Mummy has a new iPhone

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Finally, after many months of issues with battery life, mummy has finally taken the plunge and bought a new phone – a shiny iPhone 6 + with 64Gb storage and of course in the obligatory Gold colour scheme.

It sure is a big phone to have in your hand but will certainly be good for email and other internet based stuff.

This time around mummy has dumped the 3 network in favour of a cracking deal with she was able to obtain through good friend Caroline on the Vodafone network.

So, there is it, daddy is now well and truly behind with his technology for perhaps the first time ever… 🙂

Mountain Biking at LLandegla

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The annual New Year ride at the Llandegla forest was this morning and boy did we need it 🙂

When we arrived it was raining (a great start) and by the time we completed the first climb (continual 3 mile uphill) we were under attack from the snow !!

The whole ride took a little under 3 hours and we were all freezing at the end – soaked through to the skin. The ride also demonstrated that Simon is nowhere near as fit as he was this time last year as there were several sections where he had to abandon as his body was just shot – either that or the cold had kicked in and was having a massive negative effect….

Was good to get back to the ‘degla and some of the latest additions to the trail are tremendous – we should consider a trip out there in the summer to treat is out in drier, warmer conditions.

Ed, Lee, James, Simon, Sam and Sam’s mate had a great few hours followed by the winning Yeti burger in the cafe post ride.

Simon has a few new components to fit to Barbara over the coming weeks (little Christmas Gifts following Christmas cash that came in 🙂 with the Chris King Ceramic Bottom Bracket sitting as the centre stage piece – looking forward to getting that on to push the bike further out of Simon’s actual capabilities 🙂

National Coal Mining Museum trip

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Yesterday, Daddy and the boys went to the National Coal Mining Museum in Middlestown / Flockton, near Wakefield with Lee and Jessica.

We arrived just after 10am and managed to get on the first tour of the mine at 10:45am. The tour starts with a little information on safety where we learn that we are not allowed any form of battery powered item in the mine such as mobile phones, watches or car keys that contain remote opening controls. So, once we were set up with helmets and special miners lights that will not cause any sparking down in the mine, we got in the elevator that took us 140m below the surface and into the mine.

A really nice guy called Trevor (or TC to his mates) took us around the tour telling us of all of the ins and outs of the mine from the 1800’s to modern day (well 1985 when this mine was officially closed following the miners strike in 1984). The early years were quick eye opening with the families going into the mines from the age of 5 onwards with mummy and daddy being the main miners but with the children being responsible for taking the coal out from their place in the mine to the main shaft for it to be removed. the families looks to earn 12p per day (1p per box of coal) in order to have enough money to survive.

As we moved around the mine, we learned about the different challenges along the way, although mainly the challenges were about safety – preventing explosions in the mine at all costs.

Some of the newer machines that were used in the mines towards the end of the time that the mine was live were incredible pieces of engineering that automated much of the mining and collection process all while reducing risk of human life.

One thing that we did not learn about was how did the human race figure out that there was anything worth mining in the first place – can only assume it was curiosity 🙂

If you find yourself with a few hours to kill and are in the area, give this place some time, you will be pleased that you did 🙂