Iran Threatens to Boycott the London Olympics
If they didn’t come, will they be missed? I suppose they are favourites to win one of the special putty metals for being undemocratic along with North Korea, Zimbabwe and Libya.
Ticket Madness?
I add the question mark because sometimes I end up with train tickets that surprise me. But if they benefit me financially, why should I bother?
When I travel to Ipswich to see the football, I generally go First Class, as I can be guaranteed a comfortable seat and a table, where I can spread myself out. If I don’t deserve some of life’s hedonistic pleasures then who does?
The Standard Class Off-Peak Return to Ipswich from Liverpool Street is £22.60, if I use my Senior Railcard. And I can upgrade it to First for £14.00. So effectively a First Class Off-Peak Return is 36.60.
Yesterday though, was my first trip after receiving my Freedom Pass and after a few questions when I bought the ticket at Liverpool Street I ended up with a Standard Class return from Harold Wood to Ipswich and a First Class Upgrade for the whole journey. The total cost was £33.45.
So you can see why Which has reported that people don’t always get sold the cheapest tickets on trains. The staff must ask all the right questions and the passengers must bring all the correct documentation.
I would assume in this example, that Harold Wood must be the limit of travel with a Freedom Pass. But who’d want to travel there anyway?
Homebase at Harringay
As a child, I think I went to an ice show at the Harringay Arena, which in the 1950s was one of the biggest indoor arenas in the country.
I actually remember the area reasonably well, as my father’s Uncle Charlie lived just off Green Lanes. I can remember him giving me a glass of cider with a sugar lump in it, at the age of about six or seven. I can certainly remember seeing the Arena from the bus on Green Lanes and perhaps even when I started to drive in the 1960s, although the Arena had closed long before.
Now it is a retail park and yesterday I went to Homebase there. It was a rather depressing experience, as the store was a very inferior one compared to those I’ve used in Suffolk. Effectively, I just walked around for a bit and then got the bus home.
ITV to Show More Adverts
Who cares? I don’t! I only watch sport on channels with adverts occasionally and usually there is a sound commentary on the radio, which I listen too.
The more adverts ITV shows, the worse the coverage will get and I’ll find something more interesting to do, like watch paint dry!
Crushed in at QPR
I said in a previous post that hopefully Ipswich would be lucky to get a draw. And although they played well and had a lot of possession, they lost 2-0.
I enjoyed the match, even if QPR seemed to have squeezed as many supporters as they could into the away end. I asked the stewards to move me as I couldn’t see and all around me were people waving extreme flags.
So thanks to the steward I got a reasonable view, but very inferior to the ones at Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest, Coventry, Barnsley and even Scunthorpe.
QPR should make the Premier League next year, so what the prawn sandwich brigade will make of it all, I don’t know.
I also spoke to a group of cheery police, who said that they’d had the worst pre-match meal in a long time. They hoped there wouldn’t be any trouble, as they’d probably spew it all over everybody in the excitement.
I was also filmed for something called Winkball. I’ll update, if they put it up.
QPR Tonight!
I’m off to see Ipswich at QPR tonight. I think more in hope than anything else, but a draw would be nice.
I checked the QPR web site for directions and they said not to go to Queens Park station, as it is nowhere near the ground. It obviously happens though, otherwise they wouldn’t have put it up. I shall be going to White City, although I could walk to Canonbury and get a direct train to Shepherds Bush, if the North London Line was working.
One Up, A Few More to Go!
Today the Olympic Velodrome is being handed over. On time and on budget!
It looks good and I hope to be there for some of the action in 2012, as I said in an earlier post.
Let’s hope that the London Olympics set a new standard for project management and that all the venues follow this example of time and cost. After all the North and East London Lines, which will help take people to the games, set a precedent for this and the latest addition here, the Western Curve at Dalston, is expected to open soon.
Sitting on a Bennet
The last time I sat on a wooden seat in a football ground was at Crystal Palace. That was the day I got a splinter in the palm of my hand.
No such incident happened at Fulham, as the original 1905 Bennet seats are still in good condition. And they are comfortable too.
Can there be many places, where you sit on a wooden seat over a hundred years old? Perhaps a few churches maybe! There is more on the stand here in Wikipedia.
I shall return to the Cottage and hopefully the result will be better.
It was also good to hear the rumble of rythmic foot stamping in a wooden stand. The old stand at White Hart Lane could be made to make a fearsome noise.
A Trip To Leitch’s Gem By the Thames
Archibald Leitch has appeared in this blog before, with respect to his first building, the Sentinel Works in Glasgow, and two football stadia; White Hart Lane and Fratton Park.
Today though I went to see Fulham host Bolton in Leitch’s gem-by-the-Thames, Craven Cottage.
I had started my journey from Oxford Street, so I took the Central line to Notting Hill Gate station, where I changed to the District line for Putney Bridge, which is the most convenient station for the Cottage.
Notting Hill Gate Station
As you can see from the picture, it is another example of Victorian architecture worth visiting.
Putney Bridge station is an impressive one about ten minutes walk away from Craven Cottage.
Putney Bridge Station
But whereas many walks from stations to football grounds are boring, this one is through the Bishop’s Park by Fulham Palace alongside the River Thames.
Walking to Craven Cottage
So very different to the approach to say Middlesbrough or Scunthorpe.
Johnny Haynes Stand at Craven Cottage
This picture shows the restored Stevenage Road Stand at Craven Cottage. It was built in the first few years of the 20th Century and has now been renamed after one of Fulham’s most famous players; Johnny Haynes.
The Tragedy of Belarus
They were talking on the BBC about the state of Belarus. I don’t know whether they read it out, but I sent in this e-mail.
I went to Belarus to see England play two years ago. Minsk was a friendly city, with lots of things to see. After experiences of Moscow, supporting Ipswich, Minsk was totally different. Even the police were complicit in exchange of banners, tokens and signatures between fans.
The visit left me with the optimistic impression, that Belarus would eventually be part of mainstream Europe, but time has shown me wrong. On the other hand, the history of the country has shown, that they are resilient and sort themselves out in the end, usually without great violence.
I do hope my optimism was not misplaced and one day I’ll return to the country. By train of course!
The Anonymous Widower 