20^th November 2016

Dear All,

What with one thing and another it has taken sometime to sleep patterns back to normal following jetlag and Street Pastors. The latest excitement was Kate going down with a severe bout of sickness which kept her in bed all Friday, which I followed by attempting the world diarrhoea record Friday night! On the bright side I am lighter than I have been for some months and I have learnt to spell diarrhoea!

I had another Garden Club talk at Fulbourn on Tuesday night then we drove down to Hove so were late arriving but naturally the roads were clear. Albert’s latest trick is tobogganing down the stairs at great speed on his tummy – nothing to worry his minders there! Amélie’s homework was to talk to an old person about the toys they had as a child, so I was able to fit the bill and help her.

On Thursday we met at Glatton near Sawtry for our walk taking in Denton, Stilton and Folkesworth. It was quite undulating and beginning to get sticky but a decent walk.

Near Glatton

On Friday I was kindly invited to attend a “Speed Awareness Course” at Huntingdon Racecourse having been nabbed on the way to Exmoor travelling downhill on a deserted road at 8.30 am on a Sunday morning on Thrapston by pass. Actually the course was excellent presented by a couple of comedians but imparting a deal of interesting information.

How many road casualties were reported in 2014? 194,477 (probably 750,000 realistically)

How many killed? 1,775

Which year was worst? 1967 – before seat belts and drink driving warnings

Which counties have the worst records? 1. Lincolnshire, 2. Cambridgeshire (rural road with dykes)

Where do collisions occur? Urban 71%, Rural 25%, Motorways 4%

And deaths? Urban 44%, Rural 50%, Motorways 5%

When were 30 mph speed limits brought in? 1935

How do you tell what the speed limit is? If there are street lights it is 30 mph unless there are signs overruling it then there should be repeaters on every street light.

What do motorcyclists call their SMIDSY club? Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You.

If you stop at a certain distance at 30 mph, what speed would you be impacting at the same distance if travelling at 32 mph? 11 mph. I could go on!

Last night we had a Street Pastor’s Drug awareness training session from “Inclusion” a national organisation that works with folk affected by drugs, alcohol and mental health. We can now tell you the effects of Amphetamones (Speed), Methamphetamine, Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, LSD, MDMA (Ecstacy), Floral cannabis (Skunk), Resin, Spice, Methedrone, Heroin, Ketamine, Rohypnol (date rape drug) and their combination with alcohol.

Love

Mike & Kate