The Architecture of London Zoo
London Zoo has a large collection of the capital’s finest buildings. There is a list here on their web site.
Many were designed by Decimus Burton in the nineteenth century and it a testament to his good design, that some of the original buildings like the Giraffe House, have been able to be brought up to modern welfare standards.
But some like the penguin pool designed in the 1930s by Berthold Lubetkin are never going to be suitable for animals again.
Penguin Pool, London Zoo
I would think it is a big problem for the Zoo as it takes up valuable space and because it is a Grade One Listed building, it can’t be knocked down or substantially modified. Someone said to me last night, that they can’t even modify the words Penguin Pool on the side.
As a child I always thought that the penguin pool was rather stark and that the only thing that gave it life was the penguins, who seemed rather lost in the place.
It’s all such a pity really.
I think if the penguin pool were a house designed by Lubetkin, one of two things would have happened; someone would have spent a fortune and made it into a very nice house or it would have just decayed to a pile of broken concrete.
All credit to the London Zoo for preserving it, but I suspect sometimes they wish a stray bomb from the Second World War had destroyed it. The Zoo asctually suffered quite a bit of damage, as this report tells. I like this piece, which was taken from The Times of the 15th November, 1940.
The Zoo in fact is a microcosm of London. Hitler’s bombs cause a certain amount of damage to it, and a considerable amount of inconvenience; but they have not destroyed the morale or the routine of its inhabitants, animal or human, and it continues to function with a very respectable degree of efficiency.
It may have been blatant propaganda to keep up Londoners morale, but perhaps it does explain why many Londoners look on their zoo with affection.
It’s a Zoo Jim, But Not As We Know It
I’m not really struck on zoos, as I much prefer to see animals in the wild. But last night I had a most unusual night out at London Zoo. It was one of their Zoo Lates.
Other than the usual attractions, there was a twisted cabaret, lots of good food, bands and you could talk to the keepers about the animals. There were no children, except for a few baby animals and it wasn’t crowded but for one totally acceptable exception. Even the queues for the toilets were within reason.
Here’s a few general pictures.
It was certainly a good night out. I shall go again.
Sat Nav Racing
Surely this is another reason why they should be banned.
Although I’m waiting for a delivery, where the driver seems to have got lost between Wembley and my house.
Perhaps the sat-nav has so many features, he can’t work it!
How To Handle Complaints
I reported the ticketing problems, I had on Wednesday to National Express East Anglia by e-mail to the company yesterday morning. I received a reply late in the afternoon, which was in my view pretty quick, as they needed a bit more information. At ten o’clock last night, after an exchange of e-mails, the issue reached a conclusion, which was very satisfactory for me. I hope it was satisfactory for the company too, as it wasn’t anything serious and more of a computer or handbook glitch.
It just shows how companies can handle problems quickly if they put the right systems in place, with the right people manning them.
Other companies should take note!
The Get You Home Ticket
This is very much a London problem, although there may be other places in the UK, where the problem occurs.
If I want to go to the football at Ipswich on a Tuesday night, I have three choices.
1. Go early before the rush hour restrictions apply. I can use a cheap day ticket and come back on any train after the match. The problem of this, is that I have over two hours to wait in the town and there is nothing there, that I want to visit. I can’t even have a meal, as there is no gluten-free restaurant in the town centre.
2. Book a seat on a rush hour train and pay more. I can though book a cheap return, if I nominate the train I want to return on. but this method can’t be used, if there might be extra time in a cup match. It also restricts me from having a drink or a snack after the match with friends.
3. Book a rush hour ticket and buy an off peak single for the return before I travel, as they are not available in Ipswich. It’s all due to the old Network south East regulations I’m told. Some London fans deliberately split the journey and use two tickets to get better prices.
It’s not just a football probem. Suppose you live and work in London and a relative in Ipswich is ill in hospital. Or perhaps you want to visit the town to have dinner with friends. In many cases you won’t know when you want to return, so you won’t be able to book a cheap return, if you have to travel in the rush hour.
Many will drive for an evening visit, but then there are also many like me who either can’t drive or don’t have a car.
