They like their modernstatues in Liverpool, 20th century icons you can walk round, stand beside and take a selfie with. The best-known to rail travellers are this pair at the entrance to Lime Street station.
These are comedian Ken Dodd and MP Bessie Braddock. He lived in Knotty Ash and she was the MP for Liverpool Exchange. He's holding a tickling stick while Dicky Mint the Diddyman pokes out from his bag. She's holding an egg because she was the politician responsible for putting the lion standard mark on British eggs. The double statue is called Chance Meeting - apparently the pair sometimes travelled down to London on the train together. It's by Tom Murphy and was unveiled by Ken on 11 June 2009.
This is another Tom Murphy double statue and can be found outside Primark on Church Street. The rotund pair are brothers John and Cecil Moores, of whom Sir John is the best known. In the 1920s he and two friends founded Littlewoods football pools, which made him a millionaire, followed by an empire of mail order catalogues and department stores which made him richer still. In 1960 he became chairman of Everton football club and handed the reins of Littlewoods to Cecil (who had long been managing the Pools side of the business). The statue was unveiled by their sons in 1996... outside Littlewoods, of course.
This chap is Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, and was unveiled in 2022 on the 55th anniversary of his death. It's located on Whitechapel, the street where the Brian was the manager of a record shop called NEMS when he signed the group after seeing them perform at the Cavern Club. The shop's long gone, one of several buildings demolished to create a larger store for American retailer Forever 21 (now occupied by Next). Head up Mathew Street to the site of The Cavern and you'll also find statues of John Lennon and Cilla Black, but I only had time for a 20 minute walkabout between trains so didn't get that far, nor to the Fab Four themselves down at the Pier Head, sorry.
This blog has readers all across London, I know that, but does it have readers all across the country? Let's see if we can find one from every ceremonial county in England. Stake your claim, first come first served!
CUMBRIA Stuart C, CA12
DURHAM MatthewP, DH1
TYNE AND WEAR ChrisB, NE2
NORTHUMBERLAND John Woodman, NE68
LANCASHIRE John H, BB7
WEST YORKSHIRE Sam B, LS28
NORTH YORKSHIRE Bruce, TS11
EAST YORKSHIRE ChrisM, HU16
MERSEYSIDE Mark, L8
GREATER MANCHESTER DavidC, M4
SOUTH YORKSHIRE VeeJayEm, S6
LINCOLNSHIRE David Woodman, PE4
CHESHIRE Steve B, CH4
STAFFORDSHIRE Ewan James, ST3
DERBYSHIRE DB83, DE22
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Jean, NG3
SHROPSHIRE Al, TF4
WEST MIDLANDS Peter B, CV5
LEICESTERSHIRE Sarah, LE7
RUTLAND
HEREFORDSHIRE BarryD, HR5
WORCESTERSHIRE Steve Green, WR14
WARWICKSHIRE Rob Gullen, CV37
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Steve, NN13
GLOUCESTERSHIRE Alan P, BS35
BEDFORDSHIRE Stuart, MK43
CAMBRIDGESHIRE Huw, CB4
NORFOLK DGD, NR17
OXFORDSHIRE Mark, OX4
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE James, HP20
HERTFORDSHIRE Frank F, AL7
SUFFOLK Jessica, IP11
BRISTOL Stewart, BS8
BERKSHIRE Andy V, RG6
GREATER LONDON diamond geezer, E3
ESSEX THC, CM2
SOMERSET Herned, TA1
WILTSHIRE Jc97, SN12
CITY OF LONDON Paul S, EC2Y
KENT CG, TN9
DEVON cjw714, EX1
HAMPSHIRE Malcolm Redsell, SO41
SURREY Mike, KT17
EAST SUSSEX Rob, BN1
CORNWALL Alan S, TR16
DORSET Neil, BH15
ISLE OF WIGHT SAM, PO33
WEST SUSSEX Marc, RH16
Say hello and name your county.
Please include the first part of your postcode with your comment.
Can we get all 48, and how long will it take?
(sorry Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the rest of the world... another day!)
Question: Agatha Christie wrote a famous whodunnit called 'The 4.50 from Paddington'. Is there still a 4.50 from Paddington and where does it go?
Answer: The only timetabled 4.50 from Paddington is a GWR service to Didcot Parkway.
Question: Where was Christie's fictional train going?
Answer:The 4.50 from Paddington was the seventh Miss Marple mystery, tucked between A Pocket Full of Rye and The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, and was published in November 1957. In chapter 1 we learn that the train is "the 4.50 for Brackhampton, Milchester, Waverton, Carvil Junction, Roxeter and stations to Chadmouth", all of which are fictional locations. In the book Mrs Elspeth McGillicuddy spies a strangulation aboard a passing train but only Miss Marple believes her, until a woman's body is eventually found in a sarcophagus at a country house beside the railway. The plot hinges on inheritance and arsenic poisoning, and eventually the act of choking on a fish bone uncovers the murderer.
Question: So where was the murder?
The incident in the adjacent carriage occurs about eight minutes before the train reaches Brackhampton, where a member of platform staff announces it as the 5.38. This places the murder around 5.30, approximately 40 minutes after leaving Paddington. We know that this is the Great Western mainline because Miss Marple has to eliminate "the Welsh express for Cardiff, Newport and Swansea" from her enquiries.
I've tracked down a 1956timetable for trains on this line which suggests mainline trains out of Paddington reached Reading after about 40 minutes, suggesting 'Brackhampton' was either Reading or a town just beyond. That would place the murder somewhere between Twyford and Pangbourne. It's hard to be more accurate, especially given the "considerable curve" referenced in the book does not exist. It'd be nice to think that the murder took place close to Wallingford where Agatha lived at the time but that's a tad far for a steam train to have reached in 40 minutes. It's highly likely she was making the whole thing up, including various temporal and geographical inaccuracies. There is no 4.50 from Paddington in the timetable.
