Early Risers.

[simontaylor484]

Good Afternoon all 

 

9 days til i retire 

Waiting for Dracula to turn up

Jamies mention of La Rochelle reminds me of French lessons it was always in text books along with Yannick Noah.

Nice sunny day here but wind is getting up 

I haven't driven in central London for 20 years everybody seems to be in the wrong lane how i managed to get from Iver to Croydon via kings road chelsea battersea bridge 

[tigerburnie]

My brother lives in Hall i'th' Wood, though he's no Manc, he's from Chissit land like me.

[tigerburnie]

Sad day, got news another old biker mate has passed, had an illness, nothing to do with the virus, we met when both in the Kamikaze motor cycle stunt team back in the mid/late 1960's, RIP Les.

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, grandadbob said:

 

Just wish to advise you all that the ginger cake will not be offered to anyone outside GDB Towers.  This applies to all gods, deities, idols, supreme beings and even especially includes Hippos and Bears.  Is that clear!

Now thats better.

29 minutes ago, TheQ said:

Mooring Awl, Inner Temple Hare,

 

I see there is a proposal to increase the London congestion charge area out to the North and South Circular, something I'd been expecting for years.. This will of course  bring Ally Pally into the zone, increasing costs for the exhibitions held there and reducing the numbers attending. It certainly would make me think twice about going there for either reason..

 

 I wouldn't be surprised if some shows look for a venue just outside the new Zone.. Many years ago the London Collie club moved it's shows outside the zone, just due to costs, and are now held in Welwyn and Newbury.

As it is, I've not visited London inside the zone since long before it existed..

I don't know of any suitable venues between the N/S Circulars and the M25. The Excel Centre like Alley Pally is only just inside the North Circular. My car is exempt from CC but as it is now over 12 years old I wouldn't be surprised if the exemption was removed.

[Tony_S]

3 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

too am getting used to Zoom meetings, the problem with holding our AGM by Zoom is about 25% of the membership are not online.

Aditi’s French group have a few people who are not online so someone who is puts their landline phone next to a PC to relay at least the spoken content. 

[TheQ]

7 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Now thats better.

I don't know of any suitable venues between the N/S Circulars and the M25. The Excel Centre like Alley Pally is only just inside the North Circular. My car is exempt from CC but as it is now over 12 years old I wouldn't be surprised if the exemption was removed.

it may have to be just outside like London Luton Airport....

[Tony_S]

7 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

My car is exempt from CC but as it is now over 12 years old I wouldn't be surprised if the exemption was removed.

Do you have to pay a £10 fee annually still?

[PhilJ W]

2 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Do you have to pay a £10 fee annually still?

I've never paid anything other than the £30 annual road tax.

[PhilJ W]

5 minutes ago, TheQ said:

it may have to be just outside like London Luton Airport....

There's not a lot of venues of the size of Alley Pally and the Excel Centre within easy reach of London anyway. 

[Tony_S]

16 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I've never paid anything other than the £30 annual road tax.

The current congestion charge (where there are big C s on the road) seems to require a vehicle with a low carbon engine and the ability to run “zero emission” for 20 miles.  The congestion charge is every day now. My car would have to pay congestion charge but not the ULEZ fee as it a Euro 6 petrol engine. From next year the congestion charge will be payable by hybrids too, just electric or hydrogen powered vehicles will be exempt. 

[Tony_S]

38 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

There's not a lot of venues of the size of Alley Pally and the Excel Centre within easy reach of London anyway. 

I wonder what percentage of visitors (not traders or exhibitors) drive to Alexandra Palace? I have always gone by train and bus for the last hill!

[polybear]

 

3 hours ago, grandadbob said:

 

Just wish to advise you all that the ginger cake will not be offered to anyone outside GDB Towers.  This applies to all gods, deities, idols, supreme beings and even includes Hippos and Bears.  Is that clear!

 

Crystal.  Bang goes your christmas card.

Think yourself lucky, it could've been much , much worse.  Bears regard Ginger Cake as "emergency rations" only - why spoil a perfectly good cake by adding ginger?

 

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

GDB - do you have a back-to-back gauge to check the wheelsets on your pp-prairie?  Careful study of how it goes wrong - if you can face the testing - should indicate which bit comes off first and likely causes especially the b-to-b (particularly on the pony trucks) and the spring tension on the leading truck or if a screw is too tight stop the trucks turning properly.

