Share Your Desktop – December 2022

I’m going to be quick off the mark to join in with Clare’s Share Your Desktop Challenge this month – if only because I’ve got a busy few days ahead 😅

Let’s start with the Games PC. This month I have a photo of Aleixa from my European fleet. She’s a Renault T-High (High as in tall cab) and equipped with a 480HP engine. Her name is a Catalonian variant of Alexis – chosen because she is based at our Barcelona depot. She carries a lot of customisations to give her that special look😎 In this image, she’s reversing back into the discharge area at the chemical plant in Montpellier with a load of Sulphuric Acid from Frankfurt…

…The trailer is one of a new batch of specialist chemical and bulk dry goods trailers that were just introduced into the game by SCS Software as a DLC to purchase. The trailers are products of Feldbinder and I have to say they are very nice additions. My company had already moved into occasional chemical shipments when we purchased some container carriers at the Hannover truck show, so these new tankers offer the opportunity to expand further in that area.

Of course, Montpellier is home base for the company so it’s a chance to catch up on things for Aleixa. But Christmas deliveries are now going to become a priority for our logistics team, so we won’t have much time to rest on our laurels.

On the Photo PC, I have an image taken early on a late September morning a few years back. This is Princess Park Manor in New Southgate. The building has a dark past as Colney Hatch…

…The Italianate building was designed by S W Daukes and construction started in 1849 – its purpose? To house up to 1000 mentally ill patients. At the time of its construction it was the largest asylum in Europe and boasted over 6 miles of corridors. The asylum employed new approaches to the mentally ill, engaging them in types of work activity rather than the previously popular restraint regimes. With the growth of the London metropolitan area came increasing numbers of patients. The site was extended over time to hold 2000 patients and the name Colney Hatch became synonymous with madness – something that resulted in the hospital’s name being changed several times. It closed in 1993 and was converted to a gated private housing estate. I wonder if those now living there sleep soundly – or are they disturbed by previous residents who never left?