MikeW

No, I’m not dear anon. I know the reasons. And yes, it’s ceasing trading. Clients aren’t cars - they don’t need to be parked anywhere. Sigh….

It’s not Chase Financial Services which I agree has excellent customer service and I would recommend them to anyone looking for a mortgage or financial product.

No, it’s not unfounded and I take the point that it probably, “isn’t news” in that it won’t affect everyone. It’s not a merge and customers have been given 20 days to agree to move to their chosen alternative (or pay extra fees to change provider).

…giving customers a mere twenty days’ notice.

When the conditions on the Mountain Road get back enough for summer tyres, it's closed. Ergo, Winter Tyres for commuting over the Mountain Road are a waste of money?

If you are getting frustrated by what the vehicle in front is doing then you should back off. Which is exactly what I did. You'd be surprised how quickly you gain on another vehicle when they practically stop on a bend. I left approximately five seconds worth of stopping distance between me and the car in front. The van behind me was so close I couldn't see his from headlights in my rear view mirror. However when you're driving in these conditions continual changes in speed and direction are very difficult to read for cars following. That is quite right in good conditions, Pongo. The trouble is that on ice and snow, if you don't maintain your momentum you can very quickly lose adhesion which puts you and everyone else on the road in a tricky position. To go back to the other morning on the Creg back road, I was ascending the incline by the plantation making steady progress on ice and snow in third at about 25mph. Some vehicles towards the top a couple of hundred yards in front of me were crawling along literally at walking pace and some were actually stopping. What the hell are they doing? So then, of course you slow down to about 15mph because you don't want to reach them and have to stop so that everyone is stuck. In that scenario there isn't a lot of choice but to get pretty close to them if you want to try to keep going. As we approached the summit some had got themselves stuck and spinning. Luckily, it was just at the point where you start to get visibility of the road ahead so a few of us were able to pull out and round, keep our momentum and pass them. Then of course they look at you as you pass as if it's you that is stupid, but they're the ones that have got themselves stranded. I once got myself and my wife stuck (I was driving), at night, in the middle of winter in the middle of Algonquin National Park in Ontario in a FWD Ford Taurus rental car. I was surprised to see a couple of cars driving what felt to me like straight at me (in the opposite lane) at quite some speed. I was driving slowly at maybe 15-20mph before I ended up getting stuck going up a hill. Fortunately we were lucky and found help to get us dug out of the mess we were in. The tip from the locals was - don't slow down, avoid changes in speed and direction and try to drive quickly - very fast over the hills to keep momentum up. The drive out of the park to the main road felt like a rally by comparison. No serious skids, we didn't get stuck and best of all no crashes. Whilst keeping plenty of distance between vehicles is important; It is possible to drive too slowly and "twitchy" in snowy and icy conditions.

Who changes their tyres to a winter set in the winter? I can't think of anyone I know in the British Isles who religiously swaps to winter tyres and yet in places that get rather more snow than we do (like Canada) it's the done thing that nearly everyone seems to do. So perhaps when temperate climates like ours get a load of snow and ice it unsurprisingly catches us unprepared.

I think you've missed the concept of "dogging" there!

If you are getting frustrated by what the vehicle in front is doing then you should back off. Which is exactly what I did. You'd be surprised how quickly you gain on another vehicle when they practically stop on a bend. I left approximately five seconds worth of stopping distance between me and the car in front. The van behind me was so close I couldn't see his from headlights in my rear view mirror. However when you're driving in these conditions continual changes in speed and direction are very difficult to read for cars following.

I was driving my X5 over the mountain. (4.8L, V8). It's heavy which is a disadvantage when changing speed or direction as the increased momentum then works against a heavier vehicle. Of course, it has the advantage of increased traction when setting off again from a standstill but it was really frustrating driving across the mountain with a car in front that kept stopping inexplicably and a few times braking or changing speed on corners. My other car - a FWD Volvo, is much lighter and the engine block sitting over the driven wheels gives it good traction in the snow. Still, going downhill there's a nifty little electronic gadget in the X5 that controls the descent by using engine braking and braking each wheel independently. Stuck to the road like glue on the way down, which was nice. I wonder why this sort of feature isn't enabled in more 2wd cars, since it only seems to use engine braking and wheel brakes.. maybe it's a marketed as a 4wd feature. Going back to yesterday, I'd say the problem was caused by the roads not having been gritted sufficiently prior to the increase in traffic during rush hour and some drivers being either ill equipped or too skittish to maintain a steady speed, particularly on the bends.

Me too, Wooley. I came from the North via Kirk Michael as the Mountain Road was shut. On my way back, I didn't reckon on being stuck on the Mountain Road for an hour while waiting for a gritter. Unfortunately the car in front of me had stopped and the car in the opposite lane Douglas-bound also stopped, so there was no getting past - 4x4 or not.

Sheep

Palace

I shall endeavour to be 30 seconds late whenever I'm in Ramsey. I haven't spotted anyone in the wild, (as far as I know!)

And this ladies and gentlemen is how we know God is male..