 

Bear's recommendation (if this is a new l*co) is to return it for exchange - messing with a new l*co might just end in tears, and then where would you be?  Or even better, swap it for something far more sensible - LN*R or L*S for example.....

 

1 hour ago, TheQ said:

I see there is a proposal to increase the London congestion charge area out to the North and South Circular, something I'd been expecting for years.. This will of course  bring Ally Pally into the zone, increasing costs for the exhibitions held there and reducing the numbers attending. It certainly would make me think twice about going there for either reason..

 

It's not long ago that Ally Pally ran a survey regarding the possibility (let's face it, if they're asking then it's already a done deal) of charging for parking.  Stand rents have gone thru' the roof in recent years too, meaning the likes of smaller, specialist traders (such as South Eastern F*necast) have been bailing out as a result.  The absence of many usual traders (large and small) at last years M*del Engineering Exhibition was very noticeable.....

 

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

There's not a lot of venues of the size of Alley Pally and the Excel Centre within easy reach of London anyway. 

I believe Heathrow Terminal 4 may be vacant for the foreseeable future.  And it comes with it sown tube station (also currently unserved but that'a a minor detail!) 

[AndrewC]

3 hours ago, New Haven Neil said:

OK, time to investigate starting that scariest of things, the washing machine.  I still have L Plates on for this.

I stripped our old washer down to bits trying to find out why it wouldn't bloody fill. (bad processor on the circuit board in the end) I've replaced half the moving parts in the dryer. Don't dare ask me how the bloody things actually work. 

 

 

[AndrewC]

The C zone extension is beyond a bone of contention here. Areas like Woolwich, Catford, Lee would be cut in half. The big box stores in Greenwich like Ikea are suddenly inside the zone. Like most things the government is pushing on people, it hasn't been thought out properly. We are in the LEZ, outside of ULEZ, and would be just outside of the extended CC. For us it would mean around 90% of our car travel would now have a £15 charge added. This may work in zone 1 where there is adequate public transport but further out, especially in the SE all the links run east/west, any regular north/south commute or travel requires a car. 

[TheQ]

58 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I wonder what percentage of visitors (not traders or exhibitors) drive to Alexandra Palace? I have always gone by train and bus for the last hill!

I've not been to the unmentionables show there, but I do normally go to the National Dinghy Exhibition and the car parks and surrounding area are full during the two days..

For those of us well outside London, it's a lot quicker and cheaper to go to the show by road than rail.

 

For me to use rail it would be..

Half hour by car to the nearest station, (there is no public transport there from our village). 

3 hours train to Norwich , wait around a bit and on to London.

half hour including transfer time from Liverpool street to Ally pally..

then that **** walk up that hill.

So 4 hours if the connections are right.. at a price of about  £60

 

Or

 

2.5 hours by car 135 miles 3 gallons of fuel about £5:20 (each way) and then that ***** walk up that hill..

 

If forced Not to use the car inside the north Circular. I'd actually drive to a station just outside that had parking and get the train in for the last bit.. but parking and train would still add a significant cost.

Edited October 22, 2020 by TheQ

[Joseph_Pestell]

11 minutes ago, AndrewC said:

The C zone extension is beyond a bone of contention here. Areas like Woolwich, Catford, Lee would be cut in half. The big box stores in Greenwich like Ikea are suddenly inside the zone. Like most things the government is pushing on people, it hasn't been thought out properly. We are in the LEZ, outside of ULEZ, and would be just outside of the extended CC. For us it would mean around 90% of our car travel would now have a £15 charge added. This may work in zone 1 where there is adequate public transport but further out, especially in the SE all the links run east/west, any regular north/south commute or travel requires a car. 

 

I can see your point about some journeys being difficult by public transport. But ultimately, it is a good idea.

 

Wrong though for it to be imposed by central Government. It is a devolved matter for London and its people via the ballot box. 

[AndrewC]

14 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

I can see your point about some journeys being difficult by public transport. But ultimately, it is a good idea.

 

Wrong though for it to be imposed by central Government. It is a devolved matter for London and its people via the ballot box. 

