Churchill and Europe

Churchill did not give a speech in 1946 calling for “a United States of Europe”."

"Great Britain, the British Commonwealth of Nations, mighty America, and I trust Soviet Russia - must be the friends and sponsors of the new Europe and must champion its right to live and shine."

A friend, sponsor or champion is not the same thing as a member.

Both sides of the argument have misappropriated Churchillian quotes to their respective causes.

The oft-quoted 1930 speech in which he said "We are with Europe, but not of it" was a statement of the then-current position - and was made 25 years, and a World War, earlier than many Brexiteers claim.

Even his 1963 quote that "The future of Europe if Britain were to be excluded is black indeed", is ambiguous about the outlook for the UK.

And of course he has had nothing to say on the subject for over fifty years - the world was a very different place in 1965.

The Royal Docks

Prince Regent station has Royal associations going back further than the Royal Docks, as it is named after Prince Regent Lane, which runs from there to Plaistow.

The first of the Royal Docks did not open until 35 years after the end of the Regency.

Greenwich Mean Time

In the early 4th Century, Greenwich was an insignificant village in an far flung part of the Empire, 1,500 miles from Nicaea, and it would be 1,500 years before it became the internationally-accepted standard for time. Local solar time in Nicaea is almost exactly 2 hours ahead of Greenwich, and Jerusalem (which is where the events being commemorated happened) is a further 20 minutes ahead - so, where it mattered, the Equinox was at 02:19 this morning (March 21st).

UK cities

Until Local Government reform in the 1970s separated many cities from their historic counties, Northumberland had a city, and Warwickshire had two.

There are Roman Catholic cathedrals in several places without Anglican cathedrals: notably the cities of Lancaster, Leeds, Nottingham, Plymouth, Salford, and Westminster, and the non-cities of Aldershot, Arundel, Brentwood, Northampton, Middlesbrough, and Shrewsbury.

Southwark is not a city, but has two cathedrals.

AFC Wimbledon

AFC Wimbledon play their home matches five miles from Haydons Road. The nearest station is Norbiton.

Naming stations

There are two White Hart Lanes in London (the other has a level crossing but no station), but there's only one Tottenham Hotspur.

Woolwich Arsenal station has kept its name, even though the football club after which it was named (!) moved away in 1913.

But, in contrast, the DLR renamed Millwall Park ("No one likes us, we don't care") before it even opened, to a name more attractive to the locals - Mudchute - to keep football supporters away. (The football club had moved across the river to Bermondsey 77 years before the station opened).

The Surrey Cricket Club still has a station named after its ground, but the MCC lost theirs in 1939.

Wimbledon station has never been the closest one for their ground - Haydons Road is the closest to their old stadium (and possibly their future one) at Plough Lane - but currently their nearest station is Norbiton, three stops down the line from Wimbledon.

The Hammersmith branch

The branch was added to the Circle Line to double the frequency to Hammersmith. There wasn't, and isn't, any spare capacity between Baker Street and Aldgate so more trains had to terminate at Edgware Road. They could have run the extra Hammersmith trains as a shuttle, and kept the Circle, but a circular service is always inconvenient operationally (no termini where some slack can be added to the timetable to allow for late running, or where a train with a problem, or with no crew available, can be parked out of the way). And passengers from the western side of the (original) Circle not wanting to change at Edgware Road have alternatives to go east, notably the Central Line from Queensway (very close to Bayswater) or Notting Hill Gate.

...which is why those will be the last five sections to be converted. It is even possible that the Piccadilly Line will have its new trains by then, which could simplify sections 11 and 14 if the trains are compatible with the new system.

Driving on the left

There are four EU countries that drive on the left, six are not in Schengen, and nine have not adopted the Euro. But the UK is the only one in all three sets.

Big Chief I-Spy

Anyone wanting to visit Big Chief I Spy at the address of the "Wigwam on the Water" on Upper Thames Street would be a little disappointed at what they find - it's an undistinguished office block near Southwark Bridge

Scottish pillar boxes

Scottish pillar boxes do not sport the "E II R " monogram. A similar issue will arise if Prince William becomes king.

We had two Queen Elizabeths - mother and daughter - in 1969. Maybe there was some doubt about which one was going to open the line.

Zebra crossings

To be legally enforceable, I understand a zebra crossing must have Belisha beacons but does not need the zebra stripes. That said, the white stripes are not actually illegal without a Belisha, and they make the crossing more visible to all but the most "head-down" cyclist (who would be on the main carriageeway anyway), warning users of a possible conflict with pedestrians. And, after all, even the most "furious" cyclist would realise that a collision with a pedestrian is something to be avoided - it is likely to cause delay: and the cyclist often comes off worse anyway.

Big and little trains

There are several places on the Underground where big and little Underground trains can be seen side by side in normal service. At such places platforms are at a compromise height between the floor heights of the different trains, but since the little trains don't normally frequent Euston Square the platforms there are at the normal height for big trains, which is why the man on the platform towers above the train.