As an example, I shall be going to Ipswich for the Northampton match on the 9th August. Prices are as follows.
Travelling up during the rush hour, second with a railcard will cost £19.80 or £26.95, if I want to go on the comfortable Norwich train with a seat reservation. Coming back after about 22:00, if I advance book it’s £5.30 on a specfic train or £22.30 if I don’t book a train.
I could of course travel up before the rush hour and use an off-peak return. But the problem here is that the last train is 22:43. There is a later one you can book on-line, but it gets into London at 05:55, so you wouldn’t use it anyway.
I think unless the mastch goes to penalties and there is a floodlight failure 22:43 is OK. I should add, that when Ipswich played Leicester in the snow, it appeared that National Express East Anglia put on a soecial train to mop up the stragglers because of the weather.
I think the solution might be an evening return with a get you home option! So if you needed to go to Ipswich for the evening in the rush hour, you would pay the current price for the journey out and you would pay an appropriate price for the return. A price of half the off-peak return, might be sensible. There might be some restriction, such as the return path was only valid after 21:30.
But whatever is offered is better than the cost of £22.30 that is currently the cheapest flexible fare. It would of course be a walk-up fare at the ticket office.
It may have marketing advantages, as no-one would book say a walk-up ticket to Ipswich returning that day for travel in the rush hour. But a ticket which was affordable on a spur-of-the-moment basis, might attract travellers.
I acknowledge that train companies aren’t charities, but I’m not asking for any discount on the outward rush hour journey and they might actually have more passengers on the rather empty late night trains.
What We’re Good At!
I was very pleased when I read the third leader in The Times today, entitled Capital Idea.
This was the first paragraph.
After the on-time and underbudget Olympic Stadium, yesterday brought the opening of the Hindhead Tunnel on the A3, on the main route between London and Portsmouth, on time, on budget and garlanded with awards for its safety record. Britain is in danger of getting a reputation for being good at large infrastructure projects.
I could add another couple of projects like the London Overground, where the engineers delivered quality at a price well under the budget.
Walking Along The Thames
On Tuesday night I took a guided walk along the Thames from Bermondsey station to the Brunel Museum at Rotherhithe. The walk is described here.
These pictures were taken as we walked along the river.
The guide was excellent and the trip was well worth the eight pounds it cost.
New Platforms at Cambridge
I said in an earlier post, that I will use the Tottenham Hale route more to get to Cambridge, as it is only slightly slower and the trains are better and have wi-fi.
I think though I’ll give myself a bit of time for journeys, as new platforms are under construction at Cambridge and I was delayed slightly getting into the station.
New Platforms at Cambridge
Hopefiully, when the platforms are completed before the end of the year, it will make things a lot easier. Although, there are rumours that the lifts to get to the two new platforms won’t take bikes, so getting across might not be the smooth up and down it should be.
The Train Ticket Nightmare
Yesterday I needed to go to Bury St. Edmunds from London for an appointment at 11:00. I booked on the Internet and the National Express East Anglia web site, sold me an Off-Peak Single with a Senior Railcard leaving at 08:10 for £23.50. For some reason, when I picked up my ticket, I asked an inspector and he said I couldn’t use the ticket, as Senior Railcards aren’t valid until 09:30. So I purchased an upgrade for £18.40, as I wanted to avoid the fine he promised me.
I got to Bury on time after a good journey and particularly liked the new Class 379 train from London to Cambridge.
New Trains from Liverpool Street to Cambridge
The inspector though on the Cambridge to Bury train had told me that I had been overcharged £4.00 at Tottenham Hale.
So something is wrong. Either the web site gave me the wrong information and sold me a ticket I wasn’t entitled to or the National Express East Anglia rule book given to their inspectors doesn’t reflect the web site.
When I got home, I investigated buying the same ticket for today. It would have cost me £23.50.
I should say, that if they can get the pricing right, I will travel to Cambridge this way, as the trains may take longer than those from King’s Cross, but they are much more comfortable and have even have wi-fi. Although, I couldn’t use it yesterday, as I didn’t have my computer with me.
The Anonymous Widower 