The Anonymous Widower

Great Yarmouth Terminal Set For Redevelopment Under Port Of East Anglia Name

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

The UK’s Peel Ports Group has decided to invest a further GBP 10 million (approximately EUR 11.3 million) into its Great Yarmouth site, which is being rebranded as the Port of East Anglia.

These four paragraphs add details to the story.

The newly announced GBP 10 million brings this year’s total investment to GBP 70 million across the site and will be used to redevelop the port’s Northern Terminal, helping to accommodate the next generation of offshore wind projects across the region, according to Peel Ports.

Earlier this year, a substantial investment into its Southern Terminal was announced by the port, which has earmarked GBP 60 million to transform capacity and improve efficiencies.

This involves ensuring the port can support multiple hydrogen, carbon capture, offshore wind, and nuclear projects for decades to come.

Its existing terminals service a variety of construction customers, including infrastructure projects such as Sizewell C and offshore energy projects based in the southern North Sea.

Note.

  1. In Yarmouth Harbour To Be ‘Completed’ In £60m Project, I talk about the work to be done on the Southern Terminal.
  2. The work on the Southern Terminal includes a roll-on roll-off (RORO) lift ramp and a large storage area.
  3. Start on the work on the Southern Terminal will start in 2026.

With all the construction work mentioned in the last two paragraphs, I suspect that the Port of Great Yarmouth will be busy?

These are some further thoughts.

Why Is The Port Of Great Yarmouth Being Renamed?

The article says this.

The new name, which will come into effect in early 2026, also aligns with the creation of a new combined authority for Suffolk and Norfolk, according to Peel Ports.

Peel Ports name change is fairly sensible, but as I was conceived in Suffolk and I’m an Ipswich Town supporter, I don’t feel that the two counties should be merged.

 

Does The Mention Of Hydrogen Mean That The Port Of Great Yarmouth Will Be Hosting A Hydrogen Electrolyser, To Fuel Trucks And Ships?

I asked Google AI, “If A Hydrogen Electrolyser is To Be Built In The Port Of Great Yarmouth?”, and received this answer.

While there are no current public plans for an immediate construction of a large-scale hydrogen electrolyser within the Port of Great Yarmouth, significant port expansion and infrastructure upgrades are underway to ensure it can support future hydrogen projects and related clean energy initiatives.

Note.

  1. If technology to handle hydrogen, is copied from North Sea gas, there is certainly a lot of proven technology that can be used again.
  2. There may even be depleted gas fields, where captured carbon dioxide, hydrogen or North Sea gas can be stored.

I find the most exciting thing, would be to send hydrogen to Germany.

Why Would Anybody Export Hydrogen To Germany?

I asked Google AI, the question in the title of this section and received this answer.

Countries would export hydrogen to Germany because Germany has a large, growing demand for hydrogen to power its heavily industrialised economy and achieve its decarbonisation goals, but lacks sufficient domestic renewable energy capacity to produce the required amounts.

Germany also, uses a lot of bloodstained Russian gas and indigenous polluting coal.

How Could Anybody Export Hydrogen To Germany?

  1. Wilhelmshaven is one of the main import ports for hydrogen in North West Germany.
  2. Great Yarmouth is probably the closest larger port to Germany.
  3. Great Yarmouth and Wilhelmshaven are probably about 300 miles apart, by the shortest route.
  4. Great Yarmouth would need to build infrastructure to export hydrogen.

The easiest way to transport the hydrogen from Great Yarmouth to Wilhelmshaven, is probably to use a gas tanker built especially for the route.

This Google Map shows the route between Great Yarmouth and Wilhelmshaven.

 

Note.

  1. The North-East corner of East Anglia with Great Yarmouth to the North of Lowestoft, is in the bottom-left corner of the map.
  2. Wilhelmshaven is a few miles inland in the top-right corner of the map.
  3. Could a coastal tanker go along the Dutch and German coasts to Wilhelmshaven?

I have no skills in boats, but would Great Yarmouth to Wilhelmshaven to take hydrogen to Germany?

RWE Are Developing Three Wind Farms To The North-East of Great Yarmouth

RWE are a large German Electricity company and the UK’s largest generator of electricity.

The company is developing three wind farms to the North-East of Great Yarmouth.

  • Norfolk Boreas – 1.2 GW – 45 miles offshore
  • Norfolk Vanguard West – 1.2 GW – 29 miles offshore
  • Norfolk Vanguard East – 1.2 GW – 28 miles offshore

Note.

  1. The electricity for all three wind farms is to be brought ashore at Happisburgh South, which is about 22 miles North of Great Yarmouth.
  2. The original plan was to take the electricity halfway across Norfolk to the Necton substation to connect to the grid.
  3. The natives will not be happy about a 4.2 GW overhead line between Happisburgh and Necton.
  4. RWE have built offshore electrolysers before in German waters.
  5. Could an electrical cable or a hydrogen pipe be laid in the sea between Happisburgh South and the Port of Great Yarmouth?
  6. The electrolyser could either be offshore at Happisburgh or onshore in the Port of Great Yarmouth.

As I don’t suspect these three wind farms will be the last connected to the Port of Great Yarmouth, I would expect that RWE will put the electrolyser offshore at Happisburgh  and connect it by a hydrogen pipeline to the Port of Great Yarmouth.

Could There Be A Connection To The Bacton Gas Terminal?

Consider.

The Bacton Gas Terminal, which feeds gas into the UK Gas Network, is only 4.2 miles up the coast from Happisburgh South.

Some climate scientists advocate blending hydrogen into the gas supply to reduce carbon emissions.

In Better Than A Kick In The Teeth – As C Would Say!, I disclosed that I now have a new hydrogen-ready boiler, so I’m not bothered, if I get changed to a hydrogen blend.

So could hydrogen from the Norfolk wind farms be fed into the grid to reduce carbon emissions?

Could The Port Of Great Yarmouth Become A Hydrogen Distribution Centre?

Thinking about it, the port could also become a distribution centre for green hydrogen.

Consider.

