Marks And Spencer Now Do Goats Milk
My food shopping, has got a bit easier, as I’ve now found that Marks and Spencer have been stocking goats’ milk for some time.
Marks And Spencer Now Do Goats Milk
This now means that the only staple I buy that is a bit difficult to find is my preferred Breakfast Cereal, which I can get in most Sainsburys’ stores and the excellent Waitrose at Canary Wharf.
So now most of my shopping can be done in one place, either a good Marks and Spencer or a larger Waitrose.
They may be nice people in Waitrose at the Angel, but I shan’t be sad if I don’t visit again, with its difficult to use plastic bags on the self-service tills. If I need to shop at the Angel, there’s always the small Mark and Spencer there, with its gluten free quiches and scotch eggs and excellent bakery products.
Over The River For A Tea And An Ice Cream
I walked over the footbridge on Fulham Railway Bridge, where I got a of tea and an icre cream in the Carluccio’s on the south bank.
It’s rather a large cafe and it sits right on the river. Their web site describes it like this.
Located on the riverfront, east of Putney Bridge and a minute from the High Street, the caffé boasts a huge riverfront terrace for sunny days.
I wouldn’t disagree and it would be a good pit stop on a walk by the river in the area. Perhaps, you might start at Putney Bridge station and walk across the railway bridge.
The First Off Licence In Frinton
Frinton had a reputation that it was a town, where the buying of alcohol was difficult and there were no pubs or shops selling the demon drink.
In the early 1980s, C was a pupil barrister in Ipswich and she was asked to do a case, where normally barristers would not be required.
She was asked to do an off-licence application for the Co-op, who were opening a small supermarket in the town. They thought that they wouldn’t get the licence, so that had approached her Chambers for some heavy weaponry to do the necessary.
When she met the man, who would actually hold the licence, she knew it would be a forgone conclusion.
He was a charming man, of Asian origin, who had been chosen well by the Co-op to knock down the barriers in the oh-so-genteel town of Frinton.
Whether she played the race card in Court, I do not know, but from fellow lawyers, who’d faced her in various cases, I know she had a subtle skill with words, that told those that matter, what she would do if she lost.
That was the last she ever heard of the case after the application for an off licence was approved.
Water In Glasgow City Centre
In this hot weather, I like to travel with a small bottle of water, so I went into this Co-operative store by Glasgow Central station.
It was the weirdest shop I’ve ever been in as everything was behind glass partitions. As I couldn’t find any water and a couple of other things I needed, I gave up.
So I went round the corner to a Tesco Express. That was weird too, as it seemed to be full of alcohol and chocolate. I did get my bottle of water though, and I was able to eventually find some EatNakd bars and some tissues.
As in the Co-op, there seemed to be several visitors to Glasgow, wandering aimlessly around looking for what they needed.
Searching For The Kelpies
On my visit to the Commonwealth Games, I had to travel back to Glasgow, so I thought I’d go via Falkirk and see the Kelpies. On looking it up before I left London, I found that the web site was rather vague This is what it said.
From Edinburgh to Falkirk High (25 minutes) or Falkirk Grahamston (35 minutes)
From Glasgow Queen Street to Falkirk High (20 minutes) or Falkirk Grahamston (50 minutes)
From Stirling to Falkirk Grahamston (15 minutes)
From London direct to Falkirk Grahamston (5 hours) or change at Edinburgh or Glasgow
There are also services to Polmont Station, Larbert Station and Camelon Station.
It mentions several stations but which one is the nearest?
On the way up Princes Street, I got talking to a young lady and by chance, she said she’d been and had taken the train to Falkirk Grahamston station and then walked.
I though I’d check in the Tourist Office at Waverley Station and they said to go to Falkirk High station.
As I’d got one vote for each Falkirk station, I decided to ask a Scotrail Customer Service Agent. He gave me exactly the same story as the young lady, so I went to Falkirk Grahamston.
I took these pictures at Falkirk.
You will notice that none show any information on how to get to the Kelpies. One does show a distant picture of the Kelpies (?) from the train as I approached.
So in the end I walked back to the station and got another train to Glasgow.
Give Falkirk this, they have got the station name in Gaelic and two good maps, even if neither shows the Kelpies or the Falkirk Wheel.
From Glasgow Green To George Square
I then walked from the very crowded Glasgow Green via Glasgow Cross to George Square and eventually Queen Street station to meet my friend.
Note how the railway viaduct threads its way through the city.
Walking Along The Clyde
Is there any other river that is commonly used as a person’s name? I’ve never heard of anybody called Mississippi, Amazon, Nile or Rhine. Not even a child of a celebrity!
I walked along the river to Glasgow Green from Central station.
As with many cities, it has a varied collection of bridges.
It was also extraordinarily sunny. A couple of people were sunbathing by the river. Later in the day, I saw a young lady walking around the city centre wearing a mini skirt, high-heeled sandals and a small bikini top. The weather was just that good!
Note the pictures of the derelict Ladies Waiting Room. There’a a lot more about it here in a blog called Lost Womyn’s Space.
I was also impressed by the City Union Bridge and St. Enoch Viaduct, which could in future be part of Glasgow Crossrail.
Easing London’s Housing Crisis
It’s now four years since I bought this house.
It had been built rather badly by a company called Back Street Developments about ten years ago and there seemed to be no NHBRC registration for it. In the intervening years the previous owners had put tenants in, and they had done there best to wreck it. The owner obviously skimped on maintenance, but then all these facts were reflected in the price I paid.
Some time ago, I started to get the house straight. Finding a builder has been a nightmare!
The first builder walked away from the job after personality clashes between the owner and his work-force, leaving me without a bathroom.
I’ve got one coming in fom outside London, things seem a bit better.
An illustration of the problem is that people locally are always asking, if I know a good builder. I also want to sort my dreadful kitchen. I have asked several companies to look at it and not one has ever made a fixed appointment or even turned up.
I suspect that kitchen companies would prefer to fit out some multi-millionaire’s house in Mayfair, rather than my small kitchen.
I do wonder how many properties are not lived in, as the owners are waiting for a builder to sort it out. And how many people are put off downsizing, as theycan’t be bothered to go through all the hassle of finding a builder.
So if we sorted out the refurbishment of small and medium sized properties, would we release more properties for occupation?
The first thing we should do is to seriously analyse the homes market and identify why properties are empty or under-occupied!
Any soutions we propose should of course be nationwide, as I don’t believe this is just a London problem.
Things You learn In The Middle of The Night
I woke early, so got up and made a cup of tea and did a bit of writing, whilst listening to the excellent Doton Adebayo on Radio 5.
At one point he was talking to a Canadian journalist, who said that due to cutbacks, the Commonwealth Games are not being shown on Canadian television. All they are getting is the odd highlights.
We Have Ways Of Making You Learn
I’ve just read a report in The Times, which says that Munich Technical University, one of German’s best, is going to teach Masters courses in English.
It reminded me of a story told by a Frenchman, who had immaculate English and worked for I think IBM. He went on a company course in Germany, which as participants were from all over Europe, was being conducted in English by a German.
On reaching a concept that some on the course found difficult, he addressed everybody with “We have ways of making you understand these things!”
Somebody had to explain to him, the laughter that followed.
The Anonymous Widower 