The Greenway Bridge Over Stratford High Street
The structure of this important bridge, which is just known as Olympic Bridge T12, is now in place.
It will be much needed to get Olympic visitors from West Ham station to the site. There’s more on the bridge here.
The Much-Improved Trafalgar Square
When I was young Trafalgar Square was rather a tacky place, where you went for New Year’s Eve, if you cvould brave it. Traffic rushed everywhere and the central part was completely cut off from everywhere else. But look at it now.
It just shows how things can be improved by removing the traffic.
Is there a more impressive important square in a European capital?
The only problem, is that some Ipswich Town fans might protest that the admiral on the column is from Norfolk.
I do have some happy memories of the place from when I stood on the Fourth Plinth.
Is Blackpool the Most Pedestrian Unfriendly Resort in the UK?
I went to Blackpool with an open mind, but I had met a plumber from Wigan in Liverpool, who goes to that city with his bike, when he wants to get some sea air.
But I hadn’t been prepared for what I found.
Arriving at Blackpool North station, there was no map or instructions to help me get to the football ground or even the town centre. There was a map for sale at a pound or so,but it didn’t have either the station or the football ground on it.
I was told as a child, that if you’re lost, you should always ask a policeman. So I found two. But one was from Manchester and the other was from Preston. They hadn’t a clue on directions. So I suppose, if there was an incident, they’d probably turn up with difficulty and late.
In fact there are no useful maps in the dump, as to call it a town, insults all of those places, like Great Yarmouth, who care for their visitors so much better.
There is however this bus map on all the stops.
Blasckpool's Useless Bus Map
I suppose it might be useful to those who have the route they are taking to hand. But for me it was as useful as a chocolate teapot.
Close to the football ground it gets worse with roads that have no crossing places for pedestrians.
A typical Pedestrian-Friendly Crossing In Blackpool
The picture was taken on a busy roundabout. where are the protective lights? And here are some Ipswich fans trying to cross the road to McDonalds.
Ipswich Fans Dodge The Traffic in Blackpool
I know Blackpool has financial problems, but surely they want visitors to return.
Obviously they don’t want coeliacs, who have to walk everywhere!
Is It Time To Get Even? – 92 Clubs By Public Transport Alphabetically in a Calendar Month
There’s an old saying about not getting mad, but getting even.
I’ve had a basketful of bad luck over the last few years, what with losing my wife of forty years and son to cancer and then suffering a couple of strokes. So perhaps now is the time to do something to wipe the slate clean and see if I can buy off the Devil who is bugging me. I had thought about perhaps doing something like riding my bicycle to Moscow, like Carol Thatcher did, but she is a lot braver and fitter than I am.
I’d much prefer to do something to raise money that for most of the time had me sitting in a comfortable chair and that at night allowed me to sleep most nights in my own bed.
The task, if I will accept it, is to visit all the 92 Premier and Football League grounds in alphabetical order in one calendar month, using only trains, trams, buses and Shanks’s pony. I thought about adding allowing bicycles and hitch-hiking, but I’m probably not up to the former yet and nobody ever does the second these days. Taxis are definitely out, except in an emergency.
I have created a spreadsheet of all the teams and it looks like it will be possible to do it in a 31-day month.
October, this year would be a good choice as on the 1st, Aldershot, who are second alphabetically, play Accrington Stanley who are first. So hopefully, I could visit the match and then get a lift back to Aldershot on a supporters coach, just in time to get a train back to London and do Arsenal on the way home.
On the other hand there are some interesting days, where several clubs are close to each other both in alphabetic order and geographically or easier to get between. There are.
- 3rd – Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool and Bolton
- 15th – Liverpool, Macclesfield, Manchester City, Manchester United and then on to Middlesbrough
- 17th – Newcastle, Northampton, Norwich, Notts County, Nottingham Forest and then on to Oldham
- 21st – Rotherham, Scunthorpe, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday and then on to Shrewbury
- 23rd – Swansea, Swindon, Torquay and then back to Tottenham.
Other than the Accrington-Aldershot match, there would appear to be games on the 15th at Macclesfield, the 22nd at Stevenage and perhaps it will all end on the 29th at Yeovil.
Obviously any money I raise will go to Liverpool University to help with research into pancreatic cancer. I will be setting up a page on Just Giving soon. Hopefully there are people who might like to sponsor the odd day.
At a first glance there are a few difficult teams.
