Boy, the Underground is kind of boring looking when you see a geographical map of its lines, isn't it?
Makes the North London bias more obvious. They should call it the North London Underground really.
Isn't it in part because south of the river is geologically less suited to tunneling?
That's some of it, but also the nature of the main line railways made a difference.
To the north and west, the rail lines were heading for the midlands, north and Scotland. Faffing around with local commuters was way more trouble than it was worth, so it got left to the underground lines. Besides, underground railway companies built a lot of the north-western suburbs.
Head south and east out of London and you can't go very far before you hit the sea. So train companies couldn't really do the inter-city/suburban split. So there are a lot more mainline stations; business-wise, less space for metropolitan railways to operate.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 3h PM Johnson defends alcohol-fuelled Downing St leaving parties and his "leadership duty" to attend them. It's a new line -- and new nonsense. I left the BBC after 25 years during lockdown. There was never any question of a leaving party. We all knew it would be against the rules.
DavidL (and others) - Some heavier weapons are just begining to arrive in Ukraine, notably M777 howitzers, as I learned from a front-page article in yesterday's New York Times. According to the article, they outrange the Russian artillery, and are easy to move and camouflage.
It takes some time for the Ukrainians to learn to use these new weapons. (The article says two weeks; I assume that is for men who already have artillery experience.)
That’s why Russia needs to win now. As time goes by Ukraine is going to be better and better equipped and Russia isn’t. But right now they have a massive artillery advantage and they are using it to good effect.
Except that Russia can't possibly win outright, because its army is too small and weak to overrun the whole of Ukraine or anywhere close to it. This much is already obvious, from them having to throw in the towel everywhere in the North and redeploy to concentrate what forces they have.
Russia is close to a full conquest of the Luhansk oblast; the Donetsk oblast, however, looks a much taller order, and wherever the Russians do manage to seize more Ukrainian territory they're going to be obliged to use precious, finite resources to hold it. The Ukrainians will then use partisan tactics to pick off the occupiers. This has already started.
This could all end up in a stalemate, should the Russians be able to complete their conquest of the Donbas and then solidify a line of control protecting their gains in the South and East. Persuading the Ukrainians to give in and negotiate a ceasefire in that position would, I grant you, constitute a victory that Putin could sell at home. But what if Russia can't roll the Ukrainians over in Donetsk before significant reinforcements armed with really good NATO hardware arrive in theatre - and should they both refuse to cede territory and, ultimately, build up enough strength to begin launching successful counter-offensives?
Richardson has been mildly restive for a while, perhaps with an eye to the quite credible yellow threat in the constituency.
By the way, not competing with Leon in the travel stakes, but I'm charmed by mid-Wales (here to speak at the Hay festival tomorrow). A 4-hour drive from Godalming, but very pretty most of the way. Subtly but distinctively different from the English south. There are virtually no by-passes (lack of rich Surrey property-owners to demand them, I guess) so the main road repeatedly pauses to wind its way through a little town or village. The impression is much more spread out than England - houses dotted around but not the neat rows of semis that I'm used to in Surrey. Lots of stunning views across rolling fields to the horizon, divided into little patches, presumably smallholdings.
And many unexpected things. A gigantic hill scree, next to the road at an 80 degree angle. A gigantic mural in one village, showing stags on a mountain. Flowers galore. Little streams running alongside the roads. Quite a few terraced houses in the south, presumably going back to mining village days. All incredibly tidy - not a scrap of litter anywhere.
I wish I'd been here before. Recommend the B&B, Plas Blch where I'm staying- really amazingly pretty little place.
Mid Wales is glorious. Glad to hear you're enjoying it!
But actually the reason why there are no by-passes is because there's so little traffic. On the two actually busy main roads - the A470 and the A44 - most towns and villages are by-passed with Rhayader (where they meet) being the main and highly ironic exception.
Enjoy Hay. I love the place and I haven't been there for years - not since my mother died.
It’s lovely that NPXMP is enjoying mid Wales, and yes it is a beautiful part of Britain. I used to ride my motorbike from Hereford up to Rhayader as a lad, gorgeous nearly all the way (in good weather)
But isn’t it a bit disconcerting that an elderly man who was a UK MP for many years is entirely unaware of a major chunk of the country he once thought to rule (as part of the ruling party)?
This is not a criticism of NPXMP. I encounter this everywhere. People who talk confidently of “Britain” who have never been to Scotland, or Wales, or the northern cities or the West Country - let alone Northern Ireland
I’ve been to all these places, and I am a humble flint knapper. They are all fascinating, maybe not all as beautiful as mid Wales, but fascinating. How can you not want to see your own country? Especially if you seek to GOVERN it
I suggest there should be an induction course for all MPs, where they are taken on a tour of the whole UK. I’m quite serious. they should see it all, and meet everyone, the beautiful and the bad. Only then might they be allowed to VOTE on British affairs
I just found a map where you can click and change the colour of the counties, to try to track which ones I've been to: https://www.mapchart.net/uk.html
I'm missing five from Britain, which I think is a pretty good score, but doubtless someone will have done more. To my chagrin, I'm missing East Sussex, despite being a history fan. How I've never made it to Hastings/Battle yet is a mystery to me. Well, it's a long way away, but still.
