Frankie and Benny's

So, off we went to Frankie & Benny’s new outlet in Cambridge Retail Park, Aylesbury. Now at this stage I need to explain myself, as after a visit to Frankie & Benny’s in some god forsaken retail park outside Coventry a couple of years ago I made a vow to myself of NEVER AGAIN!! And at the Sage’s great age he knows that NEVER is a very BIG word indeed. So, why was I off to sup at the forbidden trough? Well the Sagette had been nominated by her sister as a warm wonderful human being, or some such nonsense, and next thing you know there is a DJ from MIX 96 Radio (“MIX 96, The Voice of the Vale!”) at the door with a Frankie & Benny’s £40 plus a bottle of Champagne voucher with the Sagette’s gasping unbelieving tones broadcast live to the awe inspired denizens of Aylesbury Vale. Very nice too, and thank you to MIX 96 which is an excellent local radio station.



So rather than be a fully paid up member of the Grumpies I found myself in the company of the Sagette and her delectable sister going to have “Italian” food whilst being watched over by the pictures of dead Italians which line the walls of F & B. All this points to an American influence for if you look into the freezer displays at American supermarkets huge trays of frozen Lasagne with black and white pictures of at least one dead Italian on the front will alarmingly stare back at you. But as we approach this vision of Italy dreamt up by a marketing manager from Croydon the nagging thought occurred to me “Would FREE be too expensive a price at Frankie and Benny’s?”

This new branch of Frankie & Benny's New York Italian Restaurant and Bar is one in a chain of over 100 restaurants throughout the UK, run by the Restaurant Group PLC. The chain is styled as a fun 1950's American restaurant; it has a number of booths with red seats, old black and white photography and a bottle-lined bar in each restaurant. The food is marketed as authentic American / Italian cuisine. A story of the origins of the chain is given on its website: This outlines a 10 year old Sicilian boy Frankie Giuliani landing at Ellis Island, New York in 1924. They opened a restaurant and it prospered due to Mamma's home-style cooking. Frankie became lifetime friends with Benny and in 1953 Poppa retired. Frankie and Benny took over the business and the rest, as they say, is history. Well that’s just what it is; a made up story or the “Brand Story” as it is entitled on their website and it is as authentic as some of the stories I’ve read on made up Irish Whiskey, cider or Liquor brands, that is not true at all.



In fact, the first branch in Leicester was opened in 1995. There are also an additional three branches in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

However, according to a report in the Daily Mirror on 5th June 2008 the benevolent, paternalistic Italian image is bogus in more ways than one;

“Staff at the Restaurant Group, owner of Frankie & Benny's, Chiquito, Garfunkel's and Blubeckers, are being ordered to encourage credit card rather than cash tips - or face the sack. Why? Because the group pays below the £5.52 adult minimum wage and uses credit card tips to top up salaries. It's legal thanks to a loophole in the minimum wage rules. But it's not moral.

Restaurant Group staff keep cash tips, but a notice recently circulated to them makes clear it would prefer customers to leave credit card tips. "It is essential that the customer is offered the opportunity to leave gratuity via chip-and-pin," says the notice. "Not offering this facility means you could be encouraging the customer to leave a cash tip." The notice goes on to state this could "contravene" company policy and "is likely to lead to disciplinary action and possible dismissal". The Restaurant Group made pre-tax profits of £43.5million last year with boss Andrew Page trousering more than a million.” The fact that staff don't actually get the tips left is a lose / lose for customers - why make an effort if all you are going to get is the minimum wage anyway?



The menu sounds great. Some classic Italian dishes and some classic New York dishes and then some funky twists added in here and there. You've got your typical pasta dishes, lasagne, Bolognese, Alfredo and there are the typical burgers and chips and Pizza / Calzones. There is also a brunch and a lunch menu for smaller meals. Prices aren't fast food cheap but they're not overly expensive at first glance either. Most main meals cost around £8.95 or £5.95 off a lunch menu. However if a family is going in for a 3 course meal plus drinks then you could end up spending a small fortune.

Some thought has gone into the setting although it is all very derivative - An old style American diner feel but with a self conscious “lay it on with a trowel” Italian overlay. The toilets are usually papered with old New York papers and they talk to you in Italian in them (apparently quite confusing if you've had too much to drink). You can see where the chefs are cooking as its an open style kitchen, as a consequence you do get a lot of the kitchen noise but the 50's music will drown this out. Lighting is always quite dim, even during the day as the furnishings are rather dark.



There is a good selection of alcoholic beverages, a good cocktail menu and a sophisticated looking bar. However a word of caution – many of the Cocktails use “pre-mix” concoctions and the Strawberry Daiquiri uses tinned strawberries so they taste very plastic, also the bar staff are not really up to speed or well trained. Drinks are uniformly expensive, particularly given the lack of quality in the contents of the cocktails. They do a children’s pack, with crayons and a colouring book for parents that would like a quiet chat that is free for every child. Some idea of the target C and D demographics of the customers they are aiming at can be gained from this advert from a local (horror of horrors!) stretch limo company.

“A Frankie & Benny's VIP Limo Party starts from £225 plus VAT (party of eight). Price includes a chauffeured limo transfer from school or home to the restaurant with a formal introduction to the restaurant manager. A two-course party tea (including drinks) is served at your decorated VIP party table. Finally, you enjoy the limo journey home again. Just watch the proud faces on mums and dads as their VIP's arrive home by limo.” Proud Chav faces indeed as they hand over £225 plus VAT to “entertain” the spoilt monsters!


VIP's?

When we arrived the Sagette announced to the waiter that we had booked (to let them know we were the special MIX 96 people!) but that didn’t register with the Polish waiter who showed us to an unsuitable table considering one of the party was walking with crutches after an operation. Where he then showed us to was equally unsuitable as it was a tight booth but we sat down rather than bring him over again. We were left with menus and it took 15 minutes for him to come back to take our order and a further 15 minutes for the champagne to be served and 35 minutes for the starter to arrive. This left plenty of time to look at the workings of the 2 chef kitchen whose inhabitants seem to have signed up here because they could express their creative flair better than at Little Chef!

They seemed to spend most of their time arguing with the waiters who obviously had meals going out incomplete, in the wrong order or too slowly. In fact kitchen is a bit of a misnomer for while steaks, burgers, fish etc; are cooked on a charcoal grill the food offer obviously comes in pre-prepared and is mostly heated in ovens or kept in bains Marie. So for instance, if you didn’t want mushrooms with your pasta sauce this wasn’t possible as “that’s the way it comes.” So we played safe and ordered the “Sharing Platter” and then respectively a Rack of Ribs, a burger and “herby potatoes” and a Quarter Chicken on Mash.


The sharing platter

The sharing platter is described on the menu (for £11.95) as “a giant feast of our house favourites; chicken strips, BBQ chicken wings, fully loaded potato skins, spicy onion rings, bread sticks and garlic ciabatta. Served with a selection of delicious dips and crunchy celery sticks. Four of everything, ideal for families!” Well it is as described but everything on it could have been bought in the freezer section of Tesco’s except for the 4 grissini and the small celery sticks. It comes with 4 small cardboard tubs of sauces. These tubs are popular because my rack of ribs came with coleslaw in one of these small tubs. It is served with fries and half a corn cob but didn’t come with the butter for the corn and the extra barbeque sauce shown on the menu. For £12.95 I kept imagining the “chef” taking the plastic vacuum packing off it shortly beforehand, it certainly didn’t have the fresh taste you get in America. The herby fries with the somewhat overdone burger covered most of the plate and once again were pure Tesco freezer cabinet. The chicken was dry with that strange colour you get when they paint it with food colour to give that corn fed / nicely roasted look but of course this hadn’t been anywhere near a rotisserie. Cucina Italiano it wasn’t and indeed at £10.95 the chicken worked out at twice what a similar (but tastier) dish would cost in Nando’s.



It took some time for the pleasant but overworked and linguistically challenged Polish waiter to come back to clear, drop down the desert menu and then take our order. I asked for an espresso macchiato (spotted with milk) and was amused when he said that couldn’t be done as all around on a frieze on the walls there are key Italian foodie words and the word “Macchiato” was behind his head. The manager worked out how to do it on the machine which looks like a proper espresso machine but is in fact an automatic machine with pre-sets. The coffee was just OK as they normally taste out of a machine. One of the party ordered (for old time’s sake) a Knickerbocker Glory which was standard enough except it was awkward to eat as the chunks of fruit were too large. The best part of the meal was the perfectly acceptable bottle of Mercier champagne which was very drinkable at £20 a bottle, but was just put on the table without an ice bucket.

For the shared starter, 3 mains, one desert and coffee and the champagne the bill came to £72 against which we offset £60.00 on our voucher. Now it may seem ill tempered to complain about a free meal but the truth is the indifferent service, delays and the fact that the food was supermarket freezer quality and the ambience of Frankie & Benny's very plastic "Little Italy" impersonation did not make for a sense of occasion or an enjoyable evening and if I had paid the full price I would have resented it. But there is more for the next day all three of us were very “gastrically challenged!” So when it comes to Frankie & Benny's there are times when FREE is still too expensive and when NEVER is not too big a word. Ciao and Arrivederci Frankie and Benny for your “Brand Story” is going to continue without me!

If you are in Aylesbury Town and want to check out honest, simple Italian fare then check out Buon' Amici. It is full of noisy live Italians who strangely don’t feel the need to add lustre to their offer by putting pictures of dead Italians on the walls. It also serves the best coffee - La Passione Del Caffe as they say themselves!

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/buon-amici.html


The Antidote

BURN'S NIGHT TALE - A NEW TWIST

Robert Burns

On 25 January 1759 poet Robert Burns was born so this year the 250th anniversary of his birth is being celebrated.

