A Walk Along The Thames From Erith Station To Crossness
This afternoon I enjoyed the sun and walked along the Thames Path from near Erith Station to the Victorian Pumping Station at Crossness.
When looking at these pictures, you can see some of the places that I also saw on the cruise down the Thames.
I haven’t fully annotated the pictures yet, as finding out what some of the buildings are isn’t easy.
There’s some good technology at work in Crossness and they should tell people about it.
Fracking For Freedom
In this post, I said that Iceland can help us overcome energy shortages, caused by the problem of Putin.
Today in an article in the Sunday Times, Jim Ratcliffe, the boss of chemicals giant Ineos is saying that he would pay landowners and communities £2.5billion. Here’s what the Sunday Times says.
ONE of Britain’s richest men hopes to trigger a shale gas boom by giving away billions of pounds to landowners and communities affected by fracking.
Jim Ratcliffe, the 61-year-old Lancastrian who founded chemicals giant Ineos, has promised to hand over 6% of the revenue from oil and gas wells — 4% to landowners and 2% to local communities — in an effort to jolt the moribund industry into life. The offer would equate to £375m for a typical exploration area of 36 square miles, and goes far beyond the 1% giveaway to which the industry has committed. Ratcliffe estimated the offer could be worth £2.5bn in total.
I would never be affected by fracking here in Central London.
But if we could get all our energy supplies without resorting to those basket cases of Russia and the Middle East, we wouldn’t be in bed with some of the nastiest regimes in the world.
My Worry About Islamic State
I believe that Islamic State are possibly the worst organisation I’ve seen in my lifetime. Even such as Pol Pot in Cambodia and North Korea now, are nowhere near them on a scale of evil. They are in some ways more extreme and violent than Hitler and the Nazis at their worst.
But unlike Hitler, who had virtually no supporters in this country, there are quite a few in the UK, who think that Islamic State have got the right idea.
So by voting to attack Islamic State in Iraq, have we made ourselves a target for these crackpots and religious nutters?
After all, it is really ourselves and France, of the countries against Islamic State, who have significant Muslim populations.
My worry though, is not what terrorists might do, but the reaction of the UK’s population, if another attack like those of July 7th 2005 were to happen.
The Properties Of Turmeric
I’ve often thought that curries seem to perk me up and I posted about it two years ago.
Now there’s this report from Germany, entitled Brain Repair May Be Boosted By Curry Spice. Here’s a flavour.
A spice commonly found in curries may boost the brain’s ability to heal itself, according to a report in the journal Stem Cell Research and Therapy.
The German study suggests a compound found in turmeric could encourage the growth of nerve cells thought to be part of the brain’s repair kit.
I think, I’m off for a curry tonight!
An Evening Cruise On The Thames
I went on an architectural cruise on the Thames, starting from Greenwich and going East.
The pictures show the various sights we saw.
Miliband Forgets The Deficit
I suppose strictly speaking, it’s not his deficit, as it was stared by Blair/Brown, but I see Miliband’s omission of the deficit in his conference speech rather worrying.
I certainly wouldn’t vote for any politician, who omits to tell the full picture.
Miliband is certainly second-rate even compared to Gordon Brown, as he has shown in the last few weeks over the \scottish Referendum.
Liverpool Resurgent Or Phred!
Jacob Epstein‘s sculpture entitled Liverpool Resurgent sits on the front of the Lewis’s Department Store in Liverpool.
When I was at Liverpool University in the 1960s, during Panto or Rag Week, we used to walk down Brownlow Hill to pay homage to the sculpture, who was always known colloquially as Phred.
Only In Liverpool
With all the political correctness these days, you don’t see many adverts like this.
Only In Liverpool
As I will have left Liverpool long before Thursday, I can’t go!
Is there another city in the world, where a large proportion of the population are comedians?
And Now Balls Dithers On English Votes For English Laws
After Miliband’s dithering yesterday on the English Votes for English Laws question, Ed Balls refused to answer the question directly on BBC Breakfast this morning.
In my view, it is essential that this simple measure is brought in as soon as possible. If we don’t bring it in, then I predict the next General Election will be handed on a plate to the ridiculous UKIP.
An Unusual Office Property
I went to see this property at Highams Park, as it was featured in Open House.
The refurbishment is not complete yet, but it would make a lovely small office for a professional, who needed a lot of light. In fact the developers will be using it themselves as part of a favourable deal with Network Rail, that would appear to ensure that the signal box gets sympathetically restored.
Obviously, you’d have to like trains.
There’s more on the signal box and its history on the Highams Park Forum.
One point to note in the pictures is the subway under the tracks, shown in the picture with the train approaching. Was this subway dug under the tracks to stop idiots crossing when it wasn’t safe? And was it dug without disrupting the train service?
The Anonymous Widower 