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
Do all that, and you begin to know Britain
Huge Celtic bias. Vast conurbation across the M62 gets a single visit. Can tell where you are from.
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
Do all that, and you begin to know Britain
A lot of bias towards the western half of the country.
Richardson has been mildly restive for a while, perhaps with an eye to the quite credible yellow threat in the constituency.
By the way, not competing with Leon in the travel stakes, but I'm charmed by mid-Wales (here to speak at the Hay festival tomorrow). A 4-hour drive from Godalming, but very pretty most of the way. Subtly but distinctively different from the English south. There are virtually no by-passes (lack of rich Surrey property-owners to demand them, I guess) so the main road repeatedly pauses to wind its way through a little town or village. The impression is much more spread out than England - houses dotted around but not the neat rows of semis that I'm used to in Surrey. Lots of stunning views across rolling fields to the horizon, divided into little patches, presumably smallholdings.
And many unexpected things. A gigantic hill scree, next to the road at an 80 degree angle. A gigantic mural in one village, showing stags on a mountain. Flowers galore. Little streams running alongside the roads. Quite a few terraced houses in the south, presumably going back to mining village days. All incredibly tidy - not a scrap of litter anywhere.
I wish I'd been here before. Recommend the B&B, Plas Blch where I'm staying- really amazingly pretty little place.
Mid Wales is glorious. Glad to hear you're enjoying it!
But actually the reason why there are no by-passes is because there's so little traffic. On the two actually busy main roads - the A470 and the A44 - most towns and villages are by-passed with Rhayader (where they meet) being the main and highly ironic exception.
Enjoy Hay. I love the place and I haven't been there for years - not since my mother died.
It’s lovely that NPXMP is enjoying mid Wales, and yes it is a beautiful part of Britain. I used to ride my motorbike from Hereford up to Rhayader as a lad, gorgeous nearly all the way (in good weather)
But isn’t it a bit disconcerting that an elderly man who was a UK MP for many years is entirely unaware of a major chunk of the country he once thought to rule (as part of the ruling party)?
This is not a criticism of NPXMP. I encounter this everywhere. People who talk confidently of “Britain” who have never been to Scotland, or Wales, or the northern cities or the West Country - let alone Northern Ireland
I’ve been to all these places, and I am a humble flint knapper. They are all fascinating, maybe not all as beautiful as mid Wales, but fascinating. How can you not want to see your own country? Especially if you seek to GOVERN it
I suggest there should be an induction course for all MPs, where they are taken on a tour of the whole UK. I’m quite serious. they should see it all, and meet everyone, the beautiful and the bad. Only then might they be allowed to VOTE on British affairs
I just found a map where you can click and change the colour of the counties, to try to track which ones I've been to: https://www.mapchart.net/uk.html
I'm missing five from Britain, which I think is a pretty good score, but doubtless someone will have done more. To my chagrin, I'm missing East Sussex, despite being a history fan. How I've never made it to Hastings/Battle yet is a mystery to me. Well, it's a long way away, but still.
I have been to everyone in England and Wales. Half of Scotland, RoI and all of NI to still cover, but I have plans...
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
Do all that, and you begin to know Britain
Huge Celtic bias. Vast conurbation across the M62 gets a single visit. Can tell where you are from.
You also need to visit Ibrox, or you'd never hear the last of it.
Did the Lizzie Line earlier today, from Paddington to Abbey Wood and back, and visited all NINE stations too! Also had my Mum for company, which made things a little interesting, as described below!
Discovered that a lot of the lifts were out of order, at Liverpool Street, Farringdon, and at Canary Wharf (it was working when we exited!). Also, at Abbey Wood, the ladies' toilet was locked out of order too! Mum had to go at the Sainsbury's down the road!
Also, the "line diagrams" inside the carriages (showing all the stations on the route) were very small, you can barely read them from the other side of the carriage!
But they were the only bugbears from a passenger standpoint. Journey times were very good, 29 minutes from one end to the other, and 11 minutes from Liverpool Street to Paddington. Trains were frequent at every 5 minutes. Train stats (as well as better line diagrams!) are situated above the platform edge doors on the below-ground stations.
Different designs were used for the exterior of each station, and two main plan-forms were used at platform level. Paddington, Canary Wharf and Woolwich were of the "open plan" design with lots of space between the platforms (see for example Canary Wharf Jubilee line). Custom House and Abbey Wood are above ground, so you could deem these "open plan" by definition.
