[OT] Mysteries seen from the air
 

Evening all,

Briefly revisiting our question to work out the time and date at which
Google Maps' terrible aerial photos of London were taken (i think we'd got
it down to early one sunday morning, and we had a date range of a few
weeks), whenever it was, something involving a red carpet and a lot of
people was on in Trafalgar Squa

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.50...&t=k&z=18&om=1

Now, somebody tell me why there's a factory in Croydon with a number
written in binary on the roof:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...&t=k&z=19&om=1

tom

--
Understand the world we're living in

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Sep 8, 2:41 am, Tom Anderson wrote:

Now, somebody tell me why there's a factory in Croydon with a number
written in binary on the roof:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...82013,-0.12222...

Weird stuff. It looks like it's right next to the Tram stop so l'll
have a look next time l'm down there.
Binary makes me fall immediately to sleep - what are the two numbers?
I once heard that a building either at or near Croydon Airport has the
word NO written on so as to advise pilots that they are not
approaching Gatwick.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Sep 8, 6:40 am, Offramp wrote:
On Sep 8, 2:41 am, Tom Anderson wrote:

Now, somebody tell me why there's a factory in Croydon with a number
written in binary on the roof:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...82013,-0.12222...

I once heard that a building either at or near Croydon Airport has the
word NO written on so as to advise pilots that they are not
approaching Gatwick.

In Manchester there is a building near the station carrying a large
UMIST sign - put up no doubt to advise pilots landing at Ringway that
they were too far north :-)

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 8 Sep, 06:40, Offramp wrote:
On Sep 8, 2:41 am, Tom Anderson wrote:

Now, somebody tell me why there's a factory in Croydon with a number
written in binary on the roof:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...82013,-0.12222...

Weird stuff. It looks like it's right next to the Tram stop so l'll
have a look next time l'm down there.
Binary makes me fall immediately to sleep - what are the two numbers?
I once heard that a building either at or near Croydon Airport has the
word NO written on so as to advise pilots that they are not
approaching Gatwick.

There used to be a gasholder at South Harrow with NO painted on the
side to indicate that it was near Northolt airfield and not on the
approach to Heathrow.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

I once heard that a building either at or near Croydon Airport has the
word NO written on so as to advise pilots that they are not
approaching Gatwick.

There used to be a gasholder at South Harrow with NO painted on the
side to indicate that it was near Northolt airfield and not on the
approach to Heathrow.


That was done after someone tried to land a 747 at Northolt.

[OT] Mysteries seen from the air
 

Tom Anderson wrote:
Now, somebody tell me why there's a factory in Croydon with a number
written in binary on the roof:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...&t=k&z=19&om=1

It's not a binary number, it's an arrangement of skylights. The southern
number alternates 1s and 0s, and the northern one nearly does, which
suggests that the similarity to ones and zeroes is coincidental. If you look
at the building further north, it has similar skylights but in a less
interesting pattern.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 8 Sep, 10:35, "dB" wrote:
I once heard that a building either at or near Croydon Airport has the
word NO written on so as to advise pilots that they are not
approaching Gatwick.

There used to be a gasholder at South Harrow with NO painted on the
side to indicate that it was near Northolt airfield and not on the
approach to Heathrow.

That was done after someone tried to land a 747 at Northolt.

The gasholder still standing in Southall has an arrow and 'LH' marked
on it for the same reason. ISTR being told someone did land a 707 at
Northolt by mistake in the 1970's, and it had to be stripped of all
non-essential components to make it light enough to take off again
safely.

Jon

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Sat, 08 Sep 2007 10:50:00 -0700, Jon
wrote:

On 8 Sep, 10:35, "dB" wrote:
I once heard that a building either at or near Croydon Airport has the
word NO written on so as to advise pilots that they are not
approaching Gatwick.

There used to be a gasholder at South Harrow with NO painted on the
side to indicate that it was near Northolt airfield and not on the
approach to Heathrow.

