A personal account of Balham Station, with some photographs and a link to an important petition about photography.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the latest post in my series “London Station by Station“. I hope that you will enjoy this post and be encouraged to hare it.
BAL-HAM: GATEWAY TO THE SOUTH
This is one of the stations designed by Charles Holden and opened in 1926 when the Northern line was extended south to Morden (the southernmost point on the system, a mere 10 miles south of the centre of London – by comparison, Amersham, the most far flung station on the current network is 27 miles out, and Brill, the furthest ever outpost of any line is 51 miles out).
I can provide pictures of both surface buildings and some blurb about the station itself in the form of two photos of stuff in the book Bright Underground Spaces…
The pictures of the surface buildings.
I do not usually share extraneous links in this series of posts, but connected with the photographs above is a petition that I signed and shared earlier, and which now has over 200,000 signatures – lets keep building it!
Although there are only five stations south of Balham on the Northern line, it is also a main-line railway station, and connects southwards to a number of destinations via three distinct routes, through Streatham Common, Streatham Hill and Hackbridge.
I made extensive use of Balham at one time, when I lived at Parklands Road and worked in New Malden, and it was easier to take a longer walk than strictly necessary and get a train to Clapham Junction, where I could change to another train for New Malden than to do anything else.
Also, given the the majority of it was through commons, the walk though long was quite a pleasant one.
A personal account of taking part in a study at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge,, accompanied by photographs, with some interesting and important links and some more photographs.
INTRODUCTION
The main body of this post is a personal account of my involvement in the study whose title I have used for the whole post, run as so often at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge. I also have a variety of links and a few photos that are not directly connected with the title piece but which I wish to share. I hope you will all enjoy this post and that you will take the opportunity of sharing it.
ATTENTION AND PERCEPTION IN AUTISM SPECTRUM CONDITIONS
THE PRELIMINARIES
i found out about this study just five days ago, and made contact with the person conducting it. A brief exchange of emails concluded with an arrangement for me to attend at 11AM today. As part of the preparation I had to answer various questions and solve various puzzles online.
GETTING THERE
An scheduled start of 11AM meant getting the 8:57 from King’s Lynn, and to make sure that I got my travel expenses reimbursed I carefully got a receipt. It was shortly after getting on to the platform that I brought the camera into action for the first time of the day…
Pictures taken through the windows of moving trains are tough to get right, but these two worked out okay…
“A goods train: the shame of it” Gordon the Big Engine in the Rev W Awdry seriesI could not get a clear shot of the whole of Ely Cathedral, but this shows the main tower and the octagonal construction designed by a 14th century Prior known only and uninformatively as Alan of Norwich.
Arriving in Cambridge I decided to take a longer route than usual to the Autism Research Centre, heading towards town as far as this church…
Turning on to the link road that connects to the town end of Trumpington Road I passed the Scott Polar Research Institute, named in honour of Robert Falcon Scott, one of the most famous runners up in history. Scott also gave his name to an itinerant cricket team some of whose deeds are chronicled in Penguins Stopped Play by Harry Thompson and Rain Men by Marcus Berkmann. Although I could not get a shot of the whole building without crossing to the wrong side of a busy road I did get these shots…
Next up was the Cambridge University Chemical Laboratory…
At the very point of turning onto Trumpington Road I passed Hobson’s Conduit…
This is the first major building on Trumpington Road itself, on the opposite side of ti to me…
A shot of the water alongside Trumpington Road…
I next passed the public entrance to Cambridge Botanic Gardens (the admission price convinced me to go no further than the gates)…
A little bit further along I passed a locked gate into the same establishment, with some red flowers growing next to it…
The last shot I got before arriving at the Autism Research Centre was of this dragon fly (or similar), which although quite large was moving exceedingly fast, hence why I got only the one usable shot…
AT THE AUTISM RESEARCH CENTRE
I arrived at the centre at about 10:40, and did not have to wait too long for Owen Parsons, who was conducting the study, to put in an appearance. After the usual preliminaries of form signing and checking the experiment itself ran in three parts…
MIND YOUR TS AND LS
For this test one had eight seconds in total to view an intermittent display of red and blue letters, most of which were Ls but one of which was a T. The task was to identify which colour the T was and click the appropriate button to record that identification. A wrong identification, or wrong button pressed, or being timed out generated a horrible beep.
