The fourth in my series of posts about Heritage Open Day, featuring the Red Mount Chapel, The Guildhall, “Cormorant Platform”, the South Gate and the Bandstand.
INTRODUCTION
This is the fourth post in my Heritage Open Day series (there will be one more small post to finish the series) and features several classic sites, starting with…
THE RED MOUNT CHAPEL
I have shown pictures of the outside of this building in many previous posts, so therefore I am concentrating my attentions on the inside, which a little like that of the South Gate contains more than you would believe from looking at the outside. The only windows most of the building possesses are tiny slits, while the uppermost level has fleur-de-lys windows which are not visible from the ground. At various stages of this buildings history its true purpose had to be concealed, because it was not safe to be known to be a centre of Catholic worship (n.b. the danger was never from unbelievers such as me, who also could not declare themselves at the time I am writing about – it was from those whose interpretation of Christianity differed from that of the Catholics). Now for some pictures…
A prettied up fleur-de-lus windowAn original fleur-de-lys window
After this we spent a bit of time outside waiting for signs of the spitfire fly past but none materialised, and we had to buy bread as a contribution to lunch, which thanks to my aunt was a feast. After lunch we started by paying a visit to the…
GUILDHALL
This is the second most iconic building in Lynn (behind the Custom House), due to its possessing this frontage…
This pic was taken yesterday – i got none of the outside on the day itself.
Heritage Open Day however represented an opportunity to check out the inside of the building, including a ceiling that definitely dates from at the latest the early 1420s…
Decorative stonework in the Guildhall.
The 1420s ceiling (maybe even older)
The plan was to visit the South Gate, and then go back to the park to catch some of the live music at the bandstand. A special tour bus (think routemasters of yesteryear!) caught our eyes but it was full, and it definitely was not worth waiting 20 minutes for the next. The walk to the South Gate needed little tweaking to take in one of my favourite minor attractions, which I have dubbed…
CORMORANT PLATFORM
Thankfully, the cormorants did me proud, and I was not required to provide any explanation as to my name for the structure…
There were no further diversions before arriving at the…
SOUTH GATE
No external picture of this – I have shown many in the past, and on this day it was all about the inside of such buildings. Suffice to say that my companions for the day, my cousin Edward and his partner Rachael endorsed my earlier description of this building as a ‘medieval TARDIS’ – there is much more inside than you would believe possible from the outside…
Following a short cut well-known to me to not to that many others (at least when it comes it King’s Lynn I can say echoing Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings that “My cuts, short or long, don’t go wrong”) we arrived in the parkland area via the Seven Sisters gate, walking past the Walks Stadium (home of the mighty Linnets, a.k.a King’s Lynn Town FC – just another five promotions would see them in the premier league!) and the Guanock Gate to arrive at our last attraction of the day…
THE BANDSTAND
The Bandstand dates from 1904 and regularly hosts live music. For Heritage Open Day we had a brass band who produced some excellent music for us…
The third post in my series dedicated to heritage Open Day 2015 in King’s Lynn. This takes in a Napoleonic era militia, a 15th century construction and the present day work of the Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to this, the third post in my series on Heritage Open Day, which took place a week ago today. We are covering a lot of ground today, starting with…
A NAPOLEONIC ERA MILITIA STRUTTING THEIR STUFF
As part of the efforts to protect Britain against invasion by Napoleon, militias were organised everywhere coastal ready to act if necessary. Norfolk had two, the West and East Norfolk militias, and although King’s Lynn is on the western edge of Norfolk, it was the East Norfolk Militia we saw in action. There was also someone dressed as a captured Frenchman – note the dark blue jacket. It would be fair to describe this particular militia unit as not being the best drilled you would ever see (actually I would not have been that surprised to see Baldrick or hear someone shouting “Don’t tell him Pike”).
Once we had seen this, we crossed the lower Purfleet on the bridge you can see in the picture above (after a brief diversion so I could show the others the Navigators display) and headed across King’s Staithe Square to the…
BANK HOUSE HOTEL
Who had opened up their cellars for the occasion…
This map was on display in the hotel itself.
