Badgers Stop Play
This is a sadder story about badgers ruining a cricket ground. Here’s the first few paragraphs.
Badgers have stopped play at one of England’s oldest cricket clubs after they tore huge chunks out of the pitch.
The damage has forced Rickmansworth Cricket Club, in Hertfordshire, to postpone all of its games in April and May as staff try to repair the ground.
It is believed the badgers were attracted by bugs thriving in the damp pitch, with the club unable to treat the ground due to the cold weather.
Badgers are becoming a serious pest in many places, due to the fact that they are protected and have no natural predator. So consequently, there is getting to be a population, that doesn’t have the space and sufficient food. It’s the same with deer in some places, but at least they are good to eat.
We must get sensible about our wildlife. Foxes, badgers, grey squirrels and deer seem to get all the protection they need to prosper from well-meaning town dwellers, but that wonderful queen of the countryside; the brown hare, and the beautiful red squirrel, keep struggling.
Has This Starbucks Died?
I saw this Srarbucks from a 38 bus yesterday in Theobalds Road.
Has This Starbucks Died?
It looks a bit derelict. Is it a casualty of the company’s tax planning strategy?
Jeremy Clarkson Is More Popular Than Hillary Clinton In Iran
This story from the BBC’s web site must be the strangest to come out of Iran in recent months.
It is about how Top Gear is very popular in the country and relates the story of a visit to Kurdistan, by the actor, who dubs our Jeremy into Farsi. Here’s an extract.
The BBC cannot operate freely in Iran, so Top Gear’s popularity is hard to measure. But last year, when PTV dropped an episode to air an exclusive interview with then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the audience protested bitterly.
I think in some ways that the man or woman on the Teheran omnibus or stuck in the Isfahan traffic jam think about the same things as their equivalemts in New York, Glasgow and Sydney.
Perhaps, Hillary Clinton could be a star in a reasonably priced car to raise her popularity in Iran.
The New Bridge Over The Thames
In my lifetime, I can remember five bridges being built and opened across the Thames; London Bridge in 1973, the bridge at the Dartford Crossing in 1991, and the Golden Jubilee footbridges and the Millennium Bridge in 2002.
So today, when the BBC said that a new Walton Bridge was nearing completion, I just had to go, despite the weather.
I went to Waterloo station and got the train to Walton on Thames station.
Walton On Thames Station
From the station, after a fifteen minute wait, I got a 478 bus to the bridge. The bus actually, went over the old bridge next to the new one.
The New Walton Bridge
The weather was now the worst it had been all day, so I retreated on the first bus that arrived; a 555 for Heathrow Central.
It was possibly a mistake, as it went all round South West London, before arriving at the airport an hour or so later,
So in the end I got off at Hatton Cross station and took the Piccadilly line back to Green Park station, from where I got a 38 bus home.
Although, I achieved my objective of seeing the new bridge, the cold, snowy weather, the slow bus and the very crowded Underground coming home, put rather a damper on the day.
I Locked Myself Out For The First Time Since 1969
This morning the recyclers turned up, and in the rush to dispose of my green sacks, I managed to lock myself out, as the door slammed behind me.
Luckily, I had my coat on, so I wasn’t too cold and I also had my wallet in the pocket. But my phone was in the house, so I couldn’t call my son, who has spare keys.
Eventually, I borrowed a phone, but he was in a meeting, so I had to go to Walthamstow to get them from our builder.
The journey didn’t start well, as roadworks round the corner, meant I couldn’t find a 56 bus to get to Leyton for a bus to where my son lives and the builder is working. So I went the other way to get the Victoria line from Highbury and Islington.
it was bitterly cold and I was without my hat and gloves and then the train was delayed.
But eventually, I got the keys and was able to get back into the house.
The last time, I locked myself out was in 1969 and a very pregnant C and myself called the Police to get us in. They did with a well-aimed boot. I’ve since used the technique a couple of times.
They also said never call the Fire Brigade in this sort of emergency, as they love to use their axes.
You Should Check Your Tweets
This cautionary tale of an MP, who tweeted a link to a porn site by mistake, should be read by anybody, who just retweets, stories, that they are told to.
At least, as I do all my blogging from my computer, I can check what I point to, before publishing.
Hackney’s New Recycling System
I used to like the old system, where I put out two green boxes on a Thursday. You seemed to know where you were and I separated glass and plastic bottles into one box and paper in the other.
Since they have gone to green sacks, I have not had anything collected, as I’m not sure how it is collected. I do have three green sacks full of rubbish in the garage, but as I’m not here next week, when will they be collected? At least being clean recyclables, they don’t smell!
Window Dressing In The Sun
I took this picture yesterday at Gap in Islington.
Window Dressing In The Sun
It was very cold and perhaps a sunny window was the best place to be.
I Don’t Care About Cookies
I look at a lot of web sites and every one seems to get more and more strident about asking whether I mind if they store cookies on my computer.
I wouldn’t use their web site if I minded would I?
An aside here is why isn’t the the form of mind, I used in the previous line, mound? After all it’s find and found, bind and bound and wind and wound.
Isn’t English wonderful!
The Anonymous Widower 