Wed 1: They don't ask the question "Do you know who the Prime Minister is?" any more. Thu 2: The one foodstuff that hasn't survived the recent sweaty heatwave is my pack of Club biscuits. The fondant/chocolate top has collapsed and melted into the wrapper. Kitkats on the other hand remain structurally intact. Fri 3: Platform 1 at Kingston station is closed for a week so artists can paint a mural celebrating the town and the railway. I only caught the early daubs but hopefully it'll look great when it's finished.
Sat 4: At Willesden Junction station the tannoy kept repeating the announcement 'Taking videos and photos at this station is not allowed without a permit', and I wonder what the miserable killjoys were objecting to. (it wasn't me) Sun 5: An unexpected consequence of the Olympic Stadium being in Stratford is that gig-goers often end up boozing at Bow pubs before the show. Thus today Bow Road was amok with Metallica fans in double denim and tour t-shirts, several of them bringing their kids in similar attire. As the opening number drifted in through my French windows I considered sighing, but when I saw that attendees had been invited to attend a Volunteer Opportunity at Bow Foodbank I smiled instead. Mon 6: On the Overground I spotted a (current) EastEnders actor wearing a straw cowboy hat, cowboy boots and fringed jacket. Perfectly in character. Tue 7: In the second episode of Radio 4 quiz pilot Your Number's Up, when Alexia and Lewis are "sent down to the Maths Cellar" they were in fact going up to the bar because we recorded it in a pub cellar. Wed 8: I bought a pint of cider in a pub in Haringey and messed up paying for it three times. First I took out a £10 note and was told they don't do cash. Then I tried to pay by tapping the 'tip jar' device. Then I tapped the wrong part of the card reader. Thankfully the 'tip jar' transaction failed, because the barman definitely didn't deserve £2 for good service.
Thu 9: Spotted the Goodyear Blimp over Woolwich, although unfortunately I was in North Woolwich at the time. Londonist have amazing photos of what it's like to go up in it. Fri 10: Supermarketwatch: First cucumbers got dearer (79p, 89p, 99p) and now they're just getting shorter, all very uniformly so. Sat 11: All the cool nerds came to the consultation event, and had I been 40 years younger I'd so have wanted to be one of them. Sun 12: The fourth pilot Radio 4 quiz show, Around The World in 80 Ways, is fascinating but the rules are hard to follow and so is the contestants' progress across an unseen map. If the plans is to pick two pilots to turn into proper series next year, my hunch is that Déjà News and Your Number's Up will get the nod. Mon 13: Thanks to everyone who helped explain what 'Cgugqg' meant (I wrote it in my diary on 1st August 1976). It's just 'Canada' in mirror writing, so I'd probably seen the word reflected somewhere. Tue 14: Shock at midnight as I went to clean my teeth but there was no water in my taps. Not a drop. Annoyingly I'd knocked over my last glass of water an hour earlier. Resorted to Aquafresh with milk. [Thankfully my taps spluttered back into action the following morning, but a reminder of how swiftly normality can fall apart]
Wed 15: The classic Route 66 menswear shop in the rotunda outside Southgate station is holding a Closing Down Sale. All hats and caps half price, also generous reductions on stripy shirts, powder blue jackets and leisure footwear. It's the end of an era. [owner is retiring, not defaulting] Thu 16: Finally found the latest Richard Osman on the shelf of my local library, only 10 months after publication. It ticked all the boxes (especially the popular culture throwaways) and I finished it in two days flat, but the series is becoming incrementally overfamiliar. Fri 17: For the first time in 35 years I managed to get to my Dad's house using solely public transport, courtesy of a bus that runs only three times a week. It took approximately three times longer than driving. Sat 18: Wow, well done England, 3rd place in the World Cup is our best performance since 1966, you'd think the nation would be deliriously happy. Sun 19: Dug out the family album from our holiday 50 years ago to Canada and the USA, seemingly compiled from just four films. There's me at the Von Trapp lodge, there's my brother at Niagara, there's all of us at Ontario Place, there's me eating a Dairy Queen ice cream sundae and here's the view straight down from the top of the CN Tower. I wish we'd taken more.
Mon 20: Wes Streeting is the second Defence Secretary to have lived in Stepney (following Clement Attlee), and I'm not sure how I feel about him being responsible for keeping our country secure. Tue 21: On the electronic screen by the Bow Flyover I was surprised to see an advert for the Farnborough International Airshow, specifically for a transatlantic commerce company with a presence at the global arms trading shindig. I cannot work out who thought delegates to an event in Hampshire would be in East London at 9am. However I never saw the advert come round again, even though I watched for ten minutes. Wed 22: The new Radio 6 Indie Forever stream is a great listen if what you want is near-uninterrupted guitar records with no waffle, no promos and no news. So far my favourite is Indie Chill which makes excellent background music, although I'm not sure how many different 2-hour segments they've actually produced. The channel seems to be mostly songs from the 2000s, but with just enough earlier stuff to keep me listening. Thu 23: There are plans for an InPost Parcel Locker to join the street furniture scrum outside Bow Road station. Somehow it'll be Bow Road's first. Fri 24: You may remember I successfully spotted all 519 pairs of letters at the start of a modern UK vehicle registration plate, that's from AA to YY, and it took 22½ months. Well I had another go starting from scratch and this time it only took 20 months, the final pair being NR which I spotted today in Queensbury.
Sat 25: South Norwood Country Park is looking particularly parched at the moment. It is not alone in this respect. Sun 26: The Art on the Underground Spaghetti map for young creatives is very good (36 full colour pages with scribbleable gaps) but does go a bit off-piste in places. (Imagine if pride, joy, frustration, etc came in bags of squishy clay to sculpt) (Can a building or a tree be an angel?) (Please draw something you think deserves its own tiny little private sunrise) Mon 27: The three week closure of Charing Cross station has been very poorly explained. I picked up a leaflet but it has zero useful detail on which lines divert where, only a QR code leading to a Journey Planner. The station itself is hoardinged off with no obvious posters. How do you get to Staplehurst, as one particularly frustrated soul needed to know. Tue 28: Rest assured I have no intention of revealing the answer to today's Trafalgar Square Treasure Hunt. I deliberately chose clues that would last, so feel free to have a go anytime whenever. [five correct responses so far] Wed 29: The downstairs Oyster pad at Bow Church has been splattered with something white and mucky for the last four weeks. This means you can't read the display and it's hard to see the coloured LED light up. This is particularly important given the pad doesn't beep (so as not to annoy the neighbours) so visual confirmation is essential. It's currently annoying lots of passengers who can't tell if they've tapped in or out properly, and all because nobody's come to clean.