  • Hydrogen-powered ships, tugs and workboats could be refuelled.
  • Hydrogen-powered trucks could also be refuelled.
  • Tanker-trucks could distribute hydrogen, to truck and bus operators, farms and factories, that need it for their transport and operations.
  • I believe, that construction equipment will be increasingly hydrogen-powered.

In my life, I have lived at times in two country houses, that were heated by propane and there are about 200,000 off-grid houses in the UK, that are heated this way.

The two houses, where I lived would have been a nightmare to convert to heat pumps, but it would have been very easy to convert them to a hydrogen boiler and power it from a tank in the garden.

It should be noted, that the new boiler in my house in London is hydrogen-ready.

So the Port of Great Yarmouth could be the major centre for hydrogen distribution in Norfolk.

In the 1960s, I used to work in ICI’s hydrogen plant at Runcorn. If you ride in a hydrogen bus in England, it is likely that the hydrogen came from the same plant. Handled correctly, hydrogen is no less safe and reliable than natural gas or propane.

 

 

 

 

October 31, 2025 Posted by | Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Energy Storage | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

RWE Opens ‘Grimsby Hub’ For Offshore Wind Operations And Maintenance

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

RWE officially opened its ‘Grimsby Hub’ offshore wind operations and maintenance (O&M) facility in the UK on 9 July. From the new O&M base, located at Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Port of Grimsby, RWE’s teams will maintain and operate the Triton Knoll and Sofia offshore wind farms.

These are the first two paragraphs.

The Grimsby Hub also houses RWE’s new UK Centralised Control Room (CCR), which has been set up to provide 24/7 monitoring of the company’s UK offshore wind farms and can provide services such as marine coordination, turbine operations, alarm management, high voltage monitoring and Emergency Response services with a team of twelve operatives, the developer says.

The O&M facility is already employing over 90 Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs), according to RWE, and is expected to employ around 140 RWE staff by 2027, as well as create approximately 60 new locally sourced jobs through the development of the CCR and ongoing offshore operations.

Note.

  1. Does RWE’s new UK Centralised Control Room control all their UK offshore wind farms?
  2. I have added them all up and there are almost 12 GW around our shores.
  3. I’ve read somewhere, that RWE are the UK’s largest power generator. From these figures, that would not surprise me.

This Google Map shows the location of RWE’s facilities in Grimsby.

Note.

  1. The bright red arrow at the top of the map indicates RWE Generation UK in Grimsby Docks.
  2. There is another RWE location to the right of the bright red arrow.
  3. There is a line of stations along the coast, which from left-to-right are Stallingborough, Healing, Great Coates, Grimsby Town, Grimsby Docks, New Clee and Cleethorpes.
  4. Cleethorpes is not shown on the map.
  5. Doncaster and Cleethorpes are 52.1 mile apart, which is within the range of a battery-electric Hitachi and other trains.
  6. Charging would be at Doncaster, which is fully electrified and at Cleethorpes, by a short length of electrification.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the layout of and the railways around Grimsby Dock.

Note.

  1. Cleethorpes station is indicated by the blue arrow, in the South-East corner of the map.
  2. Cleethorpes station has four platforms, but no electrification.
  3. Grimsby Docks are to the North of the railway to Cleethorpes.
  4. This Wikipedia entry for Cleethorpes station, shows other railways and light railways served the area. Some were even electric.

These are a few of my thoughts on the development of railways between Sheffield and Cleethorpes.

RWE Will Be A Large Driver Of Employment In Grimsby

Earlier I wrote.

  • Does RWE’s new UK Centralised Control Room control all their UK offshore wind farms?
  • I have added them all up and there are almost 12 GW around our shores.
  • I’ve read somewhere, that RWE are the UK’s largest power generator. From these figures, that would not surprise me.

It’s a long time, since I’ve added resources to a large project, so I asked Google AI, “How many people are needed to support a 1 GW offshore wind farm in the UK?”, and received this answer.

Based on data from large-scale UK offshore wind projects, a 1 GW (1,000 MW) offshore wind farm generally requires between 300 and 600+ people to operate and maintain, depending on whether the staff count includes direct operations, service vessel crews, and long-term supply chain partners. 
Operational Staffing: Ørsted’s 1.2 GW Hornsea 1 and 1.3 GW Hornsea 2 projects are supported by an East Coast Hub in Grimsby, which maintains a workforce of over 600 people.

Direct & Indirect Support: For a large-scale project, this often breaks down into approximately 100–150 direct, permanent, high-skilled roles (technicians, engineers, management) and hundreds more in indirect, contracted, or supply chain roles (vessel crews, port operations, logistics).

Industry Average: Studies suggest that for operations and maintenance (O&M), around 50–100 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs are generated per GW of installed capacity in terms of direct, permanent staff.

Key Takeaways for a 1 GW Farm:

  • Direct Technicians/Operators: ~100–200+ (working on-site, turbines, or in control rooms).
  • O&M Support Services: ~300–400+ (vessel operators, port logistics, supply chain).
  • Total Operations Personnel: 300–600+ people. 

Google AI appeared to have borrowed the figure from Ørsted and Hornsea 1 and 2.

So if it’s correct, there will be a total of 7,200 personnel supporting RWE’s wind farms in the UK. Even if only a third were employed in Grimsby, that is still a lot of people to accommodate and who will need to travel to work.

I also think a lot of personnel will come in by train, as the station is close to RWE’s locations.

Will Grimsby Have An Aberdeen-Sized Office-Shortage Problem?

One of the biggest problems, I was always hearing in the 1970s, was the shortage of offices in Aberdeen for the use of the oilmen.

In RWE Goes For An Additional 10 GW Of Offshore Wind In UK Waters In 2030, I talked about RWE’s plans for the future and published this table of new wind farms.

  • Sofia – 1,400 MW
  • Norfolk Boreas – 1380 MW
  • Norfolk Vanguard East – 1380 MW
  • Norfolk Vanguard West – 1380 MW
  • Dogger Bank South – 3000 MW
  • Awel y Môr – 500 MW
  • Five Estuaries – 353 MW
  • North Falls – 504 MW

Note.

