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Saturday, February 25, 2017
This blog abhors an inept Next Train Indicator, and Bow Road station has a particularly hopeless pair. In the past I've focused on the westbound display, which currently works, if belatedly and part-obscured through condensation. Today I'm going to focus on the eastbound display, which totally fails to perform its core task thanks to inappropriate legacy systems. For a start it doesn't show when the next train is due, only where it's going, but that's common to most of the District line east of Tower Hill. More importantly "where it's going" is generally either incorrect or unhelpful, which means you can't trust what flashes up on the display.
I've long thought there was something wildly wrong with the eastbound screen at Bow Road, because Check destination on front of train appears much too often, and particularly because Plaistow keeps flashing up even though trains no longer terminate there. But only when I stood watching for a while on the platform did it finally click how badly wrong things were, and did I manage to unravel the underlying pattern...
Line Where the
train's going
What the display says Hammersmith & City Barking Barking ✓ District Barking Plaistow ✕ District Dagenham East Check destination on front of train ✕ District Upminster Check destination on front of train ✕
If a Hammersmith & City line train is next, then Barking shows up, and that's correct. But if a District line train is next, bad information is given. If the train's going to Barking then Plaistow (Plaistow!) is displayed, but if the train's going further then the display gives up and offers a default message. In fact if Check destination on front of train pops up then it means the train must be going at least as far as Dagenham, and probably to the end of the line at Upminster, not that you'd know. It's madness, but at least it's consistent madness.
It's well known that the signalling system on the District line is archaic, indeed that's why TfL are spending millions to upgrade it. The current automatic train description system dates back to a solution conceived in 1905, and is based on a set of four-digit binary codes. Even though the electrics have been upgraded since, there's nothing modern about the underlying technology, and I'm told the current signalling system around Bow Road is hanging onto life as if held together by string. But the Next Train Indicator used to work until a few years ago, and no longer does, so what might be going on?
There are only a set number of reversing points on the District line, which to the east of Bow Road have long been Plaistow, Barking, Dagenham East and Upminster. Each of these is allocated one of those four-digit binary codes, and perhaps these have somehow got muddled up. A new reversing point was added at West Ham in 2011, which might be around the same time this problem first arose, so I wonder if that's at fault. Also my table is missing data regarding what's displayed for trains terminating at Plaistow, but there's now only one of these a day, at ten to midnight, and I can't be bothered to check.
It's not the end of the world, because with eastbound trains it's not a matter of which way they go, more how far. Indeed one stop up the line at Bromley-by-Bow the display merely says Eastbound trains: District & H&C lines all the time, which at least is true, if not especially helpful. But for whatever reason, the eastbound Next Train Indicator at Bow Road displays incomplete information, lies repeatedly to passengers, and is not fit for purpose. The long-delayed signalling upgrade can't come soon enough - we live in hope.
posted 07:00 :
Poor old Bus Stop M isn't all there. It should have three boards to display timetables, but since the start of the year it's only had two. Initially the front of one of the panels was ripped off in some random act of angry vandalism, revealing a default background sheet urging the public to ring 0845 300 7000 during office hours if any timetables are missing. Then a couple of weeks ago that was wrenched off the pole too, and was duly kicked around the adjacent alleyways for a few days before disappearing. Now all that's left is a gaping grey metal groove where a timetable board normally slots in, and two proper boards on the other sides.
Seven different bus routes stop at Bus Stop M, but timetables remain for only five - those for the 276 and N205 have disappeared. Essentially all the buses that go no further than Stratford remain, but bad luck if you want to go beyond. What's more one of the spaces on the current boards is being wasted to advertise a bus consultation that closed four weeks ago, which confirms my suspicion that nobody from The People Who Update Stuff On Bus Stops has been here for a while. Still, what's new?
Meanwhile, a special shout-out to TfL's Digital Bus Stop team, whose online map continues to misrepresent the changes which have taken place at Bow Church in the last eighteen months. Bus Stop M, amazingly, is the only one of the six stops they've got right. In reality Bus Stop G disappeared in October 2015, and the empty blob to the left of it is Bus Stop E, killed off and removed at the same time. Should you click on the 'G' or the blank circle on the map you get the message This stop does not serve any TfL routes, whereas in reality This stop no longer exists. Meanwhile on the opposite side of the road Bus Stop K was removed in August 2016, but still appears on the map, while Bus Stop L no longer has any scheduled services, except the map insists nightbus N205 stops here. Continued congratulations, Digital Bus Stop team.
posted 01:00 :
Friday, February 24, 2017Every several months we collectively giggle at the desperate folk who send me PR emails and marketing invites. Let's do that again.
Hi there,Jason certainly knows how to write, because he goes on for another four paragraphs, so wasn't as brief as possible. Unfortunately his proposed subject matter failed to intersect with any of our collective interests.
As I'm sure you're busy, I'll try to be as brief as possible; my name is Jason and I'm a young writer looking to make a name for myself. I recently started a sports blog called <American sports blog> with a group of like-minded (young aspiring writer) friends from college and am actively looking to grow my audience. I think I can provide you with some great work and hope there is an opportunity for me to create some original work for you in a non-paid role.
ReleaseYou can probably write this sort of rubbish in your sleep, can't you Joanne?
The <New Restaurant> in <east London location> has opened its doors following a transformational refurbishment. Managed by <unknown chef>, the <New Restaurant>, formally known as <Better Name>, brings sophisticated al fresco dining to <east London location>, from brunch through to evening. Celebrating the area's rich history, the <New Restaurant> offers an eclectic destination to enjoy meals throughout the day,
Hi There,Oh Daisy, you know where you can stick your sponsored infographic.
Just to let you know that I've created a piece entitled "<Well Known Football Team> In Numbers" which could be of interest to your readers? <Well known football team> is one of the world's largest and greatest football teams of all time, so we thought we would delve into the achieves and check out some of the <club nickname>'s most impressive stats to date.
Also, just because a word doesn't have a red squiggle underneath it doesn't meant it's correct.
Hi there,That's Jason again. Alas no, Jason, your last email didn't evade me, I simply chose to disregard it.
I wanted to take the opportunity to get in touch with you again in case my last e-mail evaded you.
Hi DG,If you want to talk to me about nightclub guestlists, Doug, I suspect you haven't been reading the blog at all.
I hope everything is well! I have been a fan of your recent blog posts. We read your blog and adore reading about your adventures in London. My name is Doug and I'm e-mailing from <Party Planners>. We work with all of the top nightclubs, bars and restaurants in London as well as providing guestlists and organising and hosting events.
Hey there,It's ten years old, Jessica. Do you know how long it would take me to check and update everything I've ever linked to in the past? Also, I'm not replacing it with a link to your crappy gaming website.
Are you able to please update something on your website? I found a broken link on your post here - http://diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2007/04/sixlinks.html (I know it's a few years old)
Good afternoonHang on, weren't you Jason last time? Or is this almost-identical email a sign that you're one of his 'like-minded friends'? Rest assured I'm still very much not interested.
My name is Cliff and as I'm sure you're busy, I'll try to be brief. I'm a young writer looking to make a name for myself. Having recently started a sports blog called <American sports blog> with a group of like-minded friends from college, I personally aspire to write about more than just sports...
Hi there,No it hasn't, Dean. No research quoted in a marketing email is ever as accurate as subsequent claims suggest. Also, your survey says "conducted on behalf of <car sharing app> in December 2017", which is the sound of you shooting yourself in the foot.
I hope this email finds you well. New research has found that...
Dear Diamond Geezer,I know you have to try, Josh, because you're the Communications Manager, but 100% no, absolutely not.
Hope all is well with you. I'm the Communications Manager for a new start up called <Quite Frankly Who Cares>. Would you be interested in writing a blog post about us or mind tweeting about us on Twitter?
Hello,Just go away, Cliff. Or maybe Jason. In fact both of you.
I wanted to take a quick moment to get in touch with you again in case my last e-mail snuck past you.
In fact all of you. Your repeated attempts at asking me to write about your chosen subject are never going to work. Perhaps instead you could focus your efforts on providing a service people actually want to write about?
posted 07:00 :
Thursday, February 23, 2017Pioneering Scottish pop-artist Eduardo Paolozzi, who died 12 years ago, is having a bit of a renaissance in the capital at the moment. Not only has an exhibition of his works just opened at the Whitechapel Gallery, but Art on the Underground have just brought out a map showing where some of his finest London works can be seen. These two facts may be related.
