The Invisible Bus Map of Middlesbrough
As my trip to Middlesbrough is only at the end of next week, I felt it would be sensible to make sure that I can find my way around. It looks like the B & B, where I will be staying is within walking distance of the Riverside Stadium and the station, but it would be nice to have a bus map, so that I can perhaps get about quicker. After all, I have a pass for all buses in the UK, so I should probably use it.
But there would appear to be no map on the Internet of Middlesbrough buses. Perhaps everybody who travels always knows where they are going or uses their own car. But compare the city, to Cambridge and Ipswich, both of which have excellent maps giving all you need.
Woolpack, Ipswich
The Woolpack is a pub which is within walking distance of the town centre of Ipswich.
I was having a drink in the pub before the football on Tuesday and the landlady informed me that her husband, the chef, cooked everything from scratch and knew all about gluten-free food.
I think I’ll try the pub next time I’m in the town for a meal.
Ipswich Film Theatre
The Corn Exchange cinema in Ipswich is to close.
Sad, but it was a place where my late wife and myself spent many happy days watching good films.
Changing Face of Ipswich
I took these two pictures in Ipswich on Saturday.
Civic Drive, Ipswich - 1
Civic Drive, Ipswich - 2
These two views fit together. In the first one, you see the old Crown Court and the space where the Civic Tower used to be and in the second, you see the AXA offices that have been reskinned and turned into something respectable and a good working environment.
All of these buildings were built at the same time, but why did they pull down the Civic Tower, rather than refurbish like the AXA offices? Was it because it was built to a much lower standard?
At my party yesterday, a surveyor said that civic and NHS buildings are now designed without air-conditioning to save money. Is this short-sighted? I suspect so and in twenty years time, we’ll be upgrading them to make them a decent working environment.
As a postscript to this, I went into Debenhams to try to find something. The air-conditioning had failed, but even with the lights turned down, it was oppressive.
The Anonymous Widower 