Special Post: The Hammersmith and City Line

A brief overview of the London Underground line that includes the original section that opened in 1863, with a few important links that relate to various statiions.

INTRODUCTION

Previously I have limited this series to coverage of individual stations, but now I am introducing something new – full line coverage in single posts. I will give a brief glimpse of this history the line and then a little journey from west to east along the current line. I hope you all enjoy this.

THE GREAT ORIGINAL

On January the 10th 1863 the history of  public transport changed forever. It was then, having been constructed at the urging of city solicitor Charles Pearson in conjunction with a major road building scheme, that the world’s first underground railway, The Metropolitan Railway, opened for business. It covered just seven stops (about one fortieth of the number now served by London Underground) from Bishop’s Road (Paddington) to Farringdon Street (a little to the south of present day Farringdon). Only one line serves all of the surviving original stations (the circle and district station at Paddington is a later creation, originally called Praed Street), and that is the Hammersmith and City line. Although this was only officially separated  from the Metropolitan line in 1990, it makes sense for the purposes of this section to talk about all the branches the relate to this section as though it had always been separate. Viewed in this way, there were a total of three branches that are no longer served:

Latimer Road to Kensington (Addison Road), which latter station is now called Kensington Olympia – the London Underground connection to it from the north was severed in 1940 and has never been reinstated. Goldhawk Road to Richmond, which was served between 1877 and 1906. The only station which was completely lost as a result of the cutting of this connection was Hammersmith (Grove Road). The final connection was a track connection via a long since defunct station called St Mary’s to Shadwell on what used to be the East London line and is now part of London Overground, though deeper below the surface than any of the remaining ‘subsurface’ stations on London Underground.

Before moving on to the journey, here are a couple of map pics…

The Hammersmith and City line's history
The Hammersmith and City line’s history
In its present day setting
In its present day setting

THE JOURNEY

I am not going to cover every station – just those that have a particular association for me. Those who have read previous posts of mine about this subject will be aware that I was disgusted by Philippe Parreno’s failure to meet the brief (in my eyes) for his contribution to Penguin’s 150th anniversary series of books when he got this line and produced a book that contained no words, just a series of very ethereal pictures which bore little apparent relation to the subject.

HAMMERSMITH

There is a shopping centre here, also the Lyric theatre, and although I mentioned him in piece on Baron’s Court, you are withing easy walking distance of St Paul’s Girls School, where Gustav Holst was once director of music.

LATIMER ROAD

It was from this station that the line to what is now Kensington Olympia diverged, and because this is an elevated section, track heading towards Olympia is clearly visible from the train as you travel past here.

PADDINGTON

This is the only one of the London mainline railway termini where a London Underground line is structurally part of the station. This dates to the original opening of the Metropolitan railway in 1863, when they used locomotives supplied by the Great Western Railway before falling out with that company and switching to stock supplied by the Great Northern before finally developing some of their own.

EDGWARE ROAD

This is where the Circle line and a spur of the District meet the Hammersmith and City line (the District and Circle “Paddington” represents a decent interchange to the Bakerloo, but for the Hammersmith and City you are much better off travelling the extra stop to Edgware Road and making a cross-platform interchange.

BAKER STREET

The Hammersmith and City line platforms here (nos 5 and 6 out of a total of 10) have been restored to look as they did in 1863. This is also home to Madame Tussauds, The Planetarium and of course it is where the world’s first consulting detective had his practice.

EUSTON SQUARE

As well as being across the road from London’s first mainline railway terminal (Euston), this is the home station for University College London (UCL for short). Just round the corner from this station is Warren Street (Northern and Victoria lines), and a view at surface level that includes both the BT Tower and Centrepoint.

KINGS CROSS ST PANCRAS

At the surface a complete contrast in styles between the ‘fairytale castle’ that is St Pancras and the largely anonymous Kings Cross. The train from King’s Lynn to London terminates at King’s Cross, usually in the ‘side’ section that comprises platforms 8-11. It is here that claims to be the site for platform 9 3/4 from which the Hogwarts Express departs.

