Leader of the Pack
I had never heard of Ellie Greenwich, but I have heard many of her songs, like Leader of the Pack, Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Kentucky Woman, Chapel of Love and River Deep, Mountain High, to name just a few.
Sadly she has died of a heart attack.
Her songs though gave me a lot of pleasure.
I particularly remember seeing Manfred Mann singing Do Wah Diddy Diddy at Liverpool University.
Thanks for all the memories.
North-South High Speed Rail Link
The announcement of a high speed rail link to the North is generally to be welcomed.
Although you wouldn’t think so, if you read the comments on that post on the BBC.
Strangely over the last year or so, I’ve been using trains less and less. I have done one trip to Holland by train in the last few months and I can’t remember the last time, I took the train to London or to the football at Ipswich. I certainly wonder if I’m going to renew my senior rail-card at the end of the month.
I think the London trips are probably explained by the fact that I’m not going to London as often, and when I do it only takes about thirty minutes longer to drive to Blackhorse Road on the Underground, than it would to Cambridge or Whittlesford.
But it doesn’t explain, why when I drive north to Manchester or Nottingham, why I don’t take the train, when it would probably be slightly quicker and less stressful. The reason there is that unless I take a taxi or get someone to run me to the station, there is no affordable parking that I can use. If say too, I wanted to go to Edinburgh, Manchester or York, I can’t even be sure of getting a parking space at Peterborough.
So to avoid the hassle I drive.
High speed trains may well be good for those who live in major cities, but please lets have lots of car parking at easily accessible stations, so that those like me, who live away from the major networks, can plan our journeys by train, rather than have to drive.
A decent Cambridge-Oxford line or some form of westerly one from Cambridge would also help. But that is not a grand project!
I also suspect that one of the reasons for announcing the new North-South High Speed Link is to create a sensible excuse for not spending any money on the existing network!
The Anonymous Widower 