LAST week’s news that cyclists coming to try out the Tour de France route were crashing at an unprecedented rate will come as no surprise to anyone who drives in the Dales – Lycra is the new Gortex for the time being until the temperatures drop and a combination of grit and ice makes the roads more lethal to cyclists than tyre-biting sheepdogs.

It’s easy to see what people in Swaledale are miffed about when their road to Richmond is slowly slipping down the hill towards the Swale, but the more minor road to Leyburn – which is on the Tour route – is now racetrack smooth.

  • Despite my reservations about such large-scale costume wearing and role playing, the 1940s weekend in Leyburn was quite enjoyable.

Who could not be entertained by a giant steam engine tractor or a mash up performance of ‘Allo ‘Allo!

and Dad’s Army.

“Listen very carefully I will say this only once – do you think that’s very wise?”

At one point, we found ourselves in the middle of an old fashioned singalong. We had ordered food so we were trapped. Perhaps this was what sitting in a Second World War air raid shelter felt like, only with less chance of going outside to find your house turned to rubble.

I’m not sure what giving birth was like for women living in the Dales in the 1940s. Presumably births often happened at home as the hospital was too far away.

In other news, NHS Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby clinical commissioning group has announced another formal public consultation around children’s and maternity services at the Friarage Hospital.

You can give your views on two options – both involving a move from a consultantled to a midwife-led unit.

Option no thanks and Option call this a consultation then.

You can suggest an alternative solution if you want, the statement says. It’s not enough for the public to dislike something anymore. If it can’t come up with its own solution, it can do one.