The day I stopped the traffic

It will soon be time for the annual Royal Highland Show and I always remember my first visit to the show in 1982 when I was 21 years old.

My friend and I drove up from Cumbria and arrived in Edinburgh where we were quite lost. We asked for directions to the show from a pair of policemen in the centre of the city, who obliged and sent us on our way to Ingliston.

Traffic was very slow on the approach to the showground and we were just about to edge our way onto the parking area when suddenly a police Range Rover shot across in front of my car, blocking my way. At the very same moment two police motorbikes pulled up, one on each side of my car. That was it, I was completely blocked in and wondered what on earth I could have possibly done.

The driver of the Range Rover alighted from his vehicle and walked to my car. He asked me if I had just been into the city centre and asked for directions from a policeman. When I told him I had, he took a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me whilst telling me the policeman I’d spoken to had put out my car registration number over the radio and asked if whoever found me would give me his telephone number, for personal reasons.

More than 30 years have passed and I never did make that call, but I hope that cheeky policeman has enjoyed a good life. Mrs Christine Walker, Workington, Cumbria.