  1. Sofia is nearly complete.
  2. Only the three Norfolk and the Dogger Bank South wind farms  are on the East side of England and suitable to be serviced from Grimsby., but they still total 7,140 MW.

Has Grimsby got the office-space for all the people needed?

Could The Cleethorpes And Liverpool Lime Street Service Be Run By Battery-Electric Rolling Stock?

The various sections of this route are as follows.

  • Cleethorpes and Doncaster – No Electrification – 52.1 miles
  • Doncaster and Meadowhall – No Electrification – 15.2 miles
  • Meadowhall and Sheffield – No Electrification – 3.4 miles
  • Sheffield and Dore & Totley  – No Electrification – 4.2 miles
  • Dore & Totley and Hazel Grove – No Electrification – 29.2 miles
  • Hazel Grove and Stockport – Electrification – 3.3 miles
  • Stockport and Manchester Piccadilly – Electrification – 5.9 miles
  • Manchester Piccadilly and Deansgate – Electrification – 0.8 miles
  • Deansgate and Liverpool South Parkway -Not Electrified – 28.2 miles
  • Liverpool South Parkway and Liverpool Lime Street – Electrified – 5.7 miles

Adding the sections together gives.

  • Cleethorpes and Hazel Grove – No Electrification – 104.1 miles
  • Hazel Grove and Deansgate – Electrification – 10 miles
  • Deansgate and Liverpool South Parkway -Not Electrified – 28.2 miles
  • Liverpool South Parkway and Liverpool Lime Street – Electrified – 5.7 miles

Note.

  1. To cover the 104.1 miles to Hazel Grove battery-electric trains would probably need to leave Cleethorpes with full batteries.
  2. Doncaster is a fully-electrified station and passing trains may be able to have a quick top-up.
  3. In South Yorkshire Now Has Better North-South Connections, I calculated that Doncaster is a very busy station with 173 express trains per day calling at the station or one every 8.5 minutes.
  4. Will trains be able to stop for a long period to charge batteries?
  5. It may be prudent to electrify between Meadowhall and Sheffield, under the Midland Mainline Electrification.
  6. Sheffield and Dore & Totley is shown that it will be electrified, under the Midland Mainline Electrification.
  7. Do we really want to have electrification marching along the Hope Valley Line?
  8. I believe that hydrogen-hybrid locomotives will be a better solution for freight trains on scenic lines like the Hope Valley, as they are zero-carbon, powerful and with a range comparable to diesel.

I believe CAF, Hitachi and Siemens have off the shelf rolling stock and factories in this country, who could build trains for the Cleethorpes and Liverpool Lime Street route.

How Would You Charge Battery-Electric Trains At Cleethorpes?

This picture shows Cleethorpes station

Note.

  1. The four long platforms without  electrification.
  2. The platforms have recently been refurbished.
  3. The train in Platform 2 is a TransPennine Express Class 185 Siemens Desiro diesel train.

The simplest way to electrify the station would be to put up enough 25 KVAC overhead wires, so that battery-electric trains needing a charge could put up a pantograph and have a refreshing drink.

In Technology Behind Siemens Mobility’s British Battery Trains Hits The Tracks, I wrote about Siemens Rail Charging Converter.

This is a visualisation of a Siemens Rail Charging Converter in action.

Note.

  1. The track is electrified with standard 25 KVAC overhead electrification.
  2. The train is a standard Siemens electric or battery-electric train.
  3. Siemens Rail Charging Converter, which is the shed in the compound on the left is providing the electricity to energise the catenary.
  4. I suspect, it could power third rail electrification, if the Office of Rail and Road ever allowed it to be still installed.
  5. The Siemens Rail Charging Converter does have one piece of magic in the shed. I suspect it uses a battery or a large capacitor to help power the electrification, as it can be powered from any typical domestic grid supply.
  6. I also wonder, if it has safety devices that cut the power outside the shed if track workers or intruders are detected, where they shouldn’t be?
  7. It could even cut the power, when trains are not running to save power and increase safety.

This looks to me, that a Siemens Rail Charging Converter could be a superb example of out-of-the-box thinking.

Could The Cleethorpes And Barton-on-Humber Service Be Run By Battery-Electric Rolling Stock?

This OpenRailwayMap shows the railways of North-East Lincolnshire.

Note.

  1. Cleethorpes is in the South-East Corner of the map.
  2. Barton-on-Humber is in the North-West corner of the map and marked by a blue-arrow.
  3. Stations from South to North would be New Clee, Grimsby Docks, Grimsby Town, Great Coates, Healing, Stallingborough, Habrough, Ulceby, Thornton Abbey, Goxhill, New Holland and Barrow Haven.
  4. The line is double track.
  5. Cleethorpes and Barton-on-Humber is just 22.8 miles.
  6. A round trip would be under fifty miles, which would be well within range of a full-charge at one end.
  7. Service is one train per two hours (tp2h), which would only need a single train, shuttling between Cleethorpes and Barton-on-Humber.
  8. Two trains could provide an hourly service.

I would expect, that well-designed, solid and reliable German engineering could build a Siemens’ Rail Charging Connector that could charge four trains per hour (tph) at Cleethorpes station.

At present services are.

  • TransPennineExpress – 1 tph to Liverpool Lime Street.
  • East Midlands Railway – 1 tp2h to Barton-on-Humber
  • East Midlands Railway – 1 tp2h to Matlock via Lincoln and Nottingham
  • Northern Trains – 1 train per day (tpd) Sheffield via Brigg.

That is probably only about two tph.

Could The Cleethorpes And Sheffield Service Be Run By Battery-Electric Rolling Stock?

This is a description of the current Cleethorpes and Sheffield service.

  • It is run by Northern Trains.
  • The morning train leaves Sheffield at 09:54 and arrives in Cleethorpes at 11:40.
  • The afternoon train leaves Cleethorpes at 13:20 and arrives in Sheffield at 15:10.
  • The train is a Class 150 diesel train, which is a bit of a Joan Collins of a train – Of a certain age, but still scrubs up extremely well!
  • Intermediate stations are Worksop, Retford, Gainsborough Central, Kirton Lindsey, Brigg, Barnetby and Grimsby Town
  • The route length is 71.6 miles
  • Trains take about 45-50 minutes.

