To Brighton via Cable Car And A Lot More
And a few other things too!
I had plenty of time yesterday to get to the Ipswich match at Brighton, so I thought, I’d see how many different forms of transport I could use.
1. A 21 Bus to Bank
I started the simple way by getting on this 21 bus to take me to Bank station for the DLR.
A 21 Bus To Bank
It didn’t actually go to Bank, as southbound buses have to take a detour at Moorgate because of Crossrail.
2. Docklands Light Railway to Royal Victoria Docks
I then took the DLR to Royal Victoria Dock station for the cable-car.
DLR Train At Bank
I did take a pause at Limehouse station to take pictures of the Hydraulic Accumulator Tower.
3. Emirates Air-Line To North Greenwich
I’d actually come this way to give me a good title to the post. But, as I had a gondola to myself, I was able to take good pictures of the Crossrail site at Limmo.
The Crossrail Site On The Limmo Peninsular
Work seems to be proceeding at speed and hopefully Elizabeth and Victoria will be dropped in the big hole soon.
4. Jubilee Line To Canada Water
This was the point, I realised I hadn’t got an SD card in the camera, so I purchased one by the O2.
Jubilee Line At Canada Water
At least the Jubilee line was working properly.
5.Lift To The Overground
This might seem like blatant cheating to get my count up. It is!
Lift To The Overground
Although it was a nice clean lift!
6. Overground To West Croydon
Those who know London’s transport system can argue that I should have taken the Jubilee line to London Bridge station and got a train from there. But hey! That would not be fun.
Arriving At West Croydon
But even the Overground takes you to wrong station at Croydon for Brighton. But at least, West Croydon station now has a quick exit to the tram.
7. Tram To East Croydon
At least when you’re going West to East in Croydon, the Tramlink is simple.
Tram at East Croydon
In fact, if say I’m coming from Brighton to my home, I will probably go direct to the London terminus. But going south, I tend to take the Overground from close by my house and then the tram to East Croydon station, as I did here.
8. Train To Brighton
I bought my first ticket of the day. a senior return to Brighton for £11.70.
My Train To Brighton Arrives
I arrived in Brighton on time.
I then walked down the hill to Carluccio’s for an early supper.
The CrossRail TBMs At Limmo
I took these pictures today of the two CrossRail tunnel boring machines; Elizabeth and Victoria, at Limmo today from the DLR just before the Beckton branch gets to Canning Town station.
If you want to see them, you’ll probably have to be quick, as they’ll be dropped into the hole there soon.
Open House – Is Mine Bigger Than Yours?
This picture was taken at TUCA yesterday.
Is Mine Bigger Than Yours?
The tunnel boring machine is not one of the largest. But it is probably, the biggest one, where you can have your photo taken.
Open House – TUCA
I went to the Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy at Ilford.
It is an impressive place, that trains workers and prospective ones in the skills needed to work underground.
It is actually the first legacy of CrossRail, as they will be needing substantial numbers of workers over the next few years.
Crossrail And The Stepney City Farm
CrossRail is Europe’s largest construction project and the tunnels have a terrible job to squeeze through underneath the City. One problem is where the two eastern branches of the tunnel join under Stepney City Farm. I visited the area in March and described it in this post. It would appear now that the new buildings at the farm have been completed, according to this press release.
CrossRail are now building a large underground cavern to allow the tunnelling machines to pass through and eventually contain the railway junction.
CrossRail’s Living Walls
CrossRail has been using ivy to hide their digging sites in Central London.
This protographs were taken at Finsbury Circus.
There’s more here on the CrossRail web site.
CrossRail On Open House
Whilst finding out about the archaeology, I also found that some CrossRail sites are to be thrown open to the public on the Open House Weekend. Here’s their summary.
On Saturday, 22 and Sunday, 23 September, we will ‘open the doors’ of the Bond Street station work sites, the Canary Wharf station work site and the Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy (TUCA) to the public as part of the Open House London weekend.
TUCA is an interesting one, as it is a legacy of CrossRail and is effectively a European University of Tunnelling. I have talked about it before.
The CrossRail Site At Limmo
The CrossRail site on the Limmo Peninsular is easy to see, either from the Beckton branch of the DLR or from the Emirates Air-line.
The tunnels will be driven both west towards Canary Wharf and ultimately Farringdon, and east towards the Victoria Dock portal.
Note that the CrossRail site is easily identified by the the white gantries and the three beige towers, which I suspect are for producing concrete. The site is tightly sandwiched between the River Lea to the west (left) and the DLR to the right (east), with the Lower Lea Crossing in front (south), partly hidden by trees. You can get a better idea of the layout on the ground, by looking at this map.
Note that Instone Wharf in the right front, opposite to the two light ships, will be used to take all the spoil from the tunnels away in barges. Spoil will be brought to the wharf by conveyors and then will go to create a new nature reserve at Wallasea Island in Essex.
I suspect that if someone gets in the cable-car with a good camera with a strong telephoto lens, some good pictures could be taken on a clear day. It would be best to take them, whilst travelling from south to north from North Greenwich to Royal Victoria.
The Cutty Sark Opens Again on Thursday
The Cutty Sark reopens on Thursday after a very expensive rebuild. They certainly seem to have done a good job.
I have some doubts about the amount of money spent, but hopefully, the money will be repaid in extra visitors to London and also if it has helped create a new generation of craftsmen.
The Cutty Sark is one of the few sights of London, I can remember visiting as a child, probably after a trip upriver on a boat. What sticks in my memory is the figurehead collection.
It is one of those sites that is worth a visit, even if you have no time to visit the museums. There is a Marks & Spencer and a couple of coffee places, including a small Starbucks to get a quick lunch and quite a few places to sit, so for me as a coeliac, if I’m close, I know I can get a quick lunch, in quiet times like today.
I do feel very strongly, that big projects should leave a legacy. And so, I think it is important, that this restoration should be used to train the next generation of craftsmen. I know there aren’t many Cutty Sarks, but I suspect that a lot of the skills are also applicable to other historic marine craft from Victory and Belfast downwards to the MTBs of the Second World War.
We are getting better at this sort of legacy and for an example look at CrossRail. Part of the deal to build the enormous tunnels under London, was to create a Tunneling and Underground Construction Academy at Ilford. It will initially provide trained personnel for CrossRail, but it also has a wider brief to train people for soft-ground tunnelling projects, wherever they arise.
It is an idea that should be followed.
Bob Crow Gets Up Crossrail’s Nose!
I don’t know and he may have a point about safety, but this story seems to show Bob Crow as against Crossrail. I’m certain, that there are drivers who are not members of the RMT, who’d like the jobs.
The Anonymous Widower 