Did you know that it's the only town in Britain with a one-sided high street (according to the Crap Towns book)?
Did you know that it's the only town in Britain with a one-sided high street (according to the Crap Towns book)?
Has something happened to Edinburgh? Or is that the only city in Britain with a one-sided high street (or has it been taken out of Britain by the SNP ;D )
And the High Street in Edinburgh has two sides. Princes Street might be the main street (although just now it's more of a total disaster area) but it's not the High Street.Did you know that it's the only town in Britain with a one-sided high street (according to the Crap Towns book)?
Has something happened to Edinburgh? Or is that the only city in Britain with a one-sided high street (or has it been taken out of Britain by the SNP ;D )
It's a city, you fool.
You can see the power station from Uffington White Horse on a clear day. And the Honda factory at Swindon.
Anyone who lives within a 15 miles radius of it is a cnut.
(except mattc)
I think it was better before the new shopping centre was built. What do you think?
Also, which is your favourite cooling tower?
* Tame Bridge Parkway railway station
I used to live a few miles away in Steventon. Whilst further away, we always described our location as 'near Abingdon'. There were some good curry houses in Didcot though.
..d
Anyone who lives within a 15 miles radius of it is a cnut.Don't say that to Phil D.
Anyone who lives within a 15 miles radius of it is a cnut.Don't say that to Phil D.
Most of oXford is within 15 miles - Flatus is very inclusive :)Anyone who lives within a 15 miles radius of it is a cnut.
I'm only 11 miles away. Despite this I've never actually been to Didcot. I have used the cooling towers to navigate home more than once, though.
This thread is weird.
Anyone who lives within a 15 miles radius of it is a cnut.Don't say that to Phil D.
I'm only 11 miles away. Despite this I've never actually been to Didcot. I have used the cooling towers to navigate home more than once, though.
This thread is weird.
I'm confused - I thought Didcot was more South-East (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7826799/Protests-at-plans-for-biggest-reservoir-in-the-South-East.html) of Abingdon... :PNo, Abingdon is definately above Didcot...
At least Ewelme is up a hill :)
Before the new shopping centre, Didcot's citizens had to travel as far as Abingdon to buy essentials, like new underpants and socks. Now they can do that at their new Supermarket. This explains the demise of Abingdon.Abingdon's out-of-town supermarket has far more pants and socks than Didcot's - I'd be blaming them before turning on the Diddycotes!
I thought a didcot was the bit of paper a hole punch makes and collects in its little plastic paper-collector.
DIDCOT (n.)
The tiny oddly-shaped bit of card which a ticket inspector cuts out of a ticket with his clipper for no apparent reason. It is a little-known fact that the confetti at Princess Margaret's wedding was made up of thousands of didcots collected by inspectors on the Royal Train.
Didcot Parkway is only one of many Parkway stations in the UK. Bristol was the first, but there is also
* Alfreton railway station (formerly Alfreton and Mansfield Parkway)
* Aylesbury Vale Parkway
* Birmingham International railway station
* Bodmin Parkway railway station
* Callerton Parkway (Tyne and Wear Metro)
* Coleshill Parkway
* East Midlands Parkway railway station
* Ebbw Vale Parkway railway station
* Edinburgh Park railway station
* Haddenham and Thame Parkway railway station
* Horwich Parkway railway station
* Lelant Saltings railway station (Park and Ride for St Ives)
* Liverpool South Parkway railway station
* Luton Airport Parkway railway station
* New Pudsey railway station
* Port Talbot Parkway railway station (despite its name, located in the town centre)
* Southampton Airport Parkway railway station
* Sutton Parkway railway station
* Tame Bridge Parkway railway station
* Tiverton Parkway railway station
* Warwick Parkway railway station
* Wednesbury Parkway tram stop
* Whittlesford Parkway railway station
Didcot is the only one which begins with "D", though.
I thought a didcot was the bit of paper a hole punch makes and collects in its little plastic paper-collector.
If only. I've been to quite a few of them though.I just totted up. I've got on or off trains at 4, caught a bus, but not a train, from one, & driven past another.
Before the new shopping centre, Didcot's citizens had to travel as far as Abingdon to buy essentials, like new underpants and socks. Now they can do that at their new Supermarket. This explains the demise of Abingdon.Abingdon's out-of-town supermarket has far more pants and socks than Didcot's - I'd be blaming them before turning on the Diddycotes!
[i think Abgindon's traffic problem would be solved by folks admitting they can walk >1km ]
My dad did the surveying for the cooling towers when they were building the power station in the 1960s.
I found some very nice morels in Didcot.
We were looking at houses in the area in the early 90s; visiting the EAs on Didcot Broadway always felt like walking into a Wild West town.
Still does. :thumbsup:
Didcot did have two good curry houses.
Never been to didcot.......I think
Another first for Didcot, uniting the locally important themes of power generation and crap towns, is reported on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11433162).
I think the fact that they didn't tell anyone in Didcot* should be a strong hint!Another first for Didcot, uniting the locally important themes of power generation and crap towns, is reported on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11433162).
Not wishing to big up Didcot, as I'm sure they didn't site this Biogas plant because of the ambience and local scenery, but it does look a rather excellent scheme. Why has it taken so long to do this I wonder?
I expect because we're only now getting to the point where it's as cheap or cheaper to build this kind of plant than it is to extract gas from the ground. The progress made in the last few years with breeding / genetically modifying appropriate bacteria for the digestion/fermentation process may also have helped. Then again maybe not...Another first for Didcot, uniting the locally important themes of power generation and crap towns, is reported on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11433162).
Not wishing to big up Didcot, as I'm sure they didn't site this Biogas plant because of the ambience and local scenery, but it does look a rather excellent scheme. Why has it taken so long to do this I wonder?
It sounds, on the face of it at least, an excellent idea. In the nineteenth century we had sewer gas for street lighting, this is taking the same idea and using it with twenty-first century efficiency.
Another first for Didcot, uniting the locally important themes of power generation and crap towns, is reported on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11433162).
Ah, the smells of engine oil & tar!... which of course some of our (near) neighbours whine about incessantly ;D
Mrs B & I went to Didcot yesterday, & had a very nice time. She wants to go back on a day when it isn't raining.
Mrs B & I went to Didcot yesterday, & had a very nice time. She wants to go back on a day when it isn't raining.This almost never happens...
Mrs B & I went to Didcot yesterday, & had a very nice time. She wants to go back on a day when it isn't raining.Ditto
24 hrs from DidcotThis would be a good name for an Audax.
If you take care to go directly from the station to the Railway Centre, you're not really in Didcot. It's a separate universe, physically adjacent to the town but separate from it in every other way.Quote from: Fab FoodieMrs B & I went to Didcot yesterday, & had a very nice time. She wants to go back on a day when it isn't raining.This almost never happens...Mrs B & I went to Didcot yesterday, & had a very nice time. She wants to go back on a day when it isn't raining.Ditto
Can't help thinking that there's the germ of an idea for a Dr. Who story in that idea... The Doctor versus the Chavs.... hmmmm....If you take care to go directly from the station to the Railway Centre, you're not really in Didcot. It's a separate universe, physically adjacent to the town but separate from it in every other way.Quote from: Fab FoodieMrs B & I went to Didcot yesterday, & had a very nice time. She wants to go back on a day when it isn't raining.This almost never happens...Mrs B & I went to Didcot yesterday, & had a very nice time. She wants to go back on a day when it isn't raining.Ditto
It is nice here.