Thu 30: The digital blind on the front of SL3 Superloop buses now has an extra blob saying 'Limited Stop' between the destination and route number. Fri 31: Hampstead did indeed end the month without measurable rain, the first 100% dry month ever recorded. Records go back to 1871. July 2026 was also the sunniest and warmest month on record. Total sunshine hours were 324 hours (beating July 1911 with 312). The average daily maximum temperature was 28.6°C (beating July 2006 and July 2018 with 27.2°C).
It took nine years to build the Thames Tideway tunnel from Acton to Abbey Mills, a massive drainage project to detain and divert London's Victorian sewage overflows. But it's taken even longer to finish off the additional public realm on top of the capped shafts, with the last of seven offshore worksites now finally transformed. It's the King Edward Memorial Park Foreshore and by extending into the Thames it's made the east London park 8% larger. [8 photos]
King Edward Memorial Park hugs the river where Wapping meets Shadwell and has already been infiltrated by another tunnel shaft. The Rotherhithe Tunnel passes directly underneath because Edwardian engineers decided this was the ideal spot for a ventilation shaft and also a spiral staircase for pedestrians (not used since the 1970s). The road is 23m down and the Tideway Tunnel more like 60m so there was no chance of the two ever clashing, but the new bore does in fact pass directly beneath the old shaft.
The park was a bit glum during the years of construction blighted by a large worksite on land, a large cofferdam offshore and a lot of cranes and silos digging 19 storeys down. Marshals had to be employed so the Thames Path could cross the access route for the works, which always felt like those passing through were just getting in the way. But now the last construction workers are packing to leave, the access road has been transformed into a welcoming path and local residents are getting used to having a great new viewpoint on their doorstep.
The new protruding foreshore is 70m long and half that wide, with almost all the good stuff around the perimeter. Steps lead down at both ends to a riverside terrace from which passing Clippers and a Rotherhithe panorama can be enjoyed. The lower path has warning signs saying Beware Flood Zone which isn't bluster, it's because higher tides are intended to overtop the river wall onto the lower walkway "providing an opportunity for the public to dip their toes into the river". Sooner you than me. Another sign says Warning During cold weather there is a possible risk of Slip Conditions', which is either stating the bleeding obvious or because they could have thought harder about creating a safer surface.
There's seating throughout, much of it traditional benches with plaques commemorating those who passed away during the construction of the project. Elsewhere are chunky long wooden slatted things that swoosh round the lower terrace, all with the idea of facilitating a communal gathering point because it's much nicer to sit here than in the rest of the park. I had to contend with a resident making a loud phonecall which rather put a damper on a desire to pause awhile, although I imagine on a fine summer's evening the cacophony could be much louder.
Every Tideway foreshore project has some art and here it's Cargoes by sculptor Hew Locke. He's created some absolutely gorgeous bronzeboats, each up to a metre long and begging to be touched, which is just as well because one toddler was absolutely going for it. I found four and couldn't work out the theme, perhaps boats that used to ply trade here? Apparently they represent the far-reaching impact of Britain’s maritime power and trading empire on diverse ethnic, social and economic groups across different periods and communities while reflecting on boats as vessels for travel, trade and transformation and as metaphors for human passage. Also there are six so I completely missed a couple - the full list is tug, Chinese junk, flat barge, carrack, Thames barge and Bangladesh riverboat - so look more carefully if you visit.
Up top the chief points of interest are the twin ventilation shafts that appear at every Tideway site, beautifully sculpted in cast iron. They're called vortex columns, resemble weird upward trumpets and here feature a linework pattern inspired by the grilles in the Rotherhithe Tunnel Rotunda. The plaza alongside is extensive and mostly blank apart from a heck of a lot of inspection hatches, because they've hidden a functioning maintenance interface in plain sight. One brass circle does however mark the precise outline of the shaft directly below, so if you're squeamish about heights you might want to avoid standing over the 60m drop.
A plaque reveals that the Duke of Gloucester officially opened King Edward Memorial Park Foreshore last September, or rather lifted a white cloth off the plaque in the bandstand, then walked around and stroked the art while talking to its creators. You may not get the VIP treatment but you have the advantage that you can visit after the site's been fully completed and see it at its best. You might even want to get your feet wet, in which case the weekend of 15th/16th August looks to have a particularly high tide. Also this is just one of seven Thames Tideway foreshore extensions so you could attempt to visit the full set, also the various similarly decorated sites that aren't actually on the river.
It's been a right mess along the river while the Tideway Tunnel was being constructed, but thankfully they've tidied up and arguably left things better than they were before.
Wed 1: Malted wheats for breakfast. Thu 2: The buzzer wasn't working. Fri 3: Surrounded by school trip. Sat 4: Freezer so needed defrosting. Sun 5: Victoria didn't have any. Mon 6: Sara Cox pefectly adequate. Tue 7: It's always New Malden. Wed 8: Photo of five shoes. Thu 9: Aww, Bonnie Tyler's died. Fri 10: Lawnmower shop still trading. Sat 11: Chatted with the architect. Sun 12: Slightly overcooked pizza, meh. Mon 13: Hurrah, Only Connect's back. Tue 14: Awake much too early. Wed 15: A dry St Swithins. Thu 16: Sorry I hit you. Fri 17: 219 unread emails, sorted. Sat 18: Massive party across paddock. Sun 19: It could be Remy. Mon 20: Farewell Hot Podium Guy. Tue 21: Cider House is booked. Wed 22: To Carshalton and back. Thu 23: Flight Patterns proved hypnotic. Fri 24: Prog Rock Prom excellent. Sat 25: Much better around dogs. Sun 26: Romford got a downpour. Mon 27: Sold out of crumpets! Tue 28: Enjoyed Ben Elton's autobiography. Wed 29: Stupidly wore long sleeves. Thu 30: Met the line lady. Fri 31: It was under France.
