Just seen the TV report in it - the spokesman for the pensioners was wearing a leather cowboy hat.
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Of course he is causing an obstruction. By repeatedly crossing the road over and over again he is causing 3 miles jams each way. Our Police service do nothing. He should be sectioned.
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In the TV report it said the cops would act if there was a breach of the peace. Quite likely I would say.
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The chap very kindly gave out his full postcode to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 today.
I can think of certain areas of the country where he would end up in a car boot.
Last edited by: Zhukov on Wed 5 May 10 at 17:57
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>> wearing a leather cowboy hat.
See, I told you......!!
.......and don't be thinking an "Aussie bush" cheapskate's version is OK either. Still a slapping offence in my book. Well, imaginary slapping anyway, wouldn't actually, but you know what I mean.......
Mr Men socks irritate me too come to that
Edit - .....and grey shoes.
Last edited by: Humph D'bout on Wed 5 May 10 at 18:09
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and... ?
Come on, out with it! :-)
JH
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"Still a slapping offence in my book"
Mine has three leather tassles at the rear too.
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Funnily enough I bumped into an old pal today - fresh from the colonies resplendent in a leather cowboy hat and boots - the only saving grace is that he is an ex-pat American. He cold ever get the hang of Pelican crossings (dragging this thing back on topic)
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I stuck a emu feather in the hatband of my Aussie leather bush hat.
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actually, I've been wondering these last couple of weeks why we have Pelican crossings. What are their advantages over Zebra crossings? Recently I have;
seen an able bodied man walk up to one, press the button without thinking, lights for traffic instantly go red, he crossed, we sit there, lights eventually go green and off we go. If he had thought for a moment he could have stood there for, oh, 15 seconds and then crossed safely without the traffic stopping.
read that older people can't get across in the allotted time. So what, we're not going to run them over. Well not me anyway, I'm not so sure about you :-) So the answer (you're getting ahead of me aren't you?) is to extend the time. So we sit there longer while schoolkids cross and disappear up the road. Because how many people walking across need the extra time? But if it was a Zebra crossing, no such problem!
So - ban Pelicans, bring back Zebras.
JH
Last edited by: Tooslow on Wed 5 May 10 at 19:12
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Heard him on Whine's prog today and i have every sympathy with people suffering from constant traffic, quite what there is to be done about it i don't know.
Whether he's right or not i'm glad there's still a few eccentrics knocking about.
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OT I guess but I rarely press the button on Pelicans. 9 times out of 10 one can wait a few seconds for a break in traffic and cross safely. Probably do this because it annoys me that usually at a Pelican one is stopped and no-one crosses because they have pressed the button, but crossed in a break in traffic before the lights change for them. When the traffic is stopped for them they are long gone!
But don't get me started on traffic lights - especially those on roundabouts which stop you 3 times to get to 3rd exit at 4am when there isn't another vehicle for miles but the "phasing" says they must be on red just for you - and for a particularly long time because there is an associated pedestrian crossing and there must be time for the invisible pedestrians to cross at 4am.
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Good for that man, and knickers to the nosey flatties who "warned" him.
It's high time something was done about the excessive heavy traffic through there.
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>>
>> It's high time something was done about the excessive heavy traffic through there.
>>
Having listened to a bit of the programme, it seems that his main objection, predictably, is heavy goods vehicles. I'm not familiar with the road in question, but a quick look at my map tells me that if I was sending a lorry from Southampton to Devon I'd send it that way because the alternatives are either considerably further or even less suitable for artics.
It's all very well him saying that HGV's should find another route, but that simply means that some other poor sod finds twice as many lorries going past his front door, and then it all starts over again. Limiting the road to 7.5 tonnes "except for access" would not reduce the traffic by much IMO. There is a lot of quarry traffic round there, and I would guess that much of the products are distributed locally. Even shutting that down wouldn't help, the materials would simply have to come from elsewhere.
