Memories of Victor Chandler?
Nottingham Forest are sponsored by Victor Chandler, the well-known bookmaker.
Years ago before I was married, I used to work in a pub called The Merryhils at Oakwood in North London during University holidays. The pub is stll there, but it has been renamed.
The pub was owned by a man called Chandler, who was related to the family that owned Walthamstow stadium with its greyhound racing track. They were very good to me and C always thought that the deal we got for our wedding reception there in 1968 was a very good one. Especially, as her parents weren’t in the least bit well-off!
I don’t quite know the pub owner’s relationship to Victor, but it was fairly close and I can remember being introduced to an embarrassed young kid of about six, all dressed up in a fancylittle suit with a bow tie, who I’m fairly sure was called Victor. It was only a chance meeting, but I suspect Victor would not have preferred to have worn something different. You’d certainly not dress a little boy, that way today!
But he has gone on to do well!
Checking with his personal Wikipedia entry, it would appear it wasn’t Victor, as the age was wrong, but some of the complimentary quotes about Victor there could equally apply to the landlord of The Merryhills. They were very good people to work for and in perhaps the three years I did, I enjoyed it immensely and there was never any cross words. And of course there was the excellent wedding reception at an affordable price!
Reflections on My Journey to Scotland
In my Modern Railways for October, which I bought in Doncaster, there was an heretic article by Chris Stokes, asking if we really needed HS2 or the High Speed Line to the North, which would go to just Birmingham at first. He described it as a vanity project.
Twelve months ago, I was a sceptic on whether we needed a High Speed Line to the North, mainly because I didn’t think it would do anything for anybody in East Anglia where I lived. If I needed to get to the North, I wanted a fast line from somewhere I could drive to easily like Peterborough.
But when it was announced that the route would be to Birmingham in the last days of the disastrous NuLabor experiment, I warmed to it a bit, although I did think it needed to go via Heathrow. I also thought very much that it was a Nimby’s charter.
But Chris’s article has now turned me back to very much a sceptic. Competition being what it is, his argument, that unless you virtually close down the West Coast and Chiltern Birmingham services, no-one will pay a premium to go from London to the Midland’s premier city. My son incidentally always goes by Virgin and has never thought about using Chiltern, as Euston is on the same Underground Line as where he lives.
Chris also argues, that the amount of First Class traffic will decrease due to austerity, good housekeeping and modern technology removing the need to travel. Some years ago, I installed a Management Information System in a company, which was web-friendly and even allowed the computer-phobic CEO to find out how the company was doing from any computer in the world. But also, the modern traveller will become First Class smart and book it when and where they need it. So if you think there is a premium market that saves a few minutes, forget it!
Put simply, a lawyer say going to Birmingham from London for the day, will choose his route and class dependent on what is best for his needs. Hopefully, when I move to London, it will be in walking distance of Canonbury. Who’s to say that in 2015, someone isn’t running an express to say Milton Keynes, Coventry and Birmingham from Stratford and East London on the North London Line and possibly the Primrose Hill Tunnel?
So what will happen to lines to the North, if we don’t build HS2 on schedule? We’ll get the usual whining, we always get when the investment is cut, but let’s look at the reality of what will happen!
We now have two good and pretty reliable and fast train lines from London to the North of England and Scotland. I was told on my trip to to Inverness that it should be possible to be some minutes under four hours from Edinburgh to London. This compares with a fastest journey now of about four hours twenty minutes, although Operation Peppercorn is aiming for the magic four hours flat for the fastest trains with a stop at Newcastle. Glasgow to London by comparison is now about four hours and twenty minutes. Many of my Scottish friends say this is fast enough to mean they won’t bother to fly to London, as airport checks and delays are getting worse and they can use phones and laptops on the trains.
If there is a problem with the two stiles of a possible ladder reaching up the United Kingdom, is that some of the interfaces to other lines are poor. But the basics and some of the rungs of the ladder are already in place.
There are a succession of large stations on both lines, such as Peterborough, Crewe, Doncaster, York and Newcastle, which can be developed into easy change stations to other places. As I said earlier, Doncaster isn’t bad and I think Peterborough is going to be developed and hopefully linked to the nearby shopping centre, but a lot of work needs to be done.
