BEYONCE KNOWLES brought the curtain down on the last Glastonbury Festival until 2013 with a stunning show in front of a packed crowd on the Pyramid Stage.
The 29-year-old Texan singer opened her set by stepping down onto the stage from a mini version of the Pyramid while ticker tape and fireworks filled the air.
Beyonce fronted her performance with some of her biggest hits - starting with Crazy In Love and Single Ladies - before teaching the crowd some of the lyrics to her new single, Best Thing I Never Had.
The latter part of her set included covers of Prince and Kings of Leon, and a medley of Destiny's Child tunes.
But it was hardly a mistake to leave early and close the festival in style on the West Holts Stage with Kool & The Gang who played great versions of Get Down On It and Celebrate Good Times.
Earlier on the Sunday, Don McLean won the battle of the two American legends against Paul Simon, delivering a beautiful slow version of Vincent before milking American Pie for all its worth.
Simon stirred the crowd with Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes and You Can Call Me Al but he needlessly omitted Graceland and also could not find time for any Simon & Garfunkel tunes.
Thankfully, then, the Kaiser Chiefs on Other ran through all of their hits from their first album Employment after the Eels had helped us see in a beautiful sunset.
The hot sun on Sunday had come as a welcome relief after the heavens had poured down on most of Friday and Saturday morning.
Much of the site turned into a quagmire with up to a foot of mud in places and some of the bands struggled to rouse the crowd in the rain.
U2 were the biggest of the casualties with a largely underwhelming set.
Nevertheless, it did have a classy touch when Beautiful Day was introduced by an American astronaut in the International Space Station.
And Bono and the others will have at least pleased the purists having featured virtually all their biggest hits.
Earlier in the day, the Pyramid played host to an uninspiring set by Metronomy who would subsequently disappoint again at the Wireless Festival in Hyde Park.
On the Park, American pop duo Jenny and Johnny unsurprisingly struggled to blend their summery tunes with the inclement weather, despite their best efforts.
But, back at the Pyramid, there was total reverence as 85-year-old BB King sang the blues before, over on West Holts, Dr Jimmy Cliff hosted one of the best party atmospheres of the weekend.
On Saturday, Coldplay were another act to produce a great atmosphere at the front.
However, a truly magical Glastonbury moment - like when they finished on Fix You in 2005 - eluded Chris Martin and his band as they opted instead to finish on their new single Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall.
Elbow were a sound choice in providing the warm-up for Coldplay with front-man Guy Garvey giving the appearance of a man who could not believe his band had finally made it.
Meanwhile, much earlier in the day on John Peel Stage, Ardal O'Hanlon-lookalike Jamie 'Pockets' Fox from Fight Like Apes gave the impression that he should be anywhere other than a rock band.
That was not to his detriment, though, and the Irish group - fronted by shouty female vocalist Mary-Kate 'MayKay' Geraghty - provided a hugely entertaining start to the day with both their songs and ad libs.
After repeating the trick at Wireless, I can see Fight Like Apes - and not Shite Like Apes as a self-referential Fox amusingly called them - become another favourite of mine.
Just as the Gaslight Anthem did after their visit to Glastonbury on John Peel Stage in 2009. This year, the Brian Fallon-led New Jersey rockers were back - and playing on the big, uncovered Pyramid Stage.
But the Americans did not let the big venue unnerve them and they gave the big crowd an assured display of their talent.
Of course, as always, Glastonbury Festival has far more to it than just the main music stages though Tony Benn disappointed on the Leftfield Stage by turning up an hour early, meaning I missed him for a third successive year.
Another irritation was the new late night one-way queue system. With its winding seemingly never-ending path, it did its best to exhaust revellers even before they reached the likes of Shangrai-la and the Unfairground.
Worse still, most of these areas remained clogged up with mud even after the sun had dried out the rest of the site on Sunday.
My preview post showed I was skeptical of the one-way idea beforehand and being stuck in such a big queue did little to force me to reevaluate my opinion.
