McDonald's

Another early start on Tuesday morning to escape the heat. Rather more activity on the roads at 05:00 than the day before, a bank holiday, so presumably a consequence of it being a regular working day.

Opened proceedings by collecting a Waitrose trolley from underneath the scaffolding by the West Street bus stop, not far from Enterprise and Amber, these last being the people at reference 1.

I then thought that, since McDonald's had gone to the bother of opening at 05:00 in the morning, before anyone else was on parade, I should give them a go, for once in a while.

All very clean and efficient looking inside, and I managed to work the ordering machine, not strictly necessary, as the counter hand did appear to be taking another order in person.

I had intended to go for a basic burger, something I think I last tried one evening in Cardiff, perhaps twenty year ago, when a colleague had claimed that McDonald's was a good bet for a good value evening snack if you did not want to bother with a restaurant. But I did not seem to be able to find any burgers, being reduced to something called a sausage sandwich with ketchup. I thought - perhaps hoped - that the ketchup would come on the side in its own little packet, which could be discarded.

Looking slightly less grim in the snap above than it appeared in real life. Nicely presented - order of the day No.0003 - but grim inside. The large portion of ketchup turned out to have been built in, completely masking any taste the curiously coloured cheese slice might have had. Bun dreadful, while the sausage flavoured burger was fine. Had it been served in proper bread, without the extras, in the way of the 'Los Amigos' up the road (firmly shut at this hour), all would have been well. But it wasn't. At least I had the apple drink to wash away the taste of the thing.

BH explained afterwards that I may have got myself stuck in the breakfast menu, possibly something to do with the time of day. Reference 2 is clear that McDonald's do still sell burgers - although it might be a while before I give it another go.

In their favour, I should add that there were toilets - and probably additional seating - upstairs. The only ones in town at this time of day - although maybe the railway station and their toilets would have been open, bearing in mind the notional requirement for a ticket.

Next stop, the East Street hollyhock, last noticed at reference 3, easily the largest one that I know in the area, now coming into bud.

The creeper, lower left in the first snap, was in flower, so time to give Google Images another go. Last time his not altogether convincing story was that 'the plant is likely Asiatic Jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum) or the closely related Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides)'.

Today he goes off on a different track with Nepal Knotweed (Persicaria nepalensis, formerly Polygonum nepalense).

Wikipedia has a very short entry, but Kew offers the image above, with the habit not quite right and the flowers quite wrong.

So still not very happy, but Google Images had also turned up Fallopia convolvulus, the black bindweed or wild buckwheat, which was at first promising; but, on closer inspection, the leaves of this last were all wrong, smooth and shiny, rather than veined and rough, with hair visible under.

However, when I feed Google Images the snap above, that is what he goes for.

Gemini has now gone into deep dive, so I am going to have to park this one for now.

Managed to walk down the whole length of Middle Lane without having to give way for a car. Deciding that it was getting hot and that I would not capture the large trolley from Sainsbury's at the Victoria Place end of the Lane.

The Screwfix whitebeam.

I think the Blenheim Road camp is getting bigger.

While a carex pendula was having a go just above the Longmead stream, behind the camera position of the previous snap. There was water in the stream.

And so home to a second breakfast, a proper one this time.

PS 1: a rather simpler story from Gemini about the London bus on the front of my newly arrived (if elderly) Insight Guide to Calcutta, as previously advertised at reference 5. Almost certainly a regular bus rather than the long-range one. A quirky complement to my excursion with reference 6 last year. But I never did get to the transport museum in Covent Garden.

PS 2: I have now found buses in the Insight Guide by the simple expedient of using the index. They get a couple of square inches on page 251. Including: 'Calcutta has the largest concentration of buses in the world ... Government buses are red, battered double deckers...'. This from 1991.

Reference 1: https://theamber-group.co.uk/.

Reference 2: https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb.html.

Reference 3: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/05/trolley-fest.html.

Reference 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persicaria_nepalensis.

Reference 5: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/05/cheesecutter.html.

Reference 6: Ian Allen Transport Library: British Buses since 1900 - John Aldridge, Stephen Morris - 2000.

Reference 7: https://transport.wb.gov.in/about-us/department-at-a-glance/corporation/wbtc/cstc/. Not too exciting, at least not at first glance.

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