It looks like being a cracking August on diamond geezer!
Come back next month to discover where two confectionery dynasties coincide, which boundary is only 75m long, why Svalbard is the place to be, which pad got splattered, whether Kitkats survive heatwaves, when my freezer was defrosted, which metro station has two apostrophes, when Hastings goes dark, whether St Swithin was right, where Local History month is heading, why orangeade is so disappointing, when the 500s vanish, whether the museum shimmers, which Brent road is named after a cinema, what the cablecar is like, whether a tree can be an angel, whether the gamble paid off, how long I've been showerless and when the Chiswick Dog Show is.
30 things we learnt from TfL FoI requests in July 2026
1) In Spring 2026 3,294 users of the Blackwall Tunnel appealed against a £180 fine on the basis that they were unaware of the tunnel charging scheme. All were rejected. 2) Hidden London have scheduled ten BSL tours since a first trial in 2024. The best-selling was at Holborn in July 2025 (6 tickets sold), whereas three tours (Clapham South, Baker Street and Baker Street) have been cancelled due to zero sales. 3) All directly-employed frontline operational staff attend a mandatory one-day in-person Conflict Management Training course. 4) During the last financial year the three most common contraventions on TfL red routes were i) stopping where prohibited (370,524), ii) being in a Bus Lane (163,912) and iii) entering and stopping in a box junction when prohibited (104,117). 5) Confirmed - there are no longer any plans to implement platform edge doors on the Piccadilly line.
6) 69,001 Penalty Fare Notices were issued during the last financial year - 26% on buses, 20% on the Elizabeth line, 18% on the Overground, 17% on the Underground, 10% on the DLR and 9% on trams. 7) TfL Visitor Information Centres are no longer capable of printing paper (magnetic) tickets. 8) From 5 July to 31 October, as part of a trial, the maximum fare for failing to touch in/out on some National Rail routes outside London has been raised to £30.50. This is "to encourage customers to complete their journeys correctly". Refunds can only be claimed by telephone. [they kept that quiet] 9) The Big Red Book, which offers 216 pages of guidance to bus drivers on how best to serve their passengers, is now permanently linked on the TfL website at tfl.gov.uk/big-red-book.pdf 10) On all bus routes speed cushions should be a maximum of 1700mm wide (including side slopes).
11) Over the last year, Tube replacement bus services operated for the equivalent of 340 days with a total Peak Vehicle Requirement of 3,994. 12) 30 bus stops had CCTV fitted to the shelter as part of a 2024 trial to improve passenger safety. Croydon has four such stops, sixteen boroughs have none. 13) The rerouting of route 224 is planned to take place on 28 November 2026. The scheme has been delayed so that the London Borough of Ealing can carry out resurfacing work during the school summer holiday. 14) On Sundays (and Bank holidays), those travelling from Shoeburyness to Bletchley are permitted 375 minutes before a Maximum Fare penalty kicks in, the widest leeway of any contactless journey. 15) On an average weekday, the London Underground's consumption of electric power peaks around 8.30am with a subsidiary peak around 5.30pm. Consumption drops to 20% of the maximum around 3am. At the weekend the peak comes at 5.30pm, but is near-peak from noon to 7pm.
16) The reason why southbound trains at Croxley station never appear on the TfL Go app is because live arrivals on Trackernet are not shown until the train has left Watford. This is expected to be rectified in May 2027 when the 4LM project reaches the Watford branch. 17) Since 2019 temperatures over 35°C have been recorded on the platforms at four zone 1 stations - Covent Garden, Marble Arch, Paddington and Tottenham Court Road. The maximum was 35.63°C on the Central line at Tottenham Court Road in July 2019. 18) Last year black cab drivers handed in £6066.72 cash as lost property, of which only £40 went unclaimed. 19) There are 28 different lift diagrams at Tottenham Court Road station. Whitechapel has 27, Liverpool Street 23, Farringdon 22, Bond Street 20, Paddington 17 and Canary Wharf just 12. 20) Between 1 June 2024 to 31 May 2026 there were no recorded instances of London buses or other TfL vehicles colliding with horses.
21) TfL have withdrawn their estimate that there are half a million mice living across the London Underground network. This is because "given the passage of time and having carried out all reasonable searches, we cannot find any record of where the figure originally came from or on what methodology it was based." 22) TfL still print an initial allocation of 4 million paper tube maps per year at a cost of around £80,000. The artist's fee for the cover comes from Art on the Underground’s allocated budget and does not exceed £5,575. 23) When the 2024 tube stock on the Piccadilly line finally enters passenger service it will have new announcements. 24) Over the last two years rail grinding has taken place on 2977m of Victoria line track between Highbury & Islington and Finsbury Park. No grinding is planned here for the remainder of the year. 25) TfL can't tell you when your great grandad passed out as a taxi driver, sorry, because they only started regulating the service in 2000.
26) Route 186 has been removed from Harrow Bus Station to address overcrowding (too many vehicles at the bus station) and to provide a faster more direct journey for through passengers. 27) The glass lighting panels on the Elizabeth line escalators at Whitechapel station are deep cleaned weekly. If excessive dust is present between the cleans, additional cleans are implemented. [it's clearly not often enough] 28) In the last financial year the revenue generated from ULEZ charges and enforcement activity was £162m. The surplus remaining after removing operating costs and capital financing charges was £118m. 29) TfL measure tube fleet reliability via a metric called Mean Distance Between Failures (MDBF). This is calculated by dividing the number of actual kilometres operated by the number of incidents with a delay of 2 minutes or more. Last year the most reliable rolling stock was on the Circle, H&C and District lines which went an average of 18500km between failures, followed by the Victoria line with 17500km. Next came the Metropolitan (16500km), Northern (14000km), Piccadilly (12500km) and Jubilee (10000km). Rolling stock was least reliable on the Waterloo & City (4000km), Central (4500km) and Bakerloo (7500km). [the Central line is shockingly unreliable] 30) TfL have 14 employees whose primary address is in Scotland. Two of these started work in 2026.
