A post created in support of Chris Packham, and therefore featuring nature. I also have some important links and a great infographic for you.
INTRODUCTION
I am producing this post to offer public support for Chris Packham, who has been targeted by group of hunters/shooters/fishers who call themselves the Countryside Alliance. I hope that you will all enjoy it and that you will share it.
NATURE
It will not be news to followers of this blog that I take a great interest in nature. One of the reasons why living where I do works for me is that as well as having the amenities of a town centre on my doorstep I have open green space within comfortable walking distance and a river with all its associations even closer at hand. The combination of the fact that I do not drive and the scandalous state of public transport provision for out of town areas mean that I have to live in a town centre.
Most days I get out for a walk, and I usually get some good pictures (there is only one kind of shooting that I am interested in, and my weapon of choice is a Nikon Coolpix P530). Here are a few highlights from today…
The first four pictures are from yesterday.
This snail, on the path through Hardings Pits, has a very interesting coloured shell.
An unusual drake, with a white front and a black bill.
Just in case any of you are not already familiar with him Chris Packham is a naturalist and nature photographer who sometimes presents stuff on the BBC. I included a link to his official website in my introduction, and repeat that here.
The claim made by the Countryside Alliance is that he has violated BBC neutrality. Frankly I would regard being targeted by this group as something to be proud of, and I am adamant in saying that the BBC should stand by him. I finish this section by including the full link to a petition to tell the BBC not to sack Chris Packham:
I wish to draw our attention to two things coming up in the near future:
Heritage Open Day, which is this Sunday, and no fewer than 57 sites in King’s Lynn will be opening their doors for the occasion.
November the 4th marks the 125 anniversary of the opening of the City and South London Railway, the oldest deep level tube railway in the world. Those familiar with this blog can probably work out what aspiblog will be doing to mark the occasion!
I have a few other links I wish to share, starting with two that should both make unpleasant reading for the…
I will start with a link to the website of the West Norfolk branch of the National Autistic Society. Their most recent newsletter includes this quote: “a member has pointed us towards www.autcraft.com the online version of minecraft for people with autism”. As the member who provided the information I am delighted, but I must also assign credit where it is really due – I only happened to know about Autcraft because Autism Mom has written about it in a number of blog posts, such as this one.
My last link is the twitter account through whose good offices I located an infographic in the “Never mind gold, that’s platinum” class with which I shall end this post. They are called identifor and the infographic is this:
Some stuff about the Great Ouse at high tide, some stuff about evolutionary biology, lots of pictures and links.
INTRODUCTION
Having finally completed (after a couple of false starts – fortunately not a DQ offence in the blogosphere!) my post about the Metropolitan line I now have this offering which includes some links and a couple of quality infographics.
HIGH TIDE
This morning the Great Ouse was at very high tide. Cormorant Platform was almost enitrely submerged. There was also a high tide yesterday morning, but not quite so high as this – I have pictures from both for comparison purposes.
The first three pics are from yesterday.
One of several pics from today that indicate just why the marshland around old Boal Quay is most definitely not suitable for building on!Not suitable for building on!
In addition to these, my walk this morning provided some other splendid pictures. I saw a small rodent by the water near the bandstand, and a hare, a member of the lagamorph order of mammals later on in the walk. The lagamorphs and rodents form a cohort (intermediate between an order and a class in the system of classification) called Glires. For a fun and digestible account of these relationships and others among living things I recommend Richard Dawkins’s book “The Ancestors Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life”.
An excellent read.
I also got a few more pictures of other things that I consider worth sharing…
LINKS
I have some petitions to share with you, but will start with the other links first:
A close focus on one policy area – no surprise to anyone who knows anything about me I have opted for his policy on Railways.
The wonderful kittysjones has this piece turning her guns on the Daily Mail for its (and Tory MuPpet Ian Liddell-Grainger’s) response to the news that UN Special Raporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Catalina Devandas Aguilar will be investigating the UK’s welfare reforms to see if they constitute human rights abuses. Ms Jones’ excoriation of the Daily Mail is an excellent read.