It may have been more organised for the organisers but there was an element of it becoming a chore to visit the late night areas when this has always previously been one of my most enjoyable parts of the festival.
Nevertheless, Arcadia is now such an impressive structure that Orbital played a DJ set there on Saturday night and it has certainly been a pleasure to see the venue develop over the last few years.
My favourite after-hours place this year was away from the south east corner, though. The Bourbon Street Bar gained two visits from myself.
The first was to see Sandi Thom play the blues on Thursday evening, and the second was for some late night boogie back to the jazz of the brilliantly-named Rabbit Foot Spasm Band on Friday.
Glastonbury certainly tested my patience on this fourth visit but, as usual, it still came through with a kaleidoscope of flying colours.
Hyde Park
ARCADE FIRE and Mumford & Sons impressed Hyde Park on the following Thursday, managing to stir a sleepy crowd into action after earlier sets by the Vaccines and Beirut.
And last weekend, Chase & Status, the Chemical Bros., The Streets, The Hives and Pulp were top billing at the aforementioned Wireless Festival.
Wireless was not without its hitches. A poor queuing system meant that I missed the chance to see Devotchka, a band which I held back from seeing at Glastonbury.
However, my biggest beef with the Hyde Park event was its rampant commercialism.
I understand the need for a festival to pay its way with advertisers but there were enough adverts there to make your eyes and ears bleed.
Mike Skinner of the Streets even joked main sponsors Barclaycard had approved the popping of pills during the subsequent sets by Chase & Status and the Chemical Brothers.
Earlier, Canadians Arcade Fire sprung somewhat of a surprise by featuring as many songs as they did from their first two albums, Funeral and Neon Bible, rather than their most recent release The Suburbs.
Still, another chance to hear Rebellion (Lies), Wake Up and No Cars Go live was no bad thing.
On Sunday at Wireless, the Hives played a straighter bat, reminding us of their biggest songs Hate To Say I Told You So and Main Offender.
Dressed in their usual sharp suits, Swedish front-man Pelle Almqvist ever-modestly self-proclaiming his band as the only one the crowd wanted to hear.
Of course, it was Pulp who were closer to that the description and the Sheffield band dug even deeper into their back collection to perform Disco 2000 and Babies in what was effectively a greatest hits set.
Appropriately, Jarvis Cocker and his band finished on Common People and ticker tape fell from the skies to signal the end of a party.
What a party it had been, though! An epic fortnight of music, mud, sweat and beers.
Showing posts with label millie the micra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label millie the micra. Show all posts
Monday, 4 July 2011
Monday, 20 June 2011
Glastonbury Festival and the Hyde Park hiatus
MY, OH MY! How quickly a year flies!
It seems just like yesterday since Stevie Wonder brought down the curtain on Glastonbury's 40th birthday celebrations.
But the time has come to make the journey to Michael Eavis' Worthy Farm in Pilton once again.
Even by Glastonbury standards, last year's festival was particularly spectacular. Not only was there the anniversary aspect but we also had a full week in which not a single raindrop fell.
It was, in fact, the first totally-dry Glastonbury since 2002 and so wishing for a repeat performance from the weather gods is rather optimistic.
Nevertheless, my hiatus from this blog for this year's festival looks like being pretty extraordinary again.
For, I will not only be attending Glastonbury - but also three further days of music on the following week at Hyde Park in London.
The reasons for this, in my head at least, are three-fold. Firstly, by paying for Hyde Park tickets, the number of clashes at Glastonbury is vastly reduced. More on this below.
Secondly, attending more gigs is the perfect way to banish the inevitable Sunday night Glastonbury blues which I have not avoided yet in three previous visits.
And, finally, there is no Glastonbury Festival next year so splashing out on extra music now seems especially worth it.
The fallow year was actually meant to be this year but with resources such as portaloos and security being taken up by the 2012 London Olympics, it made more sense to delay the recess.
So what exactly will I be looking forward to see at Glastonbury 2011?