Just to properly confuse things, the book was very nearly published as 'The 4.54 from Paddington' but the title was changed at the last minute. This confirms Christie's intricate plotting didn't stretch as far as accurate timings, so I apologise for wasting your time discussing the above.
They didn't have blogs or the internet forty years ago, so here are 31 things I didn't digitally publish at the time. To help you get your bearings I was 20 and October was the start of my third year at university. I apologise for skipping September which would have included tea at the Royal Festival Hall, sandwiches on the ramparts of Southsea Castle and a bar of chocolate atop Mount Snowdon.
Tue 1: It's the warmest October day on record (29.4°C in Cambridgeshire) [a record that won't be broken until 2011]. Our nextdoor neighbour cuts his hand on some glass and my Mum drives him to hospital to get five stitches. Wed 2: Sausages and beans for tea. My brother rings from Portsmouth and we hear how his first week at university is going. His landlady is due to give birth soon. Thu 3: Spend the day (between 7am and 7pm) making a list of every record played on Radio 1 to see if I can unpick how the playlist works. Stevie Wonder's Part Time Lover and Billy Idol's Rebel Yell must be 'A List' because they're played four times, roughly 3 hours apart. Scritti Politti's Perfect Way breaks the pattern with two plays within 1½ hours. Exactly one third of the 147 records are oldies. Fri 4: The tabloids are busy exposing the private life of former Blue Peter presenter Michael Sundin and full of salacious details about Rock Hudson who's just died from an AIDS-related illness. 1985 was not a tolerant year. Sat 5: Fish fingers for lunch, inspired by it being the 30th birthday of the fish finger this week. Saturday evening TV includes The Tripods (series 2 episode 5 - Will and Fritz arrive at the City of Gold) and the Late Late Breakfast Show (Noel Edmonds hosts a mower-based Lawn Prix). Sun 6: A special roast beef dinner (with grandmother present) before I head back to university. A bottle of wine is opened (or probably unscrewed, given how infrequently we had a bottle). There are significant riots at Broadwater Farm in Tottenham. Mon 7: Head into Watford to buy a new kettle. Then present it to Mum and Dad as a 24th wedding anniversary present [which means I get to take the old one with me to university]
Tue 8: Mum drives me back to university with Dad crammed in the back between the boxes. I have a brilliant room this year because I was near the top of the accommodation ballot. Someone has already been in and filled my cupboard with balloons. By the end of the day they'll be hanging from my ceiling by static. Wed 9: I forgot to bring a tea strainer. My pigeonhole is already full of careers-based communications, because it turns out that's what the third year is all about. Everyone comes round to my room to watch the last ever episode of Minder (and inevitably pop all the balloons). Thu 10: Pick up my grant cheque for the term. [I know people are amazed/shocked/appalled that students used to get paid to go to university, rather than being indebted, but £339 to tide you over until Christmas wasn't exactly generous] Fri 11: Two years ago as freshers we were all invited to a small subject-based drinks do to meet our fellow students. This year it's my job to host the event, mainly because my room's got the best balcony. I've stocked up on sherry, beer and Twiglets. I've chosen Scritti Politti's Cupid and Psyche for the background music in an attempt to confirm how cool I am. [mostly successfully] Sat 12: Continue my hunt for a tea strainer. Selfridges don't have any, nor Argos, and Debenhams have sold out. Eventually track one down in Boswells for 95p. It's the Freshers Disco tonight so head down once it's got started. An excellent playlist including You Spin Me Round and Uncertain Smile. Even Iris the cleaner joins in on the dancefloor. Sun 13: I've already had 86 visitors to my room this year, not just because I have a great balcony but because I have a busy kettle and a rare portable TV. I've got room 41 this year, so I've been busy and made this colourful graphic to stick on my front door.
Mon 14: Lectures restart, except one's been cancelled so instead four of us go off and sign up for a course to learn Fortran. It's not our subject but computers are the future. Buy some vinegar and Smarties in the basement Co-op. Spend the evening playing The Great Game of Britain and listening to short wave radio. Tue 15: College bills this term are £194, leaving £145 for all remaining fripperies. Nip to Our Price and buy the new Depeche Mode singles album (£6), also some more coffee because the way my room's become a hotbed of socialising means I'm going to need it. Wed 16: The biochemist in the room nextdoor comes round to complain about the noise. [There'll be sixteen more such complaints before the end of the year, including "Can you be a bit quieter doing that please?", "How many times do I have to tell you?" and "WILL YOU SHUT UP OR BLOODY PLAY SOMEWHERE ELSE?!"] Sorry Julie. Thu 17: Lectures in the morning, additional computer course in the afternoon, struggling with early coursework in the evening, bed at 1.45am. Fri 18: I have a friend who was also high on the accommodation ballot and selected room 43 after I picked room 41. She keeps knocking on the door and coming round, and perhaps I'm just socially magnetic or perhaps she's chronically lonely but the obvious objective conclusion is that she's interested and hopes I am too. I'm not, which means it could be a very long year. Sat 19: A friend from not-university comes round, admires the unique decor in my room and says he's changed his name. We go in search of a pub but it's Saturday evening and they're all packed so we end up in Wimpy. Hideous mistake. [I'll never see him again and he now lives in New Zealand]
Sun 20: I'm missing my Dad's birthday. [I claimed at the time to be too busy to ring, but I see I had time for a water balloon fight on the balcony so belated apologies]. Mon 21: A bit late in the year for wasps isn't it? A letter arrives from my brother saying his course is going well although the economics lectures are stuff he already knows. He's already been to a couple of football matches and the landlady's had her baby. Tue 22: Some enterprising second years are producing a weekly newssheet and posting it up in toilets around the college. I reckon I could do a good spoof of that, so I find a sheet of A3 paper and make a start. Wed 23: Buy a pack of Woodland Happy Families because that'll be quite the game to play over mugs of communal coffee. At the Fortran course I'm starting to make friends with students in the year below as well as learning how to do a bubblesort. Thu 24: I'm still counting visitors to my room and have created a certificate to mark milestone totals, in part to make the point to my neighbourly stalker that she's coming round too often. She is not pleased to receive the '200th visitor' certificate, which joins a collection including 1st, 3rd, 10th and 111th. Fri 25: Finish off my spoof newssheet and stick it up in our top floor toilet. Biochemist Tim says it would be hilarious if I stuck it up in all the toilets around college in place of the real one, and perhaps it would.
