The World’s Most Stupid Hotel Owners
The ruling against hotel owners in Cornwall reported here on the BBC, probably says that some people shouldn’t open certain businesses for their own financial health. I’ve listened to what they have said and they would like to ban any unmarried couples from sharing a room in their hotel. So it’s not just gays, but from what they have said, they wouldn’t allow me, as a widow to share a bed with one of either sex.
Surely, in times of austerity, you want all of the business you can get.
Now here’s an idea! There are a lot of widows out there living as couples. Why not book a night in the hotel? When they say you can’t sleep together, you can supplement your earnings with a little bit of legal chicanery. There are also plenty of lawyers out there who would do it on a no-win no-fee basis.
A House In France
Yet another of my friends have said they are going to buy a house in France. I could be rude about the idea, but I won’t be. On the other hand, I have been there and done it and it never works out how you think it would.
When we bought Les Ondes, we saw it as an investment, a place to stay on holiday and also a place to move to, if we ended up with an extreme left-wing socialist government.
So what happened? In those days getting to the South of France by the airlines was expensive and difficult, but I did have my Cessna 340 and I could fly easily to Cannes and get a hire car to the house.
- The low-cost airlines came along and opened up lots of other places to visit for weekends and longer.
- Small repairs and the builders proved difficult, and things that take a few hours here, took a few weeks there.
- We got burgled a couple of times and had three hire-cars stolen.
- Our children always had other things to do and didn’t want to come.
- We got more involved in horse racing in the UK and this took up more of our time.
- Something you wanted was always in the other house, so you had to have two of everything.
- We missed the theatre and the cinema and started spending virtually every Saturday in London.
So circumstances change and the ideals of the first few holidays quickly disappear.
We sold the house, when we moved to Newmarket to open the stud and then there was another set of problems; the French taxation system, which meant we didn’t get some of the money for ten years.
I’m glad that we sold the house in France, as now after my stroke and C’s death, it would be yet another millstone around my neck and a worry on my mind.
To me now, properties are for two things; living in and for renting out. I have a few of the latter and they give me some income, that if I wanted to, I could use to travel the world. But at the moment, I’m enjoying doing up my new house and travelling all over the UK by train. I’m actually now starting to plan an adventure and it might be somewhere like the Amalfi Coast by train, where I’ll stay somewhere warm for a week or so. There is also Berlin, where I want to see the new museum. But I’ll wait for warmer weather for that.
So although it’s a nice idea on paper, a house in France, is a money pit, that restricts you in your enjoyment in life, by tying you to one place.
Incidentally, I know lots of people with second houses. The ones who use it most have a beach hut on the North Norfolk coast.
So take the money you would spend, invest it wisely and use the returns to rent some other fool’s house when you want a long stay in the sun.
Station Transfers at Kings Cross
I asked at the infornation desk how you get to Marylebone. I got a very unprofessional answer. Surely, when the new Kings Cross is finished, there should be information on how to get to the various other stations in London. I know all the links across London, and especially some that are not obvious, like Waterloo to Liverpool Street. It’s a 26 bus by the way.
I also hope when the new station is complete, that they sort out the buses as well. I use a 30 or 73 to get home from Kings Cross and there is a rather windy, unprotected stop in front of the station. Marylebone is also a station best got to from Kings Cross by a 205 bus. some of the buses are also good for getting to Euston, which has a rather terrible Underground station.
Perhaps though, Euston needs a properly designed pedestrian route from Kings Cross/St. Pancras, lined with cafes and shops and perhaps some form of light public transport, like bicycle rickshaws or small electric vehicles.
I’d possibly ban cars and trucks from Euston Road and run a low-floor bendy bus or tram from Paddington to Kings Cross and possibly all the way to Liverpool Street.
Network Rail Do the PR at Kings Cross
Kings Cross station is very much a building site at the moment, as the station is remodelled in time for the 2012 Olympics. The access to the five Underground lines that meet at the station and its more illustrious sister, St. Pancras, is now more or less complete, although some of the underground walks are a bit longer than they used to be. But access is better on the whole, especially for those with heavy luggage or short on mobility. As an example, when I met my friend from the Edinburgh train, we were able to use the lift to get to the subway to St. Pancras and then another lift up to Carluccio’s for a coffee. As she was going to Marylebone, we then descended back into the crypt at St. Pancras by lift and walked to the west side of the station to get a black cab for the trip up Euston Road.
