The Stepney City Farm and Crossrail
At Stepney Green, there is going to be an underground junction for Crossrail. The main line will come from the east on the Limmo Peninsular and then past westwards to Canary Wharf and Central London. It will be joined here by the more northern of the eastern branches to Pudding Mill Lane and Stratford.
Surprisingly, over the top is the Stepney City Farm.
But they both have their objectives and I think with a little bit of give and take on both sides, they have come to a compromise that suits both. The farm has lost a field for some period of time, but Crossrail have put in new fences and were starting to put up a new barn.
It is a bit of a mess in places now, as these pictures show.
But then time is a great healer and I suspect that when Crossrail opens, the farm will be as it should be. I was shown round by Richard and was impressed at the quality of the livestock, the fences and buildings. You can’t have a good farm without the latter, as why should animals not be warm and secure.
By the way, the farm sells eggs, so if you want hens or duck eggs laid in East London, is there a better place to go?
St. Dunstan’s, Stepney
This church is mentioned in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons.
St. Dunstan’s is the sort of English parish church, that you expect to see more in the country, than tucked away in the East End of London.
St. Dunstan's Church, Stepney
It now sits and watches over the important Crossrail site at Stepney Green.
Walking To Stepney Green
Today I went searching for the Crossrail site at Stepney Green. It was a pleasant walk from the area of Stepney Green station, although for convenience I’d taken a 25 bus to get to there in the first place.
As you can see there were a lot of flowers in bloom.
What Are Bews?
This was the screen, when I was listening to Radio 5 this lunchtime.
What Are Bews?
Perhaps the BBC would tell us what bews are?
The Tragic Death of two Hostages in Nigeria
Italy and the UK seem to be falling out badly over Britain’s failure to give warning that they were taking action. Read about it here on the BBC.
Robert Fox in the Standard says we are right and takes a strong line to say so.
This is an except from his report.
To have given advance warning of the rescue raid would have been to court further disaster.
The smuggling mafias of Nigeria undoubtedly have direct dealings with the Boko Haram terrorists who took the two engineers last May. They would pick up rumours of a possible rescue, particularly if it had to be delayed even for a day or so.
The information would have got out, either in Italy or in Nigeria or both. Some Italian commercial organisations and self-appointed go-betweens might then have tried to raise ransom for Mr Lamolinara.
A number of Italian hostages have been ransomed in several world trouble-spots, including Nigeria,
in recent years. Few national governments are as hard line on not paying ransom as the UK.
There is a lot more in the same vein here.
The fact that we don’t pay ransoms, is a policy I totally agree with.
Hedge Funds Won’t Take Haircut
An eminent Oxford Academic, has just said on the BBC that hedge-funds hold 4.4% of Greek debt, which they bought late and they won’t be taking any haircut.
Does this mean that Greece is back on the slippery slope to bankruptcy?
Angela Merkel on Greece
Well not really, but someone purporting to be her has tweeted.
I’m glad I’ve solved the Greek crisis and I look forward to solving it again next week.
Very funny! But it may well be true!
A Row About the GB Athletics Team Captain
There has been a bit of a row about Tiffany Porter being appointed GB Team Captain for the World Indoor Athletics Championships. It’s reported here properly in the Guardian, but some papers seem to be following a rather different tack.
It would appear that Tiffany has two of the things that make me British; a British mother and a UK passport. I have a British father as well. Mo Farah incidentally, has a father who was born in England, has been here since he was eight and has a British passport.
So if Tiffany is the best for the job, why shouldn’t she have it, as in my view she’s more British than many in various British teams?
In some ways we put too much emphasis on where you are born and sadly, the race of your parents. Sometimes, some sports generally get it right. Freddie Brown, Colin Cowdrey, Ted Dexter, Gubby Allen, George Harris, Nasser Hussain, Douglas Jardine and Pelham Warner, all captained England at cricket, despite being born outside of the UK. This is not a complete list and I have also left out others born in the UK, but who were not English.
The New Kings Cross Station Opens on the 19th
On of the largest building projects in London hits a big milestone on Monday, the 19th with the opening of the new reception area at Kings Cross station. Before that though drinkers will get a new pub called the Parcel Yard, next Wednesday.
They do seem to be going to hit their target. In one of the pictures, you might just see the working destination board.
The Anonymous Widower 