Letting people know that I will be visiting Cornwall in the near future, and a few other bits and bobs.
INTRODUCTION
My parents have recently moved to a place near Plymouth, and all they are currently out of the country travelling they will be back for a month or thereabouts from late October. I will be visiting their place in mid-November. I have asked for leave on the 9th and 10th of November so that I can go down on the 8th and come back on the 13th.
THE JOURNEY
To get from King’s Lynn to Plymouth (nearest station to my parents’ new place) by public transport one needs to to travel from King’s Lynn to London King’s Cross, get a Hammersmith & City line train from King’s Cross to Paddington and then travel from Paddington to Plymouth (I already knew this). The journey takes in the region of six hours (I expected this to be the case but until I investigated did not know for certain). This why I requested leave for the two days concerned because the two days on which one travels are not going to be much use for anything else.
THE TICKETS
I discovered via www.thetrainline.com that tickets were available for £57. Thus I have made the booking and picked up the tickets.
COLLECTING THE TICKETS
Having made the booking I was assigned a code I could use to collect the tickets:
I decided that memorising an alphanumeric code of eight characters would be a bit of an ask even for me, so I called in at the library where I could screenshot the email containing the above, paste into paint and edit as appropriate before printing at a cost of 10p.
From there it was a short walk through the park to the station to pick up the tickets.
Outbound ticketThe Homebound ticket
The receipt.
The email giving me the code to collect my tickets also included itineraries for both journeys.
This is a little stretched out, but I for one would not care to be on a train the was due to arrive at Kings Cross at 12:35 when I had to make a connection at Paddington at 13:05 – given British public transport’s usual “punctuality” that would be courting disaster.
The journey back could be a little quicker – but note that since there is no pre-booking on the London to Lynn line it is merely an annoyance should I miss the 14:44.
THE BRILLIANT.ORG 100-DAY
SUMMER CHALLENGE
I recently received (by email) my certificate for having attempted all 100 of the problems (almost 50,000 people attempted at least one of these problems, of whom 1,797 attempted the whole lot).
Before moving on to the photographs that will conclude this post I offer you…
A PUZZLE OF MY OWN CREATION
Archaeologist and adventurer Idaho Johnson is near to making the biggest find of her life, but to do so she needs to get past the “Door of Death”:
Can you fill in the missing fourth vertical panel of numbers and get Ms Johnson through the “Door of Death”? As a bonus question can you identify the real door that I have used to create the above image?
A (very brief) case study on inspiration, some autism related stuff and stuff about sharing, and some of my own photographs – read, enjoy and feel free to share so long as you do so in the right kind of way!
INTRODUCTION
I have a number of things to share today (although today’s blogging won’t quite be on the epic scale of Saturday’s), and with one significant exception for this post I am concentrating on autism related stuff.
A CASE STUDY ON INSPIRATION
One of the treats awaiting me in my inbox this morning was a post on estersblogabout Greenwich. Seeing her pictures of Greenwich inspired to me to created a post on my London transport themed website about Greenwich. The picture below is one of Ester’s, and links to her post about Greenwich:
As well as the picture that I am using as to link to the post I was inspired to create, I have a screenshot from that post below it:
This is part of the image gallery I created for lot 1,001 in James and Sons’ April auction.The screenshot
SHARING AND COMMENTING
I came across an excellent post about sharing and commenting onthesilentwaveblog. Please read this post in full by clicking on thesilentwave graphic below:
A NEW FIND – THE AUTISTIC ACADEMIC
I came across this blog yesterday. The post that caught my attention was titled “Ten Things Autistic Kids Pick Up Faster, Better, and With Less Trauma If They Aren’t Bullied Into Learning Them” and can be read in full by clicking the screenshot below. The PDF of the article to which this piece was responding can still be viewed, although the original article has been taken down (nb – once you have posted something anywhere on the net it is exceedingly hard to remove it, so best to think before you post so you have no need to worry aboiut trying to remove it!).
ANOTHER NEW FIND –
THE UNABASHED AUTIST
As a sample of this blogger I offer you a piece title “This Is Your Solution – To Ruin The Bike?”, which can be accessed by clicking the Unabashed Autist graphic below:
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here are some photographs from yesterday to end this post:
We start with some public transport themed pictures (five in total)This display is not as prominent within the station building as it should be.Close ups of each poster.
From the train station to the bus station (while this is not quite a true transport interchange, the distance is only about 200 metres)Some of these pictures were taken yesterday morning, the others yesterday afternoon after my mother had dropped me back in King’s Lynn (near the cemetery, which made the best walking route home obvious – note for those new to this site best in this context does not necessarily mean shortest).
Mainly photographs – a drone that my nephew was given for Christmas and some pictures from a walk I took in the winter sun today. Read, enjoy and please share!