- Bournemouth
- Bradford
- Colchester
- Coventry
- Crawley Town
- Doncaster
- Oxford United
- Plymouth
- Port Vale
- Shrewsbury
- Stoke
- Swindon
- Torquay
- Yeovil
Any help on buses or walking routes for these would be appreciated. Lifts, although I’m grateful for the thought, are not allowed.
The irony is that I don’t think this would have been possible for me, until this year, as now Marks and Spencer’s now have stagetically placed pit-stops in many stations, where I can get wholesome gluten-free sandwiches to speed me on my way.
Here is a provisional schedule.
- 1st – Accrington, Aldershot and Arsenal
- 2nd – Aston Villa, Barnet and Barnsley
- 3rd – Birmingham, Blackburn, Blackpool and Bolton
- 4th – Bournemouth and Bradford
- 5th – Brentford, Brighton, Bristol City and Bristol Rovers
- 6th – Burnley, Burton Albion and Bury
- 7th – Cardiff and Carlisle
- 8th – Charlton, Chelsea, Cheltenham and Chesterfield
- 9th – Colchester, Coventry and Crawley Town
- 10th – Crewe, Crystal Palace and Dagenham and Redbridge
- 11th – Derby, Doncaster, Everton and Exeter
- 12th – Fulham, Gillingham, and Hartlepool
- 13th – Hereford, Huddersfield and Hull
- 14th – Ipswich, Leeds, Leicester and Leyton Orient
- 15th – Liverpool, Macclesfield, Manchester City, Manchester United
- 16th – Middlesbrough, Millwall and Milton Keynes
- 17th – Morecambe and Newcastle
- 18th – Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham Forest and Notts County
- 19th – Oldham, Oxford United and Peterborough
- 20th – Plymouth and Port Vale
- 21st – Portsmouth and Preston
- 22nd – QPR, Reading, Rochdale and Rotherham
- 23rd – Scunthorpe, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday and Shrewsbury
- 24th – Southampton, Southend, Stevenage and Stoke
- 25th – Sunderland and Swansea
- 26th – Swindon, Torquay and Tottenham
- 27th – Tranmere, Walsall, Watford, West Brom and West Ham
- 28th – Wigan, AFC Wimbledon, Wolverhampton and Wycombe
- 29th – Yeovil
Pedestrian Unfriendly Walthamstow Central
As I said earlier, last night I went to Walthamstow Central.
From the station I needed to go towards Walthamstow Village.
To cross the road there must have taken me nearly ten minutes, as first I had to cross from the station over Selborne Road. This is not easy if you don’t know the light phasing, especially as a lot of those turning off Hoe Street into Selborne Road, seem to do it at full speed and even if the lights are red.
Once over Selborne Road, I needed to cross Hoe Street, which is a double crossing with two sets of lights and a wait in the middle. To make matters worse a bus blocked the first time I had a green light, so it actually took me three goes.
I hope it’s easier if you use the junction regularly, as you may get used to the phasing. To get where I want it may actually be easier to go to Wood Street station and walk down the hill.
Bicycle Helmets
I don’t like them for myself, just as I don’t like wearing a helmet when I ride a horse.
In Halfords on Friday, the manager said that bicycle helmets will soon be compulsory.
I am changing my mind, but not for myself. I get a bit fed up with kids and some older ones riding on the pavements in and out of the pedestrians. Most seem not to be wearing helmets. So perhaps on the spot fines would drive them off the pavements, as it’s not cool to be a nuisance with a helmet on.
The funny thing is that on paths shared by cyclists and walkers, like the Regent’s Canal, there doesn’t seem to be the same problem.
Walking Along Tottenham High Road
From Bruce Grove, I walked up Tottenham High Road, intended to get as far as White Hart Lane station.
There is some sign of looting and arson.
The Gutted Aldi Store on Tottenham High Road
This Aldi store had seen its last, but on the other side of the road, things were different.
Opposite the Gutted Aldi Sore in Tottenham High Road
The criminality seems to have been very selective. This Grade II Listed building at 639, seems to have been untouched except for the windows.
639 Tottenham High Road
But had they been boarded up before? Let’s hope someone finds a worthwhile use for the building.
It was just opposite the Carpetright store, that is now completely flattened.
One thing I noticed was that the bus and location maps that are so common in Hackney and Islington seemed to be totally missing from the bus stops.