Well, for a start, the Pyramid Stage headliners are U2 on Friday, Coldplay on Saturday and Beyonce Knowles on Sunday.
U2 will make a belated return to the festival, having intended to play last year until pulling out due to a back injury to their front-man Bono.
Coldplay are also making a long-awaited return to Glastonbury, having last played there in 2005, while this is Beyonce's first appearance, coming three years after her husband Jay-Z headlined.
To be honest, it is far more likely that I will spend the last hours of Sunday at the West Holts Stage celebrating good times with Kool & the Gang over a few last pints of Brothers cider.
I will have already spent a fair bit of Sunday in front of Pyramid anyway, waking up to the sea-shanties of the Fisherman's Friends before watching Don McLean and Paul Simon on the afternoon.
On Friday, I intend to make visits to the Park Stage for Jenny & Johnny and Big Audio Dynamite before a long evening stint at the Pyramid for Morrissey and U2.
And, on Saturday, I will probably be back at the Pyramid again for the likes of Stornoway and the Gaslight Anthem.
However, I would like to get myself around the site a bit and, on Saturday afternoon, I will combine some real ale and folk as Thea Gilmore's version of Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding is followed in the Acoustic Tent by Pentangle.
And, of course, I would hope to indulge in some Glastonbury traditions by attending Tony Benn's talk at the Poetry & Words tent - if there is room - and by seeing to a bit of Billy Bragg on Leftfield.
Then, there are the visits to the Green Fields, the Stone Circle and the plethora of late night areas, now operating under a new one-way system. I am a little skeptical about those new plans but it is intended to improve access.
By way of a disclaimer, this itinerary is not for definite - nothing ever is at Glastonbury where there are constantly plenty of distractions. But the schedule is perhaps more definite than in other years.
The reason for this is that the number of possible clashes between the various acts has been vastly reduced by my choice to extend my trip by attending Hyde Park on 30 June.
There, I will see a one-off gig by Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Chase & Status and the Vaccines - before returning there for the Wireless Festival on 2-3 July.
At Wireless, I expect to see the likes of Pulp, the Chemical Brothers, Devotchka, Yuck, Fight Like Apes and Katy B among many others.
And so it is no surprise that, right now, I feel like a kid at Christmas and simply cannot wait to get going. I think Millie the Micra and myself are in for the most fun we have ever had.
It seems just like yesterday since Stevie Wonder brought down the curtain on Glastonbury's 40th birthday celebrations.
But the time has come to make the journey to Michael Eavis' Worthy Farm in Pilton once again.
Even by Glastonbury standards, last year's festival was particularly spectacular. Not only was there the anniversary aspect but we also had a full week in which not a single raindrop fell.
It was, in fact, the first totally-dry Glastonbury since 2002 and so wishing for a repeat performance from the weather gods is rather optimistic.
Nevertheless, my hiatus from this blog for this year's festival looks like being pretty extraordinary again.
For, I will not only be attending Glastonbury - but also three further days of music on the following week at Hyde Park in London.
The reasons for this, in my head at least, are three-fold. Firstly, by paying for Hyde Park tickets, the number of clashes at Glastonbury is vastly reduced. More on this below.
Secondly, attending more gigs is the perfect way to banish the inevitable Sunday night Glastonbury blues which I have not avoided yet in three previous visits.
And, finally, there is no Glastonbury Festival next year so splashing out on extra music now seems especially worth it.
The fallow year was actually meant to be this year but with resources such as portaloos and security being taken up by the 2012 London Olympics, it made more sense to delay the recess.
So what exactly will I be looking forward to see at Glastonbury 2011?
Well, for a start, the Pyramid Stage headliners are U2 on Friday, Coldplay on Saturday and Beyonce Knowles on Sunday.
U2 will make a belated return to the festival, having intended to play last year until pulling out due to a back injury to their front-man Bono.
Coldplay are also making a long-awaited return to Glastonbury, having last played there in 2005, while this is Beyonce's first appearance, coming three years after her husband Jay-Z headlined.