That was done after someone tried to land a 747 at Northolt.

The gasholder still standing in Southall has an arrow and 'LH' marked
on it for the same reason. ISTR being told someone did land a 707 at
Northolt by mistake in the 1970's, and it had to be stripped of all
non-essential components to make it light enough to take off again
safely.

http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1001607 and
http://www.thirdamendment.com/wrongway.html refer to this incident in
October 1960.

Wikipedia's page on [[RAF Northolt]] states "In days before such
navigational aides as instrument landing system (ILS) and the global
positioning system (GPS), the letters NO (for Northolt) and HR (for
Heathrow) were painted on two gasometers situated on the approach to
each airfield, one at Southall for the approach into Heathrow and one
at South Harrow for the approach to Northolt in an effort to prevent
recurrence of such errors." - this seems to imply that they're no
longer there, and certainly I cannot find any evidence from a quick
Google Maps search.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

"James Farrar" wrote in message

On Sat, 08 Sep 2007 10:50:00 -0700, Jon
wrote:

On 8 Sep, 10:35, "dB" wrote:
I once heard that a building either at or near Croydon Airport
has the word NO written on so as to advise pilots that they are
not approaching Gatwick.

There used to be a gasholder at South Harrow with NO painted on the
side to indicate that it was near Northolt airfield and not on the
approach to Heathrow.

That was done after someone tried to land a 747 at Northolt.

The gasholder still standing in Southall has an arrow and 'LH' marked
on it for the same reason. ISTR being told someone did land a 707 at
Northolt by mistake in the 1970's, and it had to be stripped of all
non-essential components to make it light enough to take off again
safely.

It was a PanAm 707 in October 1960. The racket must have startled the
residents of Harow-on-the-Hill and Harrow school, which is right under
the flight path.


http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1001607 and
http://www.thirdamendment.com/wrongway.html refer to this incident in
October 1960.

Wikipedia's page on [[RAF Northolt]] states "In days before such
navigational aides as instrument landing system (ILS) and the global
positioning system (GPS), the letters NO (for Northolt) and HR (for
Heathrow) were painted on two gasometers situated on the approach to
each airfield, one at Southall for the approach into Heathrow and one
at South Harrow for the approach to Northolt in an effort to prevent
recurrence of such errors." - this seems to imply that they're no
longer there, and certainly I cannot find any evidence from a quick
Google Maps search.

I don't know about Southall, but the Northolt gas holder is long gone,
to be replaced by a small retail park with three large stores:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&...8476&z=17&om=1

Sadly, they don't have any helpful messages for passing pilots painted
on their roofs.

That's the Piccadilly line passing on the left, and you can still see
the remains of the old freight branch pointing at what is now a Waitrose
store.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

James Farrar wrote:

Wikipedia's page on [[RAF Northolt]] states "In days before such
navigational aides as instrument landing system (ILS) and the global
positioning system (GPS), the letters NO (for Northolt) and HR (for
Heathrow) were painted on two gasometers situated on the approach to
each airfield, one at Southall for the approach into Heathrow and one
at South Harrow for the approach to Northolt in an effort to prevent
recurrence of such errors." - this seems to imply that they're no
longer there, and certainly I cannot find any evidence from a quick
Google Maps search.

The Southall gasometer seems to still have LH on it...
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=...0103&encType=1

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Sun, 9 Sep 2007 00:29:10 +0100, "John Rowland"
wrote:

James Farrar wrote:

Wikipedia's page on [[RAF Northolt]] states "In days before such
navigational aides as instrument landing system (ILS) and the global
positioning system (GPS), the letters NO (for Northolt) and HR (for
Heathrow) were painted on two gasometers situated on the approach to
each airfield, one at Southall for the approach into Heathrow and one
at South Harrow for the approach to Northolt in an effort to prevent
recurrence of such errors." - this seems to imply that they're no
longer there, and certainly I cannot find any evidence from a quick
Google Maps search.

The Southall gasometer seems to still have LH on it...
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=...0103&encType=1

Ah, it's on the side, not the top. Thanks.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 8 Sep, 20:54, James Farrar wrote:
On Sat, 08 Sep 2007 10:50:00 -0700, Jon
wrote:



On 8 Sep, 10:35, "dB" wrote:
I once heard that a building either at or near Croydon Airport has the
word NO written on so as to advise pilots that they are not
approaching Gatwick.

There used to be a gasholder at South Harrow with NO painted on the
side to indicate that it was near Northolt airfield and not on the
approach to Heathrow.

That was done after someone tried to land a 747 at Northolt.

The gasholder still standing in Southall has an arrow and 'LH' marked
on it for the same reason. ISTR being told someone did land a 707 at
Northolt by mistake in the 1970's, and it had to be stripped of all
non-essential components to make it light enough to take off again
safely.

http://www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1001607 and
http://www.thirdamendment.com/wrongway.html refer to this incident
in October 1960.

Wikipedia's page on [[RAF Northolt]] states "In days before such
navigational aides as instrument landing system (ILS) and the global
positioning system (GPS), the letters NO (for Northolt) and HR (for
Heathrow) were painted on two gasometers situated on the approach to
each airfield, one at Southall for the approach into Heathrow and one
at South Harrow for the approach to Northolt in an effort to prevent
recurrence of such errors." - this seems to imply that they're no
longer there, and certainly I cannot find any evidence from a quick
Google Maps search.


The gasometer is still there at Southall along with the letters
painted on it - in fact what's actually painted on them is "LHR"
accompanied by an arrow below pointing forwards (though of course the
precise arrangement may have been different in the past). You can see
it from the train on the GWML. Presumably this is provided by
arrangement between the gas board - now Transco - and BAA / the CAA /
NATS.

Here is conformation, albeit without a photo of the LHR markings on
the side:
http://www.route79.com/journal/archives/000213.html

And here, courtesy of a Flickr contributor, is photographic proof of
the LHR and arrow markings:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/route79/276017099/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/route79/162905004/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fictiondreamer/1138463729/

Great great curry houses in Southall too - and authentic, in the
truest sense of the word.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 9 Sep, 15:32, Mizter T wrote:

(snip)

The gasometer is still there at Southall along with the letters
painted on it - in fact what's actually painted on them is "LHR"
accompanied by an arrow below pointing forwards (though of course the
precise arrangement may have been different in the past). You can see
it from the train on the GWML. Presumably this is provided by
arrangement between the gas board - now Transco - and BAA / the CAA /
NATS.

Here is conformation, albeit without a photo of the LHR markings on
the side:http://www.route79.com/journal/archives/000213.html

And here, courtesy of a Flickr contributor, is photographic proof of
the LHR and arrow markings:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/route79/276017099/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/route79/162905004/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fictiondreamer/1138463729/

Great great curry houses in Southall too - and authentic, in the
truest sense of the word.


And this is the bit where I admit to being a complete idiot! The text
on the markings does of course merely state "LH" as opposed to "LHR" -
I was going by memory as opposed to actually looking at those Flickr
photos that I'd found, d'oh!

I've also just looked at the link to Live Maps that John Rowland
provided in another post - the birds eye view shows it clearly.

The cause of my befuddlement is that LHR is of course the IATA code
for Heathrow.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 8 Sep, 11:10, "John Rowland"
wrote:
Tom Anderson wrote:
Now, somebody tell me why there's a factory in Croydon with a number
written in binary on the roof:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...82013,-0.12222...

It's not a binary number, it's an arrangement of skylights. The southern
number alternates 1s and 0s, and the northern one nearly does, which
suggests that the similarity to ones and zeroes is coincidental. If you look
at the building further north, it has similar skylights but in a less
interesting pattern.


