Lübeck – Christmas Capital of Northern Germany.

Just returned from our fourth visit to Lübeck and its Xmas Market - A stroll around the Christmas fair area, which was first mentioned in 1648, is an absolute Must-Do for all Lübeck visitors. The market and its some 400 merchants offer toys and Christmas decoration, gingerbread, hot spiced wine and plenty of other things. Unlike the tourist markets elsewhere this is a genuine market patronised by German visitors from Northern Germany and is highly recommended.

See the site on:
http://www.luebecker-weihnachtsmarkt.de/en/die-maerkte.html

Or my article on:

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/08/lbeck-queen-of-hansa.html




The largest Christmas market in Lübeck can be found in the pedestrian zone of "Breite Straße" and behind the Town Hall on the market square "Kohlmarkt". For children Lübeck offers the famous "Fairytale Wood" where they can see sleeping Hänsel & Gretel and many other fairytale heroes. The market is located in the churchyard of St. Mary's Church.



Another Christmas market featuring a unique medieval ambience is located inside the Hospital of the Holy Spirit. It is one of the most famous Christmas fairs in Germany.


Craft Fair in the Heligen Geist Hospital

You can also visit the beautiful Christmas Craft Fair inside St. Peter's Church.

On the cold days there you can't beat a hot Eien Punsch - a sort of hot egg nogg which warms the pith of your stomach and miraculously heats up cold feet! Here is the recipe I was able to get.


Hot Egg Nog

Ingredients for a Hot Egg Nogg

• Brandy
• Dark Rum
• Sugar Syrup
• Egg
• Milk

Quantities for one drink:
• 1/2 oz Brandy
• 1/2 oz Dark Rum
• 1/2 oz Sugar Syrup
• 1 Egg
• 3 oz Boiling Milk

Blending Instructions:

• Blend all ingredients (except milk) until smooth and pour into a heat-proof goblet
• Add boiling milk, sprinkle with nutmeg and serve.

Hau' weg das Zeug!

Bertie Ahern and Poverty in Ireland.

Poor Bertie Ahern, the Irish Taoiseach, (Prime Minister) is living proof that in spite of the economic boom in Ireland “The Celtic Tiger” which has seen Ireland transformed in the past 20 years to the economy with the second highest per capita GDP (after Luxembourg) in Europe poverty remains a pressing issue.

The Bold Bertie (as he is known to his cronies) has always presented himself as an anorak clad Man of the People staying true to his roots in the local area of Drumcondra on Dublin’s Northside where he grew up and where his father was a humble handyman at a local college for 50 years. Indeed in the past he has contrasted himself with one of his predecessors, Charles Haughey, who lived in a palatial mansion by saying he was always content to live in his unprepossessing house in Drumcondra called “All Hallows” after the college where his father
worked.


All Hallows College, Drumcondra



Imagine then the public surprise at his testimony to the “McMahon Enquiry”, a tribunal of enquiry in Ireland chaired by a High Court Judge, into alleged political corruption in Ireland that when Minister of Finance in the early 1990’s he receive substantial donations in cash from “friends” who felt sorry for him after his marriage broke up and he was living in a 2 room flat above his constituency office.

Although few regard Mr Ahern as a corrupt politician, his performance at the tribunal has been widely described as confusing and more baffling than illuminating. His testimony, which was at variance with bank records, was characterised by vagueness and claims of memory lapses. His epic interrogation, the culmination of an inquiry which has gone on for more than seven years, was unsatisfactory for the tribunal and the Taoiseach himself.

It pitted Mr Ahern – once famously described as "the most skilful, the most devious and the most cunning of them all" – in a tense contest against the cream of the Dublin legal profession. In the witness box he made no damning admissions, but nor did he succeed in clarifying to general satisfaction a convincing narrative that might explain the transactions, which totalled £68,000. Mr Ahern stuck by his assertion that he had "done nothing improper... done no wrong and wronged no one."

But his performance was described as "evasive, bewildering and confusing". As one headline summed it up: "17 hours in witness box – still no answers". A newspaper poll found that only one in three voters believed his account.

That account, and the evidence of a number of other witnesses, provided fascinating glimpses of the financial arrangements of the man who in the early 1990s was Minister for Finance and who expected to become Prime Minister.

At that time, as part of a complicated house deal, an Irish businessman told of heaping about £28,000 in cash on a table in Mr Ahern's constituency office. Mr Ahern had accepted the money, had not counted it and had shown "no particular reaction", he said. Mr Ahern testified that the money was not for him, but to do up a house which the businessman would buy and he would rent.




Fagan's Pub Exterior


Fagan's Pub Interior

In another pub, The Beaumont Arms, the owner testified that he and some friends of Bertie felt sorry for him and gave him 16,500 euros as he was quietly minding his own business and having a pint in the pub (with his ministerial Mercedes and driver parked outside) because somebody in his position “should have a proper house to live in!”

On another occasion whilst enjoying a freebie trip to Manchester to see his favourite team, Manchester United, play at Old Trafford the company at a dinner in the Four Seasons Hotel astonished him with a spontaneous whip around of 5,000 pounds and poor Bertie testified he was lost for words when this was given to him, although you may think he must have had a standard speech prepared as the unexpected had become a frequent occurrence by this stage.
The public gallery of the tribunal, held at Dublin Castle, has been packed for the past few weeks, with factions for and against Mr Ahern making their opinions evident. The occasion was viewed by some as an enthralling spectator sport. Celia Larkin, Mr Ahern's girlfriend at the time, provoked laughter in the gallery when she testified: "Bertie dealt in cash. I think he felt more comfortable with it."

In another example of his attachment to ready money, she said Mr Ahern had driven her to a bank in Dublin's O'Connell Street, waiting while she went in and withdrew £50,000. Mr Ahern testified that she had collected the money, but said he did not recall personally taking her to the bank. Such incidents were among the more accessible, and entertaining, parts of proceedings which also consisted of stretches of mind-numbing minutiae centring on five transactions. Hours were spent toiling over foreign-exchange transactions, with tribunal staff evidently suspecting that something fishy had happened. Mr Ahern was adamant he never dealt in US currency: "There were no dollars. There were never dollars. It's a complete red herring," he said. But not all of his evidence was so forthright, which means that his finances remain shrouded in uncertainty. He can also be comical. He once reputedly condemned political exchanges as "throwing white elephants and red herrings at each other".

