Frosty morning

[Neil Bromhall]

What a day,
Three and a half hours standing on a slope behind the barrier on the M25. It was freezing and windy. The sun rise was fabulous though

We were taking the in-laws to the Stanstead airport and at 04.45 the back type punctured.
We called the emergency line and within half an our a patrol vehicle arrived. Even in freezing weather they are not allowed to let people sit in their vehicles so they gave us these wonderful silver foil wraps to keep us warm. The traffic control vehicle officers were great. They called us on the mobile every half hour to hear if we'd been picked up and then called the pick up company again to chase them along.
We had to wait standing on a slope behind the barrier.
Even at that time of the morning the constant flow of noisy traffic was mesmerising as we watched and hoped the next vehicle was out pick up lorry
On the slope were some silver birch and ash trees. I thought I wouldn't want to be a tree right next the motor way. They were covered in a sticky black soot.
We were rewarded with a spectacular red and orange sun rise. It was a shame I didn't have my camera.
We eventually got picked up by a rescue van and were taken to a tyre company and eventually off we went.
The frosty morning was causing problems not only for our garden plants but also the traffic on the M25 & M23.
We are putting the in-laws on a bus to the airport tonight.

[Paul Narramore]

Neil
Not wishing to be flippant, it's not my style, but why didn't you simply change the spare wheel?

[AnnaDyne]

It takes a brava person to change a tyre on the motorway, especially before sunrise!
I think I'd have done the same. In fact I know I would as there's no way I could undo the wheel nuts once you've had them tightened at a motor fitters.

I'm surprised about not being allowed to sit in the vehicle though? I had to call the RAC out two weeks ago, when the air filter sensor (or something) conked out on mine. It was 7am and freezing and he didn't hesitate to tell me to get in the cab.

[Paul Narramore]

Anna

Whenever a garage fits my wheels, once I get home I go over them using wheel 'spider' so I don't get caught out in future. Quite why they torque them up so high, I don't know. I take your point about changing a wheel on the motorway. A recovery vehicle is big, wide and brightly lit. Much more safer.

We had our first frost of the Winter this morning. Even the hosepipe leading from the outside tap to the pond is frozen up so I can't finish off topping the pond up. The waterproof tile grout repair seems to be holding so if it last another thirteen years, I shalln't be complaining.

I'm glad I properly wrapped up my banana plant with straw and fleece yesterday as I lost one last Winter.

[Neil Bromhall]

It's a Mini ONE and they don't have a spare tyre.
They give you a spray that can fix punctures but in our case the tyre had shredded.
Hence having to be picked up.

[sue1002]

I don't envy you Neil, standing there in the freezing cold.

We broke down a few years ago and within a couple of minutes a passing cop car stopped and read us the riot act for sitting inside the car, he said we should have all got out and stood at the side of the road as we were putting our safety at risk - if you are outside the vehicle you can run for it a lot more easier if the car gets hit by another vehicle.

[Neil Bromhall]

Although it was cold it was far safer to be behind the barriers. Those heavy lorries thundering past would completely mangle a car and everyone in it if they were to hit it.
Even on the hard shoulder the distance between our car and the lorries was just a few feet.
It didn't help much as we were parked just at the exit of a tunnel. When the sun rose the drivers would have been blinded by the bright sun light after the darkness of the tunnel.
The only thing missing was the rain thank goodness.

[Miranda]

I bet you wished you'd had your camera, Neil. It's frustrating to see a good photo opportunity and not have your camera with you. Occasionally, I get an urge to take the camera out with me and then come across something that simply must be captured.

I thought a spare tyre was a legal requirement. Is it not?

[Neil Bromhall]

I think that it's a bit daft not making it Law to carry a spare type but the Mini One doesn't have one - so I suppose it's not a Law to do so.

[Paul Narramore]

No Miranda, spare tyres are not only not a legal requirement, but are not examined for the MoT. Last May I was making my way to Liverpool Docks to catch the Isle of Man ferry when I got a rear wheel puncture on my motorbike. I don't know what caused it but it was almost big enough to stuff a pencil in the hole. I plugged it twice but still the air escaped and I had to slowly ride into Liverpool with almost zero air pressure. A can of squirty stuff solved the problem and stayed up until I could get a replacement tyre in Douglas. Motorcycles also don't require spare tyres ;-) but the squirty stuff sure did it's job.

[Miranda]

Yes, I looked it up and was surprised. I thought you had to have a spare. It makes sense to.

[digger]

I think in Germany part of the driving test requires the ability to change the spare tyre over. A few years ago we got a tyre puncture on a really busy dual carriageway somewhere near to manchester, the traffic was horrendous and we were in a bad position blocking one carriageway, anyway the cops turned up really quickly because someone saw us on the camera, we thought we were in trouble but they helped us put the spare tyre on and they slowed the traffic down, they were very nice and they wouldn't take any money for helping.

[Miranda]

The last flat we had was in July. We were on our way from Elgin to Pennan (the village used to film some of Local Hero) and it was a gloriously warm and sunny day with very little traffic. The only thing missing was that the verge was just grass and there weren't any plants to look at. Anyway, we went to Pennan the next day and I got to see the famous red phone box. Shortly after our visit, the hillside collapsed through the houses.