My Broadband Lacks Muscle
I get all my broadband, TV, mobile phone from EE.
Usually, it works fine and I can watch football and Formula One, when I want to.
Occasionally, I get picture break-up, when I watch something popular.
Even more occasionally, the picture and sound is lost and a No Signal message appears on the screen.
And then, a couple of weeks ago, I was unable to watch the FA Cup Semi Final on BBC1. I just got the dreaded No Signal message.
Yesterday, was the Tuesday after Bank Holiday Monday.
- I was watching BBC Breakfast, when the signal disappeared about 09:00.
- Despite two calls to EE and a visit to their shop, by 18:00, the signal had not returned.
- I was reduced to watching the news on either my television in the bedroom or my computer.
- And then at 18:30, the signal returned miraculously and I was able to watch the television normally.
It has performed immaculately since.
So What Happened?
I had no problem on Monday, but Marks and Spencer did as this article on the BBC, which is entitled M&S Customers In Limbo As Cyber Attack Chaos Continues, explains.
Did this this cyberattack mean that everybody had spent the Easter weekend checking their systems?
Whether they did or not, when the City started up again after the Easter Holiday, they needed so much capacity, my television signal over broadband was switched off.
Only when City workers adjorned to the bars and restaurants at 18:30 and switched off their systems, did I get my television signal back.
Next Monday, is Another Bank Holiday
I don’t know what will happen! Do Openreach?
Danish Shoppers Boycott Coca-Cola Over Trump
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in the Telegraph.
This is the sub-heading.
Sales slump in Scandinavian nation following US president’s threats to annex Greenland
These are the first two paragraphs.
Shoppers are boycotting Coca-Cola amid a backlash over Donald Trump’s erratic foreign policy, Carlsberg has said.
The Danish brewer, which bottles the fizzy drink in its home country, said sales were “slightly down” as consumers protested against the US president.
Trump obviously doesn’t realise that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
Mayors Head To Parliament With Plan For Northern Arc To Deliver Green Growth
The title of this post, is the same as that of this news item from Liverpool City Region.
These four bullet points act as sub-headings.
- Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham take case for backing Northern Arc to Treasury – as new data shows North can drive green growth and unlock £90bn for UK economy
- Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester Mayors will meet with ministers and MPs today, and Andy Burnham will give evidence at Business and Trade Select Committee on the UK’s industrial strategy
- Economic analysis shows that investing in transport infrastructure and a pipeline of projects across the North would benefit the whole UK economy, improving living standards and closing the North-South productivity gap
- Mayors will also address Innovation Zero World Congress in London, showing how city-regions can create high quality jobs by pioneering low-carbon innovation
These two paragraphs add a bit more detail.
The right investment would create a growth corridor, stretching from the Mersey to the Pennines and connecting into West and South Yorkshire, underpinned by transport networks that would include a new railway linking Liverpool and Manchester.
The Northern Arc area spans regions with close economic ties to Lancashire, North Wales, Hull and the North East. With international connections through the Port of Liverpool and Manchester Airport, it’s well positioned for global trade.
If I have a problem with the mayors’ thoughts, the plan outlined in the news item is rather Liverpool/Manchester-based with Hull being the only city outside that area getting a mention. Do Blackburn, Blackpool, Bradford, Burnley, Doncaster, Huddersfield, Leeds, Preston, Rotherham, Scunthorpe, Stockport, Wigan and York exist?
For instance you would expert a report from Liverpool and Manchester’s Mayors to call for a new railway between their two cities. And of course they do!
The current TransPennine Lines has two main routes across the Pennines between East and West.
If ever there was a rail route, designed by Topsy, it is the North TransPennine Route.
- There are six separate services, if you ignore Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley, which is a shuttle to fill a gap in rail services.
- In the West trains terminate at Huddersfield, Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Airport, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria
- In the East trains terminate at Edinburgh Waverley, Hull, Leeds, Newcastle, Redcar Central, Scarborough and York.