While the practice of declining to dispel imprecision is regarded as a legitimate political ploy, past scandals involving his Fianna Fail party have been so numerous that he has previously placed on record his assertion that the public are entitled to "an absolute guarantee of the financial probity and integrity of ministers". But, the seeming lack of clarity in his evidence may return to haunt him. We must remember that at the time he was Minister of Finance so whether or not there was “cash for favours” there is certainly no appearance of transparency in these strange and undocumented transactions.

However, even if every allegation against him were true – and few really believe all of them – it all pales into insignificance against the low standards set by his predecessor, the late Charles Haughey who, in his time, pocketed 8.4 million in “donations”.

Haughey’s Minister of Justice, Ray Burke, has previously been found culpable of receiving large sums of cash and indeed having his own house and its land “donated” by Brennan and McGowan, developers who benefited from wide scale rezoning of land. Liam Lawlor, another Fianna Fail T.D. (Irish Member of Parliament) was also found to have corruptly benefited from payments from developers who had agricultural land rezoned for development, often at great cost to the public purse in providing the infrastructure.

Even squeaky clean former Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald was found to have a 320,000 pound loan from Allied Irish Bank to invest in the shares of Guinness Peat Aviation (of which he was a director) written off by the bank when the investment went wrong, as you or I would in similar circumstances. Dr. FitzGerald had previously been Prime Minister when the same bank had been bailed out to the tune of 121 million when their investment in the Insurance Corporation of Ireland went wrong.

So there is a worrying trend and history in Irish Politics which the current “imprecision” about Bertie Ahern’s finances is doing nothing to allay. The image of “hang dog” Bertie sitting in a pub wearing his trademark anorak and having “friends” more or less spontaneously organise whip rounds causes me concern.

Why you may ask? Well I often sat in Dublin pubs in my younger days complaining about my unfortunate lot. And here is the worry I have. Were my social skills so poor that my “friends” didn’t get the message or did I choose the wrong “friends”? I may never know the answer and I suspect in pubs tonight up and down the length of Ireland there may be many other Irish people not receiving spontaneous whip rounds of thousands of euros in ready cash who may also be asking themselves serious questions about their social skills and the quality of their “friends”!


Bertie's election banner on the side of Fagan's

East London Line.

There has been some disquiet in London at the impending closure of the second oldest “Tube” line, The East London Line on the 22nd December 2007 until 2010. Part of this disquiet relates to the Line being more widely used with its connection to the extended Jubilee Line at Canada Water as well as its long standing connection to the District Line at Whitechapel. In truth the East London Line has always been somewhat unique as the only Underground Line which doesn’t go through Central London, having two termini only 600 metres apart and having the oldest tunnel on the system, the Thames Tunnel designed by Marc Brunel, father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel dating from 1843 and which along with the Tower Hill subway was the first sub-aqueous tunnel in modern times. There is reference to a tunnel in Babylon, but no archaeological evidence. More importantly it was the tunnel where modern tunnelling methods were developed and though underground and largely inseen it is a listed building!


The plaque commemorating the tunnel construction at Rotherhithe Station

However there are sound reasons for closing the East London Line to develop the “London Overground” network an exciting orbital transport system for London. The purpose of these extensions and changes is to convert the line from a minor stub to a key transport artery that can be used to create an orbital railway linking London's suburbs.This is projected to be a catalyst for £10bn of regeneration in some of the most deprived parts of London, to ease traffic congestion on radial routes into central London and congestion at London Bridge station and as the first phase will be ready in 2010, to provide the infrastructure to support the 2012 Olympic games which will be based in East London.


Thames Tunnel from Wapping in 2005

The East London line extension will form part of the London Overground, an orbital railway around London. Connecting 20 of London's 33 boroughs, one in five Londoners will live within 15 minutes walk of an Overground station. As part of the plans for the construction of a London Overground network, work began to extend the East London Line to both the north and south, with the finished product becoming part of the new system and losing its London Underground status. The finalised plan consists of two phases, with the stage one to be completed by 2010. This involves the building of an extension to Dalston Junction from Whitechapel, with new stations being built at Shoreditch High Street, Hoxton, Haggerston and Dalston Junction. At the same time, the line will be extended from New Cross Gate onto the mainline tracks, allowing trains to serve all the stations between New Cross Gate and Croydon, as well as serving the branch off to Crystal Palace. These extensions will then be supplemented by an additional extension onto South London Line mainline tracks from Surrey Quays towards Clapham Junction, with a new station being built at Surrey Canal Road next to the ground of Millwall FC.



However it will not be just the Line’s commuters who will miss it during its absence but railway aficionados who admire the scale of the raw Victorian engineering on the Line which features deep cuttings lined with engineering brick and buttressed by cast iron girders leading to the unique Wapping Tunnel. For an Underground line it has a small scale and a somewhat unique atmosphere appreciated by enthusiasts for this line is a fascinating but working piece of industrial archaeology. The East London line is the only line not to enter Travelcard Zone 1 and it is the second-shortest line (after the Waterloo & City line), with an end-to-end journey time of only 14 minutes. Its total length is nine km (five miles), with nine stations, eight of which are currently open. The line runs in a contiguous tunnel from Shoreditch to Surrey Quays, with the remainder running on the surface or in cuttings. Much of the line is constructed in the cut-and-cover fashion that is typical of London's sub-surface railways. The deepest point is at Wapping station, constructed in the Thames Tunnel's original entrance shaft 18.29 m (60 ft) below the surface. The line is operated by just 6 train sets of 4 carriages each of Metropolitan Line “A” Stock dating from 1960/62. For a real display of industrial archaeology relating to the line you should visit the Brunel Museum beside the station in Rotherhithe. The museum is housed in the building which contained the pumps to keep the Thames Tunnel dry.



Until 2006, the East London line ran from Shoreditch station at its northern end to two termini at New Cross and New Cross Gate mainline rail stations to the south1. Originally opening as the East London Railway in 1869, the line began its life as a link from the mainline railway at New Cross Gate, and ran to Wapping via Brunel's Thames Tunnel. This tunnel was built between 1825 and 1843 and was one of the first foot tunnels under the Thames, but was converted for railway use after it was bought by the East London Railway company.



