vivweb01blog

Important Update 23.10.25: We now have firm dates for the closure of NCR6 (Alias FP K68). A notice appeared in early October at the prospective NCR6 crossing point for the new Garendon distributor road to the effect that '....Butthole Lane will be closed from 13.10.25 for 10 weeks...' . I have now obtained more detailed info about the closure from LCC Highways via our local county councillor. You'll find these on my website - follow the link below or more details and a status report for the recommended diversionary route.  NCR6 is an established PROW, and is the only remaining traffic-free route between Shepshed and Loughborough for cyclists and pedestrians. Closing it for this length of time will inconvenience both pedestrians and cyclists; there is no viable alternative cycle-friendly route, since the Coach Road is also closed and isn't scheduled to reopen again until April 2026. The closure will also restrict access to the established FPs in the southern part of t...

Editor's note: Herewith a reissue of an amusing aside I wrote in 2022 after experiencing a particularly perplexing series of announcements, most of which seemed to defy common sense.......enjoy ! --------------------------------------------------------- Pondering the recent article about the close down of the world’s largest online eBook library  by the US authorities earlier this year led me back to the question asked increasingly often nowadays:   “ Where has all our common sense gone ?” I thought this might be a good opportunity to take a light-hearted 'tongue-in cheek' look at the logic (or lack of it) underlying human behaviour. What is it ? First of all, what is ‘common sense’ – and how do we define it ? To start with, here's a bit of personal history to help 'set the scene'.... I can well remember from my early childhood the frequent exhortations I received from my parents in response to what I thought was perfectly reasonable behaviour: ‘…for g...

  I first published this blog in late 2023 when the realisation that vaping was harmful to teenage lungs was becoming more widespread, and the authorities were finally waking up to the fact that they needed to do something.  All the evidence that has emerged since then has tended to confirm our suspicions - i.e. that long-term vaping does impair lung function, and is likely to be doing so irreversibly. We should thus only be permitting the use of vapes strictly as an aid to stop smoking, and only for as long as is necessary to 'kick the habit'. If we fail to restrict availability, and don't manage to convince our kids as to the dangers, we will be condemning a whole generation to breathing problems in their middle and later years, with a serious burden placed on our perpetually overstretched NHS as a result. And it's not just the UK either, the problem seems to have spread worldwide , with 100 million plus now vape-addicted, no less tha 15 million of them teenagers. In ...

  We in the UK are undoubtedly a nation of dog lovers..... While I’m all in favour of the benefits of owning one of ‘man’s best friends’, and there are undoubtedly many, keeping a dog is no mean task, and really must be taken on responsibly….. When you aspire to dog ownership and actually take the plunge, you are effectively becoming that animal’s sole guardian, and are then legally responsible for its actions during its whole lifetime.  In one sense, this a more onerous responsibility even than adopting a young child, since in that case you would only be responsible for his or her well-being and actions until they are 18; and as individuals, they will become legally responsible for their own actions at age 16 under current UK law. A dog will never be legally responsible for anything it does…you are - until it dies, or you transfer its ownership to someone else. It has to be said that most dog owners are responsible people and ensure that their dogs are kept firmly on...