I concur - there's no secret code there. No move along please, these
ladies gentlemen from GCHQ wish to get on with their work in peace.

[OT] Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Sat, 8 Sep 2007, John Rowland wrote:

Tom Anderson wrote:

Now, somebody tell me why there's a factory in Croydon with a number
written in binary on the roof:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...&t=k&z=19&om=1

It's not a binary number, it's an arrangement of skylights. The southern
number alternates 1s and 0s, and the northern one nearly does, which
suggests that the similarity to ones and zeroes is coincidental. If you
look at the building further north, it has similar skylights but in a
less interesting pattern.

A likely story!

I suspected this might be the case, but was hoping it was something
interesting like a computer factory. The regularity of the 0101010101
pattern is a bit of a giveaway, but i thought it might be the ethernet
preamble or someething.

tom

--
The few survivors on ousfg's side ended up in a monastery of immortal
monks who yearned for a life better than street-fighting social groups,
learning to grow extra hands and feet on the way to immortality. --
Lyndsey Pickup

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Fri, 7 Sep 2007, Offramp wrote:

On Sep 8, 2:41 am, Tom Anderson wrote:

Now, somebody tell me why there's a factory in Croydon with a number
written in binary on the roof:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...82013,-0.12222...

Weird stuff. It looks like it's right next to the Tram stop so l'll have
a look next time l'm down there. Binary makes me fall immediately to
sleep - what are the two numbers?

0 and 1.

tom

--
The few survivors on ousfg's side ended up in a monastery of immortal
monks who yearned for a life better than street-fighting social groups,
learning to grow extra hands and feet on the way to immortality. --
Lyndsey Pickup

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 9 Sep, 00:29, "John Rowland" wrote

The Southall gasometer seems to still have LH on it

It certainly does - I see it through the window every day I'm at work.

Jon

Mysteries seen from the air
 

In message , Tom
Anderson writes
On Fri, 7 Sep 2007, Offramp wrote:

On Sep 8, 2:41 am, Tom Anderson wrote:

Now, somebody tell me why there's a factory in Croydon with a number
written in binary on the roof:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...82013,-0.12222...

Weird stuff. It looks like it's right next to the Tram stop so l'll
have a look next time l'm down there. Binary makes me fall
immediately to sleep - what are the two numbers?

0 and 1.

"There are 10 sorts of people in the world: those that understand
binary and those that don't."
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Sep 9, 3:32 pm, Mizter T wrote:
On 8 Sep, 20:54, James Farrar wrote:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/route79...er/1138463729/

That last one is really good - there's the gasometer and a strange
redbrick gothic tower, a mirror of the gasometer, in the foreground.
I'd love to live in a place like that, as long as it had a lift.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 9 Sep, 21:23, Offramp wrote:
On Sep 9, 3:32 pm, Mizter T wrote:

On 8 Sep, 20:54, James Farrar wrote:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/route79...ww.flickr.com/...

That last one is really good - there's the gasometer and a strange
redbrick gothic tower, a mirror of the gasometer, in the foreground.
I'd love to live in a place like that, as long as it had a lift.


I see you're posting via Google Groups (as I do) which unfortunately
makes a horrendous mess of mangling together URLs when quoting
previous posts, so here's a clean link to the photo in question:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fictiondreamer/1138463729/

I think I've located where the tower is - it's very near Southall
station on a road called The Straight and is marked "Water Tower" on
this map:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=512448&y=179802

It looks like it occasionally gets used as a film location...
http://www.westlondonfilmoffice.co.uk/index.php?siid=2736
(the photo might be a bit old and is from a different angle but it's
definitely the same place)

This website in homage to the Professionals TV programme claims the
water tower is known locally as "The Cockpit"! - a quick search on the
web failed find any other evidence on the web to back this up, but
then again it's the kind of local word-of-mouth thing that doesn't
necessarily ever get on to the web...

http://www.mark-1.co.uk/Professionals/a13.htm
(scroll down for photo or search the text)

