Happy as Pigs in Muck
This building with the two pink cylinders to the left is the primary sewage collection and pumping station for the Olympics.
Olympic Primary Foul Sewer and Pumping Station
Inevitably, the two cylinders have been named Pinky and Perky, by the wags on the site.
Note that I took the picture from behind the ViewTube, standing on this concrete box.
Connecting the New to the Old
I think the box is the connection between the station and Joseph Bazalgette‘s Northern Outfall Sewer. But for now it makes a good authorised viewing platform.
Nowhere in the vicinity could I find any information about the pumping station or the sewer.
I find that a serious omission.
The Biggest Hole in London!
The pictures show the hole being created for the new Crossrail station at Canary Wharf.
Is it the UK’s first underwater station?
What a Load of Old Bollards!
I just had to post this picture, I took at Canary Wharf.
Bollards on Parade
I suppose you could call them functional and protective. Just like a troop of Grenadier Guards!
Thw Wikipedia article about Canary Wharf explains how the district was named.
Canary Wharf itself takes its name from No. 32 berth of the West Wood Quay of the Import Dock. This was built in 1936 for Fruit Lines Ltd, a subsidiary of Fred Olsen Lines for the Mediterranean and Canary Island (Insula Canaria (from canis) “Island of Dogs”) fruit trade. At their request, the quay and warehouse were given the name Canary Wharf.
So it had nothing to do with Norwich City!
The Murder of Martine vik Magnussen
This case is featured in the Sunday Times today.
As with several other cases, it would appear that the prime suspect has fled the country and there is no extradition to get him back. Let’s hope that one day, he takes a chance and visits a country, where justice is on the side of the victims and the good and not the rich and powerful.
No-one should be outside of the law!
Pendolino Sway
I felt a bit queasy going back and had difficulty walking down the train to the toilet.
But I’m OK this morning, so I guess I was just a bit tired and it was all due to the tilting and swaying of the Pendolino.
An Old-Fashioned Football Match
In some ways yesterday’s match between Burnley and Ipswich reminded me of the 1950s, when football was much more honest and very much a part of the community. I’m not saying things are not better now, but some of the values have gone.
Men would finish their Saturday lunch, kiss the missus and the dog goodbye, put their pipe and tobacco in their pocket, don their flat cap, pick up their rattle and then walk to the match through streets of terraced houses, arriving just before kick off.
Now wives and family will more as likely be going and thankfully all stadia are now smoke free. But at Burnley the ground is still surrounded by houses.
Turf Moor Behind the Terraced Houses
And as the picture, which was taken an hour before kick-off, shows, they don’t get there early.
I also got a lot of good old-fashioned courtesy from the stewards, police and the staff in the ticket office, where I was able to buy a senior ticket for the away end for just £15. Now that is an old-fashioned price for a Championship football match!
I also sat on a proper wooden seat.
A Comfortable Wooden Seat at Turf Moor
It was comfortable too, just as the one I’d sat on at Fulham.
I also took this picture of the rows and rows of wooden seats.
Rows and Rows of Wooden Seats
Sadly, they are to be replaced with anonymous plastic. But is that progress?
In some ways not really! I seem to have heard that supporters prefer them and that if you have someone who knows what they are doing, keeping them in good nick is cheaper than with plastic ones. I’m not for the return of standing at grounds, but proper wooden seats are another matter.
I took this picture less than an hour before kick-off.
Turf Moor an Hour Before Kick-Off
Note only a handfull of the crowd have arrived, the pillar supporting the roof and even more wooden seats in the Bob Lord stand to the right. But some things have improved. Just look at the state of the pitch after our awful winter and a very dry March. It is a real credit to the groundsman and his staff.
The match too was strangely old-fashioned in that although the players showed passion, there was little or no aggro, either from them or the crowd, which was very good humoured.
I was happy with the result and Ipswich perhaps could have had another giving a bit of luck. But then so could Burnley!
