Is This The Best Way To Get To London Zoo?
I went to the London Zoo today, and noticed they have a Boris bike station, by the main entrance.
Is This The Best Way To Get To London Zoo?
Surely this must be one of the best ways to get to the Zoo from Marylebone Road or the area just north of the West End. It will be a nice cycle through and around Regent’s Park.
Note that if you type “Boris bikes” into Google, you get the official site at Transport for london.
A Korean Police Car
There was a time, when the Police always had British made vehicles.
A Korean Police Car
Not any more! But then a trip to Seoul is much more interesting than one to Ellesmere Port to see them being made.
The Tube Will Run Later
I’m not sure it will make much difference to me, but many in London will welcome the announcement that the London Underground will run through to two in the morning on Fridays and Saturdays from 2015. It’s reported here in the Standard.
Let’s hope that the negotiations with the unions, also clear up the non-running of the system on Boxing Day.
A Row In Radlett
There is the mother of all battles starting in Radlett about a proposed road and rail freight depot.
Underlying all of this is the need for suitable sites for this close to the M25 to satisfy London’s freight transport needs. and of course there are few sites available.
But then London has a serious freight problem and short of forcibly moving half the population out, you will not cut the amount of freight going into the City.
So there will be pain somewhere!
Do We Have A Death Wish?
After the death of my wife and son, some medics thought I might be suicidal. I don’t think I ever thought about it, although I was pretty depressed by myself in hospital in Hong Kong, until my son arrived.
But in some ways today, showed me a dark side, that I keep very much under control.
As a child, I didn’t like the Underground and especially, when I was waiting for a train in a tunnel station like Wood Green, I’d tend to back onto the wall, with my hands over my ears. I still hold back on the Tube, but often these days there is an empty seat, to sit safely. I’m probably just being prdent these days.
On New Barnet station, whilst waiting for my train, a couple of fast trains ran through and they scared the wits out of me. So I retreated into the shop.
I do wonder how many commit suicide in such a situation on the spur of the moment.
Thinking about it, I do wonder, whether it’s just the survival genes taking over. After all, we all have a lot of those, as those that don’t would have died out years ago in the caves.
let’s face it, it also helps you do extraordinary things. Just look at the story of the baby rescued from the dock in Somerset, by the 63-year-old, George Reeder.
Home Via New Barnet Station
After my walk through New Barnet, I intended to come home using the Northern line from High Barnet station and I informed the driver of the 384 bus, I boarded outside The Warwick, that that was what I was doing.
But I changed my mind, as the bus stopped in the forecourt of New Barnet station, so I thought I’d come home on the main line train.
It was really sweet and totally professional, as when I got off, the driver questioned if I was at the right stop. Little bits of service really improve a day.
On the platform there is now a little cafe/shop.
Frothy Coffee At New Barnet Station
Something that would never have been there when I used the station in the 1960s or 1970s. and if it had been it would have been a terrible British Rail monstrosity.
Things are looking up for those who want to travel and drink. I think it’s a case of the more the merrier!
The Place Where The Bottom Fell Out Of A Drawer
Whenever I go to Oakwood station, just seeing the parking in front of the station reminds me of a very funny story.
The Place Where The Bottom Fell Out Of A Drawer
Our next door neighbour, a rather pompous Mancunian, who thought the world revolved around him, just after the Second World War, had a Rover, very much like the one you see in the James Herriott programs on television. My doctor, the wonderfully named Egerton White had one too, as doctors in those days always did. just like they had three-piece suits, a good size corporation and a pocket watch on a gold chain.
Our neighbour, had a garage that was basically a store for his junk. in the middle of the back wall, was an old chest of drawers with large round knobs. He also had the habit of going in a bit close, so that he could shut the garage doors. My father, who was a bit of a comedian, once joked that. his junk wasn’t worth nicking.
One evening, he wanted to get an evening paper. The easiest place to get one, for our neighbour was Oakwood station, where he just parked outside, left the engine running and walked inside the station to get one of the Star, News or Standard.
The Entrance To Oakwood Station
The picture shows where the papers were sold, from the bench just inside the entrance.
Anyway, he duly backed the Rover out of the garage and proceeded to drive to the station. He always sat high in the car, to emphasise his own importance and was surprised to see people waving and pointing to the front of his car. He just waved back, as my father used to say, when he related the tail, in the style of the King.
When he returned to the car after buying the paper, he realised the reason for all the attention on the trip to the station. He had gone into the garage just a little bit too far, the night before and the bumpers of the Rover had hooked themselves under the knobs on one of the drawers. They were so firmly locked, that when he backed out to get the paper, the car extracted the drawer from the chest and it had stayed balanced there, all the way to the station.
He then took a fateful decision. He decided that as the drawer had stayed there on the journey to the station, it would stay there on the way back.
It did stay there, but as he moved off, the bottom decided to part company from the rest of the drawer and thirty years of accumulated odds and ends, were deposited all over the forecourt of the station.
Transport For London Lowers Emission Limits
Transport for London is lowering the emission limits for cars in the Congestion Charge Zone and it’s all reported here.
As a pedestrian and non-car owner and driver, I must say that I am in favour. In fact after experiencing Chelsea recently, I can’t see why they bothered to reduce the size of the zone. All it seemed to do, was increase the jams.
I’d also like to see a higher Congestion Charge for larger vehicles, such as big 4×4’s. After all, how many people need such a vehicle in Central London?
The New Bus For London In Singapore
I just picked up this article about the New Bus for London in the Straits Times in Singapore.
Their slant on the bus, is that Metroline, who will be running the bus on route 24 by the summer, is owned by ComfortDelgro, who are a Singaporean company.
In Singapore they actually operate 1200 Wright buses, most of which were assembled locally.
So it will be interesting to see, if this all leads to a New Bus for Singapore!
The Real Arguments For HS2 Start Now!
The government has announced the route of HS2 this morning, as is detailed in this article on the BBC.
There is going to be masses of opposition.
In fact, I think that the amount of opposition is such, that the line will not get built. certainly, as I look forward at 65, I doubt I’ll ever see it.
Let’s face it, if you had a referendum, which asked if we wanted a high speed rail or more motorways, the man stuck in the jam on the M1 would vote for the roads.
HS2 also doesn’t help our biggest transport problem of the next twenty years. Or at least not directly! How do we get all the freight containers, to and from the major ports like Southampton, Felixstowe and Thames Haven? It deals with them indirectly, by making more paths available on the classic lines to the North and Scotland, especially if a few strategic freight by-passes are built and lines like Ipswich to Nuneaton are electrified.
There also seems to be a lots of opponents saying that London and the South East will be the biggest beneficiary. So perhaps we should built it from Birmingham to Scotland? Or at least that should be the first phase to open!
There is the classic opportunity here for a political party to fight an election on an anti-HS2 platform. I don’t think, any of the three major parties would do this, but who’s to say, some smaller party wouldn’t? After all, UKIP has said no to the project in this article on its web site.
The Anonymous Widower 