Thing is, it hasn't worked. There is a short term dip in traffic then it mostly returns. What it does do is turn the periphery into a rat running, grid locked, no go zone. The north and south circulars will become even more jammed. 

 

We won't mention the hypocrisy on the part of bozo as he removed the C from Kensington & Chelsea the second he became mayor. Now he is forcing it onto some of the poorest and most deprived areas of London, just to punish London for not electing a tory mayor.  See also Grayling, Chris and bozo's planned TfL operation of all south of the river metro services being rejected as soon as Khan was elected. 

[BoD]

5 hours ago, grandadbob said:

 ...... Life is so exciting around here at the moment.   

 

Mrs BoD went to have her nails 'done' today.

Suffice to say it was the highlight of my week waiting to see what colour(s) they would be this time.

[Barry O]

8 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Buy an Aldi one and hide the box - they'll never know the different....

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/10406523/aldis-best-christmas-pudding/

been their tried that.. and yes there is a LOT of difference.. and I want it to last in store till Christmas... Dr Eldest Herbert did a tasting.. he was not impressed..

 

Baz

Edited October 22, 2020 by Barry O
spulleng

[tigerburnie]

We buy Puddings of the seasonal kind in January and "Mature" them for the following season of gluttony, we will be looking for next years puddings soon.(We also do the same with cards, but they don't seem to need the maturing bit, we just need to remember where the hell we put them).

[Barry O]

Leeds has just scrapped its congestion charge scheme (after fitting the cameras for it - albeit in some weird places). It appears our air quality is nowhere near as bad as the Council and government thought it was.. well knock me down with a feather!

 

Bottle of Saltaire Brewery "South Island" used in toasting the members of the Challenger 2 development and

delivery team at lunch time..

 

And... The Marie Celeste has FINALLY given me an updated prescrciption.. shame they didn't bother to tell me... now for a walk in the wind and rain to collect it!

 

Baz

[Ian Abel]

16 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 but the US let him be president!?

There's no antidote for stupidity, sadly

 

[simontaylor484]

17 minutes ago, Barry O said:

Leeds has just scrapped its congestion charge scheme (after fitting the cameras for it - albeit in some weird places). It appears our air quality is nowhere near as bad as the Council and government thought it was.. well knock me down with a feather!

 

Bottle of Saltaire Brewery "South Island" used in toasting the members of the Challenger 2 development and

delivery team at lunch time..

 

And... The Marie Celeste has FINALLY given me an updated prescrciption.. shame they didn't bother to tell me... now for a walk in the wind and rain to collect it!

 

Baz

Yet another Council waste of money they claim they havent got. 

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

I can see your point about some journeys being difficult by public transport. But ultimately, it is a good idea.

 

Wrong though for it to be imposed by central Government. It is a devolved matter for London and its people via the ballot box. 

"Forcing" people to use public transport at the same time as having its use discouraged by some official sources (including Mayor Khan) due to Covid seems counter-productive.  There is a concerted campaign under way to get people back onto public transport other than that run by TfL (so around London that is the major TOCs) with constant messages broadcast over the PA about how much extra cleaning is being done and how safe it is to travel.  TfL services remain covered in messages which are very user-unfriendly reminding people they should not be travelling unless they need to (why else does anyone travel anyway - a few gricers excepted) and with buses still contentiously only offering 40% of their licensed capacity to adults yet 100% to children.  

 

I'm not going to delve into the murky political waters.  This is not the place to do so.  My one comment is that there must be a single consistent message and that all seats must be available. As always everyone travels at their own risk and the risk on public transport is widely regarded as very minimal indeed.  No attempt has ever been made to "close" seats on trains and tubes meaning they operate inconsistently with buses and trams where some seats are blocked off unless conveying schoolchildren.  

 

TfL is severely cash-strapped.  They have been forced to accept unpalatable conditions for a bailout - twice.  The general public ends up paying either way.  By precisely what means is the only variable.  

 

Mayor Khan might find, in retrospect, that he has inherited the chalice poisoned by his predecessor who is now dictating those conditions but it will be Khan that people remember for the break in the fares freeze, the service cuts which are subtly creeping across the Capital and which will only become more severe and for whining in the face of adversity when he could sit at the table and negotiate.