Andy in his snow shoes

Andy in his snow shoes
Originally uploaded by ecoescape

We've just returned from a week long trip to Chamonix having discovered the fun but absolutely exhausting sport of snow shoeing. Apparently it's better for the environment too as wildlife is less disturbed. I loved climbing the mountains and wandering around alpine forests and picturesque chalets window-deep in snow. Julie was our knowledgable guide. She runs a company called Tracks and Trails: www.tracks-and-trails.com.

New Year, New City

Three days into the new year, and I found myself in a new house in a new city. Leaving Nottingham after 6 years and coming to London wasn't a difficult choice to make. I've been meaning to move to London for a while, and so here I am. Nottingham had lots of good points, not least for being cheaper to live in, but I have grown a little tired of travelling up and down the good old Midland Mainline between London and Nottingham. I thought it was time to see if the pavements are really lined with gold here in London - well, at least travelling around the country will be easier. As of course all the train operators tend to spiral out from the capital city. So despite living bang in the middle of the UK in Nottingham, it wasn't always helpful for train services. Now I'm living in South London and adjusting myself to a faster pace of life.

The move was nothing short of stressful. Downsizing to a one bedroomed flat with all our stuff came as a massive challenge over Christmas. The local charity shops did very well, but I was distressed to see how much we also threw away. Some to recycle, some - shamefully - not. All this taught me a valuable lesson - not to accumulate rubbish- or things! Things, things, things. Do we really need them? My method of keeping or getting rid, became a task of deciding if I'd miss the possession after a week of not seeing it. The answer was usually no, and so it had to go. Now I'm in London and thankfully everything fitted into the flat. We'll see how life in south London compares to life up north. So far, so good.

We fought and won

Well, in my last month of living in Nottingham (yes, I'm leaving for the Big Smoke), I managed to help save the local Post Office. It appears that those people at PO Ltd took leave of their senses for a while but came back to us and declared that Melton Road Post Office would stay open! Hoorah. Christmas came early for Tripta and Vijay, the ameniable Post Mistress and Master who'll be missed very much when I leave to go and live in Brixton in January. They were grateful for my efforts in putting together the petition which amounted to over 4,000 signatures all told.

Laura at the Cross at Kingussie

Laura at the Cross at Kingussie
Originally uploaded by ecoescape

OK, so I've been on the road on my own for a while now. Moments of either boredom or mild insanity lead me to taking random self timer pictures and here's one of them (right). It's at The Cross Hotel in Kingussie in Scotland.

It was a great place - the food was special in particular. All the produce is sourced locally and it tastes just great too. I had smoked salmon in a simple lime and ginger marinade for starter and delicious halibut for main course. Much of the food is organic too.

Eurostar launch from St Pancras

Eurostar launch
Originally uploaded by ecoescape

I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch of the new High Speed Eurostar trains out of the newly revamped St Pancras station. It was a bit of a dream come true as I've watched the development of St Pancras take place over the last 7 years since living in Nottingham and travelling through countless times. It was a stunning event organised as a joint venture between Eurostar and Friends of the Earth who invited us on board the 'Tread Lightly' train to Paris last Wednesday. Eurostar has always been my favourite option to get to Europe and of course, I'm really happy now that all the journeys will be carbon neutral. You can read all about my day on the new High Speed Eurostar on the ecoescape website.

The randy birds and the bees

The funny people at Virgin Trains have put together a series of 'animal ads'. The flora and fauna are having their say to encourage travellers to go green and reduce their carbon emissions. The bee and the flower ad is our favourite.

You can view the complete series here www.virgintrains.co.uk




Or view the 'naughty' video below called 'sexy party'. This is the funniest, but comes with parental guidance...

Saving my local post office

Post Office Ltd recently announced the planned closure of Melton Road Post Office, my local branch in Nottingham. On a personal level, the loss of the post office around the corner would be a big blow to me as I've come to rely on it for my business. And Vjay and Tripta, the lovely postmaster and mistress, always brighten the day and ask every single customer how they are doing. The post office is a pillar of the community and its presence helps the row of shops (including a fishmonger, 2 delis, grocer, newsagent, etc) keep going. The elderly customers will also suffer as the alternative is too far to walk.

The greatest argument in its favour is the fact the this post office is one of the top performing branches in the county proving that PO Ltd has selected branches at random to close. All of these arguments led me to thinking that something could be done to prevent the closure. Vjay couldn't start a petition himself so I took matters into my own hands and printed off a petition sheet for people to sign against the planned closure. The petition quickly took off, and with only a couple weeks to go before the public consultation deadline, we have already more than 4,000 signatures. In fact, the closure was such a surprise that Ken Clarke, our local MP has decided to get involved. The picture above is the moment when he met a handful of the post office's customers this weekend to collect the signatures to take to PO Ltd himself.

I'm not one to get involved with party politics but on this occasion, I might allow myself to say "go Ken!" and let's hope he can work some magic with the Post Office.

The online petition is here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/meltonroad/ - feel free to sign!