Cambridge to Finally Get a Bigger Station Hall
This article details how, the size of the hall at Cambridge Station is going to be increased in size substantially.
Having used the station a lot in recent years, I can’t say it’s not before time.
Which Brother and Sister Played for Two Different Countries in Different Sports in the 2010 Commonwealth Games?
This sounds like a trivial pursuit question and it is. The answer is in the long form in the Sports section of today’s Sunday Times.
They are Christa Cullen, who if she is fit, will be playing in the Hockey in the London Olympics and her brother Gray who plays rugby for Kenya. There’s more about it here in the Guardian.
Jeremy Clarkson Was Right
I’m not slways struck on Jeremy’s taste in cars. But he does know his dogs. Not the four-legged variety, but those cars, those of us who understand them, wouldn’t be seen dead in.
Two seasons ago, he gave the worst review to any car, that I’ve ever seen, with the exception of this one.
So imagine my delight to see the object of this review, outside my house, being given a fuel transfusion by a specialist recovery company. As the car appeared to be a petrol model, it would appear that the pratt not only was stupid enough to buy a BMW X6, but was stupid enough to put diesel in it.
The Rain Claims a Victim
Tonight, the rain didn’t give up, so I took the bus to Carluccio’s in Upper Street for supper. In fact I had to go somewhere, as I hadn’t got any supper in because of the rain.
But coming down Essex Road, there had been an accident, and as we passed, I noticed that a motor cycle was on its side and it appeared that a passer-by was giving first aid to the rider. It looked like a police car had just arrived and they were helping out too.
Hopefully, everything will be alright in the end.
But it is that sort of night, where accidents will happen and you’re much safer in a full-size bus.
Danny Baker Can’t Ride a Bike!
This may seem rather strange in these days, but Danny Baker has just announced on his Saturday morning program on BBC Radio 5, that he’s never been able to ride a bike.
After my balance problems, I doubt I’ll ever ride one again.
The New Deptford Station
To me Deptford is summed up by a picture of Peter the Great working in the Royal Dockyard at Deptford, that was in one of the school history texts I read.
I’d never knowingly been until today, when I went to look at the new Deptford station, which is just a few months away from being finished.
To my untrained eye, they have done a good job in creating a station with full step-free access, using ideas and components that could also be used in other places, where new or rebuilt stations are desperately needed.
I particularly liked the treatment of the brickwork in the tunnel under the tracks.
The Waitrose Obstacle Race
Last night I decided to do a bigger shop at Waitrose. My local one at Upper Street is a bit small and doesn’t stock half the things I need. So I decided to go to the shop in the old Jones Brothers store on the Holloway Road.
Unfortunately, it is a two bus trip and I had to change from the 277 to a 271 at Highbury and Islington to complete the journey. The 271 is one of those routes that desperately needs some new buses, as like last night, some of them are a bit tired, like the Plaxton President I was on, to say the least.
But I got there about 19:30 and then spent a frustrating half-an-hour getting what I needed. The only bread was thick-sliced, there was no gluten-free beer, I couldn’t find the smoked salmon, but there were two packets of the breakfast cereal I like. I’ve had more successful trips.
Coming back, it was another 271 followed by a 277. I would have preferred a 393 for the first leg, as it means less walking at the change. But the bus decided to charge straight past the stop on the Holloway Road.
Voting for the Bus
I was at the Angel yesterday afternoon, waiting for a 38 or 56 to take me home, when a New Bus for London passed the other way going towards Victoria.
The guy standing next to me, asked if I’d ridden the bus and I said several times. We then both agreed that we liked them and I said that as an engineer and a designer, it had a lot of good ideas that would find their way into new buses, making them all better.
He then made the statement, that although he was a lifelong Labour voter, he would be voting for the one candidate, who won’t be scrapping the bus; Boris.
Is this the first time that the man on the Dalston omnibus, has been swayed in his voting preference, by that bus?
The French Try Every Way to Leave the Country
The French seem to have panicked about the prospect of a new very left-wing government, as this article shows.
Kazahkstan Tourism is on the Increase
Apparently the number of tourists going to Kazahkstan is on the increase according to this article on the BBC.
But Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov told politicians on Monday, 23 April: “With the release of this film, the number of visas issued by Kazakhstan grew tenfold.
“I am grateful to ‘Borat’ for helping attract tourists to Kazakhstan.”
It probably shows that we don’t use humour enough to promote things.
On the other hand, some of the travel programs made by comedians like Billy Connolly, Mike Palin and Gryff Rhys-Jones have probably done a log to promote some of the more unusual places in both the UK and the wider world.
The Anonymous Widower 