Previous tunneling attempts, in 1801 and 1807, were unsuccessful mainly because of excavation met quicksand, a sand through which fast moving water causes the sand to be held in suspension. The general opinion, formed in engineering circles at the time, was that there was no practical means of tunnelling under the Thames. In 1818, however, Brunel patented the tunneling shield, a device that made possible tunneling in safety through waterbearing strata. This led some twenty five years later to the opening of the first sub aqueous tunnel built for public use.

In 1825 operations began for building the Brunel-designed tunnel under the Thames River between Rotherhithe and Wapping. Brunel's Tunnel Shield covered the area to be excavated and consisted of 12 separate frames, comprising altogether 36 cells in which a workman was engaged working independently of the others. Propulsion for the device was a screw which drove the device forward in 114mm / 4.5in steps (the width of a brick). This scheme, which had no precedent, was halted a number of times but, fortunately the shield held. The stoppages did, however, place the scheme's finances under severe strain. At one point the operation was halted for seven years and the tunnel bricked up. When it was again started a much larger shield was used to cover the 120m/400ft of tunnel already constructed. At its lowest point construction took place only 4m/14ft below the river bed. The Thames tunnel was eventually opened in 1843. It was of a horseshoe construction with a height of 7m/23ft and width of 11m/37ft. It had a total length of 406m/1,506ft.

As a reward for his labours Marc Brunel was elected to the Royal Society and knighted, in 1841, for his services to the construction of the Thames Tunnel.



Thames Tunnel 25th March 1843
Built in 1825-43, the first tunnel under the Thames - or indeed under any river - was originally used by pedestrians but was converted to a rail link in 1869


In the first four months more than a million people passed through the long awaited tunnel. However whilst designed as a road tunnel the promoters ran out of funds to build the access roads and it was used as an unprofitable foot tunnel. The original access stairways can still be seen from the lift shafts in Wapping Station. The Metropolitan Railway bought the tunnel off the now bankrupt promoters and the first trains used the tunnel in 1865. The East London Line is not strictly a “Tube” Line as the stock used is the larger square surface stock as used on the Metropolitan Line used in a 4 car configuration.

The railway was extended further northwards in 1876 to reach the Great Eastern Railway lines at Shoreditch, and this tie-in allowed trains to pass from the south onto the East London Railway, and then run straight into Liverpool Street station. A regular service would run from New Cross Gate to Liverpool Street until the line was electrified in 1913, meaning that only non-Underground trains could then continue on into the mainline station. The point at which the line was severed in 1966 to improve running on other lines into Liverpool Street can be seen from Shoreditch station. The line was further extended in 1880 with a branch being built to the new New Cross station built by the South Eastern Railway. In 1884, a spur was built allowing trains to run from Shadwell to Aldgate East, thus allowing through services from other lines onto the East London Railway. In 1948, the East London Railway was bought by the London Underground, but only gained its own identity in the 1980s when the spur to the Metropolitan line became disused, and the line was named the East London line.



When the wrappers come off the “new” line in 2010 it will be a far more useful and accessible transport link stretching from Dalston Junction in the north to West Croydon in the south providing an orbital route for East and South London on both sides of the Thames. It will feature bright accessible stations and will be an important part of the transport infrastructure supporting the 2012 Olympics in East London. More than that as an important component of the “London Overground” system it will be part of a whole complex of interlinked orbital rail links which will greatly add to London’s infrastructure and make for a more liveable city regenerating and reinforcing neighbourhoods throughout the capital. Whatever qualms the rail enthusiasts have the renewed East London Line and the London Overground Network will be the culmination of many decades of campaigning to renew and revitalise and reconnect many underutilised transport links in the capital. This is a considerable achievement which will improve the lifestyles of many Londoners and reinforce London’s position as a World City.

The historic stations on the existing line are:

Shoreditch

Shoreditch station opened in 1876 and closed in 2006, having consisted of a single platform serving a single track next to the disused Bishopsgate goods yard as well as the station building upon Brick Lane, a road notable for its wide variety of curry restaurants. The station was situated just to the south of the railway line into Liverpool Street, and the Underground line at Shoreditch used to continue onto the mainline tracks until the tube line was electrified in 1913. While open, the station was the northernmost terminus of the line, but due to a shortage of passengers, trains only called there during rush hours and at weekends. Shoreditch belongs to the long tradition of Underground stations with misleading names (Harrow on the Hill being below the Hill, Acton Town being a half mile from Acton Town, Watford being a mile from Watford etc) as it is not really in Shoreditch but at the top of Brick Lane and behind the old Goods yards.

Shoreditch - The end of the line



Shoreditch platform just before closure

Due to plans to extend the East London line to form part of the new London Overground network, Shoreditch station is now disused. Trains will leave the original route of the line to call at a new station at Shoreditch High Street while passing along the route of the old Broad Street viaduct, the only remaining structure from the old national railway station of the same name. The fact that the disused North London line runs along most of the desired route of the extension means that Shoreditch station really had very little chance of being included in the project.

Whitechapel





This station lies opposite the Royal London Hospital, and a street market lies just outside the station. The two 1876 East London line platforms are underneath and perpendicular to the four 1884 District and Hammersmith & City line platforms, although both lines lie in cuttings just beneath the surface. Some of the signs on the platforms are quite old, as is quite common in stations on the District Line - the station still features black boxes that light up to tell you which platform the next train will arrive on. This station used to act (before the closure of Shoreditch) as the terminus of the line except for peak hours when trains run north on the single line towards Shoreditch. During the late 19th Century, Whitechapel was infamous as one of the Jack the Ripper's favourite haunts, and later became an area frequented by the Kray brothers. The station is a short way east of the famous Brick Lane, which features Indian restaurants, clubs and a market, although Aldgate and Aldgate East stations are both much closer.


Shadwell

Built in 1876, this station is not actually connected to the Docklands Light Railway station of the same name, but passengers need only to walk round to the next street about 50 metres away, and there is a rather good pie & mash shop on the way. The tube platforms are only accessible by lift, and both stations are pretty much devoid of amenities. The surrounding area is mainly residential, although there is a market on nearby Watney Street.

