Praise For Hackney, Wooden Spoon for Wandsworth
I know I missed the torch at the end of my road, but that was mainly because I took too long for a pit stop, but I did know where it was going to go, as the maps were good. But that is not what can be said for Wandsworth yesterday, where I tried to see the torch about 17:00. When I asked around, people seemed to be very anti-Olympics and it seemed mainly because of the Olympic Route Network, that made driving difficult. But then I always remember that driving is difficult south of the river.
Wandsworth or at least the centre is perhaps best summed up by the old Ram Brewery site. There’s even an old steam engine in there somewhere, that worked until the 1980s.
It used to produce one of the best real ales, but look at it now.
Chemical lager manufacturers have a lot to answer for. ADanish friend of mine once said that in Denmark, Carlsberg bought up every brewer and meant the only beer you could get is their product. He advised all in the UK, to not let it happen here.
It doesn’t matter to me now, as I can’t drink beer, but I know many feel that the destruction of the traditional British drinking culture has been one of the disasters of the last few decades. As a policeman once told me in all seriousness, you never get trouble in a real ale pub.
Where Have All The New Buses For London Gone?
I went all the way home from Victoria today and didn’t see one going the other way.
Either it was just chance or could there be some devious plot to use them for the Olympics.
Was this a practice?
Promenade des Anglais
This is the headline on the front page of The Times complete with a picture of Bradley Wiggins in yellow.
The Times for July 23rd, 2012
Not quite in the same vein as The Sun’s infamous “Hop Off You Frogs”, but it has a similar impact, especially as it is balanced by an article inside entitled “France hails its favourite Englishman” Even the French President, Francois Hollande is quoted in this article in the Telegraph.
French President François Hollande: “He is a complete rider. He is a good climber and a super time trialist. His team-mate (Chris Froome) is also very good, so if Wiggins had not won the Tour he would have been there. It was the British year.”
Even L’Equipe the French sporting newspaper, declares Wiggins’s victory to be like Miguel Indurain and used the heading of God Save the King as the link to their report of the last stage.
When was that phrase last used in a French newspaper?
So it is a victory to savour and I don’t think it will be unique within a few years. But now we’ve got the Olympics!
Will we see the Wiggins effect ripple through Team GB?
Torch Chasing in East London – Walthamstow
I then rushed to Walthamstow to see the torch in Hoe Street.
I think the mood of everybody was summed up, as a police motorcyclist tried to nick a Jamaican flag from someone standing on the side of the road. In fact the officers were very much in the swing of things, probably doing no more, than make sure no-one got run over.
Torch Chasing in East London – Clissold Park
On Sunday, I missed the torch at the end of my road, as after the Royal London Hospital, it took me longer to get home, have a pit-stop abnd then get down there. So Ijumped on a 141 bus and went to Clissold Park.
The torch was visiting the Hackney Festival.
Torch Chasing In East London – Royal London Hospital
My granddaughter was born in the Royal London Hospital. So I had to go along and take some pictures.
The hospital now has been almost completely reconstructed and the famous facade is in the process of being refurbished. Note how in the distance in many of these pictures you can see The Gherkin.
Torch Chasing In East London – Stepney Green to the Royal London Hospital
I then walked along the Mile End Road to then catch the torch at the Royal London Hospital
As I walked I met an engineer of Bangladeshi origin , who had been born in the area and he added to my knowledge of the local history. We did wonder what William Booth would have thought of the Olympics and the changing face of the East End of London. Sadly some of the problems he highlighted and fought are still around.
I wonder how many pictures of the Torch Relay will feature that branch of Barclays at the corner of the infamous Sidney Street in the background. I await the writ from Lloyds TSB to remove my two pictures.
Torch Chasing In East London – Stepney Green
I went torch chasing in East London yesterday. I first took the Tube to Stepney Green station.
The crowds weren’t that big, but this was because most of the people were at Stepney Green itself, rather than on the main road, by the Tube station. Probably sensible, as it is one of the main roads in and out of London.
A Clash of Cultures In Suffolk
Nothing serious or untimely, but I found this charming tale in the Daily Telegraph about the Rwandan athletes settling into their base in Bury St. Edmunds. Here’s the opening couple of paragraphs.
When Robert Kajuga was served a plate of food shortly after he arrived in Bury St Edmunds earlier this month, there was one item in particular upon it that he did not immediately recognise. It was certainly not anything he had encountered in his home country of Rwanda.
Thus it was that Kajuga, a 27 year-old distance runner who will compete in the Olympic 10,000 metres final on Aug 4, became acquainted with the concept of mashed potato.
“The potatoes,” he says in broken English. “They change the potatoes into, like porridge. Puréed. In our country, we just cook potatoes. We don’t do that.”
Let’s hope that the links forged result in something lasting and positive. Perhaps, we should sent someone like Delia Smith to Rwanda to teach them how to make mashed potato. Especially, if their athletes do better than they’d expected to on the strange foreign food.
LOCOG Float In A New Pitch
I took this picture from the Emirates Air-Line today.
LOCOG Float In A New Pitch
Are LOCOG, the Olympic organisers, floating in a new pitch for one of the events?
Or perhaps it’s for one of the demonstration sports; overwater British bulldog. In this verion pushing contestants into the river is allowed.
The Anonymous Widower 