He has taken to proactively feeding the foxes. He might have dead birds from his flock, or whatever, but he feeds the foxes every night. Since he started doing that he has only lost one bird to the foxes. Like I said, we need a new way of thinking …

Check back in later – I’m going to be examining the hunt myths and lies.

Vegan Review 6: Stapleford Park

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 14:34:23 GMT

Fine dining - with vegan options

Just recently we were lucky to be gifted dinner, bed and breakfast at Stapleford Park Country House Hotel near Melton Mowbray. Our good friends, Craig and Tracy, at the Rugged Outdoors had won this in a raffle but were sadly unable to take it up and kindly donated it to us.

We booked our overnight stay and Maggie informed them on the phone that I am vegan so they said they would note that on the booking.

On arrival our jaws dropped - what an amazing place. We could never have afforded to stay somewhere like this so what an experience, what a treat! It has amazing grounds, pool, hot tub, steam room, sauna, gym and, of course, bar and dining room. There is also a spa attached where treatments can be booked.

We had a walk, had a drink and went to the pool and then went to dinner - and this is what the review is all about. Clearly this is not a vegan establishment. It is a very high end hotel with fine dining in the restaurant - but there are vegan options on the menu.

On the starters menus there was pressed braised leek, roscoff, grelots, shallot vinaigrette. There were a couple of vegetarian options but this was the only vegan one, so I obviously went with that - and was absolutely blown away! Absolutely top quality.

For mains there was a choice between

Baked rainbow carrots, caraway, orange, vegan, feta, coriander and puffed rice or

Caramelised cauliflower, peas, broad beans, spinach, capers and sorrel.

Extra accompaniments were available (extra charge) and the vegan options there were

Minted Jersey Royales

Radish, peas and spinach

Tender stem broccoli and toasted almonds.

My choice was the caramelised cauliflower and I added the tender stem broccoli. We washed it down with a bottle of Le Charme sauvignon blanc - they have vegan wines on the wine list!

The wine was superb and the food was out of this world.

The staff were attentive and chatty but not pushy - they have the balance just right. Talking to the restaurant manager I said how much I had enjoyed this. I compared it to other high quality restaurants we have tried where there is nothing on the menu but they will 'knock something up' for you from what they have in the kitchen (which might still be very good). His comment was 'as a vegan you should not be made to feel like a second class citizen.'

OK, on to dessert (that's it in the picture - am sorry I am limited to just one picture because the presentation of all the food was mind-blowing). There was only one vegan item on the dessert menu - spiced apple cake, compressed apple, raspberry sorbet, apple crisp. This was absolute perfection!

That wasn't the end of it, though - we still had breakfast to come. So what was available for a vegan for breakfast? There was a

vegetarian full English and I guess it could have been vegan if I had decided to not have the vegetarian sausage.

Freshly made porridge with dried fruits and nuts

Toasted sourdough, avocado, roasted tomatoes and toasted seeds.

scrambled tofu, kale, cherry tomatoes with rye bread.

On the other hand there was a continental option:

a selection of cereals - granola was the only vegan one. Options of oat, soya or almond milk.

seasonal fresh fruit salad

dried fruits and mixed nuts

a choice of two vegan smoothies

fruit juices

I decided to go for the granola with oat milk, fruit salad, fruit and nuts and a red detox smoothie (watermelon, strawberry, banana, pomegranate)

I simply could not fault any of the food. OK, in some cases there was more choice than in others but if we were lucky to go again the options would be different. The restaurant manager explained that they change the menu with the seasons and they put the same amount of thought and care into the creation of their vegan dishes as they do with the rest of the menu.

If I had to find fault I could only offer is that, even though they had noted on the booking that I was vegan,

(a) there was nothing suitable for me in the snacks/teas/ coffees in the bedroom

(b) when they brought bread buns to the table one was a cheese roll and the spread was butter

but, you know what, I'm really reaching here and I can say with absolute certainty that if I had asked they would have sorted it, so no I couldn't find fault.

The staff were superb - every. single. one. They have it absolutely right.

The food was out of this world and the whole stay, even thought it was only overnight, was a real treat. Would love to be able to go again.

At some point I'll get some photos up on my photography Facebook page - it's a photographer's paradise!

Thank you Craig and Tracy.

Vegan Review 5: Döner Summer, York

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 12:51:05 GMT

Vegan as f*ck

Vegan as f*ck - it's what it says in the small print on the menu! I just had to use that as my title.

I'd not heard of Döner Summer before but Abi wanted to celebrate her graduation and chose this place for my benefit (thanks Abi). She'd eaten at another Döner Summer before and wanted to introduce us to it. Am delighted she did. How wonderful to be introduced to another all-vegan establishment.

It's in Gillygate in York and has a small frontage so you wonder how big it's going to be inside. As it happens they took us right through to the back garden. It wasn't a warm night - well, let's face it Summers in the north of England can be disappointing, so we wondered how comfortable we were going to be. No problem - each table was in a covered booth with a very effective heater.

The waiter brought the menus and asked if he could get our drinks order. The first beer he listed was Hacker-Pschorr - no need to go any further!

So drinking German beer in a wooden booth outside - a real continental atmosphere.

As for what to order, I was truly spoilt for choice but ended up going for the Berlin Döner Kebab. I figured it was logical if I was drinking German beer. I'd actually never had a kebab before - even when I was still eating meat it had just never appealed but this was awesome. I really enjoyed it and would have it again - except that I would probably want to try other things on the menu. This really was very good - with stuff like this, why do carnists still insist that animals have to be killed to feed them. If you really want your meat fix then just try alternatives like this.

Awesome. Can't wait to go again. Thanks for the introduction, Abi!

Vegan Review 4: The Fat Badger, Harrogate

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Mon, 30 May 2022 14:35:17 GMT

Excellent quality, zero choice

We were invited for a family meal out to the Fat Badger in Harrogate - what a stunning building, outside and inside!

