1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144 
• In a written answer to the House of Commons
Page 26
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
last week Roads and Traffic Minister Peter Bottoniley said: "Current average speed (on roads in central London) is about 11mph throughout the 7am to 7pm period. It is not expected that speeds will change significantly over the next five years."
• The first Scalia Transport Trust Awards for "those preServing the nation's transport heritage" were presented last week with top prize going to a 1946 paddle steamer called "Waverley".
The Paddle Steamer Preservation Society bought her for £1.00 in 1973 to use as a floating restaurant but decided to restore her instead. Still based in her native Glasgow, "Waverley" is now the only remaining sea-going paddle steamer in the world and is used for pleasure trips all around the British coast. Prince Michael of Kent presented the society with £2,000 and a trip for two to Scania's museum and restoration workshop in Sweden.
The £1, 500 second place went to the Chatterley Whitfield Mining Museum for an entry that included underground locomotives, pit ponies and steam-powered winding gear. Set in the heart of the Potteries, the museum allows the public to go underground.
After 10 years' work, Neil Moffat and his helpers have restored the only Fairy Gannet in flying condition and won third prize for their efforts. Truly a mechanical marvel, the Gannet has folding wings and twin counter-rotating propellers driven by two gas turbines.
Barry Weatherhead and two co-restorers entered their collection of eight vintage vehicles, including the AEC 'K' type featured in Commercial Motor's Christmas road test which went through to the finals, as did the Sheffield Bus Museum, opened in 1988.
• A minibus caught fire in Dorset last week after a chemical was picked up by schoolchildren on their shoes, Phosphorous, probably washed up from old bomb casings, stuck to the childrens' shoes when they visited Studland Bay. When the substance dried, it ignited, causing the bus to catch fire.
Word has it, seaside bus operators are now considering implementing a new rule which would insist all passengers take off their shoes before boarding.
• It's here at last, and someone has sent us two identical press releases to prove it. Lichfield-based Elite Systems is releasing a special edition of its home computer game, Frank Bruno's Boxing in time for the Tyson fight. What is the relevance to Commercial Motor? Beats me.
• A French lorry driver had to spend a night in the cells and now faces the prospect of losing his job after he smuggled his pal, a poodle puppy, into the country.
Gilles Rozet, from Avenue de Chabeuil, Valence, says he brought the poodle into the UK to keep him company and claims he did not know it was against the law.
• Competition to back the equestrian classes is hotting up among manufacturers of fourwheel-drive vehicles.
Following hot on the heels (hooves?) of Land Rover's backing for the British Equestrian Foundation comes news that Toyota is establishing a £50,000 British Horse Trials Championship.
Toyota says the trials will "provide the right exposure for our expanding involvement in the four-wheel-drive and leisure vehicle markets." Not the sort of exposure that will frighten the horses, I trust.
• Because of the overwhelming success of last week's guide to "personnel-speak", the Hawk decided to help his flock once again in reading between the lines of those noto rious job references: O Quick thinking: offers plausible excuses for mistakes.
O Forceful: argumentative.
O Meticulous attention to detail: nit-picker.
O Career-minded: back stabber.
O Character above reproach: still one step ahead of the law.
O Leadership qualities: is tall or has a loud voice.
• Britain's hauliers face competition from an old and unexpected source. A private electricity generating company, National Power, has unveiled plans to dig a 10km canal to transport up to 5.5 million tonnes of coal a year from British Coal's Gascoigne Wood mine in South Yorkshire to Eggborough Power station.
If the canal is given the goahead it will more than double current UK freight movements by canal, which currently stand at 4.08 million tonnes.