Postcard from the tunnel

Greenwich is famous for many reasons. Its wealth of viewpoints which showcase the beauty of London is one of them. That's not what you're seeing here. Another thing Greenwich and the rest of south east London have historically been known for is lack of bridges and poor transport links, for being the land where cabbies fear to tread because of the dearth of return fares to the West End.

Even now the DLR has arrived, the Greenwich Foot Tunnel which burrows under the Thames to link south London to the Isle of Dogs is a lifeline for commuters and provides aural delights to groups of foreign students testing out the echoes. I was lucky to catch it so deserted for my photo. Equally lucky not to be mown down by a cyclist 'not riding' their bike through it.

While central London's bridges and the planned cable car crossing to east London may deliver scenic vistas of the iconic skyline, they don't have the frisson of danger the foot tunnel delivers. You're under water down there! The work in progress to prop up the roof just confirms the potential for it to come crumbling down around your ears. Sadly the lifts are currently under refurbishment, but no flashy cable car or convenient electric train can compete with the delight of being escorted 50 feet underground by a lift attendant accompanied by fading reception from his transistor radio before you promenade under the river.

OK, so it doesn't make for an attractive postcard. Here's the view towards Docklands from Point Hill in Greenwich to make up for it.

Postcard from GMT

Synchronise your watches. Greenwich Mean Time rules again and I for one am relieved. I understand the arguments about children crossing roads and farmers milking cows and how both activities would be best carried out in daylight hours, however; at my office all systems and data remain referenced to GMT year round. British Summer Time does nothing but confuse me.

This clock, at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, is where all time is controlled. It is Greenwich Mean Time. How powerful is that? The big orange ball sitting on the building behind rises to the top of its post just before one o'clock every day, and drops on the dot of one. That's one o'clock local time, not GMT - see how easy it is to get muddled?

What I was sure of was that it was the perfect time to be in Greenwich Park. The trees are dressed in a palette from sunshine yellow to peachy pink. Squirrels are sneaking around to set up their winter food stash. And my watch is definitely reading the correct time.

Postcard from a sea of blossom

This weekend felt like spring had arrived in full bloom. A walk through Greenwich Park was a treat - sunshine, flowers and warmer than summer often is. 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy. Follow the link if you want to know more; for me it's as good a reason as any to use a photo of the Royal Observatory. Sadly, I wasn't there at 1pm to synchronise my watch with the ball's drop. So, if I'm a few minutes late, you'll know why.

Quiet contemplation of blossom is one of the few good things going on in Greenwich just now. Long running roadworks are creating traffic chaos, bringing the bottleneck town centre to gridlock. If one hole in the road can cause that much trouble, just imagine what an Olympic event could do. And without the option for pedestrians and residents to take a break from the traffic by escaping into the Park for a breather. I've mentioned the issue before, you can see the details at NOGOE's website.

Of course, there's plenty of time for Spring to be a wash out yet. But, for now, it's all about pink blossom, yellow daffs and the orange ball of Greenwich Mean Time. Next weekend, the clocks go forward. So I won't be the only one whose watch is wrong.

Postcard from Greenwich Park

When I was at school in Greenwich, we spent an occasional cold, damp, muddy sports lesson cross-country running in Greenwich Park. I was usually the one walking at the back. Hideous though that experience was, it was a chance to admire the Park and I often return now (without the trainers!).

The residents of Greenwich are lucky to have this beautiful, varied, historic open space on their doorstep and the huge numbers of tourists who join them to walk, run, play and picnic there just back up the value of the Park for the local area. Can it really be a sensible location to consider for the 2012 Olympic Equestrian events?

The Park would be closed to the public for months in the lead up to and during the games. There is the potential that the historical and ecological character of the Park could be damaged by the construction of the facilities required. I think Greenwich Park is too important to take the risk. This photo is taken from a point just to the side of the Prime Meridian line that dissects the world through the highest point of Greenwich Park. It's a view tourists cross the world to visit.

As Kerry, the main character in my novel 'Map Reading' (see 'Postcard from the internet' below) puts it: ' It's the start of time, that's all. East and West, it all starts here.'

A couple of weeks of Olympics events and it might never be the same again. For more information see http://www.nogoe2012.com/