Motorways and rainbows
October 7, 2011
Today I am mostly driving with a few visits to motorway service stations. It's where all the most fashionable quilters spend most of their time. Ok maybe just the busiest quilt tutors and traders, but it's a large part of my job. I would have to say I am not a fan of the M6. The congestion is horrible. Possibly even as bad as the M25 which is saying something. The rainbows have been great. It's been sunshine and rain all the way so far. Of course I can't photograph most of them as I am driving, but this one was at Stafford services. The sculptures are here too. I don't know if you can see but the stones all have faces on. These services aren't bad, the loos are actually very good but the coffee making skills at Costa here leave a lot to be desired so I will move on in search of coffee. Well that and I've still got a long way to go. I left hone 11.30 ish and I am just over halfway to tomorrows booking. With Manchester and rush hour ahead I think dinner will be fairly late tonight.
Waverley up the Thames
October 3, 2011
As promised here are some of the photos from the cruise down the Thames on the Waverley. From Southend we headed up the Thames. I was surprised by how many different areas of water there are on the way. I’m sorry I didn’t take notes so I can’t tell you all the names, but if you can be bothered it worth looking them up as they often tell you a lot about the history of that area.
As you approach the Thames it becomes obvious how a large trading area grew. It is a very clear broad inlet and you can easily imagine sailors seeing it as a suitable entry point to the country. All the way along the Thames there are docks. Some old, some new, some in use and some abandoned. It was great to see one being built, which will be a large container port. It is on reclaimed land built from dredging the Thames itself to make a channel deep enough of the container ships to get to it. I like industrial areas and we have a lot of pictures of the various docks and their loading equipment.
There are a few landmarks along the river I especially wanted to see and get pictures of. The first of them was the QE2 bridge, also known as the Dartford crossing. The road going over it is the M25 and I much prefer this angle for seeing the traffic jams. It is a very modern bridge, but I think it’s rather lovely.
The river winds back and forth a lot and it makes it quite difficult to work out where the buildings are in relation to each other. However, Heathrow airport is the other side of London, so this plane is landing at City Airport which is on the site of the old King George V dock. I found it quite amusing that people would point out things and name them wrongly usually a second before the announcement told you what it was you could see. The comments about the plane landing were perhaps the most obviously incorrect and most popular.
The next landmark I was really looking forward to was the Thames Barrier. When I was studying civil engineering this was the latest and greatest project. I read so many articles about various aspects of its construction I couldn’t fail to become fascinated by it. A few years ago we managed to persuade one of the tour boats to take me to see it on my birthday but we weren’t allowed to go very close and certainly not to go through it. This time we could and for me that was very exciting. Sad, absolutely 
It was a bit of a shock to see it looking well used and frankly quite old now. I guess it is because I remember it being built and how significant it was. I doubt anyone really thinks about it now, even the Londoners it protects from flooding on a fairly regular basis. In the photograph you can see one of the sections raised to the defence position.
I hadn’t seen these buildings before, they are next to the Dome which isn’t somewhere I visit, but these buildings are cool. They look like patchwork and each has a different pattern. I think I feel a quilt coming on at some point. That may mean I need to go back and take more pictures, maybe I need to do this cruise again next year.
I suppose I should include a picture of the Dome. It never really grabbed me as a building. I find it rather dull. I can’t even say it’s ugly, I think it’s too dull for that. It just is, and I suspect it’s going to stay so I guess I will just keep ignoring it.
The sculpture in front of the Dome I do like. I think it’s clever. From listening to the other passengers on the Waverley I’m in the minority. I think part of the problem is you do need to be at the right angle to really appreciate it. A lot of the time it looks like a cloud of metal, but then you are suddenly in the right place and you can see the man standing in the cloud. The sculpture is called Quantum Cloud and is the work of Antony Gormley.
This group of buildings has changed a lot in the time I have been living in London. They are at Canary Wharf in the West India docks. When I first moved to London only one of the four tall buildings existed. One Canada Square is the tallest of the group (the pointy one) and was the first. For several years the working light on it’s roof was my beacon to get me home.
Canary Wharf itself takes its name from the sea trade with the Canary Islands, whose name comes from the dogs (Latin canis) which the Spaniards found there, producing the linguistic coincidence of trade between the Dog Islands and the Isle of Dogs.
As well as the new towers there are a lot of older building still on the Thames. Very few are still being used for their original purpose, but personally I would rather see the buildings survive than not. Conversions that keep the look of the building while keep them in use and thus in good repair are fine by me. I wasn’t so convinced by the building that has been all but removed with just it’s facade left. Really it was just a set of arches now everything else has been removed.
Another highlight of the trip was coming through Tower Bridge. I like the bridge anyway but this was a special trip because it had to be opened for us. That means stopping the traffic for several minutes each time. Sorry folks, the chaos at rush hour on Monday was partly our fault, and it was great.