Scotland's National Bard entered the world in a clay biggan at Alloway. Although born into a poor family, Burns's father enrolled him at a local school and the poet's love of language was born. John Murdoch taught Burns and his brother Gilbert in a school founded by their father and neighbours. Murdoch introduced Burns to the works of Alexander Pope, schooling him in English, French and Latin. In 1774, Burns wrote his first song, ‘Handsome Nell’, for Nellie Kilpatrick.

Burns wrote in a light “Scots” dialect which is not Gaelic but an English dialect spoken in the Scottish Borders and Lowlands. The Scots language (the Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland. In Scotland it is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic traditionally spoken in the Highlands and Islands. Scots is also spoken in parts of Northern Ireland and border areas of the Republic of Ireland, where it is known in official circles as Ulster Scots or Ullans.

In honour of his Celtic compatriots the Sage publishes this New Twist for Burns Night. The Burns Supper is an institution of Scottish life: a night to celebrate the life and works of the national Bard. Suppers can range from an informal gathering of friends to a huge, formal dinner full of pomp and circumstance. The highlight of the entertainment on Burns Night is the “Address To a Haggis” which is quoted below.

Guests should normally stand to welcome the star attraction, The Haggis, which should be delivered on a silver platter by a procession comprising the chef, the piper and the person who will address the Haggis. A whisky-bearer should also arrive to ensure the toasts are well lubricated. During the procession, guests clap in time to the music until the Haggis reaches its destination at the table. The music stops and everyone is seated in anticipation of the address To a Haggis.


Piping in The Haggis

So for the New Twist;

Boris Johnson is visiting an Edinburgh hospital. He enters a ward full of
patients with no obvious sign of injury and greets one.

The patient replies:

"Fair fa your honest sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the pudding race,
Aboon them o' you take your place,
Painch, tripe or thairm,
As langs my airm."

Boris is confused, so he just grins and moves on to the next patient.

The patient responds:

" Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
So let the Lord be thankit."

Even more confused, and his grin now rictus-like, the Mayor moves on to the next patient, who immediately begins to chant:

"We sleekit, cowerin, timorous beastie,
Thou needna start awa sae hastie,
Wi bickerin brattle."

Now seriously troubled, Boris turns to the accompanying doctor and asks

"What kind of facility is this? A mental ward?"

"Och, nooooo……" replies the doctor.

"This is the serious Burns unit."



Burns Cottage Alloway

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

There may be more wonderful actresses than Audrey Tautou but the Sage humbly submits that there is none more wondrous! However the follow up to the charming Oscar-nominated hit “Amèlie” was always going to be subject to much scrutiny. Wisely, she's decided to sidestep the fairytale image of that film, instead going for a much darker role in Laetitia Colombani's “He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not”.

In He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not the adorable Audrey Tautou from Amèlie plays the central role in a deceptive story of a rather unusual romance. He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not (“A la folie...pas du tout” in the original French) offers a surprisingly dramatic romance with a twist which keeps the audience guessing until the end.

It would spoil the film's clever design to reveal what happens halfway through, so let's just say that Tautou is cast as a winsome girl in the sunny town of Bordeaux whose relationship with a married doctor has more layers than first it seems. Samuel LeBihan, from Brotherhood of the Wolf, plays the doctor, but it's the casting of cutie-pie Tautou that sets up the movie's gradually sinister undertow. He Loves Me…He Loves Me Not, in the true form of French films, is not quite what it seems at first glance. Angélique, played by bright-eyed actress Audrey Tautou is a young woman working in a café to support her studies as an art student. Although having just been selected for a generous scholarship, Angélique’s heart is elsewhere, focused upon her love affair with cardiologist Loïc Le Garrec (Samuel Le Bihan). Her love knows no limits and she sends thoughtful anonymous gifts to the doctor, who cannot guess who they are from, but who accepts them as appreciative gestures from patients whom he has cured.



We see her follow him furtively at a party; we see him smiling fondly over her gift of a single rose; we see all sort of besotted trysts. But then, a good way into the movie, everything is rewound and we see everything again from his point of view. It becomes clear that she is a stalker, an "erotomaniac" obsessed with a man who hardly knows she's alive. Audrey Tautou plays an art student who is deeply in love with this married man. She is attentive and caring, doing all she can to make this man happy. However his unwillingness to leave his wife begins to change Audrey as she becomes increasingly distressed and her character transforms beyond recognition and it is not until later on in the film that you discover the cause behind these changes. Audrey is thoroughly convincing and a truly remarkable actress, bringing you into the story straight away and not leaving you a shadow of a doubt that her words are true.

Director Laetitia Colombani's inventive structure plays a satisfyingly tricky game with the audience, and may have some viewers going back to the beginning to make sure they saw what they thought they saw. Just don't go in expecting Amèlie, Deuxième Partie and you should find this an ingenious little number. For those of us who thought Audrey Tautou's character in Amèlie was a bit creepy and psychotic, this film makes an interesting, if faintly challenging companion piece, directed by 26-year-old first-timer Laetitia Columbani. Tautou does her gamine act once again in a film that blends Amèlie with Fatal Attraction and a touch of The Sixth Sense.


Audrey Tautou

The film combines comedic moments with serious drama beautifully as the story twists and turns. You will feel yourself swept into this film due to the brilliant acting, beautiful directing and outstanding script. The film is thoroughly moving, making you laugh, cry as well as think. Not only was the story thought provoking but it was also a very enjoyable cinematic experience.

Angélique's world of soft focus romanticism is full of reds and warmth while Loïc lives and works in a colder, more blue-toned space. Tautou shines as Angélique, looking as fresh and as dewy as a freshly picked flower herself in the florist’s scenes but convincingly descending into madness as the film progresses.

First time writer and director Colombani doesn't quite manage to pull the whole thing off but there's enough in “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” to show promise for the future. An interesting experiment and almost a precocious masterpiece, I’m sure Hitchcock wasn’t directing anything as accomplished at the age of 26.

I recommend this film to everyone especially those who love beautifully created scenes, a great story and a film with real depth of emotion. People who feel they do not like "arty" films or subtitled films are missing out on the real challenging journey which this movie brings you on.

Walking the Tube

Britain is in the grips of an obesity epidemic with health care professionals predicting life expectancy could even begin to fall particularly as a result of childhood obesity. One response is an anti-obesity pill will soon be available to buy at chemists without prescription. But is this the right way to deal with Britain's weight problem? An anti-obesity drug will soon be available without prescription over the counter – but only if the phar­macist thinks you are fat enough.

Orlistat, which is marketed under the name alli, will cost about £1.45 when it goes on sale after it was given final clearance by European regulators on Wednesday. The drug will be placed behind the counter in pharmacies so staff can question patients to make sure they are sufficiently overweight.

However there is a growing concern that the Drugs Industry is trying to create a drug dependency amongst people medicating for lifestyle issues (smoking, weight loss, type 2 diabetes) which would be better dealt with by changing lifestyles. In this vein health campaigners have urged commuters to walk between Underground stations instead of using them. Ministers and doctors trying to combat obesity are backing the drive.

A new map has been released detailing the number of steps that an adult walking at medium pace would take to travel between each central London station. It shows, for example, how alighting at St Paul's and walking 947 steps to Bank would burn almost 30 calories - equivalent of a double vodka.

The shortest walk is between Cannon Street and Monument, which takes 99 steps, while the longest is King's Cross to Farringdon, which takes 2,438 steps. People in search of a real workout could attempt the entire Circle line at 31,536 steps.

The map, compiled by insurance firm PruHealth, was calculated by volunteers using pedometers. Chief executive Shaun Matisonn said: "Taking 10,000 steps a day can help protect you against a wide range of diseases including strokes, diabetes and some types of cancer.


KEY: Numbers show how many steps were taken by PruHealth volunteers to walk between each Tube station. Walking 1,000 steps at a medium pace burned off about 30 calories. Walking 1,000 steps at a medium pace took about 7.5 minutes

Judy O'Sullivan, a cardiac nurse for the British Heart Foundation, said: "If you work near Covent Garden and catch the Piccadilly line then get off at Green Park and walk briskly for 15 minutes each way then that's half your daily physical activity requirement."

Walking up escalators is also important and Ms O'Sullivan said the health benefits of walking outweighed the risks of air pollution. Researchers calculated it took about 4.5 seconds to walk 10 steps at a rate of four miles per hour, while 1,000 steps took 7.5 minutes. At this rate, walkers burned about three calories per 100 steps, or one calorie every 15 seconds.

This would see travellers use nearly 100 calories by walking from Green Park to Covent Garden and back again, a journey which would take about 25 minutes. A Department of Health spokesman said: "In London we tend to rely on Tubes and buses to get around these days when we could be using our feet.

"Think about walking. If the journey is too far, you could always stop [your Tube or bus trip] a bit earlier, and walk the rest of the journey." Government figures show more than 21 per cent of London's 10- to 11-year-olds are obese, three per cent more than the national average. Almost 10 per cent of the adult population are obese in parts of the capital, including Barking and Dagenham and Bexley. In Enfield, Newham and Greenwich, eight per cent of adults are so overweight that their health is in danger.



And here are the calories to be burned off by walking;

Marble Arch to Chancery Lane (Central Line)
Quickest walk taking in all stations: 4,927 steps
Burns: up to 147 calories
Equivalent to: one doughnut.

Route: From Marble Arch walk straight along Oxford Street, past Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road Tube stations, down New Oxford Street taking in Holborn Tube and then walk along High Holborn.

Monument to King's Cross (Circle Line)
Quickest walk: 7,888 steps
Burns: up to 236 calories
Equivalent to: one chicken tikka masala.