To be honest, it is far more likely that I will spend the last hours of Sunday at the West Holts Stage celebrating good times with Kool & the Gang over a few last pints of Brothers cider.
I will have already spent a fair bit of Sunday in front of Pyramid anyway, waking up to the sea-shanties of the Fisherman's Friends before watching Don McLean and Paul Simon on the afternoon.
On Friday, I intend to make visits to the Park Stage for Jenny & Johnny and Big Audio Dynamite before a long evening stint at the Pyramid for Morrissey and U2.
And, on Saturday, I will probably be back at the Pyramid again for the likes of Stornoway and the Gaslight Anthem.
However, I would like to get myself around the site a bit and, on Saturday afternoon, I will combine some real ale and folk as Thea Gilmore's version of Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding is followed in the Acoustic Tent by Pentangle.
And, of course, I would hope to indulge in some Glastonbury traditions by attending Tony Benn's talk at the Poetry & Words tent - if there is room - and by seeing to a bit of Billy Bragg on Leftfield.
Then, there are the visits to the Green Fields, the Stone Circle and the plethora of late night areas, now operating under a new one-way system. I am a little skeptical about those new plans but it is intended to improve access.
By way of a disclaimer, this itinerary is not for definite - nothing ever is at Glastonbury where there are constantly plenty of distractions. But the schedule is perhaps more definite than in other years.
The reason for this is that the number of possible clashes between the various acts has been vastly reduced by my choice to extend my trip by attending Hyde Park on 30 June.
There, I will see a one-off gig by Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Chase & Status and the Vaccines - before returning there for the Wireless Festival on 2-3 July.
At Wireless, I expect to see the likes of Pulp, the Chemical Brothers, Devotchka, Yuck, Fight Like Apes and Katy B among many others.
And so it is no surprise that, right now, I feel like a kid at Christmas and simply cannot wait to get going. I think Millie the Micra and myself are in for the most fun we have ever had.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Five live drive
IF AT FIRST you don't succeed, then try, try again.
That maxim has never seemed more appropriate to me than yesterday, the day of my fifth driving test - and success at last.
After four failures in the months running up to Christmas 2009, I made it a resolution to pass as quickly as I could in the new year.
The snowy weather meant I had little practice over the holiday season and so I moved this attempt back from 13th January to two weeks' later.
The extra time was spent doing a few more hours of practice but, just like previously, I was still nervous when test day arrived.
A final practice on the morning of the test with instructor David Convery settled me down and I succeeded in tidying up my manoeuvres, most particularly the reverse parallel park.
The test itself began at 12.43 under leaden skies though the roads were dry.
From the Gateshead test centre on Wellington Road in Dunston, I went straight on to the A1 for four miles to the West Road roundabout.
I made my way down the West Road and turned left at the Co-operative store crossroads into an estate where I performed my first manoeuvre - reverse round a curved corner.
Just pulling into stop before the manoeuvre, I showed my first real sign of nerves when I clumsily clipped the kerb after coming over a speed hump. This earned me one of just four minors on my test sheet.
Nevertheless, the curved corner manoeuvre went well and after some more estate driving, I was soon heading back to the test centre via the same crossroads and the A1 again.
I took the Dunston turn-off having still not done a second manoeuvre.
But, straight after the slip road, my confusion disappeared as I pulled into Beech Drive to do a reverse parallel park.
The morning practice paid dividends and I parked behind a white van without a problem.
It was then just a case of holding my nerve to get round the final few corners to the test centre.
When I arrived, I pulled into the parking bays aware that I had made no major mistakes. But I could not let myself believe it until the examiner said: "Peter, I'm pleased to say you've passed."
At that moment, the pent-up adrenaline suddenly surged and I leapt from the front seat to give a bear hug to David, my thrilled instructor.
My persistence had finally paid off. I had done it at last. I had given Millie the Micra a worthy owner.
Diary of a learner driver
November 2005
Applied for and received a provisional licence
January 2006
Took six hours of tuition but decided against learning to drive after fast losing confidence from early struggles with control of the car.