On arrival we were seated and then given the standard menu and the Sunday menu.

On the Sunday menu there was one vegan item in the starters (a soup), one vegetarian item in the mains (but nothing vegan), and one vegan item in the desserts - a rice pudding brûlée with macerated fruits.

One the regular menu there were no vegan items in the starters, one vegan item in the mains (a black bean taco) and one vegan item in the desserts - the same rice pudding as on the Sunday menu.

What did I have? Well, as there were no vegan mains on the Sunday menu I ordered from the regular menu and didn't bother with a starter. I guess I could have mixed and matched but I was happy to just have two courses. Obviously the only choice of mains was the black bean taco - so I had that, and it was very good. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Now for dessert - I wasn't going to bother because rice pudding really isn't my thing but I was persuaded to give it a try, and I am very glad I did. Before I became vegan I used to like crème brûlée and it was lovely to have that crispy texture on top. It was a cold rice pudding, the flavour was lovely and the fruits on top sat very well with it. I might just have to revise my opinion of rice pudding.

So - the food that I had was excellent - but the choice was disappointing. In fact it was only one step up from zero choice. It seems to be just a nod to the existence of vegans rather than an attempt to cater for this growing market. The ambience was very good. The service was ok - they got the first drinks order wrong. We ordered more drinks before the mains arrived but they didn't arrive until just as I was finishing my main course.

If you are vegan and are going here with others you can rest assured that there IS something on the menu for you and it really is very good, however if you want to go out and CHOOSE somewhere as a vegan, do not go to the Fat Badger - the choice is just one notch above no choice. This is surprising and disappointing for such an affluent and highbrow place as Harrogate.

Final word - I thoroughly enjoyed what I had. I had a lovely time with family and I suppose the lack of choice made deciding what to have very easy, but come on Fat Badger, let's have more choice!

Vegan Review 3: Capplemans Fish Restaurant, Pickering

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Tue, 24 May 2022 14:48:24 GMT

Surprise and Delighted!

OK, so we're in Pickering one evening and want something to eat. I look on Happy Cow - nothing listed in Pickering. There's a Costa and we know that we can get something there. As it happens there wasn't much left - just a vegan panini and that was it. However - as we left and walked up the other side of the road we saw a sign outside the fish restaurant and on the A-board (the side we hadn't seen earlier) it stated: <<Gluten Free & Vegan>> options - so we knew where we'd be going the next time!

This last week I had chance to be in Pickering again for a day's photography. Walking round the town in the morning I needed a cuppa and although there are lots of cafés there don't seem to be any that advertise vegan options, despite Pickering being such a tourist destination thanks to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. We took a chance on a café and asked and yes, they had one or two vegan bits and pieces so that was OK, but Pickering really does not seem to be well-served.

Anyway, lunchtime and Capplemans Fish Restaurant was now open so in we went to be greeted by the charming and friendly young lady who said to sit wherever we wanted. When I mentioned we had come in specifically because of the vegan advertising she said 'Oh, I'll get you the vegan menu.' I certainly hadn't expected that! I figured that there would just be a vegan alternative, but no - they have a full vegan menu - as you can see in the picture above. There isn't a vegan fish n chips option but they make up for that with the variety.

I have to admit to not being very adventurous and just went for the fishless fingers (small portion) with chips and onion rings. I have to say, I am very glad I went for the small portion - I hate leaving food but this beat me!

The food was good, it was reasonably priced and the staff were smiling, friendly and helpful. I know where I'll be eating next time I spend a day in Pickering but I haven't yet decided which option off the varied vegan menu I'll choose.

It was great to find an establishment standing out in a place like Pickering and actually catering for and advertising to vegans, rather than just having the occasional restricted item on the menu. OK, we know we don't like that any establishment serves up dead creatures for consumption but we have to face the fact that it is still the case so every single step forward in catering for the rapidly increasing vegan community is to be applauded. Well done, Capplemans! Very impressed, thank you and I hope the vegan side of your business grows!

You can find them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Capplemanspickering

and online: https://www.capplemanspickering.co.uk

Instagram is doing my head in!

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Sun, 15 May 2022 10:31:13 GMT

Instagram's age verification purge ...

Can anyone advise? Instagram is doing my bloody head in.

I manage two accounts (@vxinternational and @easirockits). I am joint admin on two others and I have my own two accounts:

my photography account: @pmhildreth

my automotive photography account: @pmhimages_cars

Just recently when I went to IG on my phone there was a message saying my account was blocked as they couldn't confirm I was over 13 and if this wasn't sorted out in 30 days the account would be permanently disabled and unrecoverable. Obviously I don't want this.

There was an option to appeal so I clicked the link and it took me to a web page (help.instagram.com) - as you can see above it wanted full name, DoB, email address and a scan of ID. Alarm bells started ringing as this is has all the hallmarks of a phishing scam so I started looking into it. Apparently it is correct that you have to be over 13 for IG and they are currently cracking down on this but there was nowhere I could find whether this was a phishing scam and I can't find ANYWHERE to contact Instagram.

Next time I went into Instagram all was OK.

Later on my pmhildreth account asked me to enter my DoB. I did so and thought that had solved the problem. I've had that account since 2012 and you didn't have to state your age then (before bloody FaceBook took it over). However since then I've had that same message about my account being blocked 4 times and now the timescale is 29 days. Then later on I can get in and I have no idea which account it is referring to AND THERE DOESN'T SEEM TO BE ANY WAY TO CONTACT INSTAGRAM. They are doing my head in but there is no way I am going to go to this web page and give them all that info and a scan of my passport unless I can ascertain it is genuine!

