Friday 23 April 2010

...I think. Or possibly just a middle-aged man in shades.

Sorry for the hiatus - been cycling. From London to York so far, via Cambridge, King's Lynn, Boston and Hull. But at the moment, bike is in intensive care where a team of brilliant bicycle surgeons are trying to save it from this:


... and I can do nothing but pace up and down outside and hope the little guy pulls through. 

Here's what I've seen so far: 

Lots and lots of pubs called The Chequers. Any idea why? A quick googling reveals it's one of the oldest pub names, and the sign of a chequered board was used in ancient Rome to indicate that a tavern also provided banking services, for which the board was used - this being the origin of the word 'exchequer', and indeed 'cheque'. Doesn't explain why there seem to be so many of them in South East England, though.

Plenty of posters and boards out for the Tories (but then, I have been cycling through the shires.) Quite a lot for the Lib-Dems, mostly in the towns, especially Cambridge. Not a single solitary one for Labour so far. Not even in Highgate, or Humberside. 

A really astonishing number and variety of squished animals. It's carnage out there. 

A life size metal giraffe.

Bono.


12 comments:

Robert Hudson said...

Bono said he thought he'd seen you, but couldn't be sure because of the helmet.

Ross Bennett said...

There's a long association between Chequers and draughts, you realize.

Stu said...

Where's the picture of the giraffe?!!

Although I'm not so keen pictures of squashed animals or Bono...

Ross Bennett said...

Re: Highgate, or Humberside

What about Hartford, Hereford, or Hampshire where hurricanes hardly happen?

Jessica said...

Ouch! Poor Bike! Try a single speed - they tend to suffer less from this condition.

Hope the various squished animals did not include any cyclists!

John Finnemore said...

Robert - Ah, then it was him. I wondered why he was wearing a helmet.

Stu - Didn't get a good picture of the giraffe, but I'll put up what I have.

Ross - Actually, I did go through Hertford - none there. I can't answer for the other two, though on past experience I doubt Hampshire will be sprouting many.

Jessica -Someone did reverse into me in Market Rasen, but only mangled one of my panniers. I dislike the phrase 'that's not a euphemism', but none the less, it isn't.

Stu said...

Think there's more than one Stu visiting ... much like the giraffes ... wouldn't want you getting confused now, would we?

Ross Bennett said...

Do we imagine there are a lot of giraffes working to confuse John?

Lydia Hopper said...

I think the pub name checkers or chequers commonly found in the South refers to the tree (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Service_Tree) also found there abouts and that the link to the game is actually a more recent mis-interpretation

Jessica said...

If you ever want to see another (not quite lifesize but nontheless impressive, moving)giraffe made from metal go to the Millennium Galleries in Sheffield where there is one made from cutlery!

Richard O. Smith said...

After publicly pledging on these pages that I would never join Twitter, I have now joined Twitter ( http://twitter.com/RichardOSmith1 ) Right, now off to become an MP.

Stu 2 said...

Apologies for the confusion!
A name change has rectified that.

And thanks for the giraffe pic!