Welcome back Bill

I've just noticed that Bill Stickers is back, as Uncle Bill's Canadian blog.

Blogroll duly updated, especially as he is now firmly settled in beautiful British Columbia.

An erudite and most eclectic blogger.

Some kind of vermin

I got back this morning from a two week skiing holiday in British Columbia, Western Canada. A good time was had by all.

Last week was spent in Fernie, where there has been lashings of snow since we arrived. The following is a quote from the resort's daily Snow Report:

Stand by for open/closed status of White Pass chair.
Re: Unfortunately, a squirrel shorted our electrical system and the White Pass lift will not be operating today. Our team is working hard to restore service as quickly as possible. However, White Pass itself is open for hiking/skinning.

Last Monday evening we heard weasels, someone else told us rats, now they are saying a squirrel. Unless they found an ex- animal, I guess they have either measured the teeth marks, got trackers in, or are themselves guessing.

I think 'Family of Weasels' is best.

Best excuse ever for delays?

"A family of weasels chewed through the power cable."

Delay: 35 Minutes

Compensation: Yes

More to follow......

No prizes I am afraid, but see how close you can get to What, Where, When, How etc.

It happened to me this week. Not sure though that I trust the excuse.

Back soon.

CU

Mr Slow

Piccadilly Circus, Bakerloo Line to street.

Ordinary looking commuter, wearing suit, carrying briefcase.

• Walks up left hand side of escalator and then stops 10 steps before the top. Grrr.
• Stands at ticket barrier and waits until preceding passenger has gone through and gate has fully closed before slapping card heavily onto Oyster card reader. Grrr.
• Meanders crazily across station concourse causing at least half a dozen other people to take evasive action. Grrr.

Note to self: Get out of bed on the other side.

Stepping back in time

Back to my old stomping ground in the Northolt / South Ruislip area.

Get on Central Line at Tottenham Court Road (avoiding blocked subway near Andrew Borde Street).

Get seat immediately, bury nose in newspaper.

Look up as train pulls into Northolt station to terminate, 29 minutes later.

Unremarkable except for being remarkable. Why did I hardly ever have such a good journey home when I lived there?

Change of Routine

After almost a decade of the same 'tail end' of my journey to work (except when carrying out tube avoidance manoeuvres), I have been trying a new route to work.

The crossrail construction work at Tottenham Court Road station means that my usual walking routes to the office have been blocked and, as a creature of habit, I find this frustrating.

My fresh alternative involves catching the Bakerloo Line to Piccadilly Circus and then walking up through Soho. The thing is, when the Bakerloo is running well, it is 10 minutes quicker door-to-door than my previous tube route. Duh! Why has it taken me so long to work that one out?

Oh, and it also means that tube avoidance has gone out of the window as walking most of the way from Marylebone now takes 20 minutes longer. I'll have to find an alternative exercise routine.

Spam - A good result

I have always been very wary of ever giving out my real email address.

Because of a niggling issue with my main email service provider I have, however, been receiving unnecessarily large amounts of spam for the last couple of years.

By a combination of judiciously using auto-forwards, Googlemail and Mailwasher software, the problem has been under control. To the extent that it generally takes me no longer than a few seconds each day to deal with the issue.

Last week my email host moved me to a new server. Hey presto! They seem to have solved the aforementioned technical problem and their inbuilt spam filters seem at last to be doing their proper job. From the above graph, you can clearly see when the new server went live.

I know that the figures make it look as though I am a Billy-No-Mates, but I am quite happy to receive a small number of genuine personal emails per day, dealing as I do with dozens and dozens at work. All my mailing lists, blog comments etc go elsewhere.

Yes it's a small thing, but receiving no spam gives me a good feeling.

Somone at Chiltern Railways has a sense of humour

I saw this poster at Marylebone and also at High Wycombe this evening.

Obviously in reaction to this news story earlier in the week.

All just PR Puff, but at least someone at Chiltern has a sense of humour.

Details of the accompanying competition are below.

---

Virgin’s cancelled kissers welcome aboard Chiltern’s love train

Date: 17 Feb 2009 13:30

With the news that Virgin Trains have banned kissing in all but designated areas in their Warrington station, Chiltern Railways have responded with a bid to find their most romantic passengers.

Kirsteen Robertson from the Chiltern marketing department said:
“Railway stations are romantic places; they are where fond farewells and emotional reunions take place, where relationships start with a glance and even, in the case of our Marylebone station last November, where one passenger will propose to another over the public address system! So our passengers are more than welcome to share a kiss in our stations.”