Every year I update my table of thirty-plus temperatures, as recorded at Hampstead.
Here's how we left things last year.
Dates on which the temperature at Hampstead reached 30°C
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
2010
27
9/10
2011
27
2012
25
18
2013
13 15/16/17 22
1
2014
18
2015
1
22
2016
18/19/20
24
13
2017
17/18/19/20/21
6
2018
5/6/7/8 15 23 25/26/27
2/3 6/7
2019
29
23/24/25
25/26/27
2020
24/25/26
31
7/8/9/10/11/12
2021
18/19/20
2022
17
11/12 17/18/19
11/12/13/14
2023
11 25
6/7 9/10
2024
19 30
12
2025
19 21 28/29/30
1 10/11/12 18
11/12
» in red: reached 33°C
» in red & bold: reached 35°C
» in red & bold & underlined: reached 37°C
And here's what 2026 looks like so far...
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
2026
23/24/25/26 28 30
19 23/24/25/26/27
6/7/8/9/10 29
tbc
tbc
That is a fairly astonishing start to the summer, and there's still August and September to go.
• Hampstead's never had temperatures above 30°C in May before. This year it had six days.
• So far this year eighteen days have had a temperature above 30°C. The previous maximum was thirteen.
• So far eight days have had a temperature above 33°C. The previous maximum was five.
• So far three days have had a temperature above 35°C. The previous maximum was two.
What's more the temperature at Hampsteadnearly reached 30°C on several further occasions, but I can't count that.
It did reach 30°C at Heathrow, which isn't at such an elevated location, but I can't count that either.
Amazingly Heathrow has hit 30°C on 25 days so far this year.
For perspective, in whole of the 1980s there were only 21 such days.
Now that's climate change.
What I have done is update my table to show all the dates with a temperature of 29°C or above.
Any recorded maximum of 'twenty-nine point something' is shown as a dot.
I've only included May, June and July.
Dates on which the temperature at Hampstead reached 29°C
May
Jun
Jul
2010
.
27.
9/10
2011
.27
.
2012
25
2013
13 15/16/17 22
2014
18
2015
.
1
2016
18/19/20
2017
17/18/19/20/21
6.
2018
.
. 5/6/7/8 15 23.25/26/27
2019
29
23/24/25
2020
24/25/26
.31
2021
18/19/20.
2022
.17
11/12 17/18/19
2023
.11 25
.
2024
.
19 30
2025
19.21 28/29/30
1 10/11/12 18
2026
23/24/25/26 28 30
19 . 23/24/25/26/27
.6/7/8/9/10.. . .. .29
» small dot: reached 29°C
» in red: reached 33°C
» in red & bold: reached 35°C
» in red & bold & underlined: reached 37°C
There were only 15 twenty-nine-point something days from 2010-2025.
This month has had seven.
Previously the year with the most days above 29°C was 2018, with 12 days.
So far 2026 has had 26. That's just dotty.
Hampstead's also recorded zero rainfall so far this month, with no rain on the way.
July is baked in to be the first month ever to record zero rainfall.
But the drought is another story...
TfL have published three consultations shaking up several north London bus routes, including killing off two. It's all to fit their agenda of simplifying the bus network, reducing duplication and minimising the number of empty seats.
🚌 Route 67 (Dalston Jn - Wood Green) has been somewhat runty since TfL curtailed the southern end from Aldgate to Dalston in 2019. This consultation proposes to axe it completely. In mitigation route 149 (London Bridge - Edmonton Green) would take over the Wood Green to Stamford Hill section, thereby abandoning three miles up the High Road to Edmonton. The 149 is London's 2nd busiest bus route so many people are up in arms that TfL propose to divert it somewhere less useful. TfL say it's all about capacity and the A10 still has too much, even after route 349 is axed in September. [details]
This graphic appears in the consultation (and a round of applause to whoever chose to include it). Currently the 149 runs the whole length of this diagram, but in future it won't be possible for passengers to ride from Edmonton Green to the City in one go, it'll take at least two buses. TfL estimate that 15% of the 149's current passengers will now be forced to break their journey, which equates to 1.8 million trips annually. This is not "simplifying routeings", this is cutting buses. The worry is that if TfL intend to thin out this corridor comprehensively to save money, which corridor might they screw next?
🚌 Route 253 runs from Euston to Hackney Central and route 254 from Holloway to Aldgate. They overlap considerably for five miles from Holloway to Hackney. The plan is thus to withdraw route 254 completely and leave passengers in the overlap to use the 253. For two miles they could also use the 310, the strictly unnecessary bus introduced to connect the Jewish communities of Golders Green and Stamford Hill. South of Hackney they can always use the 106, which is being extended by 1 mile from Whitechapel to Aldgate to cover the 254's loss. Yes you might have to wait longer for a bus once the 254's gone, but TfL are more focused on their efficiencies than your time. [details]
🚌 Route 42 (East Dulwich to Liverpool Street) often gets clogged up in traffic, in part because it crosses Tower Bridge which goes up and down a lot. It's thus one of London's least reliable bus routes and passenger numbers have dropped by a third since 2021. The plan is thus to terminate it south of Tower Bridge on Tooley Street, not north of Tower Bridge in the City, cutting out the bascule jams altogether. The rationale is that displaced passengers can always switch to route 78 on Tower Bridge Road, even though none of them will enjoy waiting for another bus which might also be delayed by a ship. [details]
The three consultations end on 20th September. Perhaps scream about the 149 the loudest.
Here's a quick summary of where we are with forthcoming bus changes.
M1: The M1 is the oldest motorway in London but not London's oldest motorway. When the M1 opened on 2nd November 1959 the southern end was J5 at Watford (which is not in London). In 1966 the first extension reached J4 to the south of Elstree (which was marginally in London). In 1968 the second extension reached J2 at Mill Hill (which is definitely in London). In 1977 the final extension reached J1 at Staples Corner, a contorted junction with the North Circular. There had originally been plans for the M1 to reach Marble Arch but thankfully they were binned at an early stage.