Whilst I have an element of sympathy for his plight, he came across as a bit of a NIMBY. I'd be interested to learn how long he's actually lived in the village; my experience is that most people who behave like this are relatively new incomers, who do this sort of thing because they can't get on the parish council!
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There's an aspect of Zebra crossings which doesn't really get mentioned. Trafford MBC, just down the road from me, seems to be the Empire of Zebras.
One road I use often , to get to and from Bike Club, has about 7 on the journey.
OK in the light but at night, with the street lights high up in the tree canopy and modern, Halogen, Tungsten, Cheese and Onion or whatever, headlights shining towards you, it's extremely difficult to pick out a dark clothed pedestrian about to step off. And step off they do, knowing they have right of way. !
Better some sort of control IMO.
Ted
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It shouldn't be hard, with 'Zebra' crossings approach the edge of the pavement and stop at the edge indicating thus to drivers you wish to cross. NOT swerve suddenly onto the crossing giving vehicles no warning of your intentions - pausing briefly to indicate you displeasure by various hand movements and mouthings.
Light controlled crossings: As you approach the crossing estimate the traffic situation , engage brain and decide whether pressing the button will make any difference to your need to cross and possible delays. NOT - wander up brain involved with phone, music, conversations or idle dreaming, press button -look up and see empty road, cross and wander off still in a daze - greenman appears halting traffic who then wonder where the pedestrian is!
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Just let a few looneys out of the local hospitals and get them to jump in front of vehicles.
Then a bypass guaranteed.
Baldock bypass comes to mind.
Sick and twisted idea but it works.
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This Chideock bottleneck has been a pain in my neck for years. The village is strung out over what seems to be a mile, with a speed camera at each end There is a steep climb out at each end and no room to get up momentum between the cameras and the 30 mph limit ends (I once caused the eastern camera to flash for this reason but there couldn't have been any film in it as I got no ticket). The resulting low gear grind up hill cannot be very good for the environment or the ears of nearby residents (and they are mostly very nearby). It is part of the A35 main south coast route to Devon and Cornwall and a by-pass has been needed for years. There is no way round to the south and only very narrow little lanes to the north and the main tourist rush will soon be under weigh.
On the other hand, I sympathise with the offending OAP if, as he says, his local council have ignored 50 letters from him on the subject.
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>> I sympathise with the offending OAP if as he says his local council have ignored 50 letters from him on the subject.
Signing the letters "Victor Meldrew" probably didn't help his cause.
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I'm not sure I know the difference between pelican, puffin, pegasus, toucan and zebra crossings.
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Surely it is simple enough for the local council to adjust the timing of the light;we have crossings near us-one changes almost as soon as the button is pressed-another will leave you standing on the pavement for so long that you think it is not working.
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>> I'm not sure I know the difference between pelican puffin pegasus toucan and zebra crossings.
Now I do. tinyurl.com/2v4d7k3
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>> Now I do.
Are you after jbif's job? ;o)
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Some of the information in the link is wrong.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 7 May 10 at 12:37
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>> Some of the information in the link is wrong.
>>
Well, share your knowledge with the rest of us.
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Ah, that got your attention. :-)
Maybe incomplete would be a better word. No mention of the meaning of amber flashing lights.
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No mention of the meaning of amber flashing lights
Maybe because they're history - new lights around here have steady red and amber before green.
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Still in the online HC, rule 196. Maybe your Pelicans are extinct.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 7 May 10 at 14:58
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There's a lot more to this story than is immediately apparent. In my opinion, Chideock is one of the nastiest villages in the country - and that's just the villagers. The problem is that it's too 'chocolate-boxy' for its own good.
Years ago the village had the opportunity of a bypass but the NIMBYs and incomers wouldn't have it and there's been viciousness over the issue ever since that has spilled over into many elements of local life. The fact that a prominent member of the Royal family was living close to the line of the proposed new road at the time had nothing to do with it, of course.
