http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll...02409&t=k&z=19

"Basil Jet" wrote in message
...
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll...02409&t=k&z=19


A little bit of info here http://www.thisislongford.com/LongfordRiver.htm
(Googled, I don't know anything else about it!)

Peter

On Fri, 23 Jul 2010, Basil Jet wrote:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll...02409&t=k&z=19

Yikes. It's pretty scary-looking from the air, like a huge microorganism
or something.

My guess is that it's a gunge collector upstream of the channels and
tunnels that take the river past Heathrow. The big white patches to the
east of it look like they might be related - spil basins or something? The
section of the collage with the patches is older than the section to the
west (note the PRT track vanishing into thin air where it crosses the
river), so it would be interesting to see how it looks now.

It doesn't look like there are any rights of way nearby, though, so not a
lot of chance to find out the ground truth, sadly.

tom

--
I drink quarts and cans and bottles and sixes; between the turntables
keep the vodka and the mixes. -- MCA

On Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:43:30 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Fri, 23 Jul 2010, Basil Jet wrote:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll...02409&t=k&z=19

Yikes. It's pretty scary-looking from the air, like a huge microorganism
or something.

My guess is that it's a gunge collector upstream of the channels and
tunnels that take the river past Heathrow. The big white patches to the
east of it look like they might be related - spil basins or something? The
section of the collage with the patches is older than the section to the
west (note the PRT track vanishing into thin air where it crosses the
river), so it would be interesting to see how it looks now.

It doesn't look like there are any rights of way nearby, though, so not a
lot of chance to find out the ground truth, sadly.


If you scroll south and west from the linked location, you can see the
driverless transit from T5 disappearing into nowhere. Scroll further
and you can see aircraft using the T5 apron while massive construction
work carries on in adjacent areas.

Obviously there is a mix of aerial pictures taken at different times,
but the effect is quite amusing. ;-)

On Jul 23, 3:39*am, Basil Jet wrote:
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll...8&spn=0.000979...

Park of the Twin Rivers diversion project, see p7 of this document:
http://bit.ly/9dVfVj

You can also see a better view of the area (and the completed T5
project) if you use Bing maps rather than Google.

On Fri, 23 Jul 2010, Bruce wrote:

On Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:43:30 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:

On Fri, 23 Jul 2010, Basil Jet wrote:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll...02409&t=k&z=19

Yikes. It's pretty scary-looking from the air, like a huge microorganism
or something.

My guess is that it's a gunge collector upstream of the channels and
tunnels that take the river past Heathrow. The big white patches to the
east of it look like they might be related - spil basins or something? The
section of the collage with the patches is older than the section to the
west (note the PRT track vanishing into thin air where it crosses the
river), so it would be interesting to see how it looks now.

If you scroll south and west from the linked location, you can see the
driverless transit from T5 disappearing into nowhere. Scroll further
and you can see aircraft using the T5 apron while massive construction
work carries on in adjacent areas.

Obviously there is a mix of aerial pictures taken at different times,

Yes, that's exactly what i was saying.

but the effect is quite amusing. ;-)

It is!

tom

--
eggflip, brandy, bits of Tia Maria, Beecham's powder, aspirin,
Benedictine, Alka-Seltzer, black currant juice, a touch of mustard and
"other things"

On Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:15:19 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:
On Fri, 23 Jul 2010, Bruce wrote:
On Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:43:30 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:
On Fri, 23 Jul 2010, Basil Jet wrote:
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll...02409&t=k&z=19

Yikes. It's pretty scary-looking from the air, like a huge microorganism
or something.

My guess is that it's a gunge collector upstream of the channels and
tunnels that take the river past Heathrow. The big white patches to the
east of it look like they might be related - spil basins or something? The
section of the collage with the patches is older than the section to the
west (note the PRT track vanishing into thin air where it crosses the
river), so it would be interesting to see how it looks now.

If you scroll south and west from the linked location, you can see the
driverless transit from T5 disappearing into nowhere. Scroll further
and you can see aircraft using the T5 apron while massive construction
work carries on in adjacent areas.

Obviously there is a mix of aerial pictures taken at different times,

Yes, that's exactly what i was saying.

but the effect is quite amusing. ;-)

It is!


I have a business appointment near there (Colnbrook) later today so,
if I have the time, I will take a look.

It lies outwith the Heathrow security boundary but I recall that
parking in Longford is almost impossible unless you pay to use one of
the hotel car parks.

If you're interested, the aerial photos on Bing's Multimap are more up
to date than Google's and show the completed "guided podway" and its
station complex within the T5 Business car park. Complex is the word!
I wonder how many car park spaces it occupies ...

http://www.multimap.com/s/tPpBkarS

On Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:57:10 +0100, Bruce
wrote:

I have a business appointment near there (Colnbrook) later today so,
if I have the time, I will take a look.

It lies outwith the Heathrow security boundary but I recall that
parking in Longford is almost impossible unless you pay to use one of
the hotel car parks.


Unfortunately the meeting was relocated as the venue was in the
process of being demolished! Strange but true. So I didn't have much
chance to look in Longford, but I breezed through on my way to the
revised venue.

There is now ample on-street parking - pay and display - and there is
easily accessible public open space which leads from the village to
the new river feature.

Next time I am in the area, I will take a closer look.

I have a fondness for Longford as it was where I lived in 1983/4 when
I first gained promotion to my then employer's head office in London.
I stayed at the "Peggy Bedford", a 1920s inn named after the daughter
(b.1781) of the then licensee of the King's Head in Longford. Alas
the "Peggy Bedford" was demolished in 1995 for a filling station and
McDonald's fast food restaurant. :-(

On Tue, 27 Jul 2010, Bruce wrote:

there is easily accessible public open space which leads from the
village to the new river feature.

The game's afoot!

I'm unlikely to be flying through Heathrow for a couple of months, but
next time i do, i'll see if i can stop by.

tom

--
Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before.

On Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:47:18 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:
On Tue, 27 Jul 2010, Bruce wrote:

there is easily accessible public open space which leads from the
village to the new river feature.

The game's afoot!

I'm unlikely to be flying through Heathrow for a couple of months, but
next time i do, i'll see if i can stop by.


Don't bother. I took a look yesterday and, while you can get fairly
close to one of the control structures, the wide channel section is
not accessible. There's a 1.8m chain link fence that keeps you away.
Since you are just outside the Heathrow security boundary, and
probably under surveillance, finding a way under/over/through the
fence is probably inadvisable. ;-)

Although you can get tantalisingly close, you really need to be
looking down into the channel to see what the bed is made of. I took
a couple of photos but the oblique angle rendered them useless.

The only interesting thing I discovered was that the channel, wide
though it is, is completely covered by bird netting. Intriguing!

If you still decide to go, there is on-street parking directly
opposite the gate into the small area of parkland. You need to enter
Longford from the west (A3044) end as the route through the village
from the London end is for buses only. You can exit this way in a car
but not enter. You need to stop at the first pay and display machine
to buy a ticket before driving on to where you want to park, because
there are only two machines in Longford and they are a long way apart.
Parking costs 50p per 20 minutes, maximum 2 hours.