For the first time this year, we successfully brought together an entire side of the family on video chat using group video calling on Skype. Five video streams from across the UK and the USA all displayed on a single screen, everyone talking together, and it worked pretty well. Over the years we’ve tried all manner of services, including text, audio and video chat, but this is the first time that the infrastructure and technology has been able to offer something that allowed a quality of video and audio that’s enabled reasonably fluid conversation with everyone at once.

Getting the usability right by providing an interface that’s easy to use and that just works is essential for getting a broader audience on board who would easily be put off by technical issues. Aiding this ease of use is that fact that most people now own laptops that come with cameras and mics built-in. Suddenly we can all make video chats with no need for drivers and problems with third-party software. Our Christmas Skype chat needed no configuration aside from turning on the video and ensuring each person in the chat was a contact. Not exactly rocket science, and certainly a low level of complexity my parents could manage.

Group video calling from Skype isn’t free, but it only needs a single family member to be signed up to create the chat session. Following a hiatus from Skype of several years I’ll certainly now be looking at using it more regularly to keep in touch with the many distant family members.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Daniel and Tara at the Incovenient Mule!

And so it was, we loaded up our modest chariot, cramming what little we could in the minuscule boot and heaping the rest across the back seats. Our new SatNav app was set for Fishguard, and given this was its first outing, we were counting on it to take us at least roughly in the right direction. On to the M4 motorway, the Satnav instructs us to follow the course of the road for the next 180 miles. Nice and easy. Easy that was, until we reached the Newport tunnel just closed by a lorry fire. We ground to a halt at first, and then began to proceed at a pace that would not see snails break a sweat. Would we even make the ferry and get to see the shore of Ireland? Happily we eventually emerged out of the contraflow system and made best speed for Fishguard port, arriving shortly before check-in closed.

Just when we felt we were getting our sea legs onboard the ferry, Rosslare emerged from the sea fog and it was time to return to the car. We were on Irish soil, and my first precarious miles of driving abroad began. It’s just as well that Ireland makes for a relatively gentle introduction to hitting the road in another country. The core principles remain the same, such as driving on the left, but it throws in some unfamiliar elements to keep you on your toes, such as speed limits in km/h and the use of many curious road signs using the American yellow diamond format.

We were off to a steady start, possibly going at the right speed for the road, but are thrown into confusion by vehicles moving left into an area of the road marked by yellow dashes. There’s no mention of this in our guide book, so we adopt the when in Rome approach, and are soon overtaking these vehicles bearing over on the left, without really overtaking. It feels wrong, but seems to work. Some of the roads in Ireland are remarkably wide in fact, and with this left-hand area in use they become dual-carriageways, after a fashion. This is just as well as most roads allow very few opportunities for overtaking; without this extra room to manoeuvre it would take even longer to pass Ireland’s menagerie of slow-moving vehicles – comprising tractors, long lorries, pony traps and an odd trait by drivers of slowing to a snail’s pace when getting within a couple of miles or so of where they need to turn off.

It soon became clear that the Irish take a more relaxed, less up-tight approach to driving and parking than we were used to. In the UK, parking is rigorously enforced and is essentially a revenue making exercise where the smallest contravention from the extensive and varied parking rules will result in the car park owner gleefully slapping your vehicle with a ticket. Not so in Ireland, where parking follows necessity, and rampant parking on double-yellows in the congested coastal village of Baltimore is seemingly accepted because, well, there’s really nowhere else to park. Hurray for free parking all over the place – the jobsworth traffic wardens of home were not missed.

Nor did we miss the executive car drivers who plague the roads of England’s home counties; those self-important Audi, BMW or Merc owners who spend their time no more than a couple of  centimetres off your bumper, looking for an opportunity to roar past at an ill-chosen moment before inevitably getting stuck behind the next vehicle or set of lights. The Irish, from what we saw, seemed to favour practical cars, and held a calmer head to match. Wherever it was they were going, it always seemed they had time enough to get there, and would likely speak well of the journey on arrival, whatever had come to pass.

Irish roads are not without their challenges, however. While some roads are new and smooth, other main roads can be rough, bumpy, and occasionally fraught with rather lethal looking potholes; none of which are taken too well in our little car designed for undemanding urban roads. Turning onto local roads as we did on a few routes is also rather seat of your pants, being narrow or single-track and full of blind corners.

