Three things this week

Pasta classes

One of my new neighbours very generously organised a pasta making workshop with Frederico and Luca on Saturday evening – and yes they do look like the guys on the door and they genuinely do come from Torino and Roma! After three hours we left with enough pasta to cook and eat for the next week – and it is proving absolutely delicious.

Yes, we already had a pasta making machine with its user manual at home which had been largely ignored after the initial excitement. But, to be shown how to make good pasta and then do it yourself with your tutor on hand to get you out of trouble makes such a difference. We really feel able to give it a go at home now.

With lockdown gradually easing hopefully their scope for practical classes increases – so do give it a try.

They’ve survived lockdown and have grand plans which maybe helped if we do get a ‘liveable neighbourhood soon which is neat segue into the next topic…

Liveable neighbourhood

Yes, we get one step closer very soon with the early runners selected next week. I rescued last week’s newsletter from our local councillors out of the recycling box to photograph it. As is self evident, they are very much gunning for the bid they made last February which includes our wishes for a much safer, quieter and communal Camden neighbourhood as well as mitigation for several other cut throughs etc. Let’s hope we’re on the shortlist. As soon as we know, we’ll post something.

Cleveland Bridge

Well’ it should have been completely shut by now and we would have been on the look out for increased traffic levels on Camden Road particularly. The closure is now due to happen at the end of this month or even early July. For those with an engineering bent there’s an interesting ‘photomontage’ (click here) of what is going on under the bridge at the moment. The reason for the delay is that the scaffolding design did not work in practice and had to be taken apart and a new design is now being constructed.

It is reassuring to see this series of signs now in place along London Road which hopefully is deterring drivers from turning up through Walcot to Camden Road. Being on such tall poles should deter the graffiti ‘artists’ too.

There’s one missing on Thomas Street which we need to get installed.

We’ve asked that the data on the ANPR camera on Camden Road is used to monitor traffic levels whilst the bridge is closed to get a objective assessment of the traffic levels which if they increase as we fear might require emergency measures to be put in place, pronto. As a first step the cameras are being validated against traditional traffic counters next week.