FARRINGDON

A cross-platform interchange to Thameslink services running between Bedford and Brighton. When I worked at Interpretations I used this station regularly. I also recall this area as home to the Betsey Trotwood, a pub that combined two things I love – Dickens and Real Ale.

BARBICAN

This station opened as Aldersgate Street, then became Aldersgate before finally getting its present name of Barbican. This is one of the venues where I listened to live classical music when I lived in London. I also saw various Royal Shakespeare Company productions here.

MOORGATE

There is a terminus here for mainline trains coming in from Finsbury Park, and there used to be a spur of Thameslink to here as well, but all of these were below the surface here, so there have never been any above ground tracks. With my home station being Tooting Bec, I used the Northern line platforms here more often than the others. Although St Pauls on the Central line is closer, I used to use this station on occasion to visit the Museum of London – accessible from there by way of the Barbican Centre.

LIVERPOOL STREET

An interchange to mainline railways, and also to the Central line. Also the point at which the Hammersmith and City diverges from the Circle and Metropolitan lines which go to Aldgate, while the Hammersmith and City heads to…

ALDGATE EAST

This is where the Hammersmith and City and District lines meet, and from the platforms here you can see Circle and Metropolitan line trains heading in to Aldgate as well. It was just beyond this station that a side branch used to diverge to St Mary’s and Shadwell, joining what was then the East London Railway, has subsequently been the East London line of London Underground and is now a section of London Overground.

WHITECHAPEL

An interchange between the District and Hammersmith and City lines and London Overground. Currently in the news because a museum supposed to be dedicated to women was actually a Jack the Ripper museum, which led to a petition and a project to create a museum that really is dedicated to the women of the East end.

MILE END

The only underground cross-platform interchange between a deep-level tube line and subsurface lines on the entire system. This station also has large enamelled maps from times past featuring the Metorpolitan and District lines.

WEST HAM

Interchanges with mainline railways, London Overground, The Jubilee Line and the Docklands Light Railway (this branch has taken over Stratford-North Woolwich, which was previously on Silverlink Metro (London Overground’s predecessor) with the addition of a trans-Thames extension to Woolwich Arsenal).

BARKING

This is the eastern end of the Hammersmith and City line, although the District continues to Upminster (logic would seem to suggest that the H&C with far less to the west than the District should do the longer haul east rather than vice versa). This station has interchanges with main line railways (to Southend and Shoeburyness) and London Overground (a branch line the other end of which is at Gospel Oak).

Autism Revisited

A sequel to the most popular post in this blog’s history, “Autism”.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this post, which you may consider to be the official follow up to my most successful ever blog post, which was posted on Saturday under the title Autism.

WHEN BEING AUTISTIC GIVES ME AN ADVANTAGE

Yes – there are situations where having an autistic spectrum condition gives me a positive advantage (or so I see it anyway).

  1. Having a very logical mind goes with the condition, and this works in my favour in several situations, including at the bridge table and in some situations at work. For example, when I am scanning lots of small items I place the packaging organised in the order in which the images will appear on the screen (and if you are scanning a dozen separate items in one go this is very useful). Also, this ultra-logical mindset comes in very useful when working on computers and indeed when (as I have done on a volunteer basis) helping others to learn how to work effectively on a computer.
  2. My skill at mental arithmetic, which also relates directly to the condition. If I wish to ensure that, for example, a grocery shop does not exceed a certain limit that I have in mind I can tot up the bill as I pick out items and guarantee to be close.
  3. Problem solving – precisely because a number of situations are problematic for me that would not be so for a neurotypical person my problem solving skills get more practice than the neurotypical persons.
Just one image in this post - one of my more recent cormorant pictures.
Just one image in this post – one of my more recent cormorant pictures.