All said and done, I loved driving in Ireland. The roads simply seemed clear and unrushed compared to what I was used to. Driving actually became a pleasure, and despite my hitherto lack of enthusiasm for long journeys in the car, I suddenly found myself something of a convert. Of course our holiday inevitably came to an end and we had to return to the more crowded roads of England, but I’ve returned with a new passion for the road. Ireland showed me what driving can offer and now it’s time to discover great drives closer to home.

Towards Ivinghoe Beacon

Walking in the Chilterns combines two of my loves: great countryside and indulging in the tranquility of nature. Actually I should include a third: photography, as if I’m going somewhere scenic, my camera will likely as not be coming along to capture the places, and perhaps something of the moment.

I’ve spent many days off and weekends in search of some of the best of the area’s landscapes. There are some real corkers too, such as the panoramas from atop Coombe Hill, Ivinghoe Beacon, and Whiteleaf Hill – all of which I’d be a very long time getting bored of, especially when they can be transformed entirely depending on the time of day, weather or season.

Enabling all this good walking in the Chilterns is an extensive network of footpaths, ranging from national tracks to the smallest of snickets. However all these options can make for a bewildering choice when it comes to planning a walk, as the bigger routes by no means have a monopoly on the best walking.

As I can only occasionally set aside a day for walking, I find it worthwhile to put some time into planning, to help ensure there are some good highlights on the routes I take. Happily, there’s a good range of both online and offline resources that make this easier than ever.

OS map

The most traditional of walking companions, the Ordnance Survey’s maps remain an essential tool in planning and following routes. Nothing quite compares to its accuracy and comprehensive coverage of paths and landscape around. Designed for recreational users of landscape, the maps detail the lie of the land and the points of interest upon them.

I use Chiltern Hills East from the OS Explorer series, which covers the area from Amersham in the North, Wycombe in the West, Slough in the South and Northwood to the East and Chiltern Hills North, which covers beyond Cheddington in the North, Haddenham in the West, Chesham in the South and beyond Berkhamsted in the East. Of course there are maps for other areas too, depending on your areas of choice.

Online mapping

Maps available online are opening a whole new view of the world we’ve never before had access to. Satellite, spotter plane and even street views are now freely available to explorer landscapes and routes. The best for walk and cycle route-planning are the open source Open Street Map and Open Cycle Map. I find the more well known Google Street View to be useful for checking out specific areas of a route, such as gauging whether there’s suitable pavements and crossing points on roads.

Online walking blogs

There are different opinions on what makes a good walk, however checking out walking blogs can be a great way to get a feel for a walk and some of the scenery along the way. Blogs can flag up a highlight of a walk that you may miss, or a tricky bit of navigation that’s required, or can forewarn of any dull routes that aren’t worth the effort.

One of my favourite walking blogs is Pete’s Walks, due to the sheer number of walks around the Chilterns he’s done, but also due to good descriptions, maps and photos, which accompany each walk.

Walking route leaflets

There are no shortage of walking routes that councils, walking groups or other organisations have created. Although these won’t generally indicate how interesting a walk in, they’ll generally provide decent instructions about navigating the routes. While traditionally you’d have to have bought these details in either a book form or leaflets more locally, many walks are now made available free-of-charge online.

The Walking in Buckinghamshire site has dozens of walks covering the whole county, while the Chilterns AONB site has a good number of categorised walks, shown on a nice interactive map.

Some free walking routes are also available from local tourist information offices. The Wendover TIC is particular good, offering lots of free walking and cycling leaflets in addition to the option of buying more substantial books.

Mobile apps

When setting out on walks, there are now a range of mobile phone apps that can nicely complement or possibly even replace taking a physical map on a walk (although I’d always recommend both). Mobile apps use your phone’s GPS to show where you are in relation to pathways. I use the Trails app for iPhone, which uses both the excellent Open Street Map and Open Cycle Map mapping data, which includes a great many walks. I find this particularly invaluable when faced with diverging paths, where the GPS can show which may you should be facing to take the path you want. The app also keeps a tally on the distance walked and the altitude profile of the walk. Many other apps are also available.