Wapping


Built in 1869, this station lies on Wapping High Street just north of the entrance to Brunel's foot tunnel through which the East London line runs. There is therefore little room available for platform expansion, and so the station's future became uncertain when the East London line extension was announced. However, it has now been decided that the extended line will be served by four-carriage trains, and so the station will be able to remain open to serve the surrounding residential area. Wapping became well-known in 1986 as the site of the battle between Rupert Murdoch and the printer's unions, as it was the location of the so-called 'Fortress Wapping'.

Rotherhithe



From the same era as Wapping station, Rotherhithe lies just to the south of Brunel's tunnel just off the aptly-named Brunel Road, and as with Wapping the station's future was uncertain for a while due to the short length of its platforms. The original brickwork of the Thames Tunnel can be seen from the north end of the station, and those with some time to spare can visit the nearby Brunel Engine House museum on Railway Avenue. The surrounding area boasts a colourful history of body snatching, piracy and maritime tradition, with the Mayflower having set sail from Rotherhithe in 1620 on its way to North America.

Canada Water


This comparatively new station is named after the nearby Canada Water reservoir, and was built in 1999 to serve as an interchange between the East London line and the Jubilee line extension. The station's surface building consists of a large glass drum echoing Charles Holden’s famous designs on the Piccadilly Line, and a glass-roofed bus station which serves the local area. The underground part of the station consists of a large number of concrete struts, and was built to support the weight of possible future developments above ground.

Surrey Quays


Originally known as Deptford Road when it opened in 1869, this station lies in the middle of a large junction just off Lower Road, just to the east of Southwark Park. The station was renamed Surrey Docks in 1911, but was given its current name in 1989 when the Surrey Quays Shopping Centre opened nearby. The station was originally built due to the presence of the highly popular Surrey Commercial Docks, but since the redevelopment of the Docklands in the late 20th Century, Surrey Quays has been a mixed residential and commercial area, thus providing a sufficient demand for the tube station to remain.

Surrey Quays

South of this station the line surfaces and then divides into two lines leading to the southern termini at New Cross and New Cross Gate. After the East London line extension has been completed the line will split into three here instead, with a third branch heading off to a new station at Surrey Canal Road.

New Cross




This station lies on New Cross Road about 600m to the east of New Cross Gate station, and forms the only terminus of the East London line not scheduled for extension. The tube station was built in 1880 at the same time as the mainline station of the same name, which is served by South Eastern trains from Charing Cross via Waterloo East as well as those from Blackfriars and Cannon Street, with all trains to New Cross passing through London Bridge station to the north.

New Cross Gate

Situated on Goodwood Road just 600m west of New Cross, this station opened in 1869 and is currently a single platform terminus of the East London Line. The station also has four national rail platforms which are served by Southern railway trains running from Charing Cross, via Waterloo East and London Bridge stations, to Caterham and West Croydon in the south, and to Victoria via Clapham Junction. By approximately 2010, New Cross Gate will no longer be a terminus, and instead the Underground trains will switch onto these national rail lines and continue through to the mainline stations all the way to Crystal Palace and West Croydon.

The station was originally known as New Cross, but due to possible confusion with the nearby South Eastern railway station, the suffix 'Gate' was added and has remained to this day. New Cross Gate station is near to Goldsmith's College, part of the University of London, and so the station is often full of students.

St Mary's (Whitechapel)

This station used to lie between Aldgate East and Whitechapel in the days when the East London line was connected by a curve from St Mary's to Shadwell. The station was generally unpopular due to the cramped setting of the station and the tight curve on which the station stood. Service was slowly reduced until 1938 when Aldgate East station was moved further east, leading to St Mary's being surplus to requirements. The station building was hit by a bomb in 1940, and now all that remains are some emergency exit doors. When the St. Mary’s curve was operational for passenger service trains used to run on the District / Circle Line from Edgware Road and High Street Kensington via Victoria to New Cross. Now the connection is used just for stock movements and engineering trains.


Update on Clapham Extension – 12 February 2009



The planned extension of the East London rail line was today given the go-ahead by Boris Johnson, and Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon. The new line funded by the Government, Transport for London and City Hall will link Surrey Quays to Peckham and Clapham Junction, providing direct links to the City and Docklands.

The extension is intended to reduce congestion on radial routes, and at central London interchange stations. The Department for Transport is providing £64 million for the East London line extension and other transport improvements. The Mayor and TfL will contribute £15 million towards the cost of the scheme.

Mr Johnson said: "This is tremendous news. We can finally get cracking on a vital section of track that will orbitise our Overground rail services. "I promised Londoners that where funds were made available we would build the improvements they need. "And it will be a real achievement when our Overground services are fully oysterised. (Oyster is the name of the London wide stored value ticketing system) I am delighted a long hard slog of negotiations between us and the Department of Transport has borne fruit that will result in a superb new service for thousands of Londoners."

Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy said: "The East London line extension will deliver a key rail link south of the river and improve local transport for Londoners by providing more choice and better access to other parts of the capital."

"The extension to Clapham Junction will provide significantly improved access to the City and Docklands and will allow us to extend the high standards provided on our existing London Overground network - staff at all stations, Oyster pay as you go, and frequent services - to south Londoners."



Here is TfL's promo for the new line - the excellent aerial shots make sense of the route decisions;



For more on London Underground and its unique heritage and contribution to design see TUBEBLOGS in my Blog sidebar >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A Policeman's Lot?

Shy Andy

If you have the misfortune to be arrested by the police in England you will be read the following statement:

“You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

The implication is clear, that an innocent person wants to proclaim their innocence and speak in their own defence. Indeed under the same Act (Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994) a judge in their charge to a jury may instruct them to draw an unfavourable inference from a defendant’s refusal to testify or their refusal to make a statement to the police.

Consider then the contrast in the case of Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman of Scotland Yard responsible for the Metropolitan Police’s unit in charge of the fight against terror, who has decided to retire immediately as the £180,000-a-year post, thereby avoiding a disciplinary inquiry or other action in relation to a number of matters. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) examined Mr Hayman's conduct after the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station and later accused the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner of misleading colleagues and the public. Mr Hayman, who has spearheaded the fight against Islamic extremism since 2005, has also been questioned over allegedly “inflated” expenses claims and trips abroad with Sergeant Heidi Tubby, his staff officer.