INTRODUCTION
I am having a quiet day today, having spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the company of various family members. Earlier today there was blue sky and bright sun over King’s Lynn, so I went for a walk.
THE STAR GIFT OF YESTERDAY
Although most of the presents given out yesterday seemed to go down very well there was no doubt as to which was the best received – a drone that was given to my nephew. Here are some photos from yesterday…
My cousin and his Swedish girlfriend came bearing gifts – this crispbread is exceedingly good.A piece of stained glass at my aunt’s house.The side view of my parents new burner.Front on picture of the same.The remaining pictures all feature this drone…
A WINTER WALK
I walked along the riverbank as far as Hardings Pits and then back into town by way of the parkland…
The Custom HouseTwo pictures of the bright but very low sun reflecting off the river.
West Lynn Church.Moorhens in and around the NarThe South GateThe Red Mount Chapel from a distance.
An account of a walk, some final thoughts on the IDS resignation, some very brief comments about the six nations and some stuff about the World T20
INTRODUCTION
With my parents and my aunt away I have been left to my own devices this Sunday. So I am producing this post which features the World T20, a short section on the most despised British minister in living memory (yesterday I posted to links to pieces here and here), and today I am making my last comments on him, and what I shall be starting with…
A SUNDAY STROLL
The live commentary from the World T20 having finished and it being sunny outside I set off for a long walk, starting as so often by heading to the river via the Purfleet.
Captain Vancouver
Not designed as a bird perch but clearly works well!
The river front, from the Purfleet to the Millfleet was, as one would expect on a Sunday, quiet, although the survey boats were still in evidence.
A cormorant in flight – although they fly low they fly very fast, so capturing them using this mode of travel is difficult.
The cormorant in flight above leads on to my efforts to capture a swimming cormorant (even more of a challenge, because if they are in the water they are usually looking for food, so surface only briefly between dives but…)
After this shot where I caught the dive…
Came this one where I got the timing exactly right.
Old Boal Quay provided nothing of interest, but ‘cormorant platform’, the Nar outfall and the stretch of the Great Ouse adjoining Hardings Pits did…
I had thought there would be no ‘cormorant platform’ shot, but just before leaving the river I got this one.
We have lift off!
A second capture of a swimming cormorant in one day.
Neither Harding’s Pits nor the area around St John’s Walk offered very much, but I did get these pictures between the river and hitting the path along Bawsey Drain to to the town centre…
I walked about halfway along the path that follows Bawsey Drain before crossing a bridge and heading through a field and round the edge of another to a couple of ponds, from the second of which a path leads to Littleport Street, and thence a cut a know well that brings on to the train station and finally home.
The new cycle park at King’s Lynn station.
THE END OF THE
INHUMANE DESPICABLE SOCIOPATH
Yesterday morning I woke up to news of the resignation of the most hated of all British government Ministers. His resignation statement was obviously bogus since it mentioned conscience (which he has never possessed). The most popular explanation was that it was a kind of ‘IDS of March’ act with Osborne’s being the back into which the dagger was being plunged. Others thought that it was to enable him to concentrate on campaigning for a ‘Brexit’ vote.
Signs are not encouraging as regards his replacement – Mr Crabb (for he it is – a sideways move from his previous position of Welsh Secretary – sorry about the pun) has a voting record similar to that of the man he replaces. Mr Crabb can hardly fail to be an improvement (that is not so much setting the bar low as not setting a bar at all) but he may very well not be much of one.
I will conclude this section with some of twitter highlights about the man…
The resignation pictureHis voting record on Welfare – a hint as to why this resignation was a matter for celebration
Mike Sivier of Vox Political produced this offering.One view of the real reason for the resignation.The best epitaph for IDS’s political career – this excoriation from Salma Yaqoob on Question Time was bang on the money.#
SPORT SUPPLEMENT
Sport usually occupies the back pages of print media, so I have put it at the back of this post. First a brief congratulation to England for completing their six nations grand slam (as with Wales’ obliteration of Italy – 67-14 – and Ireland’s win over Scotland the result was no great surprise). The rest of this section is dedicated to the
WORLD T20
This is going be longer than such a section would usually be because of this post which appeared on whyevolutionistrue yesterday. As you will see, this attempt at an explanation is too long to submit as a comment to someone else’s blog. We start with a glossary of a few important terms:
Innings: can either apply to an individual performance or to the team performance. In a cricket context the singular and plural are spelled the same way – ‘inning’ has no meaning.
Over: A fixed number of legal balls (these days six, though at various times in cricket’s long history four, five and eight have been favoured) that the bowler delivers before the action switches to the other end and another bowler.
Run: The unit in which a team score is measured. It is based on running the length of the cricket pitch, which is worth one. Balls that reach the boundary score four (if they bounce before doing so) or six (if they cross on the full).
