NO SHOW WITHOUT MUNGUIN

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Munguin, being a modest animal, failed to notify me that he had been invited to have a run over the bridge before the queen opens it officially.

So, without any forewarning, I was summoned to “bring round the Rolls” today at lunchtime (just as I was about to enjoy my bread and cheese) and to chauffeur himself to Queensferry, whereupon he said a few words…

“OK, home, Tris”.

I’m willing to bet that her majesty will be far less inspired in her choice of words next week.

It was worth the trip though. The bridge is fantastic, more beautiful than photographs show it to be. It was sad that the BBC radio news at 5 pm  had it so far down in the running order (behind a company in the Netherlands that is making gas from stale bread, would you believe?), and even then, chose to highlight that there had been delays (erm, what did they expect?) and that a van had broken down. I wonder if there were a new bridge over the Thames, they would have been so negative.

Anyway, here are Munguin’s souvenirs for those of you not so privileged to be invited to be there on the first day.

 

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There was a build up of traffic en route…

 

 

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… then it came into sight.
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Unlike the old bridge, it will be a motorway, but with no walkway. The 40mph restriction is only in force for the next few weeks, while people come to stare. In future, the speed limit will be 70 mph.
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It has side wind protection, so you can barely see the other bridges when you are on it.
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From under the bridge…
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Munguin chose to say a few words with the backdrop of the three bridges.
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I think he’d nipped off into the bushes to relieve himself here. (Champagne does that to one.)

 

70 thoughts on “NO SHOW WITHOUT MUNGUIN”

      1. The photo on the south side with His Highness on the wee dyke; that used to be *the* party spot. A friend of mine had his divorce party there. A bonfire made of railway sleepers, a petrol generator powering some lights and a lot of Led Zep and an ill-gotten keg of beer (he was a bar manager).

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          1. Moët? Surely not, Tris, I’d have thought that a sophisticated person such as Munguin would have preferred Dom Perignon, or in his case would it be Dom Penguinon? Altogether now, “Sur le pont de Queensferry, on y danse, on y danse…”

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            1. Ha ha… VERY good, andi.

              In these Brexit days, there’s a limit even to Munguin’s purse, and with the pound against the Euro… belts are being tightened.

              The second hand gold doesn’t go as far as it used to.

              Dom Penguinon…. You crack me up sometimes…

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  2. It’s god to see how
    a positive outcome when
    the snp put aside ideological
    nationalist dogma and work
    With the patriotic parties both
    At holyrood and Westminster.

    Just go to prove devolved governance under the watchful eye of Westminster
    Is best for Scotland and the
    United Kingdom.

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    3. Oh, the irony – or is it sarcasm… Thanks for reminding us, Niko, that the two “patriotic” parties did everything in their power to stop the Queensferry Crossing being built at all.

      I’d have loved to go along with Tris and Mr. Munguin, for the bridge and the company and the champagne. That bridge really is a thing of beauty. I am old enough to remember my father taking me, when I was not much more than an ankle-biter, in the car across the Forth on one of the last actual ferries from South Queensferry before the original road bridge opened, so I saw that one when it was split new. That was impressive enough, but the new one is simply stunning. It’s definitely up at the top of the rankings, along with the Millau Viaduct.

      I am disappointed to learn, but course not surprised, that BBC Shortbread served up its news about the Crossing with the usual added dose of Cringe-inducing propaganda. I expect the new bridge to be ignored from now on, except when there are delays or lane closures, or any remedial work of any kind needs to be done – it’s pretty much inevitable that there will be a few things that need a bit of extra TLC in any project on anything like that scale.

      The same people who are responsible for the Cringe-inducing propaganda that saps the self-confidence of so many Scots are also responsible for the mental ill health – the self-esteem issues and the depression – that come from internalizing the Cringe. Anyway, that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it. To keep up the Big Lies inherent in the “too wee, too poor, too stupid” propaganda tropes, Good News and Occasions for (Scottish) National Rejoicing must be ignored, trivialized, and spun as negatively as possible. Once seen through, they become something that’s just impossible to tolerate, and provoke healthy outrage rather than morbid despair.

      I’m sure I’m not the first to say that the Cringe-inducing propaganda is actually a form of psychological warfare. I only wish I were an expert in combating it.

