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Monday 31 January 2011

Edward Goodrich Acheson (1856-1931)



Anyone? Anyone??
No me neither.
So after the quietly chic terraces of Primrose Hill we walked up to the top of Primrose Hill - one of my most favourite places in the world gazing out over the capital. Looking over to the left the giant constructions of Euston and St Pancreas from which we had come. Ahead of us Regents Park and the humps and bumps of London Zoo. The hill was battered from the sledging that had obviously taken place in the pre-Christmas chill and sprinkled with the detritus of New Year festivities - champagne corks and cages and dead party poppers.
Fotunately the facilities at the bottom of the hill were open. Ive got a few spots a network of loos around central London. Its always a surprise to me how a great city has such a shocking lack of public loos but of course they are you just have to pay for them.
There are a number of blocks of -- well flats would be to sell them spectacularly short - apartments overlooking the skeletal trees of Regents Park and the slow moving moat of Regents Park.
Edward Goodrich Acheson lived here from 1912-1915. Hes not exactly a household name but put out 70 patents and worked for Edison working to develop conducting carbon for Edisons light bulb installing electric power in La Scala in Milan.
He discovered Carborundum aka Silicon Carbide. Its an amazingly hard ceramiclike material and is used in a huge variety of uses - from astronomical telescopes to bulletproof jackets, brakes and clutches for cars and cutting tools.
We didnt hang around. We headed west to St Johns Wood and Lords...

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