Walking The Crossrail Route Between Farringdon And Moorgate Stations
I took these pictures on the route between Farringdon and Moorgate stations via Barbican station.
Note.
- The massive amount of new development along the route.
- The new site for the Museum of London.
- Smithfield Market, which surely will be developed or refurbished.
- The large amount of housing in the Barbican Estate.
- The new office developments surrounding Moorgate station.
To me, one of the most interesting developments, is the creation of new walkways across the Barbican Estate and through the new office developments to link Batrbican and Moorgate stations to London Wall and walking routes going towards St. Pauls, Bank and the River.
Crossrail will serve the City indirectly using a modicum of walking in at a pleasant height away from the traffic.
What Are These Guys Watching?
This group of mainly men, reminded me of the scenes you get in pubs with football on the big screen or in betting shops.
But it was in the Leon in Moorgate.
The wait for my gluten-free chicken nuggets was worth it!
The Right Attitude
Also in the diary in today’s copy of The Times, was this paragraph.
Gina Miller has just published a memoir and tell’s Spear’s magazine that opponents told her publisher that they were organising a mass burning of it.
This does not worry her. “It’s OK, they’ve got to buy the book first.” she says.
Never get angry with someone, who is paying you money, for which you are doing no extra physical or mental work!
Top Meerkats Like To Live Fast And Die Old
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in today’s copy of The Times.
Cambridge University researchers led by Dominic Cram, have found that the Alpha Male meerkats get all the meercrumpet, have a good life and live to an average of 4.4 years. Their subordinates have an average of 2.8 years.
I wonder if it applies to humans. Think David Attenborough, Clint Eastwood, Kirk Douglas, Bruce Forsyth, the Duke of Edinburgh and Mick Jagger.
If The Wig Fits, They’ll Wear It
The title of this post is the same as that of an article in the diary in today’s copy of The Times.
Apparently, there has been criticism, of the new film; The Children Act, about the wearing of wigs by barristers.
The tag line of the story, quoting a daily e-mail called The Brief is.
Who cares about accuracy?” The Americans expect to see English lawyers wearing bloody wigs.
C rarely wore her wig, if ever.
In fact, in one case that involved some Americans, they asked her, where they could buy one, so they could take it home as a souvenir.
Grimshaw Working On New Eden Project In Morecambe
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in the Architect’s Journal.
The Eden Project in Morecambe does seem to have the look of a serious project.
Eden Project Seeks Funds For Morecambe Attraction
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
When I heard about this project on the BBC, my first reaction was – Why Not?
And nothing, I’ve seen or read changes my decision.
If it opens, I shall go, as it’s not far from areas, I visit regularly.
Plastic Bag Charge To Rise To 10p And Be Extended To Every Shop
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in the Independent.
The title says it all.
I rarely buy a plastic bag and it is usually, when I travel around and have forgotten to put a bag in my coat pocket. I suspect I haven’t actually bought one since June.
I’ve also thought it wrong since the charge was introduced, that some shops didn’t charge, so this will create a level playing field.
As to the rise of the charge to ten pence, the biggest effect could be, that people remember to take a bag more often.
I do suspect though that smaller shops will complain and will say they will have to close.
But if they don’t have to charge, the taxpayer is effectively providing them with a subsidy.
If we are widening the plastic bag charge, surely now is the time to do something similar for fast food packaging.
The latter is personal, as quite a bit seems to end up outside my house in the front patio.
How about a ten pence packaging/obesity/littering charge on all fast food meals?
Why Are There So Many Slim Female Weather Presenters?
As I travel around the country, I have probably watched BBC News or Breakfast in perhaps seven to ten regions.
Over recent years, the proportion of weather presenters, who I see on the BBC who are slim and female, seems to have grown.
It is a rare event to see a stocky male weather presenter.
I am not complaining, but after watching Alina Jenkins doing the UK weather and Elizabeth Rizzini doing the London weather, I had a thought.
Both ladies are slim and they were wearing dresses with elbow length sleeves, which showed off slim arms.
With all the pointing and waving that weather presenters do, it struck me that the reason there are no many slim female presenters could be that there is less of them to get in the way of the information on the screen. Presenters too, are often squeezed into a narrow vertical space at the side of the screen.
So is it just about getting more information on the screen?
Earlier this week Lucy Martin, who lost most of her right arm at birth was presenting the London weather in a sleeveless white dress.
She has to do everything with her left hand and her performance is as polished and confident as anybody else.
You do wonder though, that as she can’t use her other hand for balance as we all do in a presentation, she actually can give a less busy and more professional performance.
New Access To York Station As Part Of Major Brownfield Redevelopment Plans
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
This the first paragraph.
New plans including a new access point to York station and the expansion of the National Railway Museum headline groundbreaking proposals of creating 6,500 jobs in the city.
The development is a partnership between.
- Homes England
- Network Rail
- York City Council
- National Railway Museum
This page on the York City Council web site, is entitled Major Developments At York Central.
This is the first paragraph.
York Central is the large brownfield site to the west of the city’s railway station. It lies between the A19 and A59 road corridors, and is contained by operational rail lines.
The document goes on to say that redevelopment of parts of the site could include.
- 1,000 to 2,500 homes
- 60,000m2 to 120,000m2 of office, leisure and retail uses
To gauge the size of the site, this Google Map shows the area.
Note the large York station towards the right of the map.
This looks to me to be the sort of development we need to do more of in this country.
The Anonymous Widower 