Merry Christmas

Well it's Christmas time again and I am sitting having a break from the festivities.  I do love Christmas the dark nights of winter, the snuggling down with the fire on,  while the wind is howling and the rain is pouring down, everyone doing their shopping and getting ready for Christmas, buying presents, and putting up the decorations.  I enjoy walking the streets and looking at the house decorations, seeing what goodies the shops have, then once it's all wrapped watching the the room transform itself, from a tired dull living room to a cosy bright and decorated Santa's Grotto.  People around you in Town, although you get some who moan and groan, on the whole they are happier and more likely to  talk to you, and even the 'Bah Humbugs' will stop and talk to you as well.

I work over Christmas normally, and that is always fun, but it also means that when I get home everything is ready for me.  Even though my children are older now they still like to spend Christmas at home, it also means that they have the dinner cooked, mulled wine on the hob, and all I have to do is sit down and but my feet up, eat, drink, and be merry, and open all my pressies of course.

We had a new little tea shop open up in High Street South, called Drift In, if you want proper coffee served in a cafetiere,  and tea in a tea pot, then this is the place for you.  Kev and I have been in several times and I think it will be come a popular haunt for us,  as if you visit me regularly you will know how I feel about coffee machines.  The Round Table float will be around as usual in the evenings, although it may be the last, due to lack of volunteers, this would be a shame if it is.  The big Jolly Chap, is the display in Oxfam's window this year in High Street North. 

Merry Christmas Everyone

Luton Busway

 Well after month's of Dunstable looking like a building site, and drivers having to give themselves an extra hour during peak times, for diversions, one of the area's Kingsway, Court drive and Queensway are beginning to look as if an end is in sight.  Traffic on High Street North, could turn left down Queensway into Court Drive, and into Kingsway, reaching the White Lion Retail Park or could cut of the corner and arrive in Church Street.  When they started digging up the road for the busway, it became one way because of single lane traffic, a sensible option, but one that created problems for a lot of people and of course the shops in that area, Leisure Centre, Library, Asda, Dunstable College, the new Theatre Complex, Ambulance Station and Law Courts, not forgetting the couple of hundred house's in that area, so you can see the scale of the disruption.  Well it is now finally finished, well not finally as they have not finished, but the road has re opened. Unfortunately they have not marked the turning to go left so one poor motorist tried to turn left only to find himself facing on coming traffic, they had not marked the other end either, there are no pedestrian crossings and no lights so at  night pedestrians have to treat carefully, so that they don't fall down the kerbs, which have been raised  at the bus stops for the new guided buses for the busway.   Part of it, although it has what looks like a kerb stone separating the vast sea of tarmac  it is totally flat, on the council website it tells you that this is 'shared space'.  Which simply means a car can come onto the pavement side,when they feel like it.  They also tell us that they will be no Pelican or Zebra crossings they will be 'crossing places' these are stone blocks in bedded into the tarmac   Which simply means you dice with death when you try to cross the roads, because drivers will not slow down let alone stop, as there are no road markings.  There has been several car accidents, on this area of road because of this; fortunately not involving pedestrians; Yet.  The idea is you make eye contact with the driver, Not if you are a child, Not if your blind, Not  if it is night time, Not if it is snowing, Not  if you have just staggered out of the Gary Cooper, and certainly Not  if a driver, put's his foot down and refuses to acknowledge You.   Unfortunately, The Grove House Garden's is where we have our open air concerts, The Grove Theatre, Dunstable Leisure Centre, The Gary Cooper, a large play Ground and not for getting Dunstable College, are all on one side of the Road, and Asda, and the Quadrant on the other.  It will make sending the kid's for snacks impossible, sending them to Asda to use the toilets impossible, as we have only one set of public toilets in the whole of Dunstable Town Centre and that is in Wilkinson's car park.  This my friends we are told is to improve Dunstable Town Centre.  Well I am glad they clarified that, because it looks to me and a lot of other's as if they  want us to loss our identity, as a Historic Market Town, and become a giant car park for Luton. Or should I say Bus Terminal.