General Chat

Reilly's dog reminded me of the time Fred came in one night from exercising the dogs and he was practically sitting on the floor unable to do anything other than laugh.

We had no car but we all had a bike of some description and our two dogs had been trained to run to heel beside the bikes.

Fred had been down the road somewhere with the dogs off the lead. He was probably in a field having a cabbage or swede away under his coat.

He happened to see a man on a bloke go by and running obediently to heel was our Buster. Having a dirty great dog in pursuit, the bloke speeded up and so did Buster, keeping pace.

They got a fair way together too because Fred was laughing too much to be able to call or whistle the dog back.

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D.
Dermot I did enjoy reading that and conjuring up a vivid picture,mortal danger you were in,,,,, ;-)

Exeter parents were stunned not long ago following the news that Devon County Council was to cut school bus services in the city. Hundreds of children could be left without transport & parents backed by teachers were up in arms. One concerned mother complained that her 10 year-old son would have to walk nearly two miles if his bus provision was withdrawn & she was anxious about his safety.

Two miles indeed! Poor youngster! This report brought my mind back some fifty years where in the west of Ireland I walked five miles to junior school every day - hail, rain or snow. There was no bus provision in those pre-ipad years & I was lucky sometimes to have been able to cycle to school for a change. Of course, the schoolmaster rode to school by pony & trap - that was before he bought his shinny black Ford Popular.

Whether on foot or by bike, those few miles were sometimes fraught with dangers or so I thought. First, I had to get past Mick Lynch’s mule - a fearsome bad-tempered animal likely as not to throw a kick in my direction just for devilment. Why he was always on the road & not in his allotted field was beyond me. Mick Lynch only had the one small field so, I suspect, he encouraged his mule to partake of the grass verges - free gratis. They used to call that ‘the long acre’ - work that one out yourselves!

A bit further on was Connor’s bull, grazing peacefully until he spotted me when he would half-raise his head, as if he was deciding whether or not to bother with me. Occasionally, he would then charge at me, frothing at the mouth & his hoofs pounding the ground. I often thought he might jump the fence out onto the road but his massive bulk prevented him doing so. He really was a big fellow & was well respected by other farmers who would use his reproductive ability - for a fee, of course. He must be related to many young calves in the area.

Further along, there was an old empty house where poor men of the road took temporary shelter. I would tiptoe past, scared in case they might do some harm. See what a youngster’s imagination gets up to.

I remember well Dodd’s farm on the main road just the far side of the village because the Dodd family were well known in the horse breeding & racing fraternity. They kept a stallion plus a few mares & a donkey to keep them company. The stallion was a lovely proud animal & he would stand there tossing his head in the air & showing his teeth as if he was in a horse show. He really was the master. Sometimes, I would watch from a distance his handler exercising him. This was easily done by tying a long rope to the stallion’s bridle & allowing him to gallop in a circle. What a treat it would have been to be allowed to ride the stallion - a pipe dream of course.

These obstacles safely negotiated, there were still some unfriendly dogs to contend with. Of course, their barks were worse that their bites. On reflection, I can only remember once being nipped while cycling past Reilly’s house. His pet Irish Setter just liked to run & made sure that every cyclist going that way was accompanied for a hundred yards or so by him barking furiously. Poor old Mr Reilly would come out of his house waving his walking stick trying to pacify his pet dog but he might as well be shouting at the moon.

Come to think of it, I don’t remember pet dogs receiving any training in our part of the county. Happy days - I think!

Many of our mums didnt drive years ago so the only way was walking,plus many families didnt even own one car let alone two....

Is it something to do with time?


at one time most mums stayed at home to raise kids and do housework.and had time to walk to school twice a day,

or kids were safe, once they were old enough to be trusted to walk to school


......now mums have to goto work themselves to help with the finances?

and then there is a fear of harm coming to children, out alone......

I used to go to the school and have lived here ever since that time.

We walked and cycled to school alone and many came on the bus ,also alone, but, now, there are very few bicycles and never a child alone.

Evidently we were not worth having because we all survived but over the years w have watched the change in travel arrangements.

I first started school from a house down the road and was taken there in a seat on the back of the bike which was made up of a few metal bars and an optional lap strap which was never done up.

Hi Sharron,

We live in a road with a Primary school and today enough was enough. I think its a case of not if, but when an accident will happen. The parents are parking on junctions, over driveways and generally wherever they feel like. I have phoned the school on many occasions and a child was knocked over a couple of years ago in the road. Thankfully no serious injuries. It has got much worse over the last two years. I have come to the conclusion that most children are driven as our road and the roads around the school are blocked with cars. It starts at least 20 minutes before picking up time. The mad and sad thing is that any child who is at that school is no more than a 15 to 20 minute walk from any road in this town.

Why are the parents not walking them to school???

In desperation I popped into the local police station. They are pretty powerless as well but said they would get a CPO to patrol and were sympathetic.

At least I know that I have reported the matter to the school and police. If and when something happens at least I know I have tried.

Rant over :-)

Teresa

I have phoned them on several occasions because the pavements are blocked and the wheelchair has to go on the road round the even blinder bend and one year when there would not have been room for a lorry to get through, even if it was a fire engine!

Don't want to be the miserable old biddy with no life!

The Polish tractor driver nearly had to take his phone from his ear for a moment just now when he went by too!

Don't know where my neighbours are either. They came home from shopping just now and had nowhere to park so they went somewhere.

Daft isn't it - if there's an accident their car is empty but anyone banging into it could be killed . Do you think people have a mind block when it comes to parking? Good idea of Mayfield's phone the police

Beggers belief dosen't it! We live near a recreation ground and when the sports club has a match or "do" the same thing happens I never park in the road myself because it is little more than a lane but they do just the same.
Mind you the local Plod have been down on several occations to sort it out, perhaps a call to your local PC? ;-)

Parking must be a nightmare at times, but there is no excuse for thoughtless behaviour.- an accident waiting to happen.

Some motorists in Folkestone found their own solution to a parking problem,a while ago !

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-21070891

Gwyn

I live next to a primary school on a fairly deceptive bend.

We live round the fact that we can have no visits or deliveries at certain times of the day because we have nowhere to park.

Today must be sports day because this side of the road is full of cars and, on the other side of the road, just round the bend where the cars come blindly hammering by, facing the wrong way, somebody has parked a car!