Looks like you were London-bound; 1209 - that's quite a leisurely start to the day. ;)
[Delayed 1153, I presume. ]
If you take care to go directly from the station to the Railway Centre, you're not really in Didcot. It's a separate universe, physically adjacent to the town but separate from it in every other way.http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/news/hsdidcotnews/8493243.Sherlock_movie_stars_steam_into_Didcot/
Do they decorate the cooling towers for Christmas?You mean the ones in Sutton Courtenay?!?
Given my recumbent-based allergy to changing trains for a 12 mile journey, I rode down to Didcot from Oxford. The cooling towers were intermittently visible in the distance from about half way. As I approached Didcot, a serious-looking razor wire fence with night vision security cameras at very regular intervals appeared on my left. "Ah," I thought "Didcot power station. Coal-fired so they probably need the security to keep the protesting hippies out."
Then I saw the sign and realised that the building on the other side of the fence was in fact the distribution centre for the Daily Mail.
Ah, I wrote about that a while ago...So you did; but let's be careful - this knowledge should be rationed.Given my recumbent-based allergy to changing trains for a 12 mile journey, I rode down to Didcot from Oxford. The cooling towers were intermittently visible in the distance from about half way. As I approached Didcot, a serious-looking razor wire fence with night vision security cameras at very regular intervals appeared on my left. "Ah," I thought "Didcot power station. Coal-fired so they probably need the security to keep the protesting hippies out."
Then I saw the sign and realised that the building on the other side of the fence was in fact the distribution centre for the [CENSORED]
Is there anything more horrible than a Daily Mail journalist?In Didcot?
Eh? It's just a still pic.Ha - outed!
Yes, I was sad enough to click on that link.
Have you driven past the webcam yet?!?
Have you driven past the webcam yet?!?
There's a webcam?
The Wallingford Arms sold warm bottles of Special Brew to us when we were 15.Now that I can easily believe ;D
I could go on and on and on forever - but I'm mindful and considerate.Hell no - this thread is the natural outlet for your ramblings :thumbsup:
Sadly I'm not aware of any trace of a White Hart - but I may have walked straight past it ...QuoteI could go on and on and on forever - but I'm mindful and considerate.Hell no - this thread is the natural outlet for your ramblings :thumbsup:
It's only available to people who posses the special ability that is reading about 10 posts back to where a link to it was posted.
After my endless trainspotting days on Didcot station
I did see a non stopping express steam train go oddly through platform 3 on the up slow line, heading east to Paddington - it contained the Beatles - I saw Ringo's hand waving.
My daughter phoned me this morning from Didcot.Pretty safe bet.
"I'm looking ata bird n I wondered if you knew what it was."
"Where are you?"
"Didcot".
"It's a red kite"..
It took over 15 minutes from bait laid to a bird getting it. And Watlington is said to be where the kites are most tame. I am extremely sceptical about reports of meat being snatched from barbecues.I've seen them do it. Mattc, iddu and PaulR will testify to the fact that they are pretty bold now - they have expanded 130% in the last year.
After my endless trainspotting days on Didcot station
I did see a non stopping express steam train go oddly through platform 3 on the up slow line, heading east to Paddington - it contained the Beatles - I saw Ringo's hand waving.
Just a thought, the start of the film "A Hard Day's Night" was filmed on the lines into and out of Paddington, as well as on the station itself, any connection?
On my old OS map it's "Dudcot". Sounds like something a baby might fall through the bottom of.
I've had my hand scratched by a kite's talons as it was diving and seen them snatch food - not always meat, sometimes potatoes or breads - from other people's hands and plates. But that was by black (pariah) kites in India, which may well be tamer/bolder.The word "shitehawk", these days more often applied to seagulls and Nick Clegg, was originally from "kitehawk", a Victorian name for the red kite. They were just as bad as the Indian ones back in the olden days.
On my old OS map it's "Dudcot". Sounds like something a baby might fall through the bottom of.
We wus taught at skool it was originally Dudcote
Lots of us wore RAF greatcoats that were so heavy for our feeble bodies and tangles of long hair, they dragged on the floor and made walking to the Wallingford Arms a very slow process - then we'd get called ponces even though we ordered warm bottles of Special Brew
My train back to Brizzle yesterday stopped at Didcot and quite a lot of people got in and out. Or on and off, as you prefer. I didn't realise that many people lived there! The combination of the 70s-modern Parkway station name and ye olde retroe steame centree is very... up to date.
Train tickets to Oxford (from London) are half the price of those to Didcot. Draw your own conclusion ...
Train tickets to Oxford (from London) are half the price of those to Didcot. Draw your own conclusion ...
Train tickets to Oxford (from London) are half the price of those to Didcot. Draw your own conclusion ...I've not checked lately, but if travelling from Reading to Bristol or Swansea, it used to be significantly cheaper to buy a ticket from Paddington - which they wouldn't sell in Reading. Then they put in barriers at Reading, & you had to find some cheap dodge to get on the platform. Luckily the ticket allowed you to break your journey on the way back, so you had a valid excuse for getting off at Reading.
Just stopped @ Didcot on the return train back to Bristol. Gosh, was real glad when the train got moving again. What is it about Didcot that makes it a singularly unappealing place?Gotta be the people that live there.
Frere
;D oh chin!Train tickets to Oxford (from London) are half the price of those to Didcot. Draw your own conclusion ...I've not checked lately, but if travelling from Reading to Bristol or Swansea, it used to be significantly cheaper to buy a ticket from Paddington - which they wouldn't sell in Reading. Then they put in barriers at Reading, & you had to find some cheap dodge to get on the platform. Luckily the ticket allowed you to break your journey on the way back, so you had a valid excuse for getting off at Reading.
Indeed, those who decide rail ticket prices in this country have minds which are choodessny and zammechat, but in a bezoomy, grazhny & merzky way, not at all horrorshow.
I lived in Didcot for a while, sharing a house with Francis Bacon's second-favourite rent-boy's boyfriend's brother.It's not actually posted in the Tenuous Claims To Fame thread, but I think we have a winner.
We once visited a pub called The Sprat.
My train went through Didcot at about 100mph. Which was nice.
Nope, this was a Welsh train leaving at 0745, sorry!My train went through Didcot at about 100mph. Which was nice.
Oooh! You may have been on the same train as my David, who was en route to Cheltenham. (09.00 x PAD, Arr Swindon 09.54)
Nope, this was a Welsh train leaving at 0745, sorry!My train went through Didcot at about 100mph. Which was nice.
Oooh! You may have been on the same train as my David, who was en route to Cheltenham. (09.00 x PAD, Arr Swindon 09.54)
Today it is dull in Didcot.
For extra wildlife, we could always start a FNRttS from Didcot ....
or maybe not ....
I often travelled to Didcot by train. From Newport.
This is a cue for everyone else to indulge in schadenfreude,
There is a misty frost all round Didcot and the shivering sheep are welcoming the nuclear sunrise that has just appeared above it.The nuclear sunrise (which can usually be seen from England - not just Didcot - and some of Wales) operates outwith government policy, and has been implicated in the Global Warming scandal.
Anyone know if the fireworks display at Culham Park is any cop?They're pretty cycle-friendly there. I happen to know about the parallel event at Harwell/RAL - we worked out that if you don't drive it's free :thumbsup:
Also - can you get in by any means other than a car? All the prices I've seen for it are per-car :-\.
Yesterday, i had a business lunch in the pub in front of the railway station.I thought that place was just for fighting in.
It's had a swanky makeover recently - live train times display n everyfink.Yesterday, i had a business lunch in the pub in front of the railway station.I thought that place was just for fighting in.