A reminder of a petition of shared before, which comes by way of 38Degrees under the heading “Celebrate Suffragettes not Serial Killers“. I have a quote from the body of the petition and a link to the website of the true East End Womens Museum:
“The founder (a former Head of Diversity at Google) claims “It is not celebrating the crimes of Jack the Ripper but looking at why and how the women got in that situation in the first place”. This victim blaming attitude is unacceptable and cannot be condoned“
An account of a walk around King’s Lynn, accompanied by photos. Also some important links.
INTRODUCTION
I am in the process of putting together a very large post indeed as an experiment, and meantime I offer you this little post…
THE FIGURE OF EIGHT WALK
I did this walk immediately after lunch yesterday. Setting off I headed through Baker Lane Car Park, across the upper Purfleet and down to the Great Ouse by way of the lower Purfleet. The first photo I got was this one of a bird that was perfectly positioned for the shot…
I headed along the river bank and across the Millfleet, then took the path that skirts old Boal Quay round to…
CORMORANT PLATFORM
This meeting point of the Nar and Ouse provided some fine photos…
Just beyond Cormorant Platform is the path through Harding’s Pits, from which I then headed across the Nar, stopping to photograph a swan…
Up through the South Gate, across the London Road, through a little known passage and along to Seven Sisters, at which point I entered…
THE PARKLAND
The water by the bandstand is generally good for a few pictures, and today was no exception…
After the bandstand I followed the path the exits the parkland by way of the church of St John the Evangelist, walked up past the train station and on to the second loop of the figure of eight, following another little river in King’s Lynn until the path diverged from it to go past the first of two ponds separated by the width of a road. The river provided a few pics, but nothing was happening in either pond…
From the second pond I followed the road I was round until I reached the path through the meadow that leads to a bridge across Bawsey Drain, on to another path that I followed back towards the town centre. This section of the walk yielded only one picture – a green insect that because of its size I was not sure I would be able to capture…
On the last stage of the walk I got a picture of the model spitfire that currently adorns the Trues Yard museum…
After I was home, I got one final picture of a military aeroplane that flew very low (by the standards of powered aircraft) overhead…
LINKS
My first link is to a document outlining Mr Corbyn’s mental health policy, for which I am using a quote from the document itself – the second bullet point to be precise…
An account of setting up and running an auction, with references where appropriate to being on the autistic spectrum.
INTRODUCTION
This is an account of yesterday and today (set-up and then the auction itself). Most of the pics are from yesterday – the exceptions are a couple of pictures of items that fared especially well.
SETTING UP AND RUNNING AN AUCTION
Yesterday was the day on which everything for the auction was transferred by van from James and Sons premises to the auction venue, on this occasion the Prince of Wales Suite at Fakenham Racecourse. Once there it had to be laid out to best advantage, and the person most responsible for sorting that out was me. Largely lots were laid out in number order, although there were breaks in the sequences for small stuff and stamp albums which were set up on a set of tables to which only staff were permitted access and also for the prizes (as deemed by yours truly) among the small items which were laid out in glass exhibition case. My ability to carry out this task comes from two attributes both of which are linked to me being on the autistic spectrum – the fact that I am exceedingly comfortable with numbers and the fact that I am very pattern conscious.
Fortunately the friendly and helpful folks who run the racecourse had already put out tables (although we did move a few) and provided us with chairs to set out as we deemed best.
I was able to get back to James and Sons for about an hour after we had finished setting up, and before leaving at the end of the day I disconnected the mouse from my work computer and took it with me because James and Sons do not have a spare mouse and for what I do on auction day, even though I use a laptop a proper mouse is much easier to use than the laptop’s scroll pad.
Here are some pictures from yesterday…
What the venue looked like when we arrived on Tuesday morning.The James and Sons banner.Set up for action tomorrow.The exhibition case.A close up of some of the things in the case.
Lot 160 (front cover item) and lot 94.