IDENTIFYING DUPLICATION
For this part of the process one was required to press the space bar each time the same image was shown twice consecutvely. The images were all of full scenes, but shown at thumbnail size. Again, a misidentification or a failure to identify within the time limit generated a beep. There was then a second part to this section, involving familiarity. One was shown sequences of three images and asked to identify the set that looked more familiar. The pictures were similar in nature and size to those previously shown, but some were definitely new.
WHICH BOX WAS THAT X IN?
For this third and final part of the experiment, there were four boxes in which an X could appear. When it appeared one had to identify the box as follows: X for leftmost, Z for left-centre, N for right-centre, M for rightmost. Thus, the duration of this section of the experiment was spent with the index and middle fingers of each hand poised over the keys in question. There was then a second subsection, involving pattern identification and made more complicated by two factors:
1)Obviously enough, not knowing about this in advance I was not especially looking for a pattern in the first stage of the process.
2)The pattern was not adhered to at all times (about 15% of the time, the X appeared in a box it was not ‘supposed’ to).
All in all, I quite enjoyed performing these tests, and would say that it is a worthwhile study. If you are aged 18-45, have been diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Condition and can get to Cambridge, contact Owen Parsons: oep20@cam.ac.uk about taking part in the study.
GETTING BACK
There was a small delay getting back to the main building from the place where the study had been set up as Owen initially came out without his swipe card, during which I snared this shot…
On my way back to the street I took a shot of the front of the main building…
I opted for the short route back to the station,along Brooklands Avenue and past the new bus interchange to approach the train station from that angle. I got these shots in the course of that walk…
I got a couple of shots en route to the platform as well…
A worthy effort to represent all of Britain’s railways on one map.A somewhat loose definition of London & the Southeast!
On my way off the train at King’s Lynn I took the opportunity to capture this plaque on camera…
LINKS
As regular readers of this blog or those who follow me on twitter will be well aware I regularly sign and share petitions, and my first link is to a piece from Huffington Post detailing the success of one such, concerning the Henry family.
2)A particular impressive post taking on stereotyping.
AN IMPORTANT PETITION
My final link is to a petition on change.org protesting against a planned European law that will mean the end of photography as we know it – PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE!!
A FEW FINAL PICTURES
While my right to do so remains I am sharing these photos…
Stand E, on the occasion I first used it, Tuesday AMThe new electronic displays now at every stand.Vancouver and the Custom HouseI realised before using it as part of my bus fare that this 50p was of a style I had not previously seen.A close up of the detailed board at Stand E
This post deals with the redevelopment of my local bus station, a process which began in January, and has finally reached the stage at which all bus services will once again be departing from the bus station. You could therefore say that this is a celebration of the ending of one cause of disruptions.
THE NEW BUS STATION
APPROACHES TO KING’S LYNN
King’s Lynn is a splendid town, badly let down by the ways in which people approach it. Neither the bus station nor the train station drop people in particularly good locations, and the main approach by car, via London Road is not beautiful either. However, after almost six months of work and attendant disruption to services, at least the bus station now looks presentable. I will end this section with a link to a previous post about King’s Lynn and both sides of a new promotional document for the town…
THE REDEVELOPMENT
Work started on the redevelopment on January 6th, but the big disruptions did not hit until March, when services heading south started departing from Portland Street and northbound buses made use of the only three stands still available at the bus station. In the week beginning on May 18th all was confusion (we had been warned about the following week), as northbound buses started making use of two of the new stands, which were ready for use but no one had thought to advertise this! The following week was the one week in which northbound buses did not depart from the bus station – they made use of Clough (pronounced Clow not Cluff) Lane instead.
Then it was back to the bus station for good, and eventually an announcement appeared stating that all services would resume running from the redeveloped bus station from June 29th (today). I thought to myself “I’ll believe that when I see it” but decided I would call in at the bus station just in case it did happen, and it had.
THE BUS STATION TODAY
I took various photographs to show what the bus station now looks like, including threeKing’s Lynn Transport Interchange from the car park above Sainsbury’s (the most elevation I could gain). I hope that you enjoy these photos, which will conclude the post, and that you will be inspired to share…
This departure board was the first novelty that greeted me.The new guard fences at the new bays – interleaved pictures of the Custom House and Captain vancouver)
The board at stand D (I could not get a clear shot of the one at stand E which I shall actually be using).The first of two shots of the frontage of the new Visitor’s Centre
A historical information board.A thoroughly modern map of King’s LynnA circular bench.
Stand E, whence Fakenham buses will depart.The first of three shots from such elevation as I could gain.