SOME AUTISM RELATED LINKS

A couple of links here that relate to my subject matter:

  • First, courtesy of autismgazette, a piece about autistic people giving unusual answers to creative questions.
  • My other link, courtesy of scienceblogs, and therefore reflective of one of my biggest interests, about a victory in the war against quackery. Even if the treatment that has earned the person pushing it a jail sentence was not cruel, invasive and abusive (and in fact it is all three, in spades) it would still be bogus. Indeed, as those who read the original post to which this one is a sequel will be well aware I believe that it is based on an idea that is itself bogus – namely that autism should be regarded in the light of a disease and that therefore a cure should be sought.

AFTERWORD

I hope you have all enjoyed this, my second full-length essay in writing about autism from the viewpoint of an autistic person, and that some at least of you will share it.

Water Skiing and World Athletics

Brief mentions of the Hanseatic Water skiing and the World Athetics Championship, with pics and links.

INTRODUCTION

This is in the nature of a catch-up post about events from this weekend.

WATER SKIING AND WORLD ATHLETICS

The water skiing reference is to the Hanseatic Ski Racing which took place on the Great Ouse right here in King’s Lynn this weekend just gone. Although my involvement was very peripheral I have a few pictures…

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The World Athletics championship got under way this weekend. There have been many great moments already,none more so than Jessica Ennis-Hill regaining her world Heptahlon crown a mere 13 months after having her first child. The way she surged past Brianne Theisen-Eaton of Canada in the final stages of the 800m to win that event outright was reminiscent of London 2012. The other result that was greeted with near-universal approval was in the men’s 100m where Usain Bolt retained his title. People were rooting for him because of who his main rival was – if I was a betting person I would be pretty confident of putting my money on the proposition that no one not named Gatlin wanted Justin Gatlin to beat Usain Bolt – that is a penalty that one pays for being a twice-caught drugs cheat – even if bad rules which are badly applied allow you to return they do not make you popular.

A PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERLUDE

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LINKS

On Saturday I produced two of my most successful ever blog posts. My most successful ever, which I will be referring to more extensively in my next post, was this one about autism. The other was the latest in my “London Station by Station” which, carefully produced to coincide with day three of the Oval test match, was dedicated to Oval and Vauxhall. This latter post attracted the favourable attention of historylondon who included it in their “gobbets of the week” post. One of the other posts that made the cut for inclusion in that list was londonist’s offering “the walker’s tube map”.

As someone who writes frequently about London Underground I finish this fairly brief links section by pointing you to this splendid defence of tube workers.

The Ashes 2015: A Personal View

A last look at the 2015 Ashes.

INTRODUCTION

This is the first of a several posts I shall be producing today. I hope you will all enjoy it.

AUSTRALIA WIN THE BATTLE HAVING ALREADY LOST THE WAR

Australia won the Oval test match very comfortably to narrow the series score to 3-2 in England’s favour. Although it takes a little gloss of England’s overall victory this cannot really be considered significant – there have been many occasions when a side who have already won the series early have failed in the final match. Examples include England in 1928-9, 1986-7 and 2015, and Australia in 1902, 1924-25, 1968, 1993 and 1997. For the rest of this post I am going to look at England’s players through the series…

ENGLAND SUCCESSES AND FAILURES

So, who did what?

Alastair Cook: as captain he unequivocally did was required – his task was to win the Ashes and that objective was achieved with a match to spare. As a batsman he had an ordinary series, with no century and only two really significant scores, one of which was made with the match already lost (85 at the Oval).

Adam Lyth: he was an unequivocal failure at the top of the order. Nevertheless, while I would have no quarrel with him being dropped at this point, I maintain that the England selectors were right to give him the whole home season of tests in which to make his mark – and as a veteran of the second half of the 1980s and the whole of the 1990s, during which England were an international laughing stock I saw far too many occasions when selectors chopped and changed and changed and chopped so that no one ever knew whether they were coming or going I was delighted to see this example of consistency of approach.