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      1. P.S. I have had a soft spot for Moët et Chandon champagne, particularly their Dom Pérignon, since I took a tour of the company’s amazing cellars in the chalk at Épernay, with the rest of my dysfunctional family, at the ripe old age of 12 or 13. It was an especially memorable experience for me because the tour included a “free” glass of champagne and French cheese nibbles, and because the other people on the tour were a coachload of rather prim, Methodist old ladies from the North of England, their flûtes of “one glass of that and I’d be under the table” champagne, and their “far too strong for me” cheese and “the crusts are too tough for my dentures” slices of baguette were going unclaimed. So I chowed down and drank up everything within reach and sight.

        Fortunately, I was not sick afterwards.

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        2. LOL.

          Lovely, Ed.

          I never tire of watching Brits abroad looking down their noses at the delicious food becasue it’s not sausage, egg and chips.

          Not, I hasten to add, that there is anything wrong with sausage, egg and chips, but there is more to cuisine if you care to look.

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        3. We did that trip many years ago. I have had an enduring love of the stuff ever since. I prefer Widow nowadays. Tris, its not so pricey. Amazon has frequent promotions, as do the big 4 supermarkets ( all of which we should be boycotting, but only 1 I do ).

          I bought some vintage bottles of Moet prior to the 2014 vote. However we came second, so they are still unopened. The vintage ones keep for 5 to 10 years apparently, so if its to be drunk in the spirit it was intended we better get that Indyref2 on the go and win the damned thing.

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          1. I’ve seen a few good promotions. Really good champagne is a seriously nice drink. Munguin enjoys a drop of the Widow too!

            But now we must diurect our efforts to ensuring that the stuff you have in your cellar doesn’t have the chance to go off!

            Slàinte agus Santé

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            1. I don’t know anything about champagne, but I would suppose that bottles which come in a gift box just have to be good. A cork instead of a twist-off cap is probably a good sign too.

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      2. Although, Ed, the bridge will undoubtedly get a good press sometime next week, when the BBC’s queen gores to open it.

        Although, doubtless we will learn less about the bridge and more about what we is wearing.

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  3. Great pictures! Lovely views of the bridge, and also of the three bridges from the level of the river.
    I’m sure that the crowd was thrilled that Mr. Munguin made a few appropriate remarks for the occasion. One hopes that her Majesty does as well. 😉

    There were dispatches in the New York Times on Monday and the Washington Post this morning. The New York Daily News also published the Associated Press dispatch that was in the Post along with a larger picture of today’s early morning traffic.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/newswires/news/world/motorists-gawkers-line-new-bridge-scotland-article-1.3454994

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    1. Thanks for the articles, Danny.

      Glad to see some positive coverage.

      The masses were hanging on Munguin’s every word.

      I expect that when the queen speaks, there will be some people to listen too. I suppose Nicola and Keith will have to show up anyway.

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      1. @ Edd…..Indeed! Here in the states, it was quite some years ago that my knowledge of Scotland (and England) was more limited. I was not familiar with the Forth, and I certainly had no idea what a “firth” is. So the first time I encountered the construction “Firth of Forth,” it seemed strange indeed. Now, it occurs to me (as it has surely occurred to many others) that in the fullness of time many decades into the future, with the demands of increased traffic across the Firth, another bridge will be built, and it will be the fourth Firth of Forth Bridge.

        At that point, as the grand ceremonial opening nears on the first day of operation, traffic will move forthrightly over the fourth Firth of Forth bridge. I need to work on this some more of course, but that’s the best I can do for now. 😉

        The New York Times occasionally delves into its 165 year archives and publishes what it (or sometimes other New York papers) published about events in the past which have some relevance to the present. I Googled some archival newspaper articles recently published by the “Old Gray Lady” Times on the first and second Forth bridges.

        https://iht-retrospective.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/1890-forth-bridge-is-completed/?mcubz=1&mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=3AEED72BD2EEC6DF32407A6ABFB20D3A&gwt=pay

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        1. Thanks for the pics. Tris, makes me feel really old as i recall the ferry for Navy days at Rosyth, the Forth Bridge for the train to Kirkcaldy to the dog track and the road bridge for the holidays up north. hopefully i will make it back to experience ” The Crossing “

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          1. Niko…….Hypocrisy is of course the mother’s milk of politics, but the freshman senator from Texas seems to take it to extremes. He is generally detested by many politicians of both parties, as he not only uses some of the tactics of Joe McCarthy in his demagoguery, he more or less LOOKS like the odious grandstanding senator from Wisconsin.

            At present as you know, the hypocrisy in question is Cruz’s support of federal funds for Texas disaster relief from Hurricane Harvey of the type that he opposed in 2012 for victims of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey, New York, and the Northeast. His response: “The problem with that particular bill is it became a $50 billion bill that was filled with unrelated pork. Two-thirds of that bill had nothing to do with Sandy.”

            While it’s true that politicians often load up relief bills (that will certainly pass the Congress) with more or less unrelated pork barrel spending items, the Washington Post fact checked his assertion that 2/3 of the Sandy relief money had nothing to do with Hurricane Sandy. The Post fact checker awarded him three Pinocchios, and so I would conclude that his claim that he opposed the Sandy bill because it was not a “clean” disaster relief bill is pure hypocritical BS, solely for the benefit of the right wing Texas yahoos who elected him…….and who hate politically liberal and Democrat-voting New Jersey and New York, and President Obama who was running for reelection.

            https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/08/29/ted-cruzs-claim-that-two-thirds-of-the-hurricane-sandy-bill-had-nothing-to-do-with-sandy/?utm_term=.31b71c16ef0e

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  4. ‘Tis indeed a thing of beauty. But then, so was the first Road Bridge at which I was on the guard of honour at the opening ceremony performed by our No 1 Benefit Claimant. That was the one where Dimblebum’s father paraded his ignorance for all to hear by describing the Firth of Forth as the Firth of Clyde.

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  5. Brilliant photos, and I’ve enjoyed watching the bridge grow, engineering brilliance.

    I was going to mention the BBC and the other politicians but don’t want to spoil the celebration.

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    1. Thanks Brian.

      Auch that’s just the BBC wanting to put us down, just in case we got too big headed and started to think we could have done it without being part of Britain.

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  6. The Queen Of England is coming?
    I thought our FM had done the official opening. I much prefer elected reps doing this kind of thing.
    More esp when it it is such an impressive piece of Scottish Engineering.

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    1. Yes, I wish someone properly Scottish had done in.

      I said so on Twitter and was corrected by someone who said that the Queen was half Scottish… which of course she is.

      But she doesn’t sound Scottish.

      In years to come I’d have rather heard whatever it is she says in a Scottish voice, not an upper-class Home Counties, RP one

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  7. Majestic Munquin!

    Niko,

    Any comment on the shameful revelation that 80 people per week are dying after being declared by the Duncan-Smith’s department as being fit for work under ‘the watchful eye of Westminster’? Will Labour be revolting over this issue or will they continue to support their unionist allies?

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    1. John: They can hardly kick off too much about the criminal treatment of the sick when they brought the whole thing in.

      I think that was their phases of trying to out Tory the Tories so that the SE of England wouldn’t think they were Stalinists.

      Munguin says thank you, by the way. He says if you want anything opened on your wee island, all you have to do is say and he’ll be there… assuming, of course, the fee and the fringe benefits are right… You do have a 5-star hotel there, right?

      On the subject of the bridge and the delays, so highlighted by the Biased Broadcasting Company, I saw this tweet this morning:
      ++++++++++
      Mr Malky Retweeted
      Alan Ferrier‏ @alanferrier 2h2 hours ago

      Easy rush-hour run across the #QueensferryCrossing this morning. No delays, no tailbacks, smooth as silk. Brilliant.
      ++++++++++
      Bet that curdled the milk on Union Jackie’s cornflakes!

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      1. No 5* hotels but a highly-rated Fish Bistro with a grumpy but brilliant chef! We had our bridge opened by some nonentity called Blair which may have been responsible for the islands being consistently SNP ever since – there’s gratitude for you!

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        1. LOL.

          Oh well, that’s something anyway.

          Munguin can have your room!

          Imagine having Blair open your bridge. Jeeeeez, how horrible for you.

          But Angus will be grateful!

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    3. Brownlie

      and what pray are the snp the Government of Scotland doing
      about said revelation?????
      Oh! cant doing anything they lie apart from being able to replace
      any and indeed add to any shortfall in monies being taken.
      But that wouldnt suit the nats use of suffering Scots to use
      in the sad propaganda to whit Evil England starves Scots.
      Which never happened pre 1707.

      Ignoring the facts that the Conservatives whom have much
      support in Scotland and indeed the ranks of the snp to
      carry out thier reign of terror throughout the United Kingdom
      on all nationalities in the name of a corrupt capitalism which
      the you the snp and tris are in thrall to…

      The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.

      Albert Einstein

      Oh ! the snp have thier hands tied behind thier back
      so are unable to come to the aid of suffering in Scotland
      lying bustards.