Let's start on the tube. In line with other Art on the Underground projects, the Eduardo Paolozzi Map is a deftly-produced, full colour affair, packed with informative detail. More booklet than map, it has 24 pages (or some other another number between 25 and 28 if you're the more tedious kind of pedant), and can be picked up for free at Underground stations across the network. That's by no means all Underground stations, indeed you may have to undertake a lengthy hunt, but I found mine at Liverpool Street, and there were also copies (as will turn out to be relevant) at Pimlico.
As well as a decent biography, the booklet features a fold-out Art Map with stylised tube lines showing the whereabouts of several of Paolozzi's works. Pride of place, as far as the Underground is concerned, goes to the newly restored mosaics at Tottenham Court Road station. Eduardo was responsible for the colourful mosaics which decorate the passages and platforms, a considerable undertaking in its time, with the last tile stuck down in 1986. It's fair to say that TfL lost the media war during the recent station upgrade when it was revealed that the arches above the top of the escalators would have to be demolished, and bare concrete walls then greeted passengers elsewhere at the station for a number of years. But replacement and restoration is now complete, indeed sparklingly so, and the map delights in explaining how much effort was put into making everything just right. [22min video]
One other featured artwork is on station property, although National Rail this time, outdoors. This is 'Piscator', a chink of cast iron on the forecourt of Euston station, which you'll have had to negotiate round if you've ever walked from there to Euston Square. A bit further down the road, this time on the forecourt of the British Library, is Paolozzi's bronze of 'Newton After Blake', a pensive twiddling form seen bending over through the entrance gate. As for the work supposedly at Kew Gardens station, that's actually inside the Gardens and will cost you £16 for a peek (plus the opportunity to enjoy innumerable pretty plants).
If you've been down to the new Design Museum you'll have seen 'Head of Invention', a half-cocked face cut with grooves and slices, peering uncomfortably as you cross the external piazza. You're less likely to have spotted 'Vulcan', because that's outside a restaurant on the dockside at the northern end of the cablecar at Royal Victoria. It's also part of the meridian-based artwalk project The Line, who must be chuffed at one of their curated sculptures getting a mention. But I've chosen to visit artwork number six on the map, because that's the one I hadn't been aware of before.
This is the Pimlico Cooling Tower, which is in Pimlico, and is indeed a cooling tower. Paolozzi was asked to make something interesting out of the ventilation shaft for a new underground car park, so he came up with this silvery robotic sheath perched on a bronze plinth. The structure uses pipes for arms, and the four panels on the lower block have been raised to create cogs, wheels, chains and even butterflies, in a characteristically futuristic mishmash. The tower lurks in a small piazza off Bessborough Street, at the top of the ramp up from the station, and very much the kind of location where employees from neighbouring buildings nip out for a fag. A couple of these buildings have more security cameras than seems truly necessary, which adds to the dystopian feel, but it turns out one of them is the HQ of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Service, which helps explain why.
As for the major retrospective at the Whitechapel Gallery, this opened last week, and covers the full range of the artist's work from collages to fractured heads, and from textiles to animated films. It's also £13.50 to get in (or proportionally less if you can screw up your face at the offer of Gift Aid). Cheapskate visitors to the gallery will find there are three doorways where they can squint in and see a little of what everyone else is looking at, although that's obviously not optimal and may earn you some disapproving looks. Paid-up or not, don't miss the corridor round the back of Gallery 2 where a selection of period magazine articles and exhibition guides are on display, and open for your scrutiny.
Or simply track down an Art On The Underground map and enjoy the great man's works for free (plus the cost of a tube journey to Tottenham Court Road).
posted 07:00 :
Wednesday, February 22, 20173♣ Holborn/Finsbury/Shoreditch
From a modern perspective, this is the weirdest Greater London borough proposed by the Herbert Commission in 1960. It would have combined three small existing boroughs to create a long thin inner city strip, a concentrated mix of commerce and deprivation running from Tottenham Court Road to almost Dalston. Heaven knows what they'd have called it, but proposals never got to that stage and it was merely Borough Number 3 on the commission's list.
Instead Holborn became part of Camden, Finsbury joined up with Islington, and Shoreditch ended up in Hackney, helping to create three larger boroughs with a much better residential balance. But for my post today I thought I'd try tracking down places where these three extinct boroughs linger on in the public realm, specifically on street signs. For sake of argument I followed the route of the number 243 bus, which runs for three miles between Kingsway and Haggerston without ever straying outside this peculiarly-shaped borough. And I kept my eyes peeled for every old street sign I could spot... that's on foot, rather than from the upper deck.
My walk started on Kingsway, at the borough boundary, which is roughly where the underpass ends. And, bingo!
The first sign's on the first street corner, at Sardinia Street, the middle two are from consecutive sideroads on the western side, and the third is alongside the exit from Holborn station. Aren't they beauties? In the first sign I love the big bold sweep of KINGSWAY, and the quirky raised bar on the H in Holborn. But I also love how there are already three subtly different styles of layout and of typeface, not to mention the way the postcodes are sometimes italicised and sometimes not. I'm trying to work out which is the oldest of the three formats, and failing, but I do know each of these survivors must be over 50 years old.
Head up to Theobald's Road and the Borough of Holborn signs come thick and fast. I really wasn't expecting there to be quite so many, but here they are, still pinned up at the ends of several sidestreets. On the northern side of Theobald's Road there are only a handful of places where the pre-1965 signs have been replaced, Lambs Conduit Street being a notable exception, but the other signs display the name of the long-lost borough as if it were still running the show. What's more the design has changed again, this being a more modern take than we saw along Kingsway, considerably more plain and with less of a flourish. Emerald Street is the exception here, possibly my favourite of all the signs I saw along my journey, with a compact elegance that truly appeals.
And then this happens.
I don't know what was going on the Works Department at Holborn Town Hall, but the cluster of signs to the east of Gray's Inn Road has yet another different design. These too are lovely, especially the text across the top in red, with a clarity and sharpness still evident even five decades later. My apologies that I had to photograph Hatton Garden from the side because there's a big tree in front. But these are the kinds of street sign people pay good money for on eBay, even if only reproductions, to make a feature of in their garden or to hang on a pub wall.
Once across Farringdon Road the borough changes from Camden to Islington, as it would have changed from Holborn to Finsbury. It doesn't take long to spot the first evidence for this.
The red's faded a bit, and the postcode isn't in the corner, but this Clerkenwell Road street sign has similarities to the second batch I saw back in Holborn.
For the next few hundred metres approximately half the possible sidestreets have a heritage sign, generally written on two lines, reducing the length of the sign and fattening it up a bit. Old Street's an exception, perhaps because it has a really short name, but there remains a consistency of layout not seen in the previous borough. It seems the Borough of Finsbury stuck very much to one particular house style, and the modern Borough of Islington hasn't diverted much from its inherited template. To show you what I mean, this link leads to a couple of post-1965 Islington street signs (and, for further comparison, this link does the same for Camden).
But suddenly the old signs along Old Street peter out, and all those on view refer only to the modern borough. This switches again at the Old Street roundabout, now from Islington to Hackney, but any evidence of early street signs remains very thin on the ground. I think this is because a lot of the buildings around Silicon Roundabout have been replaced, as you might expect in a more dynamic part of town, and a wall has to be at least 52 years old to retain evidence of a former borough.
It took until the top of Great Eastern Street for me to spot my first Shoreditch street sign, and then only just. The object of my search lay part-hidden behind scaffolding on the corner of Singer Street (with a bog standard Hackney sign on the adjacent wall). The artist Camille Walala left this small rectangle intact when she painted the rest of the building in bright colours back in 2015, so let's hope it survives whatever work is underway at present, because it turns out there's little other evidence of the former borough ahead.
I walked the next mile without seeing another mention of the Borough of Shoreditch. It seems that most of the street signs they erected never included the name of the borough, only the name of the street, so even if any had survived I wouldn't be able to tell. What's more the Borough of Hackney has been much more diligent in erasing mention of its former constituent part. A large proportion of Hackney street signs appear on posts at the end of the road, not on the walls of buildings, making them a heck of a lot easier to replace. Indeed by the time I'd walked up most of the Kingsland Road I feared I wouldn't see another.
But just before Shoreditch's northern border, on the approach to Haggerston station, I spotted a second. It was up a minor sideroad called Arbutus Street, on the wall above what looks like it was once a small shop, and looking considerably worse for wear. There's a proper modern Hackney sign on a lamppost at the end of the street, so the old sign is entirely obsolete, but presumably it never needed to be taken down. It lives on as a reminder of a long-gone borough, one of many such reminders across the capital left behind with incorrect information because they'd be too expensive to replace. They linger on, we make do, and London's a richer city as a result.
posted 07:00 :
Tuesday, February 21, 2017Let's take a look at three exhibitions currently underway in London...
