London Regulars: The Bag Bike on the Strand

20. February 2014 · 1 comment · Categories: At Street Level · Tags: , ,

When you work in the same place for a while, “regulars” crop up along your commute.

They’re in the same place, at the same time every working day, and if a week or so passes and they’re not there, you start to wonder where they’ve gone.

On my walk along the Strand every morning and evening, I’ll often recognise the people going in the opposite direction.

And every area of London has its characters – those who are a little bit odd, or eccentric – who everyone seems to know.

Not to speak to or say hello, or even acknowledge the fact that you pass each other every single morning without fail, but more as an internal nod, “oh, YOU again.”

There’s one old man who always seems to be around on the Strand.

You might recognise him by his huge beard and hat, but mostly you’d know him because he’s usually pushing this along the pavement:

bike front

If you look really really carefully underneath all the mountains of bags, you’ll see it’s not a pile of rubbish that someone has inconveniently strewn across the pavement on Adam Street at all.

It’s actually a bike.

overloaded bike

The Bag Bike has been a resident on Adam Street – without its owner – for about two weeks now.

No one knew where the Bag Bike’s Owner had gone, just that he’d left his Bag Bike behind and it was blocking the pavement.

Despite this, no one dared get rid of it.

No one tried to nick it (pro tip right there, London cyclists).

No one tried to dismantle the bags.

First it was parked up at the top of the road, and then someone moved it down to just outside our office, where people wandered by and marvelled at it, and took pictures (mostly me).

Until eventually and inevitably, someone took strong, affirmative action against the offending article.

By, err, writing a note. And leaving it there.

notice for bike

You might think this an ineffective use of time, but it’s a well known fact that underlining words and using CAPITAL LETTERS makes whatever you’re asking for happen more quickly.

And like magic this morning, three days after the note was put up, the bike was gone.

The Bag Bike Man had returned!

bag bike leaving

Photo diligently snapped and e-mailed round the office by my esteemed colleague Jenny

 

This sighting and movement has prompted questions in the office such as:

1) Where has Bag Bike Man been for the last two weeks?

2) Is the Bag Bike Stick of Wood a new, permanent addition?

3) Did word get to him that his bike was under threat?

Either way, it’s good to have you back, Bag Bike Man.

And on behalf of the commuters on the Strand – we’ll see you around.

Ps. SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG. 

It was worth a try.

Is This the Most Civilised Bus Stop in London?

13. February 2014 · 1 comment · Categories: At Street Level · Tags: , ,

There are several ways you can tell that an area has reached Peak Gentrification.

Aside from the crazy increase in house prices, there’ll be new artisan coffee shops, delis, baskets of brioche bread, sour dough sarnies lying about the place and liberal usage of the word “organic”. 

TimeOut will write that the trendy moustache and beard wearing hipsters absolutely adore shopping for vintage finds in the area’s pop-up ramshackle car boot sale, and the streets will be full of young, affluent people who, between sobs, will tell you they’ve just paid £600,000 for a 1 bed flat above a kebab shop after getting caught in a sealed bid.

But for me, the surest sign that an area has achieved peak well-heeled status is when people start to form an orderly queue at the bus stop.

I mean, look at this.

Just look at it.

polite queuing for bus

This is the scene every morning at a bus stop on Southgate Road in N1. Here, the commuters queue for their bus; come rain, hail, storm, or tube strike.

At the bus stops before and after – Stamford Hill, Dalston to Old Street – there are no queues. But here in DeBeauvoir the bus shelters are empty, and there is a clear ‘get to the back of the line‘ policy happening.

The only other place this seems to happen is in Canary Wharf, where everyone pretends they are still in a bank even after they leave work.

Canary_Wharf_tube_station_queue

I suspect this Southgate Road queue business is probably something to do with the fact that the bus is always too full to let people on once it gets here, hence the need for the “I was here first, I deserve the bus more” thing.

It’s all very British.

Personally, I prefer the rules further up the road in Dalston, where commuters advocate a much more effective “My elbows are sharper than yours, and I’ve got a bus arrival app so technically I saw it coming first, and god damn it get out of my way, this one’s mine, bitches” approach to boarding a bus.

bundle bus dalston

What can I say? It’s not pretty, but it works for us.

So, is this the most civilised bus stop in London? Or have Posh Bus Queues become a thing near you too?

The Problem With the Whole “No Cash Fares on Buses” Thing

06. February 2014 · 2 comments · Categories: Everything Else · Tags: ,

From this summer, you won’t be able to pay cash fares on buses any more.

The reasoning behind this can basically be summarised as:

“well chaps, we’ve held a consultation and two-thirds of 37,000 survey respondents have said they still want cash fares on buses, but we’re going to ignore those people and scrap them anyway because when you think about it – oh, you know what, it’s late and I can’t remember my point. Jagerbomb?”

