The Thames Barrier is closed

The Thames Barrier was closed today due to the weather. I've never seen it closed before so I took myself down there for a look around.

I noticed that one of the gates had been opened up further into the underspill position, that allows water to flow from one side of the barrier to the other in a controlled fashion. As I was there sirens sounded and they opened up another gate into the same position. I'm not sure if they were doing that to equalise the water heights on both sides prior to opening the barrier or if they were just letting some water through because they had the capacity behind the barrier.

The difference in water heights was about 6 to 9 foot or so, quite impressive to see. They had closed off access to the riverside path itself so I'm wondering if they suspected that it would flod.

Anyway very intersting to see. I took some photos, click on the thumbnail to see a larger version.

Charlton vs. Parking Restrictions

There was a Charlton home game on Sunday and something odd was going on with the parking restrictions.

The signs are put up, by the police I believe, about 4 hours before the restrictions come into force and that's 2 hours before kick off.

Anyhow the signs said that restrictions started at 1pm, which is usual for a 3pm kick off. The KO was at 1.30pm though, so way before 1 o'clock the area was packed the roads cleared.

I wonder if anyone got a ticket and what rights of appeal they might have.

More ineptitude from those responsible though....

Fair enough I chose to live near a football stadium and there will be consequences of that. However the council could do a lot to make things easier for us residents.

Not dead, just sleeping

It's been a while.....

Anyway I know someone who was involved with the announcment of the King Tut exhibition at the o2 on Monday. There was quite a big event down there and very little of it made the news, which is kind of a shame. In particular some children from a Greenwich school pushed a button to start a digital countdown until the exhibition opens. That would have been nice to see.

There is a bit of a conspiracy theory here though, just a bit of one. The day was originally scheduled to happen a few months ago but was suddenly cancelled with days to go due to the illness of one of the Egyptian group. It's rescheduled after the announcemnt was made that the o2 wouldn't be getting the casino. Coincidence or the people involved not wanting to announce it and then cancel it as the Egyptians had been threatening if there was a casion there?

Truth be told I'm quite looking forward to the o2 reopening. I've got tickets to see a show there in December and it'll be nice to be able to walk to and home from a gig.