It is also a parliamentary train.

The Wikipedia entry for parliamentary train gives this description of the Cleethorpes and Sheffield service.

Via Kirton Lindsey & Brigg. Became a parliamentary service when weekday services were withdrawn in 1993. Regular trains have operated between Gainsborough and Sheffield for most timetable periods since. Suspended January 2022 by Northern, who cited COVID-19 and staffing issues , but the service was reinstated in December 2022. Changed in May 2023 to be one return journey on weekdays only.

In the 1950s and 1960s I lived in Felixstowe part of the time and in the 1970s and 1980s I lived near Woodbridge and I observed first hand the development of the Port of Felixstowe and the effects it had on the surrounding countryside.

The development of the Port of Felixstowe, has brought the following.

  • Improved roads and railways.
  • Ipswich is now an hour from London by train.
  • Ipswich is now a University town.
  • New housing and other developments, both in Ipswich and Felixstowe and the surrounding countryside.
  • Employment also has increased considerably, both in the Port and in surrounding towns.
  • Ipswich’s football team is very much respected all over Europe and has won the English top division, the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup.

When you consider the jobs that RWE could create in the Port of Grimsby, I believe that this could have similar effects in Grimsby and Cleethorpes, as the Port of Felixstowe had in East Suffolk.

Already, the following are being talked about.

  • A direct rail link between Cleethorpes and Grimsby to London.
  • Battery-electric trains between Cleethorpes and Grimsby and Doncaster, Manchester and Liverpool Lime Street.

I believe that an improved rail link between Cleethorpes and Sheffield could be the catalyst for much needed housing along the route, which would be to the benefit of Cleethorpres, Grimsby, Sheffield and all the intermediate towns and villages on the route.

and the affects this will have on the countryside around the town, I believe that a strong case can be made out for a more frequent service between Cleethorpes and Sheffield.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 16, 2025 Posted by | Artificial Intelligence, Design, Energy, Sport, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Gareth Southgate’s Cunning Plan

This article on The Times is entitled Imported Wembley Turf Gave England The Edge In Penalty Shootout.

This is the sub-heading.

Seed from home was used to create full-size pitch at the team’s training ground in Germany.

These three paragraphs give more detail.

A combination of psychological preparation and penalty-kick data analysis has been touted as the secret to England’s recent shootout successes.

After the Three Lions triumphed against Switzerland, however, another factor was hailed for helping them reach the Euro 2024 semi-finals. Gareth Southgate’s squad spent the last few weeks perfecting penalties on Wembley grass shipped to their training camp in Germany.

The Times understands that the pitch in Blankenhain was seeded in April with the turf used in London. Those close to the team believe the Wembley-grade grass helped to propel the players through the knockout stages and Saturday’s shoot-out.

I have had further thoughts.

The Size Of The Replica Pitch

So for England to have built a replica pitch, the same size as Wembley, could be clever idea if you were playing all your matches there.

The pitch at Wembley is 105 x 69 metres.

These are the pitch sizes in the EURO 2024 stadia.

  • The Olympic stadium pitch in Berlin is 105 x 68 metres.
  • The Borussia Dortmund pitch is 105 x 68 metres.
  • The Allianz Arena in Munich is is 105 x 68 metres.
  • The Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen is 105 x 68 metres.
  • The Hamburg Stadium is 105 x 68 metres.
  • The Stuttgart Arena is 105 x 68 metres.
  • The Frankfurt Arena is 105 x 68 metres.
  • The Dusseldorf Arena is 105 x 68 metres.
  • The Cologne Stadium is 105 x 68 metres.
  • The Leipzig Stadium is 105 x 68 metres.

The Germans seem to have a one size fits all rule for pitches.

All would fit into England’s replica Wembley pitch, if you drew the touchlines in by a metre.

You might even setup the replica Wembley, so that pitch furniture like dug-outs were in the correct place for the next stadium, England would use.

England would certainly get good value from their replica Wembley.

I wonder how many countries have their own full-size replica pitch in EURO 2024?

It would be a valuable training aid.

An Ipswich Connection?

Consider.

  • Portman Road has always been an immaculate playing surface.
  • Ipswich groundsmen have had a connection to a major overseas tournament before.

I wonder, if the FA asked Ipswich to help, as they are one of the best at creating pitches.

Use Of Replica Pitches In Domestic Leagues

If replica pitches can work in International football, they must work in domestic football.

But I’ve never heard of anything like it being tried.

Kieran McKenna is an innovative manager with a degree in sports science from Loughborough University.

  • Is he using a similar same-size pitch trick at Ipswich?
  • The pitch at Portman Road is 10 x 75 metres.
  • Is the training pitch at Ipswich, exactly the same as the match pitch at Portman Road?

If ot os, could this explain, Ipswich’s rise of two divisions in two seasons?

Last season in the Championship, Ipswich won 16 Home games and 13 Away games.

Practice on a replica pitch might explain the better Home success.

Premier League Pitch Sizes

This page on Football Fancast gives all the sizes for 2023/24 and all except these are 105 x 68 metres.

  • Everton
  • Chelsea
  • Liverpool
  • Sheffield United
  • Crystal Palace
  • Luton Town
  • Fulham

The differences from the 105 x 68 metres, is generally only a few metres.

Conclusion

It looks to me, that Gareth Southgate, Kieran McKenna and some of the Ipswich groundsmen have stitched together an idea in a country pub, over a couple of pints of real ale.

July 8, 2024 Posted by | Sport | , , , , | 1 Comment

£20 Electronic Ear-Clips Train The Body To Decrease Blood Pressure

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.

These two paragraphs outline how the device is used.

A £20 device that delivers “tingling” electric pulses to the ears and can be worn at home could be almost twice as effective as drugs at reducing blood pressure, a neuroscientist has said.