Sat 26: Walk home in the dark from The Fishes after several pints of cider, seemingly stepping on the odd hedgehog. Develop hiccups half an hour from home. [it was a nightmare] Sun 27: The extra hour in bed is very welcome. Captain Scarlet is being repeated on ITV. We're all struggling somewhat with the latest batch of questions that have to be handed in tomorrow. And the 225th certificate. Mon 28: Watch the total eclipse of the moon from my balcony. Dad's sent a letter saying he got slippers and gloves for his birthday, my card arrived a day late and he enjoyed the special trip round the Ascot Road sorting office. Tue 29: One of my subject options this term is proving embarrassingly hard, another is thankfully more doable. Hang 22 cardboard bats around my room for Hallowe'en [still got them, they still go up]. Jim'll Fix It are filming across the street, hence some really bright lighting. Wed 30: All the cleaners come round to see my bats. I'm making good social progress with the second years and am invited to a party on Saturday. And the 250th certificate. Thu 31: OK, I photocopy lots of spoof newssheets and go round all the toilets in college swapping them for the latest edition. It might have looked a bit strange but I think I got away with it. [Spoiler - it did not go down well.] Spend the evening working by Hallowe'en candlelight [unaware there's an official letter of complaint in my pigeon hole saying "the editors are a little upset, would it be possible to have this week's copies back..."]
The first entrance at Battersea Power Station station opened in September 2021.
The second opened yesterday.
(it had to wait until they'd finished building the office block on top)
The newentrance connects directly to ElectricBoulevard, the retail canyon which funnels shoppers direct into the power station. Previously everyone emerged beside the main road and had to follow a less significant path at street level. Now you have a choice. [8 photos]
If alighting from a train everything's the same until you emerge through the ticket barriers, which means everything I'm about to describe is outside the gateline and freely accessible. The first change is the signage on the wall which now clearly suggests that if you want the Power Station you should turn right.
🠈 Prospect Park 🠈 New Covent Garden Market 🠈 Buses
The Power Station 🠊 Electric Boulevard shops 🠊 Battersea Park Station 🠊 Battersea Pier 🠊 Taxis 🠊
So far most people are still turning left through familiarity. Anyone turning up for the first time, however, is likely to turn right because that's where all the interesting stuff is. I'll tell you later whether that's a good move.
Ahead is a bank of escalators the same width as the bank that's been whisking passengers out of the other side of the station for four years. Passengers' ability to escape has been doubled overnight. Alongside is a lift, so double the number of lifts too.
At the top of the escalators is an airy atrium with glass at street level, which we're still below at this point. Don't expect to see any TfL staff up here, they're all down in the gateline area and this is very much an outer passageway. All the arrows point right but there is a tempting passageway off to the left which thus far remains closed. It leads to an arched subway from the power station days and will eventually exit into Stewarts Road on the Savona Estate, hopefully next year. Typical, the exit for the existing residents gets opened last, with all the shops and developmental priorities having taken precedence.
To the right you soon emerge into Electric Boulevard, a wiggly piazza lined by offices, doors to apartments and a snake of sleek retail units. One of the nearest sells French cars and is called 'rnlt' while most of the far side is occupied by fashion retailer Zara, because this is not a destination for those with a slim wallet. As for the jacketed member of staff lingering outside the station entrance they'll be in the employ of the Power Station, not TfL, as a reminder that this tube extension was built for commercial gain rather than public need. Everything you see around you makes this distinction very clear.
But is it the fastest way to the shops? Well no, as it turns out, as I discovered when I did a quick experiment. I used the new exit to walk to the Power Station and it took one minute to reach the outside world, then another three minutes to reach the lower floor of BPS. Then I used the old exit to walk to the Power Station and it took one minute to reach the outside world, then another three minutes to reach the ground floor of BPS. It's four minutes whichever way you go, so don't be swayed by the arrows, go whichever way you like.
Put another way, if you're returning to the tube station from the Power Station, aim for the old exit if you're on the upper floor and aim for the new exit if you're on the lower floor. You can thank me later.
It was interesting that TfL's press release focused on this being a new step-free entrance, not just a new entrance.
The new entrance in fact improves access for everyone, mobility-impaired or not, so is more a fresh choice than an accessibility gamechanger. Battersea Power Station has been a step-free station for the last four years so nothing's fundamentally changed. Indeed this emphasis feels somewhat of a smokescreen to cover the fact that the roll-out of step-free stations continues to go very slowly, this because all the low-hanging fruit has already been plucked.
The press release includes this reminder of a Mayoral policy which I think deserves statistical unpicking.
Knightsbridge brought the tube's step-free percentage to 93/272=34.2%. The only other station destined to become step-free this year is Colindale (94/272=34.6%), the only station due next year is Northolt (95/272=34.9%) and the only station that could possibly complete in 2027 is Leyton (96/272=35.3%). When 2028 rolls round we'll only be at 35%, still way off the target of 50%.
The press release includes details of further stations where step-free design work is underway...
Re-starting design work: Burnt Oak (35.7%) Starting concept design work: Alperton, Arnos Grove, Eastcote, Finchley Road, West Hampstead, White City (37.9%)
The latest Programmes and Investment Committee agenda reveals what's already in the pipeline...