Don’t just stand there…

Using some or all of the above should help to ensure many good walks in and around our fantastic area. Do let me know if you recommend any other walking resources or apps out there.

You can also browse photos of some the walks I’ve taken, on Flickr

The good: the Chiltern cow incident

A Chiltern Railways (CR) train hit a herd of cows that had escaped on to the track at around 7.30pm on Thursday – mid evening, but still well within London’s extended rush hour. Their main line was closed but CR’s consistently excellent communications team stepped up the mark to help inform the large numbers of passengers facing disruption. CR do Twitter well – really well in fact. By day their tweets are friendly, engaging and create a real community spirit amongst commuters and travellers. However when events call for it, CR’s twitter team is in place to get vital information out and be there to respond to customers’ questions.

Communications is but one part of an overall response of course, and here, yet again, CR seemed to be very efficient and rolling out their emergency management plans. As soon as they were aware of the situation, mainline trains were diverted via the Aylesbury to allow many to still reach their destinations. Meanwhile, replacement buses were called up to provide a service to all the stations on the closed portion of the mainline. As for those onboard services, one twitter user was on a train following that affected and was only delayed by about half an hour. The following morning, CR dispatched its managers across the stations affected to speak to customers who had been affected. Brilliant, and such a contrast to the debacle on South West Trains (below) that was unfolding at the same time.

The bad: Three’s wild SIM goose chase

The week proved personally exasperating due to mobile phone company Three’s seeming inability to provide me with a simple SIM card, and sending me on a wild goose chase with apparently inaccurate information. This all stemmed from Three retail stores telling me that I couldn’t have a PAYG microSIM for my iPhone4, while Three’s tweeters consistently contradicted the store staff and repeatedly assured me that the stores could provide me with a microSIM. In the end, after several wasted lunch hours going to various Three Stores, I gave up, and in desperation I cut down their standard PAYG SIM to the microSIM size. It worked, and took a fraction of the time I’d spent going to the various Three stores.

The thing is, I should never had needed to go to such lengths to use Three’s service. For one, why is it so difficult to provide SIM cards so that people who want to use Three’s service actually can do. I wanted to be a customer, yet Three seemed unable to help me. Worst of all, though, was the complete lack of clarity or consensus by the Three tweeters or Three store staff about the process needed to provide me with a microSIM card. SIM cards are the most basic part of mobile phone use – it’s worrying that Three can’t get this right. I’m now trialling Three on the my cut down PAYG SIM card, however this lamentable experience with their customer services has shaken my confidence in taking out a contract with them.

The absent: South West Trains’ meltdown

On the same day that Chiltern Railways was contending with a herd of dead cows and a damaged train, South West Trains (SWT) was experiencing what can only be described as a meltdown of their services. Unlike Chiltern, I don’t use SWT’s services regularly, however the story was plain to see on Twitter, which was alight with incensed passengers.

Unlike Chiltern, SWT don’t have a Twitter account. Given the phenomenal number of tweets in evidence during the disruption, this would seem to be overlooking a means of easily communicating to large numbers of their customers, and practicing some much needed customer management. As it was, the tweets became ever more irate as people found themselves stuck on trains for up to three hours, while train drivers had to appeal to passengers for information as they couldn’t get any response from the SWT control room. Add to this stories of long delayed passengers being threatened with arrest by the police after leaving trains, and you’ve got a PR disaster on your hands.

In these situations, providing information to passengers, keeping them abreast with the situation and informed as to how things are progressing can make all of the difference. So often it’s the lack of information that infuriates customers. I do wonder whether passengers would still have broken out of their trains had SWT provided regular Twitter updates and an estimated time for when trains would on the move again, and in turn saving themselves from the PR hell that ensued.

The Artichoke’s website offers three dining areas within the newly expanded restaurant: The Kitchen Dining Room with views of the restaurant’s kitchen, the Garden Dining Room with a kitchen garden theme and a Wine Room, upstairs. Having recently been engaged by recent Masterchef and Great British Menu TV series, we were keen to see the chefs at work, and requested a table in the Kitchen Dining Room.

