92 Clubs – Day 25 – A Day Off
This was an enforced day off for two reasons.
I needed to have by three-monthly B12 injection for my coeliac disease. I also took the advantage of a free flu jab. I don’t want a dose of that to add to my problems do I?
My trusty Nokia 6310i also seemed to have packed up and I needed to get a replacement. However on looking at the new phones, I decided that they had no features I needed. And they cost a fortune!
So I took a train to the depths of Enfield Lock to see Tonik, the company behind the web site, nokia6310i.co.uk. All went well except for the fact that some wag had turned the signed round to the Innova Science Park, where they are based, and I ended up at a locked school instead.
A Mispointing Signpost in Enfield Lock
The Innova Science Park is actually in the direction of Brimsdown and the school is where the sign says the Science Park is.
I then left my wallet in their offices, which meant a return trip to retrieve it.
92 Clubs – Day 23 – A Day Off
It was a Sunday and because of the hay fever and things that I needed to do, like sort out my tablets and get some food in, I took the day off.
Smoking at Bus Stops
I hate it, especially as my son died of a smoking related disease and it seems to make my hay fever and breathing worse.
To make matters even worse, my local stop is a changeover point for drivers and sometimes there are half-a-dozen in the shelter puffing away.
Evangelical Christians and AIDS
It is claimed in this report, that three people have died because they have been convinced by evangelical christians, that prayer rather than drugs can cure their AIDS.
The religious nutters should be prosecuted, before they confince others.
Cheap Booze at Asda
There were reports yesterday that Asda are now selling Budweiser at fifty pence a bottle.
No wonder many peoples’idea of a good time is to get bladdered.
It means I have another reason not to shop at Asda.
In my view, there should e a minimum price for a unit of alcohol. I doubt it would affect me at all, so perhaps I’m being selfish. But on the other hand, I don’t want the psrtners, parents and friends of heavy drinkers, to go through all the heartache of the death of a loved one I’ve been through. And my wife was only a very moderate drinker and my son didn’t drink!
92 Clubs – Day 16 – A Day Off
I did the same as Day 15. You may think I’m slacking, but the next day is difficult and I want to arrive in one piece.
92 Clubs – Day 15 – A Day Off
Because of the need to slow down a bit and the severity of my hay fever, I decided to take the day off.
Rihanna Smokes on Album Cover
I wouldn’t know who Rhanna is! But I certainly don’t want to kow, as she is seen smoking on her new album cover.
What a bad example!
My only satisfaction, is that she is more likely to get the cancer than I am.
News on the Health Lottery
I don’t play any lottery, but I am not in favour of Richard Desmond’s Health Lottery.
So I just wanted to see what others thought and typed Health Lottery into Google News.
So what did I find?
There are a lot of articles about hospices worried that they will lose money. There was this piece from the Yorkshire Post for example. And quite a few more too, in the same vein!
This article in the trade magazine, The Grocer, wasn’t very optimistic about sales for their readers. Good!
The only positive articles I can find are in rags, like the Daily Star and the Daily Express, papers which are owned by Richard Desmond.
But this is balanced by articles in more serious papers.
Let’s hope that the good people of the UK soon realise the real purpose of this lottery, which is a money-making scheme for its owner.
I shall be following this story with interest.
I’m also boycotting shops that sell the tickets for the Health Lottery. As that includes W H Smith, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Tesco and Asda, I now can only do my grocery shopping at Waitrose or Marks and Spencer. I could include the Co-Op, but they don’t have a decent shop near me.
Getting Between Kings Cross/St. Pancras and Euston
London’s three major stations that serve the North and of course the Continent; Kings Cross, St. Pancras and Euston, are all close together on the Euston Road.
The first has been superbly rebuilt, the second is approaching the end of a major redevelopment and they now share probably the best Underground station in London. But Euston is rather isolated from the other two, with several ways to get between them.
- You can take a rather unpleasant walk along the busy Euston Road.
- You can use the Metropolitan or Circle lines, but this means a walk to or from Euston Square at the Euston end.
- You can dive into the Underground and take the Victoria or Northern lines, but it is not step free at the Euston end, and not recommended with a heavy case. Both deep stations are also easy places to get lost or confused.
- Going from Euston to Kings Cross or St. Pancras is quite easy by bus 30, 73, 205 or 476, which you catch in front of Euston station, but the reverse journey means you have to cross Euston Road twice.
- There are of course taxis. But not everyone can afford them.
As I had time to spare at Kings Cross, before I caught my train to Hartlepool, I decided to investigate and found a map which showed there was a fairly simple direct walking route that avoided the pollution and traffic of the Euston Road.
I started by walking through St. Pancras station and exited by the cab rank onto Midland Road, with the intention of going down Brill Place.
Crossing Midland Road
There is a light controlled crossing, but it is rather blocked by badly placed railings and the cab rank. Brill Place, which is the start of the road to Euston is on the left.
Brill Place is flanked on one side by the new Francis Crick Institute and on the right, there is a small pleasant park, which could provide an oasis from the crowds in the stations.
Brill Place
Brill Place itself, is not a grotty dusty road lined by parked cars, but a wide tree-lined avenue that leads on to Phoenix Road.
Towards Pheonix Road
At the end of Phoenix Road, you just cross Eversholt Street on one of the two pedestrian crossings and you walk down the road to Euston station.
The advantages of the route are as follows.
- The route is virtually flat.
- It would be easy trailing quite a large case.
- There are only two major roads to cross and both have light-controlled pedestrian crossings.
- There is the park, which would as I said before, be a better place to eat a packed meal than the station.
- You do pass a few shops and a reasonable-looking pub.
But there are disadvantages.
- The route is not signposted.
- The barriers at the St. Pancras end are wrongly placed.
- The side entrance to Euston station could be better.
So how would I make it better, so that in effect we had one super station for the north.
- I’d start with sign-posting. The posts are there at the St. Pancras end already.
- Perhaps, it should be marked on the ground, as a Kings Cross/St. Pancras to Euston walking route.
- You might even provide some eco-friendly transport along the route, like an electric shuttle bus or bicycle rickshaws.
- A couple of suitably placed Boris bike stations would help too.
- Shops and cafes should be developed along the road. There are some already.
To me though, this is one of those things that will happen. But probably first in a very unofficial way, as how many of those that work in the Francis Crick Institute will commute into Euston and walk there? It won’t be a small number.
It took me about fifteen minutes to do the walk and I just got a 205 bus back to Kings Cross for my train from the front of Euston station.
The Anonymous Widower 