Precipitation probability

"20% probability of rain" means if you go out on five different days when rain is 20% probable, you will get wet on one of them. But whether it's comparable to a lottery ("It could be you") or a meteorite strike ("We'll all go together if we go"), depends on the nature of the weather patterns being forecast. If showers are forecast, someone will get wet - it could be you. If a hurricane is approaching but its course is uncertain, either everyone will get wet, or no-one.

Weather forecasts

The BBC's graphics were changed for the worse way back in 2006. The recent further change in the graphics is minor in comparison. ITV (who still get their forecast supplied by the Met office) are better, but did dumb down somewhat in 2016.

When I were a lad, surface pressure maps were part of the geography O-level syllabus. And, at least at my school, geography was not an optional subject.

Severn Tunnel Portal (East) again

It is unlikely you would have been able to see anything from the A403. The bridge over the M49 is directly above the portal of the Severn tunnel.

Pilning again

Google Street view is revealing. The latest image of the entrance dates from 2016, when there were still two platforms. It would seem that GWR have gone to the trouble of re-numbering the remaining one, as in 2016 eastbound trains left from platform 2.

St Andrews Road station

The reason for the oddity of needing a footbridge despite only having one platform is because there are several sidings between the road and the track serving the platform. Incidentally, the National Rail website shows the road as "un-named", although the name of the station itself should be a clue as to the road's identity!

Second Severn Crossing

The "fortuitously-located rocky outcrop" on which part of the Second Severn Crossing now stands has been identified as a likely candidate for the location of the "Hut-on-the-Rock" where Harry Potter saw in his 11th birthday - Severn Beach being the station from which he and Hagrid took a train later that morning. The story is set in 1991, the year before construction of the crossing started.

Severn Tunnel Portal (East)

The deep cutting can be seen on Google Street view, from vantage points on the B4064 or the M49 almost directly above the portal

Ordnance Survey indicates there is a public footpath from which views of the portal itself are possible.

Pilning

Even on Saturdays there are only two trains at Pilning, both eastbound as the footbridge has been removed so there is no access to the westbound platform.

It is surely not possible that Pilning could be closing in a few months' time. A consultation process is required before any closure, and there has been none so far. Even if the procedure were to be initiated today, it would take longer than a few months to take effect.

South Greenford station

Given the plummeting ridership on the Greenford branch now that it no longer has direct trains to Ealing Broadway (let alone Paddington), it is certainly going to be a contender for least-used status in the future. A 30% drop in usage would be enough to drop it below the currently-second-lowest station. That would only leave one station, Angel Road, below it. But Angel Road is going to close next year.

Greenford Branch Line

The line will be an orphan whether or not it transfers to Chiltern, as no other Great Western services will serve West Ealing after May 19th. It will be Central Line at one end and TfL Rail at the other.

The line has a very close counterpart in East London (shuttle service connected to the Underground at one end and Crossrail/TfL Rail, Elizabeth Line at the other, but isolated from the rest of the Overground, and entirely within the GLA area. That line has been Overgroundised, and at first glance, the Greenford branch does indeed look like another candidate for Overgroundisation. However, unlike the Emerson Line, the Greenford branch is not electrified. The Overground is busy eliminating its only existing diesel line, and would not want to have to retain (or hire in) an odd diesel unit specially for the shuttle.

"Everyone crammed at the back" syndrome

This was graphically (literally!) displayed yesterday. As I got to Waterloo at the last minute, I had to jump on the second-rearmost coach despite it being very full as the "OFF" light on the platform was already lit. The carriage was absolutely packed, and the fancy display showed the rear five cars as "orange" (full and standing). However, the display showed the front five cars to all be "green" (seats available). Unfortunately the "walk through" feature is not available between the fifth and sixth car of these trains.

Waiting by the platform exit

If everyone leaving a train is doing so from one carriage, that is where people will wait to join the train. You can't really expect people to wait at a point where they're not going to be able to get on! (Especially where trains run only every 15 minutes). Double-ending the busiest stations, such as Wimbledon, would improve punctuality enormously.

Canbury, Kingston upon Thames

Until 1988 Kingstonian football club's stadium used to be at the north end of Burton Road - now, like the Sopwith factory, given over to modern housing.

Kings Road used to have a parade of shops, from newsagents to DIY to greengrocers to glaziers. Most have also been converted to domestic use - Spraggs is one of the last survivors.

Canbury Ward also has a "lost" river (the Latchmere Stream, which follows Acre Road, cutting the corner between Burton Road and Kings Road) and occasionally floods.

Kings Road saw London's very last trolleybuses in 1962.

The Burton Road street parties have been a regular thing since they were revived for the Golden Jubilee in 2002.

Burton Road's "smart hedges" made the local news a few years ago, when the council took an agricultural-type flayer to some of them, making them very-definitely-not smart!