Over bridge for Annan and Stations in England
Why anyone might think the Scots a bit parochial at times, I don’t know…
You’ll have to excuse the poor quality of the shot – taken a little furtively in case I had to explain to someone why I find the sign amusing. And the lazy blogging of late – I’ve actually had too much to do, and none of it blog-worthy. Back on the bike, I hope, tomorrow, with more adventures to share.
January 30, 2009 at 9:40 am |
You’re being a bit harsh methinks. But why is stations capitalised? And why does it say stations at all. Think of the ink that could have been saved by simply saying over the bridge for Annan and England? Or maybe to pander to Anglocentricity it could have said “Over the bridge for Annan and the UK” !!
January 30, 2009 at 9:48 am |
Ah, but crossing the bridge doesn’t bring you any closer to Annan (or even England) per se – just to the trains that take you there. So the ’stations’ was put there to pander to the same literalist mind that has introduced ‘next station stop’ to the train lexicon.
January 30, 2009 at 9:58 am |
Of course. Quite right.
My morning commute used to be punctuated by a train guard asking me to make sure I had my ‘personal belongings’ with me when I left the train. I always wondered what impersonal belongings were.
January 30, 2009 at 10:22 am |
curiously enough ‘personal belongings’ never bothered me in all my commuting days (although it will now). ‘Planned engineering works’ used to get me wondering what unplanned ones would be like though.
January 30, 2009 at 10:48 am |
If Annan is on the right track for England, why are they discriminating against Gretna Green station? (which is still in Scotland last time I looked)
January 30, 2009 at 12:29 pm |
Unplanned engineering works are when they scramble to fix the failed points/broken signals/downed overhead power lines/broken rails that happens on a pretty much daily basis. Has it been so long since you commuted that you forget?
January 30, 2009 at 1:49 pm |
Paperboy – I’ve wondered that too
Dom – yeah but they still have to plan how to do it. They don’t just chuck rivets at it until it works. Or maybe they do?
January 31, 2009 at 9:46 am |
So what you’re saying is there are planned planned works and unplanned planned events. Does this mean we also have unplanned unplanned events – or even planned unplanned events? We need Donald Rumsfeld
January 31, 2009 at 11:05 am |
As long as he confines himself to philosophical utterances and keeps his hands well away from any of the levers of power…