Some important and/or interesting links, some pictures, some comments about England’s ashes triumph.
INTRODUCTION
Although this post is mainly dedicated to stuff I found online yesterday, there are also some of my own photos from the morning. I am also working a little against the clock – can I complete this post before England produce the three good balls they need to win the Ashes this morning. As soon as the cricket finishes I will be off on a walk with Gaywood Community Centre as it’s final destination because of this…
Starc has just gone giving Ben Stokes his sixth wicket of the innings (back to back matches in which two England bowlers have bagged six-fors).
AUTISM AND DISABILITY RELATED LINKS
Just before I start on these links another update – Aus are now 9 down – just the one more to go.
Yes!!! while I have been creating this post England have terminated Australia and secured the Ashes. The final moment appropriately saw the stumps being spreadeagled the way Australia have been in this match. It was Mark Wood, in for the injured Anderson who had the pleasure of taking that final wicket – well captained Mr Cook.
A FEW FINAL LINKS
Time constraints dictate a swift finish, so just one old petition, one new petition and one other link:
An account of the launch of project to build a museum that really is dedicated to the women of east London. A section on London Underground that opens with some support for the workers who run that system in their effort to secure a limitation on the number of night shifts they can be forced to work and concludes with some quirky stuff about London Underground.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to this post with a triple purpose title. Those purposes are:
A tribute to a wonderful piece of music, composed by Edward Elgar
This is the first of several posts that I will be putting up today
Also, some elements of this post will indubitably be springboards for launching future posts.
LONDON TOWN
The Cockaigne Overture is a musical invocation of London Town, and it fits with this post because this post is about London. There are two elements to the body of this post:
Some stuff about an exciting new project in East London
And some stuff about London Underground
EAST END WOMEN’S MUSEUM
This is the most important part of the post, being dedicated to the exciting project mentioned above. Before I get right into it, I must mention as an extra sharing forum my newly created second personal email address, thomasavsutcliffe@gmail.com and its associated google+ account. This project has grown out of the anger at a piece of vile duplicity, when what was claimed to be a museum dedicated to the women of East London turned out to be dedicated to Jack the Ripper. The first response, by way of 38degrees, was this petition entitled “Celebrate Suffragettes not Serial Killers“.
Then came the idea to create a museum that really was dedicated to women of East London, for which I offer the following links:
I conclude this part of the post by urging all of you to get involved in any way you can with this really excellent and exciting new project.
LONDON UNDERGROUND
Before getting into the two main parts of this section, I draw your attention to my series of posts “London Station by Station“.
THE STRIKES
The first thing to say about the strikes that are currently rocking London Underground is to make a point that opponents of these workers are doing their damnedest to deliberately obscure: THIS IS NOT ABOUT MONEY. The dispute is about working conditions, and specifically about changes in connection with the introduction of the Night Tube (as it’s instigator, BoJo the Clown calls it). What these workers want and which management have thus far refused to do is a guaranteed upper limit on the number of night shifts any individual can be made to work in the course of a year. To finish this introduction by I reiterate the opening point: THIS IS NOT ABOUT MONEY.
I support these workers wholeheartedly in their struggle and I conclude, because this really cannot be over emphasized by saying one final time: THIS IS NOT ABOUT MONEY.
SOME OTHER STUFF ON LONDON UNDERGROUND
I have two links and some accompanying graphics in this subsection.
Just a very quick post this time – a brief account of the second day’s play in the fourth test match between England and Australia.
BAD LIGHT DELAYS ENGLAND
Bad light has just ended the second day’s play with England 3 wickets away from regaining the ashes. The last time England won an ashes match in two days was in 1890, while Australia did it in 1921. Five second innings wickets for Ben Stokes lit up the latter stages of the second day. While a mid-series change is unlikely it is hard to see Michael Clarke’s tenure as Aussie captain lasting beyond the denouement at the Oval. Right from the start of play yesterday, when Aus were 10-3 after eight balls this match has progressed at ludicrous speed, but given the circumstances the craziest passage of play of the lot was just before tea today when Australia gave four wickets away in the twinkling of an eye. Adam Voges has to his name the highest score of the series by an Aussie batting at 4, 5 or 6 with 48 not out.