On entering the Artichoke, you’re immediately aware that you’re not in any old restaurant. The service is elegant while being extremely slick. To our delight we’d be given the table right in front of the kitchen area, so prime views of the chefs were on hand. Within moments the chef himself arrived and greeted us personally – a lovely additional touch.

The menu contains a exquisite selection of meals, with 2 courses at £35 and 3 courses at £43.50.

Tara had young beets with shepton goat’s cheese, beetroot sorbet, lemon thyme, goat’s cheese mousse, rye bread, beetroot powder for the starter followed by pan fried fillet of cornish sea bass, lobster ravioli, spaghetti of vegetables, lobster bisque with saffron and orange for the main.

I had new season asparagus, herb emulsion, smoked and pickled quail eggs, dorset crab bonbons, crab and lemon dressing to start followed by breast of wood pigeon with hazelnut and truffle crust, wild garlic, pickled salisfy, morels, hazelnut cream for the main course.

While many restaurants describe their food in a fancy way these day, the food at the Artichoke really is a cut above the rest. In some ways this makes choosing courses quite liberating, as you can cast away any preconceptions of the meal, as you simply won’t have tried anything like it ever before.

Each dish was splendidly presented, and abounded with well considered mixtures of flavours. This was combined with outstanding service – this is the sort of place where you are never asked who is having which dish when they are brought to the table. It’s all impeccably done.

In-between courses, diners are also treated to palette cleansers, which included a Waldorf salad foam and later vanilla ice cream with passion fruit granita. Even these smallest of dishes were the greatest of treats.

Overall, the Artichoke is an excellent choice is you want to treat your taste buds to something special. Our bill came to £120 with a glass of wine each and desserts, so while out of budget for regular dining (for most people at least), it’s right at the top of our list of venues for marking a special occasion. Indeed, the couple on the table were doing just that in celebrating their 25th anniversary. We felt rather decadent not having done the same. But do we regret it? Not for a second. If you’ve not been to the Artichoke before – try it out – soon!

I wanted to find out whether it’s more cost-effective to live in a pricier but easily commutable town or to live further out where property is cheaper but possibly have to drive to and park at the local station. To find this out I put together a spreadsheet comparing house prices and commuting costs in each of our favourite towns and villages.

This looked at:

• annual mortgage payments for the typical price of properties that meet our house criteria
• annual season ticket for me to travel to work on the train and tube
• cost of parking for a year at a station in cases where I’d have to drive to the station, plus an estimated £1,000 annual cost for running a second car
• petrol costs for the year of Tara driving to her work in outer London, based on mileage at 13p/mile

What the figures say

There was a £5,964 per year difference between the cheapest and most expensive towns. Far and away the most expensive on our list is Chalfont St Giles, due to it having some of the highest house prices and requiring a second car to drive to the station, which in turn has expensive parking.

The cheapest locations, up to £500 a month less expensive than CSG, are a mixed bag. They include towns further down the line from London, the nicer end of an otherwise less desirable large commuter town and an affordable but relatively distant village with no station. Rickmansworth, where we currently live, comes in at the upper end of the lowest cost group, as cheaper and shorter commuting costs help to offset higher house prices.

Towns of a moderate living and travelling cost include the commutable but expensive Amersham, helped by low train and petrol costs, and towns on the Bucks/Oxon border where cheaper housing is balanced by substantial travelling costs.

The costliest group consisted of the most coveted commuting towns in the area, such as Berkhamsted and St Albans. Although very commutable, the top-end house prices combined with the still reasonable car journey and relatively high train fares for the distance make for the greatest overall costs.

Personalising this guide

Of course, this isn’t a guide for everyone. The figures I got are based specifically on a criteria tailored to our commutes and our choice of towns. Some people will have no issue with the difference in expense, others won’t commute at all, while many will consider the more affordable large towns we excluded. That’s fine, as anyone using the same cost criteria can construct their own chart using information freely available online.