Ian Bell: By his own standards a poor series – only three 50 plus scores and none of them a century.

Joe Root: Quite simply magnificent – his century at Trent Bridge on a pitch on which the Aussies had rolled over for 60 in 18.3 overs was a classic innings, made when runs had to be earned.

Gary Ballance: Only played the first couple of matches, but he will be back.

Jonny Bairstow: A fine innings at Trent Bridge, when he backed Joe Root splendidly, but not much else to show for his participation in the series.

Ben Stokes: Mr X Factor – runs, wickets and the moment of the series – that catch at Trent Bridge.

Jos Buttler: A shocking series with the bat, adequate behind the stumps.

Moeen Ali: A fine cricketer, but not in the way England used him in this series – he is not a front-line spinner. In the UAE where pitches are likely to take spin he could be useful as an opening batsman (a role he plays for his county) and back up spinner to Adil Rashid and possibly another.

Mark Wood: A good prospect, and Cook’s decision to give him the opportunity (which he took) to wrap up the Trent Bridge match was an excellent piece of captaincy.

James Anderson: The only England bowler to date to have taken 400 test wickets – it is a tribute to messrs Broad, Finn and Wood that he was not missed at Trent Bridge. The UAE would be a good tour for him to miss – there will be no assistance for him there, and he will be needed in South Africa.

Stuart Broad: Can one be player of the series almost entirely on the strength of one spell of bowling? Yes, if that one spell is 8-15 off 9.3 overs and makes the outcome of the series effectively certain.

Stephen Finn: After a couple of years in the wilderness he is back to some thing like his best, he achieved one of a run of four straight six plus wicket hauls by four different England bowlers (the others were Anderson, Stokes and Broad).

Autism

This autistic person’s view of autism and autistic spectrum conditions, leavened with a few photos.

INTRODUCTION

This post is by way of a public response to two blog posts that I have recently encountered. I am writing this because in twitter speak I am #actuallyautistic.

TWO IMPORTANT BLOG POSTS

The post that first planted the germ of an idea for this piece in my mind was published by Autism Mom under the title “Sometimes I don’t know what to think”. In it she mentions being at an autism related event and hearing someone talk about “curing” their son’s autism.

The other post that helped to spark this was published this morning on parents.com under the title “15 things I tell my friends when they’re facing an autism diagnosis”. As a sample of what to expect I offer two paragraphs (they are not contiguous in the actual piece)…

Be wary of “cures” and “recovery.”
One of the first books I read about autism was a “recovery narrative.” It was well-wrttien, but what it told me was that if I just worked hard enough, poured enough money into chasing a cure, and found the right combo of supplements and therapies, my son would get over his autism. It’s a destructive mindset to have, and it caused me and my child heaps of stress. Autism is a neurology, it’s a different way the brain is wired. You can’t recover from neurology, and a more productive focus for everyone is helping your child become his or her best self.

and

Don’t get bogged down in the debates in the autism community.
There are a lot of camps in the autism community. Some people want cures, other blame vaccines, and others demonize autism. Autism self-advocates are changing perceptions of the disorder through their advocacy. People will tell you to cut gluten, try cod liver oil, and the fights can grow nasty. I align with certain views, and I try to live those. But I tell my friends to keep the focus on their child as they wade through all the extra noise in the autism community. I also always recommend that parents new to a diagnosis read what writers with autism are saying as a way to navigate some of this debate.

A BRIEF PICTORIAL INTERLUDE

Here are a few of my recent photographs from in and around King’s Lynn

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DISEASE OR DISORDER?: A FALSE DICHOTOMY

The common usage of the phrase Autistic Spectrum Disorder can lead to a suggestion that Autism can be treated like a disease and thence to talk of “cures”. Therefore save for the single sentence I have just written I used Autism or Autistic Spectrum Condition. In each case, although I have emphasised the words that I change in the phrase the key word of the whole phrase is “spectrum”, which implies, correctly, a broad range of attributes.