(If you want a fight I can do some research ... )
There is a man shadow boxing in the waiting room between the platforms at Didcot.Is this a euphemism for wa**ing?
Is it Matt, practising?
Is it Matt, practising?;D
Didcot is dull
Didcot is dusky. Also someone with an iPad got off the train.Changing trains, perhaps.
Surely a mistake.
...Pah! I have to fight my neighbours for a connection after 5pm, there's so many routers around me. Perhaps I should get a pitbull ...
he doesn't have the internet - and even foolishly walking down the road with it, I couldn't pick up on anyone's connection - they all seemed to be happy kicking and shouting at their pitbulls whilst trying to remove weeds from the compleletely suspension dropped rusting heaps of Astras in the front gardens, and drinking/belching at the same time. Maybe the plague of screaching red kites will eventually start eating dogs and "humans"? Who knows what goes on down Kynaston Road ::-)
I spotted some interesting graffiti in Kynaston Road recently. Written 2ft high on a garden wall - so passers-by could clearly read it, but the neighbour would have to walk round (if you see what I mean):
- Dog Killer Lives Here -
!
[
I spotted some interesting graffiti in Kynaston Road recently. Written 2ft high on a garden wall - so passers-by could clearly read it, but the neighbour would have to walk round (if you see what I mean):
- Dog Killer Lives Here -
!
Didcot is dusky. Also someone with an iPad got off the train.
Surely a mistake.
Apparently the parking spaces at the station aren't big enough for 4x4 cars resulting in fines for motorists who 'overlap' into the neighbouring spaceQuite right too :demon:
At Didcot’s all-boys St Birinus School, which last year had 1,229 pupils, there were 348 suspensions – about one for every four pupils. That made it the highest ratio of suspensions to pupils in the county.
...
In the last academic year, there were 3,471 county suspensions compared to 3,183 in 2009/10.
Didcot is dusky. Also someone with an iPad got off the train.
Surely a mistake.
And equally hard to use for a Didcotian.Didcot is dusky. Also someone with an iPad got off the train.
Surely a mistake.
Sure it wasn't an 'Etch-a-Sketch'? Hard to tell in the dullness of a Didcot evening ....
Whaddya mean? It's one of the best Bridges over the Thames, and... you dissing Sami's kebabs? But as for Tories councillor's - I didn't vote for them... ;)
Just thought Didcot would like to know that Abingdon may soon be going up in the world...
http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/news/hsabingdonnews/9376401.Bid_to_change_Abingdon___s_name/
;)
I may manage to escape the didcot blackhole as the signal problems have been downgraded to temporary problems.
I may manage to escape the didcot blackhole as the signal problems have been downgraded to temporary problems.If you hear a clawing noise under the floor, it's the chuds and Morlocks breaking in. Don't worry; they're not keen on foreign food.
I may manage to escape the didcot blackhole as the signal problems have been downgraded to temporary problems.
But as you approach its Schwarzchild horizon you'll experience relativistic time dilation, so those temporary problems will last all eternity. You're trapped. For ever.
By the look in their eyes and their chippy demeanour there's something big going down in Didcot today.
(http://www.alfiecat.co.uk/yetacf/didcot_sings.jpg)
We saw a steam engine at Paddington, headed for Shrewsbury. A Cathedral Class
North of the Goring Gap and south of Oxford, Oxfordshire opens out into a broad plain, overlooked from the south and east by the Berkshire Downs and the Chiltern Hills. In the midst of this plain, Didcot stands out because of its huge coal-fired electricity generating plant, which dominates the skyline.
Didcot grew up because it lies at the point where the Great Western Railway's line north to Oxford and Birmingham branches off from the main line from London to Bristol and Cardiff. Since then a large military depot, now replaced by a business park, and the power station, have added to the economy.
If the above makes you think that Didcot sounds like an inappropriate destination for a tourist, you would probably be right.
If the above makes you think that Didcot sounds like an inappropriate destination for a tourist, you would probably be right.
On radio4 now:
Airstrike on Abingdon retail park. Harsh but fair.
[Listen Against]
Didcot is largely dull, grey and gloomy today.Today is largely dull, grey and gloomy. As usual, there's nothing special about Didcot. ;D
Since Jaded's last jaded post:At least there's something Virgin in Didcot :-\
- I rode on 6 miles of virgin snow
Since Jaded's last jaded post:Behind the bar of the Indian Dream doesn't count, Matt.
- I saw a kingfisher (yes in Didcot)
Dull and grey, again, I'm afraid.ITYM Einsatzkommandos.
Although the Daily Mail building is nicely lit up and full of diligent worker bees.
Bright blue skies currently (hard to believe, but I swear it's true).
As a result, the steam trains and their cloud trail are a particularly stunning sight. :)
very dull and grey. You didn't really expect anything else did you?Could you please warn us in future of the next time you're passing through. A week of dry weather, and you buggered it all up this morning. >:(
Even the Wittenham Clumps have gone all gloomy in support.
Was there yesterday for five minutes. Saw someone get arrested.;D
Ssshh! Don't tell mattc!It's ok, we tiptoed through and we are now enjoying the wonders of Swindon :D
Before this thread I had never realised that Didcot was the epicentre of the UK. :POnly for those with the aiming controls of Nuclear weapons ....
I've just broken my Didcot virginity. It was quick and dirty but it's done now.;D
Did this involve mattc's favourite bus shelter and a Truflo hpX?What happens on the ride stays on the ride.
;D
I'm sure Charlotte has moved her stuff out onto the front lawn already.
I saw Didcot in the distance last night, while cycling up Catsbrain Hill in the twilight. It looked wet.There's really a hill called Catsbrain? That rivals Whipass Hill (Beaconsfield) for silliness.
Woodcote, S. Oxfordshire.I saw Didcot in the distance last night, while cycling up Catsbrain Hill in the twilight. It looked wet.There's really a hill called Catsbrain? That rivals Whipass Hill (Beaconsfield) for silliness.
Are you sure that's the name of the road? It appears to bisect "Catsbrain Hill" and "Mile End Hill", and I don't recall any signs for either when cycling up there. Of course I'm just reading the map - your local knowledge will trump that.Woodcote, S. Oxfordshire.I saw Didcot in the distance last night, while cycling up Catsbrain Hill in the twilight. It looked wet.There's really a hill called Catsbrain? That rivals Whipass Hill (Beaconsfield) for silliness.
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf? (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=462500&y=183500&z=120&sv=catsbrain+hill&st=3&tl=Map+of+Catsbrain+Hill,+Oxfordshire+&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf)
I didn't say it was the name of the road (& I don't think it is), but I've often heard the hill that the road runs down (or) up called by that name, for example when it's been used for freewheeling competitions.Sorry, I didn't phrase that very well!
As for looking behind - well, I've been down it often enough to know it's worth looking over my shoulder on the way up. Fine views.Clearly a man of taste! http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/503368
Didcot has banners up saying it is now 2012.Once a day, it is.
I got the time written on this piece of paper...
I may be popping my Didcot town centre* cherry this weekend, if my legs will carry me that far from Swindon without failing. I hope the Didcotonians of this parish will ensure clement weather.Unlike the rest of the town (except the train museum) ....
* Sadly not my overall Didcot virginity, which was taken last year with a mooch around the power station. Which was more interesting than I'd expected.
Didcot has banners up saying it is now 2012.That's a helpful service provided for travellers from further west.
Didcot has banners up saying it is now 2012.That's a helpful service provided for travellers from further west.
I may be popping my Didcot town centre* cherry this weekend, if my legs will carry me that far from Swindon without failing. I hope the Didcotonians of this parish will ensure clement weather.
