A sunny afternoon

Really, I should be out enjoying the sun while it lasts, but my skin is quite fair therefore I am quite likely to come out in a beetroot colour haze, and frankly, I don't want to put myself through the suffering. I'll have enough of that to cope with next week when I go on holiday.


A short article in the Observer today took my eye. Salisbury Council is handing out free bikes to those who live on a new housing estate in the area, to encourage people to ditch the morning motorway rush hour.

I'm not sure if there are ventures of this nature in Wales, but if anybody knows of such schemes then please enlighten me. I think that its a very positive idea, but I'm not sure how it would be workable across the board, especially as so many Council's are strapped for cash. I know that Sustrans Wales works extremely hard in promoting cycling as part of a healthy lifestyle and as a sustainable form of transport, and perhaps this is something which they have already considered.

Council gives out free bikes

Residents of a new housing estate are being handed free bicycles in a bid to persuade them to ditch their cars and cycle to work. The pioneering idea will see each new homeowner given vouchers to exchange for two adult bikes as well as cycling and walking maps. Residents of the 640-home development, in Old Sarum, near Salisbury, Hampshire, will also be given free bus passes in the initiative backed by Salisbury District Council.


In other news, Elin Jones is having a hard time of it in today's Wales on Sunday for deciding to go on holiday during the Shambo crisis. Peter Black has gone all soft in defending her right to have a holiday, and rightly so. Elin, like any normal human being needs a rest sometimes, don't you know! At least now she is aware that anything a Minister does, or says for that matter, is diligently noted. There is always somebody watching you!