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.

Charlton vs. My Car

Well I had my car ticketed this morning, parked somewhere that it shouldn't have been on a match day. I've got no excuse, I knew there was a match today and also knew that it was starting early today. It's just that I was expecting to go out in the car last night and on the way home park it around the corner. I didn't, so I didn't. Hands up it's my fault entirely.

However would it be too much to ask the council to put up the parking suspended signs a day early? As is they only do it two hours before the restrictions come into force, which is no real use to man or beast.

I guess the counterpoint is that the date of the next restrictions is shown on the board up near the station. However that's quite small and easy to miss, the yellow signs would be more obvious.

I'm not trying to find an excuse, as I said this is my fault, but I do think earlier signage would be nice.

Blackheath Fireworks - Conclusion

I never mentioned the fireworks again. Well I did go and they were great, very happy with it all. A great show with a nice atmosphere in the crowd, I can really recommend it.

I got the train up there to save some time and then walked home through the crowds. The only downside to the evening were the handful of people who thought that trying to drive a car through the crowds would be a good idea. The roads were meant to be closed, it looked like people who were inside the closed area were trying to drive out. The bemused security staff were trying to guide them to somewhere to stop.

Trouble at the tunnel

I was visiting friends north of the river yesterday and as per usual roadworks were going on in the Blackwall Tunnel. I'm sure I read somewhere that they were meant to be finishing over a year ago, it's been like that ever since I moved south of the river in 2004.

I approach the tunnel on the A13 and there are two lanes, the left hand one for the tunnel and the right hand one that goes straight on. I've always got a decision to make about whether to queue or go on and cross through the Rotherhithe Tunnel. If going straight on at the junction were easy and quick then this would be an easy decision.

However what happens is that selfish idiotic drivers (and that's far more polite than I want to be) that want to use the tunnel drive right up the right hand lane past the long queue for the tunnel and then indicate that they want to cut into the head of the queue. The queue moves slowly, combine that with aggravated drivers who don't understand why the pusher in is so important and special so are reluctant to let them jump the queue. The right hand lane is now blocked, traffic can't go straight on into London. Horns will sound and occasionally the queue jumper will realise the knock on effect they're having and give up, more often than not they just sit there and the traffic builds up behind them.

Chaos.

And it happens every week, without fail.

If that didn't happen then going to the Rotherhithe would be a no-brainer, it should take seconds to clear that stretch of road. As is when you've got to queue 10 minutes just because of self centred idiots then it's a much harder decision to make.

I should take a photo one night. It's amazing the trouble that those idiots can cause.

Blackheath Fireworks

The fireworks display at Blackheath is happening on Saturday the 4th of November.

Here are two links with some information on it:
Greenwich Council
View London

The View London page is a bit weird, it says "This year marks the 401st anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot and as such, visitors to Blackheath can expect something special." So what's so special about 401 years? Are they just trying to say that they forgot it last year?

Anyway last years show was great and I hope to go again this year. It's free too :)