Early trials suggest that wearing the small electrodes clipped to the ears for half an hour per day over two weeks while relaxing, watching TV or eating can reduce blood pressure by up to 15mm of mercury (mm Hg), compared with 8mm Hg to 10mm Hg for drugs such as Ace inhibitors or beta-blockers.

It appears the device has been developed at University College London.

Would I Use Electronic Ear-Clips To Control My Blood Pressure?

Soon after my wife died in 2007, my cholesterol levels rose.

The Ipswich Town Physiotherapist, who was a drinking partner before matches at Portman Road, recommended that I see his dietician.

She identified the following.

  • My diet had changed since my my wife’s death, as I was choosing the food and doing the cooking.
  • She suspected, that I wasn’t eating enough soluble fibre.
  • I was eating enough fruit and vegetables.

Her solution was two-fold.

  • Swap butter and other spreads for Benecol.
  • Make sure, I eat, at least one small tin of baked beans every week.

Obviously, as I had been found to be coeliac in 1997, I should stay gluten-free.

I’ve seen other dieticians since and none have criticised, what she said.

No doctor has also ever said, that there is something wrong with my cholesterol.

After my stroke in 2010, I was put on Warfarin to thin my blood.

The only addition to my cocktail of drugs, was that after an unexplained collapse, I was put on blood pressure drugs.

So to return to the question I asked at the top of this section.

I may take six or seven drugs and vitamin tablets every day, but swapping one or two for half-an-hour with an electronic device wouldn’t be too much trouble.

That is, if I could tolerate the device, as I’m not keen on headphones.

But it could be an interesting alternative to taking pharmaceutical drugs.

 

 

June 21, 2024 Posted by | Food, Health | , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Beyoncé Funds Metro Service

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.

This is the first paragraph.

Singer Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour funded an extra hour of operation of the Washington metro at a cost of $100 000, ensuring that fans could get home after bad weather delayed the start of her concert at the FedEx Field stadium.

Reading the whole article, it looks like everyone was a winner and it is to be hoped that it sets a precedent and under similar circumstances, other promoters take similar actions.

I remember a few years ago, Ipswich and Charlton in the League Cup overran badly one evening and we all got back to Ipswich station well after the last train had gone.

But Greater Anglia made sure that everybody got home, even sending a fleet of taxis to Sudbury.

August 11, 2023 Posted by | Sport, Transport/Travel, World | , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Three Players Pursuing Floating Offshore Wind Opportunities At Barents Sea Oil Field

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

Norwegian oil and gas company Vår Energi has entered into a collaboration with a consortium consisting of Odfjell Oceanwind and Source Galileo to explore opportunities for floating offshore wind through a pilot project at a field located in the Barents Sea off Norway.

The article mentions the Goliat oil field, which is located 85 kilometres (53 mi) northwest of Hammerfest.

This Google Map shows the location of Hammerfest.

Note.

  1. Hammerfest is marked by the red arrow.
  2. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants.
  3. The furthest North, I’ve been in Europe is to Trondheim, which is in the South-West corner of the map.
  4. To the East of Hammerfest Norway and Russia have a common border and beyond that is the Russian port of Murmansk.

Many years ago, my first visits to Ipswich Town were courtesy of the Official Receiver for Ipswich; John Richardson, who was my parents’ next door neighbour in Felixstowe.

John was an interesting guy, who during the Second World War had been on the Arctic convoys to Murmansk and Archangel. The Wikipedia entry for Arctic Convoys Of World War Two, gives some details.

His descriptions of the weather in the area were horrendous and it makes me wonder why the Norwegians want to extract oil in those conditions. And now generate wind power.

This is the first sentence of the article.

Vår Energi disclosed the deal on Wednesday, 26 April 2023, explaining that the project, called GoliatVind, was a pilot project to demonstrate new, Norwegian offshore wind technology.

So is it all about new technology?

April 27, 2023 Posted by | Energy | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Extending The Elizabeth Line – Serving South-East London

The Inadequacies Of Abbey Wood Station

Abbey Wood station is the Elizabeth Line’s main terminus in South-East London.

The architecture is impressive, as the pictures taken before the station was finished show.

But other things are less than impressive.

  • There is no station parking.
  • Central London rail terminals served by Elizabeth Line services are only Liverpool Street/Moorgate and Paddington.
  • Central London rail terminals served by National Rail services are Cannon Street, London Bridge, King’s Cross and St. Pancras.

In my view, Abbey Wood is a lost cause, as a commuter station, unless substantial parking is built at the station.

Parking At Stations In West Kent

This list shows the number of car parking spaces at stations in West Kent and South East London.

  • Barnehurst – 162 *
  • Belvedere – None *
  • Bexleyheath – 83 *
  • Chatham – 276 *
  • Dartford – 186 *
  • Ebbsfleet International – 4945 #
  • Erith – None *
  • Eynsford – 15
  • Farningham Road – None
  • Gillingham – 152 *
  • Gravesend – 94 *
  • Greenhithe – 8 *
  • Longfield – 88
  • Meopham – 167
  • Northfleet – None *
  • Plumstead – None *
  • Rochester – None *
  • St. Mary Cray – 31
  • Slade Green – 25
  • Sole Street – 61
  • Stone Crossing – None *
  • Strood – 112 *
  • Swanley – 106
  • Swanscombe – None *
  • Welling – 117

Note.

  1. An asterisk (*) indicates direct trains to and from Abbey Wood station for the Elizabeth Line.
  2. An hash(#) indicates direct trains to and from Stratford International for the Elizabeth Line.

These figures are according to the National Rail web site.

It looks like unless you can walk to your nearest station and that has an easy connection to Abbey Wood, you’re probably better off going to Ebbsfleet and parking there.

Travelling Between Ebbsfleet International And The Elizabeth Line At Stratford International

Consider.

  • Southeastern’s Highspeed service between Ebbsfleet International and Stratford International has a frequency of three trains per hour (tph)
  • It takes less than twelve minutes between the two stations.
  • It takes ten minutes to walk between Stratford International and Stratford Station for the Elizabeth Line and Greater Anglia services.
  • There are eight Elizabeth Line tph to Paddington, calling at all stations. For Heathrow change at Whitechapel station.