- Terminals like Huddersfield, Hull, Liverpool Lime Street, Newcastle and York are some of the best terminal stations in the UK, but others are very second rate.
I suspect, this North TransPennine Route structure brought about the demise of TransPennine Express.
The South TransPennine Route on the other hand, although it was built by several different railway companies, they were all intent on the same thing. An East-West route across the Pennines through Doncaster, Manchester and Sheffield.
- The Western terminal is Liverpool Lime Street, which in my view is the finest grand terminus in the UK, in terms of architecture, onward connections and operation. It is also the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world, in that it dates from 1836.
- The Eastern terminal is Cleethorpes, which is an efficient four-platform recently-refurbished station, that is within a hundred metres of some of the best gluten-free fish and chips, I’ve ever tasted on the pier.
- Intermediate stations include Liverpool South Parkway, Warrington Central, Birchwood, Irlam, Urmston, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield, Meadowhall, Doncaster, Scunthorpe, Barnetby, Habrough and Grimsby Town.
- Liverpool South Parkway has a bus connection to Liverpool Airport
- Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield and Doncaster are stations with comprehensive onward connections.
- The route is electrified between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly and at Doncaster.Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes is 148.2 miles
- Hazel Grove and Doncaster is without electrification and is 52.3 miles long.
- Cleethorpes and Doncaster is without electrification and is 52.1 miles long.
- I believe that Hitachi, Siemens and Stadler could supply battery-electric trains, that would be able to work the route, with the addition of a short length of overhead wires at Cleethorpes, so that trains could return to Doncaster.
- Trains go straight through all the intermediate stations, so there are no time-wasting reverses.
- Journey time is just over three and a half hours.
I believe that a mouse-quiet battery-electric train would pack in the punters, if only for the novelty.
But.
A battery-electric train would probably knock perhaps thirty minutes off the journey.
The timetable would be an hourly train at all stations.
The service would pass the mother’s birthday test, in that you could easily visit any station from any other and buy your mother lunch before returning on a convenient train.
There are connections to and from London at Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Stockport, Sheffield and Doncaster.
It could be a very useful East-West train service.
Plan For England’s Largest Wind Farm ‘Scaled Back’
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Plans for the largest onshore wind farm in England have been scaled back by a developer.
These two introductory paragraphs add more details.
Calderdale Energy Park said it would apply for permission to build 41 turbines instead of the 65 originally planned on land near Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire.
A consultation period has now begun and people have been invited to submit their views on the project over the next six weeks.
Note.
- The number of wind turbines has been reduced by 37 %.
- Are the turbines now larger?
- In another paragraph, the developers say the solar element has been removed.
- Batteries, which I feel are essential to smooth the output of wind farms, are not mentioned.
Given comments by Stop Calderdale Wind Farm about peat bogs, there will be a large fight over building this wind farm.
The Arrogance of Samsung And/Or Google
I have been shut out of my messages on the phone by the arrogance of Samsung and/or Google.
They want me to change to a new piece of software and all I get when I try to get my messages is an oriental figure.
I have just restarted the phone and it appears to have gone as dead as a dodo.
They may think they are making progress, but my Nokia 6310i of twenty years ago, was much more useable and reliable.
At least it works as a phone and runs the apps I need.
I am seriously, thinking of giving up a mobile phone.
After all, they all die or get stolen within six months.
Critical Mass London: Hundreds Of Protesting Cyclists Ride Through Silvertown Tunnel In ‘Mass Trespass’
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Yahoo News in Canada.
These paragraphs describe the mass trespass.
Around 1,000 cyclists descended on the newly opened Silvertown Tunnel in a protest calling for greater road safety amid anger it has no bike lane.
Riders from Critical Mass London swarmed the northbound entrance near the O2 Arena in “a mass trespass” on Friday night.
Entering from the Old Kent Road, they took over both lanes near North Greenwich and blocked incoming motorists.