Then it was down to the banks of the Great Ouse, not at ultra high tide, but neither with vast areas of mudflat on display, and a chance to learn about the work of the…
EASTERN INSHORE FISHERIES AND CONSERVATION AUTHORITY
and to look around one of their research vessels, which also meant a chance to get down on to the pontoon/jetty where visiting boats have mooring space…
This camera will function at depths of up to 80 metres, comfortably enough for investigating inshore waters around the Norfolk coast.
After finishing here we decided it was time to see how my mother and aunt were faring at the…
SECRET GARDEN
This is the communal back garden of Hampton Court, and unlike the courtyard itself which anyone can look in on at any time it is rarely possible for ordinary members of the public to look at it. By the time we got there my aunt had been temporarily relieved by my mother, and clearly lots of folk had already visited. Part of the garden had been blocked off at the request of one particular resident, but not being able to venture there did not lessen the experience…
Turning the requirement to restrict access one part of the garden into a benefit.
This map and the next picture, even on that day, was not viewable by ordinary members of the public – they adorn the walls of my aunt’s house.
The second post in my series devoted to Heritage Open Day – this one covers King Street, starting from the Tuesday Market Place end and finishing at the Custom House.
INTRODUCTION
This is the second post in my Heritage Open Day series, and takes in King Street, virtually every building alon which had opened its doors for the occasion.
BEHIND THE ARTS CENTRE
There was some remarkable stuff on display between King Street and the river, accessible from two directions.
Rachael, one of my companions for the day looking closely at this curio.
WHEN TWO BECAME ONE
The premises of Kenneth Bush solicitors does indeed consist of two buildings that were joined together to become one. It also had fine garden, in which stall selling homemade cakes and biscuits.
A CONCEALED TREASURE
When you first appoach them, the premises of Metcalfe, Copeman & Pettefar don’t look like they are going to be massively impressive, but you soon discover that on the inside you are looking at a Norman building…
The attic, not accessible, but those beams are very impressive from below.
This mirror was working rather too effectively – you get the photographer as well the photograph!This view is not pretty – I include only because it is Baker Lane car park, and just out of sight to the top right as you look is a set of iron stairs which lead up to an intermediate level outside space up from which a spiral iron staircase leads to my own outside space.
INSIDE THE ICON
The ground floor of the Custom House serves as King’s Lynn’s principal tourist information office, but beyond that there is a mini museum, which was accessible that day, and as our next planned activity was watching a Napoleonic era militia in action nearby we decided to have a look to fill the last few moments before that started. Custom House marks the end of King Street, after crossing the lower Purfleet the road bifurcates, one fork becoming King Staithe Square and then the quayside and the other Queen Street which feeds in to the Saturday Market Place. Here are some final pics from the Custom House…
I had to darken this considerably to get the text to stand out.
It isn’t only Lord’s that has a Long Room! (I concede that this one is not quite so impressive as theirs!)
Walter Dexter’s painting of the Custom House in his day. Later for comparison there is a photograph taken by me on September 6th 2015.
An announcement of a new website I shall be running, with a picture of my envisaged home page.
INTRODUCTION
A knackered power lead/ charger cable put my computer out of action on Wednesday, and because Thursday was a working day it was only today that I was able to locate a replacement. All is now well again, so I take this opportunity to make
AN ANNOUNCEMENT
The series of posts I have been running on this blog under the general heading “London Station by Station” is going become a website – I have the domain name (londontu.be), but please DO NOT visit it yet – it is still under construction. As a little sampler I offer you this screenshot of my envisaged home page, together with a link to the document itself…
The white blank space I have shown at the bottom will be populated with those links I deem important enough to feature on the home page.
