Tottenham On The Up!
I took a 149 bus to Tottenham this morning, to look for a tunnel boring machine, that was being transported to its work site in North London. I may have missed the TBM, but I got a good chance to look at Tottenham nearly two years after the riots.
Things seemed to have improved immensely. It also looks like Spurs are getting their act together and are starting to create the new stadium.
Antonio’s Pepolata
I had a problem last night, in that I couldn’t find a suitable sauce for my pies. Last time I used one from Bay Tree, that had been in my cupboard for some time. This time though, the only one i could find was Antonio’s Pepolata from Carluccio’s.
Antonio’s Pepolata
The pies worked out fine, or at least the one I had for supper did.
Chicken, Bacon And Potato Pie
But even Carluccio’s didn’t really have a suitable sauce.
Why Do I Have To Buy 2.5 Kg Of Potatoes?
I made two chicken, bacon and potato pies last night, but in Waitrose I had to buy 2.5 Kg of potatoes, as they didn’t have any smaller packs or loose ones that were suitable for mashing.
Why Do I Have To Buy 2.5 Kg Of Potatoes?
As I had to carry them back on a bus, I wasn’t pleased.
My two pies need a kilogram and as i don’t use many the remainder will probably have gone off before I need them.
Is this why we waste so much food?
I just buy what I need to make my meal or in the case of pies, my meal and one a couple of days later.
We need an efficient cooking philosophy that minimises waste, cooking time and washing up.
Some will say this is why ready meals are popular, as all you have to do is stick them in the microwave and wash the plate up at the end. But I have just thrown an unused Marks and Spencer ready meal into the bin, as I bought it in case, I didn’t get any food on my three late nights last week, and it is now well past its sell-by date.
North Of Piccadilly Circus
I don’t really know, that you should call that area north of Piccadilly Circus, between Regent Street and Shaftesbury Avenue, but I went there yesterday and a run-down set of streets has been transformed by pedestrianisation and some new construction.
Even Regent Street itself, seems better, with the Diamond Jubilee banners and refurbishment. I suppose this pedestrianisation follows on from the scheme done for the Olympics around the Circus itself.
The Hackney Downs Information Board
I’ve used Hackney Downs station twice in the last few days, and on Friday, I noticed this information board for the first time.
The Hackney Downs Information Board
There doesn’t seem to be any information on the buses on it, but the stops are obvious and as is typical with Transport for London, they have all the bus information you need. There was also at least one bus spider map inside the station.
This board is also placed in such an obvious place, that you can’t miss it.
I wonder how many stations would score less than Hackney Downs on their information?
Merrily We Roll Along
I came back from Walthamstow on Friday on one of Greater Anglia‘s ubiquitous Class 317 trains.
A Greater Anglia Class 317 Train
They may look to be scrapheap-ready trains from the 1980s, ripe for replacement with shiny new expensive trains. Incidentally, the train in the picture is one of the last ones built in 1987, so it’s a comparative youngster compared to some.
But underneath the tired paintwork and uncomfortable seating, there is a legendary Mark 3 coach struggling to get out. These coaches used in the InterCity 125 and in many other trains, were made as early as the 1970s and most are still running in 2013.
The Class 317 is closely related to the Class 455, some of which have been refurbished by South West Trains to a very high standard. I talked about them here.
It looks like these 317s are going to get their own version of the Class 455 refurbishment. it is reported here in Wikipedia. Work is ongoing to create a prototype with new and more efficient traction equipment and a new interior to test passenger reaction.
So yet again, it looks like more Mark 3 coaches will be emerging from their chrysalis. The Wikipedia article talks of increasing the life of the trains by twenty years. Not bad considering that many of them are over thirty years old now!
The InterCity 125 is well-known as a design classic of Kenneth Grange. But who’d have thought that the humble coaches in the middle, would still be having a laugh at everybody’s expense nearly fifty years after they were designed.
A Blue Plaque In Stepney
I found this blue plaque as I walked back to the Overground from the river.
A Blue Plaque In Stepney
Sir William Henry Perkin, FRS 4 July 1907) was an English chemist best known for his discovery, at the age of 18, of the first aniline dye, mauveine. So it is not just today, when people create something amazing before their twentieth birthday! But how many today do such work, when they were born into relatively humble circumstances?
He was certainly one of the world’s greatest chemists. He is even commemorated by the Americans with the Perkin Medal.
The Beach At Wapping
In the sun on Friday, I went for a walk by the river.
The Beach At Wapping
It was a surprising large and clean beach at Wapping.
The Anonymous Widower 