As I rode out of Edinburgh towards Inverness, I was impressed to see that electrification has started to link Edinburgh and Glasgow. As it is trains now run every fifteen minutes and most take just fifty to link Scotland’s two capitals. I suspect that this will become a very important link between the two fast lines, not only because of level cross-platform interchange from the South to local trains, but also because full electrification would allow fast direct trains from Glasgow to York and Edinburgh to Liverpool. Taking the first journey, my road atlas estimates that at four hours ten minutes, which compares with about four hours by train now with two changes and two different companies. I estimate that something like a Pendelino could do this journey direct with perhaps just a stop at Newcastle in about three hours fofty-five minutes. Who would back against, Peppercorn 2, squeezing more minutes out of the East Coast Line.
A similar situation could exist between Newcastle, York and Doncaster in the East and Manchester, Liverpool and Preston in the West, by expanding and electrifying the TransPennine network. Edinburgh to Sheffield is a journey that uses either a direct diesel service or a change to TranPennine at Newcastle. If TransPennine was a level change at Newcastle from one fast electric to another, there would be a much better service.
London too has a strong link across, although as I said Euston is not a welcoming station, but when you’ve got three world-class stations in Kings Cross, St. Pancras and Euston, as you will have, an innovative transport solution along Euston Road could surely be achieved. For a start let’s have a proper walking route a hundred metres or so north of Euston Road, with cafes and shops. But I’m certain that people should be encouraged to take the Metropolitan Line rather than the Victoria or Northern. Perhaps we need a moving walkway! Euston is supposed to be being developed and also be a terminal for HS2. If the latter does happen, there will be a lot of grief and opposition in that area of London. That development, whether it incorporates HS2 or not, will divert rail passengers to other routes, such as Chiltern for Birmingham and East Coast for Scotland.
There is also another link that might be brought into use, especially if Euston has to be partially closed to traffic, whilst it is rebuilt. That is the link to Manchester out of St. Pancras, which was used reasonably successfully as Operation Rio during the West Coast Main Line upgrade. I’ve always argued that this should have stayed in place, as it interfaces well with the A14 at Wellingborough for those going from East Anglia to the North Midlands,Sheffield and ultimately Manchester.
So what’s missing?
As I found going to Scunthorpe, it’s not what’s missing in this case, but what’s still here; Pacers. All of these links to the two stiles of the ladder must be upgraded to the standard of the diesel trains, I used in Scotland. And where possible, they should link easily to the fast services. I think that this will happen, but in some ways it depends on a strong electrification program to release suitable diesel units.
The real problem though is the lack of a full East-West route between say Peterborough and Birmingham or perhaps Milton Keynes and Stevenage or Cambridge. The Peterborough to Nuneaton route is being upgraded for frieght and passenger trains between the two towns take seventy-five minutes. So it would look like that route could be another rung in the ladder. The other route is the possible Oxford-Cambridge Line, which could be built, if funds were made avaialable.
I believe strongly that the two route ladder offers advantages over just building a speculative line from South to North, which would cost several times the amount needed to build the two route ladder.
For example, as electrification progresses, subsidiary lines like Birmingham to Bristol could be further improved, so that more and more people had less than two hour access to the main network. More rungs could be opened up, by any company that feel there was a niche to be filled.
So should HS2 be built? I think that one day it might be built, so we must safeguard the route, so that at some future date it could be added as another part of the network.
If Beeching made one big mistake it was not in making sure that abandoned rail lines were able to be rebuilt. How many lines hastily abandoned in the 1960s are needed now? But perhaps it would mean knocking down a hundred or so houses and a Tesco’s!
Welcome to Euston
I arrived at Euston on time at about a quarter to eight!
It was clean, neat and tidy, but really it is not the most welcoming of stations. Perhaps, it is if you are going a few miles in a taxi, but I was going to Kings Cross for a train to Cambridge. On a good day, I’d have walked and possibly had breakfast, in one of the few stations in the world, that can call itself a destination in its own right; St. Pancras. So I struggled into the Underground, luckily against the flow of people and took the one stop to King’s Cross. I thought about breakfast, but as I wasn’t really hungry I took the 8:45 to get home. It was virtually empty, so that was at least good!
