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and very expensive council pensions

And very expensive councilers

I do remember going tee total for about 5 years but never lost interest in the other

Nearly! Diesel used to be much cheaper than petrol. Diesel was the fuel to choose. We both got diesel cars. We were doing our bit for a greener planet. We saved on fuel costs. We did loads more MPG. The government kept setting tighter emissions targets. The car makers managed to reach the targets. The government checked how car makers could reach these impossible targets. GOTCHA! The government cried FOUL! Now all diesel users are devil worshipers and must be made to pay ! An extra 10p per litre on top of the already massive fuel tax! How many litres of diesel get used every day? How many 10ps are going into the taxman,s pockets? Ah well we can all sleep well knowing it's being used wisely! ! Did somebody " get me started " ?

I don`t think your boat would go through a tunnel

I'm afraid we will never regain the reliability and longevity of the engineering of the Victorian age (there were a few exceptions I admit) when it seems that projects based on tendering to achieve the lowest price and quickest delivery win the day. I am sad to say that in my experience many Companies that win these projects have no idea of what they are getting into as they are basically shell companies reliant upon a previous old school reputation and now have minimal resources so that once they win the job then panic sets in and they try to recruit "staff" to complete it relying on managing the contract to save or make even money . The Victorians generally provided a realistic fixed price for the job and selection was based on the preferred design solution The quality of the available mechanical/electrical equipment available in today's throw away society is price driven and is selected to meet the warranty period which is generally 13 months from customer takeover by which time it has served its purpose and is generally worn out and gets replaced by the customer (or left to rot) with an identical 2 year lifespan unit and so the cycle continues. Granted the Victorian engineers way over designed their projects but they were also maintainable unlike those of today as the necessary skill sets have been purposely removed from the marketplace by the Government sacrificing the Manufacturing for the Financial markets. If the bearing set needs replacing on the twin sails bridge I suspect that it will be replaced with exactly the same type that has failed. There will be no money available or interest it getting the fault properly analysed and an improved design implemented . It will come back to bite them mark my words Just my three penne'th😎