There’s a bloody great helicopter Warship moored in the Thames at Greenwich! When I surfaced at Greenwich on Thursday, there were two remarkable ships on view. The newly reburbished and reopened Cutty Sark is looking great now, with all the scaffolding and stuff gone, so you can see the glass building that surrounds the bottom half of the hull as it should be seen. With a slight lengthwise curve to the roof, the old ship has an impression of movement, more like she’s back sailing on the water than when it was just sunk in a darkened concrete hole of a dry dock. Lynx helicopter And out on the river Thames itself, before embarking the motor cruiser to see the Cable Car Crossing and the Thames Barrier, the scene is dominated by an enormous grey warship. From the waterside, the shape of HMS Ocean is disorientating. The superstructure is asymetrical, and the main hull looks like it’s been sliced lengthways, revealing two big holes at the side. Seeing the platform jutting out on the port side, it looks a bit like a traditional aircraft carrier, but it isn’t. It’s a helicopter ship, carrying eight Lynx helicopters there to patrol the no fly zone during the London 2012 Olympics. HMS Ocean at Greenwich According to information I looked up later, there are both Army and Navy Lynx helicopters onboard, as well as serving as a base for anti terrorist units during the period of the Games. Greenwich is used to seeing large Navy ships moored in the Thames, such as HMS Illustrious last year. Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogHMS Ocean Helicopter Warship at Greenwich
-
I posted to distributedresearch.net
HMS Ocean Helicopter Warship at Greenwich
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2012/05/12/hms-ocean-helicopter-warship-at-greenwich
- Tags:
- London
- greenwich
- 2012 Olympics
- london 2012 olympics
- river thames
- Cutty Sark
- aircraft carrier
- army and navy
- dry dock
- hms ocean
- lynx helicopters
- navy ships
- superstructure
May 12 2012, 2:45am | Comments »
-
I posted to flickr.com
Pod on a Barge
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/7176778328/
AndyRobertsPhotos
Pod on a Barge at Greenwich.
May 11 2012, 10:11am | Comments »
-
I posted to distributedresearch.net
http distributedresearch net blog 2012 05 11 london…
http://distributedresearch.net/news/http-distributedresearch-net-blog-2012-05-11-london/
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2012/05/11/london-cable-cars-crossing-the-thames London Cable Cars Crossing The Thames
May 11 2012, 4:10am | Comments »
-
I posted to flickr.com
HMS Ocean at Greenwich
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/7172622764/
AndyRobertsPhotos
HMS Ocean at Greenwich
The Royal Navy's largest warship carries 8 lynx helicopters
May 10 2012, 2:55pm | Comments »
-
I posted to distributedresearch.net
Greenwich Cutty Sark set on Flickr http www…
http://distributedresearch.net/status/greenwich-cutty-sark-set-on-flickr-http-www/
Greenwich Cutty Sark set on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/sets/72157628637994451/
- Tags:
- London
- greenwich
- flickr
- status
- Cutty Sark
January 1 2012, 2:52am | Comments »
-
I posted to distributedresearch.net
Is the Olympics skills legacy on track?
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/05/05/is-the-olympics-skills-legacy-on-track
Voluntary sector organisations in the capital have expressed concerns about local peoples’ ability to secure jobs during and after the London 2012 Olympic Games
This article titled “Is the Olympics skills legacy on track?” was written by Dave Hill, for guardian.co.uk on Thursday 5th May 2011 15.59 UTC I’ve been doing a bit of homework for a forthcoming Guardian podcast and found two things I’d like to share. First, the fun thing. That was from last September. The Games Makers programme is now at the selection phase, with successful applicants being measured up for different roles. But what will it contribute to the long term regeneration of East London which is, of course, the ultimate objective of the great Olympics adventure? How about the complementary London Ambassadors scheme and the Personal Best initiative, which was designed to prepare the long-term unemployed for securing some of the Games’s 70,000 volunteer roles and beyond that “encourage 20,000 people into work”? What about local peoples’ hopes of securing the new jobs in the pipeline at Stratford City? This brings me to the second thing. It’s less fun than Eddie Izzard but still deserves your attention. In February, the London Assembly’s economic development committee heard from guests who are closely involved with ensuring that East Londoners are equipped not only to take advantage of the employment and skills opportunities that the Games will provide, but also to use them to secure jobs and careers in the regeneration years to come. I’ve picked out a few quotes from the transcript of the meeting. First, a word of warning from Jonny Boux, the head of employment and training at the East London charity Community Links: [This] is a once in a lifetime opportunity for people in East London and I think there is a real danger that the focus, in terms of sustainability and longer term opportunity is lost…our experience tends to be, we are hearing a lot around the wonderful short-term opportunities…and the fact that people may find work for a month, but there are no guarantees beyond that.