What both this match and its predecessor at Edgbaston have amply demonstrated is that the current Aussie side is full of ‘flat track bullies’ – they can score colossally when the ball isn’t doing anything (witness a combined tally of 820-10 in their two innings at Lord’s) but as soon as there is sideways movement they cannot cope.
Shaun Marsh, who replaced his brother Mitchell for this game to strengthen the batting twice threw his wicket away for next to nothing, creating the prospect of a baton pass from brother to brother back to brother in as many matches.
My final word for today is this: congratulations to the Trent Bridge groundsman for producing a wicket on which both bowlers and batsmen had a fair chance of success. We have had two days of superb entertainment.
An account of the extraordinary first day of the 4th ashes test at Trent Bridge, some links and infographics.
INTRODUCTION
The 4th Ashes test at Trent Bridge got under way today. As well as a brief account of the day I have some links and other bits to share.
AUSTRALIA FALL TO BRUTAL BROAD-SIDE
England 274-4 approaching the close of Day 1 with Root still there on 124 sounds like a solid, no frills opening day but actually England won the toss, put Australia in and this happened…
Stuart Broad’s (yes, Brisbane newspaper, the guy you call the tall English medium pacer) 8-15 beaten on wickets taken in an ashes innings by an English bowler only by Jim Laker’s Old Trafford double act of 1956 (9-37 1st inns, 10-53 2nd inns). In all test history only two cheaper eight wicket hauls have been taken, both in the 19th century for England against South Africa: 8-7 by George Lohmann and 8-11 by Johnny Briggs.
The irony behind this tale of woe (for them) is that Australia, acting very much in the style of 1990s England, had attempted to strengthen their batting by bringing specialist batsman Shaun Marsh in for his all-rounder brother Mitchell.
The nearest an opening day of an ashes match in my lifetime has come to being this one-sided was at Melbourne in 2010 (Aus 98 all out, Eng 157-0 in response).
Sometime between now and 6PM Monday, unless the weather puts up more of a fight than the Aussies have managed, the little urn will be returning to English possession.
Some of my readers may also a recall a 38degrees petition regarding a museum whose creator gained planning permission by lying about his intentions. Well the story has moved a little further, with this effort to create a museum that really is dedicated to women’s history.
An event taking place in Gaywood, which is comfortable walking distance from King’s Lynn, this weekend:
AFTERWORD
Two things:
I hope that you have enjoyed this and that some of you will share.
I would like to end by thanking Stephen Hurrell, author of the book I reviewed in my last post for acknowledging said post and following me on twitter.
A brief review of Stephen Hurrell’s “Dinosaurs and the Expanding Earth” accompanied by a few pictures.
INTRODUCTION
This is a book review, of a book that I have just read which has the title I have used as the title of the post. This is a standalone post with no links or unrelated pictures.
A SMALL BOOK THAT PACKS A GIANT PUNCH
The book that gave it’s title to this post is by Stephen Hurrell and it seeks to provide an explanation for the giant size of the dinosaurs.
The Front Cover
Hurrell’s theory, argued very persuasively is that the Earth was smaller and hence gravity was less in the distant past. Many different sets of data fit with his argument – including the fact that in every era since the extinction of the dinosaurs the biggest land animals have been progressively smaller. The super-giant land mammals of 35-40 million years ago for example grew much larger than their counterparts today. A graphic illustration of the size difference between the largets dinosaurs and today’s largest land animals is this…
The illustration of the difference between his theory of earth formation and the standard version (constant size earth) is shown in this graphic…
I found the book thoroughly fascinating and absorbing and would heartily recommend it to anyone, and conclude this very brief post by passing on another recommendation of a book that I share Mr Hurrell,s opinion of, Robert Bakker’s “The Dinosaur Heresies”…
An account, complete with a fine haul of photos, of a walk around King’s Lynn. This is followed by some important links and some interesting infographics. Please share widely.
INTRODUCTION
Being up bright and early this morning and noting the sunny weather I headed off for a walk. The body of this post is devoted to sharing the best sights from that walk. After that I have some links and infographics to share. I hope you enjoy this post and will be encouraged to share it.
THE WALK
My first ports of call were…
THE TUESDAY MARKET PLACE AND ST NICHOLAS CHAPEL
These places looked very fine in the sun. The extensive restoration work on the chapel is now nearly complete.
From there I headed to…
BAWSEY DRAIN
This is a far more significant waterway than that name may suggest, and was rewarded with a clutch of fine pictures in that section of the walk…
Watching and waiting in the undergrowth…
I left Bawsey drain part way along it’s length to head towards the Great Ouse by means of a nice route that I know, but I am briefly going to diverge from strict geographical recounting for a subsection on…
BUTTERFLIES
The butterflies were out in force, but it is always difficult to photograph them due to their speed. Nevertheless, I did get some good pics to share…
This was the last butterfly I got, while walking through Hardings PitsThis was the first butterfly pic I got today.The only non-animal flyer I got today – a helicopter (Helico- = spiral, pteron = wing)This one had its wings folded.
ARRIVING AT THE GREAT OUSE
Just a few pics here, but it was a delight to see the river at very high tide…
My next set of pictures are themed around a small but (to me) very significant little landmark which I have dubbed…
CORMORANT PLATFORM
The very high tide meant that most of the structure was submerged, and the presence of boats and the river and West Lynn Church on the far bank also contributed to a great set of pictures…
A brilliant piece of photobombing by the flying gull!Multiple species of bird coexisting peacefully.The platform and a boat.
The church contributing to the scene.
Two cormorants took wing in my direction.
Not all of the boats i saw on the river were there for leisure purposes – there was also a…
RESEARCH VESSEL
Four pics showing the boat and website details…
From here all that was left was…
THE HOME STRETCH
The pictures I took in these final few minutes are very varied…
One last boat pic.The Custom House.Looking north from the Lower Purfleet.An adult moorhen in the Upper PurfleetThe smallest baby moorhen I have ever seen.
We have reached the end of my walk, but I do hope some of you stay for the…
LINKS
I have a shed load of important links to share, starting with some on…
Although it was a universally revered lion whose demise sparked this activity they are not the only species targeted by noxious individuals, and my next link is to a take part petition on behalf of the elephant.
Finally in this subsection, from Mark Avery comes a story about hen harriers which was written in response to a piece in the Telegraph that was shockingly inaccurate even by the “standards” of that detestable rag.
I mentioned this yesterday, and the story has moved on since then. My source today is Socialist Worker with a piece giving great detail, including the fact that the museum which got planning permission on false pretences did not open yesterday as planned – let us hope that in it’s current incarnation as a musuem dedicated to Jack the Ripper it never does open its doors. here are the two links:
An account of the last few days, with some excellent pictures, some important links and a great infographic courtesy of Dr Lisa Sulsenti.
INTRODUCTION
My last blog post was about my cousin Olivia’s wedding on Saturday. This post tells of Sunday, Monday and today, with plenty of pictures. Also, I have some links and infographics to share. Talking of sharing, I hope that some of you will choose to share this post as well.
KEGWORTH HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTRE
While possessed of precisely zero architectural appeal, the Kegworth Hotel and Conference Centre is clean and comfortable…
I have plenty of good pictures from inside the hotel…
This is a 24 hour roman numeral clock – can you spot the deliberate mistake in the numbering?
Detail from the ornamental glasswork at the reception desk.
My bedroom had some pictures as well…
You will note a degree of duplication between the public pictures and those in the rooms!
SUNDAY LUNCH
My cousin Richard and his fiancee Ida are off to her native Sweden soon, and he had the idea of a farewell pub lunch at the Plough in Normanton on Soar. Eventually after a few cancellations, 12 of us were there for this excellent meal, which we ate outside overlooking the river itself, much used by boats and birds…
Richard and Ida
I have lots of splendid pictures from this event, and both the food and drink were magnificent.
Tables overlooking the Soar
The local product – look up Leciester Rugby Club for more on the name.
As well as boats at surface level, a plane flew high over our heads.
HOMEWARD BOUND
I travelled back as a passenger in my aunt’s car, since we live very close together in King’s Lynn. Taking pictures while in transit is not easy, but this one worked…
After helping my aunt to unload her car I walked back to my flat by way of another river on which boat travel is not unknown, the Great Ouse…
DOWN TIME
Knowing the effect that such a busy weekend would have on me I had taken the precaution of booking this week as leave to enable myself to have some quiet time. Last night was a group meeting for KLASS (more on this in a future blog post), but apart from that it has been a very quiet couple of days.
To give you an idea of how vast an eyesore this building is, this photo was taken from a point that is a 20-minute walk from the building itself!
LINKS
I have as usual plenty of links to share with you, starting with…
“A new museum gained planning permission by promising ‘the only dedicated resource in the East End to women’s history’, but has now been unveiled as a venue dedicated to the violent crimes of Jack the Ripper”.
My next story concerns a police officer who is already facing a lawsuit for handcuffing children in a very dangerous way, and should as the story makes clear be suffering more than that (defo a jail term measurable in years for this crime).
Now, a sad blast from the past. Unbelievably Kevin Healey is still suffering impersonation on twitter and still apparently receiving no protection – please either sign and share the petition if you have not already done so or keep on sharing it to apply pressure to twitter.
A personal account of the wedding party for Rob and Olivia Yates, with lots of quality pics. Also, some important links at the end.
INTRODUCTION
I will start with a word of warning: this is going to be a very long post, as there is a lot to talk about and I have some fabulous pictures to share with you. Olivia Croft (now Yates) is a cousin of mine, which is why I was there.
THE PRELIMINARIES
Needing to arrive at Kegworth early enough for those who would be at the ceremony itself to travel on to Loughborough and arrive by 12 meant an early start. I was not at the ceremony and was assigned another task along with my nephew Zachary, which I have already written about in a previous post. After a schemozzle over room bookings, which worked out to my benefit since I ended up with a room to myself (they had messed up, so we got the extra room we needed at no further cost) it was time to deposit our bags in the rooms and make the short walk to the house where the party was taking place, next door to the Kegworth museum.
THE PARTY
Arriving at the venue the first arresting sight was a 1950s vintage Morris…
The Morris in all its gloryA very old style AA badge – this close up shot was gained much later than the shot of the car.
This is the time, before going on to the party itself to introduce my feature image, a montage of some of the many pictures I took through the day…
There was a Pimm’s table for those whose tastes run in that direction, although I ignored that and was then delighted to located cask beer (four kegs, each different). I went for something called Blue Monkey Infinity and it was delicious. There was a barbecue lunch which was excellent. It is now time for a brief diversion to…
THE FISH POND
The fish pond was quite simply magnificent, with a stunning variety of fish and an excellent rock garden…
PUNCH AND JUDY
At 4PM there was a Punch and Judy puppet show. I watched it all and got some good pictures. It seemed to appeal to its target audience, the children, but I was unimpressed to say the least…
OUTDOOR MUSIC
Early on in the day there was some live music outside in the sun, and helped to be the volume not being too ridiculously amped up it was actually quite pleasant from a distance…
THE SPEECHES
The speeches took place in the same area as the Punch and Judy, and with the exception of the opening salvo from Andy, the bride’s stepfather, none were particularly impressive…
The groom, who was also MC for the speeches.
Andy, giving the first speech.
The bride’s sister, flanked by Evie (blonde) and Libby (darker)
The groom’s father making his speech.
The groom’s brother at the mic.
The bride making her speech.
AN INTERLUDE – SOME GENERAL PICS
Before going on to mention the supper and my own departure from the event here are some pictures taken at various times through the day that don’t fit neatly into a particular section…
Each table in the marquee had floral displays on them, one of which featured this sunflower.
A full floral display.My cousin Richard and his fiancee Ida – they will soon be off to her native Sweden.
Ida and Rachel, girlfriend of another of my cousins, Edward
Me and Richard
Serious rain in the early evening.
SUPPER AND TAKING MY LEAVE
Supper was fish (or sausage in my case) and chips, and it was delicious (give what my uncle had apparently paid for the hire of the chip van for the evening so it jolly well ought to have been). While I was eating it in the shelter of the marquee, the evening’s entertainment were warming up, and that was sufficient to persuade me that as it was no longer suitable weather for being outside it was time to return, since there was no way I could cope with that kind of music at that volume and accompanied by strobe lighting at close quarters.
The cake, which I did not get to see being cut.These last two pics are of the evening’s entertainment making their preparations.
I had a fabulous day, and by departing early was able to keep the good memories untarnished. This concludes the main part of this post, but I also have some…
An account of mission mixing photography with family history.
INTRODUCTION
This weekend just gone we were in Kegworth to attend the wedding of a cousin of ours (see future blog posts). A coincidence of the registry office not being big enough to accommodate everyone and a road in Kegworth bearing a rather curious name led to a mission to carry out some research…
THE BACK STORY
Dr Jeffares of Kegworth was sufficiently honoured in his own town that a street was named after him. Dr Jeffares’ Great Great Grandson is my nephew Zachary, present on this side of the world for once (he and his mother live in Indonesia). Since neither Zac nor I were going to be at the ceremony itself, it seemed a good idea to get a picture of him and the street sign that bears his ancestor’s name…
LOCATING IT
Use of google maps turned up all the information necessary to find the road in question, especially as we were booked into the Kegworth Hotel and Conference Centre, which as you will see is very close to the target…
The google street view showing me what I would be looking for.The google map picture showing the location in detail.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS
Given our starting point of the Kegworth Hotel and Conference Centre, it was a very brief matter to locate the Jeffares Close sign. After discovering that I could not get a shot from the same side of the road as the sign I crossed and used the telescopic zoom lens on my Nikon Coolpix P530 to get pictures from long range…
This final pictures is customised for use as a featured image…
Welcome to this latest installment in my series “London Station by Station“. I do hope you will enjoy it and that some of you will be inspired to share it.
BELSIZE PARK
This station opened in 1907 as part of the original section of the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway, which was subsequently amalgamated with the City and South London Railway to form the Northern line. It is located on the Edgware branch, two stops beyond the bifurcation point of Camden Town and one stop south of Hampstead. Like its northerly neighbour it is very deep, and accessible from the street only by lift or staircase. Although it is shown on the maps as offering no interchanges, Gospel Oak on London Overground is walkable should one ever have reason to make such a change.
MURDER ON THE UNDERGROUND
This is the title of a book by 1930s crime writer Mavis Doriel Hay. The murder itself takes place on the stairs mentioned above, and all the action is set around this section of the northern line. Having just read the book I heartily recommend at and am looking forward to reading the other book of hers I have located at one of the libraries I patronise, Murder on the Cherwell, set in another place I have a more than passing acquaintance with, Oxford.
The front cover, showing a 1930s train (that shade of red was known because of its use at that time as “train red”)
A diagram showing the layout of Belsize Park station that appears in the middle of the book.
THE DIAGRAMMATIC HISTORY
Of course, no post in this series would be complete without an extract from London Underground: A Diagrammatic History, and here it is:
aspiblog 