please empty your brain below
If relevant, please start your comment with a number from 1 to 31.

(questions will not be answered)

diamond geezer | Homepage | 02.02.26 - 12:00 a.m. | #

29. Perhaps one of the two will be known as Great Uncle Bulgaria.

DGD | 02.02.26 - 7:39 a.m. | #

9. That took me by surprise, too. That was the only site I know which gave wide access to a proper map. The OS itself limits access.

Robin Hood | 02.02.26 - 7:54 a.m. | #

9. Although questions aren’t being answered, this doesn’t mean I can’t ask what’s the problem with openstreetmap? I must be missing something.

Bryn Davies | 02.02.26 - 8:11 a.m. | #

16. and 9. Thanks :)

19. Refulget labores nostros coelum, as they say in Scunthorpe

31. Badminton's not even close: it's about 100 miles away.

Robin Hood | 02.02.26 - 8:15 a.m. | #

17. Ealing Broadway, not Turnham Green.

dg writes: fixed thanks

HF | 02.02.26 - 8:17 a.m. | #

12. We take our Christmas tree down today, Candlemas, the traditional end of Christmastide.

Tim W. | 02.02.26 - 8:24 a.m. | #

9. Oh dear. Perhaps someone has bought the website domain name (it was advertised for sale some time ago) but if so surprised they haven’t immediately put up the new site. The company Streepmap.EU Limited still exists and filed its March 2025 acounts in December.

29. Congratulations!

Andrew | 02.02.26 - 8:26 a.m. | #

24 The changes to Saturday post are due to come into effect in April.

Barry Coppock | 02.02.26 - 8:30 a.m. | #

4) I don't normally listen to Counterpoint but years ago I occasionally listened. One question described a musical term and asked: what musical term is being described? None of the contestants got the answer which was 'counterpoint'. I decided future episodes could never be as good as that one.

9 and 16) I mourned the loss of Streetmap so hurrah for sysmaps.co.uk. Thank you for directing me there. I was pondering whether to take out a subscription to OS Maps so much did I miss it. In answer to Bryn, only OS maps show footpaths properly although openstreetmap is OK, but not as good, for urban areas. When I take the dog out using public transport we often end up in an area totally different from the one I originally intended to visit so, despite having them, OS paper maps don't solve the problem.

14) The late Mrs Pedantic would say that she nearly died from pneumonia as a teenager and only survived because her GP rushed around on his motorbike to obtain some desperately-needed penicillin (it was still in short supply then).

Pedantic of Purley | 02.02.26 - 8:34 a.m. | #

18. There was a take off of Concorde called Ooh look cardboard guitars again.

25. Also there are now biscoff creme eggs although they are crunchy not gooey

debster | 02.02.26 - 8:41 a.m. | #

9. Open Street Map is good, but the OS maps on Street Map were better, in particular at showing footpaths in the countryside

10. I have a solution to the King Henry's Mound view. Richmond is twice as far from St Pauls as Stratford is. The dome has a diammeter of 112 feet and only half the dome is in front of the skyscraper, so moving the mound 100 feet to the south should be eneough to give the dome a sky background. You'd also need to widen the avenue through Sidmouth Wood. All to be done at the developers' expense, of course!

Timbo | 02.02.26 - 8:43 a.m. | #

30. Congratulations on finding any mince pies after 24th December. They had already been removed from sale at my local Tesco by then; I didn't see any at reduced price anywhere.

Man of Kent | 02.02.26 - 8:43 a.m. | #

31. On a par with that Welsh translation of the "Out of Office" message

MKIan | 02.02.26 - 8:50 a.m. | #

9 there is openstreetmap - is this something different?

Tim Burns | 02.02.26 - 8:55 a.m. | #

4 - in BBC speak its more inclusive.

5 - another opportunity to send your DNA to some random organization.

6 - I saw my first dumped Christmas tree in December.

22 - the Mark Carney saying the 'quiet part out loud' speech at Davos on 20th was more significant - although someone pointed out that the USA has Canada surrounded.

27 - the last remaining agreement between Russia and the USA (The New Start Treaty) constraining nuclear weapons lapses on 4th February - remember though that China has never been involved in these agreements and has been building up its arsenal.

Still Anon | 02.02.26 - 8:56 a.m. | #

3. This could be the micro-climate effect of the Norwood Ridge or just Bromleys bloody mindedness not to share anything with the rest of London.

19. Having seen the Northern Lights from my location in the midst of a German foerst in January my plans to travel to Northern Sweden to witness them are now blown apart. Nobody I asked had ever seen them in our location before so clearly something is going on.

31. How wonderful to see that surrealist writing is alive and well in north London.

Keith the Kraut | 02.02.26 - 9:02 a.m. | #

2 - You listen to 'The Archers'! Can I recommend the podcast 'Ambridge on the Couch?

4- Agreed about 'Counterpoint'. It has gone downmarket of late. And what has happened to 'Round Britain Quiz?'

9 - A subscription to online OS maps is well worth the money, IMHO.

Mr Peloton | 02.02.26 - 9:11 a.m. | #

27. Is there a rationale to this 85 seconds, or is it just an artificial construct to draw attention to world security?

Rob | 02.02.26 - 9:29 a.m. | #

30. A market stall baker in Uxbridge makes mince pies all year round as her customers like them, and crucially they also buy them. 3 for £1 and highly recommended.

Andrew S | 02.02.26 - 9:39 a.m. | #

9. Geohack.toolforge.org, which is the deeper underpinnings of how Wikipedia presents links to maps/places and likely to be durable (and hopefully easy to bulk replace/augment in your archives).

Or just generally borrow ideas from the Wikipedia map template architecture.

There is a broader archival (info lifecycle management) consideration of whether and how you handle a endemic dead link problem in your archive posts: transparently (flagging or an interstitial), silently, or nor at all (it is what it was)

MilesT | 02.02.26 - 9:47 a.m. | #

4) Playing the theme tune where there should be applause is just weird.
I wonder if the lack of classical music is due to the questions now being tailored to the contestants' stated interests (in the same way that University Challenge now always seems to include some questions related to the degree subjects of those appearing, which becomes very noticeable when a specialist institution is playing).

Nigel | 02.02.26 - 9:47 a.m. | #

29. I’m recently a great-aunt. So far, no success in finding birthdays cards to a great-niece - please flag up if you ever find one to great niece or nephew. Ta.

Artie | 02.02.26 - 10:02 a.m. | #

20) I'm assuming this is successful hyper-targeting, that 'the algorithm' has determined that your local Tesco will in fact lead to complete cross-country visits if they suggest something interesting enough.

29) My uncles greatly enjoyed becoming great-uncles, my aunts all objected to the term great-aunt!

TomH | 02.02.26 - 10:19 a.m. | #

Is it just me, or is this the best Unblogged post (and comments) yet?

9) I was gutted by this as well. A big user. I had found "hugs" but not sysmaps.co.uk, which looks better, so thanks for that. I also wondered about subscribing to OS.

22) As the saying goes, "you couldn't make it up".

MikeK | 02.02.26 - 10:39 a.m. | #

7) After that freezing start to the month, the weather has just been depressingly overcast and damp.

15) I have often wondered about those ludicrous TfL plans, as they were announced with a fanfare, then completely forgotten about! Maybe someone realised that London does need a few "strategic" roads to keep operating.

23) I was really pleased they won

30) I still have 3 boxes of mince pies in the cupboard, all bought very cheaply after Christmas from Sainsbury's. Two have a best before of April, so no rush to use them.

Mikey C | 02.02.26 - 10:49 a.m. | #

9 - That's a real shame. It was always my go-to for finding postcode boundaries. While I'm certain there exists a way to get them on OSM, it's not immediately clear or simple to do so.

Chz | 02.02.26 - 10:56 a.m. | #

25. TGJones

Ewan James | 02.02.26 - 11:00 a.m. | #

9. Where has it gone ? The only one guaranteed to be acurate and above all showing contours.

kev | 02.02.26 - 11:13 a.m. | #

17) Wine and Mousaka has been going since at least the mid-seventies with the same sign outside and used to be a regular haunt for me and my friend, also Richard, who lived in Greenlaw Court on the other side of the roundabout. Best kleftiko I've ever eaten in London.

Richard | 02.02.26 - 11:25 a.m. | #

29. Congratulations. We have gone with Grauntie and Gruncle.

HTFB | 02.02.26 - 12:02 p.m. | #

2. January also marked my 50th year of keeping a diary (I started in 1977).
My diary is a 'day to a page' (pocket size), which is my only purchase each year from WHSmith. Hopefully, TGJones will continue to stock them.

Carllo | 02.02.26 - 12:08 p.m. | #

9 and 16. Bing maps have stopped having an OS layer also. Thanks for the link to sysmaps

Neil | 02.02.26 - 12:30 p.m. | #

31. Is this for bus drivers - alignment being needed to ensure those in wheelchairs or pushing prams have a more level access/egress point?

Robert Butlin | 02.02.26 - 12:37 p.m. | #

19. I've given up looking for the Lights now as the only glow I ever see is from Wembley stadium!

27. 85 seconds! Blimey, I remember when Iron Maiden sang about it being Two Minutes to Midnight as part of the mid-80s hysteria!

29. Congratulations to the happy parents, uncles, grand uncles and great-grandfather!

Cornish Cockney | 02.02.26 - 12:39 p.m. | #

9: I too miss streetmap. It was so easy to use and then print an extract - no faffing around downloading anything or creating an account. I'm told that it disappeared once before and came back, so I'll carry on hoping ...

Alan S | 02.02.26 - 1:59 p.m. | #

26: Congrats on your Baird coverage. BBC 4 did in fact re-run an old documentary about him, but, as you say, there wasn’t much else. You might have expected the Beeb, of all people, to make more noise about a pivotal figure in their early existence, but apparently they were really reluctant to adopt this new-fangled technology at the time and had to be leaned on to do so, so perhaps that explains it.

Labourer | 02.02.26 - 2:18 p.m. | #

9: As Neil has noted, Bing maps has recently (October?) stopped showing OS mapping, and now Streetmap no longer exists. My guess is that OS are making licensing more expensive to 3rd parties, hence why Bing have ditched it and Streetmap could no longer afford it.

Hat tip to the sysmaps link. See how long it lasts.

Contrary to others, I've found footpaths are far more accurate and complete on OpenStreetMap. In particular, the OS is notorious for errors on National Trails (or failure to keep up to date with permanent alterations). For example, the Pennine Way at Ickornshaw still shows a superseded routing (you'd need to climb over a wall and walk through someone's garden to follow this original route).

sheepdog | 02.02.26 - 2:24 p.m. | #

9. for quite a while Streetmap's homepage had a message on it saying it was for sale. So either they succeeded in selling the site and the new owners have other plans, or they've quietly given up. It's a shame but it's a reminder that nothing's sacrosanct in the world of the Internet. One day even Google may disappear.

17. I lived in Ealing for four years (leaving 22 years ago) and never knew about that place. Feel like I missed out!

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 02.02.26 - 2:50 p.m. | #

9, re Streetmap
This is a great loss. I thought there was something wrong my end. Really handy on your phone when you're out.I haven't seen anything yet as to why this has happened.

Le Ver | 02.02.26 - 3:34 p.m. | #

22. Having to hold our breath for 4 more years has been a difficult ask.....but this last year has been 3 years by itself. This past month has felt like 3 months alone. We may need a hand over here. It's worse than it looks. Send help.

steven crosby | 02.02.26 - 3:35 p.m. | #

23) It was fun, and if anyone is looking for a distraction from 22) the Irish Traitors (iPlayer) is well worth your time.

JonF | 02.02.26 - 4:50 p.m. | #

27. Feels more like 85 milliseconds rather than 85 seconds.

A person | 02.02.26 - 5:44 p.m. | #

21. Hope the new increase in the cost of your mobile service is less than the £184 a month we pay for ours in the US. Albeit for two mobiles (divide in half), but we have only one provider in our area, so no competition--and lousy service, to boot.

Mary | 02.02.26 - 6:44 p.m. | #

30) I am looking at a box of Sainsbury's Taste The Difference All Butter Mince Pies (infused with brandy) which have a Best Before of May 9 2026. You are welcome to have them if it can be arranged.

Chris | 02.02.26 - 6:52 p.m. | #

26 - BBC Scotland had some TV and radio dedicated to JLB for obvious reasons.

Anyoldname | 02.02.26 - 7:15 p.m. | #

A bumper set of comments for the post that is a monthly favourite for me and many. I have little to add, other than to agree that 11. was excellent.

Frank F | 02.02.26 - 8:53 p.m. | #

Days that haven't attracted comment:
1 8 13 28

(but the vast majority have, thanks)

diamond geezer | Homepage | 03.02.26 - 12:15 a.m. | #

17) While much else in Ealing has changed, the Wine and Mousaka restaurant hidden round that corner looks little different from when we used to go there with BBC colleagues back in the late 60s.

ActonMan | 03.02.26 - 12:45 a.m. | #

16. Thanks very much for the sysmaps.co.uk link! I worried I'd never see a contour line on a screen again!

Basil Jet | 03.02.26 - 9:01 p.m. | #

15) Camden Council relaid the pavemnet and kerbs at the junction of Albert and Delancy Streets last year only to return a few months later to rip it all up and remodel it (for the better).

tops | 04.02.26 - 8:52 a.m. | #

9. Streetmap's back :)

diamond geezer | Homepage | 07.02.26 - 7:35 a.m. | #

Street Map appears to be back. Yippee!!

Alan P. | 07.02.26 - 8:46 a.m. | #











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