An explanation of why I have not published a post since Sunday morning and details of some upcoming posts, with a couple of ‘aperitif’ picttures
JUST SO YOU KNOW
My last published post was on Sunday morning, and as I will probably not get another full post up before tomorrow I thought a few words of explanation were appropriate (I do not like having big gaps between posts). Sunday was Heritage Open Day, and because I was at work yesterday and will be again today to get the imaging done for our next auction I have not yet had time to edit all the photos I took from Heritage Open Day. So, upcoming on this blog for definite are:
Tomorrow: At least one, probably two posts about Heritage Open Day
Thurs AM: Heritage Open Day continued
Fri AM: Heritage Open Day continued
Saturday: If I have not already done so I will finish the multi-post account of Heritage Open Day, and I will be putting up another of my London Underground posts, this time covering the Bakerloo line.
I leave you with a couple of pictures…
The brochures produced for the occasion.The stairs down into the first attraction that I and my companions visited on Heritage Open Day – an old air raid shelter.
The title of this post comes from the title of Piers Connor’s history of the District Line, which is getting the aspiblog treatment this week…
HISTORY
As with that of it’s second youngest, the Victoria, almost precisely a century later, London’s second oldest underground line’s initial opening occurred in three phases between 1868 and 1871. After the third and final phase of opening the Metropolitan District Railway (as it was officially called at that time) looked like this:
A running theme of these early years were squabbles between the District and the Metropolitan over the completion of The Inner Circle (now the Circle line) and who could run their trains where. In the 1870s the District started producing maps for the benefit of their passengers, as these pictures show…
I do not know what these very early maps looked like, but here is a picture of my facsimile of a pre-Beck geographical map…
The Richmond and Wimbledon branches were both opened during the 1870s, followed by branches to Hounslow (the origin of the Heathrow branch of today’s Piccadilly line), Uxbridge (again handed over to the Piccadilly in the 1930s) and between 1883 and 1885, before being pared back to Ealing Broadway, Windsor (more on this later). The current eastern terminus of Upminster was reached (by a grant of running powers rather than new build) in 1902, and for a brief period as this reproduction postcard shows occasional District line trains ran to Southend and Shoeburyness…
Additionally, a branch to Kensington Olympia was created, which linked to a corresponding branch south from whatt is now the Hammersmith and City. Also, sometimes services ran from the district line north of Olympia to Willesden Junction. Additionally, there was a spur to South Acton and even briefly a terminus specifically to serve Hounslow Barracks.
In the 1930s a lot of the western services (Hounslow and Uxbridge specifically) were transferred to the Piccadilly line, while the Hounslow Barracks service ceased to exist, and the South Acton spur was abandoned.
Nevertheless, with main western termini at Wimbledon, Richmond and Ealing, and a cross branch serving Wimbledon, Edgware Road and Kensington Olympia the District remains a very complicated line.
SPECULATIONS
Although I leave the eastern end of the line unchanged, my suggestions for the District involve some very dramatic changes. My plans for the Wimbledon, Edgware Road and Olympia branches will form the subject of a later post, and for the moment I will settle for saying that these branches would cease to form part of the District line, and that as with my changes involving branches that would remain part of the District line the plans involve making use of a feature that might otherwise be problematic (see The Great Anomaly), the fact that being one the older lines, this line was built to mainline specifications. Although my plans for the Richmond and Ealing branches are big, they involve only a small amount of new track – enough to link the lines that serve Windsor and Eton Riverside and Windsor and Eton Central forming a giant loop at the western end of the line. This loop would link with my suggested London Orbital Railway at Staines and at West Drayton. Thus in place of the current fiendishly complex District Line there would be ‘horizontal frying pan’ line, with Upminster to Turnham Green serving as the handle in this model. It would also make possible a reissue with appropriate modifications of this old poster…
A GUIDED TOUR OF THE PRESENT-DAY DISTRICT LINE
From Richmond to Gunnersbury the District and London Overground share a route, which features one of only two above-ground crossings of the Thames on the entire network (the other is Putney Bridge – East Putney on the Wimbledon branch of the District). Richmond features a deer park, as advertised on this old poster…
