Crystal Palace reborn*

South London is the forgotten part of the capital, most of the posh bits are north of the river and those of us who live to the south have to remember to take our passports with us when we travel up London. So it is with great pride that I announce that Isambard Kingdom Brunel's water towers that once powered the fountains at Crystal Palace are to be rebuilt as wind turbines. For those of you who do not know the history of South London, and that will be most of you, the Crystal Palace was originally erected in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851. At the close of the exhibition it was re-erected in the distant southern suburbs near Sydenham where it remained until it burned down before WWII. (Yeah - I don't know how crystal burns either.) The foundations can still be seen in Crystal Palace Park which is a just short ride on the 227 for me. The dinosaurs, described in Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything as the world's first theme park remain even if they are no longer scientifically correct.

*Note: I am not referring here to my football side, Crystal Palace FC, who are languishing in mid-table obscurity in the Championship and are unlikely to be "reborn" or promoted anytime soon.