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
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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 »
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I posted to distributedresearch.net
London Cable Cars Crossing The Thames
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2012/05/11/london-cable-cars-crossing-the-thames
It was back in 2010 that I reported the London Cable Car Thames Crossing may go ahead, and now here it is. stretched over London’s River Thames between North Greenwich ( The O2 Millennium Dome) and The Royal Victoria Docks for the Excel Centre, the ‘Emirates Air Line’ consists of 34 cable cars suspended 50 metres above the river taking 10 people each. That’s up to 2,500 passengers an hour, equivalent to 50 buses or the hourly number of people passing through the nearby Blackwall Tunnel by road. The slender suspension masts were erected last month and after weeks of testing, the gondolas have now been attached and can be seen slowly passing each other in the videos and photographs I took from the deck of a cruise boat en route to the Thames Barrier yesterday.
So the cable car gondolas are in place and operational, the next question being will the service be fully tested and open to the public in time for the London 2012 Olympics starting in less than 100 days time?
For the duration of the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics the Emirates Cable Car Crossing will help to transport spectators and athletes between two Olympics venues: The O2 dome (renamed North Greenwich Arena for the Games) where gymnastics and basketball will be competed, and the Excel Exhibition Centre, temporarily(?) home to combat sports. But what about after the Olympic Games are over – the legacy? Will enough Londoners find a cable car more useful than the Jubilee Line, DLR or buses on a daily basis or will it become little more than a compliment to the Orbit Tower, a visitor attraction for tourists and photographers? Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogLondon Cable Cars Crossing The Thames
- Tags:
- London
- transport
- suspension
- passenger
- 2012 Olympics
- london 2012 olympics
- river thames
- 2012 olympic
- photographers
- O2
- cable car crossing
- cable cars
- excel exhibition centre
- gondolas
- north greenwich
- olympic games
- olympics venues
- paralympics
- thames barrier
May 11 2012, 3:16am | Comments »
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I posted to flickr.com
London Cable Car
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/7171988150/
AndyRobertsPhotos posted a video:
London Cable Car
May 10 2012, 12:55pm | Comments »
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I posted to flickr.com
Thames Barrier
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/7171941726/
AndyRobertsPhotos
Thames Barrier, London
May 10 2012, 12:45pm | Comments »
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I posted to distributedresearch.net
Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2012/04/30/tunnelling-and-underground-construction-academy
You can see the Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy building from the train between Manor Park and Ilford, on the mainline from Liverpool Street Station to Shenfield, or intercity to Ipswich and Norwich. I saw the earthworks when it was being built, but didn’t know what it was at the time. Now there’s an enormous black shed over the site, with large red lettering which reads “Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy” The words are so big I couldn’t even fit them into one photograph with my camera set to widescreen! Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy building
So what is do they do there exactly? Well, pretty much what it says on the tin, but what they omit to say in the title is that it’s all linked to the Crossrail project.
The establishment of a Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy (TUCA) is central to Crossrail’s delivery plans and its legacy to the industry. What is TUCA? The Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy (TUCA) is a purpose-built training facility that supports the key skills required to work in tunnel excavation, underground construction and infrastructure. By building and establishing TUCA, Crossrail is contributing to the development of new qualifications and Health and Safety standards across the industry. Crossrail is working with industry, professional bodies and other organisations with a requirement for skilled underground workers, to ensure that the facilities and training at TUCA are aligned with the needs of the industry. from http://www.crossrail.co.uk/delivering/skills-employment/tuca/#.T55h6sRYuco Crossrail itself is the huge engineering project to build a new underground east west railway line underneath London, connecting Heathrow and Paddington through to the City and Docklands, and out through Manor Park and Ilford to Shenfield. Its the beginning of an extra deeper, faster layer to the London undergound system which should really have begun in the 1970s like the RER in Paris. The first trains running on part of Crossrail are due in 2018 with a full through service sketched in to commence in December 2019. Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogTunnelling and Underground Construction Academy
- Tags:
- London
- transport
- liverpool street station
- Manor Park
- Underground
- academy
- Crossrail
- underground construction
April 30 2012, 5:29am | Comments »
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I posted to distributedresearch.net
Thames Ferry to Ease London 2012 Olympics Travel…
http://distributedresearch.net/status/thames-ferry-to-ease-london-2012-olympics-travel/
Thames Ferry to Ease London 2012 Olympics Travel Overload http://ferrytime.co.uk/blog/thames-ferry-to-ease-london-2012-olympics-travel-overload/
March 17 2012, 9:49am | Comments »
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I posted to youtube.com
London Bridge - Andy Roberts Song about Cormorants underneath London Bridge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLEqg7fSQF0&feature=youtube_gdata
February 19 2012, 5:55am | Comments »
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I posted to distributedresearch.net
One New Change St Pauls Cathedral http www…
http://distributedresearch.net/status/one-new-change-st-pauls-cathedral-http-www/
One New Change St Pauls Cathedral http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/6719579213
January 19 2012, 2:53am | Comments »
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I posted to youtube.com
One New Change
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq149bLt6_U&feature=youtube_gdata
- Tags:
- London
- One
- Travel
- cathedral
- new change
- one new change
- St Pauls
- lift
- elevator
- panorama City Of London
January 18 2012, 5:12am | Comments »
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I posted to flickr.com
2012 London Olympics Clock Countdown Trafalgar Square
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/6719524771/
AndyRobertsPhotos
2012 London Olympics Clock Countdown Trafalgar Square
January 18 2012, 4:59am | Comments »
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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 »
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I posted to flickr.com
London Theatre Breaks 2011/2012
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/6601681747/
AndyRobertsPhotos
London Theatre Breaks 2011/2012
December 30 2011, 12:28pm | Comments »
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I posted to flickr.com
London Theatre Breaks 2011/2012
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/6601675651/
AndyRobertsPhotos
London Theatre Breaks 2011/2012
December 30 2011, 12:27pm | Comments »
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I posted to flickr.com
London Theatre Breaks 2011/2012
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/6601655823/
AndyRobertsPhotos
London Theatre Breaks 2011/2012
December 30 2011, 12:23pm | Comments »
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I posted to flickr.com
London Theatre Breaks 2011/2012
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/6601650621/
AndyRobertsPhotos
London Theatre Breaks 2011/2012
December 30 2011, 12:22pm | Comments »
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I posted to flickr.com
London Theatre Breaks 2011/2012
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/6601645687/
AndyRobertsPhotos
London Theatre Breaks 2011/2012
December 30 2011, 12:21pm | Comments »
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I posted to flickr.com
London Theatre Breaks 2011/2012
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aroberts/6601634267/
AndyRobertsPhotos
London Theatre Breaks 2011/2012
December 30 2011, 12:19pm | Comments »