2009:
March 13
Passed theory test with 50/50 on the questions and 56/75 on hazard perception.
June 12
First assessment drive for two hours with instructor David Convery.
June 15-16
First crisis of confidence, a result of struggling with control of the car and clutch control in particular. David encouraged me to persist.
June 23
Last lesson before a break before Glastonbury Festival. After gaining some control of the car, I was introduced to some major roads and roundabouts.
July 6
Belated first lesson for almost two weeks after hiatus for Glastonbury Festival where I lost my spectacles causing a further delay.
July 31
Second crisis of confidence, regarding roundabouts in particular. My lack of understanding about which traffic affected me almost caused an accident and David applied the dual controls. I doubted once again if I could ever become a driver.
August 26
A major improvement on roundabouts raised my standard to test level but my observations were still quite poor and, with just a few corners to go before the end of the test, I failed my first attempt when attempting to turn right at a crossroads despite the presence of oncoming traffic.
September 26
A holiday in Portugal followed the first failed test, lasting until September 7. The bad nature of the failure provoked a third crisis of confidence and I decided to avoid the subject of driving for a while. I stopped contacting David, my instructor, until he sent a thought-provoking email. It pointed out that I had already invested a lot of time and money into passing my test over the summer, and that I really was not that far away.
October 12
I decided to continue but my driving confidence needed to be rebuilt as this was my first time back in a car for over six weeks.
October 29
Confidence was quickly restored thanks to some excellent tuition and I took my second test. I failed surprisingly on a turn in the road, despite this being my best/the easiest manoeuvre. Once again, my observations let me down.
October 31
The disappointment of a second failure was eased by the purchase of my very own car - a 2003 Nissan Micra Tempest in metallic blue, christened Millie by the previous owners.
November 25
A third test but a fourth crisis of confidence which ultimately killed off any chance of success. I put a lot of pressure on myself as I thought that I really ought to pass having narrowly failed on the previous occasions. This self-imposed stress and a poor body clock combined to give me hardly any sleep and it was no surprise when my thought-process failed towards the end of the test, leading me to choose the wrong lane on a roundabout.
December 16
After a few sessions of practice, I took a fourth test in much-improved spirits after a decent night of sleep. Unfortunately, I failed to clear a roundabout quickly enough having chosen to move off, and my last chance of passing before the holiday season was gone.
2010:
January 12-13
January 13th was the original date for my first attempt in 2010 but the wintry conditions meant I had not done any practice and I moved the test back two weeks. In the meantime, I took a few more lessons including some experience of driving on what ice remained on January 12th.
January 27
A fifth test and, finally, success. Persistence paid off and at last I got to tear up the L-plates. Instead, I attached some 'new driver' P-plates and completed a first 'independent' drive, a short trip to pick up my mother from work.
That maxim has never seemed more appropriate to me than yesterday, the day of my fifth driving test - and success at last.
After four failures in the months running up to Christmas 2009, I made it a resolution to pass as quickly as I could in the new year.
The snowy weather meant I had little practice over the holiday season and so I moved this attempt back from 13th January to two weeks' later.
The extra time was spent doing a few more hours of practice but, just like previously, I was still nervous when test day arrived.
A final practice on the morning of the test with instructor David Convery settled me down and I succeeded in tidying up my manoeuvres, most particularly the reverse parallel park.
The test itself began at 12.43 under leaden skies though the roads were dry.
From the Gateshead test centre on Wellington Road in Dunston, I went straight on to the A1 for four miles to the West Road roundabout.
I made my way down the West Road and turned left at the Co-operative store crossroads into an estate where I performed my first manoeuvre - reverse round a curved corner.
Just pulling into stop before the manoeuvre, I showed my first real sign of nerves when I clumsily clipped the kerb after coming over a speed hump. This earned me one of just four minors on my test sheet.
Nevertheless, the curved corner manoeuvre went well and after some more estate driving, I was soon heading back to the test centre via the same crossroads and the A1 again.