Kew Gardens actually has a pub that is built into the station, and serves a world famous botanic garden…
Gunnersbury is not very significant, although the flying junction that this branch forms with the rest of the District line just beyond here and just before Turnham Green is very impressive, to the extent that it too has featured in a PR campaign back in the day…
The section from Ealing Broadway to Acton Town includes a depot which features the steepest gradient on the system at 1 in 28 (passengers are not carried over this gradient – the steepest passenger carrying gradient is 1 in 32). At Ealing Common the District and Piccadilly lines converge, not to diverge again until the Piccadilly goes underground just east of Barons Court and even then, the Piccadilly follows the District at a deeper level until South Kensington. Between Acton Town and Turnham Green the District calls at Chiswick Park. After Turnham Green the District has stations at Stamford Brook and Ravenscourt Park. From the latter the remains of the viaduct that once carried trains from what is now the Hammersmith and City lines onto these tracks can still be seen. Beyond Hammersmith and Barons Court the District calls at West Kensington before arrving at the grand meeting point of Earls Court. Immediately east of Earls Court is Gloucester Road (pronounced glos-ta not glue-cess-ta – Americans please note), which at platform level has been restored to something like it would have looked in 1868, while the frontage at surface level is as nearly restored as the creation of a new shopping centre permits…
The inside back cover of the Piers Connor book – a look along one of the restored platforms at Gloucester Road.From London Underground: The Official Handbook, a picture of Gloucester Road at surface level.
One stop further east at South Kensington is an original shopping arcade of the sort that several stations were provided with back in the day, complete with some splendid decorative ironwork (pictures photographed from London underground: The Official Handbook…)
One stop on from South Kensington is Sloane Square, which I remember from growing up in London is the station that served Peter Jones (a huge department store). Also, a large pipe above the platforms here is the only routinely visible sign of the river Westbourne (for more detail click here). From Sloane Square, the line visits Victoria (the ultimate transport hub). We are about enter a section of the journey featuring a lot of landmarks, so I will be giving each station I cover a section heading, starting with…
ST JAMES PARK
This station is the local station for London Underground’s official headquarters, located at 55 Broadway. It is also, along with Temple and Mansion House one only three stations on this section if the district to be served only by the district and circle lines.
WESTMINSTER
The local station for the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey (officially the Collegiate Church of St Peter). The Abbey was originally founded by Edward the Confessor, who reigned from 1042-1066. While many look askance at the amounts of money trousered by folks in the House of Commons these people are at least elected, whereas in the House of Lords large sums of money go to people who are not elected, some of whom barely bother to attend and the vast majority of whom have demonstrated time and again that they are a waste of space. Even Baron Kinnock of Bedwelty, who has personally profited hugely from the existence of the House of Lords reckons that it is ripe for abolition. Since the opening of the warped (I will not dignify it with the word modified) Jubilee line extension in 1999 there has been an interchange here.
EMBANKMENT
The station that has been through more name changes than any other on the system (people couldn’t decide whether Charing Cross, Embankment or both should be emphasised). The issue was put to bed for good in 1979 when the Jubilee opened, and its Charing Cross terminus created interchanges with what had previously been separate stations, Trafalgar Square on the Bakerloo line and Strand on the Northern, which meant that with Charing Cross definitively settled on for the marginally more northerly of the stations, this one had to be plain Embankment. The Embankment from which this station takes its name was designed as part of the building of this line by Joseph William Bazalgette, who also designed London’s sewer system. His great-great grandson Peter is a well known TV producer with some good series to his credit and Big Brother to his debit. This, photographed from the Piers Connor book is a diagram of the profile of the Embankment…
TEMPLE
This is the only station name to feature both on London Underground and the Paris Metro (it also features on the Hong Kong network). In the days before the Aldwych branch of the Piccadilly line was axed there was an interchange here, as Temple is very close to Aldwych.
