I suppose you could call my six-night visit to Newport a 'holiday' - it would have been, back in late October, when the weather was much nicer. But a few weeks' delay make a big difference. This has been one of the wettest holidays I can remember, and to begin with one of the coldest, although it's now thankfully turned milder again. As much as I like my little seventeen-year-old caravan, I'd appreciate better insulation against cold nights, and I'm rather glad that I've taken the decision to buy an up-to-date model by the end of 2026. Getting older, I need to feel cosy and comfortable all the time, not just when the electric heater is full on, or when the gas cooker is doing its stuff.
The main objective of coming here was in fact to visit my niece and family, and two friends, with personal sightseeing only a secondary consideration. It's mission well accomplished as regards niece and friends; but the sightseeing (and the photography that usually goes with it) has suffered. My rainy-day shots of Cowbridge, Porthcawl and Abergavenny produced very little that I'd upload to Flickr. Well, today it's a nostalgic trip to Barry Island, the scene of my junior schooldays and many visits to Auntie Betty's. The sun is supposed to be making an appearance: if it does, I'll want to explore the Island thoroughly. It's a tatty place nowadays, or at least was when I last saw it in 2014. It's time I took another look. I've been concentrating too much on Barry itself. And yet the Island was just as much the scene of my youngest years as the town.
To get there I'll have to endure the slow-motion agony of the new 20 mph speed limit that the Senedd has imposed on all urban areas in Wales. To my great surprise, considering her powerful engine, Sophie is happy to amble along at this snail's pace - happier in fact than Fiona would have been. Which is good. But I'm not happy. 20 mph is appropriate when passing places like schools, or when driving through the very centre of towns and villages - anywhere busy, in fact, where lots of people pushed for time or preoccupied with shopping might want to cross the road. And I've no argument against a 20 mph speed limit in purely residential back-streets.
But elsewhere, on the main roads in and out, 20 mph is a drag. This speed limit seems to have been applied indiscriminately across the board. I can certainly see why studies might conclude that the traffic flow becomes even and more efficient, and allows vehicles to join or leave that flow smoothly and easily. That does in fact happen. But it's psychologically bad for anyone used to doing things at a brisk pace. I get bored and frustrated, even if my brain is telling me this is a sensible measure that must lead to greater safety for all.
Yesterday, with traffic on the M4 going around Newport at a near-standstill, I decided to 'cut through' the town centre instead. In times past, this has often been a good way to get through Newport and onto the old A48 towards Chepstow. Not now. It was nearly all subject to that 20 mph limit. I had to endure three miles of it on a road that once carried traffic moving at twice the speed. After a mile, life lost its zest. After two miles, I began to feel that crawling along a near-empty road was a refined and exquisite form of punishment. After three miles, I was longing for an easy death. Thankfully a 30 mph section saved me from self-harm.
Of course I exaggerate. But I do think this 20 mph business has the air of a social experiment in the name of Health and Safety. Or more sinisterly, is an example of the Senedd showing that it can assume sweeping powers, and do whatever it likes. I haven't yet spoken with anyone who is unreservedly in favour of it. An obvious view is that the money spent on erecting 20 mph signs everywhere could have been much better spent on improving the Welsh NHS and similar urgent things, like fixing potholes in the roads. There are sections of dual carriageway and motorway in Wales - such as on the A449 and the M48 - where you mustn't go faster than 50 mph. Why? Because the safety barriers, hitherto considered fine, 'need replacement'. There is an assurance that the normal speed limit will be restored once the work is done; but how soon, if the road money has instead been spent on 20 mph signs?
If ever I thought of moving to Wales in my final years, this kind of thing puts me off. Once on their territory, and subject to their laws, rules and regulations, the Senedd might force me to do all kinds of unpalatable things. No thanks.