Wicket: The construction, comprising three stumps and two bails that the batter defends. Cricket is generally an eleven-a-side game, so each side has ten wickets to defend (as there have be two batsman together).
The World T20 is genuinely a world tournament (unlike some sports, cricket only uses international designations when they are genuinely appropriate!), with the full member nations of the ICC qualifying automatically, and the ‘associate members’ playing a pre-qualifying tournament from which some make it to the main event. The T20 part of the format refers to the format of the matches, where each side gets 20 overs to bat, and bowlers are limited to four overs each (so you better have at least five folk in your team who can bowl decently). Scoring in these matches is generally fast, though the England v South Africa match of a few days ago in which a South Africa tally of 229-4 proved insufficient was exceptional even for this format. The India v Pakistan match that provoked the google doodle which in turn provoked the WEIT post had extra spice because of the political situation which also means that those two countries only ever play each other in global tournaments, never in bilateral series. For the record India won, not without a few scares along the way. This morning GB time there was a match between South Africa and Afghanistan, won by South Africa but with the Afghans giving a very good account of themselves.
These buildings span most of the history of this town. The first two buildings you will see are visible from right outside my door.
CLIFTON HOUSE TOWER
More or less due west of my own “compact” flat, this tower is instantly recognizable.
THE GRANARIES
Located on the Purfleet side of Baker Lane car park, and one of the tallest buildings in the town.
THE GUILDHALL
The second most iconic building in King’s Lynn. The checkerboard frontage is unique, although a couple of other buildings in the town have small bits of the same in their walls and there is one church in Norwich that is not entirely dissimilar.
GREYFRIARS TOWER
The last remnant of the Franciscan Friary, where at one time Nicholas of Lynn, who certainly sailed as far as Iceland and may have reached the American Coast over a century before Columbus, was resident.
BANK LANE ARCHES
Another remnant, in between Greyfriars and the Library.
THE LIBRARY
An amazing and important building. This construction in brick and carr provides a vital service to the residents of our town.
HAYES AND STORR
A solicitor’s office in a very handsome building that happens to be almost directly opposite the library.
THE METHODIST CHAPEL
Right next door to Hayes and Storr.
THE REMAINS OF ST JAMES’ CHAPEL
One wall section is all that now remains of this chapel, which was also a workhouse in the Victorian age.
THE RED MOUNT CHAPEL
THE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST
This church sits right at the town end of St John’s Walk.
KING’S LYNN TRAIN STATION
This station, which opened in the 1850s, has recently been restored. It is very close to the centre of the town, and there is the option of a scenic route – follow the footpath down past the church of St John the Evangelist, then diagonally across The Walks to the library, down Millfleet to the river front, along the river front as far as the Purfleet and approach the Tuesday Market Place by way of King Street, thereby circumventing the Vancouver Quarter entirely.
A SECTION OF OLD TOWN WALL
Very little of King’s Lynn’s old town wall survives, but close to Morrisons and the Primary School this section can be seen.
HIGHGATE METHODIST CHAPEL
Much smaller than the main Methodist chapel on London Road, this building is located just off Littleport Street, still very close to the town centre.
AN OLD BUNKER?
I cannot think what else this building which sits next to a small river, just off Littleport Street, could be.
THE LYNN MUSEUM
Admission to this museum, which adjoins the bus station, is free.
THE NEW BUS STATION BUILDING
Following extensive redevelopment work (visit this post for more pictures) the new bus station opened in June of last year. This is the building that accompanied the external developments.
THE MAJESTIC CINEMA
There have been plans to extend this cinema for some time, but for the moment it remains the same as ever.
THE LYNN RESTAURANT
While both the quality and the prices at this restaurant are very acceptable, it is the restoration work that has been done to the building above it that chiefly interests me.
ST NICHOLAS CHAPEL
This chapel has recently been repaired and restored, and the results of all this work are spectacular.
There has been a chapel on this site since 1146
This image shows all four large cushions that comprise the timeline – it is followed by eight individual images that show close ups of parts of the cushions.
The organ – dates from 1899
THREE BUILDINGS FROM THE TUESDAY MARKET PLACE
This building houses the West Nordolk Disability Service among others.Not to be confused with the establishment in Norwich where James and Sons hold some of their auctions, this is The Maids Head, King’s LynnThe Dukes Head, where the Positive Autism Awareness Conference will be taking place on April 15th. This photo was constrained by the presence of the Mart. After a fortnight in Lynn, the Mart splits in to two to go to various other places around the country – but it is only in Lynn that you get to see everything.
CODA: KING’S LYNN’S NEWEST CONSTRUCTION
A new wind turbine has just been built near the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. It was built very rapidly – there was no sign of anything there on Tuesday, by Thursday morning the tower was in place, and by Friday morning it was complete (my bus travels this way on work mornings). Here are a couple of pictures, taken through the window of the bus on Friday…