The PM Can Make Trump Begin To Face Reality
This is the title of a comment in The Times by Justin Webb.
It is a good comment and if you get a chance read it.
But it made me think!
Trump is a difficult person to read, as in several times in the last few months, he’s changed his mind. So will Theresa be able to make him change his mind again?
I don’t know!
But I just wonder, if Trump has ever been in negotiation with a determined, intelligent woman!
This will be one meeting, where the flies will learn a lot.
Stonehenge Is Unique
Stonehenge is unique and at the age of ten, I was able to walk amongst the stones in a party from my Primary School.
That was much better than the limited access you get now.
But then in the mid-1950s, Stonehenge didn’t get the visitors it does now.
In The Times today, there are reports of an Almighty row about how traffic is hidden from the monument.
This article on the BBC, which is entitled Stonehenge tunnel ‘should be longer’, puts forward a shorter view of the arguments in The Times.
The real problem with the traffic around Stonehenge, is that something should have been done about it years ago. As with so many problems, successive governments have just ignored the unique site.
I think that any solution to the future of Stonehenge should do the following.
- Remove all passing traffic as far away as is practical.
- All visitors to the monument should probably come by electric bus from the a nearby railway station or Park-and-Ride.
- Improve the rail service on the South Western Main Line, which is not electrified and needs more capacity.
I also feel that modern technology could be used to provide a better view of the stones.
Certainly, what we have at present is totally unacceptable to both road traffic passing the site and visitors.
There is even a proposal for a Wilton Parkway station, which would be on the Wessex Main Line and linked to Stonehenge by bus, that I wrote about in A Station For Stonehenge?
This would provide a Tourist Route from Bristol to Portsmouth via Bath Spa, Stomnehenge, Salisbury and Southampton.
Surrey Has A Budget Crisis
This article on the BBC is entitled Conservative-led Surrey County Council plans 15% council tax hike.
This is said.
A Conservative-run council wants to raise its tax by 15% in the next financial year, blaming government cuts and increased demand for social care.
Surrey County Council leader David Hodge said the government had cut its annual grant by £170m since 2010.
Surrey definitely has a budget crisis.
An old friend of mine was a senior executive in a FTSE-listed mining and resources company.
We were having lunch and he said that of all the areas in the UK, Surrey was the most likely to find a sizeable oil-field.
He also said, that Oil Exploration would be transformed if there was a Local Extraction Tax.
So why aren’t Surrey encouraging the Oil Companies to foind the black gold to pay for all those services that the County needs?
In fact, if you type “fracking Surrey” into Google, you’ll find nothing but hostility..
After all they’ve already found one sizeable field recently at Horse Hill, as I wrote about inThe Oil Find That Will Settle The Result Of The Election.
I’m afraid, you can’t have your cake and eat it!
From St. Leonard’s To Hastings
I walked along the sea-front in the sun to Hastings.
It was colder than it looked and I was pleased, I had got a lot of layers on.
I finished my walk, in the cafe at the surprisingly large Marks and Spencer, which was just a short walk from the station.
About fifteen years ago, I went to Hastings and was distinctly unimpressed. It has certainly improved and it was a good walk along the front.
Bank Junction
These pictures show Bank Junction, at around mid-day.
Would banning of all vehicles except buses and cycles work?
The taxi-drivers think not! Thyey’ve been protesting all wek!
Russian Sex Workers Are World’s Best, Boasts Putin
This is the second headline on the front page of The Times today.
I suppose as President Putin is an important Russian, he should have access to all the statistics and know the truth!
I certainly won’t be arguing with him or going to Moscow to give the city’s highly-rated sex workers a personal rating!
The Thames Beach By St. Paul’s
Just to the East of the Millennium Bridge, I took this picture of the beach.
There are a surprising number of places on the Thames, where there are beaches like this.
Bollards To Illegal Parkers
The City of London has its own distinctive way with street furniture.
But it’s not just bollards.
A walk through the City of London is always rewarding.
The Victoria Embankment Work-Site Of The Thames Tideway Tunnel
As I walked along the Thames, signs of works for the Thames Tideway Tunnel are appearing.
These pictures were taken at the Victoria Embankment Work-Site.
There is not much to see at present, but most of it is so the Tattersall Castle can be moved.
When the tunnel is finished, the site will look like this.
The main purpose of the site, is to connect the Regent Street combined sewer overflow to the main tunnel.
Anybody fancy a coffee, a drink or a meal in the sun by the Thames on top of the sewer outfall in 2021?
Piccadilly Circus Has Gone Dark
Pictures like these of Piccadilly Circus will be all over the media for a couple of days.
It’s only so that the screens can be replaced with ones that are bigger and better.
The Anonymous Widower 