Cycle 3

Blogging live from the Oak Road Treatment building in downtown Withington. Don't touch that dial.

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Austin Metro 1.0L - Red
Triumph Spitfire 1500 - Russet
Fiat Uno 1.0L - Red
Vauxhall Astra Merit 1.2L
VW Golf 1.4 - Red
VW Bora 2.0L Sport - Black
VW Passat 1.9L (petrol) - Dark Blue
VW Passat 1.9 Tdi - Steel Grey
Skoda Superb 1.9Tdi - Dark Blue
and from today
Skoda Yeti 2.0 Tdi Adventure - White/ Black roof.

I passed my test on Aug 21st 1985. How can I be so precise? Well the following morning my first solo drive, into work, was disrupted by terrible queues around Manchester Airport (when did we stop calling it Ringway Airport?) because a plane had caught fire on the runway killing 53 passengers and two air crew. Not something one is likely to forget.

The car I passed my test in was also a Red Austin Metro 1.0L. It made the transition from learner to driver a little easier.

The next car was the Spitfire. The colour was officially described as Russet but really Rust would have been closer to reality. Cars of that era seemed to be designed to trap water which could eat away at the bodywork. It was fun to drive on windy country roads, but was noisy and too low down for my liking on motorways. It was hopelessly impractical with the tiny boot being mostly full of spare wheel.

Traded up to a Fiat Uno whose bodywork seemed to be made out of old pop tins. Under powered and low spec, I wasn't blown away by it. This was also true of the next car which was my first company car. The Astra was also underpowered and underspecced and was stolen more than any other car I owned.

I then had my first of many VWs, a 1.4L Golf. This was built like a tank, was too heavy not to have power steering, and was also underspecced, but felt like it would run for ever. I think I owned it for about 8 years and would have run it for a few more years had some bloke not knocked me off the M60 into a field. I hit a fence post, backwards (luckily), after having spun round a few times. I did notice something odd about the other driver when he overtook me.....going backwards. He'd aquaplaned on a lake on the motorway, spun, went past me (backwards) and hit the central reservation which pushed him into my lane, and sending me off in a spin. My only injury was sore biceps as I held onto the steering wheel for dear life.

Armed with insurance money and a loan, I splurged on a great car. The VW Bora 2.0 Sport was an ex-demo and fully loaded. 6-cd changer in the boot, air con, wooden gear knob. Loved driving it. Crapped myself when I drove it at 110mph on the M60. Never been close to that speed since. What's the statute of limitations on motoring offences?

The next three were all pretty similar. Largish saloons Passat, Passat, Superb. The Grey diesel had one of those electric handbrakes, which was great until it started playing up. The Superb was indeed superb, and HUGE inside, with a clever boot which could be opened as a standard boot, or as a hatchback. It was this clever mechanism which was playing up and made me think about changing. That and the 65,000 miles on the odometer.

The last two weeks I've been driving a Skoda Yeti 1.2 petrol. Very nice. The engine works very well for scooting around town, and once you're in 6th gear on the motorway it tools along quite nicely, but lacks a little oomph in between. I do miss driving a diesel, something that will be resolved in an hour or two.

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The autumn colours are hanging around for ages this year. There is a lovely parade of trees down by the police station in Wilmslow which have shed much of their leaves which provides a beautiful golden carpet.

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When I bought my first house, we would have loved to have been able to afford one in trendy East Didsbury. However, prices were beyond us and we settled for slightly less trendy West Didsbury. Because many other people were in the same boat, and we lived in the house for about 18 years, the ripple effect meant that by the time we left West Didsbury it was transformed. Bistros, bars, boutique clothes shops, and the cafe culture. The huge daunting Midland pub had been taken over and transformed into a bright, open, pleasant location. One we have visited many times since it was (re)opened.

This 'ripple effect' seemed to be destined to engulf Withington now that West Didsbury was becoming expensive. It was the next natural place being geographically next to both East and West Didsbury.

But it never really seems to have got there. Walking through Withington yesterday there is a little bit of trendification happening, but this is 11 years after we left the area and I'm surprised the ripple has taken so long to hit. I wonder if the village centre suffers a little having such a busy road running smack down the middle?

I noticed a blue plaque on the old primary school building on the south side of the village "Pouncer the Cat, aka Ponsoir - raconteur, lover, fighter - was born here 1996". Not before time.

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Who is the most famous person you have shared public transport with?

On the way back from the Champions League final at the Camp Nou in 1999, Jean-Pierre Papin was in our coach.

And I once share a train table with Labour politician Joel Barnett - by then he was Baron Barnett. In the same coach was fearsome Manchester Chief Constable James Anderton.