Feasibility studies underway: Colliers Wood, Tooting Broadway (38.6%) Additional studies in progress: Croxley, East Finchley, Neasden, Northwood, Turnham Green (40.4%)
And a nigh-invisible announcement last week added the following...
Shortlisted for feasibility studies: Becontree, Blackhorse Road, Canons Park, Dagenham East, East Putney, Edgware Road (H&C), Hatton Cross, Hornchurch, Kentish Town, Plaistow, Putney Bridge, Ruislip, Snaresbrook, South Harrow, Upton Park, Willesden Green, Wood Green (45.2%)
That's potentially 127 step-free tube stations if every project on the drawing board proves viable, gets funded and is built. But it's wildly optimistic in the current economic climate and it's not the 136 stations the Mayor needs to be step-free by 2030, it's still nine short. Unless a magic money tree is shaken and dozens of brilliant design solutions present themselves, 50% is never going to happen. That target needs amending, not repeating, because it's fundamentally unattainable.
45 Squared 35) QUEEN SQUARE, WC1
Borough of Camden, 150m×40m
The Queen in question is Queen Anne, the Square built soon after her death so named in her honour. It's in Bloomsbury close to Russell Square station, but tucked one street back from the main drag so generally unvisited. It's also exceptionally oblong, almost four times as long as it is wide, and over the years has become increasingly surrounded by all things medical. As is so often the case the 'square' was originally built on the very edge of London, and in this case took advantage of the fact. Tall terraces of elegant townhouses were built along three sides with the northern edge left empty so that residents could enjoy the vista across Conduit Fields. This scenic gap lasted until the end of the 18th century when Upper Guilford Street got in the way, but a sense of long distance perspective somehow lingers.
At the southern end of the Square is a paved area that's actually square with a fine lamplit water pump at its centre, this very early Victorian. Four bollards and a ring of cobbles surround it, these originally to keep vehicles at bay because the paving slabs beyond are relatively recent. It no longer dispenses water but the Mayor has kindly provided a plastic water fountain with a blue droplet on top which looks jarringly out of place. The most recent addition is a new timber hut for Queen's Coffee, unshuttered in the last few days, although the art on the back featuring a Grenadier Guard and a seated child is gratingly twee and I'd stick with a pastry round the front. For a finer work of art, look out for the Snoopy and Woodstock postbox topper on the corner with Great Ormond Street.
In the southeastern corner is the church of St George The Martyr, in Wren-like Queen Anne style, although the tower and outer frontage are later additions. Its chief claims to fame are that it's where Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath got married, this because at the time it was his parish church, also two centuries earlier its rector was William Stukeley, the antiquarian who did a lot of the early investigations at Stonehenge. Normally you can step inside as far as a cosy cafe carved out of one corner but I turned up as Morning Service was getting underway so couldn't peer much further than the glass doors. It's quite the classical space.
A few of the original houses remain, as proudly Georgian as you'd expect, of which the finest may be number 6 where the front door of the Art Workers Guild is framed by two monogrammed lamps. But there's also a lot of later replacement, all tall, be it brick, terracotta, concrete or glass. And if you read the nameplates a heck of a lot of that is medical, including the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and the Sight And Sound Centre (Supported By Premier Inn). Brains feature a lot, and have done ever since George III stayed privately on Queen Square with his mental health specialist Dr Willis. The busy National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery now overlooks the entirety of the eastern flank.
The finest feature is probably the central garden, a long shrubbery-bound space with grass, flowerbeds, umpteen benches and even more pigeons. The benches are particularly popular with medical staff taking a break mid-shift, and much more pleasant than your average smokers' hangout. In opposite corners are the utterly contrasting statues of Lord Wolfson, businessman and philanthropist, and Sam, a cat. The statue of a queen watches over everything from one end, long believed to be Queen Anne for nominal reasons, but the plaque underneath says it's now thought to be Queen Charlotte. I particularly liked the floral urn celebrating Queen Elizabeth's silver jubilee with a verse by Larkin on one side and a verse by Hughes on the other. It's all queens in Queen Square.
It's a well-ish known fact that the longest journey on the Underground is from West Ruislip to Epping. It's 34 miles (or 55km) long. But that's not entirely within Greater London, it exits the capital just beyond Woodford.
So I wondered... what's the longest train journey in London?
definition: the longest regular train/tube service starting and finishing in London and remaining within London at all times
I've measured the official length of several train journeys and I reckon the longest are as follows...
Those services run throughout the day. The following run only rarely.
London's longest occasional train journeys 55.9km: Gidea Park → Heathrow Terminal 4 † 49.0km: Abbey Wood → Heathrow Terminal 5 ‡ 47.9km: Charing Cross → Slade Green → Cannon Street ¶ 47.6km: Hainault → West Ruislip §
† Only one train a day makes this 34¾ mile journey, the 0525 from Gidea Park (Sundays excepted). All other Gidea Park services go no further than Paddington.
‡ Only one train a day makes this journey, the 0534 from Abbey Wood (Sundays excepted). Other Abbey Wood services go to T4 rather than T5.
¶ Only one train a day makes this journey, the 0606 from Charing Cross (weekdays). Other loopy services start and finish at Cannon Street.
§ Only a handful of trains before 7am make this journey. At other times Hainault trains go to Ealing Broadway and Epping trains follow the West Ruislip branch.
Alternatively, what if you define longest journey by time rather than distance?
n.b. timings are approximate, give or take a minute or two, because timetables vary.
n.b. Gidea Park - Heathrow Terminal 4 does not make this list, it takes 1h 17m.
So Cockfosters - Uxbridge is London's longest regular train journey, whichever way you measure it. But if you ever wanted to make a video entitled 'I made London's longest train journey' you'd need to be at Gidea Park at 5.25am to catch the only through train to Heathrow Airport.
n.b. I may have overlooked something here, or mismeasured something, or mistimed something, so I invite the readership army of rail pedants to point this out.