Route: From Monument walk along Eastcheap and Byward Street to Tower Hill, up Minories to Aldgate, along Houndsditch and Bishopsgate to Liverpool Street station, cut through Finsbury Circus to Moorgate. Walk through the Barbican estate to Barbican Tube, down Charterhouse Street for Farringdon, then Farringdon Road, King's Cross Road, Acton Street and Gray's Inn Road to King's Cross station.

South Kensington to Bayswater (Circle Line)
Quickest walk: 5,833 steps
Burns up to: 174 calories
Equivalent to: one Cadbury's Crème Egg.

Route: from South Kensington tube walk along Thurloe Street and Stanhope Gardens to Gloucester Road, then along Cromwell Road and Marloes Road to High Street Kensington station, along Kensington High Street, up Kensington Church Street, then Bayswater Road and Queensway to Bayswater.


Walk the Network

If after you try Tube Walking and find it is addictive how about emulating Neil Johan and walking 378 miles between ALL Tube stations!

http://www.londonphotoproject.co.uk/blog/

London Olympics 2012 – Stratford Station

Stratford Station today

On the 6th July 2005 at 12.49 pm BST, it was announced to the world that the hosts of the 2012 Olympic Games would be.... London! Beating off close competition from Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow, London had been awarded the largest event of its kind on earth. So in the first of an occasional series up to the Olympics this piece covers the regeneration of Stratford Station which along with Stratford International 400 metres away will form the lynchpin of the Olympic transport arrangements serving the Olympic Park and contributing to the regeneration of East London. More than this the hosting of the 2012 Olympics is a proud moment for London to display the diversity and dynamism it enjoys as a truly World City.

The Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games will take place on 27 July 2012 and the Closing Ceremony on the 12 Aug 2012. 18 days later, the Paralympic Games (the second largest event of its kind in the world) will stage its Opening Ceremony.

See Paralympic Games;
(http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/09/paralympic-games.html )


The scene in Trafalgar Square London on 6th July 2005

The challenge was set by the Beijing 2008 Olympics which were widely perceived as highly successful but closer examination reveals some transport problems and solutions which would not be portable to an open city like London and an open society in modern Britain. Firstly the Olympic Park in Beijing was a huge concreted area of 12 K m² (what / who was there before?)without merchandising and catering leading to much criticism that the Park was an atmosphere free wasteland outside of the stadia and venues.


Beijing Metro with Line 8 serving Olympic venues

In addition the Olympic Park was served by Line 8, a 3 station line which had only opened 18 days before the opening ceremony and whose uneven track wear revealed unacknowledged teething problems. Because the security arrangements were changed shortrly before the games (due to bombings in Western China) all passengers had to disembark at the interchange station of Beitucheng, go through security and then re-enter the system leading to long delays meaning many people didn’t get to venues on time. One of the 3 stations on Line 8 was outside the Security Zone and could not be used and the final huge Olympic Sports Centre Stadium was distant from the venues in the Olympic Park and was lightly used. Also much of the inward crowd control was achieved by using lines of soldiers to form human corridors and that is not an option for London 2012.


Stratford Regional Upgrade

It is expected that during the Olympic Games, more than 7.7 million tickets will be sold during the 16 days of competition. This will allow spectators to watch nearly 11,000 athletes from over 200 nations compete in 26 sports at 300 different venues across the United Kingdom. In London, these venues fall into 3 zones:

• The Olympic Park - this includes the main stadium and several smaller venues for the hockey, swimming, cycling etc

• The River Zone - this includes the ExCel Centre, O2 Arena and Greenwich Park

• The Central Zone - which includes Hyde Park, Regents Park and Horse Guards Parade

The Olympic Transport plan calls for 100% of ticketed spectators to travel to the 2012 Games by Public Transport or by walking or cycling. The vision for Olympic Transport in 2012 is for existing public transport services in London to be improved and enhanced in the years before 2012 and additional services will operate during the Games to meet the extra demand. It is estimated that these enhancements will mean a train arriving at the main Olympic Park every 15 seconds. Services due for improvement include:




2012 Stadium

• Docklands Light Railway - through the addition of an extra carriage (from 2 to 3 cars) on the entire fleet, which will also be increased, track extension to Woolwich Arsenal and service enhancements.

• North London Line - will become part of "London Overground" which will see new rolling stock as well as new terminating platforms at Stratford and an increase in services. In addition the extended East London Line will reopen in 2010.

See East London Line
(http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/12/east-london-line.html )

• Stratford International Station - the introduction of the "Javelin" service which will run from St Pancras International, through Stratford International, to Ebbsfleet - with a train arriving every 7 mins.

See St. Pancras Reborn;
(http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/st-pancras-reborn.html )

• LU initiatives - West Ham Station Upgrade, Stratford Regional Upgrade and 2012 Service Plan

• Olympic Route Network - As well as the transport enhancements undertaken, an Olympic Route Network (ORN) will be implemented, which will comprise a network of roads linking all competition and key non-competition venues to enable the Olympic Family members to travel quickly and securely between accommodation, competition venues, airports etc.


Stratford Station signage reflects the multi operator environment

Stratford Regional Station is a major public transport interchange that enables passengers from east of London to travel to Canary Wharf without travelling into central London. It also provides interchange opportunities for passengers using Underground services to or from central London. Stratford Regional Station has been identified as a gateway station for the Olympic Park.





Olympic Park - Model and Map of the site

Stratford Regional Station currently experiences occasional periods of passenger congestion. As well as the Games there are other sources of additional future demand at Stratford Regional Station. These include the underlying significant increase in demand to 2016 which was forecast in the Mayor's London Plan and the Stratford City Development (SCD) adjacent to the station. Stratford City is a project to create a major new mixed use urban centre in East London on the site of a former railway goods yard at Stratford. The project will cost £4 billion funded from both public and private sources. The site lies to the north of the existing Stratford town centre around Temple Mills. The development totals 13.5 million ft² (1,300,000 m²), including 5 million ft² (460,000 m²) of offices, 1.6 million ft² (150,000 m²) of retail and 4,850 new homes. The retail element will be anchored by three department stores and it is hoped that it will become the third most important retail centre in London after the West End and Knightsbridge shopping districts in the city centre. There will be a cluster of tall buildings including towers of 50 and 30 storeys designed by Richard Rogers.


Stratford City

A package of improvements to Stratford Regional Station is being implemented. These improvements will provide a long-term legacy benefit before the Games, as well as additional temporary measures to meet the specific needs of the Games. This package is part of a larger scheme which includes works related to the Stratford City Development and the proposed Docklands Light Railway extension to Stratford International Station.

The programme of works being developed includes the following elements:

• re-opening the eastern subway with new stairs to platforms 3/5 (westbound Central line and westbound mainline) and 6/8 (eastbound Central and eastbound mainline);
• an additional westbound platform for the Central Line;
• widening the eastern end of platforms 6/8,
• platform extensions and associated network works for platforms 10a, 11 and 12 (mainline);
• improved accessibility and connectivity to, and between, platforms through the provision of additional lifts and staircases;
• a new mezzanine structure to link the Jubilee Line with the proposed Town Centre Link bridge;
• upgraded station domestic power supplies, and increased station command and control facilities;
• de-cluttering of platforms 3/5 and 6/8; and
• a temporary footbridge on platform 6/8, if required.

In addition there are other planned or proposed works being developed by other parties:

Docklands Light Railway will construct two new platforms (12a and 12b) for use by the North London Line. The platforms will be connected to all subways, which will be extended. There will also be a connection between the central and eastern subways;


Stratford Regional - view from Stratford City side

Docklands Light Railway will convert the existing North London Line platforms (1 and 2) for use by the Docklands Light Railway on the Canning Town to Stratford International Station route;

Docklands Light Railway has also upgraded the existing mezzanine level platform to two terminating platforms (4a and 4b) for services to Poplar; and as part of the Stratford City Development a new Northern Ticket Hall will be constructed along with the Town Centre Link Bridge, (also known as the 'Living Bridge'), which will link Stratford town centre with the new Stratford City Development.

The planned works will increase the peak capacity of Stratford Regional Station for existing and new services. The infrastructure works will provide much needed additional capacity, but it will also be essential to develop robust operational plans for each of the modes in order to deliver these essential works.


Stratford Platforms

The transport arrangements for London 2012 will succeed or fail based on the success of the arrangements at Stratford Regional and Stratford International. By 2012 London Underground is expected to be supporting 4M daily passenger journeys (up from 3.3M at present) but during the Olympic period this will increase to 5M passenger journeys a day driven by the Olympic venues, workforce and the Olympic Events each day in Hyde and Victoria Parks which are expected to attract around 65,000 people each day. For Stratford it means handling 120,000 passengers during the 3 hour morning peak, up from 37,000 today. Of these 3 to 4% are expected to be mobility impaired and larger wider lifts will be designed to make access easier.

The London 2012 Olympic Challenge is a huge undertaking but for both the spectators and residents of London the first measure of success will be how well transport arrangements cope with the exceptional demand both of “normal life” and the Olympics, the all night running on the days of the opening and closing ceremonies and the late running to 2.30 am on other nights. How London copes with this exceptional demand whilst maintaining safety and security will be largely gauged from how well the crucial Stratford Hub works.


Aquatic Centre

Barack Obama's Inauguration Speech

Barack Obama has been sworn in as the 44th US president. Here is his inauguration speech in full.





My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.
At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights. Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.



On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.



For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.



The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.



Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet. We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.



To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honour them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the fire-fighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.



Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.