Don't get me wrong - I get that they need to verify age and I am happy to provide the required details - but the process they have put in place raises all the red flags about phishing that these same companies warn us about. If it is the bank or the ISP I can contact them and I get either (a) no, it's a scam, thanks for letting us know or (b) yes, it's genuine. All I want to know is whether this web page the 'appeal' takes me to is genuine but they make it sooooooo difficult to contact them

The randomness of the blocking message (ie appearing at different times and me not knowing which account it is referring to) and the fact it is taking me to an off-app web page that is asking for so many details including a scan of ID raises so many red flags - yet there seems to be no way to contact IG to verify if it is genuine. For companies that hammer us about security and make us jump through so many hoops it is incredibly annoying that they put in place a process that has all the hallmarks of a scam yet provide no way to prove it is valid. If it’s genuine I’ll happily jump through the hoops but this is ringing so many alarm bells that I want to check first - BUT THERE SEEMS TO BE NO WAY TO CONTACT BLOODY INSTAGRAM TO CHECK.

Update: I accessed that page asking for info through another direction, through Instagram help from a google search, so now I am working on the assumption that the page is genuine. I therefore filled in all the fields and added a scan of my passport (with passport number, place of birth and passport dates redacted). Then I clicked submit and what do I get? An error message: <<You're information could not be submitted. Log in to your account to get back on FaceBook or to see further instructions>>

AND STILL NO WAY TO CONTACT INSTAGRAM TO SORT THIS OUT. What a f*****g joke. I've lost most of the morning with this!

It does look as though the page is genuine but I think it's disgraceful that they put in place a process that has all the hallmarks of security red flags that they warn us about and provide no means of ascertaining its validity

Electric is NOT the future

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Fri, 06 May 2022 09:36:08 GMT

I'll say it again - we are being pushed down the EV route for political purposes

I have said for a long time that electricity is not the way forward as a replacement for oil. I wrote a blog post about it a while back giving examples of issues friends have encountered.

We are being railroaded down the EV route for the wrong reasons.

I have, for ages, raised concerns about

the environmental impact of the batteries themselves - the mining of materials and metals for these batteries leaves a horrendous environmental footprint. Then they all have to be shipped
range - the range is a major issue. Manufacturers are claiming higher ranges now but, let's face it, they are always going to be optimistic. You'll only get that range in optimal conditions, when the weather is warm and when there are no other vehicles on the road. If you have to wait in a traffic jam, put your heater on, or are carrying passengers then the range is going to drop. There is currently a manufacturer advertising on TV that a 10 minute charge will give you 58 miles - but then you see the asterisk and see that it is *up to* 58 miles. This is laughable - you'll only get that if you slipstream a lorry, if you are travelling alone and don't have luggage, the weather is warm, you don't put your air-con on, etc etc.
charging - what is going to happen when the majority have moved to electric vehicles? Will the grid cope? What about people in blocks of flats, or who live in terraced housing and have no off-road parking? This hasn't been thought through and the infrastructure is NOT there
cost and lifetime of batteries. Who on earth is going to buy a second hand electric car knowing that they won't be able to sell it on once the batteries go west and that they are already well on the way down that road. I read recently about a Mercedes, only 8 years old that had been bought for £28K. It developed a problem and it was found that a new battery was needed - cost? £15K. by now the car was only worth £12K and so wasn't worth repairing. That is an 8 year old Mercedes going for scrap. How can that be environmentally friendly?

I've always felt that hydrogen was a much better way forward, however people have said

it takes energy to create the hydrogen - but it takes energy to refine oil; it takes energy to create the electricity to charge the battery in your electric car (and it doesn't all come from 'green' sources)
there isn't the infrastructure to supply hydrogen - but there wasn't the infrastructure for charging electric vehicles (and there still isn't). On the other hand there is an infrastructure for dispensing petrol and this infrastructure managed to take on LPG so why could this existing infrastructure not be adapted? Apparently they are managing in Germany and Japan!

Let's not forget - hydrogen is also proven technology as trucks already use it in the USA as electricity simply won't work for that role. You pull into a filling station and tank up with hydrogen. It takes about the same time as filling with petrol, it costs about the same and you get the same range. Yet we are being forced down the EV route where it takes longer to charge, still has a high environmental footprint and is only suitable for short journeys. Go figure!

Since I wrote my last blog post about electric vehicles I've seen other articles and posts. Here are one or two:

(a) a journalist for the Daily Mail had a nightmare journey in his electric vehicle that perfectly illustrated what I have been saying

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10685757/IAIN-DALE-11-hour-journey-hell-proves-Britain-hopelessly-unprepared-electric-cars.html

(b) Adrian Flux blog post about hydrogen:

https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/influx/features/alternative-fuel-fuelling-the-future-through-hydrogen/

https://garagewire.co.uk/news/must-read/mercedes-owner-horrified-at-15k-cost-of-new-hybrid-battery/

(d) interesting Forbes article about the problems facing EV drivers

https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2022/01/09/electric-car-crusaders-must-acknowledge-problems-or-the-revolution-will-fail/?sh=7a7bd7fc3c44

(e) are electric vehicles really more reliable?

https://news.sky.com/story/new-electric-cars-may-be-less-reliable-than-petrol-and-diesel-models-survey-suggests-12556124

(f) they keep this one quiet - if there is a fire, they can't use normal means to extinguish it

https://cfpa-e.eu/container-puts-out-inextinguishable-fires-in-electric-cars/

I'm not saying that electric cars are more prone to fire than petrol powered cars. In fact the opposite is the case. What I'm saying is that an electric car fire is more devastating and more difficult to deal with. Have a look at this https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.chee1/videos/10216456217773663

(g) potential cost of repairs to EVs

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1594455/electric-car-drivers-face-quadruple-repair-costs-unqualified-mechanic-workforce

I agree that an electric vehicle is fine and suitable for your daily commute - but if you want to travel any distance or want any flexibility then it simply does not cut the mustard.

Vegan Review 2: Wagamama (York)

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 13:13:04 GMT

I already know what I'm having next time!