* Sadly not my overall Didcot virginity, which was taken last year with a mooch around the power station. Which was more interesting than I'd expected.
David gave me a shiny Apple for my birthday; I see they pre-installed Didcot in it...
Where it's really happening this summer. (http://lockerz.com/s/228352278)
Events include:Oi! You'd be surprised just how hard that can be in a decent Sou-Westerley >:(
- ...
- Cooling tower abseiling
That reminds me - I rode through the village of your nameWhere my first known ancestor with my surname first appeared in records, when he married a local girl on 28th June 1697.
It has just rained in Didcot.That's because i was out on my bike - somewhere dry. It's all carefully planned, you know; Brunel's legacy etc etc ...
So, it's off to McDonalds, then...
for all 16-year olds from Didcot who got their GCSE results this week
From the A420 just now, it looked as if Didcot was getting a right pasting from the thunderstorms. I'm surprised we still have electricity here.We've just had a 10 min outage here in N. Abbers.
From the A420 just now, it looked as if Didcot was getting a right pasting from the thunderstorms. I'm surprised we still have electricity here.We've just had a 10 min outage here in N. Abbers.
From the A420 just now, it looked as if Didcot was getting a right pasting from the thunderstorms. I'm surprised we still have electricity here.
Didcot dumps dump after dumping."Didcot, a dump, dumps dump after dumping"?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-19379116 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-19379116)
Didcot dumps dump after dumping."Didcot, a dump, dumps dump after dumping"?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-19379116 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-19379116)
The three words that strike terror into the hearts of children.
BACK
TO
DIDCOT
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ios-exclusive-secret-plan-for-fourrunway-airport-west-of-heathrow-8100772.html
Replace Didcot with an airport?
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ios-exclusive-secret-plan-for-fourrunway-airport-west-of-heathrow-8100772.htmlGreat idea. Flatten several mediaeval churches & upset some of the richest & best-connected nimbies, in one of the most crowded areas of the country, which also happens to mostly vote Tory but sometimes votes LD if annoyed enough.
Replace Didcot with an airport?
Didcot was sunny and full of trainspotters. We left in a hurry.Oh look, another
Sorry, but to be news, there would have to be no kite in sight.What if there was a kite in its guano-filled nest?
Local News:
I had an email about "Tai Chi and Racketball free Taster Sessions"
Doesn't sound very relaxing ...
... yeah - and it was rubbish. Covered in water. Parkrun cancelled.Didcoty Parks are too dodgy to run in .... we were gonna run too . ... if had known in advance would have joined the 0630 to 0830 Outdoor Traders bike ride with free cake :'(
Wouldn't happen in Didcot.
Make the most of the cooling towers while you can (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19634089)
They've decided to bury Didcot?!? :oWell they've been trying to cremate it for years ....
I was reminiscing with myself last night during my Wednesday evening wank with Clive - how many towns can boast a one armed coalman? Les Bailey not only lived in the coal yard (Manor Crescent), he loaded the bags and wagon, and delivered his load one handed into your coal hole. Not only that, he drove the lorry - no syncromesh "crash" gearbox and pre poncey power steering.
You think that shows class? This (http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10130086.My_tattoo_tribute_to_Didcot_power_plant/?ref=ms) shows class.
I was reminiscing with myself last night during my Wednesday evening wank with Clive - how many towns can boast a one armed coalman? Les Bailey not only lived in the coal yard (Manor Crescent), he loaded the bags and wagon, and delivered his load one handed into your coal hole. Not only that, he drove the lorry - no syncromesh "crash" gearbox and pre poncey power steering.How interesting.
I was reminiscing with myself last night during my Wednesday evening wank with Clive - how many towns can boast a one armed coalman? Les Bailey not only lived in the coal yard (Manor Crescent), he loaded the bags and wagon, and delivered his load one handed into your coal hole. Not only that, he drove the lorry - no syncromesh "crash" gearbox and pre poncey power steering.
I have discovered a use for Didcot.Watch the reaction of the ticket inspector. Absolutely none. It's become more or less standard procedure.
Monthly return from Southend Victoria to Bath Spa: £61.50. No Network railcard discount allowed.
Monthly return from Southend Victoria to Didcot Parkway with Network Railcard discount: £28.80
Didcot to Bath Spa, advance single: £4.
Saving: £24.70.
...during my Wednesday evening wank
Just a run of the mill Wednesday nine o'clock wank?
I think I know: it's so that the reasonable person can be entrapped into paying more for their ticket than they should.
I have discovered a use for Didcot.
Monthly return from Southend Victoria to Bath Spa: £61.50. No Network railcard discount allowed.
Monthly return from Southend Victoria to Didcot Parkway with Network Railcard discount: £28.80
Didcot to Bath Spa, advance single: £4.
Saving: £24.70.
The above is Plan B. Plan A is to purchase single tickets from Southend Victoria to Bath Spa for £12.50 but they haven't been issued yet for the date I want to travel.
Are you sure it's not toxic fly ash?
Carmageddon in this area, and around Abingdon/Wantage etc. A34 closed Northbound due to 5 vehicle crash & beer can spill. I drove in today - and am sitting it out at work waiting for A34 to open and roads to clear.
Sounded as though the accident was at the end of the Milton/Didcot N'thbd A34 slip road. I wonder why Highways don't modify the closed off slip road (https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=51.635575,-1.316096&spn=0.001547,0.004128&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=51.635505,-1.316121&panoid=ng3n8TuyOaRNWWWZH8qebw&cbp=12,329.14,,0,5.09) between Drayton and Stevevnton so it could be used when needed.
Didcot was shut this evening.
There are quite a lot near the seaside .....
But think about it madcow - how many houses give a 360' field of vision? :)
Riding home last night we had a stunning full moon lighting the drying roads.
I don't think I've see a full moon over the power station like that before, it was like a homing beacon for the last 15-20 miles. The water vapour looked rather splendid in the moonlight.
One of my better cycling moments, especially after 120 miles.
[Can't comment on what was shut, sorry.]
When I got back to my car there last night I had a flat tyre :(
A small raptor is circling, menacingly, over Didcot.Are you sure it wasn't just far away? It was probably a Fell Beast that escaped from Mordor.
It was dark and mildly moist as I pushed-on alone into the bustery headwind, past cooling towers and Daily Mail building.
Chavs yelled abuse from cars and street corners.
The normality that is Didcot
Didcot.
It's still here.
Didcot has that effect!It was dark and mildly moist as I pushed-on alone into the bustery headwind, past cooling towers and Daily Mail building.
Chavs yelled abuse from cars and street corners.
The normality that is Didcot
Almost poetic... ;)
It was dark and mildly moist as I pushed-onOnly mildly?
Hard to imagine ... but true.It was dark and mildly moist as I pushed-onOnly mildly?
I noticed an increased odour riding home yesterday lunchtime.
Given that it was stronger OUT IN THE FIELDS than back IN TOWN, I feel safe to assume it was agricultural in origin.
Maybe farms never stink in other parts of the country, who knows ... ;)
a bollocking from Buffy BalcombeI hope I'm not proved right :(
I've been rather enjoying your reminiscences so far, but I'm beginning to smell a rat:a bollocking from Buffy BalcombeI hope I'm not proved right :(
I noticed an increased odour riding home yesterday lunchtime.As is normal between Mar-Jun, our village smells of shit. There is a mountain of it in Liddington.
Given that it was stronger OUT IN THE FIELDS than back IN TOWN, I feel safe to assume it was agricultural in origin.