Mysteries seen from the air
 

Mizter T wrote:

I think I've located where the tower is - it's very near Southall
station on a road called The Straight and is marked "Water Tower" on
this map:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=512448&y=179802

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=...9818&encType=1


There's a water tower converted to flats in Ladywell which I mentioned
recently.
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhou...eLadywell3.jpg

The best one is in Suffolk...
http://www.devsys.co.uk/Album/Places...e%20clouds.jpg

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 10 Sep, 00:41, "John Rowland"
wrote:
Mizter T wrote:

I think I've located where the tower is - it's very near Southall
station on a road called The Straight and is marked "Water Tower" on
this map:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=512448&y=179802

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=...tyle=o&lvl=2&t...

There's a water tower converted to flats in Ladywell which I mentioned
recently.
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhou...eLadywell3.jpg

The best one is in Suffolk...
http://www.devsys.co.uk/Album/Places...use%20in%20the...

Thanks John, I don't know why I didn't think of using an aerial view
to confirm my suspicions... I must be getting old and stuck in my
ways! Problem is I'm quite a fan of the information-rich, if somewhat
messy, A-Z style mapping that Streetmap offers - even if it is
actually somewhat out of date - that I often don't look elsewhere. But
I must remember to check out Live Maps... the 'birds eye view'
facility is very useful.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Sun, 9 Sep 2007, Ian Jelf wrote:

In message , Tom Anderson
writes
On Fri, 7 Sep 2007, Offramp wrote:

On Sep 8, 2:41 am, Tom Anderson wrote:

Now, somebody tell me why there's a factory in Croydon with a number
written in binary on the roof:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...82013,-0.12222...

Weird stuff. It looks like it's right next to the Tram stop so l'll have
a look next time l'm down there. Binary makes me fall immediately to sleep
- what are the two numbers?

0 and 1.

"There are 10 sorts of people in the world: those that understand
binary and those that don't."

Actually, i think you'll find that there are 10 kinds of people in the
world: those who understand trinary, those who don't, and those who
confuse it with binary.

tom

--
Also, a 'dark future where there is only war!' ... have you seen the
news lately? -- applez

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Sun, 9 Sep 2007, Mizter T wrote:

On 9 Sep, 21:23, Offramp wrote:
On Sep 9, 3:32 pm, Mizter T wrote:

On 8 Sep, 20:54, James Farrar wrote:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/route79...ww.flickr.com/...

That last one is really good - there's the gasometer and a strange
redbrick gothic tower, a mirror of the gasometer, in the foreground.
I'd love to live in a place like that, as long as it had a lift.

I see you're posting via Google Groups (as I do) which unfortunately
makes a horrendous mess of mangling together URLs when quoting
previous posts, so here's a clean link to the photo in question:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fictiondreamer/1138463729/

Clean apart from the angle brackets, that is!

Vienna's got a spectacular set:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasometer,_Vienna

tom

--
Also, a 'dark future where there is only war!' ... have you seen the
news lately? -- applez

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Mon, 10 Sep 2007, John Rowland wrote:

Mizter T wrote:

I think I've located where the tower is - it's very near Southall
station on a road called The Straight and is marked "Water Tower" on
this map:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=512448&y=179802

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=...9818&encType=1

There's a water tower converted to flats in Ladywell which I mentioned
recently.
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhou...eLadywell3.jpg

The best one is in Suffolk...
http://www.devsys.co.uk/Album/Places...e%20clouds.jpg

Thorpeness! I spent one christmas in a house a bit down the road from the
House in the Clouds. A remarkable object.

In other East Anglian converted water tower news, there's an ongoing drama
over Jumbo, the much-beloved water tower in Colchester:

http://www.savejumbo.org.uk/

tom

--
Also, a 'dark future where there is only war!' ... have you seen the
news lately? -- applez

Map websites was: Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Mon, 10 Sep 2007, Mizter T wrote:

On 10 Sep, 00:41, "John Rowland"
wrote:
Mizter T wrote:

I think I've located where the tower is - it's very near Southall
station on a road called The Straight and is marked "Water Tower" on
this map:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=512448&y=179802

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=...tyle=o&lvl=2&t...

