Biomech

Wey! Well done, you most certainly made the right choice. I can't wait for the ass to fall out of the tories now. United we stand United we... keep standing

Another thing I noticed the other day is that if you're from from the river towards the tesco roundabout and you want to go around and into the Tesco underground or back up Ross Road... there's a yellow box in front of the OLM. However, you can't see the other side of it very clearly so you don't know if it's clear to go into or not until you're actually in it. On this shot, the yellow box isn't in the middle lane - but I'm sure it is now, because I was sitting in it! I'll have a double check tomorrow http://goo.gl/maps/hVQ2A

You'll be quite safe here Dippy, this isn't the HT ;)

Now Jud, you get to sit in the A49 queue until you get to the end of Edgar street where you might be able to move over into the empty new lane :D

Oh I think it's worth making clear that we are talking about roundabouts here, we don't want to give people the impression we mean all lights (Broadleys X road for example) and certainly don't want to encourage those in charge to turn off ALL lights :P

Sounds like it all went very positively. I must applaud you Colin, it's almost impossible to make a difference in Hereford unless you sit in the cabinet and make it up as you go along. You've done phenomenally well. I was thinking about this the other day, surely they used a software model to anticipate the traffic of the new lanes and new lights around the Tesco roundabout? If so, then what went wrong? If not, then why not - as they clearly have the tools to run a simulation?

The Funny Farm has gone as well. I like Church Street, that's a nice street of shops and buildings in use.

Oh the other thing I noticed was that the new third lane is nearly always mostly empty. The amount of traffic heading on the A49 greatly outnumbers that going towards Whitecross Road. I noticed that the 2 left lanes (A49) were so chocka-block that they effectively block access to the new third lane because everyone in front is going down the A49 so those wanting to go to Whitecross have to sit behind the normal A49 traffic anyway until they can get into the new lane right at the end. The car behind me at Pizza Hut was next to me at the Tesco roundabout, proof, again, that the traffic has not been improved.

I was going to post this yesterday but ran out of time; Yesterday, I took a drive to B&Q and back. The Heart of Oak roundabout was gridlocked because of the traffic backed up from the top/tesco end of Edgar street. It took 14 minutes to travel (S) on Edgar Street. - 0.4 miles that is, which, at the speed limit of 30mph, should take 48 seconds. It then took 60 seconds to get from the Tesco roundabout to the middle of the new bridge - an equal 0.4 miles. Now you might think 14 minutes isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things. But that's 17.5x longer than it should take. To put that into perspective, that is the same as driving to London NON STOP and it taking 2 days 2 hours and 10 minutes instead of the 2 hours 52 minutes calculated by Google Horse drawn carriages of the 1800's travelled at an average speed of 4mph. That would put a journey in from Hereford to London at 1 day 11 hours 15 minutes. At these various "pinch points" around Hereford, they have created traffic delays so sever that; AT HEREFORD TRAFFIC SPEEDS AN 1847 HORSE AND CART WOULD BE 25% FASTER

There's a new article in the HT now stating that he's been ... can't think of the word now.. judged... for 7 SENTENCED!! It was sentenced... for 7 years for drug farming.

Good luck Colin!

I am a huge advocate of technology, but I was astounded at this. They should absolutely not be using ipads in schools at that level and certainly not expecting the parents to pay for it. It was clearly a cash cow scam. How about we teach our kids how to read and write first, then perhaps we won't keep receiving job applications in text speak. Not to mention that there needs to be a MUCH greater effort in educating the young about using the Internet. I'm all for pushing technology in schools, get these kids developing and programming, but for the love of christ teach them how to write and spell correctly first. It's a lack of education that's lead us to the point where morons are (socially) teaching morons and kids are having kids.

Don't worry bobby, the HT and HC suggest that you can park in the much cheaper (£3/day) car park that they have just built on the site of the old car park that was Rockfield. So rest easy my friend, when you've broke your leg, gasping for breath or have glass in your neck, it's only a short walk away!