Maybe farms never stink in other parts of the country, who knows ... ;)
I never noticed any abnormally smelly smells when I lived in Didcot.
I never noticed any abnormally smelly smells when I lived in Didcot.
One man's abnormal . . . . .
Caernarfon IS weird compared to Didcot ;D
It's an international problem; Caernarfon often smells of shit and, sometimes, of piss.
I never noticed any abnormally smelly smells when I lived in Didcot.
Why did I leave?
Why did I leave?
Like most of us - you HAD too?
Has the power station been turned? If so, has it caused the death of this thread?
Has the power station been turned off? If so, has it caused the death of this thread?
Has the power station been turned off? If so, has it caused the death of this thread?
Only Didcot A, the coal-fired unit. Didcot B is a gas-fired generator and should be going strong.
Are they mothballing it or demolishing it? I can imagine, at the first sign of the lights going out, everyone screaming at the Govt to do something and them remembering that we are sitting on 250 years' supply of coal. Face it, someone's going to burn it one day, and it pales into insignificance compared to what China is doing :demon:Has the power station been turned off? If so, has it caused the death of this thread?
Only Didcot A, the coal-fired unit. Didcot B is a gas-fired generator and should be going strong.
I am vaguely hopeful that the gubbinment's recently announced subsidies for biofuels conversions might mean that we could see a return to both units firing sometime in the future. Long shot, though.
(disclaimer: while I do work in the 'biz', nobody tells me nothing. this is purely conjecture from what I've seen on telly.)
Are they mothballing it or demolishing it? I can imagine, at the first sign of the lights going out, everyone screaming at the Govt to do something and them remembering that we are sitting on 250 years' supply of coal. Face it, someone's going to burn it one day, and it pales into insignificance compared to what China is doing :demon:Has the power station been turned off? If so, has it caused the death of this thread?
Only Didcot A, the coal-fired unit. Didcot B is a gas-fired generator and should be going strong.
I am vaguely hopeful that the gubbinment's recently announced subsidies for biofuels conversions might mean that we could see a return to both units firing sometime in the future. Long shot, though.
(disclaimer: while I do work in the 'biz', nobody tells me nothing. this is purely conjecture from what I've seen on telly.)
Mrs Z is from Bedford :facepalm:Respect ....
I am obliged to Swindon's Jack FM for this one.
http://www.fleet-people.co.uk/Fleet-sexiest-place-UK/story-15635977-detail/story.html
:o
combining the hollow stare of an Audaxer with a warm whiff of humanity.Are you sure it wasn't the warm whiff of digested Ginster's?
Waitrose? Busted, you class traitor ;DThat's a bit harsh, I don't know whether he entered the store or was using the car-park to avoid having to use the parallel cycle path ....
was delivering daughter #2 for her Waitrose shift ....She works there?!?
was delivering daughter #2 for her Waitrose shift ....She works there?!?
Oh dear, there could be an embarassing story here. Perhaps not for telling online ...
A Partnership company.Agreed ... we'll be expecting son #1 to work there too. We need the discount!
They could do a lot worse.
Swindon has no Waitrose, but you probably guessed that.
Swindon has no Waitrose, but you probably guessed that.
Gosh! How does one manage?
I used to live in Didcot, am Traditional Working Class, score 12 on the Pikey Scale and buy food from Waitrose.
I used to live in Didcot, am Traditional Working Class, score 12 on the Pikey Scale and buy food from Waitrose.
That's not a proper fully grown pimped up Waitrose in Menai Bridge ;D
I was born in Didcot, was working class and used to go to the cinema in Marlborough before it became a Waitrose :smug:
Swindon has no Waitrose, but you probably guessed that.
Actually neither does Oxford... guess JLP thought Abingdon would suffice around here. :)
http://www.kevinlaurence.net/googlemaps/waitrose.html
[SHUDDER]
Actually neither does Oxford... guess JLP thought Abingdon would suffice around here. :)
http://www.kevinlaurence.net/googlemaps/waitrose.html
We slum it with everyone else in the Abingdon Tesco. :)
That map is quite funny - Didcot is a waitrose-free zone at the centre of a cross of local stores!Swindon has no Waitrose, but you probably guessed that.
Actually neither does Oxford... guess JLP thought Abingdon would suffice around here. :)
http://www.kevinlaurence.net/googlemaps/waitrose.html
Can't see a Wantage thread taking off somehow, nor a Wallingford. Didcot deserves!Harwell must feel like someone who's woken up in bed with an obese and rather minging stranger and can't think how to get rid of them.
Harwell must feel like someone who's woken up in bed with an obese and rather minging stranger and can't think how to get rid of them.
It was pointed out to me that the A34 does no such thing - it actually cuts thru the East of Harwell. I suppose he was technically right ...
Ghastly, isn't it?Can't see a Wantage thread taking off somehow, nor a Wallingford. Didcot deserves!Harwell must feel like someone who's woken up in bed with an obese and rather minging stranger and can't think how to get rid of them.
Ghastly, isn't it?
I was meant to be passing through Didcot today, but my bowels exploded.
Didcot. Getting bigger. Getting better.
It appears that Cow Lane bridge wasn't flooded for once,Not quite flooded, but it was pretty wet on Sunday morning. (the day I chose for my first ride sans guards :facepalm: )
It appears that Cow Lane bridge wasn't flooded for once
It appears that Cow Lane bridge wasn't flooded for once
Once upon a flood, I stalled a standard powder bluey green (light grey roof?) Farina Austin A40* (the original split hatch, both ways) with modified matte black bonnet (which I thought was artistic as I painted it myself with my dad's distemper brush and blackboard paint - the texture was so pre awesome (for Didcot) and rather flaky - might also go some way to explaining why I wasn't cut out for a Graphic Design degree course and thrown out of Maidenhead Art College a year later, I digress?), subsequently wet the carpets and flooded the footwells, under Cow Lane bridge thus creating an embarrassing blockage. Fortunately the pig farmer in his Fordson or whatever tractors were called, who lived and farmed the solely agri smelly land north of the bridge (long pre the concrete brick effect Legoland housing "development"), mechanically "pushed" my motor back to the saftey of the Didcot side so he could carry on to the Station Hotel for his lunchtime pint.
*in those days every car had "personalised" number plates - it was PPA 119 - probably quite a sad example for which some dumb modernist person from anytown might now pay money for and treasure??
Have I told the story of the policeman on his bicycle chasing said car driven by moi with broken exhaust (ran over a brick that fell from Marsh Bridge whilst driving through/underneath (un/dis/non flooded) on way to very temporary (thankfully) job with Rupert Murdoch on Headington Hill in Oxford - but decided to return home cos the noise was VERY VERY loud - sweaty red faced navy serge silver button uniformed helmeted fat fuzz fuck with a worn out whistle tried to catch me all the way back to the end of Glebe Road, where I got nabbed and my mam lost it with him and no charges were brought?
Les Mis flash mob in Sainsburys this morning.Can anyone really tell the difference between Paris communards and Didcot pikeys, though?
Apparently noone pelted them with rotten fruit.
Do they even have fruit in Didcot?
Just seen an extraordinary sight. A Hen Party getting off the train at Didcot.Didcot is probably a nice venue for your hen party, if you live in Slough. Or Helmand Province.
On second thoughts, they might have been to Ascott.
The disappointment must rank with taking a train to a concentration camp and finding it shut.
The Daily Mail is printed there. What more do you want?
The down platform has a solitary conifer in a pot. It must be the saddest tree in the whole world
It must be the saddest tree in the whole world.I've heard the platform is down, too.