Network Rail, East Coast and First Capital Connect had set up a model of the new station in the forecourt of Kings Cross.
A Model of the New Kings Cross Station
Note how the awful 1960s extension at the front has gone and there is a new public square in front of the station. You can also just see the new western extension to the station, which will contain customer services, shops and cafes. There will also be covered links to the Great Northern Hotel and St. Pancras. Effectively, the two stations will almost become one. In fact, there has been talk about numbering the platforms together.
I spent ten mintes talking to one of the Thameslink project managers and was impressed at the whole PR exercise. Developers, and especially those where large sums of public money are involved, should always explain what they are doing to those who use the area. Both sides might actually learn something to their future advantage. I visited London Bridge on Saturday and the whole station was a shambles because of the rebuilding, with little information to be found.
Meeting Someone At King’s Cross
A friend is currently in transit from Edinburgh to London King’s Cross. As the weather is so foul, I felt that I should do the gentlemanly thing and turn up at the station to greet her and make sure, she is safely on her way to her daughter’s by taking a taxi to Marylebone for another train.
But the train tracker on East Coast’s site, although very comprehensive only lists those trains that will shortly arrive. It should list all that are actually on the track between Edinburgh and London. This way, if there is a delay, I can stay here in the dry and only leave at the last minute.
Manchester is a Top Place to Go
Who says this crap? It’s apparently in the New York Times list at number 20 of 41 places to go in 2011 ahead of Miami and Zanzibar.
Manchester is a poor city and is very much second class compared to Liverpool, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds and of course London. You could argue it does have two good football teams, but London has three. It’s got no iconic buildings and it is not a World Heritage Site like Liverpool. I suppose you could argue, that Manchester has a couple of good hotels and is well connected by train to Liverpool and Leeds for days out. It also has a real tennis club.
Boris Talks Sense
The unions are incensed that Boris Johnson has talked of introducing driverless trains on the London Underground.
But we’ve effectively had driverless trains on the Underground ever since 1967 on the Victoria Line. The so-called driver sits in the cab and when he’s satisfied that the doors on the train are shut, he effectively pushes a button and the train automation moves the train to the next station.
So as Boris said, everybody could drive an Underground train. Well not exactly, but any sane person, with a strong sense of responsibility and a degree of proper training could do it. I suspect that any bus driver could do it very well, especially as now, the average London bus, is probably almost as complicated as an Underground train. Remember, I’ve seen at first hand, what it takes to drive a train. But that was on a much more complicated line, at twice the speed and without the same degree of automation.
The unions are only delaying the inevitable day, when drivers on Underground trains, are only there for the rare times, when something goes seriously wrong. Even the announcements, when there is a problem could be done remotely from a control centre.
Trains on the Western Curve
Yesterday, as I went to Stratford and was getting my train at Dalston Kingsland, I saw a train test running on the new Western Curve, which connects the East London Line to Highbury and Islington.
A Train on the Western Curve at Dalston
The train on the right is on the North London Line travelling towards Highbury and Islington and on to Willesden Junction and Richmond.
I think the only problem with these two London Overground lines, is that they are generating a lot of traffic and they might turn out to be victims of their own success.
The Acceptable Face of Football
I didn’t particularly enjoy the football at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, mainly because of the score, but also because of the complete lack of atmosphere in the ground.
Last night at Portman Road, there were 4,500 Arsenal fans amongst those at the ground and the place was jumping, as it hasn’t done all season.
To make matters better, Ipswich won by the only goal, so perhaps the troubles of this season are on their way out.
In some ways one of the highlights of the night, was the atmosphere on the crowded train home. I was in a First Class carriage and evrybody else looked as if they supported Arsenal. I was wearing my Ipswich hat and all I got was congratulations and the odd back-slap.
In the end I walked home from Dalston Kingsland, through what is Arsenal territory without any comments at all.
How far from the stereotype is all this?
The Anonymous Widower 