Sussex Modernism: Retreat and Rebellion
Two Temple Place (28th January – 23rd April) [free] [closed Tuesday]
This is the sixth year that the Bulldog Trust has opened up Two Temple Place for an exhibition assembled from local collections around the country. This time they've gone to Sussex and selected a hundred-or-so items which illustrate creativity in the county in the early 20th century. Maybe it was the Downs, or perhaps the coastal air, but something here attracted well- and less-well-known names from the world of art and inspired a characteristically modern slant on their work.
The Bloomsbury Group had roots here, their members writing and/or painting with a distinctively bohemian slant. The De La Warr Pavilion graced the seafront at Bexhill, a pre-construction scale model of which is one of the highlights upstairs. Surrealist Edward James was based at West Dean and sponsored Salvador Dali to create, amongst other things, a red sofa in the shape of lips - seen here at the foot of the stairs. And Eric Gill was one of those to be found at Ditchling, hence some of his erotic sculptures are on display in the Lower Gallery for your perusal, and to scare more prudish visitors.
I particularly enjoyed this year's exhibition and would put it on a par with 2015's Lancashire-themed showcase (perhaps I just love a good regional focus). But the building was also as busy as I've ever seen it, so I feel I ought to go round again when things are a bit quieter. Or, as the exhibition intends, I should be inspired to go and visit the nine contributory institutions in Sussex, from the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester to the Jerwood in Hastings. A special website sussexmodern.co.uk lists them all, with a more useful (less blocky) version here. Oh, and next year's theme at 2TP is jazz, so there's something else to look forward to.
Maps and the 20th Century: Drawing the Line
British Library (4th November – 1st March) [£12]
Whilst some nipped out and reviewed this exhibition when it opened, it's my job to remind you it's almost at an end. The British Library has dug into its not inconsiderable archive and pulled out a fantastic variety of cartographic treasures, less for their beauty or value and more for the story they tell. The 20th century was a time of often turbulent change, and many of the maps chosen depict a world in transition, or at war, or rebuilding after conflict. Although the exhibition is themed room by room, what shines through is an inspired curatorial selection, with every map having some fresh perspective to offer rather than simply more of the same.
From the trenches at Ypres to Midwest women's suffrage, and from postwar Berlin demarcation to North Sea oilfield carve-ups, a full social and economic history is being told. Yes Harry Beck's initial sketch for the tube map is here, but the exhibition has a refreshingly national and global spread, so London gets no special treatment and you're just as likely to see representation of Sunderland town centre or the outskirts of Glasgow, even a forest on the Vietnam border. Look out too for three of Sir John Betjeman's Ordnance Survey maps, with his scribblings on the cover, and JRR Tolkien's graph paper sketchmap which ensured his tales of Mordor had an underlying spatial rationale.
A few electronic maps get the nod, plus the odd aerial tile, but the vast majority of those on show are painstakingly hand-compiled and works of art in themselves. I was struck going round by how much of my early understanding of the world was based on a few maps in school atlases, whereas today's children have digital maps zoom-in-able to coffee shop level. There's also so much more to be read from a detailed map on a large sheet of paper than a scrolling online summary, which helps to explain how I spent two hours walking round and poring over the most intricate details.
There's not much time left to see the exhibition for yourself, barely one week, and only one weekend... which is likely to be rather busy. That said, none of the half-hourly segments between now and next Wednesday are yet sold out, if you don't mind jostling for a look at these treasures with dozens of others. One good thing about the last week is that the book of the exhibition is going cheap - at least 20% off the paperback - should you be tempted to take away a permanent illustrated reminder. If you can't get here in time, the new Maps section on the British Library's website may act as a welcome taster. But ideally you'll want to have enjoyed this inspiringly geography-tastic exposition in person, sheet by sheet, symbol by symbol, line by line.
Museum of London Docklands (10th February – 3rd September) [free]
Meanwhile, trains meet history. Crossrail isn't just a transport link, it's a pair of 13 mile holes cut through the soil under central London, plus a number of stations acting as sampling points along the way. Archaeologists were on hand at sensitive sites to make sense of what came out of the substrata, and made some eclectic and astonishing discoveries. A representative selection of what they found is now on display at the Museum of London Docklands, in their downstairs exhibition gallery (behind the main desk, turn left at the counter dispensing cakes and coffee).
It's not a huge space, but big enough, and I spent over half an hour zigzagging around the screens and labelled cases. All of the finds are laid out by station, kicking off with the tunnel portals and shafts on the eastern forks of the new railway. At Plumstead a Bronze Age axe was unearthed, at Canary Wharf one of the largest chunks of amber ever found in the UK, and at Pudding Mill the remains of medieval fish weirs on the River Lea. The worksite at Stepney Green proved an almost direct hit on a moated Tudor manor house, and four tonnes of resurrected bricks have been gifted to English Heritage to assist with period restoration elsewhere.
Liverpool Street proved the richest site, not unexpectedly given its City location, with the deepest finds a pair of 2nd century Roman wooden gates laid flat as a platform over the River Walbrook. On top of this layer came rubbish dumped in medieval Moorfields Marsh, and above that the burial ground of Bedlam Hospital, which archaeologists had been expecting to find on site. In total over 3000 skeletons were respectfully exhumed, including those from a plague pit which should finally provide epidemiologists with an sample of 1665's deadly virus. Meanwhile a grout shaft at Farringdon unearthed two dozen victims of the Black Death... which is something to try not to think about as you speed through on a train next year.
Not all the discoveries were so old, or as gruesome. The demolition of the Astoria at Tottenham Court Road revealed a vault full of discarded pottery from the Crosse and Blackwell pickle factory previously on the site, and at Bond Street they found one of the channels from the lost river Tyburn. Step up to Royal Oak, however, and the bones of bison and a reindeer were uncovered, preserved by the permafrost of a previous Ice Age. You can uncover more about each station's treasures in the index here.
The whole series of excavations reads like a timeline of London, linear but jumbled into unchronological order, and would merit an exhibition several times the size. Throw in some videos showing how certain bits of the new railway were built and there is a sense of Crossrail patting themselves on the back for how well they've done. Nevertheless this is a fascinating display, already justifiably popular, and demonstrates how much can be learned when archaeology and engineering go hand in hand. If the subject interests you, a £10 heavily-illustrated book is available, and several more scholarly tomes have been published looking into the individual discoveries. Ian can tell you more.
posted 07:00 :
Monday, February 20, 2017
The Every Day News The nation has spoken, claims defiant minister Brexit outcome is obvious, says politician Brexit proposal infuriates half the population President wakes and tweets garbled fury President suggests insane clampdown President contradicts himself, and reality White House in disarray, claims media Opposition hints that things are imperfect No easy solution to please everyone, says PM Scotland says it thinks differently to England Poll definitely predicts result of next election Another part of the NHS isn't working Scientific discovery expected to change lives New figures suggest lifestyle change Criminal sentenced for doing bad thing Migration issues seemingly unsolvable EU leader's comment proves controversial Foreign election may swing unexpectedly Incident confirms Middle East no closer to peace Social care funding crisis set to continue Rail strike misery enters another week Deeper cuts in local services inevitable Long-term outlook for millennials is bleak Stock market heads in opposite direction Falling pound is excellent for some Falling pound is ghastly for others Financial situation less clear than it seemed Small child almost dies in UK city Briton dies in country you might holiday in Six die in nearby developed country Hundreds die in country nobody's interested in Unseasonable weather is on the way UK to be warmer than another part of the world Bad weather may be sign of global warming Natural catastrophe looks great on camera Top player may or may not play in next game Sports team beats opponents as expected Sports team loses unexpectedly to opponents Sports manager under pressure after bad match Singer from 1960s pop group dies Actor from 1970s sitcom dies 1980s entertainer not what he seemed Much loved artist diagnosed with disease Unshakeable marriage ends in divorce Singer wears revealing dress to restaurant New film released - stars say it will be good! Celebrity spotted looking older than she used to Pet acts adorably while being filmed Look, people are being hilarious on Twitter Real life proves stranger than real life Press release makes exciting claims Hundreds takes offence at woman's actions Thousands takes offence at man's opinions Alleged racist makes allegedly racist comments BREAKING: President says something mad again
posted 07:00 :
Sunday, February 19, 2017Route EL3: Little Heath - Barking Reach
outer London east; 7 miles, 40 minutes
Welcome aboard London's newest bus. The EL3 is one day old, replacing the 387 which until yesterday ran along (almost) exactly the same route. The change brings together all the buses serving Barking Riverside under the East London Transit brand, joining the longer established EL1 and EL2. And all three routes are to get brand new vehicles, previously unfamiliar in these parts, kicking off with overnight replacement on the EL3.