Even in my 50s/60s/70s Didcot living days, I never saw anyone on the mainline down platform. Who would want to got Swindon? Different county altogetherDon't cross the genes!
Didcot got a mention at the end of the 'Now Show' .... that's how low Didcot has become ....
According to Wikipedia, one of the contestants in The Great British Bake-Off comes from Didcot.The Empress Palpatine? She's way too posh for Didcot - she probably lives in Sutton Courtenay.
According to Wikipedia, one of the contestants in The Great British Bake-Off comes from Didcot.The Empress Palpatine? She's way too posh for Didcot - she probably lives in Sutton Courtenay.
According to Wikipedia, one of the contestants in The Great British Bake-Off comes from Didcot.The Empress Palpatine? She's way too posh for Didcot - she probably lives in Sutton Courtenay.
The photo accompanying the article surely qualifies it for Little Eye on the Provinces!Oh yes, good spot. It's such a non-picture that I didn't even notice it the first time.
Second transformer moved last night apparently...Class comments of course, it's all the fault of sat nav.
Two short videos of the 1st one on here... http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/VIDEO-Giant-transformer-passes-Bristol-area/story-20027297-detail/story.html
Second transformer moved last night apparently...Class comments of course, it's all the fault of sat nav.
Two short videos of the 1st one on here... http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/VIDEO-Giant-transformer-passes-Bristol-area/story-20027297-detail/story.html
It has also been advertised that this was going to happen on the route for weeks and weeks. Still, it's not their fault they didn't plan their journey properly, it's Tom Toms.Signage was rather random, it seems. I rode thru the power station roundabout every day last week (and 3 hours before the show); not a single warning sign!
Going to Germany - I wonder what they're doing with it there?
I spotted Didcot from a safe distance on the M40 this afternoon.
OK then Roger, so when did you start collecting moths?Bill Wyman has been keeping a journal since about 1948, but
Have you seen the size of the proposed Valley Park development to the West of Didcot, next to the new Gt Westn Park estate? :o Developer's dream scenario.
(pdf) http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2014%20Local%20Plan%20leaflet.pdf
Preferably one that doesn't use meat from domestic animals and isn't a Johnny no-stars for food hygiene?If you can't ask nicely ...
Dil Raj in Abingdon is the best curry house in Oxfordshire (probably).
Dil Raj in Abingdon is the best curry house in Oxfordshire (probably).
I know Abingdon would LIKE to be called part of Didcot, but it ain't yet ;D
Word has it that in some of the restaurants in Didcot the service is poor atm following this...
http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/news/11062812.Illegal_workers_held_after_restaurant_raids/?ref=mr
4mls from Didcot (in Long Wittenham) is http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g504077-d2008553-Reviews-The_Vine_and_Spice-Abingdon_Oxfordshire_England.html
Supposed to be the best the best curry house in the Vale... described as being in Abingdon (though nearer to Didcot. ;)). Slightly on the pricey side though. Food Hygiene R of 5/5.
Went to the pub in Steventon in the end. Picked the rougher one of the two next door to each other.You live a dangerous life ...
Went to the pub in Steventon in the end. Picked the rougher one of the two next door to each other.
You say that like it's a bad thing!Went to the pub in Steventon in the end. Picked the rougher one of the two next door to each other.
.... somewhat souless, car park-surrounded, opposite-the-station, Prince of Wales in Didcot, so they can get ratted and stagger home...
You say that like it's a bad thing!Went to the pub in Steventon in the end. Picked the rougher one of the two next door to each other.
.... somewhat souless, car park-surrounded, opposite-the-station, Prince of Wales in Didcot, so they can get ratted and stagger home...
Peasants!You say that like it's a bad thing!Went to the pub in Steventon in the end. Picked the rougher one of the two next door to each other.
.... somewhat souless, car park-surrounded, opposite-the-station, Prince of Wales in Didcot, so they can get ratted and stagger home...
I somehow seem to be driving, and on one half a pint, and orange juice... ;) This last time they were chucking Jager-bomb plastic containers at each other... :P
I shall be in Harwell (which Apple Maps considers to be part of Didcot) this weekend.
Are there any precautions (apart from not going) I should take?
Acksherly ...I shall be in Harwell (which Apple Maps considers to be part of Didcot) this weekend.
Are there any precautions (apart from not going) I should take?
You should be OK, as Harwell's the right side of the A34, other than that from looking out of the window I'd suggest bringing a liferaft.
I shall be in Harwell (which Apple Maps considers to be part of Didcot) this weekend.
Are there any precautions (apart from not going) I should take?
Didcot was dull and grey both times yesterday.... until now ....
So I didn't comment.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-27979230 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-27979230)
I wondered about something like that, butYes, but the other 3 will come down pretty soon. That was the plan, anyway.
it is only three of the 6 towers (I think) and
I'll be in Glasgow
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-27979230 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-27979230)
Do we need a forum ride / camping weekend?
But the firm refused to give an exact time, although dawn will be at 5.17am on that day.
Spokeswoman Kelly Brown said: “[We] do not want thousands of people turning up to watch the towers come down (even though this may happen) so it is hoped that by not announcing the time this could help.
I like this idea.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-27979230 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-27979230)
Do we need a forum ride / camping weekend?
How about a bring-your-own-breakfast sunrise ride to Wittenham clumps (http://binged.it/UJ57X2), and to see the towers come down? A 'Didcot arrow'? ;) *
Looking to the power station. From a ride I did with mini-ao: more here (https://www.flickr.com/photos/25983110@N05/sets/72157645348501912/)
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2922/14317587898_c8939bd346_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/nPco4L)P1220577 (https://flic.kr/p/nPco4L) by ao (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr
Looking at the sunrise:
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5534/14500793331_a9f06a2c68_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/o6omE8)P1220575-HDR (https://flic.kr/p/o6omE8) by ao (https://www.flickr.com/people//), on Flickr
*unfortunately I won't be around.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-27979230 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-27979230)Oh no! Another icon of my 70s childhood is brought low.
.... Nor does it yet have the piss-stains, the mystery human-or-animal turd, the discarded cans of Special Brew, or the two bored teens with skateboards. Give it time.
I was in Didcot yesterday. I'm pleased to see they're upgrading the front of the station to one of those ubiquitous and grim paved spaces that seem especially keen to associate themselves with train station frontages. Every town and city needs one. Rumours has it that they ship the slabs from Limbo, which explains the soul-sapping desolation of such spaces. It's not complete, of course. Half the vegetation in the planters needs to die, and the other half needs to look like it's planning to do so quite soon. There's no harvest of crisp papers and chocolate bar wrappers in the beds. Nor does it yet have the piss-stains, the mystery human-or-animal turd, the discarded cans of Special Brew, or the two bored teens with skateboards. Give it time.
.... Nor does it yet have the piss-stains, the mystery human-or-animal turd, the discarded cans of Special Brew, or the two bored teens with skateboards. Give it time.
You obviously weren't paying attention or didn't have cause to use the car park. There were 2 fine specimens on the footpath in the morning which, come evening, had been smeared over the path and 'matured' quite impressively.
I wouldn't normally comment but such a gross lack of observation couldn't be allowed to go un-noticed. ;D
My slightly kinky friend from Harwell thinks they should turn the disused towers into an adult play centre. However, when pressed she did clarify that this was just going to be slides, ball pools and the like, not manacles and slings.Ball pools? To keep them moist? ???
Didcot will never be the same again...Too right - what aspect will you lot be rude about now?
Didcot will never be the same again...Too right - what aspect will you lot be rude about now?
