There’s a big building project underway at the moment, High Speed 2 (HS2), and it’s taking a big dent out of my local borough, Hillingdon in west London. Hillingdon is where the forthcoming railway line will burst out of its tunnels from central London, before curving away from the Chiltern Mainline it has been running… Continue reading High Speed 2 in Hillingdon
The Withey Beds
A short visit to a local nature reserve between Moor Park and Watford, just north-west of London, proved an unexpected atmospheric delight, as can be seen from these photos, taken just before sunset in mid-winter, after a number of days of rain. The Withey Beds (named after withys, which are willow stems) is a relatively… Continue reading The Withey Beds
Welcome to London
Do we get welcomed to Greater London at any of the capital’s boundary point crossings? The City of London has its dragons guarding most entrances, but the larger city area doesn’t really have such obvious symbols. Do we have any welcome signs? Do they welcome to you London or just to the borough you are… Continue reading Welcome to London
OpenOrienteeringMap and MapRunF
OpenOrienteeringMap, a website for creating a PDF street orienteering map of anywhere in the world based on OpenStreetMap data, has seen a massive upsurge of use since various countries starting locking down their populations during the Covid-19 crisis. Suddenly, many people have found their exercise limited to around their home area, and, if they aren’t… Continue reading OpenOrienteeringMap and MapRunF
Camley Street Future Development
The Camden High Line makes a small appearance in the Camley Street Neighbourhood Plan published by Camden Council in July 2019. The eastern entrance to the High Line is on the northern end of Camley Street itself: The Camden High Line was suggested by blogger Oliver O’Brien in 2015 and is being actively pursued by… Continue reading Camley Street Future Development
London’s Most Easterly Point
…is, roughly, at the small bush in the middle of this photo, on the corner of a field, around 100m south of Fen Lane. It’s a very rural spot – certainly far, in terms of distance and feeling, from the centre of the capital. It’s also part of the only significant area of London than… Continue reading London’s Most Easterly Point
Reopening of the Painted Hall in Maritime Greenwich
This Saturday, the 300-year-old Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, reopens to the public, after a two-year, £8.5 million restoration. To help preserve the painted walls and ceiling, the old entrance has been permanently closed, and visitors now enter through the undercroft, which was previously a private dining hall for the… Continue reading Reopening of the Painted Hall in Maritime Greenwich
Solved: Bluetooth Connectivity Problems with Recent Huawei Smartphones
Since getting my most recent Huawei phone (using Android 6.0 “Marshmallow”), I’ve noticed that automatic syncing of my Garmin Forerunner GPS watch often didn’t happen automatically – even if the Garmin Connect app was open. Typically, restarting the phone would solve the issue, and allow a sync to happen – however next time, it would… Continue reading Solved: Bluetooth Connectivity Problems with Recent Huawei Smartphones
Crossrail Preview – Whitechapel
Crossrail, who are building the Elizabeth line railway across London that is due to open this December, held “sneak preview” open days recently at two of their stations – Whitechapel in east London, and Tottenham Court Road in the centre of the city. The previews were self-guided tours of part of the new sections of… Continue reading Crossrail Preview – Whitechapel
London Borough Challenge
Is it possible to visit all 32 London boroughs (& the City of London) in a day? How quickly can you do it? The “London Borough Challenge” has been on my to-do list for a while, and I finally got around to tackling the challenge on Saturday. For my first attempt, and so possibly the… Continue reading London Borough Challenge