I took the Dunston turn-off having still not done a second manoeuvre.
But, straight after the slip road, my confusion disappeared as I pulled into Beech Drive to do a reverse parallel park.
The morning practice paid dividends and I parked behind a white van without a problem.
It was then just a case of holding my nerve to get round the final few corners to the test centre.
When I arrived, I pulled into the parking bays aware that I had made no major mistakes. But I could not let myself believe it until the examiner said: "Peter, I'm pleased to say you've passed."
At that moment, the pent-up adrenaline suddenly surged and I leapt from the front seat to give a bear hug to David, my thrilled instructor.
My persistence had finally paid off. I had done it at last. I had given Millie the Micra a worthy owner.
Diary of a learner driver
November 2005
Applied for and received a provisional licence
January 2006
Took six hours of tuition but decided against learning to drive after fast losing confidence from early struggles with control of the car.
2009:
March 13
Passed theory test with 50/50 on the questions and 56/75 on hazard perception.
June 12
First assessment drive for two hours with instructor David Convery.
June 15-16
First crisis of confidence, a result of struggling with control of the car and clutch control in particular. David encouraged me to persist.
June 23
Last lesson before a break before Glastonbury Festival. After gaining some control of the car, I was introduced to some major roads and roundabouts.
July 6
Belated first lesson for almost two weeks after hiatus for Glastonbury Festival where I lost my spectacles causing a further delay.
July 31
Second crisis of confidence, regarding roundabouts in particular. My lack of understanding about which traffic affected me almost caused an accident and David applied the dual controls. I doubted once again if I could ever become a driver.
August 26
A major improvement on roundabouts raised my standard to test level but my observations were still quite poor and, with just a few corners to go before the end of the test, I failed my first attempt when attempting to turn right at a crossroads despite the presence of oncoming traffic.
September 26
A holiday in Portugal followed the first failed test, lasting until September 7. The bad nature of the failure provoked a third crisis of confidence and I decided to avoid the subject of driving for a while. I stopped contacting David, my instructor, until he sent a thought-provoking email. It pointed out that I had already invested a lot of time and money into passing my test over the summer, and that I really was not that far away.
October 12
I decided to continue but my driving confidence needed to be rebuilt as this was my first time back in a car for over six weeks.
October 29
Confidence was quickly restored thanks to some excellent tuition and I took my second test. I failed surprisingly on a turn in the road, despite this being my best/the easiest manoeuvre. Once again, my observations let me down.
October 31
The disappointment of a second failure was eased by the purchase of my very own car - a 2003 Nissan Micra Tempest in metallic blue, christened Millie by the previous owners.
November 25
A third test but a fourth crisis of confidence which ultimately killed off any chance of success. I put a lot of pressure on myself as I thought that I really ought to pass having narrowly failed on the previous occasions. This self-imposed stress and a poor body clock combined to give me hardly any sleep and it was no surprise when my thought-process failed towards the end of the test, leading me to choose the wrong lane on a roundabout.
December 16
After a few sessions of practice, I took a fourth test in much-improved spirits after a decent night of sleep. Unfortunately, I failed to clear a roundabout quickly enough having chosen to move off, and my last chance of passing before the holiday season was gone.
2010:
January 12-13
January 13th was the original date for my first attempt in 2010 but the wintry conditions meant I had not done any practice and I moved the test back two weeks. In the meantime, I took a few more lessons including some experience of driving on what ice remained on January 12th.
January 27
A fifth test and, finally, success. Persistence paid off and at last I got to tear up the L-plates. Instead, I attached some 'new driver' P-plates and completed a first 'independent' drive, a short trip to pick up my mother from work.
Thursday, 17 December 2009
That familiar feeling
I HAD a less than four-midable outcome as a fourth driving test failure left me with a now familiar feeling.
Just like on my third attempt, my critical mistake was at a roundabout - this time, on the Team Valley.
But unlike last time when I used the wrong lane, it was my moving off which let me down.