I'd only been to Wagamama once before, and that was since I became vegan - and we tried it because we had heard that they had a good vegan selection on their menu, that it wasn't a place that had a couple of items as a nod to the increasing number of vegan customers, and that it really was vegan-friendly.

OK, it's a chain, it's corporate and as such it is a totally different experience from the Dog & Gun but it is horses for courses (to use a non-vegan expression).

The place is clean, we were seated quickly, the staff were friendly and the menus had lots of different vegan options. We were spoilt for choice. I had spicy vegan short 'rib’ ramen which is 'mushroom + soya protein ‘ribs’ in a sweet + spicy sticky sauce. udon noodles. roasted bok choi. spring onion. chilli. coriander. sesame seeds. chilli oil. vegetable broth' - and it was bloody good. I enjoyed every mouthful - lots of flavour and a mild amount of spicy warmth.

Maggie had the No-Duck Donburi which is 'shredded seitan + shiitake mushrooms in a cherry hoisin sauce. edamame beans. kimchee. coconut + sriracha vegan ‘egg’ made in collaboration with gaz oakley. cucumber. spring onion. chillies. coriander. sesame seeds. brown rice.' It includes what looks like half of a soft-boiled egg which is really impressive on the eye. She actually had this on our first visit and liked it so much she had it again. I know what I'm having next time! I only get one photo on this blog so can't post a pic of it so will make sure to do so next time.

The food was superb - there wasn't a long wait at all. Very efficient. For a drink Diet Coke isn't vegan so I went for the cloudy lemonade - good choice! It actually tasted very natural.

Some chain restaurants really are nothing special and I'm not bothered whether I go there again or not - but I'm already looking forward to my next visit to Wagamama.

Oh, and one more thing - how wonderful to hear so many different accents! Every member of staff seemed to have a different one - fantastically cosmopolitan.

Vegan Review 1: The Dog & Gun

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Sun, 10 Apr 2022 10:24:18 GMT

It was my birthday this week and when the family said 'we're taking you to your favourite eatery on Saturday' I knew just where we were going.

I thought it high time I started adding some vegan reviews to my blog and what better place to start. I absolutely LOVE the Dog & Gun (and yes, the irony of the name does not escape me) and have visited several times.

The thing is, the chef is vegan so the vegan offerings are not just there as an 'add-on.' There is a high proportion of vegan items on the menu and for almost all of the non-vegan items they offer a vegan alternative. We have been to other places and they don't have vegan items on the menu but if you call ahead they will bring you a menu with two options for each course. In some cases it is something they have just knocked together from what they have in the kitchen (and it might still be very, very good), and in some cases it might be a bit more considered, but here at the Dog & Gun you are not restricted to an 'either/or' choice. You really are spoilt for choice.

So much for the variety, but what about the quality of food - simply outstanding. The presentation is spot-on and the quality never disappoints. I have been delighted every single time.

There is always a warm welcome and the staff are friendly, polite and attentive.

As if all that weren't enough - it's dog friendly, too!

I simply can't speak highly enough of this place and I can't wait to go back - I already know what I'll be ordering next time!

AVOID HASTINGS DIRECT AT ALL COSTS

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Mon, 21 Mar 2022 11:59:46 GMT

Hastings Direct underpaid the value of my son's car by approx £6000!

So, here’s the thing – in November 2021 my son changed his car. He bought a top of the range Golf R at a good price. It was a 2015 plate but only had 4832 miles on it. It was absolutely pristine – it even still smelt like a new car. The previous owner was a millionaire and had hardly used it. He’d also ticked every available option. The car still had the bar code stickers on the shock absorbers and still had the original screen wash. It had adaptive cruise control, winter pack, adaptive headlights, heated water jets, heated headlights, heated seats, panoramic sunroof – absolutely everything. This was a unique car in immaculate condition. There simply wasn’t a mark on it. My son bought this car as an investment as it was likely to hold its value well or even increase in value (as values of second hand cars are currently rising).

On Jan 7th 2022, barely six weeks after buying the car, my son was driving to work along a long straight road when a large Mercedes SUV approached from the left at a crossroads. That side road is a little used country road. The road my son was on was the main road. The driver braked for the junction but hadn’t taken into account that she was on sheet ice. She couldn’t stop and slammed into the side of my son’s car pushing him across the road and into the hedge. Fortunately, no-one was injured.

Both parties contacted their insurance companies and arranged for collection of the vehicles. The woman driver admitted fault. She was insured with Hastings Direct and Hastings offered my son £200 if they could just deal with it, rather than going through his own insurer. Thinking this would simplify matters my son agreed. They provided a courtesy car very quickly and he was back on the road the same day. So far, so good.

On Jan 26th my son was informed by Hastings that the car was being written off in Category S (ie salvageable) and that the engineers had valued the car at £23,265.

Bear in mind that in his own insurance policy it states: << with another of the same make, specification, model, age, mileage and condition as my car immediately before the loss or damage happened >>.

Let’s not forget that this was a rare car and to replace with a Golf R of anywhere near this specification was minimum £27K. As soon as you added panoramic sunroof to the search terms the minimum price was £30K and there were only 59 cars available in the whole country.

Therefore a response was sent to Hastings

(a) Rejecting the valuation

(b) Asking to see the engineer’s valuation report

(d) Providing photos of the car to show the exceptional condition

(e) A condition statement from the previous owner

(f) Screen shots of prices of comparable vehicles.

In fact, here is the condition statement from the previous owner:

<< To whom it may concern.

I Bxxxx Mxxxxxx am writing this letter as I am the person who sold the VW Golf R reg XX12 XXX only on the 21st of November 2021 just around 7 weeks ago.

I'm writing this statement just so you're aware of how immaculate this car was before the accident.