Note.

  1. From these points, it should be possible to estimate the time you should park at Ebbsfleet to get to an event in London or East Anglia, if you live in Kent and are parking at Ebbsfleet International.
  2. I think four tph between Ebbsfleet International and Stratford International would make the route more attractive.
  3. If you’re going to Norwich or Ipswich be careful, as only one of the two tph stop at Stratford.

I catch the 12:30 from Liverpool Street for matches at Ipswich on Saturdays. This is the 12:38 from Stratford, so I suspect if you parked at parked at Ebbsfleet before 12:00, you’d make it.

Who’d have thought, that when they built the massive car parks at Ebbsfleet international, that they would be a Park-and-Ride for football at Ipswich. And Norwich too!

Changing Trains At Stratford

This map from Cartometro shows the two Stratford stations.

Note.

  1. The Elizabeth Line is shown in purple.
  2. The Central Line is shown in red.
  3. The Jubilee Line is shown in silver.
  4. The Overground is shown in orange.
  5. Lifts and escalators take passengers to and from the surface from between platforms 2 and 3 at Stratford International station.

Two pedestrian tunnels connect all the platforms in Stratford station.

  • Elizabeth Line trains use platforms 5 and 8.
  • Central Line trains use platforms 3, 3a and 6.
  • Great Eastern Main Line trains use platforms 9, 9a and 10.
  • Overground trains use platforms 1 and 2.

All platforms have lifts.

I suspect, that when you get to know the Stratford complex well, it’s easier than it looks.

But it does need better signage.

Full Step-Free Route Between Ebbsfleet And Heathrow Central

I have just used Transport for London’s Journey Planner, as if I was in a wheelchair and need full step-free access to go from Ebbsfleet to Heathrow Central.

This was the route.

  • Southeastern to Stratford International station – 10 mins
  • Walk to Stratford station – 21 mins
  • Jubilee Line to Bond Street – 24 mins
  • Bond Street to Heathrow Central – 32 mins

Note.

  1. The times are slower than say myself.
  2. I think it is possible to pick up the Elizabeth Line at Stratford.

But the route is certainly possible in a wheel-chair.

The Penge Interchange

This map from Cartometro shows where the East London Line of the London Overground and the Chatham Main Line between Victoria and Chatham cross in Penge.

Note.

  1. The East London Line runs North-South through Sydenham and Penge West stations.
  2. The Chatham Main Line runs through Penge East station.

There is a plan by Transport for London to create a Penge Interchange station on railway land, where the two lines cross.

  • The station could replace Penge West and Penge East stations.
  • It would be fully step-free.
  • Interchange would be allowed between the East London Line and the Chatham Main Line.

This would increase connectivity for those travelling to and from South-East London and West Kent.

I brlieve that this one interchange could help level-up a large area of South-East London.

January 29, 2023 Posted by | Sport, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Suffolk Doesn’t Do Easy!

Many parts of the UK consider Suffolk to be rather sleepy.

I was conceived in the county and have spent at least half my life there.

I have a strong affection from my adopted county, which always seem to punch above its apparent weight.

  • All thoroughbred horses have bloodlines that can be traced back to Newmarket, which is a town of 17,000 people in West Suffolk.
  • The Battle of Landguard Fort is recorded as the last opposed attack on England, where on the 2nd of July 1667, a much larger Dutch force was repelled by Nathaniel Darrell and his marines.
  • The exploits of Ipswich Town over the years are on a par with those of many prominent clubs in much bigger towns and cities.
  • Since the 1950’s, the Port of Felixstowe has grown to be the United Kingdom’s busiest container port.

This morning I received a marketing e-mail from Adnams; the Suffolk brewer and this is an extract.

Ghost Ship 0.5% is brewed just like our other beers, so you can count on 150 years of brewing heritage. It was crafted to taste like our best-selling brew, so you can also count on its flavour.

It is always our aim to make great-tasting products, but when creating Ghost Ship 0.5%, the brewing team didn’t simply have to make something delicious, it had to taste like a well-loved and well-known beer. They were dealing with great expectations.

Adnams invested in a de-alcoholiser specifically to make this beer. We could brew in the normal way; adding the lovely fruity flavours you get from a full fermentation, before removing the alcohol. This alters the balance and the mouthfeel of a beer, so it still took months of trials and tinkering to get to where we wanted.

We used all our expertise the finest East Anglian malt and bold American hops to create a low-alcohol beer that tastes frighteningly good. It’s now our second most popular brew, and at 0.5% abv, can be enjoyed whenever and wherever the moment takes you. So, you can get out there, travel that little bit further, and taste just a little bit more.

Note in the last paragraph, that it is now their second most popular brew.

  • It tastes just like the halves of bitter, I used to drink around 1960, whilst playing snooker with my father in his club in Felixstowe.
  • Adnams has been my preferred beer since then.
  • Like all zero-alcohol beers, my coeliac gut doesn’t react to it.

As a regular drinker of this beer, it looks like Suffolk has another success on its hands.

I’ll drink to that!

January 12, 2023 Posted by | Food, Sport | , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

New £157m Chelmsford Railway Station Makes Progress

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.

This is the introductory paragraph.

The submission of an environmental impact assessment application to Chelmsford City Council for the proposed £157m Beaulieu railway station marks the next step in the ambitious project.

It may not be a large step, but it moves things forward to creation of this new Beaulieu station, North of the City of Chelmsford, which should be open around 2025.

Beaulieu Station Will Have Three Platforms

Intriguingly, Wikipedia says that the station will have three platforms.

The stations on the Great Eastern Main Line between Shenfield and Colchester will have the following numbers of platforms.

  • Ingatestone – 2
  •  Chelmsford – 2
  • Beaulieu – 3
  • Hatfield Peverel – 2
  • Witham – 4
  • Kelvedon – 2
  • Marks Tey – 3

As Witham and Marks Tey have branch lines, Beaulieu will be very much the outsider.