The large tower to the left of the bridge is the new Shard of Glass. It left me somewhat underwhelmed. It does look better in this picture than it did in real life but as with the Dome I found it rather bland. Maybe it will be better when it’s finished but I am sceptical. I think it is going to rely on being tall rather than any other architectural feature. Maybe big is all you need now, but when you are surrounded by really great buildings I’m not sure.
As the Waverley is hard to manoeuvre at low speeds we were towed through the open bridge and turned just the other side of it. We got to spend 30 minutes the other side of Tower Bridge before it would open again to let us out. It was funny to become a tourist attraction while being a tourist. A lot of people passing by asked for the Waverley to sound her horn and mostly she obliged. It was a lot of fun.
While we sat waiting for the bridge we had the chance to admire our surroundings. Tower Bridge is right next to the Tower of London. The main tower is called The White Tower and was built by William the Conqueror in 1078. It was used as a prison for many years which is probably what is is best known for.
To the other side of the Thames is a more recent piece of military hardware. HMS Belfast. She is now a museum ship, but saw active duty in WWII. Initially she was part of Britain’s naval blockade against Germany, but after being damaged by a mine and undergoing extensive repair and improvement went on the escort convoys through the Arctic Circle to Russia. She retired in the 1960’s and had many rocky years while her scrapping was debated. A trust was formed to save her and the government transferred her to them. Since 1971 she has been moored in the Pool of London and open to the public.
Region 7
October 1, 2011
Today was one of those days that started way too soon. My talk today was near Northampton, which is a fair distance up the M1 and for the van quite a long time. I had managed to load the van yesterday despite the heat so at least we just had to get in and go. The M1 wasn't too bad until the last junction before the one we needed and even the it just a short queue for people to look at an accident so we made good time. Just as well when we overshot the turning and picked a very narrow residential street to turn the van in. It's why I like to leave plenty of time. The hall was already quite busy but not too much, so unloading was fairly quick and easy. Having Tet with me does make things a lot easier. I was the afternoon speaker so I got to listen to the morning one, which is always interesting. I've not heard Philippa Naylor speak before and I was quite impresssed. I don't like talks with slides, but she dealt with them well. She uses them to illustrate her words rather than "..and this slide shows…" repeated over and over. She had also brought some real live quilts for people to get a good look at, touching allowed. After a very good lunch I got set up and then we had show and tell. The quilt I am helping to hold up is one I quilted. Hilda made it while she was stuck at home. She had to use only what she had at home as she couldn't get out. It came out well though and despite my concern at her choice of green thread for quilting the white fabrics I think that worked too.The talk seemed to go well, not too many fell asleep, which on a warm afternoon after lunch is always a risk. I bought one piece of fabric from Crafty Quilter which was rather restrained for me, but I did help others to shop so I still feel I supported the traders. Now we are almost home so it must be time to send this post on it's way. I will post more on the Waverley I haven't forgotten, I've just been busy.
Racing and quilting
September 28, 2011
I’ve had requests for me to blog the results of our weekend racing, so I will return to the Waverley tomorrow. This weekend was the last race of the season and despite racing my road car we have actually done quite well. So much so we had a chance at the championship this year. In the first round of qualifying Tet made it to number one qualifier. After the second round we had slipped to number two, which was still pretty good. Unfortunately in the third and final round we slipped further to fourth place. That did make things much harder, but there was still a chance Tet could win the championship. After the first round of eliminations the three teams ahead of Tet in the championship were all out. That was hopeful, but it meant we had to race one of our friends. Poop, we would rather have met him later in the day, and the winner of that race would be straight through to the finals. The race was very close with both drivers getting off the line well, but at the finish line Kevin was just ahead. It did come down to inches and 2.9 milliseconds. You don’t get much closer than that. It would have been good to have got further but at least it meant we had a friend in the final. However we didn’t manage to win the championship so we will still have to pay entry fees next year. I guess we have to try harder.
On the other hand we did have one success at the track. Tet finished and delivered another quilt. The Welsh flag in the picture is a quilt. It is standard quilting cotton fabric on the front and a velvety fleece on the back. The soon to be parents are Sean and Suzie Armstrong who are Taffy Bear racing. That is their race car trying to hide behind them, I insisted the whole race family needed to be in the photo and I’m afraid I chose the picture where the car looked it’s best. I think they will understand, and the bump is getting in on the photo too. There was some concern that that little one would try and put in an appearance at the racing this weekend but it managed to hold on so it hasn’t seen it’s quilt yet. The quilt is waiting in her hospital bag so the little one will be able to go home in the welsh flag.
