Hyperion Gets a Few Friends
Newmarket has a lot of statues to horses. One of the most famous is the one of Hyperion by John Skeaping outside the Jockey Club Rooms.
Hyperion by John Skeaping
When I was driven through the town yesterday, I noticed that he had a few multi-coloured friends scattered around him. Here’s one outside of the Post Office.
A Multi-Coloured Horse Outside Newmarket Post Office
One of my earliest memories is my father changimg a puncture in probably his Y-Type MG saloon, outside this Post Office or the Jockey Club Rooms. I also remember driving through the town from Felixstowe to Liverpool in the mid-1960s to get to University.
Is Frankel the Best?
They have been discussing Frankel after his win in the Sussex Stakes yesterday on BBC Radio 5. I sent in my views on great racehorses, I’ve seen.
Sir Henry’s horse, is undoubtedly a good horse. But I think it is true that a really good one comes along every ten or so years. The first great horse, I saw was Brigadier Gerrard and remember he was beaten just once in about nineteen races. I have also seen Pebbles and actually met both Mill Reef and Dancing Brave. All have claims to be truly great and wouldn’t life be boring in all fields, if someone or something good didn’t come along from time to time.
Frankel may be the best of a good group, but what makes it all so special is how Sir Henry was virtually down and out and finished in lots of ways.
Life can be very miserable, but it’s those like Sir Henry and Frankel who make life magnificent.
I like this quote from the 93-year-old, Peter O’Sullevan after the race, when he said. “It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to stay on and see a horse like that!”
Cricket Wins
England may have won the First Test at Lord’s yesterday, but I think the bigger winner was Test Cricket, when 28,000 spectators turned up to see the last day. Congratulations too, to the authorities, who let under-16s in free!
The Unbelievable Story of Cec Thompson
I’d never heard of Cec Thompson, who was one of the first black players to play rugby league for Great Britain, until I found this story on the BBC’s web site. He has just sadly died at 85, after an incredibly full life, which to say the least started very badly.
He is the sort of person, who is an inspiration to everybody. His obituary in the Telegraph tells more.
Farewell Bin Hammam
Unlike Amy Winehouse, Mohammed Bin Hammam is still with us, even if FIFA have given him his just desserts. He has just been on Radio 5 and has said that everything he did was in line with FIFA policy. But then they are full of organised corruption. If you can, listen to a replay of the morning sports program with David Davies. I suspect none of the reasoned arguments, I’ve just heard went on at FIFA.
Now that we’ve said good-bye to Bin Hammam, how long can we sustain the farce of giving the World Cup to Qatar?
I wonder what odds I could get, that the Qatar World Cup doesn’t happen! Probably only very short ones, I would think!
A Boost For All Widows
Darren Clarke’s victory in the Open is to be welcomed. I suspect too, that a lot of widows will find his win heartening. I certainly do!
I do wish he’d give up the cigars though!
Do We Mislead Tourists?
I travelled to London Bridge today and on the train I met a couple of ladies from New Zealand, who were trying to get to the Churchill War Rooms in Whitehall. But their hotel had told them to go to London Bridge to see something similar by the London Dungeon. I put them on a Jubilee Line train to Westminster.
I also met an Australian tourist and her family going to the London Dungeon. I suppose they had kids, but at least I was able to point out Borough Market and Sothwark Cathedral. Let’s hope that when London Bridge Quarter gets finished, they put up some decent information.
At least though I saw this outside the Globe Theatre a few street’s away.
I have a simple tourism rule. I don’t pay to go into anything, unless it’s National or special interest museum. I’ve never been to Madam Tussauds, the London Dungeon or any of the other places in London setup to relieve tourists of their money. These places are not an asset to London, just as others of a similar ilk aren’t in Paris, Amsterdam and New York.
Many of the best tourist sites in London are free and all some require are a London Travelcard or Oystercard. Here’s my favourite top ten.
- The front at the top of any London double deck bus. Favourites include a 24 from Victoria to Hampstead and the two heritage routes (9 and 15). I like to play bus roulette and get on the first that turns up.
- The British Museum. It’s worth going in, just to see the roof and have a nice coffee. Special exhibitions are extra, but the main museum is free, althougth they do like the occassional donation. When it’s not too busy, you can handle some of the exhibits. I’ve seen little girls, and big ones for that matter, in Roman necklaces.
- The Olympic Park. But go before June 2012, as I suspect you’ll find views will be shut off for security before the Olympics.
- The Imperal War Museum.
- The Kensington Museums; Science, Natural History and V & A. There’s even a good Carluccio’s nearby.
- The Victoria and Albert Embankments. At low tide, look for the beach at Tower Bridge.
- The North and East London Lines on the London Overground. They connect lots of small, good museums, Hampstead Heath, Kew Gardens and Crystal Palace. There is also a superb panorama of London in several places.
- The Docklands Light Railway. Take it from Bank to Canary Wharf and on to the Thames Barrier.
- St. Pancras Station. Even the French think it’s the best railway station in the world. It may not be by next year, as King’s Cross may outshine its neighbour.
- Green, Victoria and St. James’s Parks.
- The Regent’s and all the other canals that take you from Islington to Stratford and Docklands.
I suspect this list will grow.
I did like this bike though.
Mobile Low Carbon Tourist Office
Is this the first mobile low carbon tourist office?
What Is It About English Footballers and Penalties?
Even the English women went out yesterday after a penalty shoot-out. Read about it in The Independent.
Hayley Turner Wins The July Cup
This report from the BBC describe how Hayley Turner won the July Cup at Newmarket on Dream Ahead.
This was the first outright win by a lady jockey in a Group One race in the UK. There had been one dead heat in the past.
Not only is she the best female jockey we’ve ever had in the UK, she’s also a coeliac.
She’s also a very nice person in every way. She rode for me several times and I would recommend her to anybody.
From West Ham to Abbey Mills on the Greenway
The Greenway has now been reopened close to West Ham station and it is now possible to walk along it past Abbey Mills Pumping Station and on to Stratford again.
Note the large bridge, which I suspect will be used to take those walking to the Olympic site over Stratford High Street.
It will be good when it is fully open again from Hackney Wick to West Ham and on to Beckton. It will be one of the best walks in London.
The Anonymous Widower 