Traffic joining the M1 in London cannot exit the motorway before J5 at Watford. J2 only allows northbound traffic in and southbound traffic out (to the A1). J4 only allows northbound traffic in and southbound traffic out (to the A41). There never was a J3 because the proposed connection to the A1 at Stirling Corner was cancelled, so the spur roads here now only provide access to Scratchwood services. People still call it that even though it was renamed London Gateway services in 1998. The guns on HMS Belfast are deliberately trained on Scratchwood Services, so it's just as well they can no longer fire.
M2: The M2 does not enter London, it starts 10 miles outside. M3: The M3 does not enter London but blimey it gets close. The A316 comes swooshing down past Kempton Steam Museum, crosses the Surrey boundary and just 500m later the dual carriageway morphs into a motorway at Sunbury Cross.
M4: The M4 starts at the Chiswick flyover, which was opened in 1959 by the Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield. A 1½ mile elevated section continues above the original A4 running to the north of Brentford, and this became the A4(M) in 1961. The new motorway later continued across the Brent valley on concrete stilts, descended round the edge of Osterley Park and drove on west past Heathrow. At Slough it joined an existing section of motorway, formally becoming the M4 on 24th March 1965. This was one week before the county of Middlesex disappeared, hence the M4 became Greater London's first motorway on 1st April.
Heston service station has two disjoint halves and is located close to J3. The westbound side opened on 4th March 1967 and the eastern side on 3rd January 1968. J4 is for the spur to Heathrow Airport, which is also designated the M4 and which also opened on 24th March 1965. Originally the next junction was outside London but construction of the M25 demanded a new stacked connection designated J4B. The Thorney Interchange opened on 19th December 1985 and is now Britain's busiest motorway junction. Traffic on the M4 exits London as the motorway crosses the Bigley Ditch.
M5/M6: The M5 and M6 do not enter London. M7: There is no M7. M8/M9: The M8 and M9 do not enter London. M10: The M10 no longer exists, and never entered London anyway.
M11: The M11 connects London to Cambridge and was opened in stages between 1975 and 1980, the southern end in 1977. Only two miles of the motorway are inside Greater London, much of this formed of slip roads from the North Circular. It had originally been planned to continue the M11 as far as Islington as part of the GLC's misguided Ringways plan but that all fell apart, much to inner London's great relief. The junction at South Woodford was numbered 4 just in case 3, 2 and 1 were ever built. M12: The M12 would also have started at South Woodford, heading east to Brentwood to act as a much-needed bypass for the A12 Eastern Avenue. It was never built, although the M11 still rises up so the non-existent M12 could pass underneath. Had it not fallen foul of a GLC change of administration it could have been a mighty useful connection. M15: The M15 would also have started at South Woodford and was pencilled in to head south towards Beckton. The road was indeed built but not fully to motorway standard and is now part of the North Circular, i.e. the A406.
M20/M23/M26: The M20, M23 and M26 do not enter London, but both start less than two miles outside so nearly do.
M25: The M25 is London's orbital motorway, running 117 miles in an almost-loop broken only at the Dartford Crossing. It comprises parts of Ringway 3 and Ringway 4, a more comprehensive 1960s project that was never completed. The northern half was originally going to be called the M16. The first section to open was between South Mimms (J23) and Potters Bar (J24) in September 1975, though not yet designated a motorway. The M25 loop was completed when Margaret Thatcher cut a ribbon near South Mimms in October 1986, telling pessimists not to carp and criticise. Only three sections of the motorway are actually in Greater London, all on the boundary: west near Heathrow (J14-J15), north round Enfield (J24-J25) and east past Brentwood (J28-J29). North Ockendon is the only settlement in London to lie outside the M25. Congestion has seen much of the motorway widened to four lanes.
M40: The M40 does not enter London but blimey it gets close, starting just quarter of a mile into Buckinghamshire at the Denham roundabout. A40(M): The Westway was one of the most unpopular roads ever to be built in Britain, carving an eight-lane concrete viaduct through the terraces of Paddington and North Kensington. Demolition and construction took most of the 1960s, the road eventually opening on 28th July 1970 as the A40(M). The furious public reaction to its creation effectively killed off most of the urban motorways then being planned. It remained a motorway for three decades until May 2000 when all main roads in the capital were transferred to a new body called Transport for London. However TfL had no legislative power to be the authority in charge of motorways so the road had to become the plain A40, which it still is.
M41: The tiny M41 was built by the GLC as part of their Ringway 1 project. This invasive inner loop would have demolished a swathe of inner London and got built here because not much needed to be demolished. Opened in 1970, the M41 connected the Westway at Ladbroke Grove to the Holland Park roundabout and was just three-quarters of a mile long. But it too fell foul of the transfer to TfL and is now the plain A3220. Cyclists remain prohibited from using it.
A102(M): Also part of the planned London Motorway Box, this 1½ mile dual carriageway connected Hackney Wick to the Bow Roundabout. This East Cross Route was intended to funnel traffic from the M11 towards the Blackwall Tunnel, but the M11 never got this far and so only the eastern edge of Bow ended up multiply-demolished to create the new A102(M). South of the river a separate section of the A102(M) sliced through Blackheath ending at the Sun-in-the-Sands roundabout on Shooters Hill Road, and this was opened on 25 April 1969. Both were declassified due to the aforementioned TfL administrative issue, becoming part of the A12 and A102 respectively.
The summer holidays are here so let's go on a Trafalgar Square Treasure Hunt!
Here are clues to ten letters of the alphabet, all of which are to be found in or around Trafalgar Square. Can you find all ten and then jumble them up to make a word associated with the square?
Letter 1: This bus stop on the east side of the square has a rainbow flag roundel, added in 2017 as part of London's Pride celebrations. But what's the letter on top of the bus stop?