BLACKFRIARS
A station which derives its name from the Dominicans, who were referred to as black friars because of the colour of their habits. There is an interchange with both Thameslink and South Eastern here. Also, it is one end point of short scenic walk, which takes in a bridge over the Thames, Gabriel’s Wharf, The Oxo Tower, the Bernie Spain Gardens and the vast collection of attractions that between them constitute The South Bank, finally ending at Waterloo. Also if you go East instead of West after crossing the river you can take in the ruins of Winchester Palace (the former London residence of the Bishop of Winchester) and Clink Street, once home to a prison so notorious that ‘clink’ became slang for prison, a building that now houses London Dungeon, ending at London Bridge (you could continue yet further east – to Greenwich or even Woolwich were you feeling strong). I have done Waterloo – London Bridge and also Greenwich-London Bridge, and indeed Woolwich-Greenwich, so all these indvidual stretches are comfortably manageable. Also in this part of the world is Sainsbury’s main post-room where I once temped for a week (giving the agency feedback I took the opportunity to make it clear that I would not take any more work in that particular establishment – it was hell).
MANSION HOUSE
This name is either contradictory (a mansion is different from a house, being much larger) or tautologous (a mansion in a kind of large house) depending on your definitions. From 1871-1884 it was the eastern end of the District. The building after which the station is named is “the home and office of the Lord Mayor of the city of London” – an office filled four times by Richard Whittington (for once the story underplayed the the truth) in the fourteenth century.
CANNON STREET
A mainline rail terminus, albeit not a very significant one.
MONUMENT
I mentioned this station in my post about the Central line because it is connected to the various lines that serve by Bank by means of escalators. This interchange was first created in 1933, but the current arrangement dates only from the opening of the Docklands Light Railway terminus at Bank.
TOWER HILL
I have given this station an individual post to itself. From here the Circle and District diverge, the Circle going round to Aldgate while the District heads to Aldgate East. It is also at this point that I abandon for the moment separate station headings.
THE EASTERN END OF THE LINE
At Aldgate East the Hammersmtih and City line joins the District and they run together as far as Barking. In between Aldgate East and Whitechapel there used be a line connecting to Shadwell (formerly East London Line, now London Overground). Whitechapel has been in the news recently because a museum that was given planning permission on the basis of being dedicated to the women of the East End turned out when it opened to be dedicated to Jack the Ripper. This has been the subject of a vigorous 38Degrees campaign seeking both to get the monstrosity closed and to establish a proper East End Womens Museum. Some of those involved in the campaign met with the mayor of Tower Hamlets recently, and he has apparently been sympathetic and has confirmed that he too is unhappy with the way the planning process was subverted by an act of calculated dishonesty. Beyond Whitechapel, the line has an interchange with the Central line at Mile End which is unique for an interchange between ‘tube’ and ‘subsurface’ lines in being cross-platform and underground, Bow Road, which has an interchange with the Docklands Light Railway station at Bow Church is the last station on the line to be in tunnel. East of Bow Road the line rises on a 1 in 45 gradient to emerge into the open some way before Bromley-by-Bow. West Ham is nowadays a major interchange, featuring mainline railways, the Jubilee line, the Docklands Light Railway (this section which runs from Stratford to Woolwich was once part of the line that became the nucleus of London Overground, which originally ran from Richmond to North Woolwich, but now terminates at Stratford) and of course the District and Hammersmith & City lines. The main line railway runs side by side with the District to Upminster, and then continues to Southend and Shoeburyness. Upton Park is until 2017, when the club in question move to the Olympic Stadium, the local station for West Ham United’s home ground. Barking in the eastern limit of the Hammersmith & City, also the terminus of London Overground branch from Gospel Oak and an interchange with mainline railways. Upminster is the easternmost destination currently served by London Underground.
EDGWARE ROAD, OLYMPIA AND WIMBLEDON
For this section I will be reverting to individual headings for station names…
EDGWARE ROAD
A four platform station, where the Hammersmith & City line and the District and Circle lines meet (do not be fooled by the fact that both have stations called Paddington). This is the only one of the original 1863 stations to be served by District line trains.