Next up, Kerry Tweed, Director of Greater London Volunteering on the Personal Best scheme: The problem is that Personal Best is effectively finished now in London. I have not heard about any evaluation or any further work that might be possible to do with the around 4,000 people who have been through the programme to work with the training that they have been provided with to work with employers to see how that is transferable for them, to offer further support and training to move the participants closer towards work. The last stats that I had from Personal Best was that actually the biggest outcome for␣most people was they went on to further volunteering. Clearly, they need a bit more time to develop their skills, their confidence and their employability.
Committee chair Len Duvall asked about “barriers that may prevent long-term unemployed Londoners taking advantage of the Games Time opportunity.” Jonny Boux answered first: One of the main barriers is a lack of skills, particularly around some things you need for particular jobs, and also life skills is an important factor. One of the things that, particularly, our long-term unemployed people face is often a difficulty around reliability and low confidence. There is often a lack of motivation as well; it is what we call, broadly, life skills. Then, I guess, multiple barriers which can be anything from major housing issues to difficult family circumstances and financial pressures. Many people we support are heavily in debt.
Then, Lindsey Donoghue the Employment Manager of the Bromley-by-Bow Centre said: I would echo everything that Jonny said. Obviously some of the roles are quite short-term and that is an issue for some people in terms of them having been on benefits for quite a long time and feeling comfortable on those or perhaps feeling that coming off them might be a risk and feeling unwilling to do so for a short period of time. Also, doing roles like that they would need to arrange things like childcare; a lot of the people that we work with are parents. So, again, a short time role is difficult for them because they need to arrange childcare for that. Something that we have seen in our community is␣a␣sense of, “Well, it’s␣not really for me”. We have perhaps seen a limited number of people go into roles in the Olympics so far and because of that people sort of feel, “Well, maybe it is happening separately to me or it is not something that is necessarily part of our community”.
And here’s quite a striking speech by Roger Taylor, Director of the Olympic Host Boroughs Unit. If you asked anybody in the host boroughs what they felt about legacy, they would say that there is an ever-present danger that legacy becomes conflated exclusively with what happens during the Games and what happens on the comparatively limited, although very important, opportunities that will follow on on the Olympic Park. We feel it is terribly important to constantly remind somebody of what the bid promise was: the most enduring legacy of the Olympics will be the regeneration of an entire community for the direct benefit of everyone who lives there, and also to link that with the sheer scale of the opportunity that inner East London has within its grasp over the next 20 years. We are not just talking about the Olympic Park, we are not just talking about Westfield and Stratford City, although we think that is actually a pretty successful model largely down to people like Newham and Westfield themselves. We are also talking about the already-given planning approval effectively to double the size of Canary Wharf, and the very, very significant developments that we still expect to take place in the Royal docks and on the Woolwich and Greenwich waterfronts. Essentially, if anything I think the Mayor’s promise about 70,000 jobs is an understatement of what over the next 20 years is likely to be an opportunity in East London. The question then is whether or not we have got a sufficiently strong and clear vision to be able to ensure how that opportunity relates to the people in the communities in East London. I think that is where the really challenging questions lie.
On this evidence, I’d say that there’s plenty of work still to be done if a really impressive skills and employment legacy is to be delivered for East London in particular. Something for the Mayor to get a good, firm grip on.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.
Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogIs the Olympics skills legacy on track?
