To navigation the hard way

Call me old fashioned, but when I want to go somewhere I get the map out and plan the route.

Some time ago I was persuaded against my better judgement to buy a satnav. Most of the time it sits in the glovebox switched off, and to be fair it does have its uses in pinpointing an exact destination somewhere you're not familiar with. But the other day I took my son to Sheffield to show him my old uni. We took a detour over to Brightside to see the old steel making area - now all bulldozed and redeveloped. And then on the way back he keyed in "Bakewell" to the satnav to show us the way home. And that was where the trouble started.

It took us out of town a way I would never have thought of - but against my better judgement I thought we'd give it a go. We never did make it. After many miles slowly driving through the dark foggy roads across the Derbyshire Peak district we finally came to the A6 Matlock to Buxton road. A few minutes studying the map put us nearer to Buxton than Bakewell so the satnav was promptly switched off in disgrace and we came home via Buxton.

Thing is: this sort of thing happens every single time I use a satnav.

Where I live is on the A51 and the next village is about a kilometer away on the A53. You can travel along the A51 until it meets the A53 a couple of miles away or you can take the lane direct. A while ago I was walking home and a couple of cop cars flew by blue lights, the lot. I walked back to my house along the lane and as I arrived these same two police cars came flying along the A51. Exactly who they were trying to catch I don't know - but if he didn't have a satnav he would have got away on foot.