THIS is it then - a happy New Year to you all, whilst I write this a couple of days before Christmas. I'm not sure whether England will have recovered from its usual Christmas celebrations, which seem to go on and on as long as people can manage to make them. From comments heard from industry, getting the wheels turning once again is a slow business, as there are always folk who want just that little bit more, or who haven't yet 'recovered'. The amount of lost production is some astronomical figure when translated into £s. It's part of the English nature of things very often - a slowish sort of start, some rapid catching up, yet often first across the line.

An interesting letter from Alan Smith, of Kirkby, the other day, telling me of a ride he'd taken on his 'power-bike'. Whether this is a full-blown motorcycle or an electric pedal cycle he doesn't say but, if the latter, then I'd be interested in knowing what he thinks about it. There are lots of them on the market now, some climb hills better than others, some don't go above 12mph, some only add power if you are pedalling as well, and all seem to have a different range on one battery charge. It seems fairly early days yet, but small, powerful electric batteries are developing very rapidly and progress is going by leaps and bounds. Sounds just like something I need to keep cycling, and yet get up the hill to home without getting off and pushing.

Alan comments that he was on a 'holly run' and, after passing no less than 23 bushes, didn't see one holly berry. Not until going off his scheduled route did he strike lucky, on bush number 24. It makes him speculate that this is an indication of a rough winter, and he wonders what I think. Strange he should ask that, because my thoughts would have gone in the opposite direction, based on the belief that a lot of berries on the bushes would be for the birds to feed on during the forthcoming rough winter. Maybe it works the other way round at Kirkby.

Alan was a retail manager at North Yorks Moors Railway, of which I'm a member, and where we would have a chat now and again when I would venture to Pickering. I'd put my bike on a train, and then have that wonderful experience of asking the guard if he would kindly stop the train at Newton Dale Halt, where I could get out and take to the woods. These were days long before so-called 'mountain bikes' were heard of, and those of us who enjoyed the rough stuff did so on standard touring machines. We are both members of Yorkshire Air Museum, so out paths have crossed at different locations over the years, so when he asks: "Do you remember?", it goes without saying that it would be most unlikely if I didn't.

North Yorkshire's chief constable took the bull by the horns and faced the public round her patch, with warnings of tax rises to feed her hungry organisation. Old Malton resident Tony Hemesley spoke his mind, as I expect so did others, for even long before Ms Cannings' leadership, the police service seemed never able to cope on the money it was given. There has always seemed to be a 'must have', which usually runs into tens of thousands of pounds, and no one seems to forget the £200,000 car deal for senior officers, with perks attached, funded out of the public purse. All these 'needs' - be they extra millions to go into the pensions fund, new pistols, bullet-proof vests, quick-cuffs, stingers, stress retirement payouts - have to be funded by Joe Public. It seems that all the police force needs is to request an increase in tax. Commercial companies don't have such a facility as falling back on funding by someone else. They have to cut and prune, streamline their services, there is no bottomless purse for them. It's a case of stick at it, or go under, and the police service should be run like a big business.

There has been talk of a new police HQ at Malton, and of the ways by which it will be achieved. I appreciate this is a popular idea by many folk, but to build blocks of flats on Old Malton Road, which is Malton's most attractive approach, in order to help finance the scheme doesn't sound a good idea to me, especially when planning rules will need to be 'relaxed' in order for this to be done. Multiple housing developments, like flats, bring their own problems and are not an ideal way of housing people, and the results of 'bending the rules' will have to be lived with by the people of Malton. If bigger and better offices are needed, this seems to imply that we shall be putting more policemen behind desks. Surely that isn't really a good idea is it? Make a start on saving by reducing vehicle numbers and getting PCs onto bicycles. New York has done it. North Yorkshire has an excellent police service, don't allow it to price itself out of the market.

Quote: "The great requisite for the prosperous management of business is the want of imagination". William Hazlitt, English writer. (1778-1830).

Updated: 11:29 Wednesday, January 07, 2004