Will The Real Leroy House Please Stand Up
Leroy House is a rather drab 1970s office block near me.
They are updating the building for the twenty-first century, so I went to look.
It’s actually a business centre with lots of serviced offices, but you wouldn’t know that from the outside. It is extremely anonymous and could contain something that doesn’t want to be noticed like the Islington Parking Revenue Collectors.
If it was my building, I’d do the following.
1. Whilst the building is being updated, I’d put up some information on the wall, about what is happening and why you would want to use offices and services in Leroy House, when the updating is finished.
2. I’d give the building a web site like businesscentre.islington or leroyhouse.london and put that in clear signs on the building.
3. If the domain name extension of .islington does not exist, then I’d either get the council to create it or if they thought it wasn’t a good idea, then I’d get it for the building. It might become a nice little earner for every butcher, baker and candle-stick maker in the Borough.
4. Once the building is updated, I’d think carefully about what was plastered all over the building to entice punters to come inside.
5. A lot of the pictures I took, were taken from the top of a passing bus. The 38 actually load up the tail-gunner outside the building. So why not give all those bored passengers something witty to read? You never know, they might know someone who needs an office.
6. I would develop the cafe, they are planning to put inside, as a local business meeting point.
Updating the building as they are planning, seems to be a good idea and I can’t see it will cause local residents any problems unless offices are rented to someone with totally unacceptable political beliefs and this provokes massive demonstrations outside.
Would Anybody Like This Pre-Loved Expedit Storage Unit?
Because IKEA has changed from Expedit to a new form called Kallax.
I use a lot in my house, as it means I can use the same inserts everywhere.
This 4 x 2 in brown-black is a bit tatty, but with a bit of glue and perhaps some other work, it would be ideal for a lot of places.
I live in the Dalston area close to the Islington border, so if anybody would like it, let me know. I may have some others in the future, as some will have to be replaced to fit with the new style.
Doesn’t it get annoying that IKEA have discontinued the old design. Hence the reason for the Bad Design tag.
Birmingham Gets A Big Snow Job
It is said by many in the regions of the UK, that London gets and eats all the pies.
At present there are four main rail projects on the go in London; Thameslink, Crossrail, the Northern Line Extension and the London Overground.
Thameslink is a government funded project, whereas Crossrail and the NLE are paid for wholly or in part by property developers and business.
The smaller Overgroundisation of London surface railways is more a methodology that is starting to be copied and expanded in places like Merseyside, the Cardiff Valleys and the West Midlands. Although you could argue that other railways in the UK have had the same idea of frequent clean and sometimes new trains, smart stations and good staffing levels, working for some time. Some of the stations on the Overground, have been or will be expanded, in conjunction with property development.
But other projects where co-operation between Network Rail, rail companies.local government and property developers are starting to be proposed and implemented, Often these projects are led by a major redevelopment of a station.
1. Leeds Station
Leeds station was rebuilt and extended a few years ago, but little use was made of the space above the station.
Leeds Station And City Centre
This Google Earth map shows the central location of the station and also its closeness to the main Trinity Shopping Centre at the top right of the map. Walking routes between the two are not good and the station should have been improved with development on the northern side to link it to the city centre. According to Wikipedia. future plans are in place to add much needed extra platforms and develop the south side of the station.
I believe, that you should walk out of a station into an open space, from where you can get your bearings of the city. This has been done well at London Kings Cross, Liverpool Lime Street, Huddersfield and Cardiff Central and some station rebuilding and expanding, is embracing such a concept.
I hope that Leeds develop the concept to a new level, when they create a new southern entrance. Perhaps on a personal level, they could create an easy way to get a bus to Elland Road.
2. Reading Station
Reading station has also been rebuilt and is surrounded by development, as this Google Earth map shows.
Around Reading Station
In the future it will be getting Crossrail,the new western link to Heathrow and probably more offices around the station. Network Rail, who now manage the station, have already created entrances on both sides of the station and I hope that development in the next few years, will make what is a spectacular station, a true gateway to the City.
3. Birmingham New Street
Birmingham New Street station is approaching the end of its rebuilding, which is now Gateway Plus. It includes a lot of retail including a new John Lewis. The station will also be connected to the Midland Metro. This Google Earth map shows the station and it’s surroundings.
Birmingham New Street
It shows the problem that the station suffers, when compared to many. It is in a deep dark hole surrounded by busy roads, with the buses some way away. I don’t think you would design a station like that these days, as they did in the 1960s.
The station has a problem, as does Leeds, that there is not enough lines and platforms, but whereas at Leeds space is available, it would appear that at Birmingham New Street, it will be difficult to find.
The design of the station means that natural light on the platforms is difficult to provide. Hopefully, though by providing that light on the concourse and lots of lifts and escalators to get to the trains, the architects may have improved things. At present, it’s a bit like a bad Underground station experience arriving and departing at the station. One of the reasons, I generally travel between London and Birmingham by Chiltern Railways, is that Moor Street is a light and airy station, that has been tastefully updated for the modern age.
One of the biggest problems at New Street, is getting onward connections around the City Centre. On my visits to Birmingham, I often walk to Brindley Place to have a drink or lunch with friends. It’s not a difficult walk, but in a few years time, I’ll be able to do this sort of journey on the Midland Metro from the stop in Stephenson Street. When HS2 opens, this tram will be used as the connection between all four Birmingham city centre stations.
4. Manchester Victoria Station
The updating of Manchester Victoria station is the centrepiece of two big projects in Manchester; the Northern Hub and the extensions to the Manchester Metrolink like the Second City Crossing. This Google Earth map shows The station and the surrounding area.
Manchester Victoria
This image is quite old and doesn’t show the new roof, but it does show the roof of Manchester Arena next door, how the tram lines call at the station, the nearby green space and the river. All the station needs now is completing, the Metrolink extensions and new electric train services to Liverpool, Preston, Blackpool, Bolton, Leeds, Huddersfield, Sheffield, Newcastle and Hull.
I would also personally, like to see an hourly service to the South and Euston, so that I can avoid, the mostly dreadful Piccadilly. This will be possible once the Ordsall Chord is opened, although some might say that it is a real pity, the Picc-Vic tunnel was never built. Perhaps Virgin will get permission to run a service to Huddersfield via both main Manchester stations.
5. Newcastle Station
Newcastle station is a station that I don’t remember as anything special from my last visit some yeas ago, although it is a Grade I Listed Building. But since then, several millions have been spent according to Wikipedia, mainly on internal and retail facilities and on opening up the area round the station. So perhaps I should pay the city a visit. This Google Earth image shows the unique position of the station.
Newcastle Station
It is high above the Tyne on the edge of the city centre and uniquely the station is on a curve. It must be a very difficult to add extra tracks and platforms, which seem to be needed, as both through and local services are going to increase significantly.
I have only given five major examples, but they show how stations are becoming the focus of development.
One of my manual searches on the Internet picked up this article on Modern Railways entitled Snow Hill ‘transformation’ plan. This is the first paragraph.
Birmingham City Council has released its Snow Hill Masterplan, which outlines plans to grow the business district surrounding the station and includes proposals for the ‘transformation’ of the station into a transport hub.
Snow Hill is Birmingham’s station that is ignored by visitors from around the country, although it is important for commuters and others brought into the city on the Snow Hill Lines.
The Snow Hill Masterplan is here on the Birmingham Post website. Some of those who have commented don’t like it and they could be right. But the principles behind the plan of creating high quality offices, retail and apartments over a well-connected station is one that has been proven to work at Canary Wharf. After all it does actually make double use of the same piece of land. This is a Google Earth image of the Birmingham Snow station and its location.
Birmingham Snow Hill
You don’t see much of the actual station, as it is covered by a multi-story car park. As someone who can’t drive and manages well without a car, I can’t see why cities don’t do what London, Cambridge and Oxford have done and discourage people from driving in by providing top quality public transport.
The Snow Hill Masterplan would need an updated Midland Metro and also extra trains and routes through Snow Hill station.
I think that if I could get trains direct from Marylebone to Snow Hill, then that would be my preferred way of going. Snow Hill is in a much friendlier and welcoming part of the City than New Street.
I think on balance it is a good plan.