An Autistic Spectrum Condition is neither a disorder nor a disease – having one makes us different not lesser, or in some way incomplete. This is, if you like, my take home message to neurotypicals: learn to see beyond the condition we have and to appreciate the things we can do, rather than making the things the we cannot into impassable obstacles.

As I hope I have made crystal clear, I believe that any talk of a “cure” for autism is fundamentally misguided. I for one can say with no shadow of a doubt that even if some wonder drug was devised that had the power to make me neurotypical I WOULD REFUSE TO TAKE IT.

I end with a request to any and all of you who make it this far: please share this piece.

Special Post: Oval and Vauxhall

A piece principally about Ashes moments at the Oval cricket ground, with an introductory mention of the history of the two stations that serve it.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest post in my series “London Station by Station”. I hope you will enjoy this post and that some of you will be encouraged to share it.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE GAS HOLDERS

I am treating these two stations together because they are at opposite ends of the Oval cricket ground. Oval was one of the original six stations of the City and South London Railway, the world’s first deep-level tube railway, which opened in 1890. Vauxhall only opened as an underground station in 1971, part of the newest section of the Victoria line, but is also a main-line railway station and would have opened in that capacity long before Oval.

Today is the Saturday of the Oval test, by tradition the last of the summer. At the moment things are not looking rosy for England, but more spectacular turnarounds have been achieved (bowled at for 15 in 1st dig and won by 155 runs a day and a half later – Hampshire v Warwickshire 1922, 523-4D in 1st dig and beaten by ten wickets two days later – Warwickshire v Lancashire 1982 to give but two examples). The Oval in it’s long and illustrious history has seen some of test cricket’s greatest moments:

1880: 1st test match on English soil – England won by five wickets, Billy Murdoch of Australia won a sovereign from ‘W G’ by topping his 152 in the first innings by a single run.

1882: the original ‘Ashes’ match – the term came from a joke obituary penned after this game by Reginald Shirley Brooks. Australia won by 7 runs, England needing a mere 85 to secure the victory were mown down by Fred Spofforth for 77.

1886: A triumph for England, with W G Grace running up 170, at the time the highest test score by an England batsman. Immediately before the fall of the first England wicket the scoreboard nicely indicated the difference in approach between Grace and his opening partner William Scotton (Notts): Batsman no 1: 134           Batsman no 2: 34

1902: Jessop’s Match – England needing 263 in the final innings were 48-5 and in the last-chance saloon with the tables being mopped when Jessop arrived at the crease. He scored 104 in 77 minutes, and so inspired the remainder of the English batsmen, that with those two cool Yorkshiremen, Hirst and Rhodes together at the death England sneaked home by one wicket.

1926: England’s first post World ward I Ashes win, secured by the batting of Sutcliffe (161) and Hobbs (100) and the bowling of young firebrand Larwood and old sage Rhodes – yes the very same Rhodes who was there at the death 24 years earlier.

1938: The biggest margin of victory in test history – England win by an innings and 579. Australia batted without opener Jack Fingleton and even more crucially no 3 Don Bradman in either innings (it was only confirmation that the latter would not be batting that induced England skipper Hammond to declare at 903-7)

1948: Donald Bradman’s farewell to test cricket – a single boundary would have guaranteed him a three figure batting average, but he failed to pick Eric Hollies’ googly, collecting a second-ball duck and finishing wit a final average of 99.94 – still almost 40 runs an innings better than the next best.

1953: England reclaim the Ashes they lost in 1934 with Denis Compton making the winning hit.

1968: A South-African born batsman scores a crucial 158, and then when it looks like England might be baulked by the weather secures a crucial breakthrough with the ball, exposing the Australian tail to the combination of Derek Underwood and a rain affected pitch. This as not sufficient to earn Basil D’Oliveira an immediate place on that winter’s tour of his native land, and the subsequent behaviour of the South African government when he is named as a replacement for Tom Cartwright (offically injured, unoffically unwilling to tour South Africa) sets off a chain of events that will leave South Africa in the sporting wilderness for almost quarter of a century.