The Sleeper to Euston
AFter a curry in Fort William, I boarded the sleeper for London around 19:30 and it left on time at 19:50. Or should I say it left for Edinburgh, where the various coaches from all parts of Scotland were joined up into one long train for London.
I had a whisky before I retired and slept soundly until Crewe. This was despite the fact that the steward had told me, I’d got the worst berth in the carriage over the bogie and I would have difficulty sleeping. The next thing I remember was being woken with my breakfast. As a coeliac, I just had the coffee and the juice, but actually, I wasn’t that hungry, as I’d eaten well in Scotland.
So would I tske the sleeper again?
Perhaps this one, but I doubt I’ll take the one we did as a family with a car to the South of France. I didn’t sleep well on that and spent most of the trip trying to find out where I was. But at least C and myself christened the berth.
The third sleeper was again with C on the Eastern and Oriental Express from Bangkok to Butterworth for Penang. That was a memorable trip, but it’s probably one I wouldn’t risk for some years.
Simon Calder on the M25
Simon Calder is one of my favourite writers and his piece on Saturday on the M25 in the free Independent, I got from East Coast was excellent.
I particularly liked this bit.
Time for coffee. No service station graces this stretch of the M25, but handily the coffee bar with the best view in the South-east is just a juggernaut’s shudder from Junction 14. The location is on the departures level of Heathrow Terminal 5. As you wander over from the car park, you can look west to Windsor Castle. And a window seat provides you with a view over one of the busiest runways in the world. On the apron below, Airbuses beetle about, while every minute or two a Boeing whizzes past the window, carrying hundreds of people with stories from afar – some of which would no doubt be told as the M25 guided them home with their meeters and greeters.
It sounds like a place to visit. But I suspect Simon’s publicity means it will be very busy!
Thoughts on Transport to the Den
As I can’t drive, I rely heavily on three things, trains, buses and good old-fashioned walking.
On Tuesday night, I went to Canary Wharf for supper and for many places it is a good place to start an evening trip in London. The parking may be a bit expensive, but you can always get a couple of hours free, if you spend over £10 in one of the shops there. I used to buy something I needed like wine in Waitrose to get the token. Incidentally, is there a more up-market supermarket anywhere in the UK, than this one?
The first step to your evening entertainment, after a meal in one of the many restaurants, is to take the Jubilee Line from Canary Wharf Station, that makes all other Metro stations in the world, look ordinary. I once took a C into the station on the escalator from the surface and asked her to close her eyes, once she was safely on the moving staircase. I then told her to open her eyes a few metres down. The look on her face summed it all up.
As I was going to the Den on Tuesday, I just took one station on the Jubilee Line to Canada Water. From upstairs, I took a P12 bus, which stopped outside the ground. what could have been simpler?
One of the problems at the Den, is that it is an area with very few pubs, restaurants and cafes. My mate, Ian, chose to drive and he had quite a bit of difficulty parking and then finding anything to eat. I got the better deal by going to Canary Wharf.
There are plans to build a new station at Surrey Canal Road on the new East London Line extension to Clapham Junction.
This will make travelling to the Den easier, but it will probably do nothing for the quality of the hostelries in the area! I’m afraid at my age and with my medical conditions, greasy burgers, fish and chips and pints of gassy lager are not for me!
But it will give you more choices of getting to the ground, as it will then be directly connected to many other areas with lots of easily accessible places to eat and drink. For example, Ipswich fans coming in to Liverpool Street, might use the Spitalfields or Brick Lane areas, before going to the match from Shoreditch High Street.
Obviously Canary Wharf makes a good starting point for anything in the West End of London, but with just one simple interchange at Canada Water or Shadwell, it is also a good place to start for anything in South London, if you live north of the river. Crystal Palace, which used to be one of the more difficult grounds to reach is now a lot easier. It’s just a pity that the interchange at Shadwell from the Docklands Light Railway to the East London Line isn’t better.
Are Water Libraries Boring?
I’m not a great one for libraries, except for reference purposes, but I was struck by this sign near Millwall’s ground on Tuesday night.
The New Canada Water Library
A library with different samples of water, must be very boring, but obviously, it is at the heart of some important sciences like homeopathy and water divining. But why would the Canadians build their new water library in South London?
Towards the Match
I was mainly gpoing to London to see Ipswich play at Millwall.