By contrast, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel were like more "traditional" Tube stations, with two separate tunnels linked by passageways. Bond Street is still under construction, but it was easy to see from passing trains that it is of the "traditional" design. Supposedly it will open in the autumn.
Anyway, I have maintained my 100% record of visiting every Tube, Train, DLR and Tram station in London. Beat that, @Leon
Have you formulated your plan to visit Reston yet @Sunil_Prasannan?
Richardson has been mildly restive for a while, perhaps with an eye to the quite credible yellow threat in the constituency.
By the way, not competing with Leon in the travel stakes, but I'm charmed by mid-Wales (here to speak at the Hay festival tomorrow). A 4-hour drive from Godalming, but very pretty most of the way. Subtly but distinctively different from the English south. There are virtually no by-passes (lack of rich Surrey property-owners to demand them, I guess) so the main road repeatedly pauses to wind its way through a little town or village. The impression is much more spread out than England - houses dotted around but not the neat rows of semis that I'm used to in Surrey. Lots of stunning views across rolling fields to the horizon, divided into little patches, presumably smallholdings.
And many unexpected things. A gigantic hill scree, next to the road at an 80 degree angle. A gigantic mural in one village, showing stags on a mountain. Flowers galore. Little streams running alongside the roads. Quite a few terraced houses in the south, presumably going back to mining village days. All incredibly tidy - not a scrap of litter anywhere.
I wish I'd been here before. Recommend the B&B, Plas Blch where I'm staying- really amazingly pretty little place.
Mid Wales is glorious. Glad to hear you're enjoying it!
But actually the reason why there are no by-passes is because there's so little traffic. On the two actually busy main roads - the A470 and the A44 - most towns and villages are by-passed with Rhayader (where they meet) being the main and highly ironic exception.
Enjoy Hay. I love the place and I haven't been there for years - not since my mother died.
It’s lovely that NPXMP is enjoying mid Wales, and yes it is a beautiful part of Britain. I used to ride my motorbike from Hereford up to Rhayader as a lad, gorgeous nearly all the way (in good weather)
But isn’t it a bit disconcerting that an elderly man who was a UK MP for many years is entirely unaware of a major chunk of the country he once thought to rule (as part of the ruling party)?
This is not a criticism of NPXMP. I encounter this everywhere. People who talk confidently of “Britain” who have never been to Scotland, or Wales, or the northern cities or the West Country - let alone Northern Ireland
I’ve been to all these places, and I am a humble flint knapper. They are all fascinating, maybe not all as beautiful as mid Wales, but fascinating. How can you not want to see your own country? Especially if you seek to GOVERN it
I suggest there should be an induction course for all MPs, where they are taken on a tour of the whole UK. I’m quite serious. they should see it all, and meet everyone, the beautiful and the bad. Only then might they be allowed to VOTE on British affairs
Oh, and it's a silly plan. The idea that geography is a prime motivator is itself a political view. You could argue that all MPs should have to experience years of making the rent on minimum wage, or have run their own business, or have legal training, or have some protected characteristic like they're gay or an ethnic minority.
Personally I'm more interested in voting for someone who's got a degree or professional qualification than someone who's bumbled their way to Cape Wrath and back.
Did the Lizzie Line earlier today, from Paddington to Abbey Wood and back, and visited all NINE stations too! Also had my Mum for company, which made things a little interesting, as described below!
Discovered that a lot of the lifts were out of order, at Liverpool Street, Farringdon, and at Canary Wharf (it was working when we exited!). Also, at Abbey Wood, the ladies' toilet was locked out of order too! Mum had to go at the Sainsbury's down the road!
Also, the "line diagrams" inside the carriages (showing all the stations on the route) were very small, you can barely read them from the other side of the carriage!
But they were the only bugbears from a passenger standpoint. Journey times were very good, 29 minutes from one end to the other, and 11 minutes from Liverpool Street to Paddington. Trains were frequent at every 5 minutes. Train stats (as well as better line diagrams!) are situated above the platform edge doors on the below-ground stations.
Different designs were used for the exterior of each station, and two main plan-forms were used at platform level. Paddington, Canary Wharf and Woolwich were of the "open plan" design with lots of space between the platforms (see for example Canary Wharf Jubilee line). Custom House and Abbey Wood are above ground, so you could deem these "open plan" by definition.
By contrast, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel were like more "traditional" Tube stations, with two separate tunnels linked by passageways. Bond Street is still under construction, but it was easy to see from passing trains that it is of the "traditional" design. Supposedly it will open in the autumn.