This is the price and the promise of citizenship. This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

Boris puts his stamp on City Hall

Boris Johnson

Grateful to Steve Platt ( http://plattitude.blogspot.com/2008/05/city-hall-refit-almost-complete-says.html ) for his introduction to John O’Farrell’s NewsBiscuit website (‘the news before it happens’). This is one of those rare things on the web: a place for ‘humorous writing’ that is actually humorous. Newsbiscuit is on my Blogroll on the sidebar or catch it here;

http://newsbiscuit.com/

These are just a few of the recent headlines in the ‘You write the news’ section' - City Hall refit almost complete, Boris says.’ ‘Boris Johnson to replace bendy Tube.’ ‘Boris Johnson pledges to get tough on things that something should be done about.’ ‘Boris Johnson extends free travel to fare dodgers.’

Some of the other recent stories by its core team of writers are ‘Charity collectors worse than actual disease’ and ‘Brown comforted by Labour gains in made-up places.’ This featured the prime minister photographed alongside the Mayor of Casterbridge, with a Downing Street spokesman boasting of gains in places like Ambridge, Holby City and the London Borough of Walford – though angry farmers were blamed for Labour’s failure to take Emmerdale, one of several fantasy locations it had targeted.

As I said, a humorous Blog which does what it says on the tin is a rare creature so drop by!


City Hall

Sadie McMahon in Holby City

Sadie McMahon


One of the more interesting actresses in the UK and a good buddy of the Sage is appearing in the BBC 1 Medical drama Holby City tomorrow night. Sadie McMahon has filmed 2 Episodes of Holby City playing security guard Lindsey Jones in a tragic & moving storyline where unfortunately she is attacked and stabbed by a patient.



Sadie is a transformed person when she is on stage and many of us men folk have not quiet recovered from her smouldering portrayal of Amanda in Tight Fit Theatre Company’s production of Noël Coward’s “Private Lives.” As well as her theatre work Sadie is a well known face on TV having recently appeared in adverts for Vodaphone and Transport for London. "Very flat, Norfolk,'' sighs Amanda in Noël Coward's Private Lives (1931) but as a Norfolk girl herself Sadie somewhat belies that description!



Sadie graduated from the Academy of Live & Recorded Arts in July 2001 and has notched up impressive Stage & Screen credits since. Her theatre credits include The Trap at the White Bear, the lead role in Camille, Mavis in Stepping Out and Merteuil in Les Liasons Dangereuse. Broken Blossoms with Negativequity Physical Theatre Company and she was the evil Snow Queen in the Wheelhouse production of Snow White.

Sadie's episodes of Holby City can be seen on Tuesday 20th Jan and Tuesday 3rd Feb on BBC1.

Catch it either on BBC1 or on BBC iPlayer;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/watchlive/

Catch the trailer here;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/holbycity/episodes/comingup.shtml

Tomorrow’s story line is;

"Joseph's concerned Jac might be pregnant after their night together. Is she leading him up the garden path? Linden, meanwhile, is becoming more attached to Faye, Ric gets tough with the patients and a member of staff is attacked at Holby."

The drama is set in Holby City, London twinned with Casualty (Casualty is the A & E department downstairs and Holby City is based upstairs at Holby General.

Sadie is one to watch not just in Holby City but as a face for the future and a very talented actress.


Lindsey Jones Memorial Service

Lest we forget!

As we approach the 44th President's Inauguration let us not forget the person who above all others made it possible. Step forward and take a bow, Governor of the Great State of Alaska, (The one next door to Russia), The Honorable Sarah Palin!



PS. Who was the guy she used to run with?

The Inauguration of Barack Obama

Next Tuesday will be a unique day for America and the World as the 44th President takes office!

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/01/obama-nation-change-is-coming-in-7-days.html

General Colin Powell Announces Renew America Together Initiative



'What I Want for You — and Every Child
in America'

By President-elect Barack Obama

Dear Malia and Sasha,



I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn't make up for all the time we've been apart. I know how much I've missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me-about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential-schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college-even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country-but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free-that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.



That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better-and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It's a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much-although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

These are the things I want for you-to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure.

I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.

Love, Dad

'Real' Tube map goes on Net

Google "Tube" Map

Google continues its march towards World Domination by putting one of the first "real" London Tube maps online. The internet firm has mapped the location of the main Tube lines and added it to its Google Maps website.

Visitors can see the lines by clicking the "transit" button of the site. "If you want to book a hotel or make a restaurant reservation, you can switch on the Transit Layer and look for the public transport line nearest to the location," said Raphael Leiteritz of Google.


Harry Beck and his map

Londoners are used to the Tube map designed by Harry Beck in 1931. His simplified map consists of stations, straight lines connecting them and the Thames. Critics say it gives visitors an unrealistic view of London's layout. However, Harry Beck's map has created such a powerful impression that it dominates our perceptions of London's geography. A variation of his original design is still used by London Underground today, and Beck's concept of a diagrammatic map has been imitated all over the world.

Great British Design Quest

A new set of postage stamps celebrates a century of British design icons — from the Mini car to the miniskirt. The Royal Mail stamps feature 10 different 20th-century design classics. They include the red double-decker bus, the Concorde supersonic jet, the orange-and-white Penguin paperback and the compact Mini car. Another shows the miniskirt designed by Mary Quant that revolutionised fashion in the 1960s. Quant says she was "bowled over with delight" at the honour. The Royal Mail said the original idea had been to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Mini, but that this was expanded to include other 20th-century icons. The stamps released Tuesday can all be used for first-class postage within Britain. They will be available for a year.

It is gratifying that two designs from London Transport have made it to the “Top 10”, Harry Beck’s Tube Map at No. 2 and the iconic Routemaster Bus at No. 6. For London Transport has contributed a great deal to modern British Design largely through the influence of Frank Pick. The obsession with clear design and image was continued through to Harry Beck’s famous schematic map, commissioning its own “machine typeface” to make its posters, signage and publications clearer, building instantly recognisable branded station buildings and station fittings and using engaging and innovative advertising in the 30’s. Today London Underground’s trademark roundel is the second most recognised brand worldwide. The Directors in the 20s and 30s saw good design as good for business. By the example it set under Frank Pick the Underground was gradually able to change the public’s attitude to railway stations which had been seen as shabby and inhospitable places. Sir Nicholas Pevsner wrote that Pick saw in every detail a “visual propaganda” and he used this not only to improve the Underground but the environment as a whole. Charles Holden brought the Underground station to the forefront of modern architecture: This achievement is unequalled by any other transport company before or since.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/give-my-regards-to-55-broadway.html

The London Underground map has been selected by the Design Museum and BBC Two's The Culture Show to appear in a shortlist of 25 items for the Great British Design Quest, a nationwide vote to find the public's favourite example of design in Britain since 1900.




Harry Beck's Map

By the early 1930s, the London Underground network had expanded so considerably that it was difficult to squeeze all the new lines and stations into a geographical map. Passengers complained that the existing map was crowded, confusing and hard to read. It was decided that the network was too big to be represented geographically and the Underground commissioned one of its draughtsmen Harry Beck (1903-1974) to devise a more efficient method.

Basing his map on an electrical circuit, Beck represented each line in a different colour and interchange stations as diamonds. The crowded central area was enlarged and the course of each route simplified into the form of a vertical, horizontal or diagonal line. The diagrammatic map was produced on a trial basis as a leaflet in 1933 and Beck continued to refine it until 1959.

As the tube system grew during the early 1900's maps showed the layout as it related to communities and streets that lay above it. This would be a perfectly predictable and acceptable “design answer'” in the early days of the system since the early users would need to relate the comparatively new system to the streets and areas they already knew. These early maps were not Beck's and as the tube layout became more complex he realised that a major simplification was necessary. The use of lines drawn only in multiples of 45 degree angles allowed him to begin his simplification.

His task covered more than 30 years of development and in a time when cartographic changes were not achieved by “dragging and dropping” or simply “clicking a button” on the computer, this represented an astonishing degree of dedication. His early maps and lettering were all drawn by hand.



Harry Beck was an electrical draughtsman and produced drawings of electrical circuits; circuits used in the running of the Underground itself but his training had given him knowledge of the symbols and techniques used to depict wiring, diodes, resistors, junctions and valves. He obviously knew of the colour coding used on resistors and capacitors and had the considerable draughting skills to produce concise drawings ~ this was after all his job with London Underground, and as he lived and worked in London he had experience of the tube system itself. Familiarity with a design 'need' is usually a tremendous help when it comes to finding solutions to a problem and Beck's home in the north London suburb of Finchley was far enough away from the city that he would have frequently used the underground-rail system.

Beck first submitted his idea to Frank Pick of London Underground in 1931 but it was considered too radical as it did not show distances relative from any one station to the others. During 1933 the map was given its first publication (700,000 copies) and the reaction of the travelling customers proved it to be sound design; it immediately required a large reprint after only one month. Beck was paid the equivalent of £5.25 or his "Design Classic"! It should be said that Beck continued working on the map as the system changed, until his death in 1964 and this work has continued - more recently by Tim Demuth (and early on with Paul Garbutt - 1964), of London Transport's Publicity Department. The “simple coloured lines on white” are now used on so many other products the map is symbolic of London's tourist industry itself.

Harry Beck's map has created such a powerful impression that it dominates our perceptions of London's geography. A variation of his original design is still used by London Underground today, and Beck's concept of a diagrammatic map has been imitated all over the world.


Routemaster Bus

One of the most famous symbols of Britain is the double-decker bus, which was first introduced in 1925 when the London General Omnibus Company secured official approval to use buses with covered top decks. The first double-decker was the NS-type, but the most popular - and memorable - emerged thirty years later when the Routemaster took to the road.