AUCTION DAY
I will not state exactly what time this morning my alarm clock was set for – suffice it to say that for some of you it would have been more like a ‘getting in’ time than a ‘getting up’ time. I departed King’s Lynn on the 6:50 bus, and of course at that time of day there was no traffic on the roads, so the bus arrived in Fakenham exactly as scheduled – just after 7:30. The walk from Fakenham town centre to the auction venue, which is quite scenic, occupied a further 20 minutes and as it happened I was the first of the James and Sons team to be at the venue. about 20 minutes later my colleague Andrew arrived and we able to connect all the wiring and get the computers set up for running the auction. In between locating lots for people who wished to see them in the flesh before bidding (a task to which I am well suited because of another of my autistic traits – a near photographic memory which means that I generally know precisely what I am looking for and have a jolly good idea of where it will be) I also carried out sound and video checks and made sure that the computers were working as they should.
The way these auctions work is that David runs the auctions, and has the auctioneers view screen open on his computer. I meanwhile use the live auction app from ATG Media (who run www.the-saleroom.com) and as well as recording bids, making sure that we are on the right lot and addressing any technical issues that may arise it is also my task to alert David to internet bids. I do find both the direct customer service work I do before the auction starts and then being up on the rostrum quite tough, but because it only happens once a month I can manage it.
Although this was one of our smaller auctions, there were a few highlights. Just a couple of examples: Lot 345 was a plastic box chock full of Panini Trade Cards, valued at £20-30 – and the hammer finally came down at £65. Even more remarkable to me, although there had been an inquiry about this item before the auction, lot 532 which was a “Pedigree of Hugh Fenne of Yorkshire” had been valued at £30-40 and sold for £80.
Lot 345Lot 532 in all it’s gloryA close up of the title portion of lot 532Another close up of part of lot 532.
Once the sale was over we then had to load up the van with everything that needed to go back to the shop, go back in to the centre of Fakenham, unload everything into the shop, and then make a trip back to the racecourse for the signs we had put up to advertise our presence, the stools on which David and I had sat at the rostrum and one or two other things.
Fortunately, this was all accomplished in time for me to catch the 15:38 bus back to King’s Lynn (there is a gap in the X8’s schedule meaning that the next bus back after that was not until 17:38 – and that bus can usually be relied on … to be late).
Tomorrow will be largely devoted to updating the database with details of everyone who took part in the auction – and what they bid on and what they won and so on,
An account with pictures of a morning walk and a day’s cricket listening, some important links and a couple of cool infographics. Coverage given to the East End Womens Museum project along the way.
INTRODUCTION
As well as my title piece I have some links and a couple of high quality infographics to share.
NAVIGATORS, CORMORANTS AND CRICKET
Before settling into day 2 of the test match between the England and Australia women’s teams I was able to enjoy a morning walk, which featured the first two elements of my title.
NAVIGATORS
One of the things to be found where the lower Purfleet flows into the Great Ouse is a circular display with compass points in the middle and details of navigator’s round the outside. I created a photographic montage from pictures taken this morning…
Having shown you the montage, here are the individual pictures in their full glory…
CORMORANTS
The cormorants were in their usual location…
Making use of a freely available resource.
My next set of pictures feature the walk from the river to the library via the South Gate and the parkland…
The library itself is usually worth photographing, and on a day like this doubly so…
A sideways view also showing the top of Greyfriars TowerThe top section of the tower.
This is a part of King’s Lynn Minster that does not all that often get photographed…
CRICKET
The test match currently in progress is going Australia’s way at the moment – England are playing over defensively having lost a few wickets. Australia declared at 274-9, with Jess Jonnasen making 99 on test debut. She shares this fate with Arthur Chipperfield in the 1936-37 men’s ashes. England’s principle remaining hope is Natalie Sciver.
LINKS
My links are grouped in several subsections, starting with…
THE INGLORIOUS TWELFTH
The title of this section refers to the fact that today is the start of the grouse season, a date referred to by the kind of rich vermin who get their rocks off shooting birds as “The Glorious Twelfth”. My opinion, shared by a gratifyingly large number, is precisely the reverse, and I have two links to go with it:
My first link in this subsection is to a petition calling on the Gidiot (a nickname compounded of the name Gideon and the word Idiot for Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer) to stop using public money to finance private corporations.