Anyway, I have maintained my 100% record of visiting every Tube, Train, DLR and Tram station in London. Beat that, @Leon
Have you formulated your plan to visit Reston yet @Sunil_Prasannan?
Richardson has been mildly restive for a while, perhaps with an eye to the quite credible yellow threat in the constituency.
By the way, not competing with Leon in the travel stakes, but I'm charmed by mid-Wales (here to speak at the Hay festival tomorrow). A 4-hour drive from Godalming, but very pretty most of the way. Subtly but distinctively different from the English south. There are virtually no by-passes (lack of rich Surrey property-owners to demand them, I guess) so the main road repeatedly pauses to wind its way through a little town or village. The impression is much more spread out than England - houses dotted around but not the neat rows of semis that I'm used to in Surrey. Lots of stunning views across rolling fields to the horizon, divided into little patches, presumably smallholdings.
And many unexpected things. A gigantic hill scree, next to the road at an 80 degree angle. A gigantic mural in one village, showing stags on a mountain. Flowers galore. Little streams running alongside the roads. Quite a few terraced houses in the south, presumably going back to mining village days. All incredibly tidy - not a scrap of litter anywhere.
I wish I'd been here before. Recommend the B&B, Plas Blch where I'm staying- really amazingly pretty little place.
Mid Wales is glorious. Glad to hear you're enjoying it!
But actually the reason why there are no by-passes is because there's so little traffic. On the two actually busy main roads - the A470 and the A44 - most towns and villages are by-passed with Rhayader (where they meet) being the main and highly ironic exception.
Enjoy Hay. I love the place and I haven't been there for years - not since my mother died.
It’s lovely that NPXMP is enjoying mid Wales, and yes it is a beautiful part of Britain. I used to ride my motorbike from Hereford up to Rhayader as a lad, gorgeous nearly all the way (in good weather)
But isn’t it a bit disconcerting that an elderly man who was a UK MP for many years is entirely unaware of a major chunk of the country he once thought to rule (as part of the ruling party)?
This is not a criticism of NPXMP. I encounter this everywhere. People who talk confidently of “Britain” who have never been to Scotland, or Wales, or the northern cities or the West Country - let alone Northern Ireland
I’ve been to all these places, and I am a humble flint knapper. They are all fascinating, maybe not all as beautiful as mid Wales, but fascinating. How can you not want to see your own country? Especially if you seek to GOVERN it
I suggest there should be an induction course for all MPs, where they are taken on a tour of the whole UK. I’m quite serious. they should see it all, and meet everyone, the beautiful and the bad. Only then might they be allowed to VOTE on British affairs
Despite their often less than stellar reputation, "away" football fans have at least travelled the country.
I once took some teenagers from Dagenham on what I was astonished to find was their first trip to the West End — under an hour on the District Line. Things may be worse today. At age 9 or 10, we'd ride unaccompanied round London on a Red Rover ticket, or go to Southend for the day. In these enlightened times, children are barely allowed to walk to school on their own for fear of marauding kidnappers. Across the Channel, my French godson went on a school trip for a week on the other side of France — at trois ans old.
Did the Lizzie Line earlier today, from Paddington to Abbey Wood and back, and visited all NINE stations too! Also had my Mum for company, which made things a little interesting, as described below!
Discovered that a lot of the lifts were out of order, at Liverpool Street, Farringdon, and at Canary Wharf (it was working when we exited!). Also, at Abbey Wood, the ladies' toilet was locked out of order too! Mum had to go at the Sainsbury's down the road!
Also, the "line diagrams" inside the carriages (showing all the stations on the route) were very small, you can barely read them from the other side of the carriage!
But they were the only bugbears from a passenger standpoint. Journey times were very good, 29 minutes from one end to the other, and 11 minutes from Liverpool Street to Paddington. Trains were frequent at every 5 minutes. Train stats (as well as better line diagrams!) are situated above the platform edge doors on the below-ground stations.
Different designs were used for the exterior of each station, and two main plan-forms were used at platform level. Paddington, Canary Wharf and Woolwich were of the "open plan" design with lots of space between the platforms (see for example Canary Wharf Jubilee line). Custom House and Abbey Wood are above ground, so you could deem these "open plan" by definition.
By contrast, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel were like more "traditional" Tube stations, with two separate tunnels linked by passageways. Bond Street is still under construction, but it was easy to see from passing trains that it is of the "traditional" design. Supposedly it will open in the autumn.
Anyway, I have maintained my 100% record of visiting every Tube, Train, DLR and Tram station in London. Beat that, @Leon
Have you formulated your plan to visit Reston yet @Sunil_Prasannan?
Did the Lizzie Line earlier today, from Paddington to Abbey Wood and back, and visited all NINE stations too! Also had my Mum for company, which made things a little interesting, as described below!