;)
"I was out with my six-year old son this weekend watching the demolition of the Didcot power station, and he asked me, "Dad, did Jesus blow up cooling towers?". I thought about this for a moment and said "Well, yes son, in a way he did..."Snort!
My vicar friend does an excellent parody of this standard Thought For The Day template which he can fit to any occasion. He was actually taught how to do this at Vicar School.
BBC News are reporting that Didcot B power station is apparently on fire. Pic from Twitter (https://twitter.com/MarcusM77/status/523929692609716224):
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0VfR2AIUAEWblh.jpg)
Hope everyone there is OK.
And there goes all the planning for the power balance this winter. We had better hope for a mild one, with a substantial number of nuclear reactors off line for safety inspections / remedial work they have been saying for a while the power balance could be tight.
I see that Teethgrinder's been doing laps of Didcot today. :D
"Didcot - Event Horizon" is what it tihnk it said.
I was in Didcot today for the first time in a while. I am sure there used to be more chimneys. In other news, someone has nicked one from Battersea too.
I was in Didcot today for the first time in a while. I am sure there used to be more chimneys. In other news, someone has nicked one from Battersea too.10/10 for observation!
BBC 2 is currently showing a program on the demolition of the cooling towers.
Partner went through Didcot Station around 6pm last Saturday but was ensconced a English Music Festival concert when bodies were discovered.Was the concert in Dorchester?
Partner went through Didcot Station around 6pm last Saturday but was ensconced a English Music Festival concert when bodies were discovered.Was the concert in Dorchester?
No worries, drove through there last Thursday evening and saw the BBC Concert Orchestra truck parked-up outside the Abbey and lots of 'Concert goers' walking through Dorchester in their summer best :-)Partner went through Didcot Station around 6pm last Saturday but was ensconced a English Music Festival concert when bodies were discovered.Was the concert in Dorchester?
I think it was in the Abbey at Dorchester on Thames. Venues for the Festival shuttle between Dorchester Abbey, the Silk Hall at Radley College and the church at Sutton Courtenay. I could check.
No worries, drove through there last Thursday evening and saw the BBC Concert Orchestra truck parked-up outside the Abbey and lots of 'Concert goers' walking through Dorchester in their summer best :-)Partner went through Didcot Station around 6pm last Saturday but was ensconced a English Music Festival concert when bodies were discovered.Was the concert in Dorchester?
I think it was in the Abbey at Dorchester on Thames. Venues for the Festival shuttle between Dorchester Abbey, the Silk Hall at Radley College and the church at Sutton Courtenay. I could check.
I've noticed that, although Didcot no longer needs coal deliveries, there are still a load of yacf's favourite corrugated Canadian creations, the Class 66 locomotives, hanging around the station. Do they just socialise there, or are they confused? I need to know.
Just passing thriugh. Saw 66 001. Very exciting.That's a lot of trains .....
Not as smelly as Slough.
Wot, the sort we experienced on a school trip to Picketts Lock?
That would be because Slough STW is adjacent to the Thames and M4 south of the town. The town itself is further north and therefore less fragrant with the Mars factories providing scents of Chocolate, Pet Food or Menthol depending on which plant you are at.Wot, the sort we experienced on a school trip to Picketts Lock?
Slough is easily detectable from the M4 by scent alone, and not in the good way of for e.g. Banbury from the M40.
Isn't there a strong whiff ofwarm cashdead pig from Eton College?
OK local peeps - don't forget about responding to this:
Household waste recycling centre strategy
Consultation on proposed changes to household waste recycling centres in Oxfordshire
Ends: 05 Oct 2015
https://consultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk/consult.ti/HWRCstrategy/consultationHome
Proposed reduction from 7 centres to 3 or 4, for whole of Oxfordshire.
...to free trapped residents.
If the demo had been planned then yes, but as this was unplanned then they may not have finished removing all the nasty stuff yet
It seems Didcot will be the final resting place of the beached Sperm Whales ....Landfill? Tow 'em out to sea to feed fish, etc.! It's what happens to whales when they die at sea, as most do. It's natural & ecologically sound.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/27/contractors-remove-dead-whales-skegness-beach
Yet another claim to fame for the Wiki page ....
I assume it was Didcot that could be seen in the background as TV's Professor B Cox ponced around Wytham Woods in his most recent televisual extravaganza.
I assume it was Didcot that could be seen in the background as TV's Professor B Cox ponced around Wytham Woods in his most recent televisual extravaganza.Didcot also on the Trainspotting prog. (so twice in one night?? Not sure ... ) I havent actually wattched either yet!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-36803087
Drove through Didcot at lunch. The Didcot Labour Club building is boarded up and in a bad way ...
I never realised that Didcot was a hotbed of sporting duplicity: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-37057920
Spent millions on reshaping it into a hamburger - Oxfordshire council seem to like them. Once the work was completed traffic flows nearly as well as it used to before the "improvements".
The station appears to be flooded.A bit further away, we had torrential downpours, flashes crashes & bangs about 6pm yesterday & for a couple of spells in the early hours, water running in the roads, & lots of rumbling in the distance that went on for hours . . .
10 miles away we hardly had a drop
But there's nothing else to do in Didcot, so they bred and bred.
The small town, situated 10 miles south of Oxford and known for its railway museums and power stations – one of which collapsed last year – was found to be the median across 11 key metrics, including age distribution, ethnicity, employment type and political engagement.
Didcot is the acme of normality. (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/englands-most-normal-town-didcot-oxfordshire-a7654506.html)Swindon used to be the most average town in Britain but, with a bit of effort, we have managed to sink lower into scratterdom. We still haven't quite got over winning the SW teenage pregnancy crown for a year, then losing it back to Bristol >:(QuoteThe small town, situated 10 miles south of Oxford and known for its railway museums and power stations – one of which collapsed last year – was found to be the median across 11 key metrics, including age distribution, ethnicity, employment type and political engagement.
Jolly OCC start charging for each item of 'DIY waste' from 1st Oct. https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/charges-non-household-waste
Apparently this includes timber - fence/shed etc, which they recycle...
Whereas I did notice Didcot a couple of weeks ago as I rode toward Wantage over the Downs, precisely because half its Wonder of the World is still there.
As for Cholsey, I've not been able to find out whether it's "kolsey" or "tcholsey" IYSWIM.
1957? 27 Lynmouth Road, newly built. Must have been hot - most of the neighbours' galvanised Crittal windows are open? Asbestos drainpipe. Unable to afford a lawnmower.The house I was born in had windows just like that.
Perhaps I was the first person to figure out whether black socks and white shoes were a goer on a bike?
(https://forum.cyclinguk.org/download/file.php?id=48276&mode=view)
Is on Channel 4 news now.Not again :facepalm: Was this because of rogerzilla's new shop, or has another building collapsed?
There MUST be trainspotting books in Didcot Library.
Don't be silly. They wanted the good rail connections to Oxford, Bristol and Londinium.
I learned that Didcot is the home to one of the world's most powerful lasers.
Right; you're first on the list >:(I learned that Didcot is the home to one of the world's most powerful lasers.
More Chilton than Didcot... ;)
I learned that Didcot is the home to one of the world's most powerful lasers.I had the "brown laser" after a kebab from that place at the Sainsbury's end of The Broadway.
Rutherford Appleton? I had a tour round a plasma creating laser that filled an entire building some years ago. Probably the one.I learned that Didcot is the home to one of the world's most powerful lasers.
More Chilton than Didcot... ;)
;DI learned that Didcot is the home to one of the world's most powerful lasers.I had the "brown laser" after a kebab from that place at the Sainsbury's end of The Broadway.