Information sources

Rightmove – the leading UK property website, use it to work out the general cost of properties in each town that meets your house criteria
BBC mortgage calculator – works out mortgage repayments based on the size of mortgage you’ll need
Google Maps – for calculating driving distance
AA – produce a helpful motoring costs document. I used the petrol cost (13p/mile) in my calculations.
National Rail season tickets – show travelcard costs for a specified commute
Car parking costs at stations are available from the respective train operator

What next

It should hopefully go without saying that a guide to affordability isn’t the sole basis for deciding where to live. However, identifying the key recurring costs in living and commuting from a place is a good start for creating a short-list of potential locations. The internet can also be extremely useful for understanding the quality of life in a particular place, by looking at school league tables, crime figures and length of commute, amongst others.

Feedback

Let me know what you think of this guide. Do you think it covers all of the main factors that determine cost of living in a particular place, or would you have added other points? Leave a comment, below…

The Swan in Amersham

We’ve tried a few of the dining options in Old Amersham over the past year or two. We were bowled over by the standard of cuisine in the Artichoke restaurant and have some good experiences in some of the pubs and the deli. This was the turn of another pub, the Swan, located further away from most of the shops and eateries, down the western end of the high street.

Our visit was at a quiet time before dinner got underway, however the outside area was proving popular with afternoon drinkers. We settled in to a table by the window to overlook the high street, accompanied by a pint of Rebellion from the Marlow Brewery and Aspall Suffolk Cyder. There was a really nice selection on the menu, which would cater for most tastes. The food was good, although not quite perfect, as while my lamb was deliciously succulent and tender, Tara’s duck was overcooked. Nevertheless, with friendly service, pleasant atmosphere and good food and drink overall, we’d recommend giving it a try.

• The Swan in Amersham

Turville

The village of Turville is widely known as a picturesque jewel in the Chilterns, but the fact it was also the outdoor filming location for the Vicar of Dibley made it an easy choice for us, as Tara’s quite the Dibley fan.

There’s little in the village itself, but for us it was an absolute pleasure to wander the small streets around some of the prettiest historic buildings and Chilterns countryside you could ask for. For those looking to spend a while longer to absorb the atmosphere, there is a village pub and a walk up the hill to the windmill.

• Turville church history
• Turville pub – The Bull & Butcher

Fingest

We decided to follow recommendations and travel the short distance up the road to the next village of Fingest. We pulled into the Chequers pub, which has a good write up in the Good Pub Guide. The menu was a little more limited than we’d expected, being largely meaty pub classics. I opted for sausage and mash, clearly comprising nicely sourced produce. We’re rather unsure about the future of the Chequers, however, as the current landlord was leaving the following week for a pub in Medmenhem, near Henley. Hopefully there’ll be a new landlord to carry this pleasant pub into the future.

The village of Fingest lacks the jaw-dropping looks of Turville, but it has a fine Norman church and is worth a brief stroll.

View our set of photos from Turville and Fingest on Flickr.

• Fingest church history

Food and drink festival

Looking for local events over Easter weekend, we came across the Chilterns Easter Festival of Food and Drink in Great Missenden, which it happily transpired was being run by the family of one of our favourite local tweeters.

Such festivals can sometimes be rather hit or miss, but this one was certainly on the money for us, offering a wide range of produce and goods, including many that are locally grown and crafted. There was a nice amount going on: demonstrations to drop into, a food tent for lunch, outdoors for relaxing and of course dozens of stalls.

View our set of photos from the food and drink festival.

• Chilterns Easter Festival of food and drink

Coleshill and the Harte and Magpies

Wrapping up the Easter holidays we looked for a local day trip, and opted to try the Harte and Magpies pub in Coleshill, near Amersham. This is the sister pub of the Royal Standard of England at Forty Green, near Beaconsfield. We suspect the Harte and Magpies doesn’t have the wow factor of its sister, but it offered a good menu with some nice specials, and many were enjoying the outdoor seating. The village of Coleshill is very pleasant to have a potter around, although rather too far from the pub. The village common was a remarkable combination of quintessential green which turns into a splendid woodland walk. Very nice indeed, and look out for the windmill.

• Coleshill village website
• The Harte and Magies pub

Motorway services have this amazing captive audience, as they provide the only option for fuel, food or a WC stop for perhaps 50 miles. As a result everyone is forced to use them, irrespective or whether they’re landed gentry or chav, Jag driver or on a coach trip. What results is something of a spectacle of Britain passing through those doors – all strata of society forced together unnaturally and out of necessity. Regardless of whether they’re veering off into the Waitrose, or queuing up at the KFC, they are all there together, for a short while.