Discovered that a lot of the lifts were out of order, at Liverpool Street, Farringdon, and at Canary Wharf (it was working when we exited!). Also, at Abbey Wood, the ladies' toilet was locked out of order too! Mum had to go at the Sainsbury's down the road!
Also, the "line diagrams" inside the carriages (showing all the stations on the route) were very small, you can barely read them from the other side of the carriage!
But they were the only bugbears from a passenger standpoint. Journey times were very good, 29 minutes from one end to the other, and 11 minutes from Liverpool Street to Paddington. Trains were frequent at every 5 minutes. Train stats (as well as better line diagrams!) are situated above the platform edge doors on the below-ground stations.
Different designs were used for the exterior of each station, and two main plan-forms were used at platform level. Paddington, Canary Wharf and Woolwich were of the "open plan" design with lots of space between the platforms (see for example Canary Wharf Jubilee line). Custom House and Abbey Wood are above ground, so you could deem these "open plan" by definition.
By contrast, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel were like more "traditional" Tube stations, with two separate tunnels linked by passageways. Bond Street is still under construction, but it was easy to see from passing trains that it is of the "traditional" design. Supposedly it will open in the autumn.
Anyway, I have maintained my 100% record of visiting every Tube, Train, DLR and Tram station in London. Beat that, @Leon
Have you formulated your plan to visit Reston yet @Sunil_Prasannan?
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
Do all that, and you begin to know Britain
A lot of bias towards the western half of the country.
Really? I already excised the SE, by definition
I’ve got the Farne Islands, Jarrow, Chapeltown, and Orford
Maybe - maybe! - you could add in Lincoln or Ely and take away Portishead. My list lacks a cathedral city
Andrew Neil @afneil · 3h PM Johnson defends alcohol-fuelled Downing St leaving parties and his "leadership duty" to attend them. It's a new line -- and new nonsense. I left the BBC after 25 years during lockdown. There was never any question of a leaving party. We all knew it would be against the rules.
DavidL (and others) - Some heavier weapons are just begining to arrive in Ukraine, notably M777 howitzers, as I learned from a front-page article in yesterday's New York Times. According to the article, they outrange the Russian artillery, and are easy to move and camouflage.
It takes some time for the Ukrainians to learn to use these new weapons. (The article says two weeks; I assume that is for men who already have artillery experience.)
That’s why Russia needs to win now. As time goes by Ukraine is going to be better and better equipped and Russia isn’t. But right now they have a massive artillery advantage and they are using it to good effect.
Except that Russia can't possibly win outright, because its army is too small and weak to overrun the whole of Ukraine or anywhere close to it. This much is already obvious, from them having to throw in the towel everywhere in the North and redeploy to concentrate what forces they have.
Russia is close to a full conquest of the Luhansk oblast; the Donetsk oblast, however, looks a much taller order, and wherever the Russians do manage to seize more Ukrainian territory they're going to be obliged to use precious, finite resources to hold it. The Ukrainians will then use partisan tactics to pick off the occupiers. This has already started.
This could all end up in a stalemate, should the Russians be able to complete their conquest of the Donbas and then solidify a line of control protecting their gains in the South and East. Persuading the Ukrainians to give in and negotiate a ceasefire in that position would, I grant you, constitute a victory that Putin could sell at home. But what if Russia can't roll the Ukrainians over in Donetsk before significant reinforcements armed with really good NATO hardware arrive in theatre - and should they both refuse to cede territory and, ultimately, build up enough strength to begin launching successful counter-offensives?
I think the Russians are going to dig in after a bit more Donbas, but those areas are going to be hard to retake. Poor quality troops entrenched are tough to dislodge. So it settles as a stalemate, and a question of who suffers more by blockade, Ukraine or Russia.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 3h PM Johnson defends alcohol-fuelled Downing St leaving parties and his "leadership duty" to attend them. It's a new line -- and new nonsense. I left the BBC after 25 years during lockdown. There was never any question of a leaving party. We all knew it would be against the rules.
DavidL (and others) - Some heavier weapons are just begining to arrive in Ukraine, notably M777 howitzers, as I learned from a front-page article in yesterday's New York Times. According to the article, they outrange the Russian artillery, and are easy to move and camouflage.
It takes some time for the Ukrainians to learn to use these new weapons. (The article says two weeks; I assume that is for men who already have artillery experience.)
That’s why Russia needs to win now. As time goes by Ukraine is going to be better and better equipped and Russia isn’t. But right now they have a massive artillery advantage and they are using it to good effect.
"However, south of the Thames, the stratum at tube level is composed of water-bearing sand and gravel (not good for tunnelling) with London Clay below, which partly explains why there are very few tube tunnels south of the Thames."
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
Do all that, and you begin to know Britain
A lot of bias towards the western half of the country.