(This is the easiest question in the treasure hunt. It's so easy you can easily discover the answer even while sitting at home. But that's not really in the spirit of the challenge so for almost all of what follows you do actually have to turn up and explore)
Letter 2: Surrounding Nelson's Column are four dodgy lions, two gushing fountains and probably an awful lot of tourists taking photos. But look down for a change at the drains and inspection hatches set into the surface of the square. These were provided by a company in Essex whose name is written in the centre of the drain covers, also in the centre of the metal covers with the diagonal hatching. The company's name is four letters long. What's the last letter in their name?
Letter 3: The grand staircase on the north side of the square was added in 2002 (using stones from the wall that had to be dismantled to build it). One step up from the bottom are a series of brass plaques. These are part of the Imperial Standards of Length, installed in 1876 to allow the public to check the accuracy of their measuring devices. The brass plaques stretching off to the left measure 'feet'. What do the brass plaques stretching off to the right measure? Take the first letter of this archaic unit.
Letter 4: Next to the very centre of London. The capital's first equestrian statue was placed on the site of the original Charing Cross in 1675. It depicts the highly beheadable monarch Charles I and is famous as the point from which all distances to London are measured. The statue now sits at the centre of a traffic island and is surrounded by a ring of five very old bollards. Each of these bollards features four letters of the alphabet beneath a crown. What's the first letter?
Letter 5: The bookstore Waterstones occupies the corner site where once stood The Grand Hotel, a 500-room hospitality behemoth. The shop appears small on entry but a spiral staircase in the centre leads down to a much larger basement. Here are the majority of the fiction books, also a large travel section, a lot of history, a scant few magazines and a decent collection of board games. Look at the subject headings on the wall closest to the till. What's the subject heading inbetween Biography and Fashion? Again, first letter please.
(I'm aware that Waterstones might be closed when you come on this treasure hunt, in which case here's an alternative clue for letter 5. Find the long metal information panel at the foot of Nelson's column, facing the traffic. What's the illustrator's first initial?)
Letter 6: The panoramic plaque outside South Africa House has dulled somewhat since a famous person with a very appropriate name turned up to unveil it in July 1996. The explanatory text points out that the building behind you is the South African High Commission, not the South African Embassy, and was designed by Sir Herbert Baker. The explanatory text was written by a member of RIBA's Design Unit and for this clue you need the first letter of his surname.
Letter 7: St Martin-in-The Fields is sometimes known as 'the church of the ever open door', and has been since the Reverend Dick Sheppard opened up the crypt 24/7 during WW1. Learn more at the church's special 300th anniversary exhibition adjacent to the reasonably priced cafe. For this clue however you need to go into the main church and find the memorial to the Sharpshooters on the back wall. At the top of the third column find the commemorated soldiers whose initials are EJ and PG. What's the first letter of their surnames?
(In case the ever-open church isn't open, head to the Fourth Plinth and find the Trafalgar Square byelaws posted underneath. What's the first letter of the first word in the final paragraph in the first column?)
Letter 8: The National Portrait Gallery occupies a prime spot on the corner of Trafalgar Square and is an excellent way of whiling away an hour. Here are three chances to identify Letter 8. In Room 18, which couple's portraits hang above George Romney (first letter of their surname)? In Room 19, whose portrait hangs to the left of Charles Darwin (first letter of her first name)? In Room 28 whose portrait hangs to the left of Paul Smith (first letter of his surname). No rush, enjoy your look around.
(In case the National Portrait Gallery isn't open, find the marvellously ornate triple-headed lamp standard on the traffic island at the top of The Mall. Which company manufactured it? Take the second letter of the family surname)
Letter 9: The National Gallery is a world-class warren of fine art, but an awkward place to site a clue because paintings sometimes shuffle around or disappear. Van Gogh's Sunflowers, for example, is on loan to Philadelphia until 11th October. Instead find my favourite summery painting, Bathers at Asnières by Seurat, and take a while to admire the spotty composition. Then check out the explanatory text alongside, stop at the end of the first paragraph and note down the last letter of the last word. That's letter 9.
(In case the National Gallery isn't open, find the entrance to the Canada Gallery and look for the warning sign by the lift platform to the right of the door. It's in two languages. The English version starts with D, how does the French version start?)
Letter 10: Finally head to the corner of Cockspur Street where a well-photographed red phone kiosk stands near the steps up to Canada House. Open the door, steel yourself for the inevitable smell of urine and make a note of the box's phone number. We're interested in the ninth digit, immediately before the '87' at the end. Translate this digit into a letter using the code A=1, B=2, C=3, etc. And we're done.
You should now have ten letters, and all you need to do is jumble them up to make a word associated with the square. Simply email that word to me (the address is at the top of the right hand column on the blog) for the chance to appear in this celebratory winners box.
The first six solvers of the Trafalgar Square Treasure Hunt
1) Matt S (2h 36m) 2) John A (11h 12m) 3) Sophia & Arda (1d 5h) 4) Nic, Aurora and Charlie (4d 7h) 5) John T (4d 10h) 6)
Please don't post your answers in the comments box, nor reveal any of the individual letters, because nobody likes a show-off who ruins the fun. And happy searching.
What if all the places in London competed in a knockout competition to see which was best? It'd be like the World Cup but without the football, just an enormous branching chain of towns, suburbs and other settlements. All you'd need is a huge list and a willingness to make hundreds of subjective geographical judgements. Who would win this Ultimate London World Cup?
I'm game, so first of all I made a list. I looked at all 32 boroughs, not including the City because that's atypical (and because it was very likely to win otherwise). For each borough I listed eight of its most important settlements, which was much harder for Barking & Dagenham than for Westminster. That gave me an enormous list of 32×8 = 256 London places, which I then shuffled into an entirely random order.
256 is of course a power of 2 which allows me to create a perfect knockout tournament with no byes. This starts with the Round of 256, moves onto the Round of 128, then the Round of 64 and Round of 32, by which point it's just like a FIFA fever dream. All that's then needed is the Round of 16, the Quarter Finals and the Semi Finals before crowning London's best place in a glorious Final after a total of 255 knockout matches.
Here's the very top of my shuffled list showing the first 32 places (and the first 16 matches).
Let's start knocking them out.