Regular passengers were surprised to see gleaming New Routemasters waiting outside Little Heath Food and Wine in place of the bog-standard double deckers they remember. "Are we sure this is the right one?" asks one, who hasn't read the freshly-posted notice at the bus stop. "Wow Mum, that door opens as well!" cries another, rather younger. "Nice bus, do you like it?" asks the beaming driver as I board. I hedge my response somewhat, but am relieved to see route EL3's been gifted the updated model with the opening windows, part of the last batch bought by Boris. Upstairs smells a bit of newness, and the windows are already a bit grimy because that never takes long, and off we whirr.
Don't worry, I'll not regurgitate the full details of the southbound journey because we covered that yesterday. Take it as read that the EL3 went round the hospital, down Barley Lane past all the houses, through Goodmayes, down to Longbridge Road past lots more houses, past the bus garage, along the bus lane past yet more houses, and onwards to the centre of Barking.
The EL3's groupies are waiting outside the station with their cameras. They often come out on the first morning, the Men Who Like Buses, to grab their own mugshots of London's very latest vehicles. Today not only do they have a new route to celebrate but this is the first time New Routemasters have been seen as far east as Barking and Dagenham, plus there are all these new numberplates to record in their notebook. The largest group of MWLB is hanging around by the bus shelter, while one man has crossed the street to get a more oblique profile. Although a couple of their lenses are quite big, they're nothing compared to the monster I saw being wielded by two gentlemen earlier in the journey with a massive furry microphone attached, which seemed somewhat over the top.
Now that the 387's route has the EL3 label, it's allowed through the centre of Barking Town centre and no longer has to negotiate its way round slower peripheral streets. I don't think most regular users had noticed this yet so they all got out at the station rather than the next stop which is more convenient for the shops. Here the next batch of passengers awaits, the EL3 being essentially two half-routes bolted together, as are its partners EL1 and EL2. I'm struck by how much quicker the journey from the station to Lidl is than previosuly, although on the downside residents of Barking Riverside no longer have a direct route to the leisure centre, the theatre or Asda, only three buses to the shops.
And then there's a whole chunk more route that we covered yesterday, down Ripple Road and Movers Lane, across the A13, and straight ahead into the industrial backwaters of Creekmouth.
I didn't spot it on my 387 journey, because I was too excited to have spotted 'The Men Who Change The Bus Tiles Over', but a new-ish bus depot has been stashed away amid the metalworks and cash and carries. This is the River Road garage, opened in May last year, and is home to all of the EL-branded double deckers. So far only the EL3 has New Routemasters, while the EL1 and EL2 retain their original vehicles, but eventually they'll all be swapped over, using up another 46 of Boris's belated bequest. As yet all of the new buses are red, but it's expected they'll eventually get the East London Transit's trademark dusky autumn shades.
The grimmest part of the EL3's existing route is along Long Reach Road, which is currently a dead end so the bus turns off before the end. But this used to be the boundary of Barking Power Station, and is now the edge of a burgeoning housing estate, so contractors have been busy laying a cut-through. Already complete and labelled Bus Only, it passes along the side of some fairly lacklustre new flats, but is currently barriered off. Come autumn this gateway should be open for the exclusive use of the EL3, as the route is permanently diverted to serve the west and south of the new estate. They've even painted two bus stops on the other side, at the foot of Crossness Road, just before the road ends at another temporary fence and disappears into a pile of earth.
A bridge of sorts is being built across drains that cross the mud that used to be a power station. This'll eventually border a landscaped pool and several more new homes, but for now is the one missing link between here and a broad somewhat austere boulevard already rising on the other side. Bellway have a well-hidden showhome open, and hundreds of flats to flog, while workmen yell at one another and lower slabs into place outside. The development's publicity rather oversells the site's accessibility, and hints that owning a car might be a better option than taking the bus, but there aren't many other places in London where a newbuild 2 bedroom apartment is available for under £290,000.
The EL3 is due to pass along the southern edge of the community's centre, now complete with church, school, clocktower and three whole shops. One's a pharmacy, one occasionally sells coffee, and the third is a small supermarket with a big notice on the door warning 'No Hoodies!' It may not be much of a parade, but it's infinitely better than the zero shops Barking Riverside had until last year, and I suspect that residents remain over-reliant on online grocery services. Again the EL3's exclusive bus lane is already ready but out of bounds, leading to a bus-only junction and a short link out of the estate.
And out of the estate means River Road, where the 387 used to venture twice a day, which is Creekmouth's bleakest corner. The place livens up once a week when the Dagenham Sunday Market is held, still annoyingly inaccessible from existing bus routes, then for the rest of the week returns to a less agreeable existence as a dusty half-demolished backwater. It's amazing to think that a location once served by two buses a day might very soon be getting sixteen an hour, but perhaps less amazing when you consider that the Sunday Market site is pencilled in for hundreds of highrise riverside apartments, with thousands more on neighbouring sites.
Welcome to the proposed site of Barking Riverside Overground station, currently a pile of soil behind a fence near a mega-pylon, down a mucky road where HGV drivers park up overnight. Beyond this is the biggest redevelopment challenge of all, a long-abandoned expanse of polluted earth between Choats Road and the Thames, worth nothing as is but hundreds of millions as flats. Thus far the only building on site looks like a giant stack of portakabins but is actually going to be a secondary school for 1800 pupils, already with its motto out front, but as yet disturbingly unwelcoming. An unlikely public footpath still skirts the side of the river, a bit quicksandy at present, but easily the best place to see the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
Look carefully and two new roads are being carved out, or maybe it's two ends of just one road, the very beginnings of a brand new community hereabouts. But there's no sign of this utterly desolate land being ready for housing any time soon, despite the dozens of heavy lorries making their way into the site. If all goes to plan the EL3 (and EL1) are due to terminate outside the school this September, down roads not yet complete, the first tendrils of connectivity which'll help bring this estuarine pipedream to fruition. In the meantime the existing terminus at the Riverside Centre is where the buses turn, for pioneering residents only, as this long-awaited transformation slowly ignites.
» route EL3 - route
» route EL3 - timetable
» route EL3 - consultation
» My previous in-depth report on Barking Riverside and the amazing Footpath 47
posted 07:00 :
Saturday, February 18, 2017Route 387: Little Heath - Barking Reach
outer London east; 8 miles, 40 minutes
Welcome aboard the bus you can no longer ride. The 387 used to exist until yesterday, or more accurately until the last vehicle rolled into Barking Reach just after midnight. As of five o'clock this morning the bus is now known as the EL3 - and the former route number exists in limbo until some other bus route one day wants it.
A quick geography: We're out east, in Redbridge and Barking and Dagenham. The 387's route runs almost due south, from almost the A12 to almost the Thames, via Barking.
A quick history: The 387 first ran in 1993 to replace the B1, part of a short-lived Barking-centred local network. At its southern end it serves the Thames View Estate, with peak hour extensions round the industrial estate at Creekmouth cut back in 2013.
A quick rationale: EL stands for East London Transit, a bus upgrade scheme introduced in 2010 to better serve an isolated community with considerable potential for growth. Until yesterday there were two routes - EL1 and EL2. Today there are three.
A quick future: Apart from one tweak in central Barking, the EL3's route is identical to that of the 387, but will extend this autumn to an as-yet unbuilt secondary school on the Barking Riverside development.
Little Heath is a little known residential corner one mile east of Newbury Park, once a tiny hamlet, now conveniently bypassed by a busy dual carriageway. The 387 starts its journey outside a closed pub, formerly The Hawbush, facing out across a decent-sized triangular green. But you wouldn't have known. When I made my journey earlier this week the timetable at the first bus stop had been changed over prematurely to that of the EL3, and the tile above gleamed freshly white. There was no danger here of being late for Saturday's rebrand, just unnecessarily early.
A number of buses visit Little Heath because it has a hospital, in fact it has two, one with a lofty Victorian water tower visible from some distance. The bus's first stop involves driving into the grounds of the King George's Hospital and negotiating the central turning circle, avoiding the cars of visitors too hurried to park where they're supposed to. By starting near a hospital the 387 already has a decent number of passengers, a state which increases because this is the only route heading south along Barley Lane. The houses to either side aren't the council homes found further out in B&D, but smarter villas from a time when this was the edge of the London conurbation, with Avenues, Drives and Gardens behind.