Now, I am one of those 37,000 people who said “actually, I rather would like the choice to pay cash”, which means TFL is ignoring me, and that makes me a little bit annoyed.

This is why.

Number one: no Londoner with a brain willingly pays cash over Oyster. We know it’s more expensive, therefore 1% of people are using cash out of necessity.

Number two: sure – they’re introducing a “one more journey” feature, which means you can get the bus even when you don’t have enough money on your Oyster card.

But what if you don’t have an Oyster card, and there isn’t anywhere open selling them?

Oyster card and holder

Let’s imagine an entirely hypothetical situation.

Say there’s this one girl – let’s call her Jo for arguments sake – and she lost her Oyster card 8 times in one year, and now once again she finds herself at 2am on Waterloo Bridge, scrabbling around in her bag, patting her pockets and realising oh, bugger, it’s gone again.

Then the bus comes and instead of just being able to pay her way home in cash, she’s a bit stuck because that’s not an option.

(I know, who loses their Oyster card that many times? That would never happen. What an idiot.)

on the bus

TFL think they’ve solved this by training drivers to be more lenient towards “vunerable” passengers at night.

By “vunerable”, I am asumming they mean “pissed, Oyster-less females”, but even so, this doesn’t really fill me with confidence.

Because as anyone who has taken the bus regularly in London will tell you (and I’m not sure whether TFL’s policy makers are included in this, I’m guessing not) – bus drivers are humans.

Humans tend to get a bit cynical and ratty at the best of times, let alone when its 2am and they’re trying to transport 200 drunk people from Waterloo to Dalston while they’re all singing a rude version of “Kumbaya”. 

I mean blummin’ hell, I got an earful from a driver for wanting to get off at the front of the bus once because it was too packed to get through to the back doors. Know what I mean?

So basically, I’m not convinced that training will prevent the bus driver from not feeling all that charitable towards the girl who has “lost” her Oyster card, if he’s just had an earful at the stop before.

Simply put: how will they be able to tell the bluffers from the genuine idiots who lost their Oysters and just want to get home?

Londoners, it looks like we’re going to have to work on our “vunerable” looks. Either that, or just stop losing our Oyster cards. What do you reckon?

A Guide to Commuting on the Metropolitan Line from Pinner

24. January 2014 · 21 comments · Categories: London Life Survival Guides · Tags: , , ,

Last month, while in between flat shares, I moved back to my parents’ house in Pinner. 

No one usually knows where that is, so for the initiated, Pinner is basically a small village in Zone 5 on the Metropolitan line, marked below for ease of reference with a large black arrow.

This is where Pinner is on the tube map.

Yes, that’s right, London has a Zone 5. 

It also has Zones 6, 7, 8 and 9, although there’s no evidence that these actually exist in real life.

In fact, these Zones may as well just be part of a forgotten realm on the Crystal Maze circa 1994 for all the rest of London knows about them.

Proof that Zones 6,7,8,9 don't exist.A journey into central London from Pinner usually takes about 5,387,234,632 hours to complete.

At one end, you’ve got Aldgate in the City of London and at the other, whimsical, Never Never Land-sounding places like “Chesham”, “Amersham” and “Chorleywood” in and around Zones 7, 8, and 9.

So, just to reiterate:

Someone on Twitter says: "The metropolitan line is a myth, just so so long"

Most people who live in Pinner commute into central London for work.

This was what I did back in 2002 BT (Before Twitter), when my work mostly consisted of temporary secretarial jobs.

In these roles, my main function was to provide administrative support including, but not limited to:

  • replacing the fax paper
  • sending out company wide e-mails with the subject line WHO HAS MY HOLEPUNCH?
  • sending follow up e-mails 5 minutes later that read DONT WORRY FOUND IT.

As a result, commuting was often the most interesting part of my day.

And over time, going back and forth between Pinner and Baker Street, I learnt that the Metropolitan line is different from most other routes into London, with its own quirks, rules and idiosyncrasies.

The hill running up to Pinner Station

For example, Pinner Station is at the top of a steep incline.

As a result, most commuters begin their day with an up-hill sprint, which starts when they see their train coming over the bridge and ends in frustration as they get to the barriers only to realise, breathless and sweating, that they’ve got no money on their Oyster card.

Repeated slaps of plastic against reader are often followed by cries of “No! Wait! No! No, oh, bugger” as the train slowly departs in front of their very eyes.

They have every reason to be upset, because this is Zone 5. The next train won’t be along for…oh, who knows?

No one.

No one knows. 

Birds fly overhead. Fog envelopes the track. There are no trains.

Have you seen the Samuel Beckett play called Waiting for Godot?

