Have you heard footsteps lately?No? That's because everyone is wearing Trainers.
When I was a small boy the greatest game we played was slurring [sliding] along the street to create a shower of sparks from our clog irons.
For "the wiser youngsters of today*" clog irons were iron hoops rather like horseshoes, nailed on the the soles of wooden clogs, to stop them wearing out on the cobbles and setts in the street.
Everyone walked everywhere and the cost of shoeleather was a real headache.
For the really poor even the clogs were pawned and I remember one kid who couldn't go to school as a result.
I noticed the lack of pedestrians on our footpaths when I returned from a visit to Uganda recently. In Africa the side of all the roads in the towns and cities are thronged with a multitude of people. Here at home I was really shocked to see our pavements empty and our roads full.
Times are a changing
When the Cost of Fuel becomes even more ridiculous than it is now. Our caring sharing govenors will slash the cost of fuel duty but charge you for using the Road itself!
* Robert Louis Stevenson - Prologue to Treasure Island