Developed over nine years from 1947 to 1956 by a team led by Douglas Scott (1913-1990), the Routemaster was designed for efficient mass-production. By constructing a bus from the maximum number of interchangeable parts, Scott reduced the cost of the initial tooling and manufacturing and of repairs and maintenance too. He equipped the Routemaster with the latest innovations such as power steering, an automatic gearbox, hydraulic brakes, independent springs and heating controls.

Passengers loved the Routemaster for its distinctive 'brick' silhouette, with a flatter front and less prominent engine than its predecessors, and for endearing interior features such as the 'lovers' seat' at the back, wind-down windows and soft lighting. The Routemaster remained in active service for nearly fifty years. After several reprieves, it was finally withdrawn in 2005 except for token use on two heritage routes. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has pledged to bring back the Routemaster as a redesigned modern bus but there are doubts as to whether this is possible or practicable.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/12/routemaster-to-perdition.html

Only in Ireland!

Just the job?

Obama Nation – Change is coming in 7 days

In 7 days time the world will breathe a sigh of relief and expectation as Barack Obama will be inaugurated as 44th President of the United States on the 20th January. The Presidency of George W Bush has ended as his father’s did, with America in recession and much unfinished business abroad. With the massacre continuing in Gaza and the economy nose diving it is clear change cannot come too soon. It is instructive to reflect on how far Barack Obama has travelled and remember what he said on the 5th November 2008 when it was clear he had won.

“America is a place where all things are possible and the "dream of our founders" is alive, President-elect Barack Obama said. The man who will be the first black President of the United States was cheered by hundreds of thousands of supporters as he walked on to a stage in Chicago with his wife Michelle and young daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, seven, at his side. His era-changing victory came as he swept a series of key battleground states, winning Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.



"We are, and always will be, the United States of America," he said and that it was time to put "hands on the arc of history and bend it once more to the hope of a better day. It's been a long time coming but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."
The last Blog posting from President Elect Barack Obama was sent to me on the 4th December and said;

“Exactly one month ago, you made history by giving all Americans a real opportunity for change. Now it's time to start preparing and working for change in our communities. Barack and Joe have a clear agenda and an unprecedented opportunity for change. But they can't do it alone.”

In paying homage to his hero Barack Obama paid a visit to the Lincoln Memorial at the weekend, publicly honouring the man who inspired his career and whose legacy is to provide a major theme for the inauguration in seven days. The President-elect took his family to the monument on Saturday night, where they admired the statue of the 16th President, before studying the inscriptions of his greatest speeches, including the Gettysburg Address.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/11/obama-nation.html

It was the latest indication that Mr Obama intends to begin his presidency citing his hero, an opponent of slavery who led the abolitionist North during the Civil War of 1861-65. He has decided to be sworn into office using Abraham Lincoln's bible, and will spend three days this week travelling by train from Philadelphia to Washington, following the final leg of an identical journey taken by Lincoln. Of course as a rail fan can I also note it is a long time since the US President travelled on Amtrak!



The theme of Mr Obama's inauguration week, "A New Birth of Freedom", was inspired by Lincoln's speeches, while the menu for the lunch following his swearing-in is a replica of the one enjoyed by his predecessor. According to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inauguration Ceremonies, which has published recipes on its internet site, 200 guests will be served on plates identical to the fine bone china ordered for the White House by Lincoln's wife, Mary.

The appetiser will be seafood stew, while the main course is to be "a brace of American birds". This will have duck breast with sour-cherry chutney and herb-roasted pheasant, all served with molasses, sweet potatoes and winter vegetables. Lincoln, who grew up on the frontier in Kentucky and Indiana, was a fan of root vegetables and game. The "apple cinnamon sponge cake" being prepared for dessert is said to provide a nod to Mr Lincoln's love of both apples and cake.



Mr Obama and Abraham Lincoln have plenty in common. Both overcame poor backgrounds to become successful lawyers in Illinois. They share a skill for inspirational speechmaking, and both took office at a time of political turbulence. Although opponents detect a whiff of the PR stunt in the President-elect's efforts to ally himself with such a pivotal figure, Mr Obama's affection for Lincoln appears to go back a long way. It is mentioned throughout Mr Obama's book The Audacity of Hope, and was also cited when he announced his decision to run for the presidency in Springfield, Illinois, on the steps of the Old Capitol, where Lincoln was a legislator.



Before his Election Night speech in Chicago, Barack sent out this message to supporters (who include The Sage):

“I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first. We just made history.

And I don't want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbours about why you believe it's time for change. I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign. We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing...

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,

Barack “



Or as Barack’s inspiration Abe Lincoln said in his Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863 when he gave America a vision of equality which went beyond the U.S. Constitution;

“That these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/11/government-of-people-by-people.html

After 20th January 2009 these words will have acquired real meaning.

For those who want to have an Inauguration Lunch at home here is the full menu and recipes;

http://inaugural.senate.gov/documents/doc-2009-recipes.pdf

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.

Michael Winner takes it all!

And all this on the day Findus * and World of Leather go into Administration! So we won't be able to sit on red leather settees eating fish fingers to cheer ourselves up!

* Not a Latin name but an amalgam of "Food INDUStries".

Seats on Feet!

Neanderthal Man

A bane of the regular commuter are the Neanderthal ignoramuses who insist on rudely displaying their genetic inbreeding by using other people’s seats on public transport as a footrest. Indeed due to lack of enforcement by transport operator’s many do this deliberately as a Yob badge of honour normally combined with a “what’s your problem, Mate!” stare as staff major on their “non-confrontational” training and walk on by. I suspect these are the same people who take pride stealing disabled people’s parking spaces normally with their kids in the back seat so they learn by example and the Neanderthal genes are preserved for posterity. Never mind the disrespect to their fellow passengers and the fact that they look stupid (not that they consider this a disadvantage in life!) but analysis of such seat covers generally shows materials not normally found outside forensic science programmes!

Well one enterprising company called TRiP has a new take on this age old problem as it asks its customers to please put seats on feet! The concept is brilliant as London Transport moquette is an iconic fabric and is sold by the London Transport Museum as a successful furniture range. (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/londons-transport-museum.html ) The hard wearing, iconic patterned fabric seems perfect for footwear and we definitely approve Trip’s recycling ethic: "they incorporate recycled tyre rubber in the soles, restored Tube and bus seat textiles in the uppers and re-used leather cheque book wallets in the trim". If the wallets were collected from the Lost Property Office in Baker Street, then even better!


Moquette Furniture from the LTM Collection

Moquette was used on bus and tube seats from the 30s through to the 70s, a tough fabric able to take the wear and tear of constant daily use. But it wasn't just functional - designers were constantly brought in to liven up the fabric, creating looks that are both stylish and very distinct to their eras.

Each Tube design in the “Above+Below London” footwear is named after the line that supplied the fabric - such as District Line - and all the soles are made from 33 per cent bus tyre rubber. Robert Taylor, of Transport Recycling in Partnership (TRiP), said: “We have used good quality materials which would otherwise have ended up in landfill sites or going to an incinerator. I think the shoes have a real cultural, nostalgic feel to them.” They cost £60, and for every pair sold TRiP promises to plant one tree inside the M25.

The collection exclusively incorporates rare, vintage and ultra rare iconic retro textiles from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's reclaimed from seats on London's Underground tube carriages and buses. Realising these visually striking fabrics were genuine relics of London's design heritage, Central Saint Martin's college graduate Robert Taylor and music promoter/film maker Caroline Read collected and preserved them before they were lost to landfill or incineration forever!




Piccadilly

This design was used on Piccadilly Line Tube stock delivered from 1956 to 1967. The black vertical and red horizontal lines of varying thicknesses against a grey background were also found on the Metropolitan, Central, Northern and Victoria lines.

This line was originally called the Great Northern, Piccadilly, and Brompton Railway. It opened in December 1906 between Hammersmith and Finsbury Park. In 1932, extensions allowed passengers to travel north to Cockfosters and west to Hounslow and Uxbridge. The next major extension connected Heathrow Airport with central London in 1977. The loop to Terminal 4 was completed in 1986, and the line now serves the new Terminal 5 from 2008.




Victoria Line

This Victoria Line moquette design was used during the 1993 refurbishment of 1967 stock on the Victoria line. The sample has broad vertical red and blue stripes with a stepped repeating dark blue, white and red geometric 'arrow' motif. It was created by design consultants Jones Garrard and Tilney, Lumsden and Shane and produced in different colours, though they were never used. The refurbishment also included new grab-poles and armrests that were blue, symbolising the Victoria line. The design was influenced by the bright and bold moquette patterns used on London Transport during the 1930s and 1940s.

This brightly coloured District Line design from the late 1970's has a geometric pattern of repeating rows of orange, yellow, brown and black rectangles. When the surface stock cars on the District line were renewed, the mainly grey finishes of the old interiors were replaced by brighter designs. The new interiors were designed by Misha Black Design Research Unit. The internal doors were painted orange and the moquette matched the colour scheme. This pattern was also used on the Metro and Titan buses, which were introduced about the same time as D78 stock.




District Line

Fashion meets public transport in this new range of shoes made of recycled fabric from London Underground and bus seats and this is an idea which deserves to walk! Indeed the Sage may himself purchase a different design for his left and right feet as his avant garde development on cross dressing, let’s hear it for interchange dressing! Give it time and it could be a New Underground Movement!

