The Anonymous Widower

The Much-Loved Railway Food Carrier Bag

Coming back from Liverpool yesterday on Avanti West Coast, I treated myself to a coffee and a Nakd bar.

I took this picture after I’d cleared away and put all the rubbish in the bag.

These bags seem to be unique to British trains and I’ve never seen one in use on the many foreign trains, I’ve used all over the world.

Yesterday, the train was a Pendolino and I had no trouble carrying my coffee back to my seat, whilst the train tilted.

Were these bags invented by British Rail?

I can never understand, why they are not used by takeaways, as they are ideal for carrying food and drinks without spilling anything and they are much easier to carry and are ideal for collecting up the rubbish to put in a litter bin.

May 5, 2023 Posted by | Food, Transport/Travel | , , , , | 2 Comments

Mingyang Building Fish Farm-Equipped Offshore Wind Jacket Foundation

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Mingyang Smart Energy revealed on 17 April that it started the construction of a jacket foundation that also features a net cage system for fish farming, which will be installed at the Mingyang Qingzhou 4 offshore wind farm in the South China Sea later this year.

The picture in the article, looks like something out of Baldrick’s book of cunning plans.

This paragraph gives more details.

The jacket is typhoon-resistant and the aquaculture system, which will raise up to 150,000 fish in 5,000 cubic metres of water, will have remote functions such as automated feeding, monitoring, detection, and collection, according to Mingyang.

Mingyang also state that the Qingzhou 4 offshore wind farm will also produce hydrogen.

Does that mean that in the next phase of the development, they’ll be putting a fish and chip shop on top?

April 17, 2023 Posted by | Energy, Food, Hydrogen | , , , , | Leave a comment

Gluten-Free Fish And Chips In Skegness

I had some excellent gluten-free fish and chips in Skegness at the Atlantic Fish Bar.

The restaurant is conveniently located just off the walking route between the seafront and the station.

As I had excellent gluten-free fish and chips on the front at Lowestoft, it does seem that the coast may be the place to go to get them.

April 5, 2023 Posted by | Food | , , , | Leave a comment

Coffee With Added Lift

I took these pictures outside Clapham North station.

As my hands were full and I was in a hurry, I didn’t stop.

April 3, 2023 Posted by | Food | , | Leave a comment

Budweiser To Convert Second UK Brewery To Hydrogen

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Engineer.

This is the sub-heading.

Samlesbury Brewery in Lancashire is set to be powered by green hydrogen from 2025, according to new plans announced by owner Budweiser Brewing Group.

This paragraph outlines what will be done at Salmesbury.

The Samlesbury Net Zero project will see the brewery paired with a new hydrogen production facility (HPF), delivered by UK hydrogen services company Protium. Situated adjacent to the brewery, the HPF will provide green hydrogen to meet the thermal demand of the brewing processes, as well as the building’s other heating requirements.

Note.

  1.  A refuelling station for hydrogen-ready HGVs will also be developed as part of the project.
  2. Heat from the HPF will be recovered and used in Budweiser’s bottling process.
  3. This is the second project involving Budweiser and Protium, after one at Magor in South Wales.
  4. Beers produced at the facility include Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona.

I may have had the odd bottle of Corona in the States, but I’ve generally drunk real ale only since, I started having halves of Adnams with my father at the age of thirteen.

Now, because I’m on Warfarin, I more or less exclusively drink zero-alcohol beers, most of which is Adnams, straight from the brewery.

I’ve yet to find any beer which is less than 0.5 % alcohol, has contained enough gluten to have an effect on my gut.

I have discussed this with experienced brewers and they are not surprised, as the brewing process for zero-alcohol beers doesn’t use much barley.

Conclusion

We need more integrated projects like this, that both decarbonise industrial processes and provide filling stations for hydrogen-powered vehicles.

March 18, 2023 Posted by | Energy, Food, Hydrogen | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Organic Zambian Honey From Marks And Spencer

I don’t usually buy speciality honey, but when I saw it was a similar price to an English meadow honey, I thought why not!

This picture shows the jar.

It comes from the Mwinilunga Forest, where this Wikipedia entry for the Economy of the town of Mwinilunga says this.

Forest Fruits Limited has been operating in Mwinilunga since 1998, successfully working with over 7,000 beekeepers in the region to export organic honey to the European market. The company also employs about 100 staff.

This is said on the side of the jar.

Supporting family incomes of bark hive village beekeepers, the diverse forest gives this honey a complex rich & smoky flavour.

This picture shows some on toast.

It was certainly one of best honeys, I’ve ever tasted and that includes some local Suffolk honey collected by friends.

 

 

March 15, 2023 Posted by | Food | , | 4 Comments

Project Launches To Pair Offshore Wind With Sustainable Food Production

Note that it’s a little over a fortnight to April Fool’s Day!

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

Win@Sea, a new collaboration between Vattenfall and Danish universities and companies, will investigate how to produce offshore wind power and sustainable food – all while improving the marine environment and biodiversity in the same marine area.

This is the first paragraph.

The partners will look into whether an offshore wind farm could simultaneously produce fossil-free electricity and sustainable food while also contributing positively to biodiversity in the same area.

But this report is not alone, in using the sea as a farm.

It sounds to me like a case of great minds thinking alike.

March 15, 2023 Posted by | Energy, Food | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Moorgate To Charlton Via Cannon Street

I needed to go to Charlton station this morning to take a couple of photographs for a possible blog post.

  • I had had my usual breakfast in LEON on Moorgate, so I started from Moorgate station.
  • I took the Northern Line one stop to Bank station.
  • It was then straight up the double escalators.
  • I followed this by a brisk walk along Cannon Street.

The total time between entering Moorgate station and sitting on my train at Cannon Street station was about ten minutes.

One of London’s more difficult stations to access now has a North-South Underground line, to go with its East-West line.

March 1, 2023 Posted by | Food, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Quality Takeaway With A Station And A Large Garden

It was cold today and on walking from the Hanover Square entrance to Bond Street station to the Marks and Spencer store on Oxford Street, I came across this Leon, where I had a hot chocolate.

Is this the ultimate pit-stop on the Elizabeth Line?

February 28, 2023 Posted by | Food, Transport/Travel | , , , | 2 Comments

East London Is A Duckers And Divers Paradise

This is the East End Tube Map, which I clipped off the full tube map.

 

I live just South of the East London Line between Canonbury and Dalston Junction stations.

Today started just after nine, as many others do by braving the nightmare on the buses to take a 141 bus to Moorgate.

  • At Moorgate, I had breakfast as I do regularly in the Leon, by Moorgate station.
  • After breakfast, it was one stop South on the Northern Line to Bank, to see if the new entrance had opened.
  • It was then a trip on the new moving walkway to the Central Line.
  • I took the Central Line to Stratford to do my main shopping at the start of the week, in the large Marks and Spencer in Eastfield, by the station entrance.
  • It was then on to the North London Line to go back home.
  • I didn’t go all the way home on the Overground, but got off the train at Hackney Central and using the new Graham Road entrance, I crossed to get a 38 bus, which would take me home.
  • But two 38s passed as I tried to cross the road and in the end I took a 277 bus to Dalston Junction station.
  • From the Junction, I got a 56 bus home.

I got home about eleven.

At least now, I’ve got food until Thursday!

February 20, 2023 Posted by | Food, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment