A waterlogged Nene Valley

I've just returned from another trip to the Nene Valley Railway near Peterborough - not too far from where I live on the edge of the Wash - and enjoyed a ride on a delightful Swedish railcar. For those train buffs among you, the railcar is a Swedish type Y7 built in 1957. The journey was surprisingly comfortable and the passenger compartment was toasty warm. It was my first time on the railcar, and I loved it. I think I've been pulled by most if not all of their existing stock but today's experience was quite unique.

The railway passes over the river Nene at Wansford and I was shocked at how swollen the river was and along the route from Wansford to Peterborough (Nene Valley) Station, the fields were full of water.

In places, the fields had been transformed into lakes and trees stood in several feet of water. I have travelled this line many times and I've never seen the river as full as it is now or the fields so waterlogged. The media are focused on Somerset at the moment - and understandably as they have suffered the most - but travel around the country and scenes such as these are becoming a familiar sight.

For when that meeting simply has to go on...

I'll leave you to make up your own caption...

What on Earth's going on with our weather?

I haven't written very much about the weather here in the UK. I haven't really needed to. It is always in the news and in the press. We often have bad weather here in the UK. It often rains and it is often windy - it is Winter after all. But I can't be alone in thinking that the last few months have been pretty extreme. Late last year, we saw flooding on the East Coast of England. There was significant damage to coastal defences and much of the damage remains, awaiting repair and will remain so due to lack of funds.

The combination of heavy rain, high tides and strong winds has resulted in significant flooding across large parts of the UK especially in Somerset and with further rain forecast, there is little hope of the area returning to 'normal'. There is huge criticism aimed at the government for having done too little too late and many blame the Environment Agency for the state of the rivers and lack of dredging that has contributed to the flooding

Today we have seen yet another severe storm which has caused damage to sea defences along the south and west coast. The train line from Paddington to Penzance has been damaged at Dawlish in Devon where the sea wall and track bed has been washed away by powerful waves. I know this stretch of line very well. I've even modelled it and consider it to be one of the most picturesque stretches of railway in the UK.

We've had severe weather before. We've had large waves before, but this time it is different. Never before has this much damage been caused. The bill for repairing the line will be enormous and it will be closed for weeks and possibly months to come. It will need a lot of money and a lot of engineering expertise to repair the line and to make the whole coastal stretch safe for trains once more.
As I write this, I hear that residents in Somerset are being evacuated due to rising flood water. There are currently 8 severe flood warnings and thousands are without power.
I hear so many who maintain that the weather is 'normal' for this time of year, but I'm afraid I can't agree. You really don't need to be an expert to see that weather like this, so damaging and so prolonged, isn't normal. I daresay that in six months from now, we'll be complaining that it's too hot and that we're heading for drought...

Catching up with the New Year

With all that's been going on, I'd almost forgotten about my blog. I've just been so busy with the work I do for Blue Skies and a few other jobs I'm doing for other people. In fact the work I do for Blue Skies is pretty much a full time job - unpaid of course as I am an NHS volunteer - and payment for me is seeing people leaving the group in a better state than when they arrived.

So much has happened since my last post. The weather has figured enormously and much of the country is still under water, especially the west where much of the Somerset Plains are submerged with villages literally cut off. As I type this, I see that Somerset have declared a 'major incident' and with the forecast predicting more heavy rain in the coming days, the situation there can only get worse. It's not good. There was something I was planning to write about, but it's gone completely out of my mind - as many things do. Unless I write things down and remember where I left the book or piece of paper I wrote them on, I forget. It's getting worse. My mind constantly malfunctions. If it were a computer, I would have thrown it out or sought an upgrade ages ago!

A bout of depression over New Year left me feeling there was little point to 2014. It took a long time for me to 'see sense' again and realise there's lots to look forward to. For the first time in over four years, I have a little money coming in. I'm being paid to look after social media accounts and a website for a friend who is trying to launch his business selling cosmetics and health & beauty products. I will also earn a little money spending time with a dear disabled friend of mine and I have my meagre expenses payments each month. I'm grateful to my friends who have all rallied round to help me which has enabled me to keep going with my volunteering work and avoid having to look for a job - a job I would have no hope of getting given my health problems. I'm in a 'good place' at the moment. There's so much going on in my head, I can't get myself adequately organised to formulate a proper post, but this can be seen as a stop-gap until I'm back in blogging mode once more. rest assured, there's plenty to come...

When promotions go wrong

It's always difficult to know what to buy my wife for Christmas, but this year she helped me by dropping hints about a 'Soap & Glory' gift set called the 'Yule Monty'.

Boots were selling it for £60 but 'money-saving expert' Martin Lewis (bless him) had very cleverly let slip on TV that Boots were going to sell it for less than half price the week before Christmas.

Unfortunately, this has spectacularly backfired as Boots are now out of stock and the discounted gift sets have been bought and re-sold on ebay at double their purchase price and more. I really think it's about time we consider outlawing the re-sale of certain goods - especially goods such as these that have been specially discounted. It just goes to show that at a time of giving and good will to all, greed remains as strong as ever.

Our National Health & Smoking

Once again, smoking is in the news and once again it's another attempt by our health gods and our NHS to rid our hospital sites of smoking - specifically ill people smoking. Of course no amount of effort, penalties or wasted signage will stop people from doing it. Most will find a spot away from CCTV cameras and others will simply sit in their cars. It's a battle no one is going to win.
Of course a proactive approach (I know it's novel) could be taken which would certainly provide an incentive for patients to stop smoking, and that's to provide an e-cigarette for the duration of their stay.

I know they work, I use one all the time and having smoked in the past - cigars and cigarettes - I've never looked back. For me it's the ideal solution. I can use it anywhere, it produces no smoke or smell, there's no harmful tar or chemicals, no litter, gives me something to do with my hands (this is why patches don't work), saves me a fortune and it delivers the nicotine I need. That's my solution to this problem.

Doctor Who at 50

I wouldn't consider myself a Whovian, but there was something very special about last night's 50th Anniversary Doctor Who special. I grew up knowing Tom Baker as the Doctor, and it was quite some time before I discovered he was actually the fourth. 

For me, he'll always be the best and it was his surprise appearance which almost reduced me to tears. An amazing piece of British television history, for which all involved should be very proud.