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A personal weblog with photographs and comments. Quiet ramblings, quite rambling...

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Description

Watch security theatre in action. Note how helpful and polite the police are.

Waterloo Station, London, UK. 19 August 2008. 0854 BST.

Read the explanation and join the discussion on Terence’s blog

One of the members of my household has taken to wearing this t-shirt since her return from South Africa (where she did volunteer work during her holidays).

I think it’s a rather negative view of the Springboks: certainly there is no glory in coming last in the current Tri-Nations competition but we did see some ‘guts’ splatter in the process.

The three letter acronym ANC stands for a number of different things. One of the things that it can stand for, which is not mentioned on the Wiki page I link to is Anti Natal Classes.

Dear Surrey County Council,

Your ingenuity is boundless. Unlike Paris, Berlin and other places, you not only provide cycle lanes where there is convenient space, but you provide cycle lanes where ever there is even just the smallest amount of convenient space.  Such dedication.

In the photo above you have found about 12 metres of space for cycles exiting the roundabout straight ahead. Such grandeur and style: Not for you the basic stuff of how a cyclist is going to approach the roundabout or traverse it. You couldn’t have done better if, as an afterthought, you had noticed a bit of spare space where the traffic-separating island goes, and asked the question “What could we put here?“.

Here’s a video that I did earlier. The “action” starts 15 seconds (about half-way) in:

In case you think this is an exceptional case, here’s another 10 metre cycling lane from Surrey.

I like the attention to detail on this lamppost in Paris.

Previous lamp posts:

• It’s enough!
• A designated public place
• Something fishy?
• Political Messages in Nanterre
• Oh no! John!
• Oxfordshire cycleway: No bicycles

And it’s now time to see how my invented word is coming along on Google.

An amazing view today from the Woldingham viewpoint of a cold front coming in over Oxted like an ocean wave about to break. And yet, at the time of writing, the five day weather forecast for Oxted looks good (until the thunderstorms on Sunday). Not a day for the beach then.

On my way back from my last cycle ride, I passed through this field which is now planted with maize but is the field bought by developers for the purposes of building housing. It is the site that triggered a local campaign to protect the Green Belt in Oxted.

Previous photos of the field are here and here (both taken before the current crop was planted).

You still haven’t attended to these nettles and weeds on your cycle-paths.

Exercising her powers of mind control and asking me to open the glass door so she can come into the kitchen and seduce me into giving her a snack.

Must. Be. Strong.

We are losing about 4 minutes of daylight each day during August and September but the evenings are still pleasant. As you can see the sun is still shining and it’s after 7:30 pm.

This is a familiar shot of Master Park, Oxted, although I haven’t posted one of these for some time. In fact not since it snowed back in April.

Dear Surrey County Council,

Would you mind clearing the nettles (and other plants) from your cycle paths? I know we are so fortunate to have these paths, like the one from Titsey to Woldingham above, because there are so few dedicated lanes to cyclists in your county.

Thanks ever so.

Kind regards,
One of the people who provides you with income.

This is Woldingham Golf Course from the top of Gangers Hill (looking North West). By the looks of it a lot of artificial chemicals are being utilised to keep the grass this green.

A couple of weeks ago there was this traffic monitor opposite Church Lane on the A25 at Oxted.  Of course the traffic (which usually speeds at this point) was driving very calmly and actually adhering to the 40 mph speed limit.

I have written before about this accident hotspot: here and here.  The best solution would be to reduce the speed limit on the A25 when it passes through Oxted down to 30 mph (and to enforce this if necessary). Given the way the presence of the van altered motorists’ behaviour, I would be most surprised if the police research found the need to do anything about this busy intersection!

Well I’ve heard about people running away to join the circus…

It was drizzling lightly when I left home and in retrospect it was not the best day to choose to go off-road. It had clearly been raining today judging by the puddles on the bridleway, When the rain came down harder, I came off the North Down the quick way: down a tar road and through this maize field. Back home I had to hose down my bike and body. The rain was actually ok. It was the wind that was unpleasant.