The ride through the tunnel took about 10 minutes before the cyclists moved off towards Poplar.
But on X, formerly Twitter, people reported that the road was closed for over an hour after they had left.
The £2.2bn Silvertown tunnel – opened by London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan earlier this month – has faced criticism from transport pressure groups for its lack of provisions for cyclists and pedestrians.
I suppose, at lease they weren’t riding on the pavement, as they do all the time near me.
I was even hit by one, on a zebra crossing, as he passed a bus on the wrong side, that had stopped to let me cross.
There is not one law for cyclists and one law for everybody else!
Shawton Energy Joins Up With The Co-Op For Rooftop Solar
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Solar Power Portal.
These two paragraphs describe the agreement.
Renewable technology developer Shawton Energy has signed an agreement with the Co-Op group to help support the retail giant’s rollout of rooftop solar PV.
Working with Sol PV as a delivery partner, Shawton Energy will design, develop, fund, and manage rooftop solar PV systems at key Co-op locations using a power purchase agreement (PPA) model. This allows Co-op to make significant energy and cost savings without having to put forward any upfront investment. Co-op will now purchase the power from Shawton Energy at a flat, discounted rate. While this rollout currently only covers some of the Co-Op’s over 2,500 retail locations, there remains potential for expanding this partnership in the future.
This looks to me to be a deal, where all parties benefit.
- Co-op have thousands of locations, that could have solar roofs, which would be good green publicity.
- I suspect that the Co-op own a lot of their properties, so the collateral is there, if the deal goes wrong.
- I suspect many buildings are very similar, so design and installation costs could be reduced.
- Co-op get reduced-cost electricity.
- Shawton Energy can add other technologies like batteries and rooftop turbines to the deal.
From my experience of both sides of the leasing of multiple systems, I believe, that this would be the sort of deal, that reputable banks and finance houses would be very happy to fund.
It looks like the sort of deal that can be replicated.
Especially, as Shawton Energy have already done a deal with the Bannatyne Group, according to these two paragraphs from the article.
This is not the first significant deal with a well-known British chain that Shawton Energy has agreed this year. The company announced in March of this year that it had made an agreement with health and wellness club operator the Bannatyne Group, which has installed solar panels on the rooftops of a number of its health clubs, hotels and spas under a similar PPA agreement to that Shawton Energy has made with the Co-Op.
According to the Bannatyne Group, the installations, which consist of 967 panels and 11 inverters across eight sites around the UK, have already provided significant energy savings to the group. Since their completion, each of the eight sites has reportedly secured energy savings of up to 25%.
Savings of 25 % are worth having.
A Day Trip To Leven From London
On Thursday, the 15th of May, I shall be taking a day trip by train from London King’s Cross to Leven in Fife.
I shall be doing it for the following reasons.
- To see the new Levenmouth Rail Link and its two new stations : Cameron Bridge and Leven.
- To prove that it is possible to do trips like these.
- To prove that it is still possible for me to do trips like these.
- To see a couple of old friends, who live North of the Border.
- I shall probably also ride the new section of the Edinburgh Tram.
I shall be leaving London on the Lumo service at 05:48 and returning on the 16:13, which gives me around six hours in Scotland.
More Trains For Fife As ScotRail Enhance Leven Services In May 2025 Timetable
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from ScotRail.
This is the sub-heading.
ScotRail is set to introduce significant timetable improvements from Sunday, 18 May 2025, with a major focus on enhancing rail connections for Fife.
This first paragraph gives more details of the improvements to services.
The new timetable will include more frequent services to and from Leven, improving access to and from Edinburgh, and better connecting communities throughout Fife. Additional carriages are also being added to some trains at the busiest times to provide more seats for customers.
It sounds to me, that services to Leven have got a bad case of London Overground Syndrome, which I define in this post, which unsurprisingly is called London Overground Syndrome. I define it like this.