Didcot may get a mention...Was it worth watching?
Wed BBC2 9pm
BBC Two - The New Builds Are Coming: Battle in the Countryside
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09qmrqs
This series heads into Oxfordshire, one of our most expensive counties, to see if building estates across the British countryside is a solution to the UK's broken housing market.
...but it's nowhere near Mordor!
Didcot - described as England's most normal town:o
I can see clearly (in Didcot) now the rain has gone. It's lovely and sunny.
(Sadly I've just read the first ridiculous school helmet rule story in the local rag. Might become a post elsewhere .....)
To frequenters of Didcot Parkway, if driving, where on earth does one do a <1min drop-off of a passenger off at the station ??? The main entrance is no entry to cars, & is surrounded by carparks... and probably festooned with ANPR.Maybe in one of the carparks? plenty of space <1min walk from the entrance.
Just to the West of the station is the quick drop off point so just before the main station entrance. It’s also shared with taxis.ITYM "Didcot appears not to have technology more advanced than an abandoned supermarket trolley."
Additionally thewaste groundcar parks opposite the station either side of the pub could be used and neither one appears to have any ANPR or even technology more advanced than an abandoned supermarket trolley.
Didcot has become Hollywood??!!
https://reportglobalnews.com/2018/11/judge-dredd-publisher-rebellion-to-open-oxfordshire-film-studio/
Wow!
At least something useful has come out of the Daily Mail.
Didcot has become Hollywood??!!
https://reportglobalnews.com/2018/11/judge-dredd-publisher-rebellion-to-open-oxfordshire-film-studio/
Wow!
At least something useful has come out of the Daily Mail.
Didcot has become Hollywood??!!
https://reportglobalnews.com/2018/11/judge-dredd-publisher-rebellion-to-open-oxfordshire-film-studio/
Wow!
At least something useful has come out of the Daily Mail.
Does that mean the bit outside the studio shall henceforth be known as "the Cursed Earth", populated only by mutants?
...The bile moved to Thurrock, or the film industry did??
More worryingly, that leaves a dangerous concentration of Bile Duct unaccounted for...
ETA: It moved to Thurrock, apparently. Makes sense.
...The bile moved to Thurrock, or the film industry did??
More worryingly, that leaves a dangerous concentration of Bile Duct unaccounted for...
ETA: It moved to Thurrock, apparently. Makes sense.
(Hopefully the former, cos I don't give a monkeys about Thurrock. They can start their own thread! )
I MIGHT pop-up to the Clumps for these ones - it's a very scenic spot, but quite a way further from the towers. Will monitor the forecast ...
I’m about 10 miles from Didcot.
Just as the towers went down our electricity went off.
I’m about 10 miles from Didcot.Sorry about that.
Just as the towers went down our electricity went off.
Did the dust cloud nucleate the rain fall?That's a lovely idea! But I'd say the wind direction was wrong (i.e. the dust blew rapidly to the NE, and the rain front came from a fairly standard SW direction). Could be wrong though!
Wow. Whodathunk. Explode down mega cooling towers x3 and there might be a bit of flying debris.
Didcot need more leisure facilities.. to draw people in.. mega car boot-site or Crazy golf paradise.
The final (and tallest) bit is due for de-Erection on Sunday morning 7-9am.I read that as 're-erection'. Which was puzzling.
I would want a "science bridge" to be made from carbon nanotubes, or at least to be suspended by supercooled electromagnets.It's OK RZ, you can keep going the long way round if you want :)
It'll probably just be a ferroconcrete slab, though >:(
I have just been for a walk and there were a total of 8 cars spread across the 4 car parks (total capacity 2000+) at Didcot Parkway
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-47316027Brilliant.
I can't believe we missed this peach on Rightmove.
Apparently there's a new bike parking facility at Didcot station and it's, gasp, a building!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50586312832_d4e036963b_k.jpg)
(Not sure who took the photo)
POLICE are 'culling' the bike racks at Oxford and Didcot train stations after commuters 'abandoned' their bikes.https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19017537.police-will-remove-abandoned-bikes-oxford-didcot-stations
In a now-deleted tweet, Oxfordshire's British Transport Police warned cyclists that they have until February 22 to remove their bikes.
Via a local news story bemoaning Didcot's inclusion in this year's "ilivehere" top 50 Crap Towns.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-47316027Brilliant.
I can't believe we missed this peach on Rightmove.
Now: own up - how on earth did you find that. It's from Feb 2019!
Deli for bike thieves?
Petition to Didcot Town Council to build a mountain bike park:Have you seen our mountain, nikki?
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/didcot-mountain-bike-park
... like those Red Bull urban downhills in South America, though.
While I was taking the photo, the smell of dope was overwhelming.
And German army surplus shirts? Or was that more a 1980s thing? I always associate them with the smell of patchouli oil and joss sticks.While I was taking the photo, the smell of dope was overwhelming.
Some of us began that new stink circa 1970 whilst wearing the winter fashion of the day, RAF surplus greatcoats, on the bench opposite your current WHSmith pic - which was probabaly the International Stores then? (original WHS was further down The Broadway)
I saw the Oxfordshire Plain today, for the first time without the Didcot Power Station.
It was weird.
The tourist information poster outside the station has this mouth-watering attraction:Parking (free) spaces on Broadway? Aye right. Pic taken at 6am in 1982?
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51595788206_6bde8bf6ac_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mBkUgh)20211016_115926 (https://flic.kr/p/2mBkUgh) by rogerzilla (https://www.flickr.com/photos/41286375@N07/), on Flickr
While I was taking the photo, the smell of dope was overwhelming.
A nerd writes: I think that’s a Mark IV Golf, so post-1997 :DPhotoshopped over an Austin 1100. Ah, hang on - they needed to change the WHS sign from brown and orange, too.
There's still a plume from the gas-fired power station visible from 10-15 miles away. That uses fan-assisted cooling towers, which are much smaller than the natural convection, hyperboloid type. The latter are also half full of wooden slats to break up the water flow, which I suppose makes the material cost quite high.
(from a rather good Hagbourne Hill viewpoint)
Yes, NCN544 here (https://brouter.de/brouter-web/#map=18/51.58044/-1.28420/standard&pois=-1.283941,51.580327,NCN544%20view). Last time I was up there surveying Didcot & surrounds, I managed to put my shoe down into doggy-do, and spend the next bit towards Harwell using puddles to try and get it out from around the cleat :facepalm:Sorry about that. Didcot lagging behind rest of UK as usual: I love it when I escape to places with no dog turds.
I generally avoid anything marked NCN, for fear of it turning into an unsurfaced track or a quagmire.
Or take the NCN5 cycleway route round the power station site to Sutton Courtenay, then to Drayton to Steventon?Yes, that would be my advice!
That would be good. I have always wanted to see the famous DOG KILLER LIVES HERE of Didcot, too.Or take the NCN5 cycleway route round the power station site to Sutton Courtenay, then to Drayton to Steventon?Yes, that would be my advice!
There is also a delightful track between Steventon and Milton village, but if it's rained a lot it becomes a stream (but with a hard bed!). That avoids the Drayton-S'ton road, which ain't great.
Might be able to meet you for a beer Rog - or sneak a look at these mythical bikeworks on my doorstep!
Didcot was light and airy today, with a smattering of train spotters. By the look in their eyes and their chippy demeanour there's something big going down in Didcot today.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52072096107_5a97c81337_o.jpg)
If my memory serves me well - this postbox is outside the Post Office on the Broadway