Do You Get As Much Free Bamboo As You Can Eat?
This story from the Sun is about testing the new panda-cams at Edinburgh Zoo.
I suppose it’s one of those jobs, that is in that category of tough ones, that someone has to do.
You can actually see the pandas using this link.
If Lloyds Can Do It Why Can’t RBS?
Lloyds Banking Group’s figures these days as reported by the BBC contrast strongly with those reported yesterday by the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers.
How can Lloyds make a loss of only £570 million, whereas the state-owned dead parrot loses £5.2 billion?
It strikes me there are three reasons.
The first is the quality of the management in the two banks. I suspect, if you were one of the stars of RBS ten years ago, you have taken the money and ran. so all the bank is probably left with is dross and the world’s best collection of neck-enders.
Secondly, when did you ever here a financial commentator you trust, last recommend that you buy a financial product from RBS. Yesterday, the guy from MoneySaving Expert was recommending which credit card to use abroad. One of Lloyd’s products was mentioned, but RBS were only notable by their absence.
But I also think, that most of their customers, or at least the ones who can have moved their accounts elsewhere. After all, I’d never bank with a state-owned bank and I suspect many others wouldn’t either. You just can’t stop politicians from fiddling! It has been some time, since I’ve noticed anybody with an RBS bank account or credit card. I suspect, the only thing in their favour is that if you want to keep money in a bank deposit account, then RBS is as safe as any, as no government would let you lose your money. But you wouldn’t get paid much interest.
So all of today’s news just says that the sooner we liquidate the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers, the better for all.
Engineering Open Heart Surgery
Not my words, but those of Linda Miller, describing on the Crossrail web site, the work being done to upgrade the Connaught Tunnel. The full article is here.
It may be an odd mix of words, but we all know what she means.
The Shard In The Afternoon Sun
I took these pictures deliberately this afternoon, with the sun directly behind The Shard from a DLR train on the way into Bank station.
It’s of course, breaking the rule of not shooting pictures looking directly into the sun.
The Woolwich Ferry By Foot
In some ways, I can’t go anywhere near the Woolwich Ferry without laughing, as one of the funniest things I ever saw was a sketch on Michael Bentine‘s It’s A Square World called the Night the Woolwich Ferry Sank.
Today, I crossed the Thames as one of a surprising numbers of foot passengers and took these pictures.
If I have a complaint, it’s that you can’t get on deck like you can on a Mersey Ferry and taking good pictures is difficult. I did take some other pictures five years ago, when I last drove across using the ferry.
Silvertown Sugar Refinery
Dominating the space between the new railway line and the River Thames is the massive Tate and Lyle sugar refinery, although it is now owned by American Sugar Refining.
As the pictures show it also dominates the view from the south bank of the Thames.
Winding Through The Crossrail Works
Crossrail are building their rail line along the line of the old North London Line to North Woolwich. Their blue fences were everywhere.
Some of the pictures were taken from a pedestrian bridge over the site and others were taken on that excellent photographic platform, a London double-deck bus. In this case it was a 473, that goes from Canning Town station to North Woolwich, where the Woolwich Ferry berths.
Note how the Brick Lane Music Hall dominates the first part of the route.
The Brick Lane Music Hall
The building which used to be St. Mark’s Church, Silvertown, is certainly impressive, but it was designed by the well-known S. S. Teulon
It is certainly better it has a proper use, rather than just being a ruin.
Walking to Brick Lane Music Hall
From Pontoon Dock station opposite the London Pleasure Gardens, I walked down to St. Mark’s Church, Silvertown or the Brick Lane Music Hall, as it is now known.
It is a walk, I have driven many times in the past and I regularly used to fill up my cars at the garage shown. But not at those prices, of which as a non-driver, who is scientifically-green, I heartily approve.
The flats seems good value to me. When C and I got married, we’d have never been able to buy something on a deal like that. you could get a 75% mortgage if you were lucky.
The London Pleasure Gardens
I said I would go and find the tent-like structure, I noticed yesterday on my trip back from Woolwich.
It turns out it’s the London Pleasure Gardens, as described here in Time Out.
As you can see it looks all rather shut up, but then Time Out is now reporting the company has gone into administration.
Everything would appear to have been cancelled. The web site just shows a place page.
The Anonymous Widower 