There's a water tower converted to flats in Ladywell which I mentioned
recently.
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhou...eLadywell3.jpg

The best one is in Suffolk...
http://www.devsys.co.uk/Album/Places...use%20in%20the...

Thanks John, I don't know why I didn't think of using an aerial view to
confirm my suspicions... I must be getting old and stuck in my ways!
Problem is I'm quite a fan of the information-rich, if somewhat messy,
A-Z style mapping that Streetmap offers - even if it is actually
somewhat out of date - that I often don't look elsewhere. But I must
remember to check out Live Maps... the 'birds eye view' facility is very
useful.

I find Multimap's mapping much better than Streetmap's, and they've given
the interface a very good google-alike makeover recently. There's now a
tickbox which shows you where cash machines are, which is a winner!

Google maps has good aerial photos, of course, although their maps are
ugly. It does have a super-nifty feature in some US cities, though:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=empi...4334&z=18&om=1

tom

--
Also, a 'dark future where there is only war!' ... have you seen the
news lately? -- applez

Mysteries seen from the air
 

Tom Anderson wrote:

Vienna's got a spectacular set:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasometer,_Vienna

I like they way they built the gasometers in an area called Simmering!

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Sep 8, 11:10 am, "John Rowland"
wrote:
Tom Anderson wrote:
Now, somebody tell me why there's a factory in Croydon with a number
written in binary on the roof:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...82013,-0.12222...

It's not a binary number, it's an arrangement of skylights. The southern
number alternates 1s and 0s, and the northern one nearly does, which
suggests that the similarity to ones and zeroes is coincidental. If you look
at the building further north, it has similar skylights but in a less
interesting pattern.

What surprises me is that there is a factory anywhere in London let
alone Croydon or the whole of SE England come to that.
I thought that London as a 100% service industry sector. I suppose it
could be a warehouse for all those Far East imports.

Kevin

Mysteries seen from the air
 

Kev wrote:

What surprises me is that there is a factory anywhere in London let
alone Croydon or the whole of SE England come to that.
I thought that London as a 100% service industry sector. I suppose it
could be a warehouse for all those Far East imports.

There are numerous food factories in Park Royal.
Kodak has a huge factory in Wealdstone.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 13 Sep, 11:51, "John Rowland"
wrote:
What surprises me is that there is a factory anywhere in London let
alone Croydon or the whole of SE England come to that.
I thought that London as a 100% service industry sector. I suppose it
could be a warehouse for all those Far East imports.

There are numerous food factories in Park Royal.
Kodak has a huge factory in Wealdstone.

And I'm currently working with a company that has a large food factory
within Greater London.

Less anecdotally, according to the EEF trade organisation[*], 15,000
manufacturing companies employ 260,000 people within Greater London,
generating £15bn of value-add.
[*] http://www.eef.org.uk/south/whatwedo...ufacturing.htm

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 13 Sep, 11:51, "John Rowland"
wrote:
Kev wrote:

What surprises me is that there is a factory anywhere in London let
alone Croydon or the whole of SE England come to that.
I thought that London as a 100% service industry sector. I suppose it
could be a warehouse for all those Far East imports.

There are numerous food factories in Park Royal.
Kodak has a huge factory in Wealdstone.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 13 Sep, 11:51, "John Rowland"
wrote:
Kev wrote:

What surprises me is that there is a factory anywhere in London let
alone Croydon or the whole of SE England come to that.
I thought that London as a 100% service industry sector. I suppose it
could be a warehouse for all those Far East imports.

There are numerous food factories in Park Royal.
Kodak has a huge factory in Wealdstone.

