Well we certainly chose the right week to take leave, the weather has been amazing. On Friday we planned to meet a special friend but we wanted to make the most of the day so we planned our journey carefully. We drove out towards Rugby through some of the most beautiful parts of Northamptonshire, it is always beautiful but the bright sunshine on Friday made it perfect. The next part of our journey was not as beautiful, but Robbie loved it because he was able to spot a lot of Stobart lorries - the things I do to please that man!
Our destination was Astley Book Farm in Bedworth. I have been there several times but it was Robbie's first visit, I had told him how good it was but when he had a chance to explore he got so excited that he even took photos of the loo! I pointed out the railway section (which was conveniently close to the bus and tram section) and there he stayed for at least an hour. When I went to find him later he was sitting on the floor surrounded by a growing pile of books, he still had so much to see but I was finally able to lure him away with the promise of coffee. We went to pay for his pile of books and he talked excitedly about how wonderful the loo was (sometimes I really wish he had an off button!).
He loved the coffe shop. Our friend came to join us and we had a lovely time. The coffee shop counter is awesome, it is covered in pictures of children's book covers and i was pleased to find that I had read most of them. Eventually we had to drag ourselves away from the Book Farm and we went back to our friend's house, it was a really lovely day. Robbie went home with a big smile on his face, a big pile of railway books and he was able to do more Stobart spotting on the way home, what more could he possibly want.
So Network Rail think that Satellite Navigation systems are at the root of their problems?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/09/nsatnav109.xml
I'm not convinced; I manage perfectly well with a map, a bit of forward planning and a window, and I have never gone too far wrong! There again, Network Rail don't have a great track record when it comes to forward planning or seeing what is right under their nose, so it hardly surprising that they think we all 'drive by numbers'. If there really is a problem with lorries going around bashing bridges to the extent that they claim then I think there may be more plausible reasons. I would guess that incomprehensible road signs play their part, also I think that foreign lorry drivers may be at fault. Many do not speak English and they may struggle to understand our road signs and some may not be familiar with our measurements either so warning signs may mean very little to them. On the way into Kettering they have a sign with a sensor to tell lorries that they are too big and get them to turn off before they get stuck under the bridge. Maybe a few more signs like that may help. Perhaps Network Rail should start to think outside the box and come up with some imaginative ideas to prevent future accidents. If there really are all these cars and lorries causing so much disruption to the railway, Network Rail should be suing the drivers involved and it is a pretty safe bet that if sat-nav is at fault the motor insurance companies would pursue the sat-nav providers. It may be an alien concept to Network Rail but a certain amount of common sense is essential when driving (and a little more of it could work wonders on the railways too!) so maybe an IQ test should be compulsory for all drivers. If nothing else it would reduce traffic congestion over night!