I've noticed most to do with the council et al have comments disabled. I was browsing todays articles earlier

Not my words, the words from a number of different websites and forums by professional builders. And basically what they said, the bricks get wet, the salt is drawn out, it looks bad but isn't a big deal. The one about cleaning I'd assume was just jet wash the bricks and let them dry then clean off the salt before being laid - like I say, I'm not a builder, that's why I asked/looked it up

I can say from first hand experience that while migrant workers did send money back to their families abroad, the money they earnt WAS also spent with local businesses 5-10 years ago. However, as more and more of the summer workers began to stay - again speaking from first hand experience - we noticed a SUBSTANTIAL drop in foreign customers in the retail market. With the introduction of a vast number of foreign food shops in the city this now means that; The shop keepers use their UK profits to pay foreign suppliers and import foreign food goods The migrant workers use there UK wages to buy said foreign foods And the cycle repeats, each time a little more of the money initially generated in the UK is bleeding out. There is clearly a demand for the foreign food shops, however that doesn't negate the simple economic fact that the money is leaving the country.

I've always wanted to open a shop, it would have a small museum in the back - something that I have been collecting pieces for. However, the business rates for native Britains in Hereford are so high that it can only be a pipe dream. I think there should be shop-genre regulation. Last I counted (about Jan/Feb) there were 8 foreign food shops in Eign Gate. EIGHT! Apparently pointing this out makes me racist, but come on, if that was 8 sex shops or 8 fish and chip shops in such a small place, people would soon be complaining that it was too many. As I've said many many many times on the HT, you only have to look at where the developments are being made and whats being left to rot to see that the ultimate goal of those in charge is to MOVE the centre of Hereford to the OLM Eign Gate, Widemarsh Street, Edgar Street, OLM all developed Broad Street development - cancelled Riverside developments - cancelled Left Bank - left to rot. River Island - left to rot They have very clearly given up with the historic, quaint features of Hereford and are starting again from scratch with a shiny new OLM.

As I've mentioned, I can often travel all over the country for work. You know the old adage, "the grass is always greener on the other side" ? Well in the case of Hereford, there's a ******* rainforest on the other side :P

Purely out of interest, the salt on the brickwork - is this a normal part of construction that it to be expected to some degree and then just fades off or is washed off as part of a new build? Or is it actually a serious concern of sorts? Any builders in? Edit: I know it's only been about 60 seconds, but I get impatient. Did some research. The consensus that this is common, easily fixed and not a problem apart from visually. According to various professionals it is often caused when using cheap bricks and not washing them properly. "If you mean the white furry stuff, it's crystallised salt. Tends to be most prolific on cheap bricks - take a look around any new housing estate and you will see salt covered bricks all over the place. It's nothing to worry about - just a bit unsightly. Might be able to brush it off using a stiff brush." "They either didn't clean the brick good to start with or didn't mix the mortor strong enough. It will be OK for years to come, but if they mixed it with too much sand those years will be shorter and it will simply start falling apart sooner. " "The water dissolves the salts which are then carried out and deposited onto the surface by the natural evaporation that occurs when air comes into contact with the surface of the wall or floor."

Bobby there's a HUGE difference between posting a comment or news article that someone doesn't like and posting something illegal. And if anything illegal is posted, the person who makes the comment is the one held to account. There is FAR too much of this utter bullshit where people whinge about being "offended" by everything. I don't agree with your comments about the HT - does that mean your comments should be deleted? Far too many people now misuse "offended" in place of "dislike"

I've been having a FANTASTIC time lately avoiding Hereford. Taking the backroads out and avoiding going through town is not only a quicker more pleasurable drive but I can often do my shopping elsewhere with a lot less hassle. Hell, I can even get my frozen goods back to the house without them melting in the bags! So I guess the positive that has come out of the atrocious traffic conditions in Hereford, is that I've found much quicker routes and better places to shop. So for that at least, I thank you HC.

Of course convert :) Give it time :P

Welcome Bull :) I do still browse the HT - when it doesnt break my phone due to its poor mobile implimentation. And what I've noticed is that the newer posters are finding the same issues that we all did. Anyway, I had an idea after reading bobbies post - the Bobby47 Almanac, a yearly compilation of bobby's..bobbies? (I'm struggling with Boobies) - of bobby's posts. It would make interesting reading, something akin to Pan's Labyrinth I feel!

How about this, a leading cabinet made up of 2 from each party. Every MUST vote on issues, no sitting on the fence or abstaining. These people are there to make the decisions not say "I dont want to vote". Tie's in voting are settled by public vote.

This is exactly why "democracy" doesn't work. You can only have 2 options to make it work. If you have, for example, 5 parties. 1 Party only needs to have 26% of votes to becoming the ruling winner. That means that 74% of the community did NOT want them in power and that they are NOT acting on behalf of the majority. Far be it for me to cast aspersions ;)