His decision to step down is yet another blow for Sir Ian Blair who recruited Mr Hayman after taking over as Metropolitan Police Commissioner in February 2005. Mr Hayman's former colleagues have rallied to his support, claiming he had been the victim of a 'dirty tricks campaign' at Scotland Yard.

This is where the Yardies live - A Male Gang obsessed with guns and "Respect"

Channel 4 News claimed Mr Hayman was in very close contact with the complaints commission official, who worked for the watchdog's communications department. The pair's exchanges came when the commission was drafting its report into how the Met handled the aftermath of the shooting of Mr de Menezes in South London in July 2005. Channel 4 alleged the “communications risked compromising the integrity and authority of the IPCC inquiry”. The female official at the centre of a row which led the Met's anti-terror chief to quit is named today as 36-year-old Nicki Redmond. She received hundreds of calls and texts from Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman while on the staff of the Independent Police Complaints Commission investigating the Stockwell shooting. After leaving the commission, Ms Redmond was at the centre of a probe into alleged "inappropriate contact". Ms Redmond worked for the Independent Police Complaints Commission while it was compiling its damning report into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station.


Andy Hayman with "friend" Nikki Redmond

The UK's former top anti-terror officer is to be given "advice" after breaking the police code of conduct following the Jean Charles de Menezes shooting. A report said Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman "misled" the public. Now the Independent Police Complaints Commission has ruled he should not face disciplinary proceedings but should be advised about future conduct.

In a statement, the IPCC said: "On 6 November, the MPA recommended that Mr Hayman receive advice because he had broken Code 5 of the Police Code of Conduct that says officers should be conscientious and diligent in the performance of their duties.

"After taking legal advice, the three IPCC Commissioners, who oversaw the investigation, have decided to accept the MPA's recommendation." The IPCC also said it would pursue the MPA's recommendation that it undertake an "in depth" review of the lessons to be learnt from Mr de Menezes's death.

Mr Hayman, a 48-year-old married father of two, has been caught up in two internal investigations this year. The first was sparked after complaints that information about a series of anti-terror raids in Birmingham last February was leaked to the media in advance. Mr Hayman's telephone records for the months before and after the raids were scrutinised and he was cleared of any blame. Investigators did, however, find details of the hundreds of “unexplained” calls between Mr Hayman and the complaints commission official. She has now left the police watchdog and works for the Association of Chief Police Officers.

In a separate inquiry, Yard auditors raised concerns over the £15,000 spent by Mr Hayman on drinks, restaurants, hotels and foreign travel. He strenuously denied the expenses allegations and vowed to clear his name when details of the financial probe emerged last month. Mr Hayman vigorously rejected the claims but, after a reported fiery meeting with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair decided to take early retirement. He issued a statement saying the “unfounded allegations” had taken their toll. The former Norfolk chief constable will spend the next four months on paid leave before officially retiring in April. By then he will have served 30 years in the police and be entitled to a full pension.

In a statement, Mr Hayman said the time was right to leave the high-profile job after a string of hurtful accusations. “This role requires total commitment in both time and effort and has a considerable impact on your personal life, your family and friends,” he added.


Sgt Heidi Tubby

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: 'Andy Hayman has been at the forefront of the police's work to protect our country from the terrorist threat. “I am very grateful for his immense contribution to counterterrorism and to British policing.” Mr Hayman was awarded a CBE last year for his outstanding work after the London bombings of July 2005 and for his role in rounding up the failed July 21 gang. He is said to have impressed Tony Blair and leading Government figures with his calm demeanour and factual briefings to the Cobra emergency security committee that month.

Last year he made a humiliating apology to two brothers arrested and later released after a high-profile anti-terror raid on their house in Forest Gate, East London. One of the men was shot during the operation which involved a search for a “chemical device”. No such device was found.

In December last year, Hayman was found to have been in command of an "unlawful" investigation into one of his own colleagues, Ali Dizaei, who was then a Met police superintendent. Hayman was in overall command of an operation that included tapping Dizaei's phones, something the investigatory powers tribunal declared unlawful. The investigation took four years and cost £4m, but ended with Dizaei's acquittal on corruption charges at the Old Bailey. The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair admitting it had caused "considerable damage" to relations between the force and its black officers.


Ali Dizaei

He was instrumental in government attempts to extend the period for which terror suspects can be held without charge to 90 days. MPs were unconvinced by the proposal, and Tony Blair's government suffered its first Commons defeat over the issue in November 2005.

So who is this shrinking violet who is resigning because he finds the “unfounded accusations” hurtful. Well as the former Chief Constable of Norfolk and Head of the Anti-Terrorist squad he probably doesn’t meet the normal profile of a sensitive soul. Mr Hayman joined Essex Police in 1978 where he served as a uniformed officer and in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). In November 1998 Mr Hayman was appointed Commander in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and given responsibility for drugs, crime and complaints investigations. In this role he commanded Operation Trident an investigation into drug-related murders in the capital. In September 1999 he was appointed Director of the Anti-Corruption and Complaints Investigation Department, which became the Directorate of Professional Standards, responsible for discipline and anti-corruption.

From April 2001 to December 2002 he was Deputy Assistant Commissioner, retaining responsibility for professional standards and assuming extra responsibilities as deputy to the Deputy Commissioner.

So as a former Chief Constable, Commissioner responsible for discipline and anti-corruption and head of the anti – terrorist squad making life and death decisions (not necessarily a metaphor) why has he suddenly become bashful, sensitive and upset? The assumption of the Law in England is that innocence seeks to proclaim itself and be heard but Andy Hayman has made a decision to resign, to not square up to the allegations made and to not answer them. Is this the behaviour and example expected from a senior police office honoured with a CBE and the Queen’s Police Medal, paid generously over 30 years from the public purse and expected to be held accountable to that same public for his actions.

Indeed is this the same silence which would draw an “unfavourable inference” if you or I were being questioned by Andy Hayman’s erstwhile colleagues or appeared in court on the basis of evidence presented by them?

Tesco: The Supermarket which ate Westminster.

