The Anonymous Widower

Visiting Dover Castle By Train

Dover Castle is on the featured list on the English Heritage web site. They say it is 1.2 miles from Dover Priory station, but is it an easy, stiff or hard walk?

This Google Earth image shows the location of the station and the castle.

Dover Station And Castle

Dover Station And Castle

The castle is obvious and the station is in the bottom-left or south-west corner.

I shall be visiting soon. After all it does give me an excuse to have a ride in one of the excellent Class 395 trains.

March 27, 2015 Posted by | Transport/Travel, World | , , , , | Leave a comment

Visiting Kenilworth Castle By Train

The BBC is doing an outside broadcast today from Kenilworth Castle.

It seemed somewhere that I might like to visit, but as I don’t drive it is a bit of a problem.

However, Kenilworth station is in the process of being rebuilt. The castle and the location of the station are both on this Google Earth image.

Kenilworth Station And Castle

Kenilworth Station And Castle

The castle is obvious and the station is at the bottom-right or south-east corner. I estimate that the distance will be about a well-signposted mile, when the station opens.

If Kenilworth Castle get their strategy right, they could see an increase in visitors.

I for one, will be going when hopefully Kenilworth station opens in 2016.

How many other stately homes and heritage sites have their rail and bus transport links up to scratch?

March 27, 2015 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , | 1 Comment

The Nut Behind The Steering Wheel

This used to be an answer to a very old joke, which asked what is the most dangerous part of a car.

After the plane crash a few days ago in France, never was a truer thing spoken in jest.

I am someone who has done a lot of flying, both as a passenger and in command for more than a thousand hours in light aircraft,

In my time, I’ve done a lot of reading about the causes of air accidents. Some are predictable and others have such long odds no-one ever thought they would happen.

The only thing we must do is be ever vigilant and update our procedures so that the risk is reduced even more.

As to this Germanwings crash, the rule of two on the flight deck at all times, that is mandatory in the US and used by Ryanair and others in Europe should be brought in.

March 27, 2015 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | 3 Comments

The UK’s Unhealthiest High Streets And Gluten Free Food

In this report on the BBC, they published a list of the healthiest and unhealthiest High Streets. This is the unhealthiest list.

1. Preston

2. Middlesbrough

3. Coventry

4. Blackpool

5. Northampton

6. Wolverhampton

7. Grimsby

8. Huddersfield

9. Stoke-on-Trent

10. Eastbourne

Of these I have only ever been looking for gluten-free food in the first four and Wolverhampton.

In the first four, I drew a blank even in Marks and Spencer on getting anything tasty, except for a gluten-free quiche in Middlesbrough. Although, I did get a gluten-free pizza in Pizza Express in Preston and a Polish gluten-free pastie using a cabbage leaf in Wolverhampton.

What makes things worse in these places, is that none has a Marks and Spencer Simply Food at the station. Preston is so bad at the station, that when I got stuck there once after football in Blackpool, I went home via Piccadilly, so that I could have supper in the Carluccio’s there.

It would be interesting to see how many coeliacs have been diagnosed in these towns.

March 27, 2015 Posted by | Food, Health, Transport/Travel | | 2 Comments