Friday 15 July 2011

Steam train

A Crossness steam railway service coming in 2 years time. That's seriously exciting. Heard this on the wireless today.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just trying to work out if you have blocked the IP adress of this machine from posting on anything in your blog or just from the previous thread, since I have twice tried to post agian to that.


Dr Pangloss,

I am the long anonymous poster. Let’s call me Dr X and if I post again I will sign it thus (and, despite being born in a council house, I am a Dr). I am ‘anonymous’ only because I don’t have a Google account or a blog or an open account or a name / URL. But in truth I am no more anonymous than you.

I’m glad that you chose to live in Plumstead. It’s a lovely place. Welcome to my world.

But be honest with yourself. Your beef is not just with the family next door. You seem to despise many things about SE18 and the people who live here. Why the mock up of The Ship as McDonalds (your post 28/3/09) if not to rubbish the tastes and habits of those who live here? Might I remind you that the late Ray Kroc chose Woolwich for his 3000th restaurant and the first in the UK because he thought the town was typical of England and if McDonalds faired well here, it would do well all over the UK. I am proud that I am one of the first people in the UK to eat a McDonalds.

By the way, there is some contention about the derivation of the name Plumstead (your post 25/4/11). While there were orchards: “Plum Lane is evidence of a plum crop, and here we should mention that it is an established fact that in Plumstead the cherry was first acclimatised in England; the pippin apple ‘from over the sea’ was first grown here also”, there is an alternative explanation. “North of the road along which King Canute had translated the remains of St. Alphege from London to Canterbury, lay the river and the marshes. Hereabouts lived the people who collected from the wild geese, swans and herons of the marshes the plumes to ornament the dames and gallants of the court as well as to provide the quills”

And so: “You make your own choice on whether it was from plums or plumes that the name Plumstead is derived”.1

Dr X

1 Stanley Henwood – St. Nicholas Plumstead: A short history of church and parish.

Doctor Pangloss said...

I'm afraid you're very wrong as to why I did a McDonalds mock-up. I picked a brand which was instantly recognisable with bright jolly colours.

No deep underlying message about McDonalds or The Shire.

As for being anonymous, I don't want to know who you are as a person, but when you get several anonymous writers, it makes the conversation difficult to comprehend who's referring to whom.

Arthur said...

Bravo Dr P, Well said!

I think the Ship is a monstrosity. It looks as if it has had a makeover by someone who studied at the KFC School of Design.

Doctor Pangloss said...

Thank you Arthur, but I feel you're doing Colonel Sanders an injustice. The Ship is an utter eye-sore and a good reason why 'aesthetics' should be a compulsory subject at nursery.

I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but really....