It’s the time of year when this part of Dorset grinds to a standstill from surplus traffic. I know tourists are essential to the local economy, but so is agriculture. Queues forming behind slow-moving tractors and trailers are perfectly normal this time of year and farmers try to pull into lay-bys where possible to allow the queuing traffic to pass – not so with bloody caravans!

Why do caravan drivers insist on driving slowly down “picturesque” narrow lanes without realising that:
A) nobody can overtake them (and they never pull into passing points no matter how much traffic is behind them), and
B) any approaching traffic is forced to reverse hundreds of yards to passing points because the incompetent caravan towees cannot even reverse a few feet back to a passing point that’s just behind them. They’re nearly as bad a horse-box drivers in that respect but at least caravan towees don’t reverse because they can’t, horse-box drivers don’t because they won’t 🙁

Normally I don’t take to the roads much during August but whilst Sue has been in hospital I’ve had to make regular runs to Dorchester every day. A drive which normally takes me only 20 minutes is now taking about an hour of waiting in queues, not being able to see if the traffic is moving at all because I’m usually behind a bloody caravan blocking out all my view of the road ahead. If I’m lucky enough to overtake one on the dual-carriageway bit of the A35 there usually a convoy of caravans, mobile homes, and cars festooned in cycles and roof boxes over the hill, all heading lemming-like for the sea, and all creating an impossible to pass blockade.

Give me a road full of local, considerate tractor drivers any day…