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  8. Grist to Brownlies mill

    Title: England’s Revenge in India”

    Caption: “This 1857 photograph was published in 1939 by the English newspaper ‘Picture Post.’ It shows the methods used to suppress the Sepoy Rebellion. As an English eyewitness noted at the time: “The executions occurred summarily and without appeal.

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      1. only in america
        https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/tripping/wp/2017/09/05/walking-while-black-with-a-louisiana-twist-pedestrians-run-over-by-a-truck-get-run-over-by-the-law/?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-national%3Ahomepage%2Fcard&utm_term=.65dfa08fb1b3

        ‘Walking while black’ with a Louisiana twist: 3 pedestrians run over by a truck get run over by the law

        Imagine being run over by a car and then being charged with a crime for being the victim.

        Earlier this month, three African-American young men were walking along a street at night in the small Louisiana town of La Ville Platte (pop. 7,270) when a Chevrolet pickup truck hit them, inflicting minor injuries. The driver of the truck — who said he was blinded by the headlights of an oncoming vehicle — wasn’t charged, police said. But the three pedestrians were.

        Police charged them with unlawfully obstructing traffic and failure to have reflective gear. That’s a misdemeanor that could put a person in a highly visible orange jumpsuit for up to a year.

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      2. I remember reading that Churchill, when in the Foreign Office, received a cable from their man in Mesopotamia querying Churchill’s instructions. The policy would, the cable said, mean the deaths of countless natives.

        Churchill is reputed to have replied that he didn;t give a hang how many heathens die as long as the will of His Majesty’s government was carried out.

        The very thought of that makes my flesh creep.

        And people wonder why I won;t sing their national anthem or stand for their flag.

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        1. Tris…….Your view of Churchill is perfect. Churchill was more than an alcoholic self-aggrandizing political opportunist. He was also an unapologetic racist and imperialist, who was quite happy to kill any number of dark skinned people in the name of King and Empire. He happened to be right about Hitler of course, and was the only reasonable choice as PM in the War Cabinet crisis of 1940. Lord Halifax would have sought an accommodation with Hitler, so he was shipped off to Washington where he could do no harm as Ambassador to the United States.

          Apart from Hitler accidentally being right about the Nazis, anyone’s flesh should creep when they think of Churchill. He was the human embodiment of the fact that most of the problems in the world past and present are the result of the British raping and pillaging half the planet in the days of empire. Sadly, Americans in their misguided admiration for Churchill have forgotten their own revolutionary heritage. The only proper response to the Brits showing up on your shores is to begin shooting at them. They will leave post haste. When the heathen savages have guns and shoot back, the British fold like a cheap suit. As I often point out to anyone who will listen is that countries like Canada and Australia and countless others show what happens when you try to play nice with the Brits. You toil under the yoke of British monarchical tyranny forever.

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          1. Error correction: Of course I meant “CHURCHILL accidentally being right about the Nazis” not “Hitler accidentally being right about the Nazis.” (The sort of stupid mistake that I notice only after it is posted.) Oh I suppose Hitler WAS right about the Nazis in some sense, but that’s hardly the point I was making. 😉

            BTW……speaking of colonial people who fight back…..I can’t pass up the opportunity to point out to our peaceful enlightened British cousins who wring their hands in pious rectitude about all the guns in America, that the very REASON we have a Second Amendment to our constitution specifying a right to bear arms is BECAUSE of the British. The founders of the republic knew the Brits very well, and understood that you need guns to keep them away from your shores. The first shots fired at the British army in Massachusetts were by American patriots using their personally owned firearms. Pity the poor heathen savages, as Churchill called them, who had no guns and thought the British wished them well.

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            1. Good points, Danny, and I agree. Had he been born earlier and been in some sort of power at the time of the war of independence, Americans would have been the savages who dared to question the right of his Britannic Majesty to rule the world.

              He’s held in high esteem in Britain because he “won the war”. Apparently more or less single handedly.

              I’m relieved to see that you can once again post on the blog without being moderated!

              🙂

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              1. Thanks Tris. What could be better? Posting without moderation and “Liking” in my own name AND being able to shoot my mouth off about my pet peeve Churchill. 😉

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    1. The Swiss are rather good at tunnels (and I see that the Norwegians are starting to build a tunnel through the mountains for ships, so I assume they are good at them too). Scotland is good at bridges… although to be fair so are the Swiss.

      Bloody Swiss, good at everything!

      Bring serviceable and waterproof clothing. It’s not been the dryest of summers.

      Bonnes Vacances.

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