I remember before I passed my driving test at the age of 18, the only way to have the freedom to get out and about was to ride my bike. So, when the idea came up to borrow a bike and try out the family–friendly cycle routes from Chelmsford City Sports, I was a bit worried if I could still ride a bike some 40 years later. It turns out that it is true; you never forget how to ride a bike. It seems that muscle memory is so hard wired in our brains that we don’t forget, and if you watch the video, you can see how much fun I had following the route. As it made me feel young again, I was quite up for a bit of I-Spy and stopping at the Selfie Spot; how funny, when I was young we did not take pictures of ourselves but we did get instant pictures with Polaroid cameras ( if you don’t know what they are you will have to Google it -we didn’t have Google back then either).
I had thought this blog would just stick to cycling but it just happened that my birthday turned into a weekend thing and on the Friday to kick it off, I had a fun time bike riding around South Woodham Ferrers. So, why not tell you about my fun birthday weekend as this lets me touch on subjects I love to write about.
Terry’s Birthday weekend – Friday.
Lights – Camera – Action
So, I knew the bikes and cameras and even a drone camera were arriving at 9.30 am – what is a Climate Ambassador to wear to be filmed on a bike? Anyway, I picked what I thought was best to look like it was already summer. The next thing I knew, I was having the seat adjusted on my bike and being issued with a bike helmet fitted with a GoPro; that was a surprise to have a camera on my head. I thought it was best to ride up and down my cul-de-sac and I was a bit worried, but it all felt fine. It was just the neighbours who wondered what was going on, but I don’t think anything surprises them any more and they seemed interested to find out what we were up to. A quick study of the map and off we went, looking for the stops along the way. At one point we went a bit wrong but just doubled back and got back on track. It really was a lot of fun just finding each point along the way and having a little rest and taking more pictures. I would say one big lesson I took from the day was why they invented gel seats for bikes, but what a laugh and great way to be outdoors and get some exercise. I hope you watch the video at the bottom of this page, if for nothing else than to get some fashion tips.
I needed a rest that evening and the kids said ‘come on, we are watching a film on the telly – “The Imitation Game” and that is where we are going tomorrow!”.
Terry’s Birthday weekend – Saturday.
Bletchley Park – Code breaking in World War Two.
Well, I had seen the film telling the story of Alan Turing building a machine to break the code used by the Enigma machine and now I was off the very next day to visit Bletchley Park and learn about all the work done by so many people to break the codes used by Nazi Germany in their radio communication and give the Allies an advantage which shortened the war by at least 2 years. It is even possible that without the work at Bletchley Park we may have lost the war. Spoiler alert – the film “The Imitation Game” does not tell the full story and as your ticket lets you go back as many times as you want, I will be going back a few more times. Alan Turing invented “The Turing test“ to see if a human evaluator can tell if they are talking to a human or a computer and the idea came from a party game, “ The Imitation Game”, so that is where they got the film title. A computer first passed this test in 2014, and The Alan Turing institute is the UK national institute for data and artificial intelligence. I did see an area at Bletchley Park covering this, but that will have to wait for my next visit. At the end of the day, we went to Milton Keynes for dinner. I was looking out for fake cows in a field which I was sure was a thing when the new town was built; but we did not see them.
Terry’s Birthday weekend – Sunday.
Lunch at a garden centre – It is much better than it sounds.
I kept being told how nice the “ Tin Roof Café & Bakery “ is in Woodham Mortimer – Maldon, and I was not disappointed. The food is amazing, and they use all locally sourced ingredients and even make their own tomato ketchup – who does that? Rolo had a little walk around and we got speaking to Mark who works at weekends and he showed us the bee hives and the big water container that collects all the rainwater from the site and told us about the vegetables they are growing on site to use in the café. You read a lot about eco and home grown but this place is doing it for real and we had a great lunch – even the lager was local. What a great way to end a special birthday weekend.
I hope to get to make a another video on cycling soon, in my role as Cabinet Deputy for Sustainable Transport. I get to see and hear about all the cool new cycle paths that help to join up areas of Beaulieu and beyond to the new train station and you will be able to ride and walk on special paths that are away from roads. They have a fancy name ‘Active Travel Routes’, which means you can get from A to B, but you need to get a little exercise by peddling or walking etc. I have seen all the maps, and I cannot wait to enjoy all the views of nature and the backdrop of New Hall School with all its majesty and history a romantic palace for Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
So as I reflect on the blogs I have written, I hope I have encouraged you to trust in science and ask questions. You hear voices saying climate change is a hoax; well I can tell you I am listening to what NASA has to say – check out the latest story on rising sea levels below and tell me who do you believe. I also hope that you now want get out into nature and see all the beauty that Chelmsford has to offer; maybe even download a cycle map and get on a bike. Lastly, have a listen to this unusual version of Bob Dylans song “ The Times They are A-Changing “ sung or almost read by Burl Ives over 50 years ago on TV. I think this helps to hear the poetry in the lyrics, and I then try to think about that looking through the lens of present times.
Cllr Terry Sherlock
Links:
Burl Ives Sings Bob Dylan | The Times They Are a-Changin’ | plus Steve Martin!
Click to download walking and cycling routes for Chelmsford and surrounding towns and villages.
Walk in Café 7 days a week | The Tin Roof Cafeteria & Bakery Maldon
NASA Analysis Shows Unexpected Amount of Sea Level Rise in 2024 – NASA Sea Level Change Portal