And after the match we all walked away in an amicable fashion, shepherded by a few policemen, who’d not been required to help out at Blackburn. The only trouble, I had in walking to the station was the long uphill climb and the difficulty in crossing the roads, with cars flashing impatiently everywhere.
As the station was being well-used by supporters of both sides, surely a shuttle bus between the station and Turf Moor might even be profitable at say a few pound for the return.
Towneley Park and Hall
I think we’re all going to hearing more about Towneley Hall, as it is again being used as the location for the new series of the BBC’s Antiques Master.
Eric Knowles has described it as a hidden gem and I won’t argue with that.
Towneley Hall
I walked to the Park from the town centre and spent an enjoyable couple of hours there. I had an excellent coffee in the cafe and explored the house and its art gallery. It was just a pity that they charge non-Burnley residents for entry to the house. Some gluten-free food would have been welcome to. There was some baked potatoes, but I wasn’t sure of the fillings. There was also some nice-looking home-made cakes, so why not some chocolate ones, as some of the traditional recipes don’t use wheat flour.
I then walked down the hill to Turf Moor for the match.
Towneley Park
Since my visit, I’ve looked at maps and the Internet and have found that the Hall used to have its own station. Obvious;ly, reopening the station is not on, but perhaps a trail from the station to the park vaguely following the route of the railway might be an idea. It might also be fairly level, so an easier walk than the one I took by my circuitous route. It would also be safer, separate from the traffic and with a nice down hill run into the town. I suspect too, that it would have good panoramic views over Burnley. I took this picture as I walked down to the town from the station.
Walking Down into Burnley
But the view would be better, if you were higher up, as the direct route might well be. It certainly wouldn’t be as boring as walking along a busy dual carriageway.
Welcome to Burnley
I arrived at Manchester Road station in the town at 10:30 and the station is in effect an unmanned halt with shelters, like say Newmarket or Dullingham, which I used to use quite a bit in Suffolk.
However it differs from the two Suffolk stations in a couple of important ways. There are no information screens giving details of arriving trains and there is no local maps. Those in Suffolk, actually carry advertising for things like local hotels and taxi companies.
There were a couple of police in the station car park, but as they were from Manchester and not local, and were probably there to observe any stray carrots going to Blackburn. So they weren’t much use on directions.
I knew that Towneley Park, my intended destination, was close to the Turf Moor and after walking down the hill, I found a sign to Burnley FC, so I walked in that direction. This picture shows just how dangerous it was, as I needed to cross two dual-carriageways without even a rudimentary form of crossing.
Pedestrian Unfriendly Burnley
I know I’m just one old man, who’s had a stroke, but I’m still reasonably nimble and usually not in a hurry, so I can wait for a gap in the traffic. But so often, roundabouts and dual-carriageways are real barriers to pedestrians and judging by the flowers you occasionally see on railings, others have not been so lucky.
But the pedestrian access to Manchester Road station is a disgrace and there is a definite need for a light-controlled crossing or an underpass to get across the main road at the station. I think that it might be possible to put an underpass in alongside the railway.
To be fair to Burnley Council, they are thinking about improving accessibility in the town, as this page shows.
I did finally reach the bus station, where I found a bus map, which gave details of where I needed to go to get to Towneley Park.
Carrots on the Train North
Yesterday, I went to see Ipswich play at Burnley and took the 7:30 Virgin train from Euston, changing at Preston.
I was surprised to see a large police presence on the station at Preston and as I had arrived there on time at the early time for football fans of 9:38, it seemed rather odd, unless Preston were playing one of the usual suspects in a lunchtime derby.
On asking one of the many police on the station, I was told it was members or should that be carrots of the English Defence League going to a protest in Blackburn.
There was no trouble on the train and they all got off at Blackburn and the carriage was rather empty as we crossed to Burnley.
I don’t like those who hate others and I’m rather glad that the EDL protest passed without any serious trouble. But that protest was rather put in proportion by the murder of a Catholic policeman by probable Republican terrorists in Northern Ireland.
The Anonymous Widower 