PADDINGTON (PRAED STREET)
Why have I given this station a suffix that does not feature in it’s current title? Because the current plain “Paddington” designation is misleading – although the interchange to the Bakerloo line’s Paddington is a sensible one to have, you do far better for the mainline station and Hammersmith & City line to go on one stop to Edgware Road, make a quick cross-platform change to the Hammersmith & City and arrive at platforms that are structurally part of the mainline railway station (the two extra stops – one in each direction – plus a cross platform interchange taking less long between them than the official interchange up to the mainline station from here. Therefore to avoid misleading people the title of this station should either by given a suffix or changed completely, and the only interchange that should be shown is that with the Bakerloo. I have previously given Paddington a full post to itself, but failed to make the foregoing points with anything approaching sufficient force.
BAYSWATER
This station is on the north side of Hyde Park, and like the two on either side of it still has the same style of roof over the platforms as when it opened – a style now not seen anywhere else on the system.
NOTTING HILL GATE
I refer you to my previous post devoted to this station.
HIGH STREET KENSINGTON
This is the point at which this branch of the District diverges from the Circle line. The District branch continues south to the “Crewe of the Underground”, Earls Court, while the circle goes round to Gloucester Road (this section of track features in the Adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans, being the point at which the body of Arthur Cadogan West was fed through a rear window of a flat occupied by one Hugo Oberstein onto the roof of a conveniently stationary train, where it remained until being shaken off at Aldgate. Mycroft Holmes was sufficiently discombobulated by the case to change his routine (a thing so rare that his brother the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes likened it to seeing a tram car in a country lane) and pay a visit to Baker Street to seek assistance.
OLYMPIA
Trains to all manner of destinations pass through this station, but for the District it is a mere side branch..
WEST BROMPTON
An interchange with a London Overground branch. This station is fully open to the elements, as are all the others we have still to pass through.
FULHAM BROADWAY
The local station for Chelsea FC’s home ground, Stamford Bridge.
PARSONS GREEN
This would become a District line terminus, with an interchange to the new Hackney-Chelsea line, under official plans. In my personal ideas for the future it would be an interchange point but no terminus.
PUTNEY BRIDGE
The local station for Fulham FC’s home ground, Craven Cottage. This would also be the best station to travel to if you wished to catch the Boat Race, second oldest of all the inter-university sporting contests.
Like some the other posters I have displayed in this post this one would need adapting, but it could certainly be reissued.
The oldest of all the inter-university sporting contests is the Varsity Cricket Match, first played in 1827, two years before the first Boat Race took place.
EAST PUTNEY
This station is the first of a section that used to be mainline railway.
SOUTHFIELDS
Another stop with a sporting connection – this is the local station for the world’s most famous tennis championship – Wimbledon. Although I have already given this station a full post, I show this picture again…
WIMBLEDON PARK
The second to last stop on our journey.
WIMBLEDON
As we approach this station, we first join up with the mainline services from Waterloo coming in from Earlsfield, and then with Thameslink services coming in from Haydons Road. Wimbledon is also one terminus of the London Tram system. Along the north side of the tracks as one approaches Wimbledon runs Alexandra Road, and we pass underneath a bridge carrying Gap Road across the tracks to a junction.
ODDS AND ENDS
I have a few promotional pictures still to share, and some maps to round out this post. Other than that, I hope you enjoyed the ride…
The District line and its history.The District line and its connections.Close focus on the two Windsor branches that I would incorporate into the District making a loop at the western end.
An account of imaging at James and Sons with a focus on Railwayana, some links to pieces posted on whyevolutionistrue and a few general links.
INTRODUCTION
The mesalliance of subjects indicated by my title is brought about by the fact that I only have time for a very quick blog post, and the two things I most want to share are pictures of some interestinfg railwayana that will be in our next auction and a number of superb pieces that whyevolutionistrue have produced recently.