Round of 256
Sutton v Leyton
I know I've always said Sutton's dull but it has more going for it than Leyton, sorry Leyton, but a League One football club and a big Asda don't beat a proper ex-Surrey town. (winner: Sutton)
Archway v Highams Park
I like Highams Park but it's a bit sleepy, whereas Archway has buzz, a historic bridge and a cat statue. (winner: Archway)
Chadwell Heath v Surbiton
It'd be a shock if anywhere in Barking & Dagenham did well and no, Chadwell Heath cannot beat Margo & Jerry's prime suburban bolthole. (winner: Surbiton)
Stamford Hill v Isle of Dogs
Both are worth exploring but the inner Thames meander has so much more to offer. (winner: Isle of Dogs)
Beckton v Eltham
No debate here. (winner: Eltham)
Old Oak Common v Welling
Even though Welling has nothing much it still beats Old Oak Common, which might be amazing eventually but for now is mostly an enormous building site. (winner: Welling)
Walworth v Chelsea Harbour
These are two very different places, almost top and bottom of the social spectrum. I'd like gritty Walworth to beat the artificial luxury bolthole but alas it doesn't. (winner: Chelsea Harbour)
New Addington v Harold Hill
Wow, battle of the huge out-of-town council estates. New Addington wins for its more rural setting. (winner: New Addington)
Clapton v Harrow-on-the-Hill
It's almost unfair, the gap between these two. (winner: Harrow-on-the-Hill)
Penge v Belmont
To be clear that's Belmont in Sutton not Belmont in Harrow. I would rather go to Penge any day. (winner: Penge)
Northolt v Woodford
An interesting battle, the Ealing outlier versus the Redbridge suburb. I lean to the latter. (winner: Woodford)
Roundshaw v Harefield
The Roundshaw estate wouldn't be in the draw if Sutton had eight genuinely interesting locations. (winner: Harefield)
Bowes Park v Northwood
The North Circular despoils Bowes Park, so Metro-land it is. (winner: Northwood)
Hampton v Acton
Hampton's not quite Hampton Court, it's further west and lowlier, so the Ealing suburb triumphs. (winner: Acton)
Sanderstead v Covent Garden
My auntie will be disappointed but it'll take a more captivating place to defeat Covent Garden. (winner: Covent Garden)
Shepherd's Bush v Malden Rushett
To say Malden Rushett is an underdog would be an understatement. (winner: Shepherd's Bush)
There are still 112 first round matches to go so I'd best stop there for now.
Instead let's go back and send those winners into the next round.
Round of 128
Sutton v Archway
Archway has contours, history and class (in parts), plus it's not Sutton. (winner: Archway)
Surbiton v Isle of Dogs
What exactly are we comparing here? Either could triumph depending on the criteria, but I choose the former. (winner: Surbiton)
Eltham v Welling
This is an unexpectedly local derby! But no contest, sorry. (winner: Eltham)
Chelsea Harbour v New Addington
The luxury enclave's over-rated but I couldn't with good conscience choose the council estate. (winner: Chelsea Harbour)
Harrow-on-the-Hill v Penge
Byron's poetic inspiration was the hilltop public school, not the comic suburb. (winner: Harrow-on-the-Hill)
Woodford v Harefield
Woodford's too homogeneous so I pick the village with world class cardiac expertise. (winner: Harefield)
Northwood v Acton
Northwood's too homogeneous so I pick the leafy suburb where Waitrose has its origins. (winner: Acton)
Covent Garden v Shepherd's Bush
Both attract daytrippers but what they've done with the old fruit & veg market beats the modern mega-Westfield. (winner: Covent Garden)
Round of 64
Archway v Surbiton
One has the Thames and the first Modernist railway station, the other has the A1 and that awful tower block. (winner: Surbiton)
Eltham v Chelsea Harbour
Chelsea thinks it's posh but Eltham has an actual royal palace with art deco whimsy. (winner: Eltham)
Harrow-on-the-Hill v Harefield
Winston Churchill never went to school in Harefield (nor Benedict Cumberbatch, nor the bloke who founded Pret A Manger). (winner: Harrow-on-the-Hill)
Acton v Covent Garden
Sometimes you just know which of the two has to win out. (winner: Covent Garden)
Round of 32
Surbiton v Eltham
I thought Surbiton would have been kicked out by now, but Eltham is not the place to do it. (winner: Surbiton)
Harrow-on-the-Hill v Covent Garden
Erm, I think I might need your help on this one. Two near-great places, but which is greater? (winner: ????)
And once that last battle's been decided we're into the...
Round of 16
Surbiton v Harrow-on-the-Hill or Covent Garden
Surbiton loses this battle no matter what, so it all comes down to who wins Harrow-on-the-Hill v Covent Garden.
Phew that was a lot of knockouting, eventually whittling the first 32 places down to just one.
To complete the entire draw would take another seven posts like this, followed by a grand finale where I run through the Quarter Finals, Semis and the Final. I might go all the way and subject you to the whole thing.
Or we might just accept that the obvious place is certain to win. The random draw and knockout phases are entirely superfluous when London's best place is baked in from the start.
Sometimes you just want to go for a nice walk, nothing too taxing, plenty of variety, bikes, horse manure, arterial road, sports ground, signs of autumn, wet dogs, sunshine and shade, a bit of a stroll, won't take long. So here's a walk in southwest London that crosses four different boroughs in just half a mile, nowhere near enough to make a day of it but a nice walk all the same.
Richmond upon Thames
The walk starts on the southeast edge of Richmond Park (for which I apologise because there's no station within two miles [aspreviouslyblogged]). Specifically we're just inside the Robin Hood Gate by the car park, not that there are many cars because through traffic was banned a few years ago and now it's mostly bikes. I counted upwards of 50 bikes in one minute, that's how busy the perimeter road is at the weekend, so very much a helmeted domain. I have however never previously seen a sign saying 'Cyclists Caution Roundabout may be slippery', indeed you'd think they'd just de-slip the surface rather than leaving the cobbly disc in situ. Also there's a bus stop here for free-to-ride route RP1 [as previously blogged, obviously], which might be a good way to get here if it's Monday, Wednesday or Friday.