Paddle Steamer Waverley
September 27, 2011For my birthday last year Tet gave me a voucher for a trip on the Waverley, and since then we have been trying to find a trip fairly local to us and on a day we were both free. That was tricky and last year I couldn’t manage it. Monday was the only date that worked this year so we went for it, despite it being directly after a race weekend.
 |
| Leaving Margate |
The early start wasn’t exactly fun but given it was this trip or nothing we were determined to be there on time. Things went well until we got to Victoria where we discovered our train had been cancelled. Not ideal, but not a problem. We had planned for that and the next train would still get us to the boat in plenty of time. Well had it been running on time it would. It arrived late to Victoria, but made up some time immediately by loading quickly and heading off again. Unfortunately it lost that time and some more on it’s way back to Margate. The Waverley was due to leave Margate at 10.30, and our train finally arrived at Margate station at 10.29. We had called ahead and asked the crew to wait for us and we had booked a taxi. The taxi was waiting for us and did his best to get us to the ‘pier’ on time. He would have managed it too, if someone hadn’t stopped in front of us blocking him. Our only remaining option was to run for it. As we were running towards the Waverley they took in the gangways, but at the last second they did see us running towards them waving and put one back out for us. You know, waving and running at the same time is quite hard work.
 |
Just as well there are seats all around the deck so we could stop and catch our breath. It did mean we mostly missed pulling away from the ‘pier’ but hey we made it, just! I’ll have much more understanding when I read “Around the World in 80 Days” next.
Once we had our breath back the first stop had to be the engine. I had forgotten how good it smells (well to me at least) but the sound and the heat had stayed with me from my previous visits. There is a very special sort of heat around engines and I love it. It is also just mesmerising to watch moving. I will try and upload some video of it soon. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but I guess it’s quite rare to be able to get this close to a moving engine. I’m glad it’s still allowed.
When you are next to the engine you can look out of the portholes and see the paddles moving. It makes it clear why she isn’t the most manoeuvrable vessel in the world. When her paddles are going they are both moving together. Great for propulsion but it would help her turn if they could be slowed independently. They do give her great acceleration though and when she leaves a dock she does it very very quickly.
The next stop on our exploration of the boat was the lower bar. When they say lower they mean it. this is the view from the portholes in the bar. They are above my head height when sitting down and as you can see they are pretty much at sea level. I would guess that later in the journey when we had taken on many more passengers they were even lower. I really enjoyed watching them as it gave a great feeling of movement.
From Margate we headed out around the Kent coast towards Herne Bay. This took us past a wind farm and Reculver. When we were at university we often visitied Reculver, and had often read about how important it had been. You really appreciate how imposing it is when you see it from the sea. It was still clearly visible when were ready to turn into Whitstable. The towers of St Mary’s church, Reculver are the blocky towers in the middle of this picture. The lower structure to the left of them are the ruined back wall of the building.
The next stop on our trip was Whitstable. This is somewhere we were both very familiar with from university and we had lived in the area for a few years after graduation. However we had never approached it from the sea. I hadn’t expected the harbour to look so enclosed, it doesn’t from the land side. It also seemed a lot smaller than it had. I have seen several ships being loaded with gravel, and they looked quite large. The Waverley on the other hand looks quite small and seemed to take up a lot of room in the harbour. Given how small the Waverley looks the queue on the dock was quite a surprise. She can actually carry 860 passengers and on Monday was just 6 short of a full load. It does make it quite hard to move around so I was very pleased we had taken the time to look at the engines while there were less people on board. As soon as we left Whistable we headed down to the dining room, thinking that the new passengers would look around as we had done. Sadly we weren’t that lucky and had quite a queue for lunch (which is actually a very good thing for the Waverley she is run as a charity and all the profits keep her sailing). The food was good too, although it was the strangest haddock I’ve had it was tasty.
After Whitstable we headed on to Southend, which was one of the places I blogged from yesterday. All the way we were given information about where we were and what we were seeing over the PA. It was great to hear about the other vessels we passed. Some of them had almost as much history as the Waverley. I really enjoyed learning more about the history of the coast too. I think that had better be all for tonight, given I am teaching tomorrow. I’ll try and finish off tomorrow.
Web site issues – Updated
If you are trying to get onto my main website ferfab.co.uk and having problems it isn’t you. My server seems to have gone to sleep. We are working on it and I should be back online shortly. If you need to contact me a comment here will get through to me.
It turns out that server had a faulty power supply so for the moment is dead. However, we have other servers so the web site is now back up and running. Sorry for that folks. On the other hand I have a lot less downtime now we have our own machines so I really can’t complain. Anyway, normal service has been resumed.
Van project progress
September 25, 2011
I've got the first batch of the other colour of rings done for the double wedding ring quilt I am making. I am hoping to get a few blocks made so I can see how the colours are working. The racing is going OK. We would have liked to stay number 1 qualifier, but number 4 isn't too bad. Due to some mishaps this morning our class hasn't raced yet today hence the sewing. I guess we will be called if I get set up for the next piece i wnt to make.