1975: Australia 532-9D, England 191 – England in the mire … but a fighting effort all the way down the line in the second innings, Bob Woolmer leading the way with 149 sees England make 538 in the second innings and Australia have to settle for the draw (enough for them to win the series 1-0).

1985: England need only a draw to retain the Ashes, and a second-wicket stand of 351 between Graham Gooch (196) and David Gower (157) gives them a position of dominance they never relinquish, although a collapse, so typical of England in the 1980s and 90s sees that high-water mark of 371-1 turn into 464 all out. Australia’s final surrender is tame indeed, all out for 241 and 129 to lose by an innings and 94, with only Greg Ritchie’s 1st innings 64 worthy of any credit.

2005: For the second time in Oval history an innings of 158 by a South-African born batsman will be crucial to the outcome of the match, and unlike in 1968, the series. This innings would see Kevin Peter Pietersen, considered by many at the start of this match as there for a good time rather than a long time, finish the series as its leading run scorer.

2009: A brilliant combined bowling effort from Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann sees Australia all out for 160 after being 72-0 in their first innings, a debut century from Jonathan Trott knocks a few more nails into the coffin, and four more wickets for Swann in the second innings, backed by the other bowlers and by Andrew Flintoff’s last great moment in test cricket – the unassisted run out of Ricky Ponting (not accompanied by the verbal fireworks of Trent Bridge 2005 on this occasion!).

The above was all written without consulting books, but for those who wish to know more about test cricket at this iconic venue, there is a book dedicated to that subject by David Mortimer.

As usual I conclude this post with some map pics…

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Images, Queries and Other Stuff

An account of my day at James and Sons, some important links and some splendid infographics.

INTRODUCTION

My title piece, complete with images, is about today at James and Sons, but I also have some important links and some quality inforgaphics to share…

IMAGES AND QUERIES

I started today by imaging the last handful of lots that were not already done for the August auction, one of which was needed to resolve a query. I also made a start on the imaging for the September auction (30th, Fakenham Racecourse) and did a lot of work on the database.

AUGUST IMAGES

There were as mentioned a very few of these, but they were items of interest…

28 29 200a 253 294 294a 294b 360 360a

This was the item that had a query on it - resolved to the customer's satisfaction.
This was the item that had a query on it – resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

SEPTEMBER IMAGES

The September lots that were ready for imaging included some very fine items…

Lot 1 was a challenge to image, but between all the shots I took I think I have done it justice.
Lot 1 was a challenge to image, but between all the shots I took I think I have done it justice.

1a 1b

A close up of the support ring for the inkwell.
A close up of the support ring for the inkwell.

1d

This will undoubtedly go for far more than I could afford - unfortunately.
This will undoubtedly go for far more than I could afford – unfortunately.

2a 2b 6

A hallmark shot just to confirm, that these are the real deal.
A hallmark shot just to confirm, that these are the real deal.

LINKS

I have a cluster of important links to share starting with…

ROOSH V

The Mirror, who are on good form at the moment, have given some excellent coverage to the petition to stop Amazon from selling his books. The petition itself can be seen here.

DRACONIAN DRESS CODE DEVELOPMENTS

Another petition, which is just starting to gather serious momentum – almost 6,000 signatures at the time of writing. I covered this in detail in my last post, so I settle for this gentle reminder.

IDIOTIC DELUSIONAL SOCIOPATH

Two links in this little section aimed at the current boss of the DWP. This arises from the DWPs sanction success stories, of which there were two, and it has now been revealed that neither client (and the stories are told as if they were about real people) existed. The two pieces are:

SCIENCE AND NATURE

Again two links for you, one about each half of the section title…

AUTISM

Two links and a segue in this section:

JUSTICE FOR KAYLEB

Confirmation this morning that the petition at the heart of this campaign will be delivered in all its 152,000+ signature glory. Here is a link to this important petition.

