T5 opens, shows BAA-Government hypocrisy and collusion

Annie Mole is penning this great Going Underground's Blog, and she's also local to Richmond. Her Friday post was about London Heathrow Terminal 5:
Heathrow Terminal 5 opened today - great.
For those thinking of an improved travel experience, bad luck: according to this Times article "the £4.3 billion project has its fair share of critics. A report in The
Observer claimed that passengers at nearly half of the terminal’s
departure gates will be bussed to planes, rather than being able to reach
them on foot by air bridges."


Going Underground points to this HACAN page everyone should read:BAA's broken promises to local residents.

Which brings me to my hero of the day: the BBC reports that Conservative MP for Putney Justine Greening criticised BAA for being 'too close' to Heathrow and mounted challenge. I've long said BAA, BA and the DoT were in bed, so I am quite happy to read this....

Extinguishers failing are common sense test

Read this yesterday:
Extinguishers banned as ‘fire risk’ - Times Online

In theit great wisdom, Bornemouth Fire brigade backed the removal of those safety devices in fear that residents would try tackle a blaze rather than flee.

I don't know whether to categorise this a case of health and safety gone bonkers or as a common sense failure. Surely the Firemen would better employ their free time training people tackling small incidents before they turn into major fires???


Tags: humour, UK, richmondtransits.blog, health&safety

Is Heathrow really out of capacity?

I keep reading articles comparing Heathrow with other European cities. Of course I believe that press is independent and not infuenced by



BA bosses urges bigger Heathrow...

But hang on, when I read this I get itchy skin:
BBC NEWS | UK | Heathrow creaks under heavy traffic

Of course they miss the point: no other European city has more 5 international airports! We have Heathrow (2 runways), Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and City (each with a single runway). So that's 6 runways in total, creating noise all around London! Ridiculous.

All the money spent in Heathrow would have been better used creating a new aiport in the middle of the Thames estuary with good train and road links rather than blighting all the airspace around London. But the government seem to think small. No high speed trains network for instance, small project only.

The problem of thinking small is that you end up with a bigger problem...


Tags: heathrow, airlines, transportation, rail, uk, politics, richmondtransits.blog

Restaurant Review: The Brown Dog, Barnes

We went back to the Brown Dog the other day, hoping to confirm it's the next Victoria (in Temple Sheen) as the latter had gone madly overpriced. We were disappointed by this gastropub, feeling the quality had slipped. Good, still good value but no longuer special in our opinion. Annie's not far away knows how to cook good meat blue (why is it a challenge to explain this to Eastern-European waitresses?)

The wine list is OK, just. Food is of European and French influences, perfectly recommendable. For instance I had cod with tapenade, very well done.

The Brown Dog

28 Cross Street
SW13 0AP Barnes
020 8392 2200


Tags: restaurant, review, barnes, european, richmondtransits.blog,

Restaurant Review: Annie's

There's strangely an un-explored niche in the Richmond dining area: good places for brunch.

What's in a brunch? To me, a good brunch is informal (need to be able to bring the kids), good value and offering a range of options, not just a cooked breakfast.

We went to Annie's this Mothering Sunday and liked it. We've been there before and liked it: the decoration is warm, the uncovered oak tables inviting but the chairs are cosy rather than too pub-like. They do offer a brunch menu: full English Breakfast, but also a few eggy versions (Benedict, Florentine, with smoked salmon, etc...), all between £8 and £9, kiddies go full English for a fiver (one is enough for two sub-7 fairies).

I really like it at night too: it's a classic brasseie menu, not too extensive and fresh. Dishes are between £10 and £15 -now I wonder why we don't come back more often? I guess the wine list could be more researched, but it would be adequate for most.


36 - 38 White Hart Lane, London, SW13 0PZ

020 8878 2020
www.anniesrestaurant.co.uk/barnes/

Tags: Barnes,, Mortlake,, restaurant,, review, richmondtransits.blog