See (and order!) on TRiP’s website here;

http://www.urbanremade.com/catalog/about_us.php?osCsid=487505787de14d4cd2a7f8e3e98812a1

And here is the link to the Moquette Furniture Collection on the London Transport Museum site;

http://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/LTM/Furniture-collection/Living.html

The Dead Zoo at Tring

Walter Rothschild driving a Zebra Cart

Near us at Tring in an annexe of the Natural History Museum is the remarkable collection of Walter Rothschild, known locally by children as the “Dead Zoo”. It is almost a museum of museum’s containing as it does row upon row of stuffed animals, fish and birds in glass cases and displays. This is the legacy of a talented yet tortured man, for this Rothschild was the same Lord Rothschild to whom the British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour sent the classified letter to his London address at 148 Piccadilly stating that the British government "view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the understanding that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country." The declaration was made in a letter from Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild (Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild), a leader of the British Jewish community, for transmission to the Zionist Federation, a private Zionist organization. The letter reflected the position of the British Cabinet, as agreed upon in a meeting on 31 October 1917. It further stated that the declaration is a sign of "sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations." That this is a source of contention to this day can be seen from events in Gaza and from its incorporation into the Treaty of Sevres with Turkey which Osama Bin Laden referred to in his video address after 9/11. And he is also the Walter Rothschild who drove a carriage and zebras to Buckingham Palace and who was ridiculed as the “Butterfly Buffoon” but who left behind a remarkable legacy and after whom the Rothschild Giraffe and Mynah Bird are named, amongst others.

Born into what was one of the wealthiest families in the world, "Walter Rothschild" became the best known zoologist of his day - and one of Britain's great eccentrics. A benign and enigmatic figure with a boundless enthusiasm for nature, he amassed the largest accumulation of zoological specimens ever collected by one man, establishing his own private Museum in 1892, now the Natural History Museum at Tring. Walter's extraordinary life traversed the fields of politics and finance, as well as zoology, and was packed with both achievement and incident. From his involvement with the Balfour Declaration to his prodigious personal scientific output, Walter's life was anything but commonplace. He went up to Cambridge accompanied by a flock of kiwi, drove a team of zebra down Piccadilly and into the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, and was a victim of blackmail for many years.



The origins of the Rothschild family lie in the Jewish ghetto of Frankfurt, the Judengasse. Conditions for the community in the Judengasse were oppressive. There were restrictions on movement outside its walls, restrictions on the number of marriages that could take place each year and the community fought a long battle to secure the rights to buy property in the city beyond.


Five Arrows - the symbol of the Rothschilds

Mayer Amschel Rothschild was born here, in 1744; From roots in the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt, Mayer Amschel's five sons set up a banking network in the then five major financial centres of Europe - London, Frankfurt, Paris, Naples and Vienna. The Five Arrows, as they became known, created vast wealth and established themselves at the very peak of European society. The third of Mayer Amschel's sons, Nathan Mayer Rothschild, left Frankfurt for England in 1798, aged just 21. He settled, first of all, in Manchester in order to co-ordinate one of the most important aspects of the family's trading business, the supply of British textiles to the continental market.


A Moose in the Hoose!

After ten years in Manchester, he and his wife Hannah moved to London, where Nathan expanded the purely financial side of his business and became a merchant banker, based at New Court, St Swithin's Lane. From this address, Nathan and his brothers secured their first great business coup - the commission from the British Government to supply funds to finance the Duke of Wellington's campaign against Napoleon Bonaparte. The bank is still in the same address today in a modern building set back from the lane. In the tradition of Rothschild discretion there is no sign on the outside proclaiming NM Rothschild and Sons but merely a discrete and small plaque with the family coat of arms, the 5 arrows. If you don’t know what it is you probably have no business being there!

The remarkable collections in the galleries of the Natural History Museum at Tring were once the private passion of its founder, Lionel Walter, 2nd Baron Rothschild. The Rothschild family gifted the entire Museum and its collections to the nation in 1937.



The extensive collection, housed in several rooms, includes extinct animals and birds such as the quagga, thylacine, great auk and reconstructions of the moa and dodo. Oddities include hybrids and examples of abnormal coloration. The dogs display was relocated to the Rothschild Zoological Museum from the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, and London after World War II. These show how domestic dogs have changed shape due to selective breeding and include the tiny Russian and Mexican Lapdogs as well as famous racing greyhounds. The Museum has six galleries each one of which houses a different set of animals. The first gallery contains Birds, large carnivores and primates, the second is used to show temporary exhibits, the third Crocodiles, Crustaceans, fish, insects, large mammals and marine invertebrates, the fourth accommodates Rhinoceroses, Tapirs, wild ass and Zebras, the fifth holds Antelope, cattle, deer, goats, hippopotamuses, marine mammals, pigs and sheep finally the sixth gallery contains Amphibians, bats, British Mammals, domestic dogs, flightless birds, reptiles and small mammals. The Museum also contains a Discovery Room, designed for young children and the Rothschild Room which is a room set out to recreate the surroundings that the Rothschild family would have worked in.

It became part of the Natural History Museum in 1937. In April 2007 its name was changed to the Natural History Museum at Tring. The site is also home to the ornithological research collections (Bird Group, Department of Zoology) and the ornithological library (Department of Library and Information Services) of The Natural History Museum, but these are not open to the public. There are small special themed exhibitions throughout the year showcasing specimens not normally on display, as well as activities for youngsters.


A Bear Stare

The museum is best accessed by car. The nearest rail station is at Tring Station which is two miles from Tring. Buses and taxis run during commuter times, but are infrequent outside of rush hours and taxis do not wait at the station at weekends. The nearest taxi company is at Berkhamsted. According to museum staff, the reason the rail station is so remote is that Lord Rothschild did not want passing trains to upset his menagerie. He was able to ride to the station in a horse-drawn, or zebra-drawn, carriage. The museum's Zebra Cafe alludes to Lord Rothschild's love of zebras and has photographs of his trained zebras harnessed to open carriages. He also bred hybrids between zebras and horses (zebroids) and a hybrid foal is on display.


Zebras at Tring

The zebras on display at the Natural History Museum at Tring seem to be resting, posed with their legs tucked themselves. It is a space-saving tactic that is used throughout the museum: resting takes up less room. Positioned on shelves and stacked up the walls behind glass, zebras relax, elans stretch their necks out, ostriches and emus recline in feathered mounds. The zebras are particularly striking. Generally speaking, museums will display one representative of a species, so why so many? It seems an unnecessary repetition. But if Noah had know his taxonomy as well as his divine mandate, he would have welcomed a small army of zebras onto the ark. It is not particularly common knowledge that there is no one zebra but many zebras. In fact, three species of zebra have been distinguished– Plains Zebra (Equus quagga), Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra), and Grevy’s Zebra (Equus grevyi) – and seven sub-species generally argeed upon. All are on display at Tring. With closer attention, what seems to be one species at first glance blossoms into many with subtle differences. The variation in widths and distribution of stripes, the size of ears, a tuff of hair on a tail. Burchell’s Zebra is distinguished by absent or incomplete leg stripes, the Grevy’s zebra has an unmarked belly, and most preciously, the extinct quagga. An unexpected comprehensive vision of a family where only one solitary species might expected.

Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, was born in 1868 into an international financial dynasty, but was destined to be famed as a zoologist and collector rather than a banker. Walter was the eldest son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild, who was head of the distinguished firm of merchant bankers NM Rothschild & Sons and Member of Parliament for Aylesbury. As a child, Walter knew exactly what he wanted to do when he grew up, announcing at the age of seven, 'Mama, Papa, I am going to make a museum...'. By the time he was ten, Walter had enough natural history objects to start his first museum, in a garden shed. Before long, Walter's insect and bird collections were so large they had to be stored in rented rooms and sheds around Tring. Then in 1889, his father gave him some land on the outskirts of Tring Park as a 21st birthday present. Two small cottages were built, one to house his books and insect collection, the other for a caretaker. Behind these was a much larger building, which would contain Lord Rothschild's collection of mounted specimens. This was the beginning of the Zoological Museum, which opened to the public in 1892.




Butterflies and Moths

Nathan’s chosen architect at Tring was 'Wm. Huckvale', and his work can be seen all over the area. Constance Battersea, Nathan’s cousin, wrote, "Cottage building was one of his hobbies, and very comfortable and well-constructed his cottages are, with a low rental to recommend them... He built four hundred at the very least on his estate." The number may be an exaggeration! Two striking examples of William Huckvale's work are the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum and the Louisa Cottages, Park Road, the latter named after Emma's mother. In addition, many of the estate buildings are his work, some of which are the offices (including The Counting House) that form the entrance to the Park and the Rose and Crown Hotel. The Zoological Museum (now part of the Natural History Museum), including a library and curator's cottage, was built in 1889, opened to the public in 1892 and subsequently much extended. It was given by Nathan to his son Walter as part of a coming-of-age present, for Walter to house his zoological collection, accumulated since the age of six. Before his death, Walter agreed to give the Museum to the nation.


Louisa Cottages at Tring

Educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, Walter worked for the family firm in London from 1889 to 1908, though his passion was for his natural history collection. At this time his collection was one of the largest in the world. Walter's interest in natural history was not restricted to museum specimens. He kept an astonishing variety of animals in the grounds around the Museum and in Tring Park, including zebras, a tame wolf, rheas, kangaroos, kiwis, cassowaries and giant tortoises. He even drove a team of zebras into the forecourt of Buckingham Palace. Walter Rothschild also had a political career, as a Liberal and Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for Aylesbury from 1899 to 1910. He was closely involved in the formulation of the draft declaration for a Jewish homeland in Palestine and in 1917 a letter from Arthur Balfour, addressed to 'Dear Lord Rothschild', set out the Balfour Declaration, which committed the British Government to supporting the establishment in Palestine of a national home for Jews.

The Museum has two libraries, the stunning Rothschild Library and the modern Ornithological Library. T he magnificent Rothschild Library was added to the Museum between 1908 and 1912. Augmented by The Natural History Museum's ornithological collection, it now houses some 75,000 books and is considered to be one of the finest ornithological libraries in the world. By the time Lord Rothschild died, his collection included some 2,000 mounted mammals and a similar number of mounted birds, along with 2 million butterflies and moths, 300,000 bird skins, 144 giant tortoises, 200,000 bird’s eggs and 30,000 relevant books.


