Thank you for the emails you've been sending.
Here are eight messages I've received this year.
Tom emailed on 16th January.
✉ Not sure if you have come across the National Archives’ 2023 competition on stories from 1920s streets, but it seems completely in your zone. The only thing that would have made this article better would have been on-the-ground reporting from East Dulwich.
The opening line of the article in question is "Bertie Sheldrake was a South London pickle manufacturer who converted to Islam and became king of a far-flung Islamic republic before returning to London and settling back into obscurity." I also enjoyed one of the other winning reports about three ladies working in Trewins department store in Watford in the 1920s, obviously.
Martin emailed on 7th February.
✉ I don't know if you've been to Paddington lately, but they've got a particularly irritating electronic sign which hectors you to use the lifts if you have luggage, buggies, or other large items.
Indeed they have.
It repeatedly flashes STOP! and a voice announces "Please use the lift with your large items", in case you can't read "Please use the lift with your large items". This is in addition to four large arrowed signs saying Lift, a sign urging customers with luggage or pushchairs to use the lift "for your own safety", pictograms with crossed out bags and buggies saying 'Use lifts', and a row of metal posts across the top of the escalators to repel large suitcases. You sense official exasperation that passengers can't follow simple rules, but also a tacit admittance that access to the station has been badly designed. Also there are only two lifts so the more people they push towards them the even-busier they get, and who wouldn't lumber onto the escalators for a brief descent rather than waste minutes waiting to cram into an insufficiently large lift. Alas nobody can retro-engineer their way out of this mess, so we may be stuck with nannying signs for some time.
Emma emailed on 6th March.
✉ Hi Diamond Geezer, I was just wondering, what are your thoughts on the redevelopment of the Orpington Walnuts centre?
I said it looked exceptionally generic, that no way were they 'Creating Character', and what's normal for inner London would feel very out of place in the centre of Orpington (a tower block especially so).
David emailed on 29th March.
✉ The musician Jah Wobble, former bass player with Public Image Limited, has just released an album called "The North London Line (Mildmay)" which muses on the history and culture of locations along the line. It's a mixture of spoken poetry and (mostly) electronica and dub and I think it's fantastic. Can be streamed free via bandcamp.com.
I also like his previous album "The Bus Routes of South London", best listened to on headphones from the front seat top deck. My favourite track is "The 35 towards Clapham Junction".
Karol also emailed on 29th March.
✉ This week I came across an interesting discrepancy between two maps on the same H&C line train (photos attached). Do you have any insight on how these walking distances are measured - is it station entrance to station entrance, platform to platform or something else? Could there be a reason they vary here, beyond simple carelessness (perhaps crow flies vs distance walked on streets)? Have you ever tried to measure the distances yourself?
I checked and it really is the case, the two line diagrams in the same train carriage really do give different distances from Tower Hill. On the Circle line map Tower Gateway is 150m and Fenchurch Street is 100m, and on the District line map Tower Gateway is 130m and Fenchurch Street is 160m. And yet the two lines use the same platform and passengers emerge through the same gateline! The Fenchurch Street difference is quite big so it can't be a rounding thing. How did this ever slip through?
I did some checks against a couple of relevant FoI requests. In 2023 someone asked for a copy of all the car line diagrams on the tube, and TfL provided a zip file which shows exactly what Karol photographed here - two maps with different measurements. Last month someone asked again, seeking updated maps now the Overground lines have different names and a fresh zip file was provided. The new District Line map says it's 150m to Tower Gateway and Fenchurch Street is 100m - the anomaly has been removed.
However line diagrams in tube trains have yet to be updated to show the new Overground names - the final step in the rebrand won't be completed until there's an operational need to replace them because TfL don't have the money. Hence the anomaly has been updated but the maps haven't, hence there are still line maps with mismatched distances rattling round the network. Also I measured it and you definitely can't get from Tower Hill to Fenchurch Street in 100m, more like 130m, perhaps 160m, it all depends precisely where you measure from and to.
Tom emailed on 23rd April.
✉ I have been wanting to walk/run through the Rotherhithe Tunnel for some time. I recall you blogged about doing so but didn’t recommend due to the fumes. Do you happen to know if it is open to pedestrians during the London Marathon (when it is closed to cars)?
We decided it wasn't, although there was no obvious reason why it couldn't be on Marathon day. I still don't recommend walking through it on any other day, even though you can.
JK messaged on 21st June.
✉ This morning I walked along the interesting perimeter footpath on the east side of Biggin Hill Airport which made me wonder if this is the longest unbroken public right of way in London?
This is an excellent question and very much something I'd be interested in. The perimeter footpath on the east side of Biggin Hill Airport goes a heck of a long way without meeting any other footpath, by my calculations about 2.9km, or nearly two miles. Does any London right of way go further without any means of escape?
The footpath round the outside of Hampton Court Park is 4.3km long, but there is a break point where you can slip into the park so it doesn't count. The Thames Path round the back of the Thamesmead void is only 1.8km, but feels much longer. The longest stretch of Grand Union towpath I can find is 1.9km. In which case I think the longest unbroken right of way in London is the Thames Path round Coldharbour Point, beyond Rainham, part of the last desolate leg of the London Loop, at 3.0km. Unless anyone knows better?
Basil emailed on 23rd June.
✉ While painted maps mounted at the entrance to council estates are ten a penny, Wellsmoor Gardens has a fantastic relief map mounted as a weird sculpture. I thought of you as soon as I saw it.
It is absolutely cracking, and although I've seen it before I've never blogged about it, which I am absolutely putting right today. It stands at the entrance to a leafy cluster of mid-60s cul-de-sacs, all flowered greens and separate garages, not far from Chislehurst station. And it's recently been restored to its shimmering best by the Heritage of London Trust in honour of its creator FHK Henrion, the father of corporate branding. You might want to scrutinise the legend on the adjacent plaque, or read this lovely post about the re-unveiling, or check out some of his London Transport posters, or just go to Bickley and admire.