This post is a personal account of the day of the Great Centenary Charity Auction, before I switch focus to writing some official accounts for the website. I hope that you will enjoy this post and be encouraged to share it.
THE AUCTION
My presence was not required right from the start, so I was able to get to Fakenham Racecourse at about 10:20 by taking the first bus of the day (leaves King’s Lynn at 9:25 and walking from the town centre). The first photo opportunity came long before I was at the auction venue – just after getting up I saw this little beauty…
I had decided to dress up extra smartly, a decision I was to regret by the end of a hot day – although if the evidence of this photograph, the only one I shall be using today that I did not take is anything to go on I did succeed in looking smart…
Here was the first sign that I was approaching the venue (not that I needed reassurance – I know that particular route and venue as well as anyone)…
The venue was already fairly busy by the time I got there, but front line customer service and autistic spectrum conditions are not a good mix, so I would not have been of much assistance in that role…
Although both lots 1 and 2 fared well, the auction took a while to really take off. Lot 101, a very elaborate Crimean War helmet, well displayed at the venue and well imaged previously, sold for a colossal £1,300…
This was the image that was used for the sale.This is lot 101 as displayed at the venue with two other lots.Lot 101 in all it’s glory at the venue.A close up of the badge.
The auction ran rather more slowly than usual, so I was not able to stay right to the finish, as I had a bus to catch at 17:35. My colleague Andrew took over for the home straight (well we were at a racecourse!)
As well as James and Sons employees and volunteers and the odd Royal British Legion functionary, Fakenham Air Training Corps were present in force…
I departed just after seeing one final high note hit – lot 535, a collection of cloth patches expected to raise £10-15 actually sold for £50.
A second auction, for which we already have a considerable number of lots, is planned for March 2016, and I hope lots of you will attend or sign up to bid online.
I will finish by showing some pictures of the racecourse itself, looking resplendent in the sun…
I hope that you will enjoy this post and will be encouraged to share it.
THE CATHEDRAL CLOSE
It is unusual in the 21st century to find a Cathedral Close, but Norwich still has one, and there were many splendid things to photograph. The first of two dragons (note the title of the second post referred to above) was Biggles, the RAF dragon…
There are also two statues of famous warriors, Nelson and Wellington…
There were also many birds around…
Of course, in a place of this nature one would expect plenty of interesting old architecture, and such expectation was met…
This iron sculpture also appealed, as did this chance to include a dragon and a blackbird in the same shot…
My survey of the Cathedral Close began with one dragon and its with another, Norwich Serafina, the Norwich School Dragon…
I hope that you will enjoy this post and be encouraged to share it.
THE WENSUM
The Wensum is the river that flows through the centre of Norwich. There are many fine sights to be seen along its banks. Here is a view looking along one bank…
You will notice a boat in this shot, here is what it looks like closer up…
Is there any information available about this riverside? You bet there is…
You may have glimpsed a stone bridge in the first picture I showed. I have a close up of the centre portion and two shots showing how the smooth waters of the Wensum reflect it back…
Here is the approach to river via Ferry Lane…
Two pub signs on opposite sides of the river provide a fine contrast – one an unusual name in a plain style and one the commonest of all English pub names in a more elaborate style…
After these signs we came to a decorative wooden seat…
Now we come to the exraordinarily named Cow Tower, one of Britain’s oldest artillery placements, dating from 1398…
Next, one for the swan fanciers…
These water lilies made for decent picture…
Two more closing shots for you, from just before we left the river for the last time…
I hope that you will enjoy this post and be inspired to share it.
LUNCH AT THE BELGIAN MONK
A DELAYED START
A combination of rigid adherence to a silly rule (no one under 16 to sit in the bar area) and the fact that the place was busy meant that we had to wait a few minutes before a table large enough for five became available.
THE BEER
The beer was superb – I had a Petrus Dubbel Bruin and a Grimbergen Dubbel both of which were splendid drinks. I got some photos of logos etc…
This sign is outside the back of the pub, where we were sittingThe first beer that I drankThe second beer that I drank.My father’s second beer.
THE FOOD
My sister and my mother both opted for mussels, which come with a ‘sconce’ of chips…
My mother holding a ‘sconce’ of chips aloft.
I opted for a steak and Belgian beer pie, which was good overall but loses marks for failing to be a proper pie – it was that thoroughly annoying and difficult to eat cheat, a casserole with a ridiculously puffy layer of puff pastry on top. The chips, were excellent. Taking into account the overall quality, and inflicting three penalty points for cheating, I award the meal 6.5 out of 10.