And one of those three 'most promising' new town sites is in north London, so I've been to Crews Hill to see what's there and how it might change forever.
Crews Hill is probably best known for its garden centres of which there are unexpectedly many, several of them on the large side. These green hubs have also attracted patio merchants, cladding specialists, commercial greenhouses and numerous other horticultural hangers-on, all covering a substantial area which could perhaps be defined as brownfield. Elsewhere are paddocks rather than productive fields, a few scattered homes and the inevitable golf course, all with a conveniently central station 40 minutes from central London. The local council call it "low value land" and have already drawn up detailed plans for substantial transformation. New town status would only turbocharge the lot.
This is the most northern corner of north London, bumped up against the orbital collar of the M25. The motorway has already despoiled the northern edge of the site and protects the Hertfordshire flank from negative visual impact. The Moorgate-Stevenage railway divides the site in two, so the plan is to place most of the new housing to the east and most of the recreational land to the west. To either side are two of London's less spoiled rivers, the Turkey Brook and Cuffley Brook, both pencilled in as 'ecology corridors' rather than housing arteries. Hence Enfield's current blueprint is for an urban centre near the station and four constituent neighbourhoods - Cattlegate, Kings Oak, Owls Hall and The Meadows.
Crews Hill is the 10th least used station in Greater London, such is the paucity of existing housing hereabouts. It lies on the Hertford Loop railway line, two stations beyond Enfield Chase at a reasonable commuting distance from the City. It's a very lowly station, just two platforms and some stairs down to a car park that doesn't stretch to twenty vehicles, all ungated and entirely unstaffed. It could quite easily be upgraded into something step-free, but would require more than the existing half-hourly train service to justify a new town. There's talk of bringing these Great Northern lines under TfL control, likely under the Overground umbrella, but don't expect anything like that any time soon.
This is CATTLEGATE(red on the map)
It's the best known part of Crews Hill, the road with all the garden centres, the neighbourhood name arising because that's called Cattlegate Road. It's currently somewhere people who need compost and a new shed drive to, then get sucked into the additional opportunities to buy rattan furniture, rose bushes, plaster statues, turf, double glazing, carpets, tropical fish and industrial strength Christmas lights. Throw in a meal at Redwood Bistro or The Plough and you can make a day of it, maybe even go for a Thai massage or get some tattoos done. However nigh all of this is destined to be swept away to create Cattlegate, other than the large Edwardian pub, scattering innumerable small businesses to the winds in favour of urban scale high density development. A few existing cottages should survive, in the same way that you still find nucleated Victorian throwbacks in the heart of Harlow New Town, but North London's retired gardeners will need to find somewhere else to source their bedding plants.
This is KINGS OAK(pink on the map)
It's a separate neighbourhood slotting into the southern end of the site along the existing spine road, and named after former King's Oak Farm. I don't think a motel is planned. Instead the proposal is for mid-density townhouses amid woodland elements, plus a new secondary school on the other side of Theobalds Park Road round the back of the Whitewebbs Museum of Transport. What disappears are more existing businesses but on a larger scale, including an industrial estate, a premium flower importer, a metal recycler and an equestrian centre of 25 years standing. If you're tasked with buying up land on which to build housing, the larger the existing plots the better. One thing that doesn't disappear is the woody field round the back of the mega-greehouses which instead becomes a new park. Also safe is the thin loop of formerly-isolated bungalows where the 456 bus turns round, suddenly destined to form an anachronistic blockage sandwiched between acres of modern infill.
This is OWLS WOOD(purple on the map)
It's due to be a low-density neighbourhood adjacent to the station on land that's currently undeveloped Green Belt. It'll smother 60 acres of paddocks created by Baron Matthews of Southgate, a Thatcherite tycoon who was the proprietor of the Daily Express and had a penchant for thoroughbred racing. He lived in Owl's Hall, the Italianate Regency mansion at the top of the slope whose estate was nibbled away by the M25, and which may now look down on a swathe of eco-rooftops. Also being gobbled up is Crews Hill Golf Course, a vintage 18 holer, although only the clubhouse and car park are destined for housing and the fairways instead become Cattlegate Park, the chief local recreational space. Intriguingly two sprawling detached piles near the station look to be safe, whereas by evicting a couple of well-off families at least 200 station-adjacent flats could easily be slotted in. The Enfield Society would be aghast however things fall.
This is THE MEADOWS(green on the map)
It's the smallest of the proposed districts and also the least originally named, meadows being its current state. The new neighnbourhood would bear off Burnt Farm Ride, London's northernmost country lane, which grinds to a halt at the M25 so you'd think would be pretty quiet. Not so, it's busy with trucks and vans heading to various employment hotspots hidden amidst the paddocks, including a solar panel factory and hubs for haulage, skip hire and body repair. Enfield's plans include retaining a larger industrial stripe between The Meadows and the M25, also sneaking in a sports pitch or two, and all within easy walking distance of the new town's main coffee-fuelled piazza. Of all the existing parcels of land this is the one that most screams "how could they even be thinking of building on that?", only to turn one's head and think "oh, I see someone already has."
Enfield Council's plans for Crews Hill are already reasonably advanced, even if they can't possibly continue unless a Green Belt exemption is granted. They also have their sights on Chase Park close to Oakwood tube station, where the despoilation of fields would potentially be considerably worse. I wrote about the possible impact on the slopes overlooking the Merryhills Brook back in 2022. But the ultimate impact hereabouts may be considerably worse. Enfield have only proposed a total of 9000 homes across Crews Hill and Chase Park, whereas the government's New Towns Taskforce reckons there may be room for 21,000 if the two projects are expanded and merged to full new town status. It's all about priorities, because if we want new houses for the 21st century they have to be built somewhere, and these proposals are no worse than the plague of building that created the outer suburbs in the first half of the 20th.