Really? I already excised the SE, by definition
I’ve got the Farne Islands, Jarrow, Chapeltown, and Orford
Maybe - maybe! - you could add in Lincoln or Ely and take away Portishead. My list lacks a cathedral city
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
Do all that, and you begin to know Britain
Redruth is a shithole. At least the town centre is. And I have even been to Carn Brea - had a shower at the leisure centre after running Heartlands parkrun. I'm a bit short on other places on the list though.
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
Do all that, and you begin to know Britain
A lot of bias towards the western half of the country.
Really? I already excised the SE, by definition
I’ve got the Farne Islands, Jarrow, Chapeltown, and Orford
Maybe - maybe! - you could add in Lincoln or Ely and take away Portishead. My list lacks a cathedral city
Skegness or Great Yarmouth should be in their.
Its a few years since I've been to Skeggy, but by all accounts it hasn't improved. "Nuneaton by the Sea" one of our Lestah born HCAs described it as to me.
Richardson has been mildly restive for a while, perhaps with an eye to the quite credible yellow threat in the constituency.
By the way, not competing with Leon in the travel stakes, but I'm charmed by mid-Wales (here to speak at the Hay festival tomorrow). A 4-hour drive from Godalming, but very pretty most of the way. Subtly but distinctively different from the English south. There are virtually no by-passes (lack of rich Surrey property-owners to demand them, I guess) so the main road repeatedly pauses to wind its way through a little town or village. The impression is much more spread out than England - houses dotted around but not the neat rows of semis that I'm used to in Surrey. Lots of stunning views across rolling fields to the horizon, divided into little patches, presumably smallholdings.
And many unexpected things. A gigantic hill scree, next to the road at an 80 degree angle. A gigantic mural in one village, showing stags on a mountain. Flowers galore. Little streams running alongside the roads. Quite a few terraced houses in the south, presumably going back to mining village days. All incredibly tidy - not a scrap of litter anywhere.
I wish I'd been here before. Recommend the B&B, Plas Blch where I'm staying- really amazingly pretty little place.
Mid Wales is glorious. Glad to hear you're enjoying it!
But actually the reason why there are no by-passes is because there's so little traffic. On the two actually busy main roads - the A470 and the A44 - most towns and villages are by-passed with Rhayader (where they meet) being the main and highly ironic exception.
Enjoy Hay. I love the place and I haven't been there for years - not since my mother died.
It’s lovely that NPXMP is enjoying mid Wales, and yes it is a beautiful part of Britain. I used to ride my motorbike from Hereford up to Rhayader as a lad, gorgeous nearly all the way (in good weather)
But isn’t it a bit disconcerting that an elderly man who was a UK MP for many years is entirely unaware of a major chunk of the country he once thought to rule (as part of the ruling party)?
This is not a criticism of NPXMP. I encounter this everywhere. People who talk confidently of “Britain” who have never been to Scotland, or Wales, or the northern cities or the West Country - let alone Northern Ireland
I’ve been to all these places, and I am a humble flint knapper. They are all fascinating, maybe not all as beautiful as mid Wales, but fascinating. How can you not want to see your own country? Especially if you seek to GOVERN it
I suggest there should be an induction course for all MPs, where they are taken on a tour of the whole UK. I’m quite serious. they should see it all, and meet everyone, the beautiful and the bad. Only then might they be allowed to VOTE on British affairs
I just found a map where you can click and change the colour of the counties, to try to track which ones I've been to: https://www.mapchart.net/uk.html
I'm missing five from Britain, which I think is a pretty good score, but doubtless someone will have done more. To my chagrin, I'm missing East Sussex, despite being a history fan. How I've never made it to Hastings/Battle yet is a mystery to me. Well, it's a long way away, but still.
I lived in Crowborough in E Sussex for a few years. We planned to move back but events overtook us. E Sussex is a lovely place.
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
Do all that, and you begin to know Britain
A pub in Blackpool on the weekend
I assume you mean a pub on the seafront filled with people having fun.
Go half a mile inland and Blackpool can be very different:
When school teacher Kim Leathley took her class on a trip to the local aquarium, she was asked an unusual question.
"Miss? What's that?" said a nine-year-old boy, pointing towards the waves, as they walked along Blackpool promenade.
It turned out he'd never seen the sea before.
A surprise, given the school is in the middle of Blackpool and only a few streets from the seafront.
That is a truly terrible decision. All of the available money ( and it’s not much) should have gone to those on UC. Spreading the loot thin like this achieves the square root of F all.
Don't like the sound of all those piss-ups in Downing Street whilst you were obeying strict covid rules, Sir?
How would £200 in your pocket make you feel about it all? A little less pissed off perhaps, Sir?
Did the Lizzie Line earlier today, from Paddington to Abbey Wood and back, and visited all NINE stations too! Also had my Mum for company, which made things a little interesting, as described below!
