No Cars At The School
There are two Primary Schools in my road; one State and the other Roman Catholic.
I walked past them yesterday just before nine and was surprised to see that there were no children being brought to either school in a car or taxi. There were lots of little scooters and many parents were dragging empty ones back home.
I wonder how few schools are the same as children turn up in the morning!
A Problem At Barking Station
Yesterday, I had a small problem at Barking station, about getting my train back to the centre.
This is what I wrote to London Underground.
I visited Barking and had arrived on an H&C. So when I went back, the signs directed me to the sane platform, but there was no information there and no trains. So in the end I gave up and walked to the Westbound District Line platform, where I found a distressed elderly lady looking for a train to Paddington. Eventually, I shepherded her on a District Line train and I found a H&C at West Ham. The lady went off to try her luck on the Jubilee Line.
Not only was there no signs to the H&C and no trains, but there were no staff on the platform directing people to the trains that were running.
It wasn’t the standard I usually get at Dalston Junction or Barbican say!
It is very unusual that this happens on the Underground.
A Control Engineer’s View On The Result Of The Scottish Referendum
I trained as a Control Engineer in the 1960s and applying what I learned then to everyday systems is fun.
Avoid Discontinuities
One of the first things, you should do in designing a system is avoid discontinuities.
Take riding a bicycle. One of the things you try to avoid is steps, as even a single one like a kerb is a discontinuity to be got around. It is much easier to ride along a nice flat, smooth road.
I live in London and as I walk around, I see more and more instances, where steps have been removed or made easier. Even our Class 378 trains on the Overground, are in most instances step-across to get in or out.
So whether the Scots vote for independence or not, the trend in life is to remove discontinuities, so Edinburgh and Westminster must work to remove them. Here’s a few that we should have, as we share an island.
- An Interchangeable Currency
- A Public Transport System, that is continuous.
- A Legal System, where a crime in one country is a crime in the other.
- A Health System with similar access.
- Continuous Telephone and Internet
There are probably a few other things, but these don’t impact on the minutia of daily life.
We should be eliminating these, but politicians love creating a few more or are stopping the elimination of some. Take metrication and adjusting the clocks to European time, for two simple examples.
Avoid Large Control Movements
When you control a system, like our simple example of riding a bike, imagine you only had the options of turning the handlebars hard left or hard right. You’d soon fall off!
So in other words to make a system better, you do everything in a softly-softly mode. If you need to get from one state to another you do it in a smooth set of planned movements taking account of conditions over which you have no control.
Just think of the complicated process of landing an aircraft. It probably goes fine, until the aircraft gets struck by an unexpected lightning bolt. After that the experience and training of the pilot takes over.
Plan Ahead For Change
Changes can be difficult, if you don’t plan for them. That is why natural disasters like floods and earthquakes cause so many problems in the world.
But take some recent earthquakes in California and Japan. Some large cities like Tokyo avoided anything other than minor damage, because of good planning.
At present there are two mega projects in the UK; Crossrail and the Scottish Referendum.
I am surrounded in London by disruption caused by Crossrail, but everything has been planned minutely, to cause the smallest amount of pain. This planning was a long process taking many years.
Where is the planning in the separation of Scotland and the rest of the UK? Alex Salmond has decided to inflict all the pain afterwards.
In other words, he is like most politicians. Fuck you Jack, I’m alright and I’ve made my place in history!
The others are no better, as Devo Max should have been devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the first place. After all, the Isles of Man, Jersey and Guernsey seem to get on well with us all and isn’t that what they’ve got.
Don’t Panic
Corporal Jones was often right in Dad’s Army, when he used this phrase, whilst panicking like a good-un.
Obviously, the three main party leaders are too young to have watched the BBC’s iconic comedy show, as they have entered headless-chicken mode over the Scottish Referendum, as reported on the BBC.
I think we’re all doomed!
Should The Gospel Oak To Barking Line Be Extended To Barking Riverside?
There is no doubt in my mind, that the Barking Riverside area needs better transport links. I was there mid-morning and the buses were busy. One lady told me that buses in the area weren’t reliable.
So either the Gospel Oak To Barking Line or the Docklands Light Railway must be extended.