Sorry, John but the Kodak factory in Wealdstone is now but a tiny
shadow of what it once was.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

Kev wrote

What surprises me is that there is a factory anywhere in London let
alone Croydon or the whole of SE England come to that.
I thought that London as a 100% service industry sector. I suppose it
could be a warehouse for all those Far East imports.

There is *some* manufacturing in fact. Looks at BT classified section.

Boat & yacht building ? Makers of sparkling wine ?

--
Mike D

Mysteries seen from the air
 

"Marratxi" wrote in message
oups.com
On 13 Sep, 11:51, "John Rowland"
wrote:
Kev wrote:

What surprises me is that there is a factory anywhere in London let
alone Croydon or the whole of SE England come to that.
I thought that London as a 100% service industry sector. I suppose
it could be a warehouse for all those Far East imports.

There are numerous food factories in Park Royal.
Kodak has a huge factory in Wealdstone.

Sorry, John but the Kodak factory in Wealdstone is now but a tiny
shadow of what it once was.

Actually, when you drive past it now appears to be a pile of rubble. I
don't know if any part of it is still open.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

"Kev" wrote in message
oups.com
On Sep 8, 11:10 am, "John Rowland"
wrote:
Tom Anderson wrote:
Now, somebody tell me why there's a factory in Croydon with a number
written in binary on the roof:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...82013,-0.12222...

It's not a binary number, it's an arrangement of skylights. The
southern number alternates 1s and 0s, and the northern one nearly
does, which suggests that the similarity to ones and zeroes is
coincidental. If you look at the building further north, it has
similar skylights but in a less interesting pattern.

What surprises me is that there is a factory anywhere in London let
alone Croydon or the whole of SE England come to that.
I thought that London as a 100% service industry sector. I suppose it
could be a warehouse for all those Far East imports.

Well, given how often there are lineside fires in premises with
exploding gas cylinders, one has to assume there's actually still quite
a bit of manufacturing in the London area.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

Kev wrote:

What surprises me is that there is a factory anywhere in London let
alone Croydon or the whole of SE England come to that.
I thought that London as a 100% service industry sector. I suppose it
could be a warehouse for all those Far East imports.

There's this "little" thing called the Tate & Lyle Sugar Refinery down
in Silvertown for starters:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?t=k&ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=51.500635,0.047261&spn=0 .002965,0.007296&z=17&om=1

Cheers,

Barry

Map websites was: Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 13 Sep, 00:16, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Mon, 10 Sep 2007, Mizter T wrote:
On 10 Sep, 00:41, "John Rowland"
wrote:
Mizter T wrote:

I think I've located where the tower is - it's very near Southall
station on a road called The Straight and is marked "Water Tower" on
this map:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=512448&y=179802

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=...tyle=o&lvl=2&t...

There's a water tower converted to flats in Ladywell which I mentioned
recently.
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhou...eLadywell3.jpg

The best one is in Suffolk...
http://www.devsys.co.uk/Album/Places...use%20in%20the...

Thanks John, I don't know why I didn't think of using an aerial view to
confirm my suspicions... I must be getting old and stuck in my ways!
Problem is I'm quite a fan of the information-rich, if somewhat messy,
A-Z style mapping that Streetmap offers - even if it is actually
somewhat out of date - that I often don't look elsewhere. But I must
remember to check out Live Maps... the 'birds eye view' facility is very
useful.

I find Multimap's mapping much better than Streetmap's, and they've given
the interface a very good google-alike makeover recently. There's now a
tickbox which shows you where cash machines are, which is a winner!

It depends on where you're looking - but in London, both Streetmap and
Multimap would appear to use exactly the same mapping sourced from
Collins Bartholemew and copyrighted 2006. Elsewhere, say in
Manchester, Multimap appears to use Tele Atlas mapping (copyright
2006) whilst Streetmap's just says "(c)streetmap.co.uk".