RAILWAYANA
I have had a particularly busy time imaging autcuion lots over the last few days, because the other person who regualrly does imaging was involved in a car accident (the car accident stats for Norfolk make grim reading because the lack of a proper public transport infrastructure and the prevalence of poverty mean that people start driving at the first available opportunity and are often using cars that are not really road worthy) is consequently off sick. Thankfully, albeit with a rejigging of work days for next week, we are on track for completing the catalogue by the end of Tuesday, which means that by the back end of next week printed copies should be available, and an online listing should be ready to view.
The two lots that especially caught my eye in and amongst the vast quanrtity of stuff I have been imaging were numbers 51 and 52, and I conclude this section with full photo galleries for both lots…
Lot 51 is this antique railway mapThe remaining seven images including this one are of lot 52
A FANTASTIC FIVE FROM WHYEVOLUTIONISTRUE
This blog, the title of which comes from a marvellous book by Jerry A Coyne has been in tremendous form just lately, with the pieces I am sahring merely the cream of a spectacular crop…
Next an absolute crackerjack titled “Religious Freedom In A Nutshell” and accompanied by Ambrose Bierce’s classic definition of a Christian: CHRISTIAN, n. One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor.
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:
A brief account of today at work, with some good images. Also some high quality links, especially concerning “Celebrate Suffragettes not Serial Killers”
INTRODUCTION
As well as sharing some of the better images from today at work (all items will going under the hammer on September 30th, and the lot numbers range between 312 and 549) I have some important links to share.
THE IMAGES
Apart from one big coin lot at the start of the day, I was imaging big stamp lots as and when they were ready and medal lots in the gaps in between. Here are some of the better images…
LINKS
My first two links are to splendid posts on a new find, “why evolution is true“, a blog named for the book of that title by Jerry A Coyne (the book is superb as well by the way):
This one about cane toads, which has already attracted favourable notice from one of my twitter followers.
A Retropsective on the World Athletics Championships, More on the Inhumane Despicable Sociopath case, some photographs and some important links.
INTRODUCTION
As well as my title piece I have some photos, links and infographics to share, including a section following up my much shared “Inhumane Despicable Sociopath” post..
BRITAIN’S BEST EVER
At the World Athletics Championships which concluded yesterday Britain won a total of four gold medals, their best ever. Mo Farah with both the 5,000 and 10,000m, Greg Rutherford (Long Jump) and Jessica Ennis-Hill (Heptathlon) all ascended the top step of the podium in Beijing, all having experienced Olympic misery there seven years previously. There were also a stack of best ever performances from less experienced British athletes, encapsulated by BBC TV in this infographic…
Shelayna Oskanp-Clarke had never previous broken two minutes for the 800m, and until Proctor did so no British female long jumper had ever gone beyond 7.00m. The performances of Asher-Smith and Hitchon were also British records. Dina Asher-Smith having already become the first British woman go sub 11 seconds for the 100m and being part of the 4*100m relay team now has three British records against her name.
INHUMANE DESPICABLE SOCIOPATH: A FOLLOW UP
Partly because of a twitter storm conceived by a well known twitter user named Gail which tied in perfectly with it my blog post about the revelations of DWP deaths, forced out after a long and hard fought campaign, was very widely shared. I have a number of superb related links to share in this section:
Now, a few infographics about this story, starting with this great tweet:
This, formatted like a DWP case study, differs from them in being a true story:
Finally to the end this section, a screendump from a text book of the future that somehow appeared on my screen…
A PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERLUDE
LINKS
I am dividing this in to two main subsections, starting with…
AUTISM
Within this section I am starting with a case which is reaching a conclusion soon…
JUSTICE FOR KAYLEB
I have blogged about this outrageous case of an autistic grade 6 boy facing a lifeltime with a felony conviction, but since the case is now going through the courts I include these two links:
Also, for twitter users (I have already done so btw), here is a temporary profile pic you may wish to use in solidarity with Kayleb:
OTHER AUTISM RELATED LINKS
First up, The Art of Autism have this piece about an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times that asks searching questions about Autism Speaks. In particular, attention is called to the number of autistic people involved in running Autism Speaks: ZERO.
aspiblog 