This benign disease, which is probably a modern version of the Victorian railway mania, was first identified in East London in 2011, when it was found that the newly-refurbished East London Line and North London Line were inadequate due to high passenger satisfaction and much increased usage. It has now spread across other parts of the capital, despite various eradication programs.
It keeps appearing across the UK and I suspect it happens in other countries too!
As ScotRail had a severe dose of London Overground Syndrome, when they reopened the Borders Railway, you’d have think that they’d have been prepared this time.
Ambitious £3bn Pumped Hydro Project At Loch Ness Moves Forward
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Sustainable Times.
These are the two introductory paragraphs.
A £3 billion pumped storage hydro (PSH) project near Scotland’s iconic Loch Ness is one step closer to becoming a reality. Glen Earrach Energy (GEE) confirmed on April 25th that it has officially submitted the planning application for its ambitious 2gw scheme.
If greenlit, this project would represent nearly three-quarters of the total PSH capacity planned for Loch Ness, contributing 34 GWh of the region’s 46 GWh storage goal. But it’s not just the storage that stands out. This development would also account for two-thirds of the generating capacity, all while using just half of the water previously considered. To put it into perspective, the project’s capacity would be on par with the combined output of around 800 onshore wind turbines scattered throughout the Highland Council area.
Note.
- The generating and pumping capacity for this ambitious scheme is given as 2 GW. Only three in China and one in the United States are larger.
- The storage capacity of 34 GWh will make it the largest in the UK, possibly the second largest in Europe to Ulla-Førre in Norway and one of the ten largest in the world.
- A projected 10% reduction in the UK grid’s carbon footprint is claimed.
- The cost of three billion is high, but compare that with the tens of billions quoted for the 3.26 GW Hinckley Point C.
The Glen Earrach scheme is not short on superlatives and the article in Sustainable Times is worth a thorough read.
Fifth Hydro Project Proposed At Loch Ness, is based on a BBC article of the same name.
These were my thoughts in the related post.
The Existing Hydro Schemes On Loch Ness
According to the BBC article, there are two existing hydro schemes on Loch Ness.
- Foyers is described on this web site and is a reasonably modern 305 MW/6.3 GWh pumped storage hydroelectric power station, that was built by SSE Renewables in the last fifty years.
- Glendoe is described on this web site and is a modern 106.5 MW conventional hydroelectric power station, that was built by SSE Renewables in the last twenty years.
Foyers and Glendoe may not be the biggest hydroelectric power stations, but they’re up there in size with most solar and onshore wind farms. Perhaps we should look for sites to develop 100 MW hydroelectric power stations?
The Proposed Hydro Schemes On Loch Ness
According to the BBC article, there are four proposed hydro schemes on Loch Ness.
- Coire Glas is described on this web site and will be a 1.5GW/30 GWh pumped storage hydroelectric power station, that is being developed by SSE Renewables.
- Fearna is described on this web site and will be a 1.8GW/37 GWh pumped storage hydroelectric power station, that is being developed by Gilkes Energy.
- Loch Kemp is described on this web site and will be a 600MW/9 GWh pumped storage hydroelectric power station, that is being developed by Statera.
- Loch Na Cathrach is described on this web site and will be a 450MW/2.8 GWh pumped storage hydroelectric power station, that is being developed by Statktaft.
In addition there is, there is the recently announced Glen Earrach.
- Glen Earrach is described on this web site and will be a 2GW/34 GWh pumped storage hydroelectric power station, that is being developed by Glen Earrach Energy.
Note.
- The total power of the seven pumped storage hydroelectric power stations is 4.76 GW.
- The total storage capacity is 89.1 GWh.
- The storage capacity is enough to run all turbines flat out for nearly nineteen hours.
I estimate that if 2 GW/34 GWh of pumped storage will cost £3 billion, then 4.76 GW/89.1 GWh of pumped storage will cost around £7-8 billion.
The Anonymous Widower 