She said:
“To show that we are dedicated to spreading a little love around our stations, we are asking our passengers to send us a photograph of them kissing at one of our stations. From Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone, we’ve got lots and lots of picturesque stations, perfect for that romantic moment.”

She added:
“The couple in the winning photograph will win free travel to and from London and a romantic champagne afternoon tea at London’s exclusive Landmark Hotel. So pucker up and get snapping!”


To enter, send your photographs to press@chilternrailways.co.uk The closing date is the 3rd of March and winners will be notified by email. The judges’ decision is final.

Well, I messed that up

If you don't understand this, then that is good...

If you saw it I messed up. If you didn't, sorry what are you talking about?

All is good in this corner of rural Buckinghamshire. Sorry to have caused angst. Really sorry. My excuse is old age and memory loss.

On a more positive note, I've managed to wangle a free ticket to this afternoon's Wasps -v- Leicester match. I'd best remember to not wear my Saracens top.

Lap Lap Lap

There was a fair it of rain on Monday night.

Yesterday morning Chiltern Railways services appeared to start well, until it became obvious from the Marylebone Arrivals Board that something was amiss.

The problem turned out to be water, lots of water, near Northolt Park & Sudbury Hill Harrow stations. I think there was also further flooding out at Haddenham in Oxfordshire.

For a time no trains ran yesterday (10th February 2009) between West Ruislip and London Marylebone. By nine o'clock (am) trains were able to run through North West London albeit very slowly, with flood water lapping away at the top of the rails.

It's all rather strange - this particular railway company was hardly affected by last week's snow, but surplus water brings altogether different problems.

It's here at last

After a woeful attempt at winter on Monday, this corner of rural Buckinghamshire actually had some proper white stuff overnight.

This picture was taken earlier, within sight of my house, and is actually a colour photograph! I am quite pleased with it - click for a larger version.

My urge to rant about Chiltern Railways has diminished somewhat. They made a boo-boo this morning and voluntarily (ie I did not ask) put a Stop Order on a train to drop me off at the right station.

I am quite enjoying a week of pottering about. No London for me this week.

Sorry to disappoint

I am really sorry, but you are probably in the wrong place.

I have been writing this blog now for three years and it does have a general focus on public transport in London and the South East of England.

Consequently on a day when public transport seems to have gone into meltdown, it is almost inevitable that a large number of travel related queries will have the various search engines send people in this general direction.

I was never going to be going to London today. If I had done, I wouldn't have been able to travel by bus ('cos there weren't any) and much of the London Underground seemed to fall apart, but walking would have been fine by me. Chiltern Railways had a few cancellations during the day (particularly on the route via Amersham shared with the Metropolitan Line), but generally they had a better day than most of the railway companies in the South East.

Because I didn't go to London, you will have to make do with this picture of a station in my part of rural Buckinghamshire, showing that we've had a pitifully small amount of snow so far - hence why Chiltern Railways have done so well today.

There are some published timetable alterations on Chiltern Railways tomorrow, Tuesday 3rd February 2009, and I think they've done pretty well by also suggesting (and inserting) alternative train stops.

It's not all good though - I am building up to a rant!

I hope you got home OK and that you have a better day of it tomorrow than you probably had today. The weather forecast is not brilliant.

By the way, can anyone explain why the Waterloo & City Line was out of service for much of the day due to the weather, when it is totally underground?

Winter Weather

Thankfully I did indeed make it back from France in one piece.

Why is it though that I feel colder here at home than I did in an Alpine ski resort? It's sort of a rhetorical question but, even so, the outside temperature only just nipped above Zero today.

For some reason this cloud caught my attention when I looked out of the window just now. The peculiar thing is that I can still see it moving away, yet other clouds that I can see (much higher) are moving in a totally different direction. Weird.

It may of course be a sign of impending doom as at 1549 this afternoon, the Met Office issued a Flash Weather Warning. The warning itself is a little strange, because Milton Keynes is mentioned, as is Greater London, but no mention is made of the in-between counties of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Maybe I do not need to prepare my snow shovel? Only time will tell....

I have a confession to make

For the last week this blog has been running on auto-pilot.

If you have been commenting on my carefully crafted words, I apologise for the lack of response.

While I have been away, all my pre-written posts have been released to the world automatically, as I have had absolutely no access to a computer or the inter-web thingy.

Should all is going to plan, I ought now to be through the Arrivals Hall at Gatwick Airport and will be home shortly.

Hopefully, I have come back from a few days of skiing in France, sans injury, and normal business will be resumed shortly.

If the next posting you see here suggests something has gone horribly wrong, then it probably has. If all goes to plan you will never see it!

Fingers crossed- see you tomorrow!

