Daily Mail, Friday, August 23, 2019 Page 67
WHAT is
European
Council
President
Donald Tusk
thinking as he
relaxes in a
hammock with
a book? Our
weekly picture
feature offers
you the chance
to write an
amusing
caption in the
speech bubble
in the picture.
Staple, glue or
tape it to a
postcard and
send it to:
Caption
Contest (990), Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London
W8 5TT, or email your caption to pboro@
dailymail.co.uk to arrive by Thursday,
August 29, 2019. The writer of the caption
judged the best will win a £20 book token.FOR permission to copy cuttings for internal management and
information purposes, please contact the Newspaper Licensing
Agency (NLA), PO Box 101, Tunbridge Wells TN1 1WX. Tel: 01892- e-mail: [email protected]
No, I said
look nautical,
not naughty
gal!THIS week’s winner is Chris Wild, of Enfield, North
London, who told how he found himself in a street
gang at the age of 12. He wins wins our Letter Of The
Week Magic Mug, courtesy of Printer Pix. These reveal
our Daily Mail Letter Of The Week design when hot. To
create personalised photo gifts (right), visit printerpix.
co.uk. The Letters Editor will announce the Letter Of
The Week each Friday. Write to: Daily Mail, Letters, 2
Derry Street, Kensington, London, W8 5TT, emailLETTER OF THE WEEK
[email protected] or fax
on 020 7937 7493, with your
address and number.SORRY to hear Mr Magee had
a problem with M&S. At least
he has a local store. Ours has
closed and now I have to get
my pants from Primark!
DAVE HARTLEY,
Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.Harry and the jets
THANK you, Elton, for
putting the matter right by
donating to offset the carbon
footprint caused by the Duke
and Duchess of Sussex’s flight
in a private jet.
I feel a song coming on:
‘Harry and Meghan are
travelling tonight on a plane,
I can see the red tail lights,
heading for Spain.
I can see the ozone
waving goodbye,
Well, it looks like ozone,
Must be the ultraviolet in
my eyes.’
STUART SEAMAN,
Swaffham, Norfolk.Ban the bouncers
HAVING been hit on the head
on seven painful occasions as
an opening batsman of long
vintage, I was horrified to see
one of England’s fastest-ever
bowlers, Jofra Archer, was
unchecked after a total of 19
hits on the helmet or above the
waist of opponents. Thebouncer is a surprise weapon,
but seeing him firing in three
or four in an over after
Australia’s Pat Cummins
bowled ten in two overs to
Archer, it’s no longer a surprise.
It’s Bodyline rekindled.
As a former Daily Mail
cricket and football writer, I
know the law is clear: umpires
have the power to take abowler off if two bouncers in
an over is regularly exceeded.
So far no one has been
penalised. Steve Smith was
lucky to avoid serious injury,
but do we need another player
to be put in hospital before
the International Cricket
Council reacts?
BRIAN SCOVELL,
Bromley, Kent.lives
Fine romance: Maxie and RicHAVE you lost a relative or friend in recent
months whose life you’d like to celebrate?
Our Friday column tells the stories of
ordinary people who lived extraordinarylives. Email your 350-word tribute to: lives@
dailymail.co.uk or write to: Extraordinary
Lives, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8
5TT. Please include a contact phone number.soon parted when his unit
was posted to India until
his demob in 1946.
Arrangements were made
for Dad to meet Mum at
Croydon Airport before
travelling by boat to
Northern Ireland. Mum
had lived in a city, so the
countryside was a shock.
Dad was the only child of
elderly, God-fearing
parents and she was one of
five children, which also
took a bit of adjustment.
When they married in
October 1946, Mum didn’t
speak much English and
had to learn quickly. Theymoved to Bangor,
County Down, and had five
children, of whom I am the
eldest. Later came 11
grandchildren and 11 great-
grandchildren. My parents
enjoyed ballroom dancing
and travelling to Europe
with their caravan. Before
joining the RAF, Dad had
been a trainee accountant,
but an office job was not
for him. After demob, he
was a bus driver and
owned a petrol station and
garage. Mum was a home-
maker who was talented at
handicrafts, especially
dressmaking, knitting,crochet and cross stitch.
When her sight faded and
Dad was diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s, she could no
longer look after him at
home. She visited him
every day at the care
home for the two years
before he died.
Eighteen months later,
Mum suffered a stroke,
which left her confined to
bed for six years.
She is remembered with
great affection by her
family and many friends.
O RIC McILWAINE, born
February 7, 1923; died
January 12, 2018, aged 94.Electric cars aren’t
all va-va-vroom...
Opening the door to future of driving: Tom Tyler with his wife TriciaPicture: INSTAGRAMPicture: PATHE Government has stated the sale
of new diesel and petrol cars will be
banned by 2040, with all such vehicles
off the roads by 2050. I have owned an
electric car, a Renault Zoe family
hatchback, for several months. I have
driven 3,000 miles, so I am in a position
to comment on how this will work.
The car is a delight to drive. It is quiet
and has exceptional performance.
The low centre of gravity because of
the position of its battery means it
hugs the road.
However, whenever you drive it, you
know the power in the battery is
diminishing by the mile.
Eco-mode reduces consumption of
electricity and increases range, but it
reduces performance and limits the top
speed to 60mph, which is rather boring.
Range anxiety is the state of mind for
electric car owners.
Wind and load are significant factors
that are not really noticed in an
ordinary car. On one 60-mile trip,
driving into a 40mph headwind, I used
much more battery power than
expected. Fortunately, I came home
with a tailwind and made it back with
plenty of charge to spare.
Charging the car at home is easy. I have
a Zappi in my garage, powered by solar
panels in the roof. When the sun
doesn’t shine, the charger draws a
current from the house mains at a slow
or fast speed. I also have a trickle
charger that fits into any plug socket.
The biggest challenge of owning an
electric car is charging away from home
on a long journey. The car will tell mewhere to find the nearest charging
point, but there are at least four
different networks. Some must be
prepaid or accessed by a card or mobile
phone app.
When you find a charging point, your
problems have only just begun. At
South Mimms service station on the
M25, there are four chargers, but only
one with a fitting that suits my car —
so what do I do if another vehicle is
using it? It might be a long wait.
On a trip to Norfolk, I found half the
charging points I visited were not
working. The charging points also
operate at very different speeds. It’s
fine to plug in at a stately National
Trust home and explore the house and
grounds for six hours while your carcharges up, but not so good if you are
trying to get to Glasgow. So for a long
journey you must plan ahead carefully.
It’s just as well the AA runs a rescue
service for exhausted electric cars!
This type of car must be the transport
for the future, and for most people it
will be ideal, even if running it demands
a certain amount of technical
know-how. However, the take-up is very
low. Last year, the number of electric
cars sold in Britain was 1 per cent of
the total, compared with Norway,
where it was 49 per cent.
Our charging network is pathetically
small, so a huge government
programme is essential if electric cars
take over our roads.
TOM TYLER, Ipswich, Suffolk.O THIS week’s
winner is Mrs
B. Meacham of
South Elmsall,
W. Yorks, who
has the
Duchess of
Cambridge
saying to
Princess
Charlotte
during the
King’s Cup
regatta
at Cowes: