Walking back to Waterlook station from Chinatown, after our weekly Chinese School trip, we crossed Hungerford bridge and I took this shot with my phone camera.
Crossing Hungerford Bridge
Author: Rex Wickham
Two monitors are better than one
I’ve had two monitors on my office desk for as long as I can remember. There was a nice Dilbert cartoon last week that sums up the feeling of smugness very nicely – click the pic to see the entire comic strip.
Bye Bye BST
I don’t know who first came up with the idea that when the clocks go back at the end of British Summer Time that “you get an extra hour in bed”. They certainly didn’t have children. For us it was an hour less in bed. The kids still woke up at their usual time – as per their internal body clocks – whereas as we adults have gone to bed an hour later so got an hour less sleep. I’m on day 3 at the time of writing and there’s still no sign of their body clocks adjusting….
Ecofund
Wandsworth council has a £5,000 eco fund to help environmental projects get started. I my idea to cover the entire roof space of our block of flats in solar cells would be a bit too pricey but if you’ve got a low-budget idea, take a look.
London SkyRide 2010
Slightly less busy than last year, and the route was improved, yesterdays London Skyride was a big success with us. Thomas (4) cycled the whole day, including the ride back to Battersea without any complaint.
Not many Boris bikes around, I’d have thought they’d be more. Mind you at £35 for 6 hours you wouldn’t get many takers.
I only realised at the very end of the day that the ‘sky’ in ‘skyride’ referred to the satellite TV broadcaster. What a dolt!
Good old National Trust
There’s something very John Majorish about the National Trust. Good to see they keep to the traditional (and proper) naming for their conveniences.
Things to Do in London – Annual Entry Fees
On a recent visit to Battersea Park Zoo, we decided we’d buy an annual family ticket. However we soon changed our minds when we discovered the annual zoo ticket price was £240.00 – around 10 times the family entrance fee. This prompted me to do a bit of research into what other similar places charged for annual entrance, and the results were quite amazing.
Annual Entry Fees 2010
Comparison of Annual Entry Fees for London Attractions
Venue Adult (£) Family (£) Annual (£) Definition of Family Conditions and Notes
Battersea Park Zoo 7.50 25.00 240.00 2 adults & 2 children or 1 adult & 3 children
London Wetland Centre 9.95 27.75 62.00 2 adults & 2 children, 4-16 years Named parents or grandparents with up to 6 of their own children/ grandchildren (aged 4-16 years).
London Zoo 17.20 55.62 162.00 No family annual membership – 2 adults + 2 children priced.
Kew Gardens 13.00 26.00 70.00 2 adults & unlimited children
HMS Belfast 12.95 25.90 70.00 2 adults & 3 children Access Churchill War Rooms, HMS Belfast, and Imperial War Museum Duxford
National Trust 8.80 20.35 84.50 Two adults & their children or grandchildren under 18. One-off admission price varies. Basildon Park picked as example.
Not only was Battersea Park Zoo the highest I found, they were highest by a considerable margin. London Zoo was the only one that came close for an annual membership, but as their daily admission charge is about double that of Battersea Park Zoo, it still comes out as excellent value.
One of the venues in the table above said that their pricing was based on a number of factors including competition, a wish to attract local people who would benefit the most, balance the admission fees with the increase in income from secondary onsite sources and that research had shown that a typical member would visit 2 and a half times.
Many London attractions use their cafe, restuarants and shops to provide revenue. The National History Museum subsidies its activities to the tune of £2.7million. When the competition is fierce it’s a classic marketing technique.
Research has shown a correlation between admission price and visitor numbers so I would be interested to add this data to the venues in my table.
Big Lunch
Battersea High Street was transformed for this years ‘Big Lunch’ street party. We saw bouncy castles, wine tasting, local beer tasting, face painting, chalk drawings on the street, salsa dancing, and delicious barbeques and picnic lunches.
Every trader in Battersea High Street participated (with the exception of bookmakers William Hill) and the layout was double the length of last years.
It was inspiring to see all the hard work that had gone into it, and I expect to see many more street parties springing up next year.
When I’m Boss
When I’m boss I’m going to make my family obey me and tidy my room. I will make my class listen to me make a throne and take me to mcdonalds
to have every meal [,] let me have a birthday every satarday and get to stay up as long as I want to. get me the whole football kit and make dad go to sleep at 6 oc[lock].
Art Experience at BAC
I’ve just been pushed out of a window at Battersea Arts Centre.