Another major difference to my stressful third experience was the fact that I had a good night of sleep and felt alert rather than nervous.
And so, on approach to the roundabout, I realised there was traffic and I would not be able to go. I put the car into first gear and waited for a chance.
A couple of opportunities arose almost straightaway but I had not had enough time to notice them.
Sure enough, I spotted a third chance with a car from opposite blocking traffic from the right - and I decided to take it.
The gap was legitimate but I moved off so slowly that the car from opposite had gone and a truck from the right had begun to move.
I still managed to clear the junction in time but it was much tighter than it should have been and my lack of urgency caused the examiner to mark this as serious.
I had been assessed by this examiner previously - on my second effort when I failed on poor observation on a turn in the road.
The manoeuvre must be a favourite of his as he asked me to do it again but this time my concentration was much better and I completed it without any bother.
Having left the Gateshead test centre on Wellington Road in Dunston, I drove on the A189 to Bensham for the turn in the road before heading to Low Fell for my second manoeuvre, a reverse park.
Again, I overcame this task easily enough but elected to tidy up my straightening of the car by using first gear, costing me one of seven minors.
From there, I drove back to the test centre via the Waggon Team roundabout and a short trip on the A1 lasting just one junction.
While I realised at the time that I had made a mistake on the roundabout back on the Team Valley, I hoped the fact that I managed to clear the junction just in time would be considered in my favour.
But it was not to be, and the result left me once again scrambling for the positives.
As expected, the experience of three earlier tests made me less nervous and my manoeuvres passed off well in the test and in practice with my instructor David Convery.
The result, however, was another crushing blow and it means that Millie the Micra goes into 2010 still sitting outside the door without a fully-licensed owner.
Of course, I intend to continue into the new year until I pass but, after a fourth failure, I have also been left wondering if I will ever do enough to cross the finishing line.
Just like on my third attempt, my critical mistake was at a roundabout - this time, on the Team Valley.
But unlike last time when I used the wrong lane, it was my moving off which let me down.
Another major difference to my stressful third experience was the fact that I had a good night of sleep and felt alert rather than nervous.
And so, on approach to the roundabout, I realised there was traffic and I would not be able to go. I put the car into first gear and waited for a chance.
A couple of opportunities arose almost straightaway but I had not had enough time to notice them.
Sure enough, I spotted a third chance with a car from opposite blocking traffic from the right - and I decided to take it.
The gap was legitimate but I moved off so slowly that the car from opposite had gone and a truck from the right had begun to move.
I still managed to clear the junction in time but it was much tighter than it should have been and my lack of urgency caused the examiner to mark this as serious.
I had been assessed by this examiner previously - on my second effort when I failed on poor observation on a turn in the road.
The manoeuvre must be a favourite of his as he asked me to do it again but this time my concentration was much better and I completed it without any bother.
Having left the Gateshead test centre on Wellington Road in Dunston, I drove on the A189 to Bensham for the turn in the road before heading to Low Fell for my second manoeuvre, a reverse park.
Again, I overcame this task easily enough but elected to tidy up my straightening of the car by using first gear, costing me one of seven minors.
From there, I drove back to the test centre via the Waggon Team roundabout and a short trip on the A1 lasting just one junction.
While I realised at the time that I had made a mistake on the roundabout back on the Team Valley, I hoped the fact that I managed to clear the junction just in time would be considered in my favour.
But it was not to be, and the result left me once again scrambling for the positives.
As expected, the experience of three earlier tests made me less nervous and my manoeuvres passed off well in the test and in practice with my instructor David Convery.
The result, however, was another crushing blow and it means that Millie the Micra goes into 2010 still sitting outside the door without a fully-licensed owner.
Of course, I intend to continue into the new year until I pass but, after a fourth failure, I have also been left wondering if I will ever do enough to cross the finishing line.
Friday, 30 October 2009
Third time lucky?
ANOTHER driving test and another failure - but at least I feel much more satisfied with my effort this time.
I know from the result that I am not that far away from passing. I just need the certificate to prove it.
The critical moment in this second test came as I was completing the turn-in-the-road manoeuvre.
It is a surprising fail, as this is something which I have been doing in lessons since June - and a much easier exercise than reversing on a curved corner which I did earlier in the test.
It was also a highly irritating and frustrating fail, given the circumstances.
Having done the first two parts of the turn-in-the-road without difficulty, all that I needed to do was put the car back into the normal driving position.
While reversing, I had noticed a blue van approach from the right and slow down to assess the situation.
Satisfied that he would pull up and let me finish the manoeuvre, I checked to my left and started to drive my car forward.
Unfortunately, the van driver had not pulled up and instead had decided to continue his journey by going around me.
It meant we were both heading for the same bit of road and required sharp action on the brakes, which was marked as a 'serious'.
Behind the van, a black car pulled up in the same position. This time, I waited for longer to ensure the mistake was not repeated.
Irritatingly, the driver of the black car did exactly what I expected the van driver to do and waited patiently.
More irritating was the fact that I would not have even been doing a turn-in-the-road manoeuvre if I had been able to do a reverse park earlier in the test.
But that went by the wayside when another driver pulled up behind the car which I was going to reverse around just before I got the chance to engage reverse gear.
The aftermath of this test has been different to the last one, though.
After the test in August, my bad error ultimately caused me to lose a lot of confidence. This goes some way to explaining why it has taken me until the end of October to sit another test.
Even though I only had a few hours lessons from instructor David Convery in the run up to this test, my driving has improved and I feel so much more relaxed behind the wheel.
This is demonstrated by the marks on my test sheet. I had just six minors and three of those were for hesitation, a result of me erring too much on the side of caution at junctions.
Noticeably, I received no minors for my control of the car, and none for judgement, positioning or speed - all of which is very encouraging for my next test, already booked for November 25.
Finally, as if I needed any more incentive, there was a surprise addition to the family on Thursday night - introducing Millie, my own metallic-blue Nissan Micra.
I know from the result that I am not that far away from passing. I just need the certificate to prove it.
The critical moment in this second test came as I was completing the turn-in-the-road manoeuvre.
It is a surprising fail, as this is something which I have been doing in lessons since June - and a much easier exercise than reversing on a curved corner which I did earlier in the test.
It was also a highly irritating and frustrating fail, given the circumstances.
Having done the first two parts of the turn-in-the-road without difficulty, all that I needed to do was put the car back into the normal driving position.
While reversing, I had noticed a blue van approach from the right and slow down to assess the situation.
Satisfied that he would pull up and let me finish the manoeuvre, I checked to my left and started to drive my car forward.
Unfortunately, the van driver had not pulled up and instead had decided to continue his journey by going around me.
It meant we were both heading for the same bit of road and required sharp action on the brakes, which was marked as a 'serious'.
Behind the van, a black car pulled up in the same position. This time, I waited for longer to ensure the mistake was not repeated.
Irritatingly, the driver of the black car did exactly what I expected the van driver to do and waited patiently.
More irritating was the fact that I would not have even been doing a turn-in-the-road manoeuvre if I had been able to do a reverse park earlier in the test.
But that went by the wayside when another driver pulled up behind the car which I was going to reverse around just before I got the chance to engage reverse gear.
The aftermath of this test has been different to the last one, though.
After the test in August, my bad error ultimately caused me to lose a lot of confidence. This goes some way to explaining why it has taken me until the end of October to sit another test.
Even though I only had a few hours lessons from instructor David Convery in the run up to this test, my driving has improved and I feel so much more relaxed behind the wheel.
This is demonstrated by the marks on my test sheet. I had just six minors and three of those were for hesitation, a result of me erring too much on the side of caution at junctions.
Noticeably, I received no minors for my control of the car, and none for judgement, positioning or speed - all of which is very encouraging for my next test, already booked for November 25.
Finally, as if I needed any more incentive, there was a surprise addition to the family on Thursday night - introducing Millie, my own metallic-blue Nissan Micra.
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