Bus route changes near Tottenham Court Road Station

The redevelopment of Tottenham Court Road Underground Station will probably become a recurring theme over the coming months. Possibly years (groans to self). Blame Crossrail, not me.

Therer are a number of reasons for this:

1) The planned size and impact of the works are huge.
2) TCR is the closest tube station to where I currently work.

The recent permanent closure of Andrew Borde Street has had the effect of diverting a number of bus routes in the area, closing some bus stops and (I think) adding an additional stop or two on Shaftesbury Avenue.

I tend to use the Central or Northern Lines when in the area, or I walk. I rarely use the buses around Tottenham Court Road, so do not feel suitably qualified to offer a blow by blow account on the changes to the various bus routes in the area.

Details of current and future changes to London bus routes are available here. A spider map is also available here, though personally I find that this style of map is less useful when focused on the target spot.

As some of the changes will either be permanent, or will last seven years, you'll have plenty of time to get used to them!

The end of the line

We all like a tidy tube train.

The advent of two competing free evening newspapers in London has not helped the cause.

Where the Central Line terminates at West Ruislip, there are people employed to clear the trains of rubbish before they reverse and wend their way back into central London. During the evening peak they fight a losing battle as the trains are only sat in the platforms for a few mintes before they set off again on their return journey.

This pile of neatly stacked rubbish sacks is the result of the cleaners' work only part way through the evening peak. Mostly the contents were the aforementioned free newspapers.

I saw one train where the 'rear' cleaner only managed to get 1 1/2 carriages cleared before jumping out of the closing doors.

Helpful hint: If you are wanting to travel on a litter free train in the early evening, into London on the West Ruislip branch of the Central Line, travel in the back carriage.

Oompa Loompas and all that...

Great Missenden is a village in Buckinghamshire. It has a train station served by Chiltern Railways that is one stop after Amersham. Amersham is the end of the Metropolitan Line and is also the highest point above sea level on the tube network (147m / 490ft).

Fortunately the A413 now bypasses Great Missenden, because the High Street is very narrow. It is a bit strange - it is sort of picturesque, but somehow not really. Difficult to describe.

Walking along the street I came across two petrol pumps from a bye gone era. Apparently the 'Red Pump Garage' was the inspiration for parts of "Danny, the Champion of the World" a 1975 book by Roald Dahl.

Dahl spent a large part of his life living in Great Missenden. He is also buried there.

Just down the street from Red Pump Garage is The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre. This museum concentrates on the life of Mr Dahl and how he developed stories. It also provides a super environment for children to develop their story telling skills with some super interactive displays.

My favourite display was one where you could make a 15 frame time-lapse film using toy animals. It's great (a) because it really works and (b) because it is so simple to do.

A lot of the items on display in the Museum are changed every three months, so regular visitors will often have different things to see.

Roald Dahl wrote many iconic books, both for children and for adults. What I cannot say where he got the inspiration for the Oopma Loompas, but certainly I didn't see any while walking up the high street.

After my visit to the museum, it was a five minute walk back to the train station for my journey home.

Ticket Machines... Again

I mentioned back in August last year that Chiltern Railways had a major problem with their Fast Ticket machines being robbed and, in the process, being damaged beyond serviceable use.

There is no such thing as a ticket machine fairy and so it has consequently taken till now for the repaired machines to be reinstated at some of the quieter stations. Some stations are still bereft of ticket issuing facilities.

I understand that a couple of weeks ago, three stations in Buckinghamshire were once again targeted and their ticket machines broken into and robbed. One of them was on the day that the repaired ticket machine had been placed back into service, though that was probably a coincidence.

Personally the lack of a ticket machine would not affect me (I am in the fortunate position of buying just the one ticket a year). Nevertheless the problem must be annoying to those passengers affected, a major pain in the neck for the railway company and, of course, it must also be having an adverse affect on revenue.

I hope they catch whoever is doing it.

Radio Silence

CU has been a poorly bunny this week. I don't do sick (I have managed to increase my total days off in 25 years from 8 to 10). I don't do doctors - today I have been to see my GP about an illness for the first time in 15 years.

Writing about planes, trains and automobiles has not been high up my 'To Do' list. Sorry.

If things are no better by the morning I have to start a short course of antibiotics. Potential side affects include ruptured Achilles tendons. Joy.

Artificial Slippery Stuff

I don't particularly enjoy ice skating, but a lot of people do.

This evening someone at work organised a trip to the ice skating rink at Somerset House, which is is in the heart of London. I think a good time was had by most!

Afterwards I wandered over Waterloo Bridge to catch the Bakerloo Line from Waterloo to Marylebone and then onwards home. This must surely be one of the most photographed night shots in London. It shall remain nameless.