THE LAST LINKS

This piece on theatlantic is of great importance – it reveals how some vital autism related reserach was suppressed for a long period of time.

Finally, my segue – the URL for Dr Lisa Sulsenti’s platinum quality infographic that starts the next and final section of the post.

INFOGRAPHICS

Living With Autism

Galaxies

This enclousre would OK (although oddly shaped) for a municipal swimming pool but... ORCAS NEED OCEANS!!
This enclousre would OK (although oddly shaped) for a municipal swimming pool but… ORCAS NEED OCEANS!!
This is a fabulous detailed accounting of all that is wrong with TTIP.
This is a fabulous detailed accounting of all that is wrong with TTIP.

Birds, Butterflies and Bonkers Trade Deals

An announcement of some Anti TTIP action, some important links and some good pictures from in and around King’s Lynn.

INTRODUCTION

I have many things to cover in this post, including a number of very important links.

THE BONKERS TRADE DEAL

The bonkers trade deal is officially known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP for short), and I am mentioning it in this post for two reasons:

  1. This Saturday at 11AM there is action taking place against it, starting outside Top Shop on King’s Lynn High Street.
  2. And linked to the above, I got my action pack from 38 Degrees through the post today.

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LINKS

To begin today’s links section, a nod to youth…

THE CASE OF THE DRACONIAN DRESS CODE: AN UPDATE

This refers to an American school whose dress code is both draconian and being applied in a very sexist way. This has given rise to a change.org petition, and today there has been coverage on yahoo:

  1. The Petition
  2. The Yahoo piece
  3. To conclude this subsection a photo showing the “revealing clothes” for which a girl was called, which ignited the controversy:
    When this falls foul of a
    When wearing this falls foul of a “dress code” I think the problem is fairly obvious.

    JUSTICE FOR KAYLEB

    Just a single link, but I make no apology for giving it a whole subsection to itself. This is a truly shocking case involving a 6th grader (English equivalent of this would be a year 7 student) facing the possibility of spending his life with a felony conviction on his record. Please sign and share this petition.

AUTISM AND CREATIVITY

Another single piece, this time courtesy of Huffington Post, about a study into autism and creativity. I start with a quote from the piece:

“Wong and Doherty said we should think of autism in terms of differences rather than deficits. And these differences, as the study suggests, can give rise to important and unique creative insights.” NB The italicisation is theirs not mine.

The full article deserves to be read and shared. Naturally as both an autistic person and the creator of this blog I wholeheartedly concur with the notion that autistic people can be especially creative!

SCIENCE AND NATURE

My final two links, the second being in the nature of a segue:

BIRDS AND BUTTERFLIES

I bring this post to a conclusion with some pictures taken in and around King’s Lynn yesterday morning and today…

Rain brought this beauty out yesterday morning.
Rain brought this beauty out yesterday morning.
Also from yesterday morning.
Also from yesterday morning.

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Thomas’s Composite Ashes XI

My composite Ashes XI, with a controversial choice at no 5.

INTRODUCTION

This post, which is purely and simply what the title says will be followed by one of more my more usual posts.

AN END OF SERIES TRADITION

One of the things that people do as an Ashes series approaches its conclusion is pick a composite team. A team is not simply the 11 players who have had the best series – to be properly selected it has to be capable of functioning as a team, so it needs sufficient batting and bowling resources and a genuine wicket-keeper. Having set out my criteria I will now begin selecting:

THE OPENERS

None of the openers in this series will remember it with especial fondness, but with Warner now established as the Caddick of batsmen (much better in the second innings than in the first), and Lyth having not had a big score at all, the selection is quite straightforward: Chris Rogers and Alastair Cook (Captain).

THE MIDDLE ORDER

Number 3 is clear cut – Stephen Smith is a flat track bully, not to be trusted if the ball is doing anything, whereas Ian Bell produced two fifties in the third match to help restore England’s lead in the series. Verdict: Bell by the proverbial country mile.

