To me it smacks of being out of control and has the potential to be highly dangerous. I still have in the back of my mind my father telling me the tale of someone’s cruise control getting stuck with disastrous consequences. Where he’d heard such nonsense I’ve no idea, but it still spooked me to the point where I’ve gone for 30 years of driving never having operated this button.

Very recently, I stepped out of my comfort zone and pressed it. I actually felt I had very little choice in the matter. I’d been given strict instructions and a practical demonstration – while the car was stationary, so not that practical – by tech man Paul. I was preparing for my journey north with three kids and two cats in tow – alone again as John, true to form, was playing the absent father.

The kids have stopped asking and I failed to recognise his voice this morning when he phoned.

Poor boy, he works so hard, but we seem to be the only ones reaping the benefits. I’ll phone him tomorrow – that will make him happy, and let him know what a fun time we’re having without him in sunny Derbyshire.

The car we had to test was a delicious looking red Honda CR-V. Leather throughout, camera to help when reversing and the aforesaid cruise control with an added twist. Paul reliably informed me that once the speed and the distance between my car and the one in front was set, then I should sit back and enjoy the ride!

Skeptical being my middle name and the fact that I’ve always dismissed cruise as a lazy man’s choice, I thought I give it a go for a couple of miles and them resort to driving the car myself.

I always like to be in control, possibly because I never am, but here the car was in control and it completely freaked me out. However, I did manage it for the majority of my three hour journey, despite the heavy traffic and the constant distraction of the cats crying. The kids for once were quiet.

I was surprised at the cats as I did feel the ride was smoother than normal because of the cruise control. The car gently slowed down and accelerated as cars came and went in my path. Just think, if everyone used this, the traffic would just flow.

It’s a very odd having both feet planted firmly on the floor feeling rather redundant. It’s easy to disengage the whole thing with a press of the brake or the accelerator, but this was rarely needed as I began to trust the car and its amazing technology.

While I still don’t feel 100 % comfortable with the whole notion of ‘over to you car’ I can see the attraction and for once I arrived at my destination without a sore right leg – just sore ears from the by now hoarse cats!

Big Bold and Beautiful

I do love Land Rover Discoverys – big and powerful, exuding style and money. We followed closely behind one after going to the dump – a favourite pastime of mine, not just because I love the fact it’s so organised and clean, but just that feeling of getting rid of stuff which will be used again, albeit in a different form…

I had several bags of garden rubbish, most of which were grass cuttings. Still didn’t seem a great deal to show for four hours of hard work and a lot of swearing.

Now a Discovery would be an ideal vehicle to transport such messy bags if it weren’t for the fact that if I owned one I wouldn’t want it to get dirty – hardly the point I know. My Peugeot 807, however, did the job admirably and it’s hard to notice any additional grime!

But the Discovery’s purpose in life is not just to look pretty and a friend’s smelly green one of indeterminate age reminded me of that.

They bought it to replace their city car as they exchanged their life in the big smoke for one in the big mist, in the middle of nowhere. Trees replaced tower blocks, wellies replaced high heels and leather-soled city shoes and suddenly they seemed to have animals in the corner of every room. What a transformation in such a short period of time. I think they felt that if they were going to leave London, they should do it thoroughly, leaving little room for return.

Their Discovery has now been replaced with something more compact, but the wellies and the zoo remain, as do they in the depths of the country, content and rather civilised. Not sure what happened to the old Discovery – perhaps it passed on to some other couple, helping them with their rural immersion therapy?

But the Discoverys of today, at least the ones that seem to dominate our city roads, must surely be more for show as they and their occupants lord it over the little people in their green, city cars?

However I still lust after one but might be tempted by the Freelander 2 with its less intimidating size and fabulous stop/start mechanism (the world’s first SUV with this system) making it Land Rover’s most fuel-efficient vehicle so far. Perhaps I wouldn’t feel so guilty driving off in one if I do ever manage to move to the country.