On the launch day of Boris Johnson's bicycle-hire scheme, I collared the first person that I spotted on the distinctive ‘Barclays blue' machines. First impressions? Brilliant, came the reply, followed by a suggestion that I should try them out for myself.
He was off before I could respond that I'm already part of the group that uses pedal power to travel around the capital. For someone who has fielded accusations of ‘sheer lunacy' and ‘dicing with death' as well as having a ‘total disregard' for my well-being for more than six years now, the sight of more and more Londoners warming to Boris's initiative is unremittingly uplifting.
At prep school in Dorset years ago, I had a part in a musical where one of the protagonists sang about her belief that when it comes to boyfriends, there is safety in numbers (‘The girl who knows/A lot of beaux/Is never likely to grieve'). I follow the same adage when it comes to cycling in London: the more there are of us, the more drivers will have to get used to the idea and the safer it will become. While the summer weather persists, what better time to experience the satisfaction of shunning bus queues, Tube heat and black-cab fares?
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Chelsea Flower Show 2025: What else to do in SW3 if you're coming to the world's greatest flower showThere's more to Chelsea than just the Flower Show so we've rounded up some of the best places to eat, stay and shop.
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Uniquely unique? The Yorkshire grain silos transformed into a home that's a symphony in glass, steel and curvesAmid the beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire, on the edge of the Castle Howard Estate, The Silos is a property for which the word 'house' simply doesn't cut it. And that's not the only way in which it's made us throw out the dictionary.