My remaining two pieces concern the dishonourable Simon Danczuk MP who has today revealed for all to see how utterly contemptuous he is of both the members of his own party and the democratic process:
This wonderful project (please check out their website) continues to gather support. The latest person to express a wish to be involved is Marie Proffit of womenshiftdigital. I am very optimistic that we will succeed both in getting a museum that really is dedicated to women’s history established and consigning the museum whose planning permission was fraudulently gained (which provoked this resposne) to the dustbin of history.
AUTISM
My first link in this subsection is to a piece produced by autistictimes which is a searing indictment of the organisation that miscalls itself Autism Speaks.
Finally, Autism Talk have produced some splendid stuff today, making this a segue to…
An account of a walk yesterday morning, the journeys to and from East Rudham, and Sunday lunch in East Rudham, with a subsection devoted to bees enjoying wild marjoram.
INTRODUCTION
This post concerns yesterday, and us set part in King’s Lynn and part in my parents village, East Rudham. A running theme is nature. I hope you will enjoy it and that some at least of you will choose to share it.
PART 1: KING’S LYNN, MORNING
It was a beautiful sunny morning, so I decided to take a long walk from my flat, planned to finish at the bus station in time to catch the 11:55 bus to arrive in East Rudham for Sunday lunch. Right at the start, the upper Purfleet yielded these pictures…
South Quay then yielded a few more good pictures…
A gull swimming in the Great Ouse
A few minutes later came one of the regular highlights –
CORMORANT PLATFORM
The set of pictures I have this time indicate precisely why I have given this structure which sits at the meeting point of the Nar and the Great Ouse the name I have…
Before leaving the river there was just time for a couple of shots looking back at the town…
On leaving the river I headed through Harding’s Pits, which at this time of year means…
BUTTERFLIES
It is difficult to capture butterflies on camera, but I got a few pics…
After this, the next pictures worth sharing came from near the end of the walk, along a stretch of river near Morrison’s…
My photographic comment on Australia’s recent batting performances!
A VARIATION ON THE USUAL BUS JOURNEY
A combination of a spectacular day and herd mentality increased the journey time to Hunstanton and the sea to two hours and rendered the Knight’s Hill junction with the A148 effectively unusable for buses, so the X8 towards Fakenham went by way of Leziate, Ashwicken and Roydon joining the A148 just short of Hillington and its first out of town stop. Thanks to this intelligent alteration of the route the bus was only a couple of minutes late arriving at East Rudham.
PART TWO: EAST RUDHAM
Following a delicious lunch of roast beef the afternoon was spent sitting out in the courtyard outside my parents house, until it was time for me to get the bus home. I was reading the book by Robert Bakker that I mentioned in a previous post – keep an eye for a review in the near future – and also endeavouring to do photographic justice to…
THE BEES
As well as being useful for bringing out the full flavour of lamb, the wild marjoram that grows in abundance just outside my parents door is much appreciated by bees. Bees are a vitally important part of the ecosystem and are under ever increasing threat from the combination of the insensate greed of pesticide companies and the cravenness of governments (the latter do not have the guts to stand up to the former). Their activities so close to where I was sitting were an irresistable opportunity for the only sort of shooting I am interested in – that done with my trusty Nikon Coolpix P530!
THE RETURN JOURNEY
The bus turned up precisely when it was scheduled to, and until it hit the now customary traffic jam on Gaywood Road (at which point I decided to get out and walk the rest of the way) it ran exactly to schedule all the way.
PART THREE: KING’S LYNN AGAIN
In this last section I am going to share some pictures from yesterday evening and also the pictures I got of the bus station immediately before setting out…
The new London Connections map, one of the many things that can be obtained from the visitor’s centre at King’s Lynn Bus Station.On the reverse side the whole of the South East.
The front of the vistor’s centre and the Lynn museum
Focus on the visitor’s centreThe clock, courtesy of King’s Lynn Civic Society.The barrier at stand C – interleaving Captain Vancouver and the Custom House.
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 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.
