I was surprised as many others to hear that there are plans afoot to make Townend roundabout more ‘Dutch’ and bicycle friendly. It might sound a bit awful to say but the only people I ever see on bicycles on that roundabout are dodgy types that look as if they’re on a quick getaway from something. Thinking of the disruption that will cause to build makes me want to lie down in a dark room. Surely we are a long way from the Dutch idyll of a flat landscape and wide roads big enough to make separate bike lanes to accommodate the many MANY people who ride them in the Netherlands.
Make bikes in charge of a big Barnsley roundabout where HGVs abound and it’s a recipe for disaster, and you don’t need to be Mystic Meg to see that, do you? What next, an Edam factory up Racecommon Road? Let me guess that this is an idea by someone high up in a council office who has a fancy bike and a personal dream of life a la Amsterdam. Maybe the green bit in the middle could be all tulips with a central windmill feature. Once upon a time they were going to turn Barnsley into a Tuscan hill village, now it’s a flat Dutch city. Head. Desk.
However another innovation on the horizon – the proposed town centre hospital hub sounds fabulous. I know the diagnostic centre in the Glassworks was a great idea, no hassle about parking and a slick operation, excuse the pun. Let’s just hope that it is the start of many much needed changes to do with Barnsley hospital.
It was my first Mother’s Day without my mum last week and it felt very odd not buying a card, the first time since I was about five. I didn’t want to be maudlin on the day so we had booked to see 10CC in York, something to look forward to. It was packed, plenty of old rockers still around to appreciate a band with longevity, with musical skills second to none, not manufactured with a shelf life of five years.
This was a class act and it was a privilege to be in a throng, enjoying the live music. So someone explain to me why there were so many pillocks intent on videoing most of it on their phones. They actually watched the concert on their phone screens when they could have just saved themselves the ticket money and sat at home watching YouTube videos. I have never understood what is more important that seeing it with your own eyes and savouring the memories because it was brilliant. How can it be as good any other way?
Anyone like to enlighten me on what to do when there has been no bin collection in your street, even though all the bins in the streets around us have been emptied so that wasn’t a great sign. The council website says not to worry because they’ll collect it soon. They’ve even put a list of all the streets where they’ve missed – ours isn’t on it. But would you like some bags which will be sent out to you via second class post? Yes, very helpful for pensioners with stinking overloaded bins who can’t negotiate the internet very easily. And a total waste of time really because I didn’t get the bags. We didn’t get the bin collection either so I’ve tried to report it again only to get the message ‘There hasn’t been a bin collection at this property within the last two working days.’ No shet Shirlock. It would never happen in Amsterdam.
