Is This New Gardens For Dalston?
Between the two Dalston stations is a brownfield site, with just the vent from the rail tunnel underneath.
Between the Two Dalston Stations
The white plastic appears to be protection for trees. But they might not be.
This area could be converted into a lovely walk between the two stations and to the Arcola Theatre
Any ideas.
The TBMs Arrive At Westbourne Park
This is not the best of pictures.
TBMs at Westbourne Park
But it does just show the two tunnel boring machines or TBMs for CrossRail at Westbourne Park before they move forward to start their journey to Farringdon.
I think a better picture could be taken from a main line train out of Paddington.
Works At Hackney Central Station
Hackney Central station was one of the more elaborate stations on the old North London line, with a rather beautiful decorated station building on either side of the tracks.
The pictures show work on the building and the installation of a pair of lifts to cross the tracks.
For some time now, I’ve had the view that Hackney Downs and Central should be integrated, perhaps with a bus station nearby.It would help to revitalise Hackney and also allow passengers from Tottenham and Enfield to get to Stratford and Camden with a step-free change.
A Curiosity at Dalston Kingsland Station
I took this picture on the westbound platform at Dalston Kingsland Station.
A Curiosity at Dalston Kingsland Station
I would assume it’s something to do with a church. But what?
How Could Anybody Vote For Rick Santorum?
The times has a fairly detailed article on Rick Santorum today and they list some of his beliefs.
He has actually called higher education a liberal conspiracy. Good one that, as does he think that ideas and scientific breakthroughs, like cures for serious diseases just happen without education?
He also says that women ,who get pregnant after being raped, should be made to keep their gift from God. I should think that the only country with similar views is somewhere like Iran.
His views on homosexuality seem to be very much like those in Iran too.
He has also said that working mothers are slaves of radical feminism. That is something worthy of the mullahs of Iran.
I could go on, but I have better things to do, like the washing up, as we widows can’t be choosy about who does the work. Does Rick Santorum have a policy for widows? I suspect it’s God’s gift to those left behind. I couldn’t find his views, but I did find this piece about a widowed conservative Republican, who has a gay daughter. She talks more sense in a minute, than the odious Santorum has talked in the last year.
Show me a white American male with strong religion and I’ll show you a bigot, who believes that a woman’s place is slaving in the home.
The Land of the Free – Sorry Oppressed!
This story with a title of Limbaugh slut slur student Sandra Fluke gets Obama call, on the BBC web site sums up a lot of what I find objectionable in the United States. The first paragraph says it all.
US President Barack Obama has called to offer support to a US law student attacked by radio host Rush Limbaugh for her views on contraception.
Just think what would happen if a talk-show host on a UK radio station, had said similar things to a student in the UK. Limbaugh called the student a slut and a prostitute. They would probably be fired instantly.
What seems to be missing here, is that your health is firstly your own responsibility and if that means you need contraception, then you should be able to get it. No institution has the right to tell you what you can’t do in this area. I always thought, the United States was supposed to be the Land of the Free. Not the Land of the Oppressed!
Where Are All The Containers Going?
On the North London line of the Overground, every so often a freight train comes through taking full boxes from the East Coast ports to the West Coast Main Line or empty boxes back again. Some may also be flows between Southampton and the East.
A few years ago rail freight was almost dead, but it has bounced back with a vengeance, despite the recession. It was always felt that rail freight traffic was strongly linked to GDP, but it appears the link is now broken and the figures show it. In the last five years, total freight has dropped by 10% and truck hauled traffic has dropped by 13%. So how many truck drivers have been made redundant? But in the same period rail-freight has risen by 2%. The number of containers handled at the ports in 2010 was the same as in 2005, but those that were handled by rail has risen by 29%. In the future, rail freight-traffic is expected to double between 2010 and 2030.
The reason for the growth is obviously cost and even a long train of 30 containers or so is more cost effective than 30 trucks.
But also various improvements to the rail network have been added to speed the traffic on its way. I reported on one here. There are more improvements in the pipeline too.
Some trains too, are now running through the Channel Tunnel, as far as Wroclaw in Poland.
So we’ll be seeing lots more freight trains on the rail network in the UK.
And this will mean less CO2 emissions, especially where the trains are hauled by electric locomotives.
It will also remove a lot of trucks from the major roads in the UK. Every time I travel on the A14, I seem to think that there are less trucks.
I also come to the conclusion, that we may be seeing a few green shoots of recovery.
Are Lager Sales Going Down the Toilet?
I’ve never had a drink of lager in a British pub, as I’ve always drunk real beer.
Even now, I prefer one of St. Peter’s brewery’s real gluten-free beers.
But it would appear that according to this article, I am now becoming more typical as lager sales are falling.
Celebrity Watch
This column in the Times often unearths a couple of gems. Today we have a classic quote from Madonna. “I prefer high heels to sex. They last longer.” Obviously, she doesn’t walk far in the heels!
The column also notes that Tulisa’s personal assistant has had her name tattooed on his ankle. Perhaps, it’s so he remembers who he works for!
It is also noted that Anne Robinson is returning to the dating scene after her divorce. Heaven help all single men! Unless of course they like red-haired women, who like to play the dominatrix!
Where’s the Gluten-Free Food at Eastfield?
I went to John Lewis today at Eastfield, to see if I could get some blinds. They were very helpful and I now have a good base price.
What I also wanted was a good late lunch to set me up for the weekend.
But could I find any gluten-free food? No! But then I didn’t check out all the restaurants. Surprisingly, I didn’t find a decent Indian restaurant, especially when you consider that a good proportion of the clients are of South Asian descent.
So in the end, I took the DLR to Carluccio’s at Canary Wharf and had an excellent meal there.
The Anonymous Widower 