Umbilical is a rope spinning machine 10 metres high and 12 metres in diameter and part of the artist's longrunning 'RopeMakers' series. I remember seeing his swirly yarn churner 'Chord' in the Kingsway Underpass in 2009, although to be fair I was more interested in the tram stop than the sculpture. This time we have 40 elevated spools dispensing coloured thread which combines incrementally to create a single rope with a pattern that never repeats. Shawcross likens it to "the aberration of planets orbiting around our sun within a galaxy", rather than just a great big mechanical knitter. It's not new, indeed fifteen years ago it was hanging in the atrium of IBM's HQ in New York, but it was constructed locally and is soon off to Tasmania to hang permanently there. To see it you have to find the Timber Yard at Here East, just round the corner from the V&A Storehouse, and ask the security bloke to direct you to the second floor by lift. At the end of a long corridor you find a huge room with the mighty web-spewer in pride of place, also two smaller loopthreaders to make an exhibition of it. Come before 3rd November, kick back on a cushion and you can watch the inexorable intricate ballet entwine above your head, then maybe hit the gift shop on the way out. (n.b. Umbilical is in Hackney Wick, 300m from Newham)
Meridian-adjacent art trail The Line opened 10 years ago, plonking works of art along the Lower Lea Valley between Stratford and North Greenwich. Its component parts come and go as artists dictate, but have always been a motley bunch eliciting reactions from "wow" to "oh" to "meh". The latest refresh includes this iron bench in the Olympic Park, now officially the first sculpture on the trail, just across the river from the Aquatics Centre. It was devised in conjunction with The Line's Youth Collective, whose 11 members serendipitously find themselves arrayed in portrait form across the back of the bench. On the wooden slats are words meaning hello in over 50 different languages, this to represent Newham's breadth and diversity, while the ends of the bench feature the Bow Bells, a grime MC's mike and two (jellied) eels as armrests. It's quite a melange. Sit down and the words HELLO LET'S MAKE A PORTRAIT TOGETHER are readable on the sandstone base, the idea being that you create an image or video either alone or with friends and upload it via the QR code embedded alongside. Head to The Line's website to see some of the end results and feel free to add your own.
Types of Happiness by Yinka Iloriat Royal Victoria Dock
Also new on The Line, two very colourful chairs. They come from a series of six, they're too high to sit on and they're as brightly patterned as we've come to expect from everything Yinka creates. But don't come just for them...
The Dangleway's north terminal has a separate silver kiosk built to house something electrical, which has long sat inert in a very prominent position. Now Chila Burman gets to decorate it with diverse works of art as part of the Royal Docks Originals art festival. Of the three illuminated panels initially I only recognised the ice cream, this to reference the sugar and ice cream factories that once existed around the docks. Looking a bit harder I unpicked the mermaid and the dragon, also resplendent on neon panels and whose meanings are thankfully explained on a poster because I wouldn't have guessed. On the other side of the roof is a densely-crammed mural "embodying Chila's renowned punk Punjabi aesthetic" in which I spotted several goddesses, a pair of headphones and a Dalek. Perhaps of most interest is the life-sized neon tiger gazing across the lawns towards City Hall, just as a tiger figurine once rattled round Bootle on top of Chila's father's ice cream van, and this'll be up here for a year.
Back in March I blogged about Compressor Square, a placemaking non-entity alongside Royal Albert DLR station named after the cold storage building under renovation on the northern side. That renovation is now complete and this week Compressor House opened its doors in the hope of becoming the go-to community centre and cultural venue hereabouts. I popped in to admire the building and its inaugural artworks, and was even taken upstairs to see the intricate Royal Docksarchitectural model the Mayor's evicted from City Hall. The most intriguing intervention was a work by YARA+DEVINA called Arrivals + Departures featuring two airport-style boards announcing names rather than flight destinations. It was first exhibited outside Somerset House in 2020 as a way to remember the departed, balanced with good news about births and other 'arrivals', with every name submitted by a member of the public. Since then it's been to New York, Norwich, Brighton, Hull and Zürich and is now back in London at its new permanent home within Compressor House. Visit today and not only can you watch it click over but also meet the artists (4pm), hear them speak (6pm) and enjoy a concert featuring music of resilience (7.30pm).
Visions Programme 1 led by Rosie Gibbensat Bow Arts
This opens today so I can't yet comment, only confirm that the film-based exhibition features Rosie and 38 other artists and aims to turn the gallery into "a smorgasbord of recorded performing bodies". I also skipped the Private View last night, thus missed live performances of It Is Wanting, Blow, Corporate Séance and I Left My Vibrator In A Cave. If you're visiting Bus Stop M any time before 9th November, it's literally nextdoor. (n.b. Bow Arts is on Bow Road, 300m from Newham)
It hardly seems possible, but it's 10 years since the infamous Bus Stop M debacle first turned heads. The incompetent implementation of a bus stop bypass as part of Cycle Superhighway 2 caused all sorts of inconvenience for passengers in Bow, and also a few red faces at TfL HQ. But I've never summarised it properly before, only spoonfed it across dozens of sequential blogposts, so today I thought I'd sum it all up in a single post. (all dates clickable for additional background reportage)
This pair of maps might help.
Bus Stop M - a full history
Autumn2010: Cycle Superhighway 2 is introduced between Aldgate and the Bow Roundabout. It would be too expensive to build a segregated lane so instead a blue stripe is painted along the edge of the road, with gaps where all the bus stops are.
October/November2011: Two cyclists die in separate accidents on the approach to the Bow Roundabout. It becomes clear to all that a blue stripe painted on the road is inadequate.