Curiosity demands a pause with a coffee to bear witness to this constant flow of people comprising this country of ours. Most stops take place far from both home and the destination, surrounded by unfamiliar accents that are in turn supplemented by an array of dialects even further out of place. You may be sat next to the sort of people you’d never meet in your life otherwise, and are briefly granted an insight into lives that are no less British but potentially entirely foreign to your own. All these people brought together, all trying to kill time by browsing the WHSmith or deciding whether £8.99 for a breakfast is highway robbery taken one step too far…

The Swan, Ley Hill, nr Chesham

This pub was recommended a few months ago. We decided to pop over there on the August Bank Holiday, not realising that it’s a time when many villages and towns hold special events. Ley Hill was no exception, with live music and stalls set out around the Swan as part of the Ley Hill Festival 2010. Fortunately we decided to call ahead, so did have a table secured, although were completely bemused by the level of activity greeting us on arrival! Despite being so busy there was good food and service to be had.

The Swan, Ley Hill

Inside the Swan, Ley Hill

Ley Hill music festival, outside the Swan

The Waffle House, St Albans

We visited the smart town of St Albans in late September. Offering no shortage of tempting eating options we were enticed by the prospect of the Waffle House, located in a historic watermill.

A sweet option from the Waffle House in St Albans

The Old Orchard, Harefield

We heard about this pub through a flyer in the post. We don’t normally pay much attention to junk mail, but the Old Orchard’s menu was in a classy, vintage style with an enticing menu that caught our attention. What’s immediately striking on arrival at this Harefield hostelry is the location – commanding superb views over the local lakes and the nearest you can get to a Lake District style of view in these parts.

The interior is old fashioned pub combined with a comfortable layout and a bar that features an amazing compressed air tube system that delivers orders to the kitchen. The meals were brilliantly presented, including the Sunday roast, below, and a rustic ploughman’s lunch. Thoroughly recommended.

The Old Orchard pub, Harefield

Inside the Old Orchard, Harefield

The view outside from the Old Orchard pub

The menu from the Old Orchard pub, Harefield

Sunday roast in Old Orchard pub, Harefield

So it was with our stay. The earlier part of our stay was spent relaxing, especially around the pool, and it didn’t take long for some of the regulars to become known. We never knew the names of any of them – aside from the occasional poorly behaved child whose name was shouted in exasperation – so it became normal to use epithets for these selection of characters.

The Kojak Brothers were perhaps the most distinctive poolside faces, comprising Kojak himself with his penchant for iridescent shorts and glamorous wife, and his brother, similarly bald with a less glamorous wife in-tow.

Then there was the French lady who spent much time drifting around the edge of the pool, always with one arm held aloft holding her book of choice. We didn’t develop an epithet more punchy than the Native American sounding ‘Frenchwoman-who-reads-book-in-pool.’ She never seemed to actually swim, however, preferring to wade around with her book in the air and moan about the British teenagers.

The Phoenicia wasn’t a hotel for youngsters; 5-stars put it well beyond the financial means of backpackers; however a few A-level students were clearly on what would likely be one of their last family holidays with their parents. There was a pair of boys ‘Blondie’ and ‘Brownie’ and what we decided was their love interest; a girl holidaying separately with her own family. Clearly in a hotel largely bereft of teenagers they quickly got together to kill time strumming a guitar by the pool. Blondie turned out to be a versatile musician: one afternoon he plinked away on the hotel’s grand piano rather entertainingly.

Each day, be at breakfast, the pool, in the lounge or cocktail bar, we’d as likely as not encounter some of these characters. However in the way of hotels any of these faces may vanish at any time; new unfamiliar ones appearing in their place. By the end of our stay we saw few of the regulars, although we’d also focused more on sightseeing at the expense of time at the pool. It was odd, that we felt this tinge of sadness at the absence of what were to all intents of purposes complete strangers. It’s a curiosity of hotel life and perhaps the mundanity of hotel life that attributes this extra value. Perhaps we feel that the sharing of experience – albeit that of a hotel interior and its grounds – represents something that links us.