Is Molley The Runt Of The Litter?
I don’t know what the collective noun is for tunnel boring machines. But if it is litter, then surely Molley is the runt. According to this article in Construction Index she is the smallest machine used in the construction of Crossrail.
TBM Molley will build a new Thames Water sewer in west London. She is just 1.45m in diameter and 3.3m long. The main TBMs digging the train tunnels, by contrast, are 7.1m diameter and 150m long. Molley is too small to carry workers on board so is controlled remotely from the surface.
Molley is being used to build a new sewer, as the current one will be in the way of construction works for the tracks.
My Earliest World Cup Memories
The earliest World Cup I can remember is in a book I was given about football, which included a report of the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. Looking at the pictures I remember I was puzzled as to why some players had numbers greater than eleven on their shirts.
But the first World Cup Finals I remember is Sweden in 1958. All four home nations qualified for the finals and it was the first World Cup to be properly televised. I think there was high sales figures for large nineteen inch black and white televisions. This fragment on Wikipedia says this about the coverage.
The 1958 tournament in Sweden saw a greater range of matches thanks to the new Eurovision Network; the BBC and ITV both screened matches, although the networks had to overcome opposition to the coverage from the Scottish FA, who were worried that attendances at Junior football matches might be hit.
Just imagine the uproar now, if the Scottish FA tried the same thing.
1962 in Chile wasn’t shown live, but I can remember the iconic pictures of Ken Aston, who refereed the infamous Battle of Santiago.
Reading his Wikipedia entry, there is this section, which describes how he invented the red and yellow cards, which referees in football and some other sports use today.
Supper In St. Neots
I went to St. Neots for supper last night.
The ticket I got on First Capital Connect must have had the most bizarre restriction I’ve ever seen. It was an Off Peak return ticket bought with a Senior Railcard for £15.65. When I bought the ticket the machine said that I couldn’t use it out of Paddington.
How do you take a train out of Paddington and end up in St. Neots?
Coming back, I came into Finsbury Park station from where I came home by using the Piccadilly line to Manor House and then a 141 bus.
If there is one station in London that should be loved by a demolition ball it is Finsbury Park. There is a plan mentioned here on Wikipedia, but nothing seems to be happening.
I’m Disappointed With My City
London is one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world, if not the most multi-cultural city.
And I live in one of the most multi-cultural boroughs in London; Hackney.
So you’d think that there would be a big screen somewhere to watch the World Cup.
But I can’t find a public one anywhere in London.
For the last World Cup in 2010, Hackney had a festival with a big screen close to me in Gillette Square. It’s reported here on the Hackney web site.
I’m very disappointed with my city.
Taxis, Taxis Everywhere, But Not One To Hire
On Wednesday London’s taxi divers staged a protest again Uber. I was in the area, so I took a few pictures.
There have been reports that Uber benefited from the protest.
Passport Delays
I renewed my passport in March this year and my new one came about a week or so after I gave the forms in for checking at my local Post Office. So there ewasn’t any delay then, at least as far as I was concerned.
My renewal wasn’t simple either, as my name was being changed from that on my birth certificate to that that I have on my credit cards, bank account and use on the Internet.
But it still was one of the fastest renewals I’ve ever had.
So how come, there are now severe delays in getting a new passport.
There has been one major change in the intervening period.
The economy has got a lot better and unemployment has got lower. So just how many people who are feeling optimistic have decided to take a holiday and as they haven’t been able to for a couple of years, have found that their passport has expired. Or perhaps, they’ve had an addition to the family, who needs a first passport.
So I don’t blame the Passport Office, but the upturn in the economy.
It will be interestring to see the figures for Ryanair and the other airlines and holiday companies that get published later in the year.
Matthew Paris Proposes A Humane Solution To The Badger Problem
In his column today in The Times, Matthew Paris tells a tale about how the llamas he keeps have chased the badgers away.
Matthew’s proposal may sound silly, but I’ve had many a drink with a friend, where he has told me endless tales about his llamas and their instincts and habits. Some of his used to stand up tall and spit at passengers waiting to catch a bus. I believe the stop was moved.
So will be seeing farmers using llamas to protect their animals from badgers.
Or will friends of the badgers try to get the keeping of llamas near badger sets made illegal?
The Problems In Schools
There has been several stories recently about the problems in schools in places like Birmingham, Bradford and Luton.
What worries me, is that religion is getting in the way of good education.
I went to a mixed non-religious state school, which took a very practical approach to religion and gave everybody who wanted it, a first class education. Science and history, were taught correctly and not with regard to fictitious religious texts.
So in my view religion should only be a lesson in a school and anybody with strong religious beliefs should not be allowed to influence the policy of the school. Schools are for education and not for indoctrination and repression.
The school should be co-educational, as in my view, this is to the benefit of every pupil. Could it be that the reason for the low divorce rate amongst my fellow pupils at Minchenden, is because of the healthy interaction there was at the school between the sexes.
I wonder what would have happened in Northern Ireland if all schools were not allowed to be affiliated to a particular religion!
Some More Self Winding Clocks
I first found two of these at Tooting Bec some years ago.
Golders Green station has a pair, which appear to be in good condition.
I wonder how many are still installed and in full working order. According to this section in the Wikipedia article on the Self Winding Clock Company, there were originally 600 and installation started in the 1900s.
Long may they continue to give passengers the time!
A Well-Designed Transport Interchange
Golders Green is not an area I go to often. Years ago, C and myself used to go there to buy shoes for the children, at a shop I think was called Brians. I wonder if it is still there!
But yesterday, I needed to go there to get some extra keys for my new Banham lock. It is not a difficult journey, as I just got a train up the Northern line from the Angel to Golders Green station.
There are numerous buses to places all over North London from the station as this map shows.
It’s also a stop for a lot of National Express coaches.
We need more well-designed simple interchanges everywhere, so that train passengers can easily get to their ultimate destination.
From the station, it was just a short walk to Banham’s shop.
The Anonymous Widower 