In the recreation ground by the High Road, a row of pigeons lines up along the top of a mucky bench, holding court over a large congregation of their fellows. Here the bus crosses into a bustling parade, past a giant Tesco that hasn't yet sucked out all the street's life. Many of the shops have fairly generic names, like Pharmacy, News or Food Store, perhaps enhanced by flags to suggest a more specialist offering within. This is Goodmayes, where a stacked blue portakabin outside the station heralds the not-yet imminent arrival of step-free Crossrail. Thousands live hereabouts but somehow I've never dropped in before, which is one of the serendipitous effects of taking a near-extinct bus journey.
Across Green Lane, past the millennial clocktower, another string of housing awaits. Older terraces merge into low-slung bungalows and then council pebbledash, with a sign up one sideroad pointing to the local Temple should fresh worshippers need to find their way. At Goodmayes Park we turn right onto the main road, now one of a number of buses on this key route. One of these is the EL2, providing an unnecessarily good combined frequency to the Thames View Estate, as the freshly minted EL3 tile makes clear. Just past the bus garage the turreted Royal Oak pub signals its preferred clientele with a surfeit of St George's Cross bunting, and a bus lane then speeds us towards the place most passengers actually want to go, which is Barking.
Along with every other numbered bus route, the 387 isn't allowed through the centre of Barking town centre so has to negotiate its way round slower peripheral streets. That's why most people get off outside the station, because it's at least a couple of minutes to the stop more convenient for the shops. The bus meanders past pre-redevelopment rubble, the edge of the market and a medieval abbey, because this town's mixed like that. And I note that somebody's already removed (and not replaced) the 387's tile and timetable, again unhelpfully prematurely, because it won't be coming this way soon. Once promoted to the title EL3 it'll be allowed through Barking's streamlined central shortcut along with the EL1 and EL2, because these are bus route royalty round here, and now there are three.
That's the only tweak to the 387's route this weekend, and past Lidl we're back on the direct line down Ripple Road. On the first bend another pub lies as rubble, now covered in withered buddleia, knocked down before plans for its rebirth were fully thought through. All the EL buses turn right into Movers Lane and queue to cross the busy A13, sometimes queueing for quite a while. It's this which makes the Thames View Estate feel quite so far away, despite the flood of high frequency buses that stream towards it. "Motorway!" exclaims the young child sitting with his mother on the top deck, then (rightly) queries why on earth the next miserable-looking stop is called something 'Gardens'.
We've reached the netherworld beyond the A13, originally marshland, then somewhere to hide a cluster of mucky estuarine industries. Homes came later, and the EL1 and EL2 swing off to service those, while the 387 continues down increasingly ill-kept roads past cash and carries, timberyards, metalworks and waste transfer stations. At Keirbeck Wharf I'm amazed to spot 'The Men Who Change The Bus Tiles Over', their white van parked up by the next stop, doors flapped open revealing a host of bus stop-related equipment inside. Every bus stop tile up to this point has read EL3, and every tile from this point on will read 387, which is correct but imminently endangered.
For its last hurrah the 387 turns back to serve Thames Road, a dated chain of warehouses and depots on some of the cheapest land in London. UPS, TNT and DHL have delivery centres here, alongside charismatic churches, skip hire firms, builders merchants, cheap fry-up cafes, haulage concerns, white van depots, frozen food wholesalers, forklift traders and the Lithuanian Beer company. Later in the year the EL3 will skip this section, prioritising newly-built homes on the Barking Riverside estate instead, but a new bridge has to be built first and that's not ready, so for now Thames Road is fully served.
Two peak time services in the 387's timetable used to be extended round the most miserable streets in east London to serve Creekmouth, where Barking's original power station once stood, and on which site this enormous housing development is being built. Londonist's Will Noble visited a couple of weeks ago with a camera, and his detailed report will give you an appropriate flavour of this unnervingly downbeat location. But with most of the local industry defunct, those peak time journeys ceased in 2013, and the 387 nudged into the estate instead, terminating on a loop by a lake beneath some pylons. Here residents queue to escape, which this morning they'll be doing by EL3, and they might even have some New Routemasters to ride in too.
» route 387 - EL3 consultation
» route 387 - route history
» route 387 - The Ladies Who Bus
posted 07:00 :
Friday, February 17, 2017Last month I queried what was going on with station closures on the District line, and how much of this might be down to staffing issues. Andy from the Calling All Stations blog took this one step further and put in a FoI request to TfL.
Can you please let me know for each tube station the number of times it was closed in the last 12 months due to "staff shortages" and for how long each closure lasted.Thanks for the tip-off, Andy. TfL have duly responded with a spreadsheet detailing every shortage-related closure in 2016, complete with dates, timings and a long list of excuses. Kindly they've also totted up the total disruption time for every station, which allows me to present...
London's Top 10 most-closed tube stations due to non-availability of staff in 2016
1) Temple (District and Circle lines) 25 closures - 3430 minutes
By some distance Temple was the most disrupted tube station due to staff shortage last year, being closed for a total of 57 hours and 10 minutes, which is the equivalent of three working days. Its woes really kicked in on Wednesday 23rd November, before which there were only four closures and after which there were twenty-one. What's more these were significant closures, almost all of them over an hour in length, and most of them nearer two hours or more. The worst day was Saturday 17th December when the station closed at lunchtime and stayed closed until the end of service, 11½ hours later. Usually TfL's reason is simply "Non-Availability of Staff", this particularly at the start or end of the day, but on eight occasions the closure was due to "Operational Reasons". Specifically staff from Temple were shuffled to either neighbouring Blackfriars or more-distant Aldgate East to keep these more important stations open. Temple, it seems, is a low-priority station which can be sacrificed when necessary, and very much has been.
2) Holland Park (Central line) 17 closures - 2793 minutes
And here's another. Holland Park's problems were almost all concentrated in the second and third weeks of December, and were almost all over two hours in duration. One particular closure, thanks to Night Tube, lasted thirteen consecutive hours from 6.30pm on a Saturday evening to 7.30am on Sunday morning. Again "Operational Reasons" were to blame for most of the closures, with booked-on staff redeployed to either Notting Hill Gate or Shepherd's Bush - in one case both - to ensure these more important stations remained open.
3) Blackhorse Road (Victoria line) 9 closures - 1803 minutes
All thirty hours of closures at Blackhorse Road are due to other stations on the Victoria line being understaffed. Six closures helped to keep Walthamstow Central open, and others supported Highbury & Islington, Seven Sisters and Tottenham Hale. One of the issues on the Victoria line is that all the stations north of King's Cross are interchanges, so shutting any of them inconveniences passengers on other lines. At present, however, the Overground through Blackhorse Road is closed for an upgrade, making this an easy target when there aren't enough employees to cope with unforeseen circumstances.
4) Queensway (Central line) 7 closures - 1586 minutes
Queensway was doing pretty well until the week before Christmas, when staff started to be shuffled off to keep Notting Hill Gate open (we heard something very similar at Holland Park). Christmas Eve was by far the worst day, with not enough staff over breakfast, then a total closure from 2.30pm making thirteen hours altogether. And you might be thinking so what, it's only Christmas Eve, who was really inconvenienced, but this is a tube network that's supposed to function, and used to, and seems to have hit some sort of crisis at the end of last year.
5) Bow Road (District and Hammersmith & City line) 12 closures - 1285 minutes
My local station appears at number five, which as a regular user comes as no surprise. It had occasional problems with unavailability of staff before December, then in the two weeks before Christmas entered some kind of rapid staffing decline. In particular there were six occasions when the station didn't open at 5.15am as it should have done, kicking into action up to 2½ hours later when sufficient staff turned up, and five occasions when someone's shift finished around 10.30pm and the station remained closed for the rest of the evening. It was even worse than that in January, but these figures only cover 2016, else I suspect Bow Road would be rather higher on the list.
6) Manor House (Piccadilly line) 8 closures - 849 minutes
7) Chancery Lane (Central line) 7 closures - 797 minutes
8) Bond Street (Central and Jubilee lines) 7 closures - 761 minutes
9) Goodge Street (Northern line) 13 closures - 739 minutes
10) Tufnell Park (Northern line) 4 closures - 704 minutes
And so the list continues, now down to 'less than one working day per year' lost to lack of staff. Manor House's total includes a member of staff being taken ill with chest pains while on duty. Bond Street's interesting because almost all the closures are at the very start of the day, as if somebody kept getting into work late. Goodge Street was repeatedly closed so that stations either side could be kept open. And again, the majority of the closures that contributed to these totals took place in December.
