Wed 1: I finally saw my first 75 registration plate today on a blue Ford van. I could have seen one a month ago. Thu 2: Back to the opticians for the first time in a while. The "I just need to squirt this air in your eye" gizmo still makes me wince, which only makes the experience longer and worse. Fri 3: I returned to Feltham to see the Freddie Mercury memorial, a respectful star in the paving of a fledgling garden, and can confirm it's nice but not worth making any kind of special effort to see. Sat 4: Bus Stop M was closed this morning for tree-cutting in the churchyard opposite, which enabled me to snap this iconic photo.
Sun 5: It was a joy to watch a new episode of Challenge Anneka tonight, mysteriously left over from three years ago, in which Luton's Sea Scouts gained new lakeside facilities. Channel 5 don't intend to make any more, sadly, but it was a lovely nugget of the early 1990s while it lasted. Mon 6: You can tell it's autumn again when Cup A Soup goes back on special offer. It's been full price since the spring, but now it should stay '3 for £4' until March. Tue 7: In Whitechapel's library I found a (staffed) DLR information table, which felt odd for a Tuesday morning. I turned down the offer of a wordsearch and a pen, but did avail myself of a 32 page full colour station history booklet. Wow this is good for a cash-strapped organisation, I thought, until I spotted the booklet was 16 years old (no Stratford International branch) and they must have printed far too many of them. Wed 8: At World of Glass in St Helens they had a box of poppies on the main desk, five weeks before the big day, and that's the earliest I've ever seen someone buy one. Thu 9: We still haven't heard from a blog reader in Rutland, so I officially declare no, I don't have readers in every ceremonial county in England.
Fri 10: Spotted Fanny the station cat at Gipsy Hill station, padding past the planters, which was fortunate because she's 14½ now and doesn't get out so much. You might like to know that 2026's Fanny The Cat calendar is now available, priced £20 for delivery or £15 if you can pick it up at the local pub. Sat 11: While at Osterley House I had a go at the start of the seasonal Ghost Hunt in the gardens. I spun the wheel to discover my bunny name was 'Twinkle', then failed at Hallowe'en hoopla, but decided to skip the broomstick race and warty toads in favour of more adult pursuits like admiring the flowers in the orchard. Sun 12: To the man on Ilford Lane who walked over and said "I know you don't I?", and when pushed claimed we'd drunk together in Barking Wetherspoons, I can confirm I've never been inside, nor do I intend to (assuming it ever reopens). Mon 13: The Rail Delivery Group has launched its annual World Cup of Stations, again with a specious theme, this time "the most life-changing station of the last 200 years". Options were restricted to a list of 20, each with its own rationale you were supposed to read before you voted. I doubt many did. After a few hours the top two stations had over 50% of the vote, suggesting people weren't scrolling down the list to the other 18 (or hadn't noticed you could). For a while a Welsh station at which two people got married was in the lead, mainly because it began with A. In the end the winner was Ashington, a Northumberland station which reopened last year, so a charming story but by no means "the most life-changing station of the last 200 years". Do something sensible next year guys.
Tue 14: The ramp below the View Tube is being replaced by something less steep but longer, and I am so going to moan about this when they've finished. Wed 15: The most disappointing drink I had in the pub tonight was a fruity cider, this because it swiftly became a diluted fruity cider when the ice melted. Thu 16: My home insurers offered a nice low quote this year, then slapped on a 94% commission charge. As ever, being politely stroppy over the phone got the price down. Fri 17: I know we haven't seen each for ten years but you can't come up to London and suggest lunch if I'm going to be in Norfolk at the time, sorry. Sat 18: It's 60 years today since the first broadcast of The Magic Roundabout, so praise to BBC4 for showing an episode, also a splendid documentary from the archives (which was the length of 12 episodes).
Sun 19: Looking through the family photo albums in the top of the wardrobe I discovered a birthday card my mum received when she was three (just before WW2) and a birthday card my grandmother received when she was 18 (just after WW1). There are far more photos from my mum's side of the family than my dad's. Mon 20: For my dad's birthday lunch we went to the best restaurant in town, which is of course on the first floor of a furniture warehouse on a trading estate. Only one of us ordered chocolate cake but the slice was so huge we all ended up having some. Tue 21: Hurrah, it's the time of year home-grown brussels sprouts return to the supermarket. Shame they'd also sold out of mince pies. Wed 22: On today's BBC 1 o'clock news the regional insert included a two minute item on a lady fined for throwing coffee down a drain in Richmond. Ten minutes later the entire report was repeated within the national news, and it felt desperately unprofessional. Thu 23: Watched Hollyoaks' 30th anniversary week in which (spoilers) a gunshot caused a light plane to crash onto a wedding where Peri got crushed to death by a toppled funnel. The Brookside crossover episode was no less far-fetched (taxi for Mr Redmond!) but still a nostalgic treat.
Fri 24: After an entire month hovering round the 18°C mark, the "temperature in my living room first thing in the morning" has abruptly plummeted below 16°C. Sat 25: If you're the bird who pooed on the handrail at Barnes station, I curse you for the horrific discovery down the road when I suddenly realised what the creamy feeling on my fingers actually was. Sun 26: We'd normally be deep into the annual Brain of Britain tournament on Radio 4 by now but it hasn't materialised in the 'quiz' slot, which is being occupied by obvious filler. I checked, and it seems Paul Bajoria and Stephen Garner (who are responsible for Counterpoint, Brain of Britain and Round Britain Quiz) recently left the BBC and nobody's managed to organise a new series in their absence. Mon 27: The Met Office is rolling out a new design for its online weather forecasts, alas showing considerably less data on screen in favour of empty space and less clarity. Previously you could see a summary of the next 18 hours in one go, now it's seven. It's fundamentally far less useful, potentially forever, and the designers should be harangued until they agree to reverse this digital wreckage.
Tue 28: I was sorry to hear that lovely Prunella Scales had died, and surprised that the episode of Fawlty Towers they chose to show in tribute was one she wasn't in very much. Wed 29: If every politician who'd ever done anything bad, ill-judged or technically illegal was banned from office, we wouldn't have any politicians left. You'd never be able to become one, and neither would anyone else. Thu 30: Places visited in yesterday's post "100 things I saw while out and about yesterday" included Stratford, Woodford, Walthamstow, Meridian Water, Tottenham and Abbey Wood. Fri 31: BT have submitted plans to install a Smart Hub at the end of Bow Road on the pavement by the McDonalds car park. Two sacrificial kiosks would be removed ("a net decrease in street furniture"). It'd be beside a bike rack so wouldn't block the pavement. It is however optimised to show adverts to traffic on the approach to the Bow Roundabout, a complex junction where cyclists have been killed. I thus take issue with BT's claim that "the geometry of the roads are not complicated and the driving conditions are not considered to be demanding or complicated", and hopefully that'll be enough to get plans scrapped.