The car in question had only covered 4832 miles which is as you can understand a very rare find for a 5 year old car indeed totalling an average of 996.4 miles per year, because of the substantial low mileage as you can understand the car was immaculate everywhere as it had never even been out on a wet road before Mr X Hildreth’s purchase.

This car has had all services carried out at every interval regardless of hardly moving between one service to the next.

When you opened the door on the car it still smelled showroom fresh and for you to understand how little the car had been used it still had the water and screen wash that it come with from the VW dealership.

The car was also ordered with a very high spec, including heated water jets, heated mirrors, heated seats, satellite navigation, adaptive cruise control, Dynaudio, parking sensors front and rear and also the panoramic roof.

The car itself was finished in the most desirable Lapiz blue and paintwork was immaculate everywhere with no stone chips or blemishes anywhere, the car had been ceramic coated at a cost of £750 also keeping the paint in top top condition.

All four wheels diamond cut face were absolutely immaculate without a mark in any of them whatsoever.

As you can imagine to get a car of this standard and spec and the incredible super low mileage ( backed up by the service book and mot's) to own a car like this costs more than the average raced and abused VW Golf R's that the market is normally saturated with comes at a cost.

Mr Hildreth just bought this car less than only 7 weeks ago, as you can understand this car has such a high spec and mileage so incredibly low this car must of been so very rare that I very much doubt there will be another like it for him to replace the car like he had before the accident.

After that there was a long delay. My son would get phone calls at work that he couldn’t take so he emailed Hastings on more than one occasion to say they should communicate by email as he works long hours and is unable to take phone calls at work. The emails were never from a named contact and they ignored his requests to not phone him at work.

At one point, in frustration he asked his own insurers (Zenith) for advice/help – they referred him to their underwriters Markerstudy. They made one contact with my son and said they had him down as being at fault. When it was pointed out to them that this was wrong the lady said that she would get that sorted and they would get back to my son in 5 working days – then nothing. They were going to try and get the engineer’s valuation report but we heard absolutely nothing so were still forced to deal with horrendous Hastings.

Hastings increased their valuation to a still measly £24,613 but ignored the request for sight of the engineer’s report, and still ignored the request for the valuation criteria.

My son again rejected the valuation, asked again to see the report and the criteria and now submitted details of a trade valuation from a trade database of £27K+ (bear in mind that this is a trade average valuation and does not reflect the retail valuation of a car that is so far above average).

Again, nothing from Hastings apart from the occasional phone call when he was unable to take the call.

Finally, in desperation, an email was sent to the CEO of Hastings asking for him to intervene. He did – but the outcome was not what we wanted.

(a) The following day there was an email from a named contact – at last.

(b) The valuation of £24,613 was repeated as the final valuation and if this was not accepted by the following day the wrecked car would be returned and the courtesy car reclaimed and my son would have to start the process all over again with his own insurance company.

This left my son with no option but to reluctantly and under duress accept a valuation approximately £6000 less than the true value of the car.

Hastings:

• Ignored all the evidence submitted about the condition and value of the car

• Ignored the requests to see the report and valuation criteria

• Ignored requests to communicate by email

• Provided an insultingly low valuation

• When challenged provided another valuation, still insultingly and ridiculously low and below the true value of the car

• Ignored recent increases in the values of second hand cars (indeed, the value of the car my son sold to buy the Golf had increased by £2000 in the time since he sold it)

• Basically blackmailed my son into accepting the low valuation by threatening to dump the wrecked car on him for him to start the process all over again.

• Did not even offer the opportunity of mediation by an independent arbitrator

This is disgusting and disgraceful treatment from an insurance company. My son bought a car with the expectation that it would at least hold its value well but has had been reimbursed with a sum that was at least £6000 less than the car’s true value and yet he was the innocent party in all this. This process took so long that my son had the courtesy car longer than he had the Golf and in that time the values of second hand cars was still rising. My son feels he has been totally ripped-off and cheated by Hastings who have shown themselves to be conforming to the worst stereotype of the insurance industry.

Our experience of Hastings is totally negative. My son feels totally ripped off! He is out of pocket through no fault of his own. Hastings treatment of my son's claim was appalling and shows they are a company to be avoided at all costs.

It's happened!

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Sat, 12 Mar 2022 11:20:41 GMT

yup! I've succumbed to Covid

OK so yesterday I was supposed to be travelling down to Mansfield. I went to bed early the night before because I knew I would have an early start as I was going to have to drive round looking for somewhere with diesel. It didn't work out - I couldn't get to sleep so ended up not sleeping on the sofa.

At 0400 I gave up and decided to get up so went upstairs only to find my wife had been ill in the night - she really wasn't very well and I didn't want to leave her alone so I messaged my contact in Mansfield, explained the situation and asked to reschedule so I could take the day to look after her.

I wasn't feeling too clever myself but I put it down to being tired - but I got worse, and worse and worse. I'd had some aches and pains but thought it was arthritis spreading; I'd also thought I had a bit of a headcold - now everything was ramping up all together and I was feeling really bad.

Only once before had I felt like this and that was in Nov/Dec 2019 when none of us had heard of Covid. We'd gone down to the Harry Potter World near London and while we were there I started to feel ill. I don't know how I managed the drive back. For the next 3 weeks I was laid low. I'd do a tiny bit in the office, then go and sleep in front of the fire. I'd drag myself out to fulfil a commitment then sleep by the fire again, or go to bed. I'd never felt so bad in my life and thought it was just a particularly nasty flu. Happily I didn't pass it on to anyone else but it took 3 weeks before I suddenly felt like there was an improvement.

Yesterday - that feeling was back so I took a covid test and yes, it was positive. It does beg the question whether what I had back then in 2019 was Covid. Other people have said the same to me, that they think they had it then, too.

Am double-vaccinated and boosted but everything aches - all muscles and joints, I've got the sore throat, the headache and the painful breathing. I think I've got most of the symptoms except D&V and loss of taste.

