A story from last year. “Oh bollards,” or, more likely something stronger, slipped out of my mouth when I was cycling through Croyland Park in Wellingborough and was presented with a new barrier completely blocking my path. Through a rather lengthy campaign, I got North Northants Council to replace their recently installed barrier, which completely […]
A group of police officers sit staring at a computer screen watching a piece of video footage submitted by Samuel Shoesmith. They listen to him exclaim as the car overtakes within mere inches of his bicycle. They look at each other. They laugh. “Oh, we haven’t got time for this. The driver of the car […]
A couple of days ago back in 2003 Labour thankfully repealed Section 28. The Tories brought in this terrible piece of legislation in 1987 stating that councils should not “promote” homosexuality or allow teaching in schools of the acceptability of homosexuality as a family relationship. It fostered a culture of ignoring and forgetting about LGBT+ […]
Yesterday was the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Within the last two hours both within a mile of my home, there have been two separate crashes. One involving three cars. One involving an unknown number of cars and a motorbike. Reports are looking bad for the motorcyclist. Think of the devastation to […]
I received an email a couple of weeks ago from Compassion in World Farming saying about the building of a chicken mega-farm close by. The email was targeted to me. It said “Hello Samuel” and something along the lines of it being proposed to be built “just up the road”. I skimmed over it and […]
I think I dislike change. Whenever a proposal to change something comes along, I have a tendency to cast a negative eye in the direction of said change and I do certainly try to resist the idea. In the vast majority of cases, I do actually end up liking the change. In the most part, […]
Dear Starbucks, You need to look at one of your franchised stores. Their behaviour is wasteful and wrong. I went into your coffee shop and asked for a white chocolate mocha, and stated loudly that I wanted to drink in. The barista picked up a takeaway cup and asked for my name. “Ohh no, to […]
I am not usually a pedestrian. I often leave the house and become a passenger in a motorcar, and maybe later a train, or more probably I mount my bicycle. Today with the rain on and off I thought I would walk the short distance I needed to go. Using a car would be sinful […]
Yesterday I was in a nasty crash. Coming along Northampton Road before it becomes Oxford Street, I approached a car in front of me. It hit the brakes, indicated left and made a left manoeuvre. Despite hitting my brakes, there wasn’t enough time for me to stop. The time between her indicating and turning was […]
I comment on many current affairs but often shy away from commenting on killings. Perhaps this is down to me briefly mourning in a personal way and absorbing the plethora of facts, knowledge and subsequent opinions that soon emerge. However, two recent acts of terrorism on Jo Cox MP earlier today and the massacre early […]
Today is World Ocean Day. A huge amount of waste plastic ends up in our oceans with estimates of between “eight and 13 billion tonnes” (Evening Standard 2016). Let’s reduce our consumption of plastic. I used to be terrible and now strive to be better. We grow up in a society where convenience is king, […]
It’s killing you. Two of my interests are the protection of our environment and cycling so one particular topic that pops up on my radar time and time again is that of air pollution. A year ago I went on a protest against the wider issue of climate change entitled “Time to Act“. It […]
I will use this blog post as a pointer to a new static area on my site under Musings & Ideas called “Road Safety“. On 29th January, on my way to the gym I noticed this just over a mile from home. How? The police would have conducted interviews with those involved and if necessary […]
Today a vote will occur in the House of Commons about whether Britain should bomb Syria. I say. Don’t Bomb Syria. On Saturday I attended a protest in Whitehall and listened to impassioned pleas for the government to for an air strike campaign not to happen. David Cameron has called on his MPs, and others […]
Today is the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. This nearly directly impacts everybody. If not a direct link, an indirect connection can soon be made. In the United Kingdom, on average everyday 5 people die on our roads. This is a mind boggling statistic. Imagine if 5 people were killed in a […]
I heard the other day that this is “the most important elections in a generation” but I’m sure I only heard this only five years ago. Perhaps it is the most important in one election cycle or generation. Nevertheless, I think all elections are important and it is imperative that you cast your vote today. […]
First post of 2015. Brief, but more will come. Yesterday I went to the cinema to see The Theory of Everything. It was a great film. Oh, I do enjoy the cinema. The experience of sitting in front of an enormous screen with enormous sound next with wonderful company is delightful. But not all of […]
Hello, Yesterday evening, at around 5.40pm I was hit whilst cycling along the A45. I was knocked off my bicycle by a van travelling at about 65mph. The wing mirror clipped me and flung me into the grass verge. My glasses were knocked off but luckily I wasn’t knocked out. My head was painful […]
Hello, You may have seen the recent video entitled ‘Race the Tube – Sprint’ in which a man with working legs left the underground circle lane at Mansion House, ran along the street and back onto the same train as it approached Cannon Street. Impressive. In case you haven’t seen it. Here it is: The […]
Hello, Last night I was experiencing editing issues. And I have uploading issues. So yesterday’s vlog is appearing today. Here is it: Samuel.
I talk about joining a running group - Nottingham Frontrunners. A little of my history of getting into running and how Parkrun and Frontrunners have become a set part of my week.
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