I have a few remaining pics from the Belgian Monk to share,..
The church tower visible from the beer garden (in Norwich you are never very far from a medieval church!)A splendid piece of wall painting.The Belgian Monk’s account of their mussels.
Welcome to this, my second post about a family day out in Norwich which happened on Thursday. You may wish to check out the first post before proceeding. I hope you will enjoy this post and will be inspired to share it.
ENTER THE DRAGONS
Norwich has an affinity for large brightly coloured model animals. There have been elephants and monkeys/apes on display at various times. The latest thing is dragons, which will be sold off at auction to raise funds for Break, the children’s charity. There are apparently 84 full size dragons and over 120 baby dragons around Norwich.
I cannot pretend that we actually spotted that many, but we did see quite a few, starting with Flambeau, just after we had left the car
Flambeau the Dragon
Our next sighting was while we were in Jarrold’s, the Norwich department store, who are sponsors of the project…
The Jarrold’s dragon
We saw one more before lunch, just outside a shop I will not name but which sells clothing and is run by people without consciences…
Post lunch, the dragon count really picked up, starting with Gogohoratio, a dragon with the head of a well known admiral who was born at Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk (although they gave him a full complement of eyes – which he famously did not have)…
Our next encounter with a dragon was with Mosaic, whose name becomes understandable as soon as you get a close look…
There were two dragons in the Cathedral Close, Biggles the RAF dragon and Serafina, the Norwich School dragon, made from pupil’s fingerprints, but I will be covering the Cathedral Close in a separate post, so the next dragon you will see is Daisy, the first we saw after leaving the Cathedral Close…
Down by the Wensum, the river that flows through Norwich, was Raptorsfire…
Our next dragon was glimpsed on the other side of the Wensum…
Then came this one…
The next dragon was this red-golden one…
That was followed by a black dragon…
The penultimate dragon we saw was this flint patterned chappy…
Finally, the last dragon we managed to spot was this one…
Welcome to the first of several posts about a day out in Norwich, which took place this Thursday. I hope that you will enjoy this post and be encouraged to share it.
THE ARRANGEMENTS
A combination of a rescheduling of the Great Centenary Charity Auction which meant that I would not be able to take part in a family weekend, and a a dearth of options in terms of when I would be able to see my sister and my nephew led to the timing of the event – the only day between their arrival from the other side of the world and subsequent departure for Poland that I could take off was the Thursday. So it was that I got the 9:45 bus out of King’s Lynn to East Rudham to meet up with the others, and we travelled on to Norwich.
WHAT WE DID IN NORWICH
After a brief look at some of the shops we had lunch at The Belgian Monk, before heading off on a walk round the city, spotting some of the dragons that no adorn the place. I will conclude this introductory post with a few photographs…
This street, Elm Hill, was almost a casualty of 1960s slum clearances.
This fairly short post is just reminding people of my existence, as I have not blogged for a few days. On Tuesday and Wednesday I was very busy with James and Sons’ June Auction, and although yesterday, a day out in Norwich with my parents, sister and nephew will yield several posts in due course I have not yet had time to finish prepping the photos. As well as my title piece I have a couple of links to share.
ANATOMY OF A PRESS RELEASE
This was a matter of great urgency, since it was referring to events that will happen tomorrow and on Sunday connected with the Great Centenary Charity Auction. I had some text, detailing the schedule, which is as follows:
Saturday 2PM – 6PM Viewing Session
Saturday 6PM to close – Hog Roast and WWII Concert
Sunday 8PM – 12 noon Viewing Session
Sunday 12 Noon – approx 4PM The first Great Centenary Charity Auction (another is scheduled for March 2016)
Fortunately, I am not required at all on Saturday and on Sunday I will be required to do IT for the auction itself, but have established that arriving at the venue at approximately 10:30 (the earliest I can manage under my own steam) will be sufficient.
As well as the text, I had to select soem good images that had previously not been used in press releases. These were the images I came up with…
I turned the original word document, a link to which is included to end this section, into a jpg for use on social media, which I now reproduce…
A jpg of the press release, and our feature image.
My first link is to details of a new study at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge. If you have a diagnosis of Autism or Asperger’s, are aged 18-45 and can get to Cambridge I urge you to volunteer for this study on attention and perception.
aspiblog 