A week of news - Barnstaple express

It was an early start this week when Optician swapped the smog of London for the Devon Hills.
Specsavers Barnstaple had kindly invited the journal to come along and observe one of its peer review sessions.
The first leg of the trip went from Paddington to Exeter, before the two-carriage Barnstaple express (see attached) to complete the journey. This train stopped on request at a number of dinky village stations, one of which had a community book shop on the platform.
Enjoying the change of scenery and country air it was then into the town’s Gammon Walk for the session, convened by optometrist Paul Bradford.
In the meantime, my colleague back at the office was holding a conference call to another far corner of the country, something none of us are strangers to these days. The use of such technology will be offered to practitioners in remote places when the GOC makes peer review compulsory in the next CET cycle.
However, sitting through what was quite a complex and open peer review session in Barnstaple underlined there is sometimes no substitute for face to face contact.
Heading back to London, fate was in the lap of the Gods, as recent flooding seemed to be edging towards the tracks. Luckily though, it was back to the news desk with tales of the Barnstaple express.