When Brad Haddin hit Ben Stokes back over his shoulder to clear the boundary before 78,000 spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27th of December, 2013, the world record for number of sixes in a Test series was broken. It was the 52nd six and it came in the fourth match in the five… Continue reading
Browsing Category Everything else
New deal lets electric cars run on 100% green energy
Another argument against the electric car is about to fall. It’s the “Ah, but electric cars are just as polluting because they use electricity from dirty old coal fired power stations” criticism. True, up to a point. Although detractors forget that electric cars don’t emit any noxious gases, so are clean at the roadside. But… Continue reading →
FutureLearn goes global – UK universities launch free online learning
I recently read a book, Traveller of the Century, on Underground trains in London. What is remarkable about that? Because that is the only place I read that particular one, on the Kindle platform on my smartphone. I picked it up during those many five or ten unproductive minutes we have on public transport when… Continue reading →
Can trains take the tourism strain – when the Chinese influx finally arrives?
I saw something unusual at Euston station last Saturday morning. A large group of Chinese tourists were standing in the concourse. I assume they were preparing to board a train. Where were they going? It doesn’t really matter. They were tourists, heading off to some destination or other in England (likely) or Scotland (less likely)…. Continue reading →
From a small town in Wales – “the man who knew too much”
For its size, the small town of Barry in South Wales, population 47,863, produced a notable number of high achievers. They start with the Victorian industrialist and philanthropist David Davies, whose daughters Gwendoline and Margaret donated their important fine art collection, including many famous impressionist paintings, to the National Museum of Wales in nearby Cardiff…. Continue reading →
Is this U.K.’s greenest housing estate? The Passivhaus rural idyll
Is this the U.K.’s greenest housing estate, this vision of snug, low energy Passivhaus life in the country? What is believed to be the largest Passivhaus development to date has been given the go-ahead. Councillors on Herefordshire Council voted in favour of the estate of 150 houses, on a 20-acre site in the village of Kingstone… Continue reading →