Tesco Truck parked on a corner, on a double yellow and blocking pedestrian ramp at corner of Glentworth and Dorset Street


Tesco stealing the public pavement

Westminster council has been accused of letting central London become "Tescoland" after giving the go-ahead for its 21st branch in the borough. Tesco is the major British supermarket chain which has now got over 32% market share in the United Kingdom. The bald figures on market share hide much detail as Tesco, which saw profits reach £2.25bn in the past year, has increasingly branched out into non-food goods, such as electrical goods, music and clothes and it has moved decisively into new areas including Financial Services, home delivery, internet and catalogue sales and Neighbourhood and Petrol Station stores.

It is notorious for its persistence on planning issues often battering Local authorities in the UK with multiple applications backed by top notch planning consultants and lawyers. On existing stores it has built it often enlarges car parks and selling space and moves to 24 hour opening to greatly increase the traffic, footfall and turnover from the original application approved by the local authorities. John Waite, who investigated the supermarket for Radio 4's Face the Facts, said Tesco "stand accused of dragging out the planning process, challenging enforcement orders, manipulating the planning laws, bending them, if you like, and breaking them on occasion."

One store opened for business in 2004, only for planning officers to discover it was 20% over the planned size. And a pile of waste from the building of a Buckinghamshire store remains in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Tesco accepted it made a mistake in the first case and worked with the council to find a solution and was trying to quickly resolve the second case. The store which was over the planned size opened in 2004 is in Portwood, near Stockport in Greater Manchester. It is still open for business and is said to be turning over £1m a week. The company is currently filing a new planning application.

Last year during the building of a new Tesco superstore in Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire, building works collapsed on to a main railway commuter line. At the time Network Rail said Tesco and its contractors removed more than 25,000 tonnes of earth and some 60 metres of tunnel structure. However, 27,000 tonnes of waste from that collapse remains, and it is situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It has been there a year, despite an order from the council, because of a continuing challenge from Tesco's contractor.

There are serious issues relating to competition in the UK relating both to its huge unused land bank where it is happy to let expensive sites lie fallow to block competition and the scale of purchases which allows it to squeeze suppliers.

In the town of Slough Tesco been accused of reducing competition and choice by the Competition Commission (CC) through its acquisition of a former Co-op owned site in, which the supermarket giant was ordered to stop developing in October 2007. In a detailed report listing its provisional findings, the Competition Commission says the purchase of the site in 2003, in close proximity to an existing 100,000 sq ft Tesco store, "has resulted in a substantial lessening of competition in the market for grocery retailing in Slough". Tesco bought the Co-op store four years ago as a temporary space to trade from until a redevelopment of an existing site had been completed. After making the transition, Tesco was ordered to sell the site by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) but has failed to do so meaning it has no competitor in the area.

There are persistent complaints from organisations such as the National Farmer’s Union of Tesco abusing its market dominance and suppliers afraid to go public out of fear of losing business. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has set out findings indicating that Tesco, J Sainsbury, Wm Morrison, Safeway (now part of Wm Morrison) and Asda conspired with the dairy processors Arla, Dairy Crest, Lactalis McLelland, the Cheese Company and Wiseman to fix the prices of milk, butter and cheese. The OFT's provisional findings are that the companies engaged in price-fixing over a two-year period, in 2002 and 2003, and that the practice was harmful to consumers by restricting the competitive process, leading to higher prices.




The Tesco brand first appeared in 1924. The name came about after its founder Jack Cohen bought a shipment of tea from T.E. Stockwell. He made new labels using the first three letters of the supplier's name (TES), and the first two letters of his surname (CO), forming the word "TESCO". In 1973 he handed over the reins to his son-in-law Leslie Porter whose wife, Tesco heiress Dame Shirley Porter was Tory leader of Westminster Council in Central London in the Eighties. She was found guilty of political corruption in the "homes-for-votes" scandal and after a High Court battle she was forced to pay the council £12.3 million, a negotiated settlement less than a quarter of the amount which the Law Lords ruled as due. Westminster Council is still in Tory control and run by Sir Simon Milton, a protege of Dame Shirley Porter.

A plan for a Tesco in Lisson Grove near Marylebone station was cleared by the Conservative council this month (November 2007). There are already 20 Tescos in the borough, including 10 in and around Marylebone. The new store was opposed by the Marylebone Society and many shopkeepers, as well as 1,200 locals who signed a petition. Resident and Liberal Democrat activist Martin Thompson, who helped organise opposition to the store, said: "I am deeply disappointed. So many residents and shopkeepers have serious concerns. Why don't we just rebrand Westminster 'Tescoland' and have done with it?

"Not only has the council ignored so many local people, it has gone against its own officials. Its highways department warns the revised proposals for servicing the shop will cause traffic chaos and be a danger to children from the local primary school.

"This is a stupid decision that will be disastrous for the local economy." The site is only a few hundred yards from Marylebone High Street, praised as one of London's most diverse shopping streets in London - and already home to a Tesco.

However, Robert Davis, Cabinet member for planning on Westminster council, said: "This new store will make the shopping centre in Lisson Grove more attractive to residents and business and will help regenerate the area. We carefully considered all the feedback in relation to the scheme, and while we do recognise there was opposition to the application, the council did receive a number of letters in support. There was no strong evidence to support the claim that the proposed store would affect trade in the existing centre to warrant refusing planning permission."

He said Tesco had agreed to provide £100,000 towards improving local shop fronts, would fund roadwork’s in Hayes Place and CCTV cameras in Lisson Grove and would "work with local organisations to provide employment and training opportunities".

