Menu
 
Home | News | What a boring survey
 
News | 1st May 2020
 

What a boring survey

 
 
 

ANOTHER Clap for Carers is coming up tonight. It’s strangely emotional, a sincere and deeply-felt expression of gratitude and solidarity for NHS and all care workers.
It gets bigger and noisier in Langholm every week. As well as the message it sends to our heroes, it’s the highlight of the week.
Keeping clear of the virus by staying at home takes no strenuous effort but, let’s be honest, social distancing is boring.
Tables and graphs on the news may help to make sense of what’s happening but they aren’t much of a spectacle.
Despite the geek-factor, there is growing interest in interpreting and presenting statistics, which are playing such a massive part in current events.
Desperate boredom was the driver behind a survey in the Muckle Toon. One couple, who asked to remain anonymous, decided to get a sense of the impact of the lockdown by measuring the Thursday morning rush-hour traffic.


All vehicles on Langholm’s High Street were relentlessly and meticulously listed and categorised. Starting at 7.45am every north and southbound vehicle was noted. By 9am, a clear impression was emerging.
It can now be revealed, exclusively in the E&L Advertiser that, in 75 minutes, there were 29 northbound HGVs, 36 vans 45 cars, no buses or bikes. Southbound, the A7 carried nine HGVs, 30 vans, 64 cars, three buses, one motorbike, one cyclist.


It isn’t easy to see what we can make of these figures; more goods going north, more people in cars going south. That’s about it.
The surveyors plan to repeat the exercise, saying: “It means more than an hour effortlessly filled in. We stayed away from COVID-19 disaster news on TV. We didn’t order anything on line. Best of all, we avoided raiding the fridge again.” They added: “Of course, there’s still tonight’s clapping to look forward to.
What’s not to enjoy?”

 
 
Would you like to support us?

The Eskdale and Liddesdale Advertiser is our community owned local newspaper and even in today’s troubled times, we aim to bring you local news and articles in an impartial, responsible and factual way.

We hope you have enjoyed reading this free article but we need your support so we can keep delivering quality journalism that’s open and independent and keeps you up to date with what is happening in Eskdale and Liddesdale.

Every reader’s contribution, however big or small, is so valuable to us.
 
 
‘Owned by the Community...Published for the Community’
Do you have a story?

Please get in touch if you have a story or article you would like to see published.

Related Articles

Will Center Parc’s Hawick plans affect Irvine House?

Buccleuch assures the E&L that they are fully committed to…

 

Castleholm is officially in community hands

Landmark deal sees cherished land transferred to the people of…

 

Hope Hospital shines in Excellence in Care inspection

The Thomas Hope hospital in Langholm recently had a six-month…

 

Emergency services rescue woman from chilly River Esk

Firefighters from Langholm, Annan, Dumfries and Gala required as water…

 

Disappointment with LINK’S response to cash worries

Cash machine company not a lot of help in finding…

 

Holiday village plans for Irvine House and grounds

Buccleuch’s vision for up to 150 lodges couldbenefit Langholm businesses…

 

Town loses out on funding due to mis-reported population

Discrepancy between census statistics andBorderlands figures has cost Langholm dear…

 

Banking possibilities under investigation

After announced closure of Bank of Scotland,solutions including a Post…

 

All kinds of everything at the 172nd Langholm Show

MAIRI TELFORD JAMMEH reports on Langholm’s Rural Highlight in an 8-Page Supplement…

 

15 nights road closure for A7 improvements

Overnight works to resurface road south of Canonbie will run…

 

Signage, speed limit, flooding and potholes

An update from the A7 Action Group’s meeting The A7…

 

Bank of Scotland to close Langholm branch

As High Street loses its last remaining bank,residents are saying…

 

Inaction by BT leaves Hub incommunicado

Eskdalemuir venue unable to function properly without phoneline or broadband…

 

Nearly 1,000 objections to Warblaw Woodlands

Langholm locals object to commercial forestry on their doorstep An…

 

