My daughter came back with chocolate for everyone, a 'Lazy Susan' and a tartan jacket. She had managed to track down a charity shop in Lausanne. It took her well over an hour with the tracking system on her phone which led her round in circles. Her description of Lausanne and Vevey is a bit worrying, drug dealers around at the railway station, homeless on the street, this is not the Switzerland I knew but her aunts are well.
As for the political 's***s***m which still erupts around us, I have decided the North should break away from the South and we should have Andy Burnham as our leader. Scotland will also have broken away of course.
As for Todmorden there are plenty too govern this small town, if they are not losing their cats or dogs, there are plenty of problems to solve, like moving the pedestrian crossings from where they have recently been put to somewhere else. What I love about the green light crossings, is that they switch on by themselves in a random fashion, infuriating motorists as they stop for no pedestrians crossing.
What all these driving people do not understand is that the point of the exercise is to get rid of the car! Have you heard of the 15 minute city?
"The 15-minute city should have three key features. First, the rhythm of the city should follow humans, not cars. Second, each square meter should serve many different purposes. Finally, neighbourhoods should be designed so that we can live, work and thrive in them without having to constantly commute elsewhere.”
But would I dare enter Tod chat with that statement? I can almost hear people in blog land spitting their coffee at the screen ;)
So just in case you feel like that.......
The weather forecast says you are getting the worst of the snow today - stay warm. Hope it doesn't last too long
ReplyDeleteThanks Sue, one of the first things my daughter said when she got back was how the Swiss know how to keep their homes warm in winter, our building stock leaves a lot to be desired.
DeleteI haven't seen any of those randomly changing pedestrian crossing lights yet. I wouldn't put it past them to try that trick. As a pedestrian I don't use a crossing if the traffic is light. I cross where I need to and usually sprint across, so it doesn't annoy a driver who ends up having to stop for nothing.
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, with all these crossings, it is often easier to cross a very empty road because traffic is being stopped further down the road out of sight Ilona.
DeleteNot that Builth would qualify as a 15 minute city - it's barely a town with just the one main street and limited parking which is fought over. As we are two miles out, couldn't do without the car either! I can remember when they were building new estates in the1960s in Southampton, and each had a parade of shops to suit your daily needs, and a Dr's surgery. All within a walk of your home. Plus outside of the city were many market gardens which provided the fruit and veg for the city, and had market stalls on the side of the road to catch passing trade.
ReplyDeleteThat was the old England Jennie, now we have large supermarkets with equally large car parks but again it is changing because we can now have deliveries of our grocery goods due to Covid, in fact we are having one tonight. With small unit supermarket in towns, those that live in the countryside will still have to use a car. I haven't even touched the subject of the small market car park that is now proposed to be turned into a leisure facility but knickers and twist don't cover it...
DeleteMy hubby and I often talk about the famous "get on your bike" which seemed to lead to a massive increase in people commuting miles and miles for work. Centralisation of many services has not helped either. I know Todmorden and its environs very well and have had many enjoyable times there with friends. I love the picture of the dogs! It's already snowing here.
ReplyDeleteI remember that, but getting on your bike could not bring the shopping back. Also the little trailers fitted to bikes to carry your shopping, hazardous in heavy traffic, especially when they had children in them. Those puppies made me laugh as well.
DeleteLol, I was referring to 'Onyerbike' Tebbit!
DeleteI'd forgotten Tebbit - not one of the good ones.
DeleteNo he was not and looking back the economic conditions of that period ushered in the era of the mass daily commute that we just take for granted now. I have always commuted to the nearest large city less than ten miles away for work and at the beginning of my career most of my colleagues thought I was mad to travel so far on a daily basis. Move forward 30 plus years and I have colleagues who commute 50 miles plus each way every day to my workplace. It's madness!
DeleteCommuting was slightly altered because of the Covid Era though, when people worked from home and found it easier. Of course it can only happen with a few people, the loss of banks was an abrupt change that did not really help a lot of people.
DeleteA bit of snow down here last night but now just a mixture of rain and drizzle - variety is the spice of life!
ReplyDeleteWell I ordered herb seeds last night, so when I sow the seed I shall expect the weather to behave John.
DeleteHaving spent 6 years living in Oxford, one of the leading proponents of the 15 minute city, I have to wonder at the supposed intelligence of councillors in that university town. Almost none of the staff, academics and students beyond first year live within 15 minutes of the city centre facilities, even with the high level of bike usage already.
ReplyDeleteThat Will of course is the big debate, what does freedom to buy a house/car/shop anywhere measure up against the freedom to expect the infrastructure of a country to be able to serve everyone equally? I think the 15 minute city was devised solely for people living in the city. Energy use is the big talking point.
DeleteAt least part of the problem in Oxford even then was the extortionate cost of housing anywhere near the Uni facilities, so very few could have afforded to have been within a 15 minute commute.
DeleteAt ninety stopped feeling anger about anything - I realised it was pointless as day by day there seem to be more things to be angry about; I just live each day as if it is my last! Love the picture!
ReplyDeletesorry, forgot to put my name to the comment above.
ReplyDeleteI always know when it is you Pat. Actually anger should be turned into action, by younger people of course!
DeleteThe owl made me laugh. We are waiting for another storm tomorrow. We had a big one here on Monday, and some folks just got their power back yesterday!
ReplyDeleteWell we are snowed in here Debby but the power works.
DeleteThe 15 minute city is nice idea but perhaps not so relevant to those of us who live rurally and who are just as essential to the overall functioning of society. Here, I'd quite like a 1 hour perimeter with enough services so I don't have to go to Cardiff for most of them!
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a way to go Mark, though the roads are blissfully empty compared to the motor run from Bath to the bridge.
Delete