What a lot of signs there are here, also 'Watch Your Speed', also 'Raised Pedestrian Crossing', also 'Road Closed Cyclists and Permit Holders Only', also 'Richmond Park National Nature Reserve', also 'Capital Ring' [as previously blogged]. I learned from further signs that you mustn't take dogs or bikes into the public toilets, also which telephone numbers to ring if you get trapped in the park after hours, also that you shouldn't pick the park's chestnuts. Almost as common as cyclists on a weekend morning are the joggers, some brazenly topless, most clutching bottles, perhaps running a full circuit of the Tamsin Trail [as previously blogged]. Likely no deer will be visible here, it is a bit peripheral, but if deer do give you the willies then perhaps come back in August which is the sole summer month not beset by birthing or rutting.
Obviously Richmond Park is a much better place for a walk than where we're going, as frequently proven [and aspreviously blogged]. But to cover four boroughs in fifteen minutes we need to leave the park here by passing Robin Hood Lodge towards the Robin Hood Gate. The legendary Sherwood hero obviously never visited Richmond, merely used to have a local pub named after him, itself thought to be named after festivities Henry VIII once enjoyed locally. The water fountain by the toilets is your last chance for refreshment on this walk, also the bowl underneath may prove invaluable for any canine companions. And if you're wondering why the path now smells of manure, you can find out why by stepping through the gate and entering...
Kingston upon Thames
Ah look it's Stag Lodge Stables, an Approved Livery Establishment, which according to a sign outside has been on this site since 'circa 1790'. Horses are in and out of here all the time, hence the mounting blocks just inside the entrance and the Saturday girl shovelling poo with a broom. It also explains the lady in thigh high leather boots carrying a whip striding off towards to the car park. The presence of so many horses is also the reason for the rare pegasuscrossing at the Robin Hood Roundabout on the A3. These are found only on bridleways and have amusingly high pushbuttons, ideal for reaching on horseback, also they light up with a green horse not a green man when it's safe to cross [as somehow never blogged].
Alongside is a toucan crossing for pedestrians and bikes (two can cross, geddit?) which funnels into a completely separate mid-roundabout corral. Having watched for a while, un-horsed crossers appear to use whichever side of the divide they prefer. You might be waiting for a while as a stream of traffic flows by (hatchbacks, lorries, learners, 4×4s, open-top MGs, the K3, whatever...) in which case why not peruse the Capital Ring signpost (only 14 miles to Crystal Palace Park, only 31 miles to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel). Tucked away to one side is a mysterious hatch which covers the longstanding Kingston Vale sewage pumping station, site of much recent drainage works so best not explored further. And once you are finally across the road it's time to step onto the northwestern tip of Wimbledon Common [as previouslyblogged]. It's not clear why an additional pegasus pushbutton has been installed some way from the crossing.
Ahead a dry gravel path crosses a part-parched expanse. A lone sign cautions 'No fire No barbecuing', which is always good advice but especially at present. The grass is currently scattered with vetch and occasional feathers, also strange earthen grooves, also that fluff that dandelions leave behind. These are the Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields, and if you're here on a Saturday morning and step through the hedge you can watch the SW19 Swifts practising flyball, a sport I confess I'd never heard of before.
Alas this walk heads left towards the river, not right into the thick of canine hijinks, but if you've always wanted to have more fun with your lively dog then bear the Swifts in mind. Instead I watched two terriers splashing in the Beverley Brook, one incredibly reticent, as I crossed the footbridge into...
Wandsworth
We're still in the Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields which now spread flat and green to the horizon. It seems premature to see rugby posts in situ already, given at least a dozen goalposts were carted off to the sidelines before the summer. The clubhouse to the left is home to the Thames Hare and Hounds, the world's first cross-country running club, formed in 1868 when members of the Thames Rowing Club wanted something athletic to do in the winter. They still run lots of races around Wimbledon Common including a regular 5-miler on the second Sunday of the month, perhaps the ideal challenge if Saturday's Parkrun hasn't wiped you out. Our walk continues at a more sedate pace along a dusty river-adjacent track overshadowed by oaks, plus we're only doing half a mile and we're nearly done.
Thick woodland cover signals the edge of Wimbledon Common proper, also a noticeboard pointing out that stag beetles are brilliant and oak processionary moths are bad. The recently renovated footbridge goes by the impractical name of the Brasher-Chataway-Bannister Bridge, a tribute to three extremely famous TH&H runners, but don't cross because it leads back into Kingston and we've been there. If you're the dogowner who left a tied-up bag of poo on a post here, shame on you. The shallow dip of the Beverley Brook proves magnetic for many a passing dog, leaping down to splash with new found friends or barking their approval from the rooty bank. But you must never bring more than four four-legged friends onto the common at a time, hence a slew of notices broadcasting this important news on all approaches. Keep your eyes peeled and you may spot the boundary stone that marks the switch into...
Merton
There it is, a parish marker dated 1861 set back a few feet from the river. But that photo's from a previous visit in spring 2022, not summer 2026, because even though I've spotted the stone several times before I couldn't see it this time. I walked back and forth several times checking on my phone precisely where the borough boundary was, even poking through the undergrowth in case it'd got covered over, but to no avail. Either the stone's been damaged or it was underneath the brambles because I can't believe I'd have missed it otherwise, given how ridiculously long a time I spent looking. By the way those brambles are already sporting their first few ripe blackberries, not yet many but a portent that autumn is hurtling through this heatwave to meet us headlong.
On the Merton side of the boundary I met a tiny whippet and a shaky spaniel, rapidly drying off, also a father and son doing some extraordinarily coordinated exercises while sat on Peta Martin's bench. Several more joggers passed, many wearing t-shirts celebrating longer runs than they were doing today bought for an event that wasn't here. A thick stick floated slowly downstream towards Wandsworth because river levels aren't yet critical on the Beverley Brook, also the pink flowers of Himalayan balsam are becoming ever more intrusive on the riverbanks. There's no point continuing further because that's now four boroughs ticked off, a relatively rare achievement over such a short distance. Also don't expect any convenient public transport to whisk you away from this side of the common, it's a hike out whichever way you head, but as short nice walks go that packed a heck of a lot in.
