Christmas and Tunnel Lighting

It has finally warmed up a bit, and it has been nice to have a few milder days. Some folks like it cold, some like it hot. I guess it is down to you. One thing I do appreciate is a cool railway tunnel on a blistering hot sunny day. My last photograph of the year is the linear lighting inside a railway tunnel in the Peak District. The combination of coolness, water dripping from the roof and the amazing engineering of building this tunnel with it's brick lining. Incidently, I started off in civil engineering and my first job was working in a long sea outfall tunnel - 1.6 miles under the English Tunnel.  The lighting was simple fluorescent, but quietly effective as I hope you can see from the photograph.

A few blogs ago, I mentioned November 5th  night and how we enjoy the fireworks and forget that a certain Guy Fawkes wanted us to lose our parliament and what it stood for. I think we sometimes forget that Christmas is more than just a commercial opportunity for the shops and people getting stressed about presents and the like. I love giving and receiving gifts, but Christmas for me is about the most special gift ever given. So when you see the words CHRISTmas, the clue is in the first six letters!


Last week has been a busy one, with the last Executive Board meetingof 2012. I am pleased that we have appointed Elizabeth Thomas as Vice President Highways and Infrastructure and  I am sure that she will do an excellent job. This my last blog of 2012 as I am having a Christmas Holiday in Italy, and probably won't have an internet connection. I wish you a joyful Christmas and a happy new year.
Pete