I can't think of anywhere else I have ever come across during my whole career where the police were (and maybe still are) regularly called to parish council meetings to keep the peace.
The mindset there is unlike anywhere else. Some years ago the parish council got the pensioner who struggled up the church tower every week to wind the clock thrown out of his job when they discovered the poor old soul was paid an honorarium of a few quid a year.
The place is beyond belief. Flatten it now and do the rest of us - especially A35 users - a favour.
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>> the line of the proposed new road
As a point of interest, what was it? Any north-about would seem to invlove a lot of properties whereas the only thing south-about , as far as I recall, is the pub at Seatown, which need not be affected.
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>> Years ago the village had the opportunity of a bypass but the NIMBYs and incomers
>> wouldn't have it and there's been viciousness over the issue ever since that has spilled
>> over into many elements of local life.
I thought that might be the case. I was brought up near Southwell, Nottinghamshire, another place where a much-needed bypass has never been built for similar reasons.
Mind you, Nottinghamshire County Council don't help. The whole county has a history of bad decisions and missed opportunities where road improvements are concerned; witness the A453 from J24 of the M1, which has been crying out for dualling since I was a small child, and also the abortion that is Newark bypass.
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>> >> Now I do.
>>
>> Are you after jbif's job? ;o)
>>
At the risk of appearing to be thick, would you explain that to me?
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>> >> Now I do.
>>
>> Are you after jbif's job? ;o)
>>
Come on, L'escargot, I know it's early but...
:)
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>> >> Are you after jbif's job? ;o)
>> >>
>>
>>
>> Come on, L'escargot, I know it's early but...
>>
>> :)
>>
Well, you explain it then!
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jbif seemingly had a photographic memory and was able to fish links from old postings and other internet sources without effort.
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news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8662249.stm
Seems that the be-hatted Pelican warrior has been warned by the Police that they might deprive him of his liberty...
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Good. They know more about Chideock than most. The proposed bypass line was in fact north, involving some modern bungalows and the grounds of a listed property (IIRC).
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>> jbif seemingly had .....
What PU said. No offence meant - hence the smiley.
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>> >> jbif seemingly had .....
>>
>> What PU said. No offence meant - hence the smiley.
>>
Now that you've explained, far from being offended I'm honoured to have been compared with jbif.
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>> Now that you've explained, far from being offended I'm honoured to have been compared with jbif.
Credit you richly deserve, L'escargot.
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...I'm honoured to have been compared with jbif...
Where is the argumentative little wretch these days?
Still spreading his bile at the other place?
Or maybe someone's done what should have been done years ago.
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...Topped him?...
Careful B-er B-er D,
There are some sensitive souls on here, as I've discovered in the past day or two.
Although apparently squashing Kerry Katona is OK because she's irritating.
Leave the girl alone, I say.
She's dropped a bit of weight and is looking quite fit again.
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"She's dropped a bit of weight"
that'll either be the coke habit or the bankruptcies.
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It's an ill wind.........
Pat
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>> Although apparently squashing Kerry Katona is OK because she's irritating.
I repeat:
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=1171&m=20272&v=e
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>> Where is the argumentative little wretch these days?
>>
>> Still spreading his bile at the other place?
Some members obviously see other members in a different light from what I do. I shudder to think what my reputation is! No compliments please, because although I'm difficult to offend I'm easy to embarrass!
:-D
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If there was trouble or agro, Jbif was somewhere at the centre of it.
I was quite suprised you were pleased to be compared with him.
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...If there was trouble or agro, Jbif was somewhere at the centre of it...
That was my impression, but as Les says, members see other members in different lights.
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>> I was quite suprised you were pleased to be compared with him.
>>
I admire his memory. I wish mine was as good.
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>>No compliments please, because although I'm difficult to offend I'm easy to embarrass!
:-D
Looks like I'll not be getting that loan, then.
Drat!
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