velodrome

The economy would have performed better without ridiculous daily speculation about tax rises, most of it from within the Government. But most of all the economy would have performed several percentage points better if Starmer & Reeves had ever got on with the main job at hand to reverse Brexit

As McSweeney presumably contemplates a family trip to Barnard Castle, it seems that ‘special advisers’ bring little but trouble and embarrassment. Maybe it’s time to have politicians and civil service only, not these unelected and (mostly) unaccountable advisers for whom the electorate never voted.

I work with small & medium business owners. Many had confidence affected badly by the stream of leaks / threats by the Govt ahead of the Budget. Every day brought a different potential tax or cost, so they cut back on investing in staff / assets. We are reaping the impact of that period of chaos.

London Tube Stations | FUEL This book catalogues and showcases the surviving stations from this innovative period and later examples influenced by it. Contemporary photographs by Philip Butler, annotated with a station-by-statio...

I recommend this book if you don’t have it already. fuel-design.com/publishing/l...

East Finchley on the Northern Line for the archer statue. Loughton and Hainault on the eastern Central Line for the platform canopies. St John’s Wood and Swiss Cottage for the decorative tiling and escalator uplighters. Boston Manor (western Piccadilly Line) for the art deco tower.

#postboxsaturday from outside the main post office in Sopot, Poland 🇵🇱, a resort town on the Baltic coast.

Is the other one the A627(M)? Or doesn’t that count?

A Spanish post box with an enviable view of the Roman aqueduct at Segovia 🇪🇸. Weather forecast? Scorchio! ☀️ #postboxsaturday

Thank you! Really appreciated. It’s amazing to think now that the A1 used to run right though Bramham, Aberford, Micklefield and other villages. I’ve seen old photos of huge traffic queues in those villages in the 1950s.

Thank you. The maps are really interesting for that part of the world. Before the 1950s/60s A1 bypasses, the 1990s A1 motorway, the huge junction with the newer stretch of the M1, and before the housing estates in Garforth etc.

Hi Mike - Fantastic scans of the Fairburn, Brotherton and Garforth maps sections. Is there any chance you could add a scan of the sheet which includes Aberford and that part of the A1 please? It looks like it would be Section 45. No problem if you can’t / Thank you if you can!

For #postboxsaturday a grand old Edward VII pillar box stands opposite the Engineering departments of the University of Leeds.

This tall Victorian wall box is in Low Newton by the Sea in Northumberland. It faces out to sea at the end of a fabulous walk along a sandy beach from Dunstanburgh Castle. It’s also conveniently just round the corner from a great pub! #postboxsaturday

For #postboxsaturday a sturdy EIIR Type C (two aperture) pillar box which stands outside the railway station in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. Betty’s post box in the town of Bettys tea rooms!

There’s another one about half a mile away in a similarly neglected condition.

A rare but rather neglected George VI (GVIR) wagon top post box in the spring sunshine. Not many of these about! #postboxsaturday

A new red Charles III letter box amongst foliage, with a large knitted Easter bunny on top.

A brand new Charles III post box - and the Easter bunny - seen last weekend. #postboxsaturday #CIIIR

For #postboxsaturday this is an early Victorian wallbox in Bramham, West Yorkshire. Complete with a little pitched cap to keep the rain out. It’s a shame where they decided to put the collections tab holder. Now it’s just an “R”, not a “VR”!

A rare Victorian fluted pillar box for #postboxsaturday - this example is in Solihull and dates from 1857. More info here —> historianruby.com/2017/12/10/t...

Bloomfield Square? A different spoon every time!

A very rare Type E pillar box for #postboxsaturday - these were installed in suburban locations in the 1930s and included a stamp vending machine. Almost inevitably, it didn’t go well (🌧️☔️) and so most examples were removed. I think there are four of them left in service. No stamps though!

And, for completeness, here’s one of the more common Paris art nouveau metro entrances by Hector Guimard, with the distinctive ‘lily of the valley’ lamps. This example is at Parmentier in the 11th arrondissement. I liked the building behind!

And this is the third art nouveau ‘dragonfly’ canopy by Hector Guimard, at Châtelet metro station in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. This one was reassembled here and so isn’t in its original location.

Abbesses metro station in the 18th arrondissement of Paris (Montmartre) has the other dragonfly canopy by Hector Guimard still in its original location.

Porte Dauphine metro station in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. One of only three remaining art nouveau ‘dragonfly’ canopy entrances designed by Hector Guimard in c.1900, and the only one which has the full screening walls. One of the sights of Paris!

A smart VR pillar box in Worcester for #postboxsaturday

They might well have lasted until then. They were definitely there in the mid-70s. They seemed very futuristic at the time.

I remember these still being in use on the M5 in Worcestershire in the mid-1970s. On the stretch from Halesowen down to Worcester which was only two lanes each way in those days.

Presume that must be at Hook Moor, where what used to be the A642 is now the B1217 (and passes under many lanes of the M1 and A1(M) just as they merge)