An Almost Information-Free Bus Stop
As this area gets more visitors than most because of Tottenham Hotspur, surely they should be on every bus stop. And whilst on the subject of buses, there are not too many light-controlled crossings in the area, which doesn’t make it the most pedestrian-friendly of areas, as often to get to your bus stop, you need to brave the traffic.
Farewell Dr. Zebra
Little is to be found on the Internet about George Charlesworth, who died last month. He was the man, who suggested the black and white stripes to improve pedestrian crossings and was therefore nicknamed Dr. Zebra. His obituary is here.
He is one of those few people, who have earned a similar inscription on their grave as Christopher Wren.
Reader, if you seek his memorial – look around you.
There are only a few of whom that can be said.
Signs and Maps in Bristol
Bristol has signs with maps in many places.
Signs With Maps in Bristol
I walked around the city for an hour or so and it was so much more pleasant than Plymouth.
Pedestrian Unfriendly Plymouth
If you like walking and you have to go to Plymouth for some reason, then don’t think that walking in the city will be easy. Good walking cities have three things in common; fairly flat terrain, lots of signs, well-thought out maps and if those fail a well signposted and logical public transport system. Obviously, I would say London has these, but then I know the place like the back of my hand and I know many of the short-cut bus routes. But then except for the terrain, Liverpool scores well, as does Leeds, Sheffield, Milan, Valencia, Berlin and even Naples.
For a start, the hotel porter couldn’t find me a map and when I started my morning constitutional to get a newspaper on Saturday, I only had a vague idea of the city’s layout in my memory. There were signs however, so I thought I might find my way to the Hoe. But try as I might, I could not find any maps. Not even on the bus shelters. I know that is rather a hobby-horse of mine, but every bus shelter should have a local map. Preferably, there should also be a spider bus map like London and some other cities. I can’t remember a time, when I went to a tube station and there wasn’t a local map of the area, so they must have been there well over fifty years. Now most London bus shelters have them and it makes travel around the city so easily. Especially if like London each stop is announced on the bus or train! All I tell my visitors is to take an xxx bus to a particular named stop and text me, when the bus passes another, so I can meet them when they arrive.
I did get to the Hoe and what a disappointment!
Plymouth Hoe
Information was bad and it was just vast expanse of asphalt, which gave the impression it was used as a car-park in busy times.
Wikipedia says this of the Hoe.
For forty years, there has been controversy about development on the edges of the Hoe green space. The erection of two discount hotel chain box buildings, at the southern end of Armada Way and the other at the Sound end of Leigham Street, contrast with their Victorian surroundings. The former Grand Hotel is being converted into luxury flats, and the long derelict yacht club site has now been filled by a modern block of flats. The Plymouth Dome, a turret and domed building, built into a small old quarry site above Tinside as an historical theme tourist attraction, failed to attract enough tourists or locals and closed in 2006. As of 2008, it may be demolished.
I just walked along it for a bit to admire the view and then walked back into the city.
I know it was only six in the morning, but I’m a bad sleeper away from my own bed, so very often I’ve found myself walking around deserted city centres. Usually, I’ll buy a paper and then perhaps find somewhere to sit and read it. But Plymouth was as dead as the proverbial dodo. Most city and town centres have a paper shop or a Tesco Express or a Sainsbury Local, where I can do the first and a cafe to do the second. I couldn’t find anywhere open to buy a paper, so I just walked in a wide circle, back to the hotel. I suppose if you live in the centre of Plymouth and need something urgently like nappies or a ready meal early in the morning, you have to get the car out and drive to the larger food stores on the outskirts. But then Plymouth is a city designed totally around the car and pedestrians are sad losers, who aren’t welcome. Look at this barrier for a start.
Anti-Pedestrian Barrier, Plymouth
Any sensible city would protect pedestrians, by building crossings along a main shopping street and imposing a low speed limit. But Plymouth just make you walk a few hundred metres in a direction you don’t want to. And then look at this light controlled crossing.
Unphased Pedestrian Lights, Plymouth
You have to wait for one set of green lights and then cross to the middle, then wait again. Locally in London, lights are often timed so that if you’re walk naturally, you can do the double crossing with ease. I checked too in Bristol and there they phased the lights more for pedestrians.
Cities need to attract visitors to bring money in. People may arrive in cars, but then they will become pedestrians. So it is very easy to hack your visitors off. Plymouth does this in spades.
One point they also miss, is that say you arrived in a Plymouth car park and walked to the Hoe, would the signage get you back to where you parked your car. I doubt it!
These visitors will never come back and will tell their friends why.
The Anonymous Widower 