I suspect the extra platform is very much for reasons, similar to those that result in Cambridge North station being built as a three-platform station with two through and one bay platform.

I don’t think we’ll see Crossrail extended to Beaulieu.

  • The route between Shenfield and Beaulieu is only double-track.
  • All passenger trains currently on the route are 100 mph electric trains.
  • Crossrail’s Class 345 trains are only 90 mph trains.

The speed mismatch would slow services to and from stations to the North.

But will we see a new service between London Liverpool Street and Beaulieu, which stops at perhaps, Stratford, Romford, Shenfield, Ingatestone and Chelmsford?

I suspect we will certainly see a new service terminating at Beaulieu, even if it is only in the Peak.

How Will Current Services Call At Beaulieu?

Currently, one fast and four stopping services stop in Chelmsford station every hour.

There are actually two trains per hour (tph) between London Liverpool Street and Norwich, but only one stops at Chelmsford.

So will the second hourly fast service stop at Beaulieu?

I would certainly be logical.

The four stopping services, that stop at Chelmsford every hour are.

  • London Liverpool Street and Braintree
  • London Liverpool Street and Clacton-on-Sea
  • London Liverpool Street and Colchester Town
  • London Liverpool Street and Ipswich

As all services stop at most stations, I would expect they would stop at Beaulieu.

  • This would give Beaulieu a four tph Turn-Up-And-Go service to and from Chelmsford station, which uniquely for East Anglia is in the centre of the City.
  • If the third platform were to be used for a fifth service to London Liverpool Street, this would be a train every twelve minutes between Chelmsford and Beaulieu stations.
  • I can see that for some journeys, the fastest and most convenient route may include a change of train at Beaulieu.

I also seem to remember, that Greater Anglia had plans to extend the Ipswich service to Norwich and this will surely be useful to travellers from Beaulieu, who would then have a fast and a stopping service to Norwich.

A Park-And-Ride For Football And Events At Ipswich And Norwich Football Grounds

Both football grounds at Ipswich and Norwich are close to the stations and I can see many attendees driving to Beaulieu  to catch a train, as parking in both Ipswich and Norwich can be difficult.

If in the future, there are two tph between Beaulieu and both destinations, it could be the quickest way to the grounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 20, 2021 Posted by | Sport, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

£100m Station Revamp Could Double Local Train Services

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Northern Echo.

This is the opening paragraph.

Officials behind plans for a £100m-plus transformation of Darlington’s Bank Top Station have confirmed it will remain the only one on the East Coast Mainline without a platform specifically for the London to Scotland service.

Darlington station has made various appearances in my life, all of which have been pleasurable ones.

I went several times to ICI’s Wilton site on Teesside in the 1970s, when the route to London was worked by the iconic Class 55 locomotives or Deltics.

I wrote about one memorable trip home from Darlington in The Thunder of Three-Thousand Three-Hundred Horses.

Over the years, I also seem to have had several clients for my computing skills in the area, including the use of my data analysis software; Daisy at Cummins Engines in the town.

And lately, it’s been for football at Middlesbrough to see Ipswich play, where I’ve changed trains. Sometimes, Town even won.

The improvements planned for the station are two-fold.

Improvement Of Local Services

This paragraph from Wikipedia, sums up the local train services on the Tees Valley Line between Saltburn and Bishop Auckland via Darlington, Middlesbrough and Redcar.

Northern run their Tees Valley line trains twice hourly to Middlesbrough, Redcar and Saltburn (hourly on Sundays), whilst the Bishop Auckland branch has a service every hour (including Sundays). The company also operates two Sundays-only direct trains to/from Stockton and Hartlepool.

If ever a route needed improvement it is this one.

This paragraph from the Northern Echo article, outlines the plans for Darlington station.

The meeting was also told the overhaul, which will see new platforms, a new station building, parking and an interchange for passengers, alongside other improvements, would also double capacity on Tees Valley and Bishop Auckland lines, meaning four trains an hour on the former and two trains an hour on the latter.

I also believe that the route is a shoe-in for zero-carbon services; hydrogen or battery electric.

Hydrogen Trains On Teesside

In Fuelling The Change On Teesside Rails, I discuss using hydrogen powered trains for the lines in the area and they could certainly provide services on more than just the Tees Valley Line.

The hydrogen powered trains would probably be this Alstom Breeze.

They would appear to be in pole position to change the image of Teesside’s trains.

Battery Electric Trains On Teesside

But I suspect. that an Anglo-Japanese partnership, based in the North-East could have other ideas.

  • Hitachi have a train factory at Newton Aycliffe on the Tees Valley Line.
  • Hyperdrive Innovation design and produce battery packs for transport and mobile applications in Sunderland.

The two companies have launched the Regional Battery Train, which is described in this Hitachi infographic.

Note than 90 kilometres is 56 miles, so the train has a very useful range.

Hitachi have talked about fitting batteries to their express trains to serve places like Middlesbrough, Redcar and Sunderland with zero-carbon electric services.

But their technology can also be fitted to their Class 385 trains and I’m sure that Scotland will order some battery-equipped Class 385 trains to expand their vigorous electric train network.

Both Scotland and Teesside will need to charge their battery trains.

Example distances on Teesside include.

  • Darlington and Saltburn – 28 miles
  • Darlington and Whitby – 47 miles
  • Darlington and Bishop Auckland – 12 miles

The last route would be possible on a full battery, but the first two would need a quick battery top-up before return.

So there will need to be strategically-placed battery chargers around the North-East of England. These could include.

  • Hexham
  • Nunthorpe
  • Redcar or Saltburn – This would also be used by TransPennine Express’s Class 802 trains, if they were to be fitted with batteries.
  • Whitby

If Grand Central did the right thing and ran battery electric between London and Sunderland, there would probably be a need for a battery charger at Sunderland.

It appears that Adrian Shooter of Vivarail has just announced a One-Size-Fits-All Fast Charge system, that has been given interim approval by Network Rail.

I discuss this charger in Vivarail’s Plans For Zero-Emission Trains, which is based on a video on the Modern Railways web site.