So when looking at London mapping I've tended to use Streetmap, as I
prefer the square window on the map that it provides and the great
ability it has to serve you up a "Large Map". But the new version of
Multimap, with it's ability to drag the map around (in Google Maps
fashion), is also useful (though the somewhat tired computer I'm using
at the moment struggles a bit with it!).

I always liked Streetmap's very simple printer-friendly page, but I
see now that Multimap's new simple printer-friendly page is pretty
good as well. Multimap does directions too, unlike Streetmap, but I
only ever really use this to find out distances rather than
directions.


Google maps has good aerial photos, of course, although their maps are
ugly. It does have a super-nifty feature in some US cities, though:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=empi...e=UTF8&ll=40.7...


Yeah, that is neat. I thought you were going to refer to the slightly
controversial 'Street view' available on Google Maps in some areas
(still just available in San Francisco or has it spread elsewhere?). I
was about to cross a main road near me a few weeks ago when a couple
of people on cycles - at least one was a tricycle (can't remember the
other) - got my attention. On the front of this young womans tricycle
was some kind of contraption along with a hand-written notice to
"Smile" - as she passed I saw the contraption was three smallish
webcam-style cameras. So I am led to wonder whether they were
gathering video for some London 'street view' or equivalent (I think
something like this already exists, at least in central London, but I
can't remember the name). However the whole arrangement was wobbling
about somewhat and didn't look that professional (only 3 cameras)
which leads me to wonder if they weren't in fact art students or the
like, as I understand the Google 'Street View' images were/are
gathered by a rather hi-tech van with loads of cameras mounted on it.

Either way I'm just wondering where I might in the future see an image
of myself standing on the side of the kerb, staring out looking
totally gormless!

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On Fri, 14 Sep 2007, Recliner wrote:

"Kev" wrote in message
oups.com

What surprises me is that there is a factory anywhere in London let
alone Croydon or the whole of SE England come to that. I thought that
London as a 100% service industry sector.

Well, given how often there are lineside fires in premises with
exploding gas cylinders, one has to assume there's actually still quite
a bit of manufacturing in the London area.

Is a site with gas cylinders necessarily a manufacturing operation?

tom

--
non, scarecrow, forensics, rituals, bacteria, scientific instruments, ..

Mysteries seen from the air
 

On 15 Sep, 15:01, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Fri, 14 Sep 2007, Recliner wrote:
"Kev" wrote in message
roups.com

What surprises me is that there is a factory anywhere in London let
alone Croydon or the whole of SE England come to that. I thought that
London as a 100% service industry sector.

Well, given how often there are lineside fires in premises with
exploding gas cylinders, one has to assume there's actually still quite
a bit of manufacturing in the London area.

Is a site with gas cylinders necessarily a manufacturing operation?


Quite - acetylene cylinders can be used anywhere requiring welding,
such as a construction site, a breakers yard, a garage or a workshop.
Only the last might qualify as a manufacturing operation.

There isn't an enormous amount of actual manufacturing in London, but
perhaps sometimes people think of the service sector as solely
comprising offices, travel agents and florists. There's a lot of
warehouse, workshop and other hands-on type activities in London (for
want of a far better phrase), though quite often it's not always
immediately obvious where this is happening.

Mysteries seen from the air
 

"Recliner" typed


"Marratxi" wrote in message
oups.com
On 13 Sep, 11:51, "John Rowland"
wrote:
Kev wrote:

What surprises me is that there is a factory anywhere in London let
alone Croydon or the whole of SE England come to that.
I thought that London as a 100% service industry sector. I suppose
it could be a warehouse for all those Far East imports.

There are numerous food factories in Park Royal.
Kodak has a huge factory in Wealdstone.

Sorry, John but the Kodak factory in Wealdstone is now but a tiny
shadow of what it once was.

Actually, when you drive past it now appears to be a pile of rubble. I
don't know if any part of it is still open.


I think one of my acquaintances works there and has a kodak email address.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.