It would appear that TfL has chosen the heavy rail solution and they have started a consultation and published this map.
GOBlin Extension To Barking Riverside
The housing looked to be of good quality, although there are reports that some of the first houses weren’t.
When I see housing like this, I am reminded of our first and only house, where I took the car to work and C was stuck in all day with a baby, in a place with no public transport.
It didn’t do much good for our relationship!
Barking Riverside could have in the future a population of around 26,000. This makes it all the more essential that something is added to the two bus routes with a frequency of five buses an hour.
I actually think, that when the area is fully developed, this extension to the Gospel Oak To Barking Line, will need to be augmented. Especially, if the line is extended again under the river to Abbey Wood.
But before we go to Abbey Wood, wouldn’t it be a good idea to follow the electrification of the Gospel Oak To Barking Line with electrification of the Dudding Hill Line, so that trains could go all the way to West Hampstead, Acton and ultimately to Hounslow, as is proposed in Transport for London’s Tranpost Plan for 2050.
A Safari To The Wilds Of Barking
This morning, I took the bus to Barking Riverside to get a feel of the area, that in a few years time will be served by the Gospel Oak to Barking Line Extension to Barking Riverside.
The Ripple Nature Reserve in the area, is just like some of the industrial wastelands, that I remember from my childhood in London after the Second World War.
Could The News Of The Royal Baby Really Change The Referendum Result?
It’s only the Metro, but I did find their front page fascinating.
Could The News Of The Royal Baby Really Change The Referendum Result?
The baby could probably have more effect on next year’s General Election!
What would broadcasters do, if he or she turned up on Election Day?
If he or she turned up to be monarch, they would then probably be the only one for hundreds of years, who interfered personally with an election!
What’s Gone Wrong With Danny Welbeck?
I’ve always thought that Danny Welbeck wasn’t as good as others say he is.
But his performance today in scoring two goals for England in Basle against Switzerland tonight, impressed me a lot more.
Can it be that the drifting ship that Manchester United has become over the last few years, was unsettling him? Moving to Arsenal seems to have released his shackled mind!
Perhaps, Wayne Rooney needs to move to freshen him up?
Is Essex Road Station Ripe For Redevelopment?
Essex Road station in London, is architecturally-challenged to say the least. if you venture underground to the trains, there are a couple of large clean lifts and dimly-lit passages to stations, that still have echoes of Network South East.
Essex Road Station
But things are looking up on the trains front, in that the new Govia Thameslink franchise has committed to running more trains through the station, including later on weekday nights and at weekends. It also looks like Crossrail 2 has decided on its route and it would appear that the chances are, the new line will by-pass Essex Road station.
The station sits on a prominent and quite large corner site as this aerial view from Google shows.
Essex Road Station
So it would appear that a whole lot of reasons exist for the site to be redeveloped as perhaps much-needed quality housing. Transport links, size and location are all good and the deep-level station is in crying need of a refurbishment. The only constraint is that provision might need to be left for a very unlikely new rail or Underground line.
Properly developed it would be an asset to the area.
How Will The New Govia Thameslink Franchise Benefit Me?
Although I don’t live directly on Thameslink, I’ve just looked at the Wikipedia entry for the new Govia Thameslink franchise. The section on franchise commitments is significant and includes the following.
Half hourly King’s Lynn to London services
At present there’s only one train an hour for much of the day.
Increasing Great Northern suburban services to four trains per hour via Enfield Chase and New Barnet
I think it’s just three trains at the moment. As these go into Moorgate, it will make it easier to get to Barnet, Hertford etc
Great Northern suburban services to run to Moorgate on weekends and weekday evenings
This is a big change and it will help spectators get to the Arsenal. Hopefully, it might take a bit of pressure off Highbury and Islington station, when Arsenal are at home.
Working to extend Oyster to Epsom, Gatwick Airport, Luton Airport Parkway, Welwyn Garden City and Hertford North
This will be good for me, as when I travel to any of these stations, I won’t need to buy a specific ticket, provided I touch in and touch out.
I suspect other things will happen, but this is a good start.
Living close to Essex Road station, I would use it more, if it was open for more hours and was a more welcoming station architecturally.
So on balance it’s a good thing!
The Anonymous Widower 