There is more about Vivarail’s plans in the November 2020 Print Edition of the magazine, where this is said on page 69.

‘Network Rail has granted interim approval for the fast charge system and wants it to be the UK’s standard battery charging system’ says Mr. Shooter. ‘We believe it could have worldwide implications.’

I believe that Hitachi and Hyperdrive Innovation, with a little bit of help from friends in Seaham, can build a battery-electric train network in the North-East.

The Choice Between Hydrogen And Battery Electric

Consider.

  • The hydrogen trains would need a refuelling system.
  • The battery electric trains would need a charging structure, which could also be used by other battery electric services to and from the North-East.
  • No new electrification or other infrastructure would be needed.
  • If a depot is needed for the battery electric trains, they could probably use the site at Lackenby, that has been identified as a base for the hydrogen trains.

Which train would I choose?

I think the decision will come down to politics, money and to a certain extent design, capacity and fuel.

  • The Japanese have just signed a post-Brexit trade deal and France or rather the EU hasn’t.
  • The best leasing deal might count for a lot.
  • Vivarail have stated that batteries for a battery electric train, could be leased on a per mile basis.
  • The Hitachi train will be a new one and the Alstom train will be a conversion of a thirty year old British Rail train.
  • The Hitachi train may well have a higher passenger capacity, as there is no need for the large hydrogen tank.
  • Some people will worry about sharing the train with a large hydrogen tank.
  • The green credentials of both trains is not a deal-breaker, but will provoke discussion.

I feel that as this is a passenger train, that I’m leaning towards a battery electric train built on the route.

An Avoiding Line Through Darlington

The Northern Echo also says this about track changes at the station.

A meeting of Darlington Borough Council’s communities and local services scrutiny committee was told a bus lane-style route off the mainline at the station would enable operators to run more high-speed services.

Councillors heard that the proposed track changes would enable very fast approaches to Darlington and allow other trains to pass as East Coast Mainline passengers boarded.

Some councillors seem to be unhappy about some trains passing through the station without stopping.

Are their fears justified?

This Google Map shows Darlington station.

Note.

  1. The station has two long platforms and two South-facing bay platforms.
  2. There is plenty of space.
  3. There already appear to be a pair of electrified avoiding lines on the Eastern side of the station.

Wikipedia also says this about how Darlington station will be changed by High Speed Two.

The new high speed rail project in the UK, High Speed 2, is planned to run through Darlington once Phase 2b is complete and will run on the existing East Coast Main Line from York and Newcastle. Darlington Station will have two new platforms built for the HS2 trains on the Main Line, as the station is built just off the ECML to allow for freight services to pass through.

This would appear to suggest that the two current avoiding lines will be turned into high speed platforms.

Current High Speed Services At Darlington

The current high speed services at Darlington are as follows.

  • LNER – two trains per hour (tph) – London Kings Cross and Edinburgh
  • Cross Country – one tph – Plymouth and Edinburgh or Glasgow
  • Cross Country – one tph – Southampton and Newcastle
  • TransPennine Express – one tph – Liverpool and Edinburgh
  • TransPennine Express – one tph – Manchester Airport and Newcastle

Northbound, this gives eight tph to Newcastle and four tph to Edinburgh

East Coast Trains

East Coast Trains‘s services are not planned to stop at Darlington.

High Speed Two Trains

Darlington is planned to be served by these High Speed Two trains.

  • 1 tph – Birmingham Curzon Street and Newcastle via East Midlands Hub, York and Durham
  • 1 tph – London Euston and Newcastle via Old Oak Common and York.

Both will be 200 metre High Speed Two Classic-Compatible trains

Northbound, this gives ten tph to Newcastle and four tph to Edinburgh.

As the Eastern Leg of High Speed Two has some spare capacity, I suspect there could be other services through Darlington.

Improvements To The East Coast Main Line

If you look at the East Coast Main Line between Doncaster and Newcastle, the route is a mixture of two and four-track railway.

  • Between Doncaster and York, there are two tracks
  • Between York and Northallerton, there are four tracks
  • Between Northallerton and Darlington, there are two tracks
  • North of Darlington, the route is mainly two tracks.

I have flown my virtual helicopter along much of the route and I can say this about it.

  • Much of the route is through agricultural land, and where absolutely necessary extra tracks could possibly be added.
  • The track is more-or-less straight for large sections of the route.
  • Routes through some towns and cities, are tightly hemmed in by houses.

I also believe that the following developments will happen to the whole of the East Coast Main Line before High Speed Two opens.

  • Full ERTMS in-cab digital signalling will be used on all trains on the route.
  • The trains will be driven automatically, with the driver watching everything. Just like a pilot in an airliner!
  • All the Hitachi Class 80x trains used by operators on the route, will be able to operate at up to 140 mph, once this signalling and some other improvements have been completed.
  • All level crossings will have been removed.
  • High Speed Two is being built using slab track, as I stated in HS2 Slab Track Contract Awarded. I suspect some sections of the East Coast Main Line, that are used by High Speed Two services, will be upgraded with slab track to increase performance and reduce lifetime costs.

Much of the East Coast Main Line could become a 140 mph high speed line, as against High Speed Two, which will be a 225 mph high speed line.

This will mean that all high speed trains will approach Darlington and most other stations on the route, at 140 mph.

Trains will take around a minute to decelerate from or accelerate to 140 mph and if the station stop took a minute, the trains will be up to speed again in just three minutes. In this time, the train would have travelled two-and-a-half miles.

Conclusion

I think that this will happen.

  • The Tees Valley Line trains will be greatly improved by this project.
  • Trains will generally run at up to 140 mph on the East Coast Main Line, under full digital control, like a slower High Speed Two.
  • There will be two high speed platforms to the East of the current station, where most if not all of the High Speed Two, LNER and other fast services will stop.
  • There could be up to 15 tph on the high speed lines.

With full step-free access between the high speed and the local platforms in the current station, this will be a great improvement.

October 25, 2020 Posted by | Computing, Hydrogen, Sport, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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