Islington’s Eyesore
Archway is once of those places on the London tube map, which unless you know someone who lives there or has unfortunately found themselves in the local hospital, has nothing iconic to be worth visiting.
I went to have a drink with a friend, who lives within five hundred metres of the Underground station and took these pictures.
I should say that Archway suffers from the same problem that afflicts the bus station at London Bridge station because of the station’s proximity to The Shard. Lots of wind and today, that was cold wind, that makes walking around the area challenging.
I met my friend in the Gate cafe in the middle of the roundabout and that was a pleasant oasis in one of the bleakest areas of London. Archway even makes the old Elephant and Castle and Vauxhall Cross roundabouts, look to be award-winning architecture.
If ever a traffic intersection, was designed by a team of sadists with all the design flair of one of the North Korean dictators, it is this one.
I would like to see the following happen.
1. Archway Tower should be taken down, as it creates too much wind. Incidentally, the Wikipedia entry for the building doesn’t name an architect for the 1963 building. I can’t find one anywhere on the Internet.Perhaps, he was too ashamed of his creation and wanted to save his reputation, by not having it on his record.
Sadly, if it can’t be taken down, then clever engineers at somewhere like Farnborough or a top class university, should be given a brief to sort out the dodgy aerodynamics of the tower.
2. I crossed from the tube station, after arriving by bus, to the middle island where the Archway Tavern sits and it was a long walk round over three separate sets of pedestrian lights. There should be a subway, but my friend told me that was closed some time ago.
3. The traffic patterns must be sorted out, as it was always a bad area for driving.
4. The disused cinema that my friend says has graced the area for forty-four years, should be used as rubble elsewhere!
It will be impossible that when the improvement scheme is completed, that a vast improvement will not have been achieved.
The Bill Somebody Affair May Be Getting Serious
Ed Balls got his Bills all mixed up, as outlined in this article in The Independent entitled Bill Somebody: So who is Ed Balls’ mysterious Labour business supporter?
After watching George Galloway do a Daniel act in a den of Jewish lions on Question Time, I decided to see if billsomebody.com and billsomebody.co.uk have been registered.
One certrainly has and you can read it here.
It was registered yesterday!
Do Builders Ever Finish Jobs?
Just look at these pictures from my house.
I’ll accept the lack of mirror in the bathroom as my fault, but the others are just bad workmanship. Anyway I have a better idea for a mirror!
Kerridge Court
My picture of Dalston, focuses on Kerridge Court, which was being built in 1949 by the London County Council, when the picture was being taken.
As I was going that way, I took a few pictures.
I obviously have no idea what it is like to live in the buildings, but they certainly didn’t look like some Jerry-built estate put up hastily after the Second Would War.
How Where I Live Now Looked In 1949
This is an image of Dalston from Britain from Above taken in 1949.
Dalston In 1949
This is the same area today from Google Earth.
Dalston In 2014
In the Google Earth image, the Overground lines are marked in orange and Dalston Junction station is marked by a red arrow.
In the aerial image the following can be clearly seen.
1. The platforms at the old Dalston Junction station in the bottom right hand corner.
2. The A10 road stretching away to the North.
3. The Balls Pond Road stretching towards Highbury Corner.
I can pick out more, but then I live in a house that was built ten years ago and is or would be in the bottom left hand corners of both images.
Farewell To An Old Friend
I’ve finally given up on trying to shut up my thirty-year-old Workmate. What my builders had used it for to bend, I know not!
So I put it outside the house with an appropriate note.
I suppose the fact that it got bent was because I broke rule one of dealing with builders. I didn’t lock all my stuff up in a safe place.
At least now, I’ve taken the decision to only have a builder in my house, when the project is defined down to the last nail.
It’s not surprising news to me, that we have a shortage of habitable houses and apartments in this country. Many builders couldn’t put a up a shelf on budget and to an agreed time-scale.
What is the collective noun for builders?
I would put forward a never-on-time-or-budget of builders.
Carol Kirkwood Probably Isn’t Popular In Katesbridge
Carol Kirkwood, the BBC Breakfast weather woman seems to have got it in for Katesbridge. For a couple of days now, she has highlighed the place as being one of the coldest in the United Kingdom.
The hundred or or so people who live there must be hardy souls.
The Anonymous Widower 