September 2014: A full upgrade to Cycle Superhighway 2 is confirmed, featuring a segregated lane for cyclists. Bus stop bypasses will be introduced, including either side of Bow Church. Three eastbound bus stops will need to be merged into one.
February 2015: Work starts here for 58 weeks. Expect delays.
March 2015: Buses on route 25 are temporarily diverted over the Bow Flyover to dodge some of the roadworks, skipping Bus Stop M.
July 2015: It's confirmed that Bus Stop E (Bow Church) will be permanently relocated 50m east and combined with Bus Stop G (Bow Church), while Bus Stop M (Bow Flyover) will be permanently closed.
August 2015: Bus Stop G is closed for several weeks so it can be transformed into a bus stop bypass. Displaced buses stop at Bus Stop E instead.
September 2015: A consultation proposes diverting route 25 across the flyover permanently.
25 September 2015: Down by the flyover, Bus Stop M loses its bus stop post. Buses suddenly stop stopping there, even though it's not shown as closed. Waiting passengers are bemused and annoyed.
1 October 2015: The bus stop post that used to be at Bus Stop M (by the flyover) has been transplanted to the new pedestrian island at Bus Stop G (opposite the church), which is thus now labelled Bus Stop M.
(this was the crucial move - by shifting the post, former Bus Stop G became new Bus Stop M)
2 October 2015: The barriers surrounding new Bus Stop M have been removed. It looks open and people are now waiting here. Unfortunately all the buses are still stopping at Bus Stop E. Passengers are not happy at having to suddenly dash 50m up the road to catch their bus.
"As of Friday evening, the situation is like this: Bus Stop E: Soon to be retired bus stop, with temporary sign - ALL BUSES STOP HERE Bus Stop G: Reopened and looks convincing, but has an M on top and buses generally aren't stopping Bus Stop M: Still has its bus shelter but has lost its post, and is probably no longer a bus stop (probably)
In summary, buses are stopping at E but people are still waiting at M, and now additionally at G because nobody's told them not to. This end of Bow Road currently has one open bus stop that's soon to close, one possibly open bus stop that appears still to be closed, and one probably closed bus stop that still looks open. Could somebody official possibly pop down and sort this mess out?"
3 October 2015: Bus drivers have now been told to stop serving Bus Stop E and start serving Bus Stop M instead. The new Bus Stop M is officially born. Bus Stop E still has a sign saying ALL BUSES STOP HERE but they don't any more. It's now passengers at Bus Stop E who are not happy at suddenly having to dash 50m down the road to catch their bus.
3 October 2015: Alas the bus stop bypass cannot open to cyclists because there's still a lamppost in the middle of it.
5 October 2015: It transpires construction workers have been making changes to bus stops ahead of schedule. TfL, alerted by my blogposts, arrive on the scene to try to sort things out. Bus Stop E now has a sign saying Bus Stop Closed, not ALL BUSES STOP HERE. After decades of long service, Bus Stop E is officially dead.
5 October 2015: The old Bus Stop M also now has a sign saying Bus Stop Closed. The poster lists five affected bus routes, including one that didn't stop here and omitting two that did. The advice scrawled in marker pen is "Please Use Stop M", which this was but no longer is.
(the endgame has been reached - of the three former bus stops only G has survived but is now called M)
5 October 2015: New Bus Stop M includes a tile for route 205 which does not stop here and never has.
7 October 2015: Former bus stops E and M are now surrounded by orange barriers, thus patently closed.
10 October 2015: The digital iBus database alas still thinks the new Bus Stop M is the old Bus Stop M. Aboard a bus it calls the next stop 'Bow Flyover' instead of 'Bow Church', and aboard the 25 it thinks the bus doesn't stop even though it does.
12 October 2015: Former bus stops E and M have been physically removed.
29 October 2015: Yellow BUS STOP markings are finally added on the road at Bus Stop M (the same day I blogged and pointed out there weren't any).
4 November 2015: The lamppost in the middle of the bus stop bypass is removed. The replacement lamppost is not yet switched on so it's a bit dark at night. However, the cycle lane either side of Bus Stop M is still incomplete so the bypass remains closed.
26 November 2015: The iBus system finally recognises that route 25 stops at Bus Stop M.
19 December 2015: Timetables have finally been replaced to match times at the new Bus Stop M, not the old Bus Stop M. A bus spider map has appeared in the shelter.
January 2016: Workmen have returned to dig up the centre of the bus stop bypass to add step-free access for pedestrians crossing to the bus stop. They've had to add two humps because the bus stop is very long and divided into two separate islands.
March 2016: The segregated lane is complete but the bus stop bypass is still not open to cyclists. Every day someone shifts the orange barriers out of the way so cyclists can use it anyway, and every night someone official blocks it again.
May 2016: The bus stop bypass is finally opened to cyclists, hurrah. The new lamppost is finally switched on, hurrah. A countdown display is installed in the bus shelter, hurrah. Then suddenly the bus stop post is unexpectedly carted away on the back of a lorry.
June 2016: The bus stop post returns. Bus Stop M and the bus stop bypass are now fully functional, ten months after construction began.
July 2016: Bus Stop M on Tredegar Road is renamed Bus Stop E, because someone's noticed it's unhelpful to have two Bus Stop Ms on the same spider map.
February 2019: Bus Stop M is closed for a week so that workmen can add white stripes to the pedestrian crossings.
That's the end of the main story although obviously Bus Stop M continues unabated. It's currently displaying all the right timetables and all the right tiles, so that's a win, and has a very useful Countdown display passengers didn't enjoy before all this happened. Its spider map was removed in spring 2020 despite still being correct, so that's a shame. The centre of the cycle lane used to flood a lot but they seem to have sorted that now.
These days Bus Stop Mjustgenerallyworks, which is as it should be, and would have worked so much quicker if only someone had continued to called it Bus Stop G rather than Bus Stop M.
