Thursday, April 11, 2024

all over battersea some hope and some despair

now then


just a bit more observational stuff off of my travels, look you see. and indeed it was to that there London i was once more at. certainly it is (very much) so that i am there more than what i would have imagined, but generally they have some quite class vibes shops, so there you go. 

anywhere in London (innit) that i do not particularly care to go? oh, yes. once there was a time when i wondered why a moan (or groan) from them affable London cabbies was how they don't go "south of the river", as in crossing the Thames in a downward direction. having spent some considerable, if not formidable, time driving there, i get their disdain. it's horrible how the roads and that work. 

yet it was to be that i was required to be there, down south of the river, if even only just. which is how and why i can bring you some pictures (and video, no less) of the celebrated battersea power station. as far as i am aware it is quite celebrated, at the least. 


indeed the above image is in VHS mode, as is (so as to warn) the bit of video just below. how much more time i shall spend with VHS mode is up for debate, since i have now installed "thermal" and an absolutely mental "psychedelic" set off "apps" on to my phone what has a camera welded to it. 

oddly battersea power station does not do what it says on the box. at least no more. yes, indeed it was a power station at some stage, but got disused or closed down. i have little or no doubt there was good reason for this, but i am not looking it up. they also probably wished to demolish it too, but no, it stands still (as you can see) and has been repurposed. i think it's like some sort of shopping centre or similar now, and it looks like either (probably quite expensive) apartments (flats) or offices above. 

why is driving south of the river so bad? lots of reasons. for a start there are many, many needless sets of traffic lights. also about a million speed bumps designed to totes knack the underneath of any sort of vehicle. the pretty much universal 20mph speed limit across the area you can almost live with, yet it seems excessive that it applies in areas with no residential areas or footpaths. one completely f***s their back, legs, knees, feet and what have you driving there. 


there's that promised if not suggested video for you, then. yes, in VHS mode. not sure if you can make it out, but on the far right (location, not political ideology) one can see the elevator thing coming out of the chimney stack. if that's the right word for it. yes, it has some sort of tourist attraction element to it, but no i have no idea how much it would cost to go up (and presumably down) the viewing deck elevator (or lift) thing. 

strangely i do have a reasonable idea of some of the costs involved in living in a flat (or if you like it posh apartment) in the area all these pictures (and video) were taken. a fairly standard one shall set you back, at time of writing, about £500,000 excluding purchase fees. which is indeed one half of one million pounds. to rent is anywhere between £2,500 and £3,000 a month. in either (or both) instances, that will exclude utilities, council tax, "service fees" (which are both a London thing and frightfully expensive) and anything else they can think of to bill or charge you for. no, i shalll not be moving there any time soon, thanks. 

my experience of the place (battersea) says that you would have to be completely f****d in the head to wish to reside there. it's rather close to the American Embassy for a start. this can only be of benefit to one if you have a wish to shout "Yankee go home" at people who are probably both armed and allowed to shoot anyone they consider a "threat". nearest shop to the place i could find was a Waitrose. if you think the cost of buying or renting a place there is expensive just you wait until you discover how much a bottle of milk costs. 


by my usual standards that's not too bad a picture, above, is it? reasonably clear and you can actually make out what it is.

nearly forgot, yes, this building (structure, if you like) was indeed used prominently in (or for) the artwork (cover) of the album Animals off of Pink Floyd.

right, i find myself with nothing left to say on this particular subject.




be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





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