Hi!

Poignantly, Nathan’s death in 1915 marked the end of Tring's glorious late Victorian and Edwardian era. Whilst the younger son Charles inherited a fortune, Walter succeeded to the title as the second Lord Rothschild; he received the famous letter from the Prime Minister, the "Balfour Declaration", which led to the creation of the state of Israel. Walter remained uninterested in banking and devoted his life to the museum. Indeed Walter Rothschild spent 18 years with the Bank and the kindest judgement is that his lack of interest meant he did no harm and he passed the baton to his brother Charles who committed suicide at the age of 46 in 1923. The male Rothschild’s for all their many gifts have a history of depression and it is not known if Walter’s abdication of his banking responsibilities contributed to Charles’s demise, but it was widely assumed at the time. Charles’s contribution to Nature Conservation was significant and he is regarded as a pioneer of nature conservation in Britain, and managed his estate at Ashton Wold in Northamptonshire to maximise its suitability for wildlife, especially butterflies. He was concerned about the loss of wildlife habitats, and in 1912 set up the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves, the forerunner of The Wildlife Trusts partnership. In 1915 the Society produced a schedule of the best wildlife sites in the country, some of which were purchased as nature reserves.



Why am I extinct?

Charles predeceased his older brother Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild (1868-1937) who died without issue. The peerage therefore passed to Charles's son Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild. Like his zoologist brother, he devoted much of his energies to entomology and natural history collecting. His collection of fleas is now in the Rothschild Collection at the British Museum. He also discovered and named the plague vector flea, Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild), also known as the oriental rat flea, at Shendi, Sudan, on an expedition in 1901, publishing his finding in 1903.

Emma was left a life interest in the house, where she lived with her son Walter spending her 20-year widowhood at Tring until she died in 1935. Walter survived her by just two years, dying, unmarried, in 1937. The family wanted the whole estate to be used as a research centre and Wildlife Park but this was refused and it was subsequently broken up. Emma's grandson, Victor, inherited the title as the third Lord Rothschild; he was also Walter's nephew and a distinguished scientist. He is remembered for his gift of Victoria Hall to Tring. Faced with the burden of death duties, in 1938 came the first of the estate sales. The County Council gained the woodlands and the Mansion was used briefly by the bank before becoming a school. The remaining estate later passed to his son Jacob who was to succeed to the title himself, in 1990. Meanwhile, Tring Park was sliced in two by the Tring bypass in 1975 and the land on the south side was sold in 1989. Tring Park's history has shaped the town and its legacy is immense.



Tring is an historic market town, nestling in the foothills of the Chilterns, close to the border with Buckinghamshire. Although Tring has been an economic centre for many centuries, the town really prospered under the watchful eye of the Rothschild family at the turn of the 20th century. The Rothschild’s’ legacy was predominantly one of the architecture they influenced in Tring and the Zoological Museum. Other tourist attractions in and around Tring include the Tring reservoirs, Tring Park, the church with its connections with the family of George Washington and the Chiltern Hills themselves.


Tring Park

Tring Park was one of 7 Rothschild mansions surrounding the Vale of Aylesbury, the others being Ascott House (Home of Sir Evelyn de Rothschild), Mentmore Towers (Former home of Lord Roseberry who married into the Rothschild’s and was Prime Minister), Halton House ( http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/08/wendover-buckinghamshire.html ), Aston Clinton House, Waddesdon Manor (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/waddesdon-manor-buckinghamshire.html ) which is the last remaining complete example of 'le goût Rothschild' and Eythrope House which borders Waddesdon and where Jacob (Lord) Rothschild lives. It is a great pity that the intention of Walter Rothschild’s bequest to the British Museum to have a research centre at Tring Park and a wildlife park in the demesne was not respected as if it was the “Dead Zoo’s” collection would be seen in a living context and Britain would have had a wonderful and developing zoological amenity and research facility which would have contributed to our understanding and appreciation of the natural world. In this context the decision in 2007 to drop the name “Walter Rothschild Collection” from Tring appears to add insult to injury. Nonetheless visitors young and old will still be enthralled with what they see and hopefully the Natural History Museum will enhance the collection and deal with the access issues to make this unique collection and museum more accessible to all.

TaraWatch makes Complaint against Ireland to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Irish Mail on Sunday - Sunday, 2 January 2009


TAX-PAYERS face paying hundreds of millions of Euros if a series of new challenges against the M3 motorway succeed, campaigners warned last night. Lawyers representing anti-M3 protesters trying to save the Hill of Tara from the motorway have lodged a complaint with the United Nations against the Irish government. This has been lodged with the UN’s Commission on Human Rights on the grounds that construction of the motorway through such an historic site breaches both the Irish people’s right to enjoy their culture and live in a healthy environment. Such tactic has proved successful in the past, for example in 1980s in cases taken against the Australian government over inappropriate development of sacred cultural sites.

The UN approach is being backed by writer Seamus Heaney and artists Jim Fitzpatrick and Louis Le Brocquy, who have both donated paintings to be auctioned off to raise funds.

TaraWatch lawyers are also to challenge M3 contractor Ferrovial’s involvement in the UN Global Compact (UGC) - the ethical practices charter the company signed up to in early 2000. A similar challenge took place in 2007, when a Ferrovial motorway-building project through an EU Special Protection Area was halted after an EU Court of Justice challenge. The Spanish-based construction company is one of 5,000 firms and organizations from over 130 countries worldwide who have committed themselves to ten UGC principles. These cover good corporate practice, human rights, the environment and anti-corruption. Ferrovial has described its commitment to the UGC principles as being ‘one of the pillars of its corporate responsibility policy.’

All of the challenges under way by TaraWatch’s legal team - which includes legal experts from Trinity College Dublin and the Human Rights Centre at NUI Galway - have previously proved successful in legal challenges to the development of other historic sites around the world. They are the latest in a series of moves by protesters against the controversial €800m motorway that cuts through the Hill of Tara, which runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin, in Co Meath. Last March one of the protests saw Lisa ‘Squeak’ Feeney chain herself to an underground tunnel in a bid to stop work on a section of the M3 at Rath Lugh. Other celebrities to lend their opposition have included actor Stuart Townsend and his wife Charlize Theron, and Tudors star Jonathan Rhys Meyers.



TaraWatch Lawyer Vincent Salafia said last night: ‘This new series of legal challenges stand a very realistic chance of success, especially as this approach has worked elsewhere before. ‘It’s not too late for the government to get the M3 re-routed, and at a relatively low extra cost. ‘But if it perseveres, and Tara gets World Heritage Status, it’s tax payers who are going to end up having to cover the extra costs involved in a future re-routing. ‘In the UK, the estimated cost of re-routing a road at Stonehenge hit more than €500m.’

Another strand of TaraWatch’s bid to save the Hill of Tara is to get it listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They are urging everybody to write to the Environment Minister Gormley and to ask that Tara be listed. Salafia said last night: ‘The Hill of Tara complex qualifies for World Heritage status as a natural and cultural landscape of outstanding universal value, due to its unique cultural significance, and the extent of the surviving remains. ‘Tara covers a much larger area than that the 100 acres of State-owned land on the summit of the Hill, and the M3 passes through the middle of the area to be protected.’

If the Hill of Tara is listed, then the M3 could have to be re-routed around the site – something that the UK government has had to spend millions trying to achieve. It is currently facing censured by UNESCO for its failure to relieve traffic congestion at the site. The UN’s cultural body warned the UK government it would have to sort the problem – caused by holiday traffic – when it awarded Stonehenge World Heritage Status in 1986. A road passes just 150 yards from the stones and plans to solve congestion with a dual carriageway in a tunnel were recently scrapped by the UK government because of the estimated €500m cost. However, the government’s failure to comply with UNESCO’s warnings more than 22 years ago have already cost of €30m in failed road development surveys and it faces having Stonehenge taken off the list of World Heritage Sites, which will cost the country in terms of prestige and tourism revenue.

The Irish government faces a similar problem if the Hill of Tara – which is on the World Monuments Fund’s latest List of 100 Most Endangered Sites - gets World Heritage Status. Ireland signed up to the World Heritage Convention in 1991, and in doing so, committed itself to protecting and conserving national and international world heritage sites. It also undertook to maintain a Tentative List of potential sites for World Heritage Site nomination, and to nominate national heritage sites on this list to the World Heritage Committee for World Heritage listing. The last time it produced such a list was in 1992.

The Hill of Tara, which is considered the ceremonial and mythical capital of Ireland, is the centrepiece of a large archaeological landscape with hundreds of significant sites. It is said to be the location of St. Patrick’s conversion of the Irish to Christianity in the early fifth century. It is also the coronation site of Irish kings between the sixth and twelfth centuries.

For more information please email info@tarawatch.org

http://www.savetarapetition.net

Booze on the Tube.

Then – May 2008

Boris Johnson’s first policy announcement, a pledge to ban alcohol on public transport, came under fierce criticism from unions and suffered a further setback when it emerged that the measure could not be implemented across the network. The new Mayor of London said that the plan would improve safety and security on public transport in the capital, but concerns were raised that it would be almost impossible to enforce.


No Booze Boris

From June 1 2008, passengers will be ordered off Tube trains and buses if they consume alcohol while on board. However, staff working for Transport for London and British Transport Police will not have the power to fine passengers, and officials admitted that there would not be regular patrols of carriages.