Warblaw worries are endorsed by politicians

MSP Oliver Mundell urges residents to join Warblaw fight ahead…

 

Depression on David Street to be tackled

and other updates from Councillor Male After many months of…

 

Golden time in Paris for Copshaw’s Paralympian

Team GB Paralympic swimmer Stephen Clegg ALSO breaks long-standing record…what…

 

Teachers face up to the Great North Run

In March this year, Headteacher of the Langholm and Canonbie…

 

Residents encouraged to react to Warblaw plans

If you are against the blanket of trees proposedfor our…

 

Consultation on change of school week structure

Views, opinions and concerns sought from parents/carers Dumfries and Galloway…

 

Letters to the Editor

More Warblaw worries With reference to Mark Hallam’s letter of…

 

Show Season starts with Canonbie's fine flower-power

Mairi Telford Jammeh reports from Canonbie Flower Show and vintage…

 

Much opposition to plan for Warblaw woodlands

Action Group formed to challenge forestry company’s ‘blanket of trees’…

 

Langholm Common Riding 2024

 

Common Riding Gallery 2024

Lots more photos in this week’s E&L. Many thanks to…

 

Over 100 years of Thomas Hope service between them

Angela, Kate and Sheena have all worked in a job…

 

Three of the best

Everyone at the E&L and Muckle Toon Media wish Bailey…

 

Have your say on the future of Langholm Housing

New survey aims to gather opinion on what the town…

 

Castle Craigs Rideout in photos

 

Future-proofing the Common Riding

No less than 63 ponies and their riders sallied forth…

 

Langholm Common Riding 2024

And so it begins… It was a wee bit on…

 

Holes filled, wall secured

At least the Common Riding route is more or less…

 

The Langholm Alliance: facing challenges head-on

‘Despite funding limitations, we are dedicated to transforming Langholm into…

 

Wildfires cause Greek Island holiday scare

A Langholm couple on holiday, in Kardamena on the idyllic…

 

Mighty Hikers Mel and Karl raise over £4k for Cancer Care

Local couple walk in Wales to support charity dear to…

 

Pureous Bunkumos

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful for the Copshaw Common Riding,…

 

Envisioning D&G's future landscape

Ideas for the future landscape of Dumfries and Galloway were…

 

20 WILL BE plenty!

 Blanket 20mph limit for all Langholm streets plus more…

 

Team work helps secure Langholm Day Centre

Manager Sandra Graham pulls out all the stops to negotiate…

 

DGRI cyber attack leads to region-wide mailing

CEO will contact every household in region with online safety…

 
 
requires mailchimp logins and wired up to a list
Join our mailing list
Keep up to date with all that’s going on at the E&L
This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. We use necessary cookies to make sure that our website works. We’d also like to set analytics cookies that help us make improvements by measuring how you use the site. By clicking “Allow All”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
These cookies are required for basic functionalities such as accessing secure areas of the website, remembering previous actions and facilitating the proper display of the website. Necessary cookies are often exempt from requiring user consent as they do not collect personal data and are crucial for the website to perform its core functions.
A “preferences” cookie is used to remember user preferences and settings on a website. These cookies enhance the user experience by allowing the website to remember choices such as language preferences, font size, layout customization, and other similar settings. Preference cookies are not strictly necessary for the basic functioning of the website but contribute to a more personalised and convenient browsing experience for users.
A “statistics” cookie typically refers to cookies that are used to collect anonymous data about how visitors interact with a website. These cookies help website owners understand how users navigate their site, which pages are most frequently visited, how long users spend on each page, and similar metrics. The data collected by statistics cookies is aggregated and anonymized, meaning it does not contain personally identifiable information (PII).
Marketing cookies are used to track user behaviour across websites, allowing advertisers to deliver targeted advertisements based on the user’s interests and preferences. These cookies collect data such as browsing history and interactions with ads to create user profiles. While essential for effective online advertising, obtaining user consent is crucial to comply with privacy regulations.