I didn’t take a direct route, as I had time to spare and wanted to do one or two things before the match.
So from Tottenham Hale, I took a couple of stops on the Victoria Line to Highbury and Islington, where I took the North London Line to Canonbury.
A house I am interested in, lies betwwen there and Dalston Junction and I wanted to see which was the nearest station. The first leg took eleven minutes and the second ten, so Dalston Junction is closer and will be a couple of minutes so, when they complete the station. It’s also downhill from Canonbury and flat to Dalston Junction, which means that it is an easy walk to Dalston to travel away and another easy one to get home from Canonbury. In some ways it won’t matter too much, as from May 2011, the two stations will just be two stops apart on the East London Line.
FRom Dalston Junction, I took the East London Line south to Rotherhithe, with the aim of seeing the Brunel Museum; which is one of the many museums on the line. I took this photo of the brickwork on the entrance to the station.
Brickwork at Rotherhithe Station
I’ve always liked good brickwork and in my life, I’ve designed and had built several important brick features including a traditional crinkle-crankle wall at Debach and my round office here. Are we training bricklayers to be able to do the difficult stuff? Ralph who did the wall, used to work in rubber gloves to save his hands and spent his holidays looking at buildig techniques all over the world. His colleagues used to laugh at him, but he certainly knew how to lay bricks.
Bad Driving
There has been a lot of reports about the reasons why people drive badly today. Various solutions are being proposed including restrictions on young drivers.
I have driven for many years, but don’t now and I may never do again. But I’m happy to use buses and trains, with lifts to the nearest station.
I sometimes think that the reason we have a lot of bad driving is because people are pressured to use their cars, by lifestyle, family or jobs.
Let’s look at some categories, who get blamed for bad driving and accidents.
- Young drivers often have no other means, except a battered car to get to work or have a night out. It will be interesting to see if things like the new East London Line and the extensions to the Manchester Tram, actually cut accidents involving young drivers, as they take quality public transport instead.
- Elderly drivers who won’t give up their car, as they need it for the shops etc. You see quite a few round here, who should not drive. But there is no alternative.
- Company car drivers, who feel pressured to use the car, rather than perhaps take the train. How many companies refuse train expenses to people with company cars?
- And what about wives who are pressured to drive their husbands after a good meal out!
I have recently seen a change in that some people I know have swapped their cars for trains on longer journeys.
This needs to be encouraged, by more comfortable trains, better stations, more parking at stations, better connections and perks like free WiFi. I know of one person, who now commutes to his office in the nearest big city by bus because of the WiFi.
One thing that is accelerating change to rail and bus is Railcards and passes, as I found on my trip to Great Yarmouth.
Calcium and Vitamin D
Yesterday afternoon, I chewed a calcium tablet and took a small one for vitamin D, after a chat with my doctor about the results of the blood tests.
I hadn’t expected a quick effect, but did I get one last night, as I felt a lot better in the evening, with a lot less pain in my mouth and arm. I went to bed at half-ten and slept well until six in the morning, which is usually my time to start the day.
Typing seems a bit better this morning, so who knows if the pills have had an affect. I can’t believe one of each can bring an improvement. It could be just psychological, in that I now know there’s nothing wrong!
Here’s hoping that they did.
Today, I’m off to London to see Ipswich play at Millwall. I shall be exploring hidden parts of London for this blog. So let’s see how my body holds up today!
If nothing though, I would argue that everybody needs a full set of blood tests at about forty to see if they have any underlying problems. If I had it earlier, they might have picked up my coeliac disease, but reading about calcium deficiency and its symptoms, I may have suffered from that too at times. I have always tended to have pins and needles in my left hand and even saw the doctor about it once. We put it down to the break in the arm caused by the bully at school. But could it have been a calcium deficiency?
Also, as I feel used to feel that all gluten-free bread was made from cardboard, I didn’t eat it. so was I getting my recommended dose of cslcium, as by law bread in the UK has to have added calcium?
I knew that there was something wrong, as I lay in hospital and wanted them to do a full blood test because I felt it was a coeliac problem. Should all of those recovering from a stroke, be given a full set of blood tests, to make sure they don’t have any underlying problems that are hindering their recovery?
The Anonymous Widower 