Number 4 is even more of a no-contest – Michael Clarke has barely scored a run in the series while Joe Root has been superb. Verdict: Root on a walkover.

Number 5 is a difficult one. There have been no convincing performances from anyone at number 5. I am going to resolve it by thinking outside the box, to someone who regularly bats no 5 and has been in superb form recently. It will come as no surprise to readers of this blog that my choice for no 5 goes to … Ellyse Perry.

Thinking outside the box: Ellyse Perry's excellence cuts the gordian knot of who to select at no 5 in the composite ashes XI!
Thinking outside the box: Ellyse Perry’s excellence cuts the gordian knot of who to select at no 5 in the composite ashes XI! (acknowledgements to cricinfo for the picture)

Number 6 takes us back to no-contest territory – it is Mr X Factor himself a.k.a Ben Stokes who stands out like the proverbial sore thumb for this position.

Number 7, and wicketkeeper is a bit tough – I have no doubts that Jos Buttler is the superior cricketer of the two keepers, but Peter Nevill has had a fine series whereas Buttler has not. Final verdict: Nevill, on ground of faring better in this particular series.

Number 8 and we are in the territory occupied by folk who are in the side for their bowling, and England’s domination in this area over the series is indisputable. Hence, this position and nos 9 and 10 are all occupied by England players. In the position of No 8 itself is Stuart Broad.

At Number 9 I have given James Anderson a promotion on his regular position in order to fit in my remaining two bowlers.

Number 10, back to his best after a couple of years in the wilderness is Steven Finn, probably third seamer behind Broad and Anderson but possibly sharing the new ball with Anderson.

We are at Number 11 and there is no recognized spinner in the side. In this area, and this is why the tail of my composite side is so long, there is no proper contest since England’s designated “spin option”, Moeen Ali, is in my humble opinion nothing of the kind (though a fine cricketer), so this slot goes to Nathan Lyon.

Here then in batting order is Thomas’s Composite Ashes XI 2015: (nb an asterisk next to a player designates captaincy, a plus sign having the wicketkeeping gloves)

C ROGERS
A COOK*
I BELL
J ROOT
E PERRY
B STOKES
P NEVILL+
S BROAD
J ANDERSON
S FINN
N LYON

Emails, Images and Sorts

An account of today at James and Sons, with images and links, plus a couple of bonus links at the end.

INTRODUCTION

This is a post about today at work. I also have some links to share later on.

AUCTION READY

James and Sons’ August Auction will take place at Fakenham Racecourse on the 26th (a week tomorrow). Today therefore was spent imaging lots that had not yet been done, creating and despatching a bulk email and various other bits and bobs.

IMAGING HIGHLIGHTS

There were a few interesting items in today’s imaging…

Some interesting memorabilia from the 1956 ashes (offspinner Laker 46 wickets at less than 10 each just 18 months after the pace of Tyson and Statham had done for Aus on their own pitches)
Some interesting memorabilia from the 1956 ashes (offspinner Laker 46 wickets at less than 10 each just 18 months after the pace of Tyson and Statham had done for Aus on their own pitches)

31 32 33 41 42 100 331 331a 331b 331c 331d 508 509

EMAILING

The process of creating a bulk email involves identifying recipients, selecting/ creating an image, working out a headline and body text, assembling, and once a higher authority has deemed everything acceptable sending it out. I used the cover of the catalogue as an image. There were several variations before I was done…

This was a first attempt using the scanner.
This was a first attempt using the scanner.
Subsequently I used screen dumps from the PDF document to create two possible images.
Subsequently I used screen dumps from the PDF document to create two possible images.
This one, with the front cover in the centre.
This one, with the front cover in the centre.

CPDF3

And the one I eventually used, featuring just front and back cover.
And the one I eventually used, featuring just front and back cover.

The complete document can be viewed below:

Auction Alert

View a complete catalogue

LINKS

Just a couple of links: