September 2009 Archives

Last year, I got very excited about the whisperings of a new Land Rover coupe. Dubbed the LRX, it was supposed to come in at a little cheaper than the Freelander II (read the article here), and indeed prototype photos attracted lots of interest.

Well, Land Rover announced yesterday, along with the closure of one of the factories in the West Midlands, that the LRX will indeed make it to production at LR's Halewood plant on Merseyside.

But, instead of the mooted cheap-ness, the LRX is now classed as an 'extension' of the Range Rover line-up. Great. I won't be getting one then. Although it is very beautiful (and I know I don't need the very - but it is very, very nice).

A very fine gentleman has just alerted me to a most embarrassing slip. Of course, Joanna Lumley campaigned on behalf of Gurkhas, not Burkhas (I'm reading On The Road to Kandahar at the moment and I think I got my wires crossed!).

So, my boss suggested I blog a quick identification guide so I wouldn't get confused again:

Burkha:

Joanna with a Ghurkha:

And finally, in case I really got mixed up with my words, gherkins:

There seems to be no end to Joanna Lumley's list of venerable talents. Fresh from overturning the government on the resettlement of Burkhas, the former AbFab actress has now turned her hand to ploughing.

The news seems to be full of stories of fatalities on UK farms at the moment, the latest being two deaths in North Yorkshire caused by telehandler buckets being used to push in fence posts. Is it that I am more aware, or are there more accidents happening? 

All too often, when hours have been long and the end of times like harvest may appear to be in sight, shortcuts seem tempting. But it's these shortcuts which can endanger lives, and ultimately lead to a family losing a father, a mother or a child.

A friend of mine works for an agricultural waste management company, and we take the micky out of him for having to text on a regular basis "I'm ok" to other members of his team if he's working on his own. In fact, it's become a bit of a standard text between us all. 

It's part of they call their Lone Working Directive. And to be honest, I think it's a jolly good idea. Ok, so it's a faff having to text, but let's face it, if you can text a mate a picture of how straight your ploughing is, you can probably muster a text that, if it fails to appear one day, may just save your life.

We, as an industry, need to be aware that we all hold a reponsibility to uphold safe working practice, even when time is short and deadlines are looming.

The HSE ran a campaign back in January, and sent out more than 70,000 promise packs to farmers, which included a 'Promise Knot', a symbolic piece of baler twine to act as a reminder of those you would leave behind if something terrible happened. Even if you haven't got one of these knots, take every piece of baler twine as a reminder. Don't leave a gaping hole in your family.

Sitting in McDonald's having just sent the copy through from Tillage 2009 in Down Ampney, Cirencester (you can read all about it here).

Apart from the big kit (and there was lots there, including New Holland's massive articulated T9030) and a few helicopters, there was a real buzz around the show as farmers and operators pored over the latest in the world of cultivations.

It's been a great day - but half the visitors could well be sitting in Inverness. Well, not quite, but the postcode listed on the website and on the tickets directed excited tyre kickers 10 miles north, to Bagendon (north of Cirencester instead of south).

Did many people make it there? There's another Tillage Event near Kelso on 1 October: http://www.aea.uk.com/

How often would you get to write a headline like that? Thanks to a Cornish mate, I've been forwarded an article from the Falmouth Packet.

I think this has got to be my favourite story of the week, if extremely disturbing. A 40-year-old Cornish man has been sent to prison for 16 weeks after being found masturbating repeatedly in a muck spreader over a period of six months.

Police caught David Roy Truscott at the farm near Redruth wearing red shiny shorts (mmmm...) and kitted out with rubber gloves.

Apparently, the farmer became suspicious when he stumbled upon a water trough filled with manure and tissues. Then he noticed a bottom shape and two hand prints in the mound of manure.

It seems as though the fettish continued at home, after police found containers of slurry and manure alongside 360 pairs of womens knickers (probably more than in the local M&S) and other items of womens clothing.

But a prison sentence doesn't seem to be enough of a deterrant, he was back in court last week for more of the same behaviour.

For more (if you can stomach it) click here. 

After I had got over my extreme annoyance over the 3.10am train being cancelled from Folkestone to Calais, my recent trip to Holland was remarkeably straightforward (well, apart from the fact that I dropped my Blackberry down the loo - thank goodness for insurance!).

(me trying to take a picture out of the train window. It looks quite arty, however that wasn't the point!)

Last week I was testing a Freelander 2 - the new eco-friendly one with the disconcertingly effective stop/start engine. So, instead of flying to Amsterdam and hiring a car, I decided to drive instead, which worked out lots cheaper and quite enjoyable, too!

(Snug as a bug in a Channel Tunnel carriage)