I Bet This Story Is Raising A Few Laughs In Suffolk
This story from BBC Norfolk, about how a fire station it Downham Market in Norfolk is probably raising a few laughs in Suffolk. Here’s the first part.
A Norfolk fire station gutted in a blaze that destroyed a fire engine was not fitted with sprinklers or alarms.
Norfolk’s deputy chief fire officer Roy Harold accepted the service should have followed its own advice.
It’s probably a warning to us all, to check our fire alarms and smoke detectors.
Google Chrome Problems
I use two computers; an old Compaq 6720s, running Windows Vista and Office 2007 and a newer Sony running Windows 7 and Office 2010.
To access the Internet, I generally use Google Chrome. And to update this blog, I use Chrome, as sometimes Internet Explorer doesn’t work with WordPress.
I’m putting this post on the Internet using Chrome on the ancient Compaq, as for some reason Chrome on the Sony won’t access this web site. I can access it and create new pages with Internet Explorer.
With all the money they make, you’d think Google could get a browser that worked corrrectly.
I spoke too soon, as Chrome now won’t access this web site on the Compaq. So I’m creating this post in Internet Explorer on the Sony.
If anybody has any problem accessing this blog in Chrome could they please tell me!
The East Beach Cafe At Littlehampton
On my way to Yeovil, I had lunch at the Thomas Heatherwick-designed East Beach Cafe at Littlehampton.
It was a good gluten-free lunch of fish and chips and a glass of wine.
The cafe was very busy too and I suspect on a lovely summer’s, it might be difficult to get a table.
It was also a fair walk to and from the station and as ever the signs could have been better.
I don’t know whether Thomas Heatherwick has ever been to Felixstowe, but the ceiling detail was very like the walls of Charlie Manning’s Amusements in the town.
East London To Yeovil By The Long Way
Yeovil is a long way from London and when I saw the fixture list, I felt it was a game that would be impossible to see.
So when I found out that Thomas Heatherwick had designed a café at Littlehampton, a town I’d never visited, I thought perhaps I could go there on the way and have a decent lunch.
So I booked a ticket to Littlehampton from Clapham Junction and then another from Littlehampton to Yeovil, with changes at Fratton and Salisbury.
I started just after ten and took a Class 378 London Overground train to Clapham Junction.
I just missed a Littlehampton train at Clapham Junction, so I had a cup of hot chocolate on the bridge at Knot Pretzels.
The train I did get to Littlehampton was direct, but it did take an hour and thirty five minutes in a comfortable Class 377. I did walk to the beach at Littlehampton see the café and have lunch.
I just caught my train out of Littlehampton at 15:23, which was the first leg of my journey along the South Coast to Yeovil to Fratton. The train was an elderly but well-refurbished Class 313.
From Fratton it was a First Great Western Class 158, which was going all the way from Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff.
The final leg was a South West Trains Class 159 from Salisbury to Yeovil Junction. I arrived on time at 18:40.
I think this journey shows up our trains in a reasonable light. The journey times are slow not because of slow trains, but because of the frequent stops and complicated route. The journey took three hours seventeen minutes from Littlehampton to Yeovil, but there was only thirty-three minutes wasted in connections.
Although some trains date from the 1980s, there wasn’t anything as bad as the dreaded Pacers that inhabit the North. The services were pretty well-used and except for the short leg from Littlehampton to Fratton, there was a catering trolley on all trains.
Would I do this journey again? I might, but I doubt I’ll ever need to do it. My next trip to the South Coast involves a trip to Brighton, which will be a lot quicker.
I had hoped to take a few pictures, but my camera died at Littlehampton.
A Worrying Report On CFCs And HCFCs
It is being reported that mysterious CFC and HCFC gases have been found in the atmosphere. Here’s the first part of the report.
Scientists have identified four new man-made gases that are contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer.
Two of the gases are accumulating at a rate that is causing concern among researchers.
Worries over the growing ozone hole have seen the production of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases restricted since the mid 1980s.
I have no theory about how these gases got there, as I’m no chemist or environmental scientist.
But I do feel that there are an awful lot of unnecessary drug inhalers powered by HCFCs used in the world.
I don’t mean unnecessary from the medical point of view, although in the 1990s, there were some amazing anomalies in the prescribing of these devices.
Some years ago, I backed a company that went on to produce an inhaler, that used no compressed gases, no batteries or any other noxious or environmentally-unfriendly substance.
It was so impressive that we were brought up at the Montreal Protocol talks, where some delegates tried to get the banning of HCFCs as well. They failed as some countries and Big Pharma didn’t want a ban.
So what happened to our device?
We sold it to Bohringer Ingelheim for a lot of money and it is described on this website.
Could Hebden Bridge Be The UK’s Second City?
This sounds like the sort of idea dreamed up by someone, who really does think that Yorkshire is the centre of the earth.
But the BBC has published a piece entitled The Case For Making Hebden Bridge The UK’s Second City by Evan Davis on their website.
This extract sums up his logic.
The suggestion that it is Britain’s second city came from resident David Fletcher, who was active in the 80s saving the town’s old mills and converting them to modern use.
His point is that Hebden Bridge is an inverted city with a greenbelt centre and suburbs called Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.