However two examples of these Tesco “Local” stores in Westminster don’t give much hope that they are good neighbours, indeed they seem to be engaging in anti social behaviour. At the corner of Dorset and Glentworth Street in Marylebone a Tesco “Local” opened when they bought over Cullen’s, a chain of neighbourhood stores. Along this footpath between 8 and 9 each morning 4,500 people walk the short distance from Marylebone to Baker Street. At the Tesco store a large delivery truck is always parked on a double yellow line directly on the corner, blocking off the ramp for disabled access at the corner and making it “blind” to turning traffic and adding to the danger by forcing pedestrians onto the roadway. To park in this space by the goods door for the shop these large trucks have to line up across the main road, blocking the traffic and reverse into the space across the pedestrian crossing. This they do without any “pointsman” to ensure the safety of pedestrians and turning traffic. Frequently there are other similarly sized trucks parked on double yellow lines waiting for there turn in the non “Loading Bay” causing further detriment to the area. In addition

In London’s lively Covent Garden there is a Tesco Metro on the corner of Garrick Street and New Row, a pedestrianised precinct. The goods door is at the side of the building on New Row. There is a similar story here with delivery trucks turning into Henrietta Street opposite and then reversing across the road (again without a points man for safety) and into the pedestrian precinct which is normally crowded with shoppers and tourists in this busy area. Once again the pavement is crowded with Tesco trolleys. In both cases we should remember we are not talking about them using Tesco property – We are talking about a Public Road and a Public Footpath. We are talking about clear hazards under the Road Traffic Act, reversing across public roads, not using a point’s man, parking on a corner, Parking in restricted areas, restricting the vision of other traffic and creating a hazard for pedestrians.

And then there is the lack of consideration for others, delivering during peak hours, using large trucks, delivering on 10 / 15 trucks per day because these are on multi-drops from different suppliers and only a few pallets come off each truck. The Tesco staff are “only doing their job”, the drivers are agency drivers from outsourced logistics companies and you’ve guessed it, they are “only doing their job”, and the vulture like parking wardens in Westminster who are anxious to fill their quota with tickets elsewhere come to an arrangement with the Tesco stores. Failing that the drivers leave their first ticket of the day on the windscreen so wardens think they have already been ticketed. Clearly “Green” Tesco could lesson the impact by delivering off peak, using smaller vehicles and doing single drop deliveries but clearly they feel no need to do this and equally clearly they are under no pressure from Westminster Council or the Metropolitan Police to change their ways. No danger then of Westminster Council looking for an ASBO in respect of Tesco’s expropriation of public property to private use.

Contrast this with the situation when I (increasingly rarely) use the car park of my local Tesco branch which has been put on steroids and is now a Tesco Extra open 24 hours a day. A big yellow sign on the way in informs me that by using their car park I agree my car registration can be photographed, machine read and recorded and if I stay longer than 3 hours that they can issue me with that strangest of creatures, a “Civil Penalty Notice” for 70 pounds and I consent to them applying to the DVLA for my details if they need to do this. Consider the arrogance of this proposition, personal data I have provided to the Government out of a legal obligation will be provided to a mega Supermarket chain to charge me a penalty for staying too long in their car park. And I consent to this and much more by using “their” property.

Tesco is a remarkable success story, first under Leslie Porter and Ian McLaurin and now under Terry Leahy, a scouser of Irish extraction. Its business achievements have been remarkable and from its modest headquarters in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, it has built a hugely competent and agile retail organisation which has been successful across all retail spectrums and in an increasing number of countries. However such success breeds hubris and arrogance and it is clear that Tesco is in many ways stifling competition and diversity in British retailing, down the whole length of the supply chain. It is clear that it has sucked business from traditional high streets and retailers and destroyed diversity as we head towards Clone Town Britain.

Nowhere is its hubris, arrogance and distortion more apparent than in Westminster, the borough run by the daughter of its founder for many years and now run by her interns. Its “neighbourhood” stores destroy neighbourhoods and the diversity and retail vitality which gives these neighbourhoods their vitality and attractiveness. It is a bad neighbour which cares not that its delivery patterns maximise disruption to the neighbourhoods it serves nor that it expropriates public roads and paths to its private use as it chases growth, profit and dominance. Tesco is maxed; nowhere more so than in its favourite borough of Westminster covering prime Central London from the houses of Parliament to Regent’s Park. Britain needs to restore the retail balance by rolling back Tesco. So let the roll back begin in the borough it ate first, let the roll back begin in Westminster.

Mind the Gap

For a London Underground commuter there is probably nothing more grating than young visitors on the Tube endlessly repeating “Mind the Gap” in a loud voice to their friends as if it was the funniest expression on the planet. Still in more considered moments it is a sign that this expression has now gained a life of its own and has been the subject (and title) of books, articles, campaigns and even a movie!

“Mind the Gap” is not just an announcement that you'll hear on London's Underground railway system when a train arrives at a station. Much more than just a warning about the “gap” between a carriage and the platform, it's a phrase that has entered popular culture and become synonymous with London. People who have visited England's capital city say “Mind the Gap” to each other - often accompanied by knowing glances and subtle nods - while the rest of the world wonders what they are on about.

“Mind the Gap” is part of the London mindset. The phrase originated on the Northern Line, where the gaps between the curved train platforms at Embankment Station and the train itself were particularly large.

The biggest gaps one needs to mind are at Bank Station on the Central line and at Waterloo Station on the Bakerloo line. Basically, early in the history of Tube-line building the companies had to build their railways beneath public roads, so sharp curves were required at some points. Allegedly, the slightly-off-putting gap at Bank is so large because the tunnel diggers of the time had to swerve a lot to miss the Bank of England's vaults.

Pity then the dolorous tale of one Emma Clarke who has enjoyed many years of anonymous fame as the voice heard by millions of Tube travellers each day, warning them to “Mind the Gap”. But now a gap has opened in the career of Emma Clarke after she criticised the Underground system and spoofed her own announcements on the internet.



TfL bosses have said that they will not provide the voiceover artist with any more work. A Transport for London spokesman said: “London Underground is sorry to have to announce that further contracts for Ms Clarke are experiencing severe delays.”

Ms Clarke, 36, from Altrincham, Cheshire, criticised the system in a newspaper interview after she produced spoof announcements on her website. She apparently said that while living in Highgate, North London, she used to take the Tube every day, but had refused to use it any longer because it was “dreadful”.

Ms Clarke, whose voice is now well known to the estimated billion passengers who use the Tube network each year, put her joke messages on the website she created this month after asking friends what they would most like to hear.

Ms Clarke said she was “very disappointed” and upset at the reaction of TfL, but still harboured hope that the row with the network could be resolved. “The first step is for us to have a conversation,” she said. “I hope they hear my point of view, and take on board that I wasn’t criticising London Underground or the Tube system.”