Having said all that, today I don't feel as bad as yesterday - but still achey and lethargic so the order of the day is rest and fluids. Whisky does count as a fluid? right? Make mine a double!

I can't believe what I'm seeing

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 14:08:59 GMT

When will we ever learn?

The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

Love Thy Neighbour

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 15:25:40 GMT

I was really sorry to read Jack Smethurst had died

I was really sorry to read this week that Jack Smethurst had died aged 89. I also couldn't believe he was 89!

I'd only just finished watching the entire boxed set of Love Thy Neighbour in which he starred with Kate Williams, Nina Baden-Semper and Rudolph Walker. You won't find Love Thy Neighbour on TV - it's classed as controversial, racist and promoting racist stereotypes. It has this reputation because of the language used by the racist bigot Eddie Booth (played by Jack Smethurst), however what those critics are missing is that it is NOT promoting racist stereotypes but holding them up to ridicule. It is using humour to totally discredit racism.

The self-important racist bigot Eddie Booth is a joke, a caricature. He makes pronouncements of facts that are 'scientifically proven' that are clearly ridiculous and unbelievable. He is also alone - his workmates and his wife all get along famously with his black neighbour and workmate. Everyone else comes across as perfectly normal and friendly. The odd one out is the bigot.

Ricky Gervais had the same problem with his series 'Derek' when he was criticised for 'making fun of the disabled.' Those people missed the point - Derek was the single most empathetic and compassionate character in the series and the one from whom we have the most to learn.

I wish people would stop just looking at the surface and making a knee-jerk reaction to be offended. Look at what is actually being said and portrayed.

Before anyone accuses me of being a racist for watching and enjoying Love thy Neighbour - I have friends of many colours, religions and sexual persuasions. Our guest book at home has people from Uganda, Zambia, China, India, Europe, America, Brazil. We have straight visitors, gay ones and a couple who are transitioning. We have had Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and pagans (no Buddhists or Jedi yet). Our home is open house to people from all over the world and we wouldn't have it any other way

Look back at 2021

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 19:21:45 GMT

Average E - must do better

For me it has been a strange year. I’ve failed on nearly all my New Year’s resolutions so my overall report card would read as an average E, I guess

• Lose weight - Fail. Have put on weight.

• Get fitter - fail. I was following a programme and that all fell apart.

• Cut down the alcohol - Fail. If anything it has increased.

• Write a song - Fail. I’m following a course and haven’t managed to finish it.

• Continue with guitar - could do better. I have had them and the amps serviced and I have continued but I really need to get back to the online lessons and regular practise.

I have made progress with photography as I continue to learn and I have started to sell some of my photos as stock photography. I’m on quite a few stock photography sites and have a gallery up but the next steps are to develop my own photography website, follow some more courses and get more into creative photography and other genres. I was also keen to move my photography into an upward dimension so have bought a drone and completed the A2 Certificate of Competency qualification. I now need to practise more to be more competent and confident in the air and then start on my desired list of shots!

Where I did do better (I got an A+ on this one) was the animal rights bit - I’ve been working hard in this field as I’m chairman of an AR group, have been asked to be part of the Exec Committee for the national organisation Action Against Foxhunting, have been part of a national campaign and have been invited to be media officer for another group. We’ve had a busy year and have achieved quite a lot, culminating in a protest at a Boxing Day Hunt Meet - the first time this event had been properly protested.

So, all in all - I think an average E with ‘could do better’ and I suppose I already have my New Year’s Resolutions for the coming year already sorted out!

What has been good though, is that the weather has been kinder this year and I have had chance to get more miles in with the Herald and the Falcon - we even had the Herald at a Community event with a classic car show!

The year sadly didn't end so well. On Dec 3 we lost our big beautiful Izzy. She had a massive heart attack, totally out of the blue and died within a minute. A traumatic evening that left us heartbroken - but at least it was quick and she wasn’t alone as I was with her at the time. She was a terrific character with an over-abundance of tortietude and we’ll miss her immensely.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 10:28:02 GMT

Just to say ...

Christmas is almost upon so I wanted to take the opportunity to wish all my family and friends a very happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year. I hope that 2022 is very good to you.

Seeing the world through different eyes

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 15:12:29 GMT

Photography gives a new view on the world

One of the best things I did was to sign up for an iPhone photography course.

It metaphorically opened my eyes to what is going on round me. I started seeing things I would never have noticed before. I started noticing things I would have passed by - and better still, I now had the tools and skills to try to capture it.

I never cease to be amazed at what the iPhone camera can do and how they get better and better. As the course tutor says - the best camera is the one you have with you. Having said that, because of its sensor size, it does have its limitations so the next step was to buy a cheap second hand DSLR and start to learn that. Obviously I am still learning - you never, ever stop, and there really is so much to learn.

As for genres I seem to have gravitated more to cars, pets, travel and landscapes.

I've also bought a small drone, qualified with the A2 CoC and want to take my photography aerial.

Next I want to have a crack at portraits, product, macro and creative photography.

I've been delighted with the response to my photography as I've had lots of features in the local press, had a shot featured in a local calendar, had lots of features on Instagram galleries and won an international iPhone photography competition!

As I progress I put some of my photos up on stock photography websites for licensing. Below are a list of the ones I'm on with links to my portfolios. As of writing they are currently selling best on Twenty:20 and AdobeStock.

PicFair - this is my biggest gallery. They deal with image sales and print sales

Twenty:20 - https://www.twenty20.com/pmhildreth/photos

Shutterstock - https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Paul+M+Hildreth

Dreamstime - https://www.dreamstime.com/pmh561_info

DepositPhotos - https://depositphotos.com/portfolio-17533416.html

AdobeStock - https://stock.adobe.com/contributor/207702752/Paul

On Social media you can find me on

FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/PaulHildrethImages

Instagram as @pmhildreth

Twitter as @pmhimages

The Larkins

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 15:00:55 GMT

What a disappointment

The Larkins is a new adaptation of the novel 'The Darling Buds of May' by H E Bates. I really enjoyed the original adaptation with David Jason, Pam Ferris, Catherine Zeta Jones and Philip Franks.