One other station stands out in TfL's overall list, and that's Canary Wharf. Although 'only' closed for 325 minutes over the course of last year, it has the second highest number of closures overall, which is seventeen. With one exception each of these closures is at the beginning of the day, just after 5am, as some member of staff fails to make it in on time. The 'reason' column in TfL's spreadsheet repeatedly mentions a staff taxi being late, and occasionally the closure of the Blackwall Tunnel, suggesting that some key employee lives south of the river. But the delays in opening the station are generally less than half an hour in duration, and peak in the summer, which is definitely atypical for the rest of the list.
Before we finish, let's churn out some more statistics regarding the 360 staff-related Full Station Closures in the 2016 list.
• 91 different tube stations were affected by staff-shortage closures in 2016. 87 of these are underground, and therefore have strict fire safety rules regarding minimum numbers of staff.
• 179 stations had no staff-shortage closures in 2016. Almost all of these are above ground, which means the gates can be left open and the station left unstaffed as necessary... which at some stations is quite often.
• Almost two-thirds of 2016's staff-shortage closures began first thing in the morning, that's between half past four and six o'clock. This suggests employees are having trouble getting into work, which is perhaps not surprising given that the tubes are shut, or perhaps staff are simply oversleeping. Whatever, there were more than 200 occasions last year when early-bird passengers will have turned up at a tube station to find it closed.
• By contrast, only about 50 of last year's closures were at the very end of the day, with stations shutting down and not reopening. Temple, Holland Park and Bow Road account for half of these.
• The shortest staff-shortage closure was 2 minutes, at Hyde Park Corner, at the start of service on 24th August.
• One-third of closures lasted over an hour, 15% over two hours, 5% over three hours, and three over ten hours.
• The average length of a closure was 67 minutes.
• Almost three-quarters of staff-shortage closures were because of "Non-Availability of Staff".
• 20% of closures were for "Operational Reasons", generally staff being sent to other stations which would otherwise have been forced to close.
• 5% of closures were specifically due to issues with staff taxis running late.
• There were only 6 staff-shortage closures in January 2016, and only 8 in February. Monthly totals increased to a bit of a peak in the summer, hitting 35 in August, before falling back. November wasn't great, with 34, but December was a disaster with 149. That's 41% of the entire year's total in a single month!
• TfL's 'Fit for the Future' reorganisation, which cut back staffing numbers at stations, was introduced in April. There was no obvious uptick in closures at the time, but the staffing system was now much more reliant on overtime.
• The RMT union called an overtime ban for station staff on 23rd November. The number of station closures rose considerably from this point onwards.
• The RMT called additional action from 15th December, asking members to refuse to train staff sent to cover from other stations. The number of station closures duly leapt in the immediate run-up to Christmas.
And finally here's the table the Evening Standard headline writers will like the best...
The five worst tube lines for staff-related station closures in 2016
1) District line (7240 minutes)
2) Central line (7196 minutes)
3) Circle line (5410 minutes)
4) Piccadilly line (3630 minutes)
5) Victoria line (3477 minutes)
Before anyone gets too excited, I should point out that this league table is terribly misleading. Almost half the District line's total is explained by Temple, and two thirds of the Circle's. Meanwhile Holland Park and Queensway contributed over 60% of the Central line's appalling-looking total. The surprise might be the Victoria line, which managed to have staff-related closures at 14 of its 16 stations. At the other end of the table obviously the Waterloo & City line had the least disruption, but the Metropolitan was next with only 369 minutes, because most of it is above ground.
Take all of this with a pinch of salt, because you can prove anything with statistics, and 2016 was a wholly atypical year. But what's for sure is that December saw an unholy station-staffing debacle on the Underground, with 150 station closures in just one month. The RMT's overtime ban was the trigger, suggesting it was only overtime holding TfL's staffing reorganisation together, and this all too easily fell apart. A pledge to reinstate hundreds of jobs will hopefully solve the problem... the travelling public can only hope.
posted 07:00 :
Thursday, February 16, 20177♣ Woolwich
It's week seven of my year-long project, and so far all my visits have been confined to three distinct geographical clusters. Today I'm heading back to riverside southeast London, to the former Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich, which since 1900 had been the most stuck-out part of the County of London. It comprised the southern and eastern parts of the current Royal Borough of Greenwich, plus an anomalous bump north of the Thames around North Woolwich. I've chosen to walk an elevated footpath between Plumstead and Thamesmead - the Ridgeway - because criminally I never have before. And, golly.
The Ridgeway (2½ miles)
Every time you flush your toilet across a large part of South London, your bowlsworth makes its way through a network of Victorian sewers to the sewage treatment works at Crossness. At Plumstead the tributary sewers combine and rise above ground before heading in a straight line across the marshes, which were almost entirely undeveloped when Joseph Bazalgette delivered his plan in the 1860s. It was only in 1991 that Thames Water decided to open up the embankment covering the Southern Outfall Sewer to pedestrians and cyclists, adding arched entrances and motorbike-proof gates to create an elevated promenade from Plumstead to the sewage works. It's very similar to the Greenway atop the Northern Outfall Sewer in Newham, except this southern twin has been named the Ridgeway.
The western entrance lurks unappealingly down a spiral ramp beyond a concrete flyover opposite Plumstead station. Here to welcome you are a tipped-up traffic cone and several split bags of rubbish, but don't let that put you off proceeding along the edge of a self-storage depot and up a zigzag to the sewertop. Greenwich council realised the Ridgeway had an image problem back in 2014, and have recently completed an upgrade of access points, signage and surfacing. The path used to be grassed and occasionally boggy, but is now a wider gravelled stripe stretching off in to the distance, and far more likely somewhere you might take for a shortcut.
The main plus point of a walk on a major sewer is being six metres higher than the surrounding landscape. This means an enhanced view of southeast London, specifically Plumstead, more specifically the semi-industrialised sector to the east of Plumstead, which it has to be said is more atmospheric than pretty. Down to the right is a Crossrail worksite with stacked sleepers and corrals of coiled cable, plus a car spares unit intriguingly named Megabug. Down to the left are auto repair centres, levelled warehouses, and the HQ of England's oldest drinking water cooler specialist. And that brick fortress you can see nudging up beyond is Belmarsh prison, behind whose walls Jeffrey Archer and numerous other high risk male prisoners have been confined.
Blimey, this path is straight. There are also very few access points, meaning the next set of steep steps down to reality can be some distance away, adding to a general feeing of unease. Greenwich's latest upgrade has addressed this by installing a series of security cameras along the way, whopping great monsters on thick black poles, ruthlessly scanning the neighbourhood for misdemeanour. Some have a button at footpath level labelled Help Point, which you can press if a hooded knifeman or pack of feral Staffies approach too close, although during half term the biggest risk is being brushed aside by a phalanx of pre-adolescent cyclists.
White Hart Avenue is the first of only three roads which cross the Ridgeway, this via a flyover, providing a welcome breakpoint. On the far side stands the Plumstead phone mast, and a three-storey block marking the walk's first residential outpost on the edge of the Abbey Road Estate. Sewell Road runs parallel to the sewer all the way up to the borough boundary, faced by outstandingly ordinary flats and terraced houses, and with sets of battered garages nudged up against the embankment. On the opposite side are Greenwich's recycling centre and dustcart depot, because why wouldn't you hide these in Thamesmead, before the Western Way dual carriageway sidles up and roars behind a screen of poplars.
At regular intervals a small square concrete platform hangs out to the side of the embankment, originally constructed to provide access to inspection hatches, now part-fenced with railings lest anyone get the wrong idea and jump. Aside from this the banks are steep and often brambly, suggesting considerable potential for autumn harvest, with discarded cans and clothing chucked in for good measure. But hang on, the chain of security cameras has suddenly ceased, as if Greenwich council ran out of money or wasn't interested in surveilling the residential section, so for the half mile beyond the pumping station you are completely on your own. Thankfully I only met a well-behaved hound and a couple of tokers, so I was fine.
Harrow Manorway marks the dividing line between Greenwich and Bexley, originally an invisible north-south boundary across the marshes, now more administratively significant. The Ridgeway skulks beneath a low concrete slab to enter the centre of the roundabout above, where a swirly blue sculpture has been placed to provide a moment of wonder. Local residents generally disregard the sewertop path, despite two welcoming arches, preferring to cut straight across the Eastern Way footbridge or down past the library on more useful journeys. By rights I shouldn't be going any further either, because the remainder of the walk takes me out of my chosen borough, but I needed to see this through.
The Bexley section of the Ridgeway is very different, because it's what the entire elevated footpath used to look like before Greenwich threw some money at their end. That means it's all grass, not wheel-friendly gravel, with a narrow perhaps-underused track worn down the middle. Past the shell of the Lakeside Bar someone's been hard at work hacking away all the trees and undergrowth on one side, leaving a barren bank and an open vista down to the shores of Thamesmead's big lake. I've walked around Southmere several times without ever realising this sewertop walk was here, as I suspect have many others.
But the elevated section doesn't last long. At Eastern Way the pipes duck beneath the viaduct with almost no headroom, perhaps just enough to crawl, while the main path slopes down to one side and all useful signage unhelpfully disappears. The way ahead is broad but messy, littered with cans and ashes and several telltale piles of horse dung. Close by is a notice stuck up on behalf of Thames Water warning that any horses or ponies grazing on this site last weekend would be removed and either rehomed or sold at auction - a warning that must have been either enacted or heeded. Meanwhile up at the top of the bank is the main entrance to the Crossness treatment works, which is another reason why the footpath can no longer follow the pipes.
So the walk ends with a peculiar shunt through a gap in the fence to follow the edge of a landscaped open space. If it looks contoured and scenic, that's because it used to be a 9 hole golf course until economic reality caught up with this Thamesmead fantasy back in 2014. It's a bit muddy to start, but the willowy pools have matured nicely, and I loved watching a heron swooping up from the large pond and circling overhead. One last archway leads out to the Thames, roughly opposite Ford's Dagenham works, where the Ridgeway path concludes. Head left for Thamesmead and 'civilisation', or right for a walk past the sewage works... which is absolutely fascinating, but not for here.
» Here's what a walk along the Ridgeway looks like in summer
» 2011 Resonance FM podcast on walking the Ridgeway
» 12 Flickr photos (not all the same as those posted above)
posted 07:00 :
Wednesday, February 15, 2017For four weeks last Autumn, a TfL trial tracked the movements of millions of WiFi users at 54 tube stations. All the data was anonymised, and no browsing activity was recorded, but a mammoth amount of information was gathered about how passengers travel on the Underground. You can read James's in-depth analysis of the outcomes of their study here, thanks to an FoI request, whether you're standing on a underground platform or not.
But what might be the eventual outcome of having your location monitored while you're travelling on the tube. Might a future journey go something like this?
» Beep beep! Welcome to Bow Road station Mr Geezer, we're pleased to see you back.
» Beep beep! Have you considered going back outside and buying a coffee from Bean Around Town?
» Beep beep! Don't forget to pick up a copy of Metro from behind the door. You'll never guess what Beyoncé did last night!
» Beep beep! There is a good service operating on all London Underground lines, so come on through!
» Beep beep! Sheesh, are you still using Oyster? Contactless is fab, you should try it.
» Beep beep! Turn left at the top of the stairs. We know you know this, but we're just showing off.
» Beep beep! Perhaps you should be watching your step on the stairs rather than reading this.
» Beep beep! The next train's about two minutes away. Sorry, we're not clever enough to be able to display this information on the platform yet.
» Beep beep! There's a really interesting advert further up the platform we think you should go and see. It's about 12 steps to your left.
» Beep beep! Please stand back from the yellow line while waiting on the platform.
» Beep beep! PLEASE STAND BACK FROM THE YELLOW LINE WHILE WAITING ON THE PLATFORM!
» Beep beep! PLEASE STAND... oh, hang on, you're actually on the train now, aren't you?
» Beep beep! The next station is Mile End. Doors will open on the left hand side. Step-free access is not available at this station.
» Beep beep! Hey, we've arrived at Mile End. Assuming you're making your usual journey, you'll want to change here.
» Beep beep! Thank you for travelling on the District line.
» Beep beep! The next train to Ealing Broadway will arrive in two minutes.
» Beep beep! Two minutes is enough time to watch this hilarious video from our friends at LockedRoomChallenge.com buff.ly/t80a5u2
» Beep beep! If you nudge three steps to your right, you'll be standing almost in front of the doors when the train arrives.
» Beep beep! You could make this journey by Uber in 45 minutes for just £11.50 (sponsor)
» Beep beep! There are seats in the rear carriage, but not the cattletruck hellhole whose doors you're about to be standing in front of.
» Beep beep! The train in front of you is for Ealing Broadway. The train behind this one has a lot more space.
» Beep beep! Please move further down inside the carriage. And could you nudge the lady with the enormous rucksack too, thanks?
» Beep beep! Mmmm, maybe consider a Deliveroo takeaway from the Ashanti Bengal in Bethnal Green this evening buff.ly/yw9i4oh
» Beep beep! Why not sign up to our premium service, so you can keep track of where your significant other really goes every morning?
» Beep beep! You are now entering Zone 1. So far this journey has cost you £2.40.
» Beep beep! That woman sitting opposite has been within 10 metres of you on every journey this week. Assuming she's not a relative, how about flirting with her?
» Beep beep! We've just opened a Costa at the foot of the escalators at Liverpool Street. The chocolate brownies are to die for.
» Beep beep! Did you know you're only 10 stops away from London's first cable car, in the opposite direction?
» Beep beep! To turn off notifications, locate the hidden menu on your Oyster app and try to remember your 16-digit passcode. Good luck!
» Beep beep! If you do turn off notifications, expect to be charged 10p more for your journey.
» Beep beep! Alternatively you can opt out by simply turning off your WiFi, but how boring would that be?
» Beep beep! 11 things you didn't know about St Paul's Cathedral buff.ly/2kXSjx2
» Beep beep! Sorry, we lost your wi-fi connection there, just when you were in the process of re-logging back in to check Twitter again.
» Beep beep! You are being held at a red signal and you should be moving shortly.
» Beep beep! That lady standing next to you is pregnant. For heaven's sake offer her your seat.
» Beep beep! You are being held at a red signal and you should be moving shortly.
» Beep beep! Five minutes late? Congratulations! You are now eligible for a 25% refund via our Delay Repay Pledge.
» Beep beep! It looks like you're heading to Oxford Circus. While you're there, don't forget the gorgeous waffle cones at Ponti's Italian cafe buff.ly/c6r42zj
» Beep beep! 17% of people making your journey actually went via Embankment instead. Maybe give that a try next time.
» Beep beep! The next station is Oxford Circus. Doors will open on the left hand side. Step-free access will never be available at this station.
» Beep beep! Thank you for travelling on the Central line.
» Beep beep! Ok, turn left, walk to the end of the platform, take the left fork along the subway and then the escalators are on your right.
» Beep beep! Alternatively, it's really busy up there at the moment, so maybe hold back and look at the adverts on the platform.
» Beep beep! OK, the congestion's cleared, if you want to make a break for it.
» Beep beep! Keep walking to the left of the passageway and you can probably carry on reading that Facebook post without bumping into anyone.
» Beep beep! Could you hurry up a bit please, there are hundreds of people trudging behind you.
» Beep beep! Now look up from your phone, the flashing adverts alongside the escalator are really interesting.
» Beep beep! STAND ON THE RIGHT OR WALK ON THE LEFT! Not what you're doing...
» Beep beep! Take exit 8 for Hamleys, exit 7 for Urban Outfitters or exit 5 for the great Niketown sale.
» Beep beep! Thank you Mr Geezer. We look forward to intruding on your privacy again on the way home.
...or read more in my monthly archives
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This email was created by [MemberName] <[MemberEmail]> who thought you would be interested in the following Article:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Jason Gregor
December 11 2012 12:26PM
Ralph Krueger was named head coach of the Edmonton Oilers on June 26th. It was a dream come true for the 53-year-old and when I spoke to him that Wednesday, but this 87-day lockout has him waiting
patiently impatiently to show the hockey world his plan of attack.
Yesterday I spoke with Krueger and we didn't mention the words HRR, make whole, decertification, Bettman of Fehr. It was a refreshing change of pace. We actually talked hockey. Does he have some line combinations in place? Who will play beside Justin Schultz? Will Nail Yakupov play right wing, or will Krueger try him on the left side.
Krueger had some good insight into what he will do when the lockout ends.