Related posts:Iran claims London 2012 Olympics logo spells ‘Zion’ London’s 2012 Olympics must be a ‘regeneration games’ London 2012 Olympics countdown clock stops
- Tags:
- London
- greenwich
- newham
- General
- train
- Green
- East London
- Stratford
- sign
- 2012 Olympics
- Article
- Society
- Blogposts
- development
- Olympic Games 2012
- Olympic Park
- Dave Hill
- 2012 olympic games
- london 2012 olympic games
- Dave Hills London blog
- mayor
- london assembly
- Housing
- Londoners
- unemployment
- olympics
- sustainability
- East Londoners
- economic development committee
- Eddie Izzard
- initiative
- Lindsey Donoghue
- london charity
- new jobs
- objective
- outcome
- Roger Taylor
- Stratford City
- transcript
- Tweed
- voluntary sector organisations
- Volunteering
May 5 2011, 12:56pm | Comments »
-
I posted to distributedresearch.net
Greenwich Tall Ship – 4 Masted Juan Sebastián de Elcano
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/03/16/greenwich-tall-ship-4-masted-juan-sebastian-de-elcano
Some interesting ships can be seen docked in the Thames, such as the Greenwich warship a couple of years ago. This weekend brought a Spanish Navy training ship, the four masted tall ship called Juan Sebastián de Elcano which is one of the largest and oldest tall ships still operational.
The video was taken from onboard one of the Hurricane Clipper river boat catamarans which provide a commuter service as well as sightseeing on the river Thames and now accept Oystercard onboard for payment as well as pre-paid tickets.
Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogGreenwich Tall Ship – 4 Masted Juan Sebastián de Elcano
Related posts:HMS Illustrious at Greenwich Greenwich Naval College – A fine Greenwich College who’s breaking the speed limit?
- Tags:
- London
- illustrious
- greenwich
- warship
- spain
- youtube
- thames
- oystercard
- london breaks
- Bank Holiday
- Navy
- training
- Tall Ship
- catamarans
- clipper
- commuter
- elcano
- river boat
- river thames
- sightseeing
- spanish navy
- tall ships
- training ship
March 16 2011, 3:33pm | Comments »
-
I posted to youtube.com
Greenwich Tall Ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAGcd0_6POA&feature=youtube_gdata
March 16 2011, 1:23pm | Comments »
-
I posted to distributedresearch.net
Arc Royal to extend London City Airport
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/22/arc-royal-to-extend-london-city-airport
An article in the Daily Mail Online reports that the decommissioned air craft carrier Arc Royal could be ‘saved’ and used as a helipad in London. The intended location turns out to be right next to London City Airport, in effect providing an instant additional runway to the controversial inner city airfield within the London borough of Newham. Ark Royal could be saved from the scrapheap under plans to turn it into a heliport.
The Royal Navy aircraft carrier, axed in last October’s defence cuts and due to be decommissioned next month, could be based on the Thames by May 2012. The 693ft vessel would be manned by around 150 former servicemen, for whom it would be both a home and a job, and would cater for City workers, police helicopters and London’s air ambulance. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, the head of the Navy, said the move could safeguard the future of the carrier, and the Ministry of Defence confirmed it was considering the plan. Currently in Portsmouth, the ship would be moored in the Royal Docks near City Airport to comply with noise-pollution rules. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1358880/Ark-Royal-new-future–floating-helipad-Thames.html
Photo: HMS Illustrious at Greenwich Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogArc Royal to extend London City Airport
Related posts:Mercedes Marilyn and Ella at Theatre Royal Stratford To us, it’s an obscure shift of tax law. To the City, it’s the heist of the century
- Tags:
- London
- greenwich
- transport
- newham
- ambulance
- thames
- aircraft
- city
- Arc
- police
- Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope
- borough
- carrier
- helicopter
- HMS Illustrious
- London City
- Ministry
- Navy
- royal navy
- runway
- servicemen
- vessel
February 22 2011, 3:22am | Comments »
-
I posted to distributedresearch.net
HMS Illustrious at Greenwich
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2008/11/09/hms-illustrious-at-greenwich
Upon alighting from the Docklands Light Railway at Cutty Sark, Greenwich on Friday the view of the Thames was dominated by a huge warship.
HMS Illustrious is moored in the Thames off Greenwich for a week to help with the Royal Navy’s participation in Remembrance Day commemorations in London. This year is the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War. HMS Illustrious was also used as a platform for the November 6TH Fireworks display which by all accounts was quite spectacular, being accompanied by the dramatic sounds of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture.
Photo derived from one by Simon Starr
Posted by Andy Roberts HMS Illustrious at Greenwich
November 9 2008, 12:58pm | Comments »
1