Discovered that a lot of the lifts were out of order, at Liverpool Street, Farringdon, and at Canary Wharf (it was working when we exited!). Also, at Abbey Wood, the ladies' toilet was locked out of order too! Mum had to go at the Sainsbury's down the road!
Also, the "line diagrams" inside the carriages (showing all the stations on the route) were very small, you can barely read them from the other side of the carriage!
But they were the only bugbears from a passenger standpoint. Journey times were very good, 29 minutes from one end to the other, and 11 minutes from Liverpool Street to Paddington. Trains were frequent at every 5 minutes. Train stats (as well as better line diagrams!) are situated above the platform edge doors on the below-ground stations.
Different designs were used for the exterior of each station, and two main plan-forms were used at platform level. Paddington, Canary Wharf and Woolwich were of the "open plan" design with lots of space between the platforms (see for example Canary Wharf Jubilee line). Custom House and Abbey Wood are above ground, so you could deem these "open plan" by definition.
By contrast, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel were like more "traditional" Tube stations, with two separate tunnels linked by passageways. Bond Street is still under construction, but it was easy to see from passing trains that it is of the "traditional" design. Supposedly it will open in the autumn.
Anyway, I have maintained my 100% record of visiting every Tube, Train, DLR and Tram station in London. Beat that, @Leon
Have you formulated your plan to visit Reston yet @Sunil_Prasannan?
Did the Lizzie Line earlier today, from Paddington to Abbey Wood and back, and visited all NINE stations too! Also had my Mum for company, which made things a little interesting, as described below!
Discovered that a lot of the lifts were out of order, at Liverpool Street, Farringdon, and at Canary Wharf (it was working when we exited!). Also, at Abbey Wood, the ladies' toilet was locked out of order too! Mum had to go at the Sainsbury's down the road!
Also, the "line diagrams" inside the carriages (showing all the stations on the route) were very small, you can barely read them from the other side of the carriage!
But they were the only bugbears from a passenger standpoint. Journey times were very good, 29 minutes from one end to the other, and 11 minutes from Liverpool Street to Paddington. Trains were frequent at every 5 minutes. Train stats (as well as better line diagrams!) are situated above the platform edge doors on the below-ground stations.
Different designs were used for the exterior of each station, and two main plan-forms were used at platform level. Paddington, Canary Wharf and Woolwich were of the "open plan" design with lots of space between the platforms (see for example Canary Wharf Jubilee line). Custom House and Abbey Wood are above ground, so you could deem these "open plan" by definition.
By contrast, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel were like more "traditional" Tube stations, with two separate tunnels linked by passageways. Bond Street is still under construction, but it was easy to see from passing trains that it is of the "traditional" design. Supposedly it will open in the autumn.
Anyway, I have maintained my 100% record of visiting every Tube, Train, DLR and Tram station in London. Beat that, @Leon
Have you formulated your plan to visit Reston yet @Sunil_Prasannan?
Have they opened yet?
Reston opened on Monday. East Linton is still in the planning stage.
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
Do all that, and you begin to know Britain
Redruth is a shithole. At least the town centre is. And I have even been to Carn Brea - had a shower at the leisure centre after running Heartlands parkrun. I'm a bit short on other places on the list though.
Half my dad’s family is from Redruth, or has at least lived there at some point. It was a major town during the tinning years
That’s why I put it in. It’s not beautiful Cornwall, it’s brutal real Cornwall, tho it does have some noble Victorian industrial revolution architecture. Carn Brea is ground zero for my Mum’s family. An incredible Neolithic hill just outside Redruth which is half lovely-Cornwall - you can see all the coasts - yet half fuck-me-what-happened-here - ruined mines everywhere
It ain’t St Ives or St Mawes, that’s for sure. But nor is it all disastrous
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
Do all that, and you begin to know Britain
A lot of bias towards the western half of the country.
Really? I already excised the SE, by definition
I’ve got the Farne Islands, Jarrow, Chapeltown, and Orford
Maybe - maybe! - you could add in Lincoln or Ely and take away Portishead. My list lacks a cathedral city
It’s a v good list, I’ve hardly been to any of them.
My “list” includes
St Helens Abergavenny Matlock Spa Blackgang Chine Middlesbrough Portscatho Ashton-upon-Lyne Appledore Borth Isle of Ely Vatersay Pittenweem Grey Street Gosport Uttoxeter Coventry Chipping Camden Port Sunlight Old Radnor Preston Bus Station
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
Do all that, and you begin to know Britain
A lot of bias towards the western half of the country.
Really? I already excised the SE, by definition
I’ve got the Farne Islands, Jarrow, Chapeltown, and Orford
Maybe - maybe! - you could add in Lincoln or Ely and take away Portishead. My list lacks a cathedral city
I suspect the south-east is relatively unknown to people from parts northern.