The first of the new DLR trains entered public service on Tuesday, very quietly, a day before the Mayor turned up and officially noticed it. There's just the one train so far, shuttling back and forth between Stratford International and Woolwich Arsenal until another unit's allowed to join it. People who get excited about trains got excited about it and most everyday passengers simply boarded and got on with their days.
The new trains are the right DLR colour for once, turquoise not red, so are easy to spot approaching in the distance. They're all 5 cars long in fixed formation and are the length of the current 3-car trains. This is good because one day they'll replace the 2-car units currently running on some lines and increase capacity dramatically. They're also fully walkthrough, so the member of staff will be able to patrol the whole train rather than being compartmentalised at one end.
We've been waiting a long time for this, indeed the Mayor first sat on a new train in Beckton Depot in February2023, which is almost a thousand days ago. Back then the intention was for passenger service to begin in early 2024, a target missed by absolutely miles. But it takes a long time to get the engineering and signalling right, also for new units to rack up sufficient hours on the tracks, which is why so many DLR branches have been closed for so many weekends for so many months.
One thing you might notice when you step aboard is fewer seats. This is especially obvious in carriages two and four where a large area has been given over to potential wheelchairs, pushchairs, luggage and general standing space. All seating is longitudinal, none of that old school looking forwards in the direction of travel, because this enhances circulation and capacity. The only exceptions are at the very front and very back where yes, you can still pretend you're driving the train, but they're high-backed seats with a lumpen box in front so the experience isn't quite as good as before, especially if you're six.
Another thing you'll notice is the lights above the doors. They illuminate green when the doors are open, making it easier to spot where the doors are, and they illuminate red just before the doors are about to close. There's also an earsplitting beep when the red thing happens, covering all sensory bases. On the wall alongside is a teensy red LED display meant only for the eyes of the train guard. Most of the time it displays '--' but sometimes it changes to 'S' which means the train is still within 'station limits' (thus evacuation would be easier). Most excitingly it displays a countdown before the train is ready to set off (not the time until train starts moving but until it could), which at the first stop can mean starting from a high double digit number.
The trains have digital screens for passengers too. As a station approaches they tell you its name, its interchanges and also which side the doors will open. And inbetween they show a map of the next three stations, a bit like on the Elizabeth line, with the ultimate destination shown on a strip above. What's new is that the stretch of line you're on at the moment is shown with chevrons, not a turquoise line, and it may take a while before I instinctively understand what this means. Meanwhile the seats have a brand new moquette called Poplar, again first revealed 2½ years ago, although disappointingly not yet available as socks or cushions in the London Transport Museum shop.
It may be a while before you travel on the new train, although it'll become successively easier as the remainder of the fleet is introduced. Expect a slow start but the intention is that all 54 will be in service by the end of next year. They won't replace all the existing DLR trains, only the oldest 33, with the surplus being used to increase frequency across the network. It's all a massive investment in capacity, making it more likely you'll be able to squeeze aboard more often, although it might be harder to find a decent seat.
20 things we learnt from TfL FoI requests in September 2025
1) TfL plan to introduce an additional two trains per hour between Highbury & Islington and Crystal Palace in the weekday peak from December 2026 onwards. 2) The carriage of lithium-ion batteries on trains, whether attached to a bike or carried separately, is not recommended due to their risk profile. TfL is currently reviewing this aspect in collaboration with legal and safety teams and further guidance may follow. 3) TfL has a team of over 500 revenue inspectors. In total they issue about 250 penalty fares a week. 4) The DLR's longest platforms are at Lewisham and the shortest are at Cutty Sark. 5) 30.97% of the 620 trains on the tube network have air conditioned carriages. 6) No senior TfL staff attended leisure away days in the last year. 7) A Metropolitan line train travelling from Amersham to Croxley would display Destination Code 234 (and from Chesham 235). 8) The next release of the Pocket Tube Map is planned for July 2026. 9) The two smallest cycle hire docking stations are both at Royal Avenue, Chelsea (10 docks). The largest are at Edgware Road Station (64) and Jubilee Plaza, Canary Wharf (63). 10) The six most common first names amongst TfL staff are Paul, David, Michael, James, Andrew and Mark. The six most common surnames amongst TfL staff are Patel, Ahmed, Smith, Ali, Williams and Khan.
11) During the year-long closure of Cutty Sark station TfL expect a 1.2% reduction in total DLR demand (equivalent to a reduction of approximately £1.5m in revenue). 12) 46% of journeys from Tooting Broadway station are to destinations in zone 1. Only 1% are to destinations in zone 6. 13) 18 different variants of the Central London Tube map are displayed across tube, DLR, Overground and Elizabeth line carriages. 14) Since 2019 bus spider maps have only been produced for bus stops with five or more bus routes that are close to at least two of the following: i) a station, ii) a significant place of interest, iii) a significant shopping centre. They're also produced for hospitals. Spider maps are gradually being reinstated to ensure coverage across all Zone 1 stations and Elizabeth Line stations within Zones 1 to 6. 15) 89% of 55-64 year olds agree that “listening to loud music without headphones or having calls on speaker phone” on public transport is annoying, but only 61% of 25-34 year olds. 16) New Piccadilly line rolling stock is now expected to enter passenger service "between July and December 2026" rather than in late 2025. 17) Only one station on the Bakerloo line has male and female public toilets inside the gateline (Wembley Central). There are 16 such stations on the Metropolitan line, 13 on the Central line, 10 on the District line, 6 on the Jubilee line, 5 on the Piccadilly line and 4 on the Northern line. 18) The tube stations receiving the most complaints about toilet cleanliness are Stratford, Stanmore and Baker Street. 19) 6,448 licensed taxi vehicles are linked to a single, unique registered keeper. 20) The on-hold music used by Santander Cycles customer service (0343 222 6666) is ‘Passion’ by Richard Evans.
