Lloyds TSB, Cambridge
Never heard of Fosters' Bank. Bing time :-)
Never heard of Fosters' Bank. Bing time :-)
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Arts & Craft movement - All Saints, Cambridge
With the glorious sonorous tones of organ practice around us, this WWI memorial fits into the church well.
Dear #apple, thanks but no thanks. Cambridge's stock control system & customer communication needs improving. #fail
Not such a good retail experience.
When I contacted the Cambridge store last week I was told that it was not possible to reserve stock, I would have to take pot luck. As I have some apple card vouchers, I cannot buy online. So today taking advantage of attending a lecture in town this afternoon I travelled early to go to the store. I had checked stock, went to the lad in the blue golf shirt and ordered my device. He confirmed all was well.
Then a couple of minutes later he told me that they were out of stock. It seems their system was faulty. Great. I explained the situation and that as I have to buy in store, I would need to return - was there a way to redeem the cards with a purchase without coming in store. No.
As I was standing there the radio message went out to the shop floor staff to check with stock control before saying anything was in stock to customers.
Then he told me that you can call in and reserve stock anyway, so I asked why I was told last week I couldn't do that. No answer. No offer to help resolve matters.
So now, to make the purchase I have to waste half a day travelling; and your staff cannot or won't do anything to ease that?
No, it doesn't just work does it?
Your mistakes Apple, why won't you do anything to help me rectify it?
Not good enough.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Friday, March 09, 2012
The #Tardis may have a broken Chameleon circuit, but it's clearly capable of some change
4th March 2011, London
6th March 2012, Yorkshire
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Another in the occasional series on confident builders
Hull Co-operative Society, Bridlington
Now another vacant retail site.
But spot the lovely attention to design.
Now another vacant retail site.
But spot the lovely attention to design.
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Yorkshire bathing belle
One of two statues commemorating the Scarborough belles.
Standing below, a few moments earlier a woman who declaimed her legs looked like that once, when she was 21, but she's 70 now. With a wistful grin.
Standing below, a few moments earlier a woman who declaimed her legs looked like that once, when she was 21, but she's 70 now. With a wistful grin.
When security was as simple as a padlock…
Or how one thing can lead to another…
I was recently at Normandy Barracks in Leconfield, East Yorkshire. The reason for my visit was to see the chapel where there was a plaque commemorating the 6 servicemen killed at 8:45am on 13th October 1956. They were:
- Sergeant B Jones
- Corporal J Bryant
- Corporal W E Lewis
- Corporal A E J Smith
- Lance Corporal V C Bowers
- Sapper J E Coates
Uncle Jimmy (after whom I get my middle name) was the corporal named above. He was only in his early twenties, and of course we never knew each other. After Pa died last year I realised that I needed to do more investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death (it was not something Pa spoke of very much).
The accident occurred on a single track railway when an unauthorised train was allowed onto the track and a head on collision occurred. The 6 men were in a wooden box van on the train which was reduced to matchwood. Although there was an enquiry and there were questions in the House of Commons afterwards about safety, I got the impression that the failure to use a token to control access to the line was a normal occurrence, but the fog that day led to the crash and deaths.
I had tracked the crash to Longmoor railway line, and by the benefit of the Internet tracked down the editor or the Royal Engineer veterans magazine where many years ago a photo of the crash had been published. He, amazingly, put me in touch with a friend of Uncle Jimmy's who was on the train at the time, and had run back to the signal box to summon assistance.
As a result of these investigations I discovered that a memorial to the 6 was in the chapel at Longmoor but would have been moved in the 70's when the Transport Corp moved. There were family recollections of it being near Kingston Upon Hull so I contact the RE Association there, and discovered that the chapel contents had been transferred to Normandy Barracks. Jimmy's memorial was there! To boot, Pa had been made an honorary member of the RE Association there, and attended the annual ceremony in the chapel and knew of the plaque's existence. A poor quality photograph was around, but nothing else. I resolved to visit someday and get a photo, and understand more.
What was really quite weird was that 1981 whilst a student at Hull Uni, I had paid a visit to the Barracks to visit an old schoolmate of Pa's. Pa did not know of - and so did not mention - that his brother's memorial was there. The visit was off the cuff, and (being 1981) a scruffy student cycling up to the guardhouse asking if there was an officer by the name of W E (surname redacted) on site caused a little excitement - but I was let in and spent a pleasant afternoon with Pa's chum, his wife and young daughter (crawling then, but now must be in her 30's).
