The Car Park at the End of the World
Or should I say the end of Suffolk?
To many it would be an odd place to go for a walk. But the beach is pleasantly part-sand, you have lot of birds, including kittiwakes nesting on the rigs, interesting plants and protection from the wind because of the dunes. There is also a nice cafe and toilets.
Who would have expected it all, in the shadow of two nuclear power stations?
In the 1980s, I went over Sizewell A, which is the square station in the front. It is a Magnox station, was built in the 1960s and will soon be completely decommisioned. To plan their annual shutdown, they had one of the best planning systems, I have ever seen. It was a long white perspex wall, where the critical path network was drawn and updated. Different colours meant different things and through the months before the shutdown, all information was added in the correct place. Like everything I saw on that visit, it was all very professional.
I must relate a hunting story about Sizewell. We were hunting from Knodishall Butchers Arms and were about a couple of kilometres from the sea with Sizewell A in the distance. You might think that we were all against the station with its environmental implications. But being on the whole practical people we realised that you have to get electricity from somewhere and that the plant was a large local employer in an area of the country, that had suffered large job losses with the closure of Garretts of Leiston. But what really annoyed us, was the fact that the local farmer had grubbed out all of the trees and hedges. It was like riding in a lifeless desert.
I feel that we must build more nuclear power stations, but perhaps more importantly, we should be more economical with our energy use. Incidentally, as Sizewell is well connected to the electricity grid, from works we saw yesterday, it is being used as a ditribution point for the electricity generated by offshore wind farms. But I for one would not mind seeing Sizewell C and possibly D added to the Suffolk coast
The Butley Oysterage
In life, evreything chnges, except at the Butley Oysterage in Orford.
The Butley Oysterage at Orford
The decor is still the same, the menu is just a development of what C and I probably had, when we first ate in the restaurant in the early 1970s. Even the staff are related to those who served in those far-off days.
One thing that has changed is that I am now a coeliac, but no problem as they can accomodate that! I had Dover Sole with new potatoes.
It was good to eat my first meal in a restaurant since the stroke and there was no better place.
I Wouldn’t Like To Be These Thieves If the Commuters Get Them!
Thieves have stolen 90 metres of signalling cable from outside Paddington according to the BBC. It is causing major problems.
But at least the systems appear fail-safe and no-one has been hurt. It would be different of course, if the commuters got their hands on the thieves.
Years ago, I did some analysis for Railtrack and to stop signal cable thefts, they were replacing copper cable with fibre optic. The latter was cheaper and of coursehad no value if stolen, as who wants lots of glass thread? So the thieves just turned up with cutters and destroyed the fibre optic cables, in the vain hope that Railtrack would replace it with copper. They didn’t of course.
Perhaps though, those that get caught stealing cables, which control life-saving systems like signals or motorway signs, should be charged with something more serious like attempted manslaughter.
The Culture Line
The East London Line has now teamed with ten museums to create The Culture Line.
What a good idea for both Londoners and tourists.
Lowering the Drink Drive Limit
At the moment, I’m not allowed to drink because of the stroke, but I’m not sure that lowering the limit is the best way to improve road safety.
I’m always very careful when I drive and do most of my drinking at home anyway. I did once drive to an emergency on the stud in my Discovery on the tracks after drinking a couple of pints and it frightened me. Nowhere did I break the law, as I went nowhere near a public road. In the end, I more or less abandoned the car at the problem and walked home.
I think most people are sensible and do things to stay legal anyway. Ask any policeman and they will tell you that many of those who drink and drive are serial offenders and have been caught at least once. The lowering of the limit would not affect these people, as they are well over the existing limit.
But are we after the wrong cause of accidents. About a year ago, I was nearly involved in a very serious accident. Luckily, I was in the Jaguar and was able to steer out of the way andbrake safely. A guy about twenty had overtaken dangerously and driven straight into the car in front of me. It was just plain bad and reckless driving. He should have been prosecuted, but the police refused to turn up. We need more proper traffic police on the road, whereas they are being cut drastically.
On another point, if I want to go to the pub now, as I can’t drive and it’ three miles, it’s either walk or get a taxi. But there are no local taxis round here and I would have to pay for them to come from the nearest town. We need the rules on taxis to be relaxed, so that we get more affordable taxis in rural areas. This in itself would probably discourage people from drinking and driving.
We also have the most serious penalties for drinking and driving in Europe, although our limits are higher. Many people have lost their jobs because they have been convicted and have no way to get to work. In a big city, this would not be a problem, but here in rural Suffolk it is.
So perhaps, we should exanmine everything to make sure that we end up with less accidents on the roads and also provide sensible alteratives for those who can’t or shouldn’t drive.
Hong Kong Trams
Hong Kong trams are unique, being a sort of relic of British Imperial past beloved equally well by tourists, expats and native-born HongKongers. It is nicknamed the Pollution Solution.
Quantum of Solace
I haven’t seen a James Bond film in years, as they weren’t to C’s taste, but I did watch Quantum of Solace on the flight home. It was the best of a group of films that either didn’t appeal or I’d seen before. I tried to watch The Last Station, but the sound quality on the headsets wasn’t good enough to follow it.
Quantum of Solace wasn’t too bad and it filled a couple of hours, but the BA choice had been better on the way out.
Interestingly, we bought our house in Debach from Daniel Craig’s step father, Maxwell Blond.
Evian on Cathay Pacific
I suppose they fly it halfway round the world, but surely there is something good and more local to Hong Kong.
Tête-Bêche or Herringbone
BA and Cathay Pacific have very different ideas about how Business Class should be laid out. In the former you sleep head to tail, whereas in Cathay, you’re arranged on either side of the aisle.
In my view BA’s layout is much better, as you can leave your seat so much easier, without taking the seat out of the sleeping position. Apparently, the herringbone gives a wider seat, but I don’t need that. I also found the Cathay seat a lot more uncomfortable, probably because I couldn’t lay on my stomach and because my spine sticks out at the bottom.
I should also say that the gluten-free food on BA was much better than that on Cathay, but this might be because it was out of Hong Kong. Strangely, the best I had, was on Astraeus on a charter to Gambia. It had been produced by a small Welsh company.
Coming Home
All being well I’ll be on the Cathay Pacific flight leaving at 15:00 HK time today. I should be in Addenbrookes by midnight UK time.
The Anonymous Widower 