The Herne Hill Velodrome
The reason I was going to North Dulwich was to visit the Herne Hill Velodrome, which is the last venue from the London Olympics of 1948, still in use in it’s original form.
It said everybody was welcome on the gate.
The Entrance to Herne Hill Velodrome
I had a quick look around and left fairly sharply as they had a ban on photography, which of course was one of the reasons I had gone.
Customer Service – London Bridge Style
I know London Bridge station is being rebuilt as a consequence of both the Thameslink upgrade and the hideous Shard, but I doubt you’ll find a worse main station in the whole of the UK.
Like all of the stations and lines south of the Thames, they were planned by a devious and possibly cruel Victorian mind. An example is that as London Bridge is the most easterly of the London rail stations serving the south, you’d assume it would serve all of the stations in Kent. That is an extremely logical and wrong assumption, as you get to places like Margate from either Victoria or St. Pancras.
No wonder you get confused tourists like a group of Spanish, who were trying to get to King’s Cross, by taking a train to Victoria from London Bridge and quite a few other stations, and then using the Victoria line. I told them to use the direct Northern line and was left wondering what idiot had advised them to go via Victoria. It couldn’t have been anybody in customer service as the Information Desk was closed.
Closed Information Box at London Bridge
The London Buses kiosk was also closed.
Closed Bus Information Kiosk at London Bridge
I was trying to get to North Dulwich and was advised to take the 9:48 from platform 15. At the last minute, I was told it would leave from 14 and got there just as it pulled away. After looking for some non-existent help, I found a board which said that there was a train on platform 14 at 10:03. So I ran back and after several goes, I finally got through the barrier, when a ticket inspector let me through.
One of problems I had to get through, was that in strong sunlight, the LEDs that show a green arrow or a red cross on the barrier, can’t be seen by someone like myself with degraded eyesight. After the kind inspector let me through, he said he had problems himself with the barriers and hopefully the new ones arriving soon would solve the problem.
Florida Tourism
I can’t understand why anybody would want to go to the United States for a holiday and especially the state of Florida. After all according to this list from an official web site, they have executed 69 people since 1976.
I did hear though on Radio 5 this morning, that the clean-up after the Gulf oil spill has gone well and that the beaches are clean and tourism is on the rise.
But then you have the murders of James Cooper and James Kouzaris.
You wouldn’t catch me going.
It would appear that the murderer of the two Englishmen, is just 16 and will be tried as an adult and could face the death penalty.
So at least Florida has its priorities right. Tourism is more important than cleaning up crime.
Surely to improve tourism, they must do the other. But of course without using the death penalty. But then American justice is not about justice, it’s about vengeance.
Barking Mad
Why do we always talk about people Barking Mad? There is an explanation here.
A much more prosaic derivation, that the phrase refers to mad and possibly rabid dogs, is a more probable source. There are many examples of ‘barking like a mad dog’ in print.
This sounds feasible.
There had been an item on the news this morning talking about some rather silly yellow lines painted on the pavement in Ripple Road, Barking, so as I’d never been there, I thought I’d go there for a walk in the sun.
The lines do seem rather odd.
Can You Say This to German Guests?
A friend looks after a house that is rented to tourists.
Whilst showing some Germans around,who had booked the house for a week she said, “The coal is in the bunker!” She compounded it by following it with “The baker in the village is Mr.Ovens!”
My New Trainers
I got my new trainers on Friday from Runners Need.
I wore them all day yesterday in Bristol and in the end we had to walk all the way from Ashton Gate to Temple Meads, which took about thirty minutes.
This morning, I have no stiffness or soreness!
I’ve not had any cramps in bed either.
So perhaps everybody should get their trainers properly fitted.
The Disappointing SS Great Britain
I found Brunel’s SS Great Britain very disappointing.
SS Great Britain
This is the best view you can get of the ship without paying £12.90 a person. That is just too much! Compare with how the Belfast or the Cutty Sark are displayed in London, where you can get a good view of the outside for nothing.
When you only have a couple of hours to visit an attraction, there needs to be some way to get a flavour.
The cafe was a bit of a disappointment too, as nothing was marked gluten free and it took a great deal of time to find out what was OK for me. In the end I had some very nice soup, but I still paid for the bread I didn’t need. Not that I worried about that, as the food was more important, but it would make it difficult for a family of coeliacs.
Walking Around Bristol
We walked along the water to the SS Great Britain.
Here are a few pictures. We could have taken a ferry, but it was an easy walk.
Note the statue of John Cabot, who is now thought to have landed in Newfoundland in 1497. Click the link to Wikipedia to find out more about this adventurer, who is just a footnote in much teaching of history.
Should It Still Be Called The Royal Bank of Scotland?
We walked past this building on the waterside at Bristol.
Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers
It occurred to us, that surely now is the time to drop the word Scotland from the name. After all, it is now the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers.
Perhaps we should all be given a few shares!
The Anonymous Widower 