It’s about these two blokes who just sit and chat while they wait for someone called Godot, but it’s pointless because they don’t know when he’ll arrive.

Waiting for the Metropolitan train at this end of the line is a bit like that, except without the talking.

People just stand in the same place every day (the exact spot where the doors will open, because this is the stuff commuters know) staring up the tracks, waiting for two lights to appear around the corner.

Several Northbound trains come and go.

Birds fly overhead.

An empty crisp packet rolls across the rails.

Nothing happens.

From this, we can safely conclude that Samuel Beckett’s famous play was probably based on his experiences of waiting for a Metropolitan line train.

when will the train be no one knows

Also, the digital countdowns don’t work at Pinner station.

So rather than being told when the train is going to arrive, you are instead provided with ways to pass this unknown quantity of time instead, such as solving as the impossible maze puzzle which just appeared on the wall one day (below, left), which is either:

a) a work of art

b) just for fun!

or

c) a cruel metaphor for the journey you are about to begin.

Again, no one really knows.

It’s just there.

A maze puzzle on the wall next to the tube map

When the train finally does pull into the station, there’s always a race for a seat.

You might think that suburban life allows for a more relaxed “no, after you” approach to getting on a train, but then you’d be very, very wrong.

On the Metropolitan Line before 8:30am, where not bagging a seat means standing for a whole 5,387,234,632 hours and not getting on at all means waiting until Godot knows when on a freezing cold platform with only maze puzzles for company, things can get prett-ty fighty on the Semi Fast to Aldgate.

Twitter: "Crowded on metropolitan line after delays. Man just headbutted woman to get on. Thrown off by other passengers. Unpleasant."

But here’s some advice.

If you don’t get a seat – and you won’t because Metropolitan line commuters are like Robocop in their determination to GET THE SEAT, MUST GET THE SEAT, STARE STRAIGHT AHEAD, DON’T CARE IF YOU’VE GOT CRUTCHES, SEAT IS MINE, SEAT ACQUIRED, POWER DOWN – you’ll have to make do with other options.

So, those in-the-know tend to aim for the bit between the seats.

Arrows pointing to the space between the seats. Bum goes here.Or, they go for the wobbly bit between carriages.

Not only is this bit fairly comfortable as a resting post, but – and this one’s for you, Pilates fans – it’s also quite a good way to maintain core strength.

#balanceball

Man resting against the side of the train

After a day at work, there’s more fun to be had on the way home.

Because for some reason on the Metropolitan line in the evening, everyone has this strange compulsion to stand up prematurely when leaving the train, like “Ooh, I’m getting off at Pinner in 3 minutes. Better get into position.”

So instead of remaining seated until, you know, they can actually get off, commuters instead start queuing up from the second the train leaves North Harrow, taking their position by the doors.

First one person makes the move. Then a sort of competitive edge takes over the entire carriage and before you know it, five, six, eight, ten people are waiting in front of this prime disembarking spot, despite having a good long while until the doors actually open.

But that’s not all.

The race to get off the train first begins.

These keen beans then launch themselves out the second the doors open and proceed to sprint.

Off they go up the stairs like suited greyhounds, over the tracks to the ticket barriers, cheered on by a loud, involuntary cry of “RUN, FOREST, RUN” (ok, this only happened once).

You could argue they’re running to “beat the queue at the barriers” or “get to the car park pay machine first” but then there’s never really a queue for the exit barriers at Pinner, and does any of this exertion actually save you more than about 30 seconds of time if you then have to stop and fumble for your Oyster card anyway?

Nobody knows.

But I do know that after a while of wondering what the hell, why is everyone getting up so soon and what’s with all the running, you too will be overtaken by this compulsion to get up and race off the train, without every really understanding why.

Rushing up the stairs at Pinner station

Hopefully this answers a few questions that will inevitably pop up next time you’re commuting on the Metropolitan line from Pinner, and you’ll be able to sit back, relax and enjoy your journey safe in the knowledge that this is just how Zone 5 rolls.

At least until you hear those golden words “This train will be terminating at Harrow-on-the-Hill” anyway – but that’s another story.

Use the Met line? Commute on it? Do you race off the train every day?

Er, Why?

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Cool Stuff: London in 1927 vs. London in 2013

14. January 2014 · 6 comments · Categories: Further Reading · Tags:
big ben then and now

Remember that amazing colour video I posted last year of London in 1927?

Course you do. You hang on this blog’s every word, and don’t try and say you don’t.

Anyway, point is that some clever monkey called Simon Smith has done a split screen of that video with footage he took last year, so you can compare what London was like then and now.

In his own words:

During the 1920s, cinematographer Claude Friese-Greene travelled across the UK with his new colour film camera. His trip ended in London, with some of his most stunning images, and these were recently revived and restored by the BFI, and shared across social media and video websites.