Instead, Mr Johnson will rely on a “cultural shift” and self-policing to bring a halt to drinking in the same way that passengers help to enforce the Tube’s no-smoking rules. He said that there would be a “rapid rollout” of another election promise, an extra 440 police community support officers, to help to enforce the plan. “Too many people have the unpleasant experience of sitting opposite someone swigging a can of lager,” Mr Johnson said. The ban will be brought into force by changing the conditions of carriage on London transport, but until it is enshrined in a bylaw, which the mayor said would take about a year, there is no punishment available to transport staff except for ejection.


London's Finest

Transport for London said that the measures applied to all public transport in the capital except on trains serving the national rail network. Peter Hendy, the Transport Commissioner, said that discussions had begun with the Department for Transport in the hope that the national rail network’s bylaws would be reviewed. However, a spokesperson for the DfT said: “We have no plans to introduce these measures on the national network. Train companies already have powers to deal with any antisocial drinking on trains.”

The measure also drew criticism from transport unions, which said that it had not been thought through and that it could endanger staff who approached drunken passengers. Bob Crow, the RMT general secretary, said: “Violence against our members is already a major problem, particularly from people who have been drinking.

“Perhaps the mayor will come out with his underpants on over his trousers like Superman one Saturday to show us how it should be done, and maybe tell a crowd of Liverpool supporters that they can’t drink on the train.”

Now – New Year’s Eve 2008

According to London based Blogger, Liz; http://lizclutterbuck.blogspot.com/2009/01/morning-after-night-when-london-goes.html

Last night also saw mass breaking of Boris Johnson's law against alcohol on the tube, which initially I thought was great, always good to defy Boris (especially as thanks to him my TravelCard costs more as of tomorrow). I was less keen on it on my way home when I came across several incidences of tube chunder. Honestly, sickness and the tube just should not be combined - I think it's something every Londoner fears, either feeling sick on the tube & having nowhere to go, or being with someone who gets sick. Ewwww.



Well in the best traditions of self-policing presumably everyone drinking on the tube paid themselves a big fine before imposing a custodial sentence on themselves in their bedrooms! A Great British solution to a Great British problem!

A Fair Revision?

Those of us of an ancient bent remember when Tube and Rail Fares were increased each year in January. Indeed to the simple minded proletariat this was announced each year as an “Annual Fare Increase”. Now, however, we live in more sophisticated times and what is now announced is a “Fare Revision.” However as Tube & Bus Fares are increasing in London by an average of 6% and on National Rail by inflation + 2% but on some tickets by over 10% then the simple minded proletariat, who don’t have City bonuses or Non-Dom (i.e.; tax-free loading) status may process this in their Neanderthal minds as an unfair Fare increase!

The increases, effective from 2nd. January 2009, were announced by Mayor Boris Johnson in September and include a 10p rise in a single Oyster card bus journey to £1. The new pricing scheme does include some fare reductions aimed at encouraging commuters to travel off- peak after 0930 and before 1600. The mayor said the fare rises were required to properly fund the system.

Single bus fare paid with an Oyster card will increase from 90p to £1

A one day bus and tram pass will rise from £3 to £3.30

A weekly bus pass will go up from £13 to £13.80

The £4 adult cash fare in Zone One of the tube will be frozen

Fares in other zones will go up from £3 to £3.20.

The minimum adult cash fare on the Docklands Light Railway rises from £1.50 to £1.60

Mr Johnson blamed former mayor Ken Livingstone's pre-election fare freeze for leaving an £80m gap in transport funding that needed to be filled with higher fares. But critics argued that any decision on fare pricing, which ultimately lies with Mr Johnson, includes his own plan to scrap the western extension of the congestion zone. Transport for London is upgrading major parts of the system in preparation for the 2012 Olympics and is also investing in the Crossrail link. The new pricing does offer half-price bus and tram fares for Londoners on benefits and the Freedom Pass for the over 60s and disabled passengers will have the off-peak use restrictions lifted, allowing the elderly to travel before 0930.


Enjoy your journey!

The general rail fares will hit the many commuters who use non TfL networks to get into London, with some tickets going up by more than 11%. Regulated fares, which include annual season tickets, will be going up by an average of 6% and unregulated fares, which include off-peak tickets, will be rising even more - by an average of 7%. Just as an example, if you have an annual season ticket using Southeastern railways for the Gillingham-London route that will go up by 10.2% and will cost you £3,020.

Customer watchdog body Passenger Focus, have been quoted across many national papers today saying that rail travellers would "shudder and shiver when they find out the scale of some New Year fare rises". Their chief executive, Anthony Smith, said "Fare rises that hark back to a time of high inflation and spiralling energy costs look very out of kilter. In addition, the perpetual tinkering with ticket restrictions ensures back door fare rises continue. Yet again, many long distance passengers will be pushed into paying higher prices or locking themselves into rigid advance purchase, one train only fares. As an immediate action we call on ministers to open discussions with the train companies to limit the range that regulated fares can go up. Big rises simply cannot be justified in more normal times let alone the current economic climate."

With petrol prices declining and employment softening dramatically in the UK this doesn’t look like a very joined up approach to promoting public transport. However as the Celtic Sage has pointed out before Public Representatives don’t actually pay the fares which they impose as an effective tax on employment as otherwise they would end up very angry and very poor!

No Irish Need Apply

People forget the discrimination which the Irish, along with other immigrants, suffered even in recent times in Britain and America. It was not uncommon to see signs in boarding houses after the Second World War in England like the one below saying “No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs.” My Father in Law worked as a Painter / Decorator in the UK after the war and often remembers the dangerous jobs given to Irish and Polish workers on building sites, quarries and factories in the days when safety precautions were non-existent and no protective equipment was issued. He lost the sight of one eye when it was punctured by a sliver of metal when he was using a grinder without goggles. A friend of his was killed by a train while working on the tracks outside Paddington Station, London. His wife was informed by a note left in their letterbox by the Transport Police and she was never paid compensation as she was told it “was his own fault.” When my Father in Law and his colleagues went looking for “digs” when starting a new job he used to have to hang back and let his English friends do the talking, if a landlady heard an Irish accent they wouldn’t get accommodation.

In more recent times the discrimination has been more subtle with Masonic networks, cabals of Evangelical Christians and others looking for similar types as they are made of the “right stuff.” Indeed the sectarian discrimination against Irish Catholics continues with snide articles about “backward attitudes” as witness the guff written about Opus Dei member Ruth Kelly when she was a government Minister. It is hard to think such patronising guff would be written about another minority in the UK without provoking an outcry. The latest engine of discrimination is the ludicrous and self validating equality industry with its shadow quotas for “Visible Ethnic Minorities” which is perpetuating the same syndrome with manager’s icentivised to appoint the “right people” to meet arbitrary ethnic targets. Another factor in the UK is “security clearance” which is used to discriminate against Irish people in government jobs – for instance up to 4 years ago “Irish nationals” were not invited to Buckingham Palace garden parties on “security grounds.” If this is the discrimination we know about what else is there paddling furiously below the surface?


An "Irish Monkey" - from Punch Magazine - an example of an I.V.E.M *?

Similarly in America during the period of peak immigration after the Famine and early in the 20th Century Irish people were forced into jobs that demanded many hours of hard physical labour with very little pay. Irish immigrants often entered the workforce at the bottom of the occupational ladder and took on the menial and dangerous jobs that were often avoided by other workers. Many Irish women became servants or domestic workers.

Americans disdained this type of work, fit only for servants, the common sentiment was: "Let Negroes be servants, and if not Negroes, let Irishmen fill their place...” Many Irish men laboured in coal mines and built railroads and canals. Railroad construction was so dangerous that it was said that there was an Irishman buried under every tie.


1960's England - “No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs”

Well in a strange role reversal after the boom of the Celtic Tiger we are seeing again the 'NO Irish need apply' - the signs are already going up on building sites abroad in a throwback to the grim days of the last century according to a report in the Irish Independent. But this time they are starting to appear in Poland as that country takes its revenge for the way in which some unscrupulous Irish contractors treated their countrymen during the years of the Celtic Tiger.

According to Trade union official Michael Kilcoyne - also president of the Consumers Association of Ireland - said it had recently been brought to his attention that the 'No Irish' signs had appeared on a couple of Polish building sites where workers were being sought. Mr Kilcoyne said: "The reality is that our international reputation as employers has been sullied. Many foreign people, who have worked here, especially during our boom years, have had bad experiences.

"The evidence of this is in the number of cases taken before the Labour Relations Commission over the last year or two in respect of unpaid wages or holiday money that was not paid. Ireland's name as a good place to work has been badly damaged by such contractors who held onto the money of their workers."

Mr Kilcoyne, who is a SIPTU trade union official in the west, revealed that he had personally won 14 such cases in Galway, while he believed there were hundreds, if not thousands, of similar awards made countrywide against employers and in favour of non-national workers who had been short-changed.



Maybe it is time to dust off the lyrics of an old Music Hall song celebrating these NINA (No Irish Need Apply) signs which was originally popularised in English Music Halls before being exported to America.

“I'm a dacint boy, just landed from the town of Ballyfad;
I want a situation: yis, I want it mighty bad.
I saw a place advartised. It's the thing for me, says I;
But the dirty spalpeen ended with: No Irish need apply.
Whoo! says I; but that's an insult—though to get the place I'll try.
So, I wint to see the blaggar with: No Irish need apply.
I started off to find the house, I got it mighty soon;
There I found the ould chap saited: he was reading the TRIBUNE.
I tould him what I came for, whin he in a rage did fly:
No! says he, you are a Paddy, and no Irish need apply!”

NO IRISH NEED APPLY. (1862)

Written by JOHN F. POOLE, and sung, with immense success, by the great Comic-Vocalist of the age, TONY PASTOR.

* I.V.E.M. = Invisible Ethnic Minority!