Its really the place you go through on your way to London or France.
20 places all new UK MPs should be forced to visit in their induction month. I am presuming they will know London and the SE so they are ignored
Falls Road, Belfast Carrickfergus, NI Foula, Shetland Fort William By the Celtic stadium, Glasgow Farne Islands Jarrow Chapeltown Leeds A pub in Blackpool on the weekend Caernarfon Aberfan Ironbridge West Bromwich Rhayader Nuneaton Orford Portishead Plymouth near the submarine base Redruth, esp Carn Brea Weymouth on a Saturday night
Comments
To the north and west, the rail lines were heading for the midlands, north and Scotland. Faffing around with local commuters was way more trouble than it was worth, so it got left to the underground lines. Besides, underground railway companies built a lot of the north-western suburbs.
Head south and east out of London and you can't go very far before you hit the sea. So train companies couldn't really do the inter-city/suburban split. So there are a lot more mainline stations; business-wise, less space for metropolitan railways to operate.
Russia is close to a full conquest of the Luhansk oblast; the Donetsk oblast, however, looks a much taller order, and wherever the Russians do manage to seize more Ukrainian territory they're going to be obliged to use precious, finite resources to hold it. The Ukrainians will then use partisan tactics to pick off the occupiers. This has already started.
This could all end up in a stalemate, should the Russians be able to complete their conquest of the Donbas and then solidify a line of control protecting their gains in the South and East. Persuading the Ukrainians to give in and negotiate a ceasefire in that position would, I grant you, constitute a victory that Putin could sell at home. But what if Russia can't roll the Ukrainians over in Donetsk before significant reinforcements armed with really good NATO hardware arrive in theatre - and should they both refuse to cede territory and, ultimately, build up enough strength to begin launching successful counter-offensives?
Can tell where you are from.
Personally I'm more interested in voting for someone who's got a degree or professional qualification than someone who's bumbled their way to Cape Wrath and back.
I once took some teenagers from Dagenham on what I was astonished to find was their first trip to the West End — under an hour on the District Line. Things may be worse today. At age 9 or 10, we'd ride unaccompanied round London on a Red Rover ticket, or go to Southend for the day. In these enlightened times, children are barely allowed to walk to school on their own for fear of marauding kidnappers. Across the Channel, my French godson went on a school trip for a week on the other side of France — at trois ans old.
I’ve got the Farne Islands, Jarrow, Chapeltown, and Orford
Maybe - maybe! - you could add in Lincoln or Ely and take away Portishead. My list lacks a cathedral city
SE Tory MPs starting to feel the steely cold edge of the executioner's sword as the LibDems prepare to take their seats?
https://twitter.com/mr_gh0stly/status/1529099871826894848
"However, south of the Thames, the stratum at tube level is composed of water-bearing sand and gravel (not good for tunnelling) with London Clay below, which partly explains why there are very few tube tunnels south of the Thames."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Clay#Tunnels_in_London_Clay
*Quotes messed up for some reason...
Particularly if your explanation is incoherent.
Its a few years since I've been to Skeggy, but by all accounts it hasn't improved. "Nuneaton by the Sea" one of our Lestah born HCAs described it as to me.
I assume you mean a pub on the seafront filled with people having fun.
Go half a mile inland and Blackpool can be very different:
When school teacher Kim Leathley took her class on a trip to the local aquarium, she was asked an unusual question.
"Miss? What's that?" said a nine-year-old boy, pointing towards the waves, as they walked along Blackpool promenade.
It turned out he'd never seen the sea before.
A surprise, given the school is in the middle of Blackpool and only a few streets from the seafront.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57174581
How would £200 in your pocket make you feel about it all? A little less pissed off perhaps, Sir?
That’s why I put it in. It’s not beautiful Cornwall, it’s brutal real Cornwall, tho it does have some noble Victorian industrial revolution architecture. Carn Brea is ground zero for my Mum’s family. An incredible Neolithic hill just outside Redruth which is half lovely-Cornwall - you can see all the coasts - yet half fuck-me-what-happened-here - ruined mines everywhere
It ain’t St Ives or St Mawes, that’s for sure. But nor is it all disastrous
I’m trying to educate these new MPs
My “list” includes
St Helens
Abergavenny
Matlock Spa
Blackgang Chine
Middlesbrough
Portscatho
Ashton-upon-Lyne
Appledore
Borth
Isle of Ely
Vatersay
Pittenweem
Grey Street
Gosport
Uttoxeter
Coventry
Chipping Camden
Port Sunlight
Old Radnor
Preston Bus Station
Its really the place you go through on your way to London or France.
I seem to recall one of the early things to go in the various budget rounds was the architecture.