In a report in The Times, she said that the comments had been taken out of context. “I did not say that the Northern Line was dreadful. I did say it’s a challenging line. What I did say was dreadful was the thought of being in a Tube train listening to my own voice.” Emma, who is also an actress and playwright obviously moved to the country (Cheshire) from London for a lifestyle change and put up a rather good website to showcase her talents; http://www.emmaclarke.com/ It includes a whole page on the Tube with lots of links and background information which shows some affection and admiration for the Tube but even its most ardent admirers do, at times, get fed up when things go wrong but more especially with the sometimes selfish and inconsiderate behaviour of fellow passengers who forget notions of neighbourliness in Tube carriages.


Emma Clarke

These are reflected in some of Emma Clarke's Tube spoofs on her website;

In one spoof announcement she said: “Here we are crammed again into a sweaty Tube carriage . . . If you are female, smile at the bloke next to you and make his day. He’s probably not had sex for months.”

Peeping Toms were singled out in another message when she said: “Would the passenger . . . pretending to read a paper but who is actually staring at that woman’s chest please stop. You’re not fooling anyone, you filthy pervert.”

In another one spoof, Ms Clarke attacked the mindset of some Londoners. She said: “Residents of London are reminded that there are other places in Britain outside your stinking city and, if you remove your heads from your backsides for just a couple of minutes, you may realise the M25 is not the edge of the Earth.”

In another she said: “Passengers should note that the bearded rucksack contains the following items only: some sandwiches, a library card and picture of a bare ankle, and is no cause for concern.”

“Passengers are asked not to drop litter on the train. Please use the tramps provided”

“Passengers are reminded a smile is a friendship signal, not a sign of weakness”

“We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly”

“Would passengers filling in their Su Dokus please accept that they are just crosswords for the unimaginative and are not more impressive because they contain numbers.”

“Would the passenger in the pinstripe suit and £1,000 glasses who obviously works in the media please take one step forward on to the track”

The fame of “Mind the Gap” is widespread. “Mind the Gap” was the name chosen for a pictorial book put together by Simon James. As well as the excellent, often quirky pictures of the London Underground, this book also features a commentary on stations to be found at the end of Tube lines. In the book's foreword, Michael Palin,- campaigner for better public transport (and well known traveller) - writes:

“”Mind the Gap”, perhaps the most famous phrase associated with the London Underground, must surely have the creators of the system spinning in their graves. It's an acknowledgement that the thing doesn't quite work. That however fast and frequent the service, however comprehensive the network, the trains don't always fit the platforms. There's not much in it - but enough to warrant painted signs and recorded warnings.

It is very much a book about gaps, not just gaps between the train and the platform, but between the designer and user, staff and passenger. And between dreams and reality, “Mind the Gap” in capturing the elusive appeal of the stations at the ends of the lines, gives gentle but perceptive insights into the way we live now.”

There was a short-lived TV game show called Mind the Gap. Hosted by Paul Ross, the set mirrored a tube platform.

The set is a side-on Underground platform - very nicely executed, with the proper London Underground symbols and typography. The tunnel contains a massive screen which displays the Underground map, and seems to use a projector rather than a TV wall. Music is a jazz-style affair, with a kind of scratching sound effect of a man going 'M-M-M-Mind the Gap' over the top. Looks like it's destined straight for the Challenge TV channel on cable.1

One of the funniest urban legends about 'Mind the Gap' is as follows:

“Once you are on a train platform, beware! Approaching trains sometimes disturb the large Gappe bats that roost in the tunnels. The Gappes were smuggled into London in the early 19th Century by French saboteurs and have proved impossible to exterminate. The announcement 'Mind the Gappe!' is a signal that you should grab your hair and look towards the ceiling. Very few people have ever been killed by Gappes, though, and they are considered only a minor drawback to an otherwise excellent means of transportation.”



The female voice for the recorded announcement of 'Mind the Gap' is nicknamed 'Sonia' by tube drivers. Why? Because her voice 'gets so on yer nerves', they collectively reply. Apparently 'Sonia' is thought to be a bit too posh in some circles. In recent tests somebody mimicking the voice of Marilyn Monroe proved to be a favourite.

The “Mind the Gap” announcement has been sampled into music tracks by at least two dance bands. Lectrolux's Mind the Gap can be heard on an album called Sounds of the Hoover 2 (CD2). It is also on Pumpin by the musicians Novy Vs Eniac.

And like most minor celebrities “Mind the Gap” has had a bit part in the movies. A 1970s horror film sporting the somewhat off-putting name(s) The Death Line or Raw Meat featured ghoulish man-eating underground troglodytes. These beasts constantly repeated the phrase 'Mind the Doors' (OK, so it's not “Mind the Gap”, but it's close). The film 'stars' Donald Pleasance and Christopher Lee. Its fairly absurd plot revolves around a turn of the century cave-in on the London Underground. Pleasance plays a detective investigating a string of murders who is handicapped by a distinct lack of corpses. Presumably, they were eaten by the cannibal Tube dwellers from days of yore. “Beneath modern London buried alive in its plague-ridden tunnels lives a tribe of once humans” the poster for the film screams. “Neither men nor women, they are less than animals... they are the raw meat of the human race.”


Mind the Gap

Indeed, these are not sentiments Tube commuters would agree with! As for Emma Clarke herself the torrent of publicity can only have clients queuing at her door and she is obviously a “Star” so I hope TfL and she will have the “conversation” she has asked for. I leave the last word to a supportive email she received from the United States published on her website;

“I read with dismay about your ‘sacking’ by Transport for London. I have visited England a few times as a tourist since you began your tenure with TfL. My wife and I always use the Tube to get around London and did admire its service. I want to register a protest with TfL for its lack of a sense of humour! In this day and age we should recognise what is important, and what can add a bit of a smile to our days. Your “spoofs” were separate from the Tube and could not have confused or dismayed any passengers travelling. In the US, Southwest Airlines is known for its flight attendants joking commentary made before, during and after a flight. No one at Southwest has felt it necessary to reprimand or “sack” an employee who has injected some levity into their travel. It’s time for TfL to get a sense of humour, rehire you and maybe even use a few of your “spoofs” either in advertising or in the Tube. Please forward this e-mail to TfL.”