First posted on the Bentley Drivers Club Eastern Region Group on Facebook.
Last week I took my Bentley Arnage (year 2000) to Alan Osborn’s funeral in Billericay Essex and it seems I have been caught in the ULEZ zone on the Southend Arterial Road and was rather surprised to receive the fine as at no time had I noticed anything pointing out I was in the Greater London Emission Zone as I had thought London was in London and not Southend.
It seems that even if I pay the fine promptly it will be £90.00 which I have to say seems a tad excessive and people wonder why us older folk become grumpy old men but I have to assume that by paying this fine the air quality in London will now dramatically improve. Having just uploaded a copy of the vast area that the ULEZ now covers I’m reminded of Adolph Hitler when he marched into Poland, saying today Poland, tomorrow the world and have to say the analogy between Hitler and Khan seems most appropriate as they both seem to be fairly beastly people.
Although the Arnage seemed the correct car to take to a fellow member’s funeral, I had wondered why so few people had not come in their Bentleys and now I know. I have always tried to avoid the ULEZ if I was in a non-compliant car, my error was not having realised the zone had now taken over the entire south east of England.
Trying to end this post on an upbeat note, I wish all the Bentley Drivers Club members, happy motoring and successful avoidance of the ULEZ should it be necessary.
I am a retired actor, although to be honest I only retired because I wasn't getting any work due to losing my agent when I became a full time carer to my mother who had dementia. and the option of becoming an unemployed actor/waiter at my age was ludicrous, especially as my waiting skills are non-existent.
Having said I’m retired, I don’t think there really is such a thing as a retired actor for I am still available for work, I just don’t have an agent or any connections with regards to obtaining any worthwhile work.
I have over the years done student films when there is nothing else available, always low paid (if at all) the only incentive was always the promised copy of the finished film for your show reel which nine times out of ten always failed to materialise.
I spent many years looking after my aged mother and shortly after her death I was lucky enough to run into an ex-girlfriend of many years ago and our romance blossomed once again, resulting in us getting married in 2013.
My move to the countryside inspired me to write The Diary of a Country Bumpkin which tells of my continuing dilemmas in dealing with the rigors of the countryside from the unexpectedly large number of pollens, fungal moulds and hay products waiting to attack the unsuspecting townie.
I enjoy writing, see my play Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori on The Wireless Theatre Company, The Plays Wot I Wrote and The Battle of Barking Creek both available on Amazon.co.uk and am very fond of classic cars so my ideal occupation would be acting in a film I had written set in the 1930s/40s, we live in hopes.
I am delighted to say that since venturing to the countryside where space is not quite the premium it is in town, I have due to the availability of two double garages acquired more classic cars to form a small collection the pride of which are a 1947 Bentley Mk VI and a 2000 Bentley Arnage.
My various blogs and websites are continually evolving and I’m sure that by following the appropriate links you will find something which will edify or amuse.
I have written a number of different books all available on Amazon, so don't be shy should you feel the urge to purchase. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Joe-Wells/e/B06XKWFQHT/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
The Arnage is my only car that isn’t ULEZ compliant but it seemed the right car to take to the funeral of a fellow Bentley Drivers Club Member and if I am unlucky enough to have to go to London I usually take one of the others. I have no idea where I was nabbed as the image is just somewhere on the Southend Road so I assume it was on the way home. What I can’t understand is not seeing anything to tell me I was about to enter the zone, one can only assume they don’t want you to see it! What I find slightly annoying is, I called in to see friends on the way home but neither they nor the church where the funeral was held are in the ULEZ so I have been fined for cutting across the zone and polluting the atmosphere. Presumably had I taken a much longer route round the ULEZ causing more pollution, that would have been much better for the environment. Now, call me a sceptical old sod but this just proves that it has nothing to do with environment and everything to do with a greedy money making scheme.
The Diary of a Country Bumpkin 
Bad luck Joe. I didn’t know the zone extended that far!
The Arnage is my only car that isn’t ULEZ compliant but it seemed the right car to take to the funeral of a fellow Bentley Drivers Club Member and if I am unlucky enough to have to go to London I usually take one of the others. I have no idea where I was nabbed as the image is just somewhere on the Southend Road so I assume it was on the way home. What I can’t understand is not seeing anything to tell me I was about to enter the zone, one can only assume they don’t want you to see it! What I find slightly annoying is, I called in to see friends on the way home but neither they nor the church where the funeral was held are in the ULEZ so I have been fined for cutting across the zone and polluting the atmosphere. Presumably had I taken a much longer route round the ULEZ causing more pollution, that would have been much better for the environment. Now, call me a sceptical old sod but this just proves that it has nothing to do with environment and everything to do with a greedy money making scheme.
Sceptical old sod – I score 3 out of 3!
It’s not like it’s our fault, if everything was done with common sense we would have nothing to get irate about!