I watched episode 1 of the Larkins last night and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. this is NOT because I recently rewatched the original series and enjoyed it so much. I'm not like that - I will watch with an open mind and judge on its merit. I loved the original series of All Creatures Great and Small - and I love the current Channel 5 series just as much. I even thoroughly enjoyed the remaking of the Dad's Army lost episodes with current actors. The difference is that the Dad's Army stories were the original scripts and the All Creatures Great and Small series are totally in tune with (but not the same as) the originals and the time. Watching the Larkins I felt that the stories were written predominantly to be politically correct, to have a very young girl being a mechanical whizz and to have a sufficiently ethnic proportion. So the focus is on being politically correct rather than true to the time and the result is a horrendously jarring mismatch.

On top of that the research isn't good - but then, what can you expect when the stories are written with no accounting for what things were like at the time. My wife asked me when the episode was set and I replied that it would have to be after 1959 as there was a Triumph Herald convertible. Heralds weren't introduced until 1959 and the first convertibles a year later. Reading commentary online it would appear that later episodes have similar inaccuracies.

The original series was well-cast, was warm and was real 'feel good' TV. Pop was a good-hearted, anti-authoritarian, wheeler-dealer who had no prejudices and treated everyone the same unless they were up to no good and then he would use his wiles to right a wrong. In the Larkins Pop rips two people off, one of whom is someone he knows. The characters feel 2-dimensional and the political correctness strikes a jarring note. We even had a scene where Ma asks the children how we deal with other people, how no-one is better than anyone else. I felt I was being treated like a kid in a primary school. It wasn't necessary - in the original series it comes across through the stories and the portrayal of the characters.

My final whinge is that the showed the local hunt as being something to be celebrated and how people are so keen to be selected as the Master of Hounds. I hate that - but I accepted it as being something that was 'of the time' - but then comes the jarring aspects of the politically correct ratios that were absolutely NOT of the time.

It really does feel like it has been written for political correctness first and the story and the time are of secondary importance. The result is two-dimensional and jarring.

I'll watch episode 2 to give it another chance but I don't have high hopes - and I can't wait for the next series of the new All Creatures Great and Small

What a result!

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Sun, 31 Oct 2021 08:55:02 GMT

National Trust Members vote to ban trail hunting on National Trust land

It has been a good few weeks for the anti-fox-hunting community.

In the first place Mark Hankinson, Director of the Master of Foxhounds Association was found guilty after the leaked webinars. The police were angry that only one of the presenters was charged (so were we) but hey - it went to court and it was a guilty verdict. We've been saying for years that trail hunting is a lie to let the hunts continue to hunt as if there were no ban. The webinars confirmed this and then it was reinforced with a guilty verdict.

The next thing was that Phil Davies was removed from the Police's Wildlife Advisory Groups. Phil Davies is the former copper who works as liaison for the Cuntryside Alliance and who was one of the presenters in the infamous webinars.

After that the Mini's Law petition passed the magic 100,000 figure for it to be considered for debate in Parliament.

And now the National Trust membership has voted to ban trail hunting and hound exercise from National Trust property with a 2:1 majority. We now have to hope that the NT ruling body ratify this vote - but if they don't it will do them immense damage. Many of us have been boycotting the National Trust whilst they allowed hunting. Every time anyone complained they trotted out the same old bland, platitudes, even though it was always clear that the hunts were hunting illegally. Now the membership has spoken - let's see this carried through.

Now we have to hope that other landowners will follow suit and permanently ban the hunts!

Bloody Brexit

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Sat, 30 Oct 2021 10:41:51 GMT

Brexit - the gift that keeps on giving!

OK, before we go any further - I voted Remain.

We all know the EU is a wasteful, monstrous bureaucracy that is treated as a gravy-train by so many. I mean - what a waste to move between two different cities because of national sensitivities. We all know the EU is also a bully; we all know it was costing us an absolute fortune - but it has also done a lot of good.

It's all academic for us now - a tiny majority of a not very high turnout voted to leave, so leave we did, and what a process that was.

Now, this isn't hindsight talking, - leaving was an absolute nightmare. I said at the time, right at the beginning, that they were going to make us suffer because they would want to make an example of us. They were going to be intransigent and make it as difficult as possible - and that is exactly what happened. Bullies, like I said. They ran negotiations right to the bitter end, made trade negotiations difficult and even when they messed up their vaccinations programme made threats about the Northern Ireland border. Now they are still making things difficult - and what I said way back then has been proved to be true! In a letter to EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, the French Prime Minister writes the Britain must be punished to show EU states that 'leaving is more damaging than remaining.' Exactly what I said they would be doing!

My business has suffered from Brexit. It's practically wiped out anything in Europe as the product cost is now far too high. Travel is no longer as easy as it was - a friend of mine travels from the US to Europe regularly. He is British and speaks fluent German. On his first visit after Brexit/Covid he was grilled like never before at immigration despite speaking fluent German to the officer. At the end when he was finally allowed to pass the officer apologised and said that they had had instructions to do this.

As I said, I voted Remain but, to be honest, since we started the leaving process the EU has shown itself to be a vindictive bully - and I hate bullies. Just have a look at what they are doing to Poland at the moment to make sure Poland doesn't step out of line!

Having said all that, I still think the referendum was badly run - for a decision of such importance you can't just go with a simple majority. You need to specify a larger majority (eg 60:40) and a minimum percentage turnout for it to be valid.

