Sunday 29 July 2018

Sunday 29th July


So this hot weather here in the U.K has finally cooled down
giving us all some kind of respite plus of course lots of rain
and flooding.
Even our house here took quite a while to cool down.
Just coming in from the shops yesterday our front hallway
entrance was still containing heat that has built up over the
last few weeks. And they say that the warm weather will
return next week.

But something that frustrates many Londoners is why in 2018
we simply don't seem to have the technology to keep our London
Underground cool at the height of Summer. And the worst Tube
Line as everyone will tell you is The Central Line. In a London
heatwave the Central line is pure Hell!  Okay so I made up
the picture below, but I'm surprised travellers don't vandalize
Station signs on this Line.
And yet every other few years London Underground tell us
that they might have a solution but nothing ever comes out
of it.
Last week while travelling about on the Tube I risked a
section of the Central Line and I saw several commuters carrying
digital thermometers and taking pictures of the readings,
no doubt for their twatter and Fussbook pages.
In fact several of the pictures can be seen online.
Here's one below.

Above: Writer Simon Usbourne who's thermometer is
almost hitting the 40 degree mark. And yet that carriage
he's in looks almost empty.

Apparently when the Underground tunnels were built back
in the 19th Century there was barely any space left to create
any sort of ventilation, and perhaps even less space on The
Central line as it seems to be the most affected route.

Below: Well there are similarities between our London Shard
and The Transamerica Building in San Francisco. And

going through my photo files I've always wanted to put the
two images side by side.
The Shard image is one I took around late 2016. And The
Transamerica Building was taken recently by San Francisco
resident and photographer BIRON.




Most of the South of England's grassy areas as well as all the gardens
that I can see from my Flat window are all distinctly parched and
looking very much a straw colour due to the heatwave.
And  the warm weather seems to have affected some of our Canals.
In the above picture of the Canal in Maida Vale West London, the water
seems fairly clean and clear. But I'm told now by someone who lives near
that Canal that the water surface is completely covered by a thick green
layer of algae.

4 comments:

  1. Yes, NYC subway trains are deliciously cool. I could not believe how hot The Underground was in London, never mind how so many people seemed to put on a scary face. Like, don't even think of speaking to me. People here also put up with poor and overcrowded public transport and don't talk to each other usually, unless you are my mother in days of old who would engage the whole carriage with her theatrics.

    It is a difficult problem to retro fit aircon to London trains because they are such a tight fit in the tunnels. Apparently Boris Buses had some kind of cooling system, that was totally ineffective. The only cooling is proper air conditioning. Even the cold countries on the continent are now getting air conditioned public transport for their hot times.

    I like the building on the left, whichever that one is.

    The very staged photo of the bloke on The Tube looks too muscular for my taste. Nice enough looks and good hair though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Andrew, I wonder if you managed to avoid a heatwave when you visited us. That's when the Underground is unbearable.
    You do wonder if anything can ever be done about the problem. I wonder why they didn't take into account a possible
    ventilation problem when the tunnels were first built.
    I assume that your Melbourne Trams are quite cool during your hot Summers.

    I did see a group of frisky teen boys taking their tops off in a rather hot carriage, probably out of frustration
    in a cheeky rebellious sort of way, like they were saying well if you can't air these trains then we're gonna strip off.
    But yes that hunky model looks a bit set up. I haven't been on that site for a while. Maybe the guys there are not my type.

    Oh the building on the left is of course The London Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I note Heathrow still has winter problems when hundreds of flights are cancelled or disrupted because of ice on the runway. It has been going on for years but nothing has been done about it. Yet H is one of the busiest airports in the world. - Ian

    ReplyDelete
  4. 32.78°c where I live everyday. Burned my feet walking barefoot to the mail box. Our rainy season seems extra wet this year. The government downgraded the number of hurricanes a few weeks ago. On the day one hurricane and two tropical depressions twirled around. As Washington says Fake Weather. Has the Queen deloused the furniture, had someone remove the smell of bullshit after Trumps visit? So sorry the old girl had to endure 45 minutes with Trumpanzee.

    ReplyDelete

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