Anyway, on our recent visit to the area we made an appointment to visit the chapel and amongst some beautiful stained glass, Jimmy and his 5 colleagues plaque was found. Mission accomplished.
On leaving the chapel we were chatting to the verger and she pointed out the telephone box just around the corner. It was red. "So" you might say, but this is 01482 territory and telephone boxes are white in the independent Hull telephone area.
So, to the point of the tale. This phone box was from the WWII era, when Halifax bombers were stationed here - the phone box was the only contact point the aircrew had with the outside world. The reason the box was still in place was that it still had the hasp end of the padlock used to lock the phone box shut. The reason for the padlock? Once aircrew were assigned to a mission they were permitted a phone call to someone (a veteran reportedly called his priest); but as the briefing for the mission was being given the phone box was padlocked shut to prevent word of the targets being leaked either deliberately or accidentally.
Imagine that. No go on, imagine that, really - imagine that. Complete communication lockdown with a simple padlock.
I was recently at Normandy Barracks in Leconfield, East Yorkshire. The reason for my visit was to see the chapel where there was a plaque commemorating the 6 servicemen killed at 8:45am on 13th October 1956. They were:
- Sergeant B Jones
- Corporal J Bryant
- Corporal W E Lewis
- Corporal A E J Smith
- Lance Corporal V C Bowers
- Sapper J E Coates
Uncle Jimmy (after whom I get my middle name) was the corporal named above. He was only in his early twenties, and of course we never knew each other. After Pa died last year I realised that I needed to do more investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death (it was not something Pa spoke of very much).
The accident occurred on a single track railway when an unauthorised train was allowed onto the track and a head on collision occurred. The 6 men were in a wooden box van on the train which was reduced to matchwood. Although there was an enquiry and there were questions in the House of Commons afterwards about safety, I got the impression that the failure to use a token to control access to the line was a normal occurrence, but the fog that day led to the crash and deaths.
I had tracked the crash to Longmoor railway line, and by the benefit of the Internet tracked down the editor or the Royal Engineer veterans magazine where many years ago a photo of the crash had been published. He, amazingly, put me in touch with a friend of Uncle Jimmy's who was on the train at the time, and had run back to the signal box to summon assistance.
As a result of these investigations I discovered that a memorial to the 6 was in the chapel at Longmoor but would have been moved in the 70's when the Transport Corp moved. There were family recollections of it being near Kingston Upon Hull so I contact the RE Association there, and discovered that the chapel contents had been transferred to Normandy Barracks. Jimmy's memorial was there! To boot, Pa had been made an honorary member of the RE Association there, and attended the annual ceremony in the chapel and knew of the plaque's existence. A poor quality photograph was around, but nothing else. I resolved to visit someday and get a photo, and understand more.
What was really quite weird was that 1981 whilst a student at Hull Uni, I had paid a visit to the Barracks to visit an old schoolmate of Pa's. Pa did not know of - and so did not mention - that his brother's memorial was there. The visit was off the cuff, and (being 1981) a scruffy student cycling up to the guardhouse asking if there was an officer by the name of W E (surname redacted) on site caused a little excitement - but I was let in and spent a pleasant afternoon with Pa's chum, his wife and young daughter (crawling then, but now must be in her 30's).
Anyway, on our recent visit to the area we made an appointment to visit the chapel and amongst some beautiful stained glass, Jimmy and his 5 colleagues plaque was found. Mission accomplished.
On leaving the chapel we were chatting to the verger and she pointed out the telephone box just around the corner. It was red. "So" you might say, but this is 01482 territory and telephone boxes are white in the independent Hull telephone area.
So, to the point of the tale. This phone box was from the WWII era, when Halifax bombers were stationed here - the phone box was the only contact point the aircrew had with the outside world. The reason the box was still in place was that it still had the hasp end of the padlock used to lock the phone box shut. The reason for the padlock? Once aircrew were assigned to a mission they were permitted a phone call to someone (a veteran reportedly called his priest); but as the briefing for the mission was being given the phone box was padlocked shut to prevent word of the targets being leaked either deliberately or accidentally.
Imagine that. No go on, imagine that, really - imagine that. Complete communication lockdown with a simple padlock.
Monday, March 05, 2012
OK, I know what the boat is doing, but what on earth is that in the water?
Google maps, just off the harbour at Bridlington.
Ghost image?
Deliberate error by Google to trap people copying the image?
Or a Bond Villain's latest lair?
Saturday, March 03, 2012
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