I didn't book the train in advance and got tickets for London at Oxford Station. The Great Western Railway covers the southern and southwestern areas of the U.K., and I thought it was the counterpart of Japan Railway company in Japan. Our train started at 10:55 hours. I had written about the pronunciation of the local people in the previous entries again and again. Though I often wondered who spoke in BBC's English, the English which I heard in the announcement in the coach was just the English as I recognized as British English! It was very clear and easy to understand. It was like music to me. The understandable English was really comfortable. The coach was crowded, but we were able to take seats and we enjoyed the scenery through the window. Take a look at the 5th picture. I instantly assumed that those buildings were part of an atomic power plant, but suspected at the same time that the location wasn't suitable for atomic power plants. The later examination revealed that it was a steam power plant, Didcot Power Station, which had been already closed and whose demolition work was underway.
I searched internet for something related to the plant, and found a news item about a fatal accident which occurred in the plant on Feb. 24th in 2016. As the dog that trots about finds a bone, I get such trivial information every time I make trips.
(Vocabulary)
demolition [C,U] (建物などの) 取り壊し, 解体
列車の予約はしておらず、駅に着いてから切符を購入。Great Western Railwayはイングランド南部の鉄道会社。日本のＪＲのようなものか。オックスフォード駅から乗車してロンドンはパディントン駅へ向かった。駅でやっときれいな英語に出会えたこと。車内アナウンスで初めてＢＢＣの英語を聞いた。なんと聞き取りやすかったこと。(^_^;)一字一句正確に聞き取れた。車内は混んでいたが何とか座れて車窓からの風景を楽しんだ。乗った列車は１０：５５発のパディントン行き。しばらく走ると右側に原発か？その立地に驚いたが、後で調べると閉鎖され、解体作業中のディドコット火力発電所Didcot Power Stationだった。で、ネットでこんな記事を見つけた。
「火力発電所が崩壊…１人死亡、３人不明 英」 2016年2月24日 06:42
「英南部のディドコットで２３日、閉鎖された火力発電所の建物が崩壊。１人が死亡し、３人が行方不明、５人が病院に運ばれている。当局は、建物が崩壊した原因などを調べている。この発電所は３年前に閉鎖され、当時、２つのボイラーの解体作業が行われていた。」
（http://www.news24.jp/articles/2016/02/24/10323153.html）
犬も歩けば棒に当たるというが、こんな感じで旅に出るといろいろと雑学が増えることになる。
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