2016 is the year to celebrate Garfield Sobers, probably the greatest all-round cricketer who ever played the game. He was born and still lives on the Caribbean island of Barbados, and that connection is reason enough to pay a visit. I suspect, however, that this scintillating island would be noticed and remembered by more people this… Continue reading
St Petersburg, City of War and Peace where bedtime is abolished
St Petersburg is vying for a place among the world’s great short-break destinations, after the BBC’s War and Peace. I remember this city from long ago, as black and white Leningrad. But I much prefer the remastered Technicolor version, with its fine palaces, canals to match Amsterdam, wide boulevards on a par with Paris, and… Continue reading →
Could the self-driving bus save rural public transport?
There is a long-term future for rural bus services in Britain, but it doesn’t involve humans, or at least human drivers. A BBC story today (February 4, 2016) dwells on the risk of services in England and Wales being “wiped out” by council budget cuts. The Campaign for Better Transport said public subsidies to bus… Continue reading →
My journey from Commodore 64 to Motorola Moto G supercomputer
Oh dear. My Motorola smartphone is trying to set me tougher New Year challenges. “You’ve been very active over the last two weeks” (referring to my several times exceeding my one-hour walking or running target on Fit.) “Ready to take your goal to the next level?” I have been quite happy with one hour, and… Continue reading →
How people of Jericho built Britain’s daftest, most heroic railway
The ITV “Yorkshire Western” Jericho celebrates the men and women who built the Ribblehead Viaduct, centrepiece of the wild, fabulous and slightly mad railway, running over the top of England in the 1870s. The viaduct, that heroic vindication of their labours, still stands, part of a living, working Settle-Carlisle Railway, one of the great scenic… Continue reading →
UK company’s zero-emission “clean cold” engine keep goods cool in intransit
Anyone out on the roads of the UK, or the rest of Europe or North America today, will see enormously polluting vehicles. I don’t mean the common petrol or diesel-powered car. I’m referring to those many, often anonymous looking, vans carrying perishable goods. Until I received a press release about a British company with what… Continue reading →