No emails

Tested the Santander cycle scheme again a week or so ago, pulling a Bullingdon at Clapham Junction for the purpose. As far as I can make out from the snip above, the new pay-as-you-go scheme has not yet kicked in. On the other hand, the confirmatory emails mentioned at reference 1, seem to have vanished already, after just a brief appearance. I dare say I will manage without.

At Epsom station, I had a go at fig spotting from the train, a good deal nearer the figs than when standing on platform 4, as noticed at reference 2. But it did not seem any easier, not that I had much time before the train got underway. Maybe figs have evolved camouflage to deter predators until they are ripe and ready to go (in the mendacious parlance of the Sainsbury's marketing department).

And then, I had an adolescent couple across the aisle from me, wittering on in the way of people of that age. I wondered how I would get on trying to teach such people, or otherwise interact with them. My starting position being that I would find it rather difficult, but maybe you get used to them. Maybe there are compensations. After all, lots of adults do manage.

Pulled my Bullingdon and headed off for Vauxhall. On the way coming across a very impressive, nearly new, six axle flatbed from Warton Freight Services in Battersea Park Road. With the flatbed having a proper steel frame with wooden flooring. The only change from my youth, when wagons of this sort ruled the road, being the move to articulated. Not fast enough with my telephone these days, but there is plenty more to impress at reference 3.

Parking up at Wyvil Road, I found a shiny new, six bay Gail's Bakery outlet, a chain which has rather disappointed since I first came across in 2015 or so, as noticed at reference 4. The offering is too complicated, too expensive and with too much sour dough. This new outlet was the biggest I have come across and it is already spilling out onto the pavement with chairs and tables. We shall see how it gets on: plenty of new flats in the area, presumably full of bright young things who like such places.

The concrete art, noticed on some previous occasion, visible back right. Finding it is left as an exercise for the reader. Be imaginative with your search keys!

Whereas I went down to the Griffin Belle. It might have been made over a few times, but it is still a public house.

First puzzle, how did this presumably fairly new parquet, certainly not original, get so battered?

Second puzzle, why do bars like this think that I need to be able to see six wall mounted televisions from where I sat, all about the same size as the Samsung we have just bought for home use, last noticed at reference 5. And a much larger one behind me. Mostly all showing the same sporty picture, but, mercifully, the sound had been turned off in favour of something anodyne. What would have been called the Light Radio when I was little.

It turned out later that all was not well, and a small team of maintenance men turned up to fiddle with the master cabinet, high up on the wall above the till. A cabinet not unlike the sort of thing people used to put their hifi in, but not very full, with only a couple of the half dozen or so slots occupied.

From there onto the Estrela, where I had more or less the same meal as last time, as noticed at reference 6. Pork belly much better, milk pudding not as good, the one I had last time still being under construction.

Heading back to Vauxhall Station, I came across this Sainsbury's trolley, but not being very sure how far it was to the new shop down the Wandsworth Road, and not fancying a serious push, I left it for someone else. Instead, entertained by a bearded man with a flute standing on top of one of those green cable boxes. He seemed very grateful for the £3 I put in his cup, the price, perhaps, of half a pint, so scarcely a princely offering.

While more or less at the station we had another outlet for bright young things. Maybe I will investigate on the next occasion.

No aeroplanes at Earlsfield, despite there having been a regular procession of them over the Estrela an hour or so previously. On the other hand, I was reminded of the curious wrinkling you get at the end of the roofs of the carriages of the trains there. Never been able to work out why this unsightly feature has to be there - but it always is. Not an occasional flaw at all.

While back at Epsom, on the way to TB, I was able to admire the subject of another planning-heritage controversy. It seems that a developer wants to replace the two or three newer units at this end of the line by a small block of seven flats. I think there is talk of three stories or more. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth. We also get to lose a newsagent, one of the last in Epsom to keep up the tradition of paper boys.

PS: just before I left the train home at Epsom, I managed to snap the offending fig tree, in the hope of capturing something. Complete failure, and I have failed to find a single fig in the snap above.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/09/st-lukes.html.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/09/d956.html.

Reference 3: https://wartonfreight.co.uk/.

Reference 4: https://psmv2.blogspot.com/2015/11/piggy-bank-machines.html.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/09/communique-from-cyber-front.html.

Reference 6: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2022/09/more-park.html.