Around Smithfield
There was an article in The Times yesterday, about the redevelopment of some of the market buildings in Smithfield.
So I went and took some pictures.
the main Smithfield Market was rebuilt some years ago, but the western end, is a mixture of dereliction and the worst of 1960s architecture. Surely, any modern sympathetic development would be better.
After all the area is surrounded by some good watering holes and first class tourist attractions, so perhaps an artisan market and craft workshops might be better than what is there now.
As the area is close to Farringdon station, which when Thameslink and Crossrail is complete will be one of London’s major interchanges, it must surely be an area with potential visitors.
The Elephant In The Stand
Watching the arguments about the performance of Manchester United this season, gives me a very much a sense of deja vu.
The talk is just the same as it was, when Wilf McGuinness succeeded Matt Busby, except that with social media it is in more places.
When a manager retires, who had a tremendous effect on a club, company or organisation, inevitably the one who follows suffers from the presence of his predecessor. You could argue that Tesco, post-Leahy has similarly suffered.
Moyes will probably go and Manchester United won’t do anything until Sir Alex stops being seen at the club.
Ariel On The Bank Of England
I’ve never thought that the actual building for the Bank of England, was much more than a functional one. Wikipedia says this about the building.
The Bank moved to its current location on Threadneedle Street, and thereafter slowly acquired neighbouring land to create the edifice seen today. Sir Herbert Baker‘s rebuilding of the Bank, demolishing most of Sir John Soane’s earlier building, was described by architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner as “the greatest architectural crime, in the City of London, of the twentieth century”.
I’d thought it was much older.
As you walk alongside the building up Princes Street, it looks very much like an over-grand prison.
There is though, a gilded sculpture on the roof.
Ariel On The Bank Of England
Surely this isn’t the best place to put a work of art!
Why We Need Plain Fag Packets!
My old and sadly departed mate, Brian, who was an innovative and reliable accountant, always used to joke he did his best work on the back of one of his fag packets.
He would have laughed at a reader comment in The Times describing the mess politicians have got into on the economy.
The arrival of plain fag packets can’t come too soon for this lot.
We need some sound sense, otherwise the next election will be a disaster for everyone.
The trouble is that if a few economic home truths were printed on fag packets instead of health warnings, they would be ignored, just the same.
The Other Side Of Hollande’s Troubles
The letter writers in The Times have been telling tales of President Felix Faure and his mistress Marguerite Steinheil. His death is described here in Wikipedia, with this being the first part.
Faure died suddenly from apoplexy in the Élysée Palace on 16 February 1899, at a critical juncture while engaged in sexual activities in his office with 30-year-old Marguerite Steinheil. It has been widely reported that Felix Faure had his fatal seizure while Steinheil was fellating him.
Read the whole section, as there are a lot of good jokes about pompe funebres.
Today’s episode in The Times, is from John Julius Norwich, no less!
It described how Steinheil was feted by admirers after being accused of murdering her stepmother and husband. it also disclosed how he met the femme fatale.
Francoise Hollande has a lot to do, to leave the same note in history as President Faure.
Perhaps, they’ll give his name to a Metro station, as they did for Felix Faure.
Is Bristol Left Behind?
I travel all over the UK watching football and visiting cities. Go to Hull, Brighton, Nottingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and many other places and you’ll see shining new stadia and public buildings.
This article entitled Why Does Bristol Never Build Anything? got me thinking. I have been to Bristol a couple of times to watch football and Bristol City’s stadium at Ashton Gate was one of the worse in The Championship.
Bristol is the sixth’s largest city in England and over a million live in the catchment area, so it is up there in size and population with some of the biggest.
It deserves better! The city is missing out as this piece from the article says.
When England hosts the Rugby World Cup in 2015, a number of games will be played at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, as well as at 12 stadiums across England. No games will be played in Bristol, though, because “there is no decent stadium”, says Rhodri Morgan, Wales’ First Minister from 2000 till 2009.
It certainly, isn’t a city that keeps calling me back like Nottingham, Brighton, Liverpool and Leeds do!
The only other large city, that seems to not present its best face to visitors is Coventry, which again has stadium trouble.
Light And Dark Over The City Of London
I was in the Members Room of the Tate Modern and took these two pictures.
I’ve talked before about the views from this room here. I must take a few more!
Brazil World Cup Doesn’t Seem Much Better
Under their report on Sochi and its troubles, there is an article with this heading.
World Cup protest threat as corruption bill hits £32bn
Given all of the other well reported troubles in Brazil, it does seem that watching sport on television in 2014, is going to be an interesting experience to say the least.
Is Sochi A Monstrous Scam?
I have just read this report on the BBC’s web site.
Admittedly it is from May last year, but in a few weeks time, we’ll see whether the Games will be worth the reported $50 million spent.
The Times had a news report yesterday, where Giuan-Franco Kasper, the Head of World Skiing, said that a third of the cost had been lost to fraud.
The 2014 Winter Olympics could be one of the best examples of car crash television for some time. Especially, after reading about the climate on Wikipedia and reading reports that there hasn’t been much snow in the area.
Winning Over The Anti-Frackers
Edmund Marshall is a retired MP. In a letter to the Times today, he talks of his part in the Zetland County Council Act 1973 and the effect of the Act, on the Shetland Islands. This is talked about here on the Scottish Government web site, with this paragraph being the most relevant.
Closer to home, we have an example of the way in which one local community – Shetland – was able to accrue a legacy for its future on the back of oil and gas exploration. Shetland Islands Council showed foresight in securing via, primarily, the Zetland County Council Act 1974 a lasting revenue stream for the benefit of the islands from the development of the Sullom Voe terminal. The result of this Act and subsequent contractual negotiations is that Shetland today has a lasting legacy of around £216m. 7 This figure is over and above the funds contained in the Shetland Reserve Fund, administered by Shetland Islands Council.
30. The Shetland Charitable Trust, established in 1974 to manage the income stream accrued to Shetland, today provides funding to a number of charitable organisations and projects where there is a clear benefit to the Shetland community. Over the years, the Trust has made a contribution to creating a modern, positive and healthy community in Shetland. Shetland Charitable Trust’s financial strength has also given it the power to establish joint venture projects to move into the renewable energy generation market.
Dr. Marshall finishes his letter, by saying that fracking could be dealt with by similar provisions.
It would lead to some rather heated arguments in some councils, as to whether to accept the fracker’s shilling. It is a choice about whether you want lower Council Tax and new community facilities, or fracking.
I very doubt that a similar Act will happen in the greater UK, as payments like this really get the Treasury’s ire. I’m surprised that they allowed the Shetlands to get this independent finance! Perhaps none of the Treasury’s mandarins had been north of Watford and Shetlands meant Rockall to them.
The Anonymous Widower 