His point was that the real second city of the UK is a northern, trans-Pennine strip that extends the relatively short distance across northern England, joining the built-up areas that lie second, fourth and sixth in the UK ranking.
I think he has a point and treating the area from Liverpool and Blackpool in the West to Leeds and Sheffield in the East, as a megacity, may be a very good idea.
Davis says that it would need a lot of infrastructure, and there would be rivalries and infighting. But there’s enough of that in Manchester already, with one of the worst bus systems in the UK.
To be fair to Network Rail, their plans for the Northern Hub, very much fit the proposal for the Northern megacity and the government, especially in the statements of George Osborne, seem to be backing them.
Is there anything I’d like to see in the North?
I would like to see London’s local transport information systems and ticketing imposed on the North. And probably on everywhere outside London as well.
- I should arrive at any station and be able to find my onward route, by foot, bus or tram without difficulty or bothering any of the station staff.
- If say, I wanted to use a bus where my bus pass is valid, I would just touch in with my pass. Every town or city seems to use a different system.
- If I need to pay for my ticket, then I would just touch in with a contactless bank card.
- All buses would have fully disabled access and at least a separate entrance and exit, like most buses in London.
- I should also be able to find out the next bus, with a simple text-based system, based on five digits for the stop and a short text code. If larger London can do it, why do cities like Leeds have a system that is so difficult.
I shall be watching Evan Davis’s program tonight with interest.
Don’t forget there would be one great argument for making Hebden Bridge the UK’s Second City. It would eventually stop all the arguments.
You also have to ask, whether other megacities could be created.
- Newcastle-Sunderland-Middlesbrough
- Glasgow-Edinburgh
- Wolverhampton-Birmingham-Coventry
- Southampton-Portsmouth-Brighton
Are four that come to mind.
Would You Buy A Political Idea From This Man?
Gordon Brown is going to outline his ideas for better power sharing between London and Edinburgh. It’s all here on the BBC.
I doubt anybody will be listening!
I certainly won’t be, as he was one of the idiots, who saddled the UK with that useless bank, the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers, for which we are all still paying.
It would have been so much cheaper to liquidate it and then pay everyone who lost out in taxpayers money. But that would have meant Labour losing all votes in Scotland!
Cinty’s French Fish Pie
Because this recipe from Lindsey Bareham is so good and very quick, I’m putting the pictures up from when I made two on Friday; one for my supper and one for the fridge and later.
I first took 400 g. of trimmed leeks, halved them lengthways and made an attempt to slice them into thin half moons, before I rinsed and drained them. Note that as with all Lindsey Bareham’s recipes it’s based on the standard sizes of packs you get in Waitrose. So it’s 400 g because that’s the size of their packs of trimmed leeks.
A friend has said that she has a problem with leeks. But no matter, as the original recipe also specified the use of fennel!
400 g Of Prepared Leeks
At this point I put my oven on to 200°C.
I then melted 20 g of butter in my Le Creuset shallow casserole and stirred in the leeks, seasoning with salt and pepper. I covered and cooked them for 8-15 minutes, giving the occasional stir, until they were tender or in my case looked like the algae you get on ponds.
Cooking The Leeks
I then added 75 ml of dry white wine and simmered briskly, uncovered, until it was just juicy and not wet.
Juicy Not Wet Leeks
The leeks were then put into two 0.6 litre Le Creuset dishes, which I find make the ideal size pies for one.
Leeks In Le Creuset Dishes
And a piece of haddock was carefully placed on top. A tip here is to go a fishmonger, who sells square fish! As I got mine in a packet from Waitrose, they were a bit fish-shaped and didn’t fit too well.
Fish On The Leeks
The fish was in turn covered with crème fraiche. I used about 150 ml per pie and just spread it with a trowel like you would Artex.
After Adding The Creme Fraiche
It was then covered with a mixture of breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan. I actually used a couple of slices of Genius bread, which I decrusted sand then pulverised with the parmesan in my Little Chopper. Here’s the one I kept for later, just before I wrapped it in clingfilm.
A Pie Ready For The Oven
The other was in the oven for thirty minutes and came out a lovely shade of brown, which I forgot to photograph at the time. This picture shows it on my plate, just before I ate it.
A Pie Ready For The Stomach
It was delicious and the great thing about this recipe, is that there is only a little washing up to do! So if like me, you have to do it yourself, It’s not too much of a problem.
Wigan Do It Again!
Last year I asked if there was a God, when Wigan beat Manchester City in the FA Cup Final.
Has she just told everybody, she’s a Wigan supporter, as they’ve done it again?
I suppose Manchester City will have to buy a few more players, as this lot don’t realise that money is everything!
Gluten Free Bread And Benecol Anybody?
At ten today, a Sunday, Romeo’s Gluten Free Bakery was busy and I bought a seeded loaf for my supper.
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- Accompanying My Supper
I’ve just eaten a crust and a slice with Benecol. Before I was diagnosed as a coeliac, I was always a bit of a glutton for nice bread, as was C.
I hope my bad habits don’t make me put on weight! But the bread was amazingly delicious!
My supper tonight was the second part of one of Lindsey Barham’s Sausage Stew With Apple And Spinach. The observant will notice that I forgot to add the soinach.
The Anonymous Widower 