First up, as you must know, there is an issue with our apartment block complex with regard to fire safety. It seems that none of the buildings meet even the old fire regulations, let alone the new ones. As a result, all of the outer cladding has to be removed and new fire insulation installed. It also seems to require the walls clad in timber to be sprayed with fire resistant coatings.
This is, currently, all in the future as various technical and bureaucratic processes need to be resolved. However, they are starting work on one “small” part of the process. They (whomsoever they are) have decided that all of the interior/exterior doors need replacing. Interior/exterior means all the doors in the public areas so all of the apartment front doors and, it seems, all of the cupboard doors. Anyway, it all kicks off next Monday to an estimated tune of £2,000,000. Yep that is right – two million smackers!
To do the work the contractors need somewhere to keep their tools and to have the ubiquitous portable toilets. They have taken over some of the visitors parking in Maude Street, as though we are all ready short of parking as it is!

That’s the “bibs” bit, now to the “bobs”
For the un initiated, a Bob is the flag that flies at the top of the main mast on every Thames Barge. When we lived up on the 4th floor on the front of the block we had a little book about these boats and ticked them off one at a time as the came and went in the Wet Dock. We don’t see so many lately so I will have to be content with showing you three.

Thalatta

Thistle

Victor
I will show more as they arrive.