Greenwich Olympia
Jul. 29th, 2012 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peterbirksI went for a walk this morning. I should probably have gone to the gym instead, so, better than doing nothing, but not as good as it should have been. Standard.
I had planned to walk through Greenwich Park, past where they were holding the Equestrian Events and, from the Observatory, taking a picture of the Olympic Park.
No such luck. Greenwich Park is totally shut. It's not just the venue, it's a village for the competitors as well. So instead I walked along General Wolfe Avenue, past the Ranger's House, and then down Croom's Hill into Greenwich.
That brought me to an interesting little sign that I hadn't seen before, in the line of lime trees planted to mark the Queen's Silver Jubilee.
People were already arriving for the day's horseyness, staff as well as customers.
"Army at the Gate!
I walked round the one-way system. Many of the pubs and cafés were open for business by 8.30am, and even the market was getting into gear earlier than usual.
Since Greenwich Cutty Sark is bad far the closest DLR station to the Park, TFL took the obvious decision and closed it. This left customers with a long walk from Greenwich DLR. You can understand their logic here. Greenwich DLR and Greenwich Mainline share the same exit, so from the point of view of the organizers this made things much simpler. For the paying customer, it just made it more inconvenient. The normal cry of the organizers here is "health and safety" (i.e., Cutty Sark just isn't big enough to cope with the footfall), but problems such as this are there to be overcome. Currently the "solution" is just to shut such stations, because no-one can be bothered to work out a solution that requires a brain and some work, rather than an instant reaction and no work.
Entrance for punters -- I reckon people would have walked for 20 minutes from the station to the park -- normally a three-minute walk.
I then walked back up Point Hill to my favourite "secret garden", which is actually a part of Blackheath, but which is cut off from the main part of the Heath.
As you can see, not many people use it.
This gives a great view of many of London's landmarks.
From left to right, the prominent buildings: The London Eye, the Bermondsey recycling plant, the BT Tower (hard to pick out), the Shard, then at the right, the old NatWest tower (now Tower 42), the Gherkin, and the Heron.
I had planned to walk through Greenwich Park, past where they were holding the Equestrian Events and, from the Observatory, taking a picture of the Olympic Park.
No such luck. Greenwich Park is totally shut. It's not just the venue, it's a village for the competitors as well. So instead I walked along General Wolfe Avenue, past the Ranger's House, and then down Croom's Hill into Greenwich.
That brought me to an interesting little sign that I hadn't seen before, in the line of lime trees planted to mark the Queen's Silver Jubilee.
People were already arriving for the day's horseyness, staff as well as customers.
"Army at the Gate!
I walked round the one-way system. Many of the pubs and cafés were open for business by 8.30am, and even the market was getting into gear earlier than usual.
Since Greenwich Cutty Sark is bad far the closest DLR station to the Park, TFL took the obvious decision and closed it. This left customers with a long walk from Greenwich DLR. You can understand their logic here. Greenwich DLR and Greenwich Mainline share the same exit, so from the point of view of the organizers this made things much simpler. For the paying customer, it just made it more inconvenient. The normal cry of the organizers here is "health and safety" (i.e., Cutty Sark just isn't big enough to cope with the footfall), but problems such as this are there to be overcome. Currently the "solution" is just to shut such stations, because no-one can be bothered to work out a solution that requires a brain and some work, rather than an instant reaction and no work.
Entrance for punters -- I reckon people would have walked for 20 minutes from the station to the park -- normally a three-minute walk.
I then walked back up Point Hill to my favourite "secret garden", which is actually a part of Blackheath, but which is cut off from the main part of the Heath.
As you can see, not many people use it.
This gives a great view of many of London's landmarks.
From left to right, the prominent buildings: The London Eye, the Bermondsey recycling plant, the BT Tower (hard to pick out), the Shard, then at the right, the old NatWest tower (now Tower 42), the Gherkin, and the Heron.
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no subject
Date: 2012-07-29 04:02 pm (UTC)The next three weeks (particularly around Victoria) are going to be sheer hell.
I'm wondering. As a member of the London underclass, south of the river, what's your honest opinion on the thing?
And do you have an exit plan? I do. I'll be off to Neutral Moresnet in the third week, so I only have to suffer for a single fortnight of bogus patriotism combined with inevitable failure and grotesque expense.
I'm rather looking forwards to Neutral Moresnet.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-29 09:15 pm (UTC)Hah! Neutral Moresnet!
I quote:
Hoax or not? Well, you're the historian. Given the fluidity of borders at the time, one could say that, yes, it existed, but, no, it didn't really have defined borders. But I would bow to your superior knowledge and, I presume, primary sources research.
PJ
no subject
Date: 2012-07-29 11:01 pm (UTC)Indeed.
On the Neutral Moresnet thing, it does indeed have defined borders. In fact, I am going to look out for them. (1815 to 1916.)
There were apparently twenty eight or so (I could look this up, but it's near enough) actual godddamned border stones for what was, in fact, an incredibly small town, I would even say a village, of about 10,000 inhabitants or so. I'm led to believe that three or four of them are still extant.
One would have to be a total clod not to want to chase this stuff down.
With photies!
Not primary sources, of course. I bow to your superior almost-PhD research levels. But I do have enough to tell you this:
* The only territory in the entire world to adopt Esperanto. (I believe the second Esperanto congress was even held there.)
* The smallest independent territory to have it's own national anthem. (Dreadful. Only two verses survive on record, which is quite an achievement under the circumstances.)
* I think there were other disputed territories after the Versailles mess, but this one survived until, quite ludicrously, it was taken over by the Prussians in 1916 ... rather fittingly, almost exactly 100 years after it was granted its freedom at fifty five franks per head per year.
You really can't ask more out of a zinc spur than that, can you?
It might not be Bermuda. It might not be Cannes. But, you know what?
It's going to be fucking brilliant.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-30 08:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-30 08:12 pm (UTC)I've always seen you as more of a Stout, Mike...
no subject
Date: 2012-07-29 11:16 pm (UTC)Neutral Moresnet (http://drloser.blog.co.uk/2010/09/09/this-land-is-your-land-9349087/)
There you go. A couple of fifty year old men, a nice young Scottish lady called Rowena, and a three year old called Kerensa.
What could possibly go wrong?
no subject
Date: 2012-07-29 11:52 pm (UTC)The latest on Neutral Moresnet (”http://www.moresnet.nl/english/index_en.htm”), added because the link off my blog fails on the flag.
I love this place.
Sing after me:
Mi amas Neŭtrala Moresnet. Vere, mi faros. Neŭtrala Moresnet savos min de olimpia Malsaĝo. Mi ne volas esti kaptitaj en urbo mi malamas, en agonio.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-30 12:00 am (UTC)Such a shame. Once upon a time, the Internet was going to be the repository of all knowledge ever exposed to the world.
Call me disappointed ... or otherwise cynical.
It was always going to die this way, wasn't it?
This, or Facebook and Twitter.
We've had the Good Times. Now we have the Eric Blair Times. (Although, to be fair, I believe Eric wrote for the Guardian.)