Taxis, Taxis Everywhere, But Not One To Hire
On Wednesday London’s taxi divers staged a protest again Uber. I was in the area, so I took a few pictures.
There have been reports that Uber benefited from the protest.
Tottenham Court Road To Be Transformed
It has been announced and reported here, that the Tottenham Court Road area of London is to be transformed. Here’s the first two paragraphs from the BBC article.
Tottenham Court Road will be reserved for buses and bicycles only during daylight hours from Monday to Saturday.
Camden Council wants to make the central London street safer and boost business ahead of the opening of a new Crossrail station in 2018.
I like the idea, but will everybody else?
I’m sure that it won’t be popular with taxi drivers, as how will they drop well-heeled customers at Heals?
I have a feeling that Crossrail and Thameslink could be the key to making this scheme work? I’ve not seen any figures, but how many people will switch to the trains rather than drive in London, when the two railways open around 2018. If the switch is quite substantial, then cars in London will drop and this will speed up the buses.
We live in interesting times.
St. Nicholas’s Church, Deptford
London is thought of as a fairly recent city, but dotted amongst the later buildings are some old parish churches, that wouldn’t be out of place in an English country village.
This is St. Nicholas’s Church, Deptford. The parish has a Wikipedia entry, Christopher Matrlowe was buried in an unmarked grave in the church.
I Track Down An Elusive Night Bus Map
A couple of weeks ago, when I was returning home, I thought I saw a new Transport for London Night Bus Map, drawn like a cross between one of their bus spider maps and the well-known, loved and understood tube map.
As I couldn’t find one either physically or on the Transport for London web site and I was coming round to the conclusion I’d imagined seeing the map.
But I finally found one today, that I could photograph at Walthamstow bus station.
North East London Night Bus Map
This one is for the whole of North East London, whereas mostbus spider maps are for a specfic location like say Kings Cross. It certainly better than the old black and white night ones for a larger area.
Why is it London maps seem to get better and better and much of the rest of the country seems to be stuck in 1950s or even earlier.
God Said All London Buses Must Be Red
London’s buses have always been red in my memory and according to this piece, which is a response to the question of why London’s buses are red, they’ve been predominately red since the creation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933. Although buses from the London General Omnibus Company had started using the colour in 1907.
Today though I saw my first New Routemaster in a full black advertising livery.
God Said All London Buses Must Be Red
I don’t think the bus suited the livery.
By the way, God or in London Transport’s case; Frank Pick, wouldn’t have liked this bus either, as it would grate with the overall philosophy he laid down for London’s transport system.
Has anybody else ever imposed their design philosophy on a city, as Frank Pick did for London to such a positive effect?
I wonder what he’d have thought of London’s New Routemaster.
One thing he would have liked was the process where Thomas Heatherwick was involved in the design of the bus. Pick in his years as London’s transport supremo, regularly hired the best architects and designers.
He was also prepared to back those, whose designs were unconventional, like Harry Beck‘s tube map, which has evolved to be one of the most recognisable maps in the world.
London’s Express Buses
Many cities in the UK and elsewhere have express buses to speed you on your way.
With the introduction of a substantial number of New Buses for London on route 38, it seems that London now has express buses, as they are faster than the traditional buses.
Today, I arrived at Dalston Junction station and as I do caught the first bus along the Balls Pond Road. It was an elderly 56 and before it got to the first stop, it had been passed by a following New Bus for London on route 38. The 38 had been able to make a faster getaway at the lights, as their hybrid drive train seems to give better acceleration.
But by the time I got to my stop at Southgate Road, the new bus was on its way to Islington. This is probably because with three doors the cargo gets on and off a lot quicker.
It also helps that only about a third of the passengers need to go past the driver to check in.
As I can get both 38s and 56s to the Angel, it’ll be interesting to see if the 56s get less crowded when route 38 has its full compliment of new buses.
It would also appear than the traditional buses are having their route displays updated for the introduction of cashless buses in July, with nudge messages suggesting you go cashless. They are also saying you can go in and out through either door.
So will the two door buses be fitted with a touch pad at the rear door, just as the new buses do?
It would certainly speed loading and unloading of buses.
All of this shows that good design can make something as mundane as a bus better!
The Harrods Of The East End
I’d never heard of Wickham’s Department Store known in East End folklore as the Harrods of the East End, until I read about the building and its troubles in Private Eye.
Note how the two parts of the building are different sizes, with an off-centre tower. All caused because the jewellers in the middle wouldn’t sell out.
If you need to know more, there’s an excellent article here.
Come In Number 38, Your Time Has Come!
I saw several New Buses for London or Routemasters today, as I travelled the other way on a 38 to and through Hackney.
But they weren’t the remnants of the original Hackney Eight, but pristine ones, just off the boat from Northern Ireland.
Coming back from the Angel, I got one of the new buses and the driver said with a big beaming smile on his face, that from Monday all buses on the 38 will be New Routemasters.
So now visitors to the capital and those that live here for that matter, will be able to take their partner, boyfriend or girlfriend to romantic Clapton Pond, as I surmised here.
On a serious note, If you were thinking of opening a cafe, then Clapton Pond surely is the place!
Also if I was Hackney’s Tourism Officer, I’d be making sure everything was ready.
Rumour also has it too, that a well known estate agent has jacked up the prices of all properties near to a 38 bus stop by two percent.
Maps And Information In Berlin
This is a subject that I find important and feel that if a town or city wants to be a Grade One tourist destination, then they must have good maps and information.
London has always had a street map at each Underground station and this policy has been extended to most of the proper bus shelters. It’s a policy that Londoners and tourists must like, as more and more maps and information is appearing, with yellow topped liths popping up everywhere.
Warsaw it seems has started to add liths and maps for tourists, with quite a few finger posts too.
But I only one map on the street in Berlin.
A Solitary Map
There are maps at stations, but they are not up to the detailed level, you get in other cities, including some German ones.
Snippets From 1862
I’ve just bought a reprint of Bradshaw’s Illustrated Hand Book to London, which was originally published in 1862.
It was bought in Waterstone’s in Islington, as a present for a friend’s birthday, but I spent most of my lunch in Carluccio’s round the corner reading it. It is full of interesting information and some very surprising differences and facts.
1. Nelson’s Column is known as The Nelson Column.
2. The Houses of Parliament is known as the New Houses of Parliament, as it has just been built.
3. The Crystal Palace gets a lot of pages.
4. There is a lot of description of places anyone familiar with London would recognise.
5. Under rules for railway travellers, it says that passengers are forbidden to smoke on trains or in stations. But obviously, it was acceptable for the engines to do this!
6.They also have a table of money of all nations. As Germany wasn’t yet united, they have separate rates for Hamburg, Prussia and the German States. The Swiss rate is given against one of their coins, which was a thirty-two franc.
More details on the book are given here.
The Anonymous Widower 