Since February I have attempted to capture every one of his shots, standing in his footsteps, and using modern equivalents of his camera and lenses. This has been a personal study, that has revealed how little London has changed.

Thoughts: bet police officers are quite pleased they don’t have to stand in the road waving their arms about any more.

That looked like a rubbish job.

Seen something cool in London? Shout at me on Twitter. 

Credit: London in 1927 & 2013 from Simon Smith on Vimeo.

Spotted in Farringdon: Trees in Need of Homes #SaveTheTrees

08. January 2014 · Write a comment · Categories: At Street Level · Tags:
christmas tree abandoned in Farringdon

They brought London’s homes and offices festive cheer and a pine fresh scent over Christmas.

But then, come the 8th January, this happens.

abandoned christmas tree in Farringdon

Poor unwanted trees littering the city streets.

There must be a better future for these trees.

There must be more to their life than lying alongside an empty shopping trolley on the pavement in Farringdon.

There must be a way to get these trees off the streets.

Or at the very least, there must be a poster campaign opportunity with accompanying hashtag.

#SaveTheTrees

christmas tree abandoned in Farringdon

 

Contact your nearest Norway Spruce Rehoming Centre for details on how you can make a difference.

Centre piece for your kitchen table? Cat scratching post? Leave your suggestions below for how we can #SaveTheTrees.

 

Have you liked She Loves London on Facebook? I post about useless stupid London stuff like this on there too.

Back to Work Day 2014 Currently has Severe Delays

06. January 2014 · Write a comment · Categories: At Street Level · Tags: , , , ,
on the tube

This morning the entire mass of everyone ever in the world descended on the London transport system for the Annual Back to Work After Christmas and the New Year Day 2014.

Apparently around the UK, this day is also known as “Blue Monday”.

But if you live in London you’ll be familiar with it as “the day everything always breaks all at once.”

For those heading towards the tube, the morning looked a bit like this:

on the tube

And for those on the buses, well – our morning looked more like this:

on the bus

And thus the New Year properly began, and it was back to business as usual in London.

However, ALL IS NOT LOST.

You don’t have to let Blue Monday win. We could all follow the example of this man, who was spotted capitalising on the unusually high amount of commuters on the streets by holding a placard with his requirements on it, and attempting to find a girlfriend.

Bravo that man.

So if you know a brunette who fits the bill, be sure to put her in touch with Gerald. Spread a little cheer.

Welcome back to work, everyone. See you in the gym tonight?

A Very Special Happy New Year Message…

31. December 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: At Street Level · Tags: , , ,
man dressed as toilet on tube


…from this bloke, spotted casually spreading cheer on the streets of London this morning.

Be sure to have a good night, wherever you end up.

Whether that’s elbowing your way along the Thames, throwing up on the streets of Shoreditch or – more likely – riding around on the Jubilee line (for free, as of 11:45pm) dressed as a toilet.

man dressed as toilet on tube

If you spend the majority of your working day looking for ways to procrastinate, you should probably follow She Loves London on Facebook. You can also get next year’s blog posts straight to your inbox, and it’ll be the best email you get all week. Promise.

Thank you for reading, and see you in 2014 for more hangovers, dogs, tube stories, pictures of religious sign-holding crazies, bus woes and London life survival tips.

xx

Flat Hunting in London: Options and Adverts

13. December 2013 · 2 comments · Categories: London Life Survival Guides · Tags: ,
photo

Renting in London is a very transient experience.

In the last three years I have discovered that moving in with other people is brilliant, but it basically puts you at the mercy of any life changes they wish to make – and visa versa.

People move abroad. Houses get sold. Boyfriends and girlfriends move in together. Relationships break up. Flats fall down. Marriage happens. A weekly game of Bin Jenga loses its appeal.

Despite all this, living with others continues to be your best option in a city where the average cost of owning your own place is £360,000. But beyond that, I’m no closer to knowing what the perfect recipe for a house or flat share actually is.

As I see it, you basically have three options. More »

On the Morning After Nelson Mandela’s Death, the Tube Driver Announced Charing Cross Slightly Differently

06. December 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: Everything Else · Tags: , , ,
Nelson Mandela on Metro front page

Usually when you pull into Charing Cross station on the tube, the driver tells you to alight here for British Rail services, Trafalgar Square and various tourist hot spots. 

They rarely mention that you might like to alight there for South Africa House, but today – the morning after Nelson Mandela’s death – our announcement was a little bit different.

Nelson Mandela on Metro front page

“Alight here for the Northern line, and British Rail. Alight here for Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and South Africa House, if you’re wanting to pay your respects to a hero of democracy and statesmanship.”

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