York City Council - robbing b******s Part 1

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 12:34:03 GMT

The spirit of Dick Turpin is alive and well in the parking department

OK, so we have to go to an address in Poppleton, an address we don't know and we are following satnav. I see a sign for bus lane ahead and register it thinking I know to avoid it - no matter what the time restrictions are I try to stay out of bus lanes because the cameras are so wick and you can easily get caught for a mistake.

the sat nav takes us on and on and we don't see a bus lane but we do come to a 'no entry. buses only' sign. I drive up to it, turning to the right so that I can reverse into a factory entrance on the left and go back the way we came (turns out we had passed the address and sat nav had got it wrong).

A few days later Maggie rings me while I'm out and tells me she has had a fine for driving in a bus lane and she has paid it as it doubles after a period of time. She can't remember when but feels very intimidated by the letterm assumes she must have driven in a bus lane by mistake, so paid to avoid the extra penalty.

When I get home I read it and realise we have been penalised for driving up to the no entry and turning round. The photographic 'evidence' does NOT show us driving through (well, it can't because we didn't). In fact, in the pic you can clearly see the reversing lights so it is obvious we are not going through. I click the link to the video evidence - the video clip is only 6 seconds long and stops as I start to reverse. We can't have driven through a 'beam' to trigger the camera as it starts as we approach the signs.

I say to Maggie she shouldn't have paid this as we would have contested it, however there is a phone number to contact so I ring it. They can't/won't do anything - I have to submit an appeal in writing as the fine has already been paid. I write to the Council explaining everything, requesting that the PCN be cancelled and the fine re-imbursed.

No response. Not even an acknowledgement.

I wait several weeks and write again. I recap the whole situation, again and give them a 2-week deadline otherwise a late payment charge will be added.

Again – we failed to receive the courtesy of a reply or even an acknowledgement. So I wrote to the Leader of the Council.

This time I got an email acknowledgement from his secretary, sorry, Executive Support Assistant, stating that it had been passed to Graham Titchener, Head of Parking Service to 'review and respond.'

He did respond - not to us, but to the Leader of the Council, but only to say that if you enter the restricted zone in any way you are guilty and, 'if it is any consolation' the footage had been reviewed by a person. It wasn't just automated.

NO - it wasn't a bloody consolation. This makes it even worse - some numpty bureaucrat has watched the footage of us drive up to the sign, stop, reverse and drive away and STILL taken the decision to fine us.

We never did get our money back. Time went on and we didn't get it pursued. They rely on this - on intimidation and inertia.

We didn't drive into that restricted zone. We drove up to it so we could reverse into the factory entrance to return the way we had come. Some bureaucrat still took the decision to fine us and when we complained we didn't even get the courtesy of an acknowledgement.

Dick Turpin is alive and well in York and works as Head of Parking Services!

Is the future really electric?

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 09:46:58 GMT

I'm not convinced ...

OK, I get it. I know that we need to reduce emissions and greenhouse gases. I just don’t think that electric vehicle (EVs) are the solution. I think we are being railroaded down this particular route for short term political reasons, NOT long term practical solutions.

When EVs first came out they had such short ranges as to be totally impractical. I know they have dramatically improved and ranges of 300 miles are being touted now – but I’m still not convinced of their practicality for long journeys. I can see how great they are if all your driving is local or is a regular local commute, however I regularly drive all over the country, up and down. I tank up before I go, I might stop at services to use the loo, and then I’m driving again. At my destination I’ll tank up again – takes me 10 minutes. I really don’t have the time to spend 45 minutes at a motorway service station.

On top of this – EVs aren’t as green as they are made out to be. The environmental impact of the mining of materials for the batteries is horrendous, plus at the moment there isn’t the facility to recycle them. As well as this is the expected battery life itself. Not everyone can afford a new electric car. I certainly can’t, and who is going to want a second hand one knowing that a bill of £5K-£7K for a replacement battery is on the horizon?

Now to go back to charging – a friend told me recently he met someone at the charging points at some motorway services (I think it was on the M6 but could be wrong). The charging points were coned off and the driver was frantically scrolling through his phone. He had been planning his journey and planned his recharge at this point only to find they were coned off. He was now desperately trying to find somewhere else within range.

Another anecdotal example – friends of ours who live near London have bought a big Tesla. This is a big car with a big range and Tesla have a supercharger network. On their first visit up I took my friend out for a ride in my Falcon (a 30s style roadster). He loved it and said ‘I know you aren’t into electric cars but I’d love to take you out in the Tesla to let you see how fast it is and all the gizmos, but we haven’t that much charge left and we need to get into York to charge it up before we go back to London.’

On the day they were to travel back they set off at 09.30, went into York as there is a hotel with a Tesla supercharge point. They went to the hotel and plugged in – and of course went into the hotel to spend some time and money having something to eat. They didn’t end up leaving York until almost 13.30. I could have set off at the same time and been at their house before they left York!

This week they came up again. Again he said, I would have loved to have let you have a drive this time but we were going to charge up at the hotel in York again and they are closed for refurbishment. The next charger is in Leeds. We only have 65 miles worth of charge left – but that could be 40, 45, 50 depending. I’m going to be driving to Leeds at 55 mph in a lorry’s slipstream …’

Honest – I couldn’t be doing with that! And this is one of the top of the range EVs of the moment. This is not the way forward. There are other initiatives -why oh why are we being forced down this route?

Welcome

183:886078485 (Paul Hildreth) — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 17:09:29 GMT

Welcome to the blog & new website

As I've totally rebuilt my website, something that was long overdue, I decided to add a blog in. At this stage I don't know how often I'll manage it or even if I'll have anything to say - if I do it probably won't be worth much, but hey ho ...

The images on this post don't have any significance - apart from out with the old and in with the new, I suppose. I like pictures of old things and dilapidation and I like to give them a 'period' feel. I guess my old web site was old, creaking and dilapidated and I hope the sunrise pic is representative of this new site.

I don't have much experience of writing blogs - I do one for VX but that is about it. We'll just have to see what happens.