Worst mistakes tourists can make in London?

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

and when callers ring into radio bristol from LA it
took me ages to work out where in the radio bristol aerial LA was

You mean there's another Long Ashton somewhere else in the world?

I've been to both major LAs. The cider is better in Long Ashton.

[broadgage]

And why did the foolish English build Stonehenge so far from a station ? In America, it would have been built near a station.
Likewise, why on earth did they build Windsor Castle under the flight path to a major airport ? very poor planning.

And as for Oxford airport being so far from Oxford street, simply daft.

[infoman]

and who would build a railway line straight through a castle?

[TonyK]

And as for Oxford airport being so far from Oxford street, simply daft.

Come to think of it, how far did you say London Luton airport is from actual London?

[ellendune]

And as for Oxford airport being so far from Oxford street, simply daft.

Come to think of it, how far did you say London Luton airport is from actual London?

According to Google Maps it is 34 Miles
Stansted on the other hand is 40 miles

[JontyMort]

and who would build a railway line straight through a castle?

Robert Stephenson - at Conwy?

[infoman]

Why do those from the other side of the pond think public transport(the train) should be nearer our heritage sites(Stonehenge).

In LA they don't even have pavements as the car always rules.

[TonyK]

Why do those from the other side of the pond think public transport(the train) should be nearer our heritage sites(Stonehenge).

In LA they don't even have pavements as the car always rules.

I beg to differ, as one who has been one of only two non-white pedestrians in some of the grand boulevards, and made it perfectly safely to our destination, usually faster than by any other means. We used the almost deserted Metro, at the price for the freedom the greater Los Angeles area, including tram to Pasadena and bus to Santa Monica etc, of a single journey on the bus from Bishopston to Broadmead if you know Bristol.

If you meant Long Ashton, then no, there is no pavement worth talking of from the main drag to the Miners Rest up Providence Lane. You take your life in your very hands, especially given how much cider gets served up there.

[eightonedee]

Quote from: infoman on September 29, 2019, 07:52:30 pm
and who would build a railway line straight through a castle?

Robert Stephenson - at Conwy?

And there's a tunnel right under Rattenberg Castle in Austria. It's on the main line to Zurich from Salzburg. Even though it's a busy line, and there are footpaths to the castle either side, it was entirely unfenced when I was there 20 years ago.

[Marlburian]

And why did the foolish English build Stonehenge so far from a station ? In America, it would have been built near a station...

I haven't bothered to check, but I think at one time there may have been a proposal to build a civilian railway to Stonehenge. Certainly in 1917 the Larkhill Military Railway was extended to Stonehenge Airfield.

One of various images of the airfield.

[Marlburian]

Going on to a Tube platform and not moving along the platform. I saw an extreme case of this at Paddington on Friday. A loudspeaker plea for people to move along, otherwise access to the platform might have to be closed, was mostly ignored. No doubt when the train came in people had difficulties boarding.

I walked to the far end of the platform (my usual spot when I commuted to Lambeth North) where there was lots of space and a reasonable amount of room on the last carriage, albeit only for standing. (People do this on Bournemouth beach, arriving on the esplanade and crowding onto a couple of square yards of empty shingle; if they bothered to walk east for eight minutes or so they would usually have far more space.)

A small part of my Government Department's job was to arrange tours for overseas journalists, business people and the like. Headquarters put three such people, with very poor English, on a train at Paddington and told them to get off at Reading. In those days it was called Reading General and when this was announced the trio decided to stay on - and ended up in Bristol, where somehow they had to be rescued.

I wonder how many visitors have gone to Buckingham to see the Palace and to Downton to see the Abbey?

Marlburian

[paul7575]

And why did the foolish English build Stonehenge so far from a station ? In America, it would have been built near a station...

I haven't bothered to check, but I think at one time there may have been a proposal to build a civilian railway to Stonehenge. Certainly in 1917 the Larkhill Military Railway was extended to Stonehenge Airfield.

One of various images of the airfield.

I can just about imagine a roofed over Stonehenge being about the right shape for a very large prehistoric helicopter pad, but I don’t think it would be much good for fixed wing stuff...   

[Bmblbzzz]

And why did the foolish English build Stonehenge so far from a station ? In America, it would have been built near a station...

I haven't bothered to check, but I think at one time there may have been a proposal to build a civilian railway to Stonehenge. Certainly in 1917 the Larkhill Military Railway was extended to Stonehenge Airfield.

One of various images of the airfield.

I can just about imagine a roofed over Stonehenge being about the right shape for a very large prehistoric helicopter pad, but I don’t think it would be much good for fixed wing stuff...   

A few years back I noticed a book called The Megalithic Empire in the library. It varies from usefully questioning archaeological orthodoxies to crackpot, incorporating a few basic mistakes of easily verified fact along the way (such as the relationship between the Biblical Anne and Mary), but its basic premise is that Stonehenge and similar stone circles were not "used for ritual purposes" but were trade centres, the focus of long distance trade routes and operating as a sort of market and distribution centre. Something like a market with accompanying bus station. But they never suggested a helicopter pad!

[RichardB]

I wonder how many visitors have gone to Buckingham to see the Palace and to Downton to see the Abbey?

Marlburian

And perhaps a bit less well known, visited Leeds to see the famous Castle.

[ellendune]

I know someone who was stopped in Bolton town centre and asked directions to the Abbey!