You'll have lots of interesting things to do because it's Saturday, so I don't need to be interesting here.
The barber shop at the Bow Roundabout has moved.
Billy's Barbers used to be underneath Sky View Tower facing away from the road.
It's now underneath City West Tower facing the roundabout.
The new shop is significantly more visible.
I expect business will be brisker.
Background
» The Capital Towers development opened in 2017. The apartments in its 34- and 14-storey towers were sold mainly to foreign investors. At the time I wrote "At ground level are half a dozen commercial spaces which could be used as offices or presumably as shops. Given that the only retail successes within five minutes walk are a McDonalds drive-thru and a tiny corner shop, I don't rate their chances of being rented out.... but we'll see."
» In 2023 the first unit to be occupied by a shop was Sky Local, a convenience store under the tallest tower. Then came Current Wigs, an artificial hair emporium occupying unit 3 underneath the smaller tower. Then came Billy's Barbers.
» Billy's Barbers leased a unit that can't be seen from the road and which hardly anyone walked past. You'd only spot it if you lived here or were trying to take a minimal shortcut to Cooks Road. The shop was often empty, but Omar and Ali did sometimes seem to have a clientele.
» This was Billy's Barbers' third shop (other branches are in Stratford and on the Isle of Dogs).
» The prime unit facing the roundabout was first occupied in May 2024 by a dry cleaners. At the time I wrote "The new shop is called Gold Dry Cleaner, a name announced in red letters stuck somewhat wonkily above the door, and appears to consist of a bloke and a few machines in a mostly empty room." I didn't rate their chances of success, not least because their windows were emblazoned with spelling errors.
» A few months ago Gold Dry Cleaner moved out.
» This week Billy's Barbers moved in.
Observations
» The shop's much more visible, especially to anyone walking round the roundabout or heading down to the Lea towpath.
» The doorway is seriously unwelcoming but it's early days yet.
» They've moved the original signage from round the corner which means the street number in the corner is now wrong (it says 8, it should be 6).
» They haven't yet moved the table football table out of the old unit, nor the microwave oven.
» If anyone's thinking of taking out a lease on the old rear-facing unit I'd strongly advise against.
This is a 467 bus at Meadowview Road in Ewell.
The bus runs hourly and no other routes stop here.
So I wondered how many London bus stops only get an hourly service.
Obviously Ewell isn't in London so this doesn't count.
Indeed only 30% of the route is in London.
Indeed the 467 is proportionately TfL's least Londony bus (as previously blogged).
There is a very short stretch of the 467 in Chessington where the 467 is the sole bus route, but the only bus stops are in Surrey.
So we can discount the 467.
The TfL bus routes with an hourly frequency (or worse) are: 146, 375, 385, 389, 399, 467, H3, R5, R8, R10, U10, W14.
If we check all the sections where these are the only bus routes, we can make a definitive list. (I've ignored school buses and mobility buses)
London bus stops with an hourly service (or less) 146: Keston Church, Holwood Farm, New Road Hill, Farthing Street, North End Lane 375: Chase Cross, Bower Park School, Kilnwood Lane, Bower House, Havering Green, Samantha Mews, Dame Tipping School, Liberty Cottages 385: (Hail & Ride only) 389: Underhill 399: St Albans Road, Hadley Green, Dury Road, Hadley Wood Station 467: (all outside London) H3: (Hail & Ride only) R5/R10: Pratts Bottom R8: (Hail & Ride only) U10: Ickenham Station, Neats Acre, Field Way, Woodville Gardens W14: The Forest, Eagle Pond, Elmcroft Avenue, Woodford Station, Spencer Close, Hillside Close, Heronway, Bush Road
London has many dull plaques, but I think this might be the most inconsequential.
It appears on platform 1 at Surbiton station.
And it "remembers" the news kiosk.
It was clearly a nice news kiosk but there's nothing about what it looked like, nor why it was important, nor who ran it, nor why it might have been special. We do discover it dated from 1940, closed in 2016 and ended up in Wareham on the Swanage Railway. But the plaque entirely underplays anything that may or may not have been remarkable, it just doesn't say.
The news kiosk used to be here in front of the refreshment room (now a Nero Express cafe). The wall has photos of swirly milky coffees and this plaque, and I do wonder how many people ever look at it. Maybe they do and think "ah yes, the Surbiton News Kiosk" with a nostalgic sigh, but I've never seen anyone do it.
• I've found a photo of the kiosk here.
• I've also found a photo of the kiosk when it was open.
• The newsagent from 2010 to 2016 was John Greig, who'd previously worked at Taylor News outside the station.
• John waved goodbye to kiosk life so he could take up a new job as a platform supervisor at Effingham Junction.
• John blamed several factors for damaging his business: i) the rent on his kiosk being raised, ii) a Sainsbury's opening on the station forecourt, iii) free Metro newspapers.
• In its heyday the kiosk sold 300 Daily Mails every morning, but by 2016 that was down to 25.
• In 2016 the top selling newspapers were 1) The Sun, 2) The Times, 3) Daily Mail, 4) Daily Telegraph, 5) The Guardian
• In 2007 the kiosk was rebranded 'R. Glass' when it appeared briefly in the film Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
• SW Trains wanted to demolish the kiosk to make more room for passengers at the foot of the stairs.
• I haven't found a photo of the kiosk at Wareham station.