Lockout Thoughts
Jason Strudwick
December 11 2012 06:14AM
Before the lockout, I made a decision not to share my thoughts on the labour dispute here on Oilers Nation. After a couple of chats with friends at Christmas parties this weekend I can't hold my tongue anymore. I couldn't believe how far off some of my friends were with their information. I need to get my viewpoint out there so I can offer an alternate point of view to the player bashing that is happening right now.
Jason Gregor
December 10 2012 12:20PM
Both the NHL and NHLPA are clearly dedicated to their cause as we reach day 86 of the lockout. For hockey fans the lockout is like the Grinch, and fittingly day 100 of the lockout lands on Christmas Eve. Something tells me Santa won't be giving you hockey for Christmas.
I still believe we will have NHL hockey in 2013. Earlier this morning the NHL surprised no one and cancelled games through to December 30th, meaning there is still a chance you can ring in the New Year with an Oiler/Flames match up.
KHL: Two huge rivalries, crazy KHL fans
Steve Dangle
December 09 2012 09:05PM
Two KHL games for you today. First we have the Czech team Lev facing their Slovakian rivals Slovan, and then Latvian Dinamo Riga playing their Belarusian rivals Dinamo Minsk. Two great games, and absolutely rabid fans. Great seeing packed barns for a hockey game. I almost forgot what it looked like.
December 09 2012 02:41PM
Back on draft day 2009, the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs were just outside the "top drawer" zone and well inside a group of 7 or 8 quality players ranked 7-15. The Leafs chose Nazem Kadri, Edmonton went with Magnus Paajarvi--and since then, both fanbases have been waiting for their arrival. Did the lockout finally give them a chance to settle in and find the range?


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Ann Casey ~ Monkey Bar Gym Certified Natural Trainer, Rehabilitation Movement Therapist, Structural Integration Rolfer
Ann has been a student of the human body for more than 20 years. She has been in private practice in Salida since 1994 as a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist, Rehabilitation Movement Therapist, Arthro-Kinetics, Structural Integration/Rolfer and a Certified Nutritionist. Her athletic background, College of Charleston Women Soccer, Whitewater raft guide, ACA Kayak instructor instigated her desire to understand more about how we move. Over the years, she has seen many clients with pain complaints stemming from athletic injury, lack of healthy functional movement and routine weight training with isolation machines found in many "traditional" gyms. This inspired her to open a functional fitness training gym in Salida, as a part of INTEGRATE mind•body•fitness. Functional Training is by no means "new", it is just a more balanced way of strengthening and toning the body without many of the painful side effects that often accompany the routine use of isolation machines or weights. Simply participating or training in only one sport, be it skiing, swimming, cycling etc. can lead to imbalances in the body. Cross training with constantly varied, high intensity, whole body functional movement is the foundation for Integrate Salida's fitness program. This foundation results in positive effects for everyone, whether you are a serious athlete, weekend warrior or simply want to live with less pain. It is what inspired Ann to bring Monkey Bar Gym fitness to Salida. Improving inner awareness is where it all starts and Ann inspires her clients to begin and/or maintain that journey!
Kim Shaffer ~ Boot Camp and Personal Trainer
Kim Shaffer has been a personal trainer and group fitness instructor since 1979. Kim has owned two health clubs, three personal training studios, a natural foods café, and numerous other businesses. She also traveled for four years training and certifying group fitness instructors and produced two fitness videos. Her life time experience in the fitness industry has taught her that wellness is very basic and that diet, exercise, attitude, family and friends are the keys to living life to its fullest. As an older adult, Kim understands the needs of an aging population. Kim believes that many people are no longer concerned about how fast they can do something, but instead just want to enjoy the activities they love and to live pain free. This drive to help people become more active and fit is Kim's passion. Kim is certified with the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a Corrective Exercise Specialist and Certified Personal Trainer; the American Council on Exercise as a Certified Personal Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor, and Medical Exercise Specialist; the American Association of Health and Fitness Professionals as a Post Rehab Conditioning Specialist; as well as numerous other agencies such as the Arthritis Foundation and the US Weightlifting Federation. Formal schooling involved earning a Bachelors' degree in Sports Medicine and passing the National board exams to become a Certified Athletic Trainer. Kim also earned a Masters' degree in Rehabilitation Science from California University of Pennsylvania in 2013. Kim recently resigned as a professor of Human Anatomy & Physiology at Colorado State University-Pueblo and has decided to focus on helping those that may need direction in their fitness goals. Kim is also a retired United States Olympic Marathon athlete and top competitor in races like the Pikes Peak Marathon, the Big Sur Marathon, and the Sacramento International Marathon. Today, Kim enjoys teaching all class formats such as Bootcamp and group strength training and helping her personal training clients achieve their goals. Kim and her husband, Mike, are the owners of Mountain Pawn & Gun in Salida and live in Coaldale with their dog, Skittle. Her hobbies are running in the mountains, shooting at targets with her husband, carving pumpkins and pulling Skittle around in his cart behind her mountain bike.
Shanna Bordner
My passion and respect for physical activity and sport started at ten years old when I discovered my love for running. There was such an immense feeling of freedom and power in it that I wanted to share the positive impact it has had on my life with others. In 2008, while working as a nurse in a family practice, I became inspired to do just that after witnessing many patients' discouragement about their health. Many were looking for a quick fix through medication and completely skipping over the root cause of their problems. They were just giving up. This inspired me to go back to school for nutrition and fitness and immediately after that I started my own personal training business. After realizing that this was the key for me to truly be able to help others I never went back to nursing. In 2010, I found the community blew me away. I loved the intensity and discipline but more than anything I loved the encouraging and supportive family atmosphere. I was instantly hooked and went to get my L-1 certification and began coaching shortly after. At the time I had no idea of the amazing experience that was ahead of me through my journey competing in this sport. It has continued to be a tremendous passion and source of strength in my life and I am very grateful to be able to give back to this sport and community as a coach. I couldn't imagine my life without it.
National Personal Training Institute (Philadelphia, PA 2009)
Crossfit L-1 (Boston, MA 2011)
Crossfit Endurance (Philadelphia, PA 2012)
Crossfit Mobility (Denver, CO 2014)
Joe Mariola ~ Capoeira
Joe's interest in martial arts started with Capoeira. He trained for two years under the tutelage of Mestre Canguru at Beginnings Dojo in Briceland, California and Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. After moving to Salida, Joe joined the Agoge MMA Gym where be began learning Jiu-Jitsu. He furthered his Jiu-Jitsu knowledge with coach Tom Reynolds at Yama Dojo in Salida, where he was also introduced to Akido with Sensei Rick Thompson. Joe is a student of movement. When he's not building stuff, he enjoys kayaking and mountain biking.


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The third annual Beanstalk Music and Arts Festival returned to the State Bridge Amphitheater in Bond, Colorado this past May, proving once again that The Magic Beans, perfect Colorado weather, and a slew of other incredible acts are the perfect recipe for a fun-filled weekend.
What a magical weekend it was indeed at the Dark Star Jubilee. Each year is just as good as the last if not better. I had the honor of attending this festival for the fourth year in a row out at Legend Valley, Ohio over Memorial Day weekend. There are so many positive things to be said about this festival.
There is no denying the power and influence a band like the String Cheese Incident have brought to the music scene over the last twenty years. As with many of the jam scene's acts who have been around that long, certain members turn to side and solo projects to further expand their creativity as musicians. The boys from SCI have certainly shown off their alter egos through such endeavors as EOTO, Honkytonk Homeslice, The Contributio
Loyal fans of Nederland, Colorado's Mountain Standard Time must be thrilled at the feats accomplished since their recalibration and return to touring in 2012. Long time members Nick Dunbar (mandolin), Stan Sutton (guitar) and Zach Scott (drums) welcomed Otis Lande on bass and Ryan Ebarb on keys.
Presented by Stanlee Ventures, the eighth annual Camp Barefoot Music & Arts takes place August 21-23 in Bartow, WV.
If Colorado gets frigidly cold in January and February, with temperatures well below zero, we have great music entertainment to get close in and soak in that body heat.
In celebration of twenty years of business in Boulder, The Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery will be hosting a night of funk at the beautiful Boulder Theater to say thanks to the local community for all of their support.
With Lettuce and The Kyle Hollingsworth Band preparing to settle inside of my ears for the evening, things blasted off in an over-caffeinated wild turkey blitz en route to the Fillmore Auditorium. While the hall filled in, those on the rails waited patiently for the on-stage gospel to pour freely.
Keyboard wiz Kyle Hollingsworth of veteran jam band String Cheese Incident recently took time out of rehearsals for their three show New Years Eve Spectacle to talk to the Grateful Web.
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