Kings Cross renaissance

The new Kings Cross concourse

The functional success of Lewis Cubitt's great King's Cross Station, one of London’s landmark rail termini, was never in doubt but since the bomb damage of WWII and the “temporary” concourse built in the 60’s it has looked very tired. Indeed I wrote in “The Great Circle Line Journey” in 2008;

“Compared to the refurbished St. Pancras next door, King’s Cross looks tired and sad with very inadequate passenger facilities. Planning permission for the temporary forecourt building expired some time ago and this is also due for redevelopment. The fine train shed roof is dark and dirty, a fact emphasised by the stunning refurbishment of the Barlow shed next door – hopefully this jewel of railway architecture will receive the TLC it deserves so it can be fully appreciated again.”

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/01/great-circle-line-journey.html 

Indeed the whole area has seemed stubbornly resistant to improvement with the fine Victorian terraces and squares in front of the station housing cheap boarding houses and the area having a seedy reputation with an undercurrent of petty crime, drug dealing and prostitution. However the transformation of Kings Cross has gained critical mass with the reincarnation of St. Pancras as the Eurostar Terminal to Paris, Brussels and beyond. Now the final piece of the jigsaw is in place as the new concourse at one of the UK's best-known railway stations is officially opened. The £550 million work at King's Cross in London represents the biggest transformation in its 160-year history. The shell-shaped glass and steel building will open to the public from next Monday and will provide three times the space of the current station concourse. Taken in conjunction with the refurbished Tube station the new Kings Cross will offer the millions of passengers who use it a far better experience.

The extended Kings Cross Tube station

There will be better facilities, new links with the Tube, better links to St Pancras station, more shops and restaurants, larger destination boards and clearer station announcements. Transport Secretary Justine Greening, London Mayor Boris Johnson and Network Rail (NR) chief executive Sir David Higgins were among the bigwigs at the opening ceremony.

From Monday, passengers leaving on trains from King's Cross will need to enter the station from the new building on the western side of the Grade I listed station. There are entrances to the concourse direct from the Tube and for pedestrians from Euston Road, Pancras Road and via new arcades on the ground floor of the Great Northern Hotel.

 The new structure by architect John McAslan is many-faceted to connect what are in effect seven transport hubs which form Kings Cross / St Pancras. Its overriding focus has been the critical demands of the ever-increasing crowds moving between the various components of the King’s Cross area — between St Pancras and King’s Cross, between the suburban train sheds of platforms 9-11 and the Underground station, between platforms 0-8 and everywhere else. There are 100,000 people moving between these places at peak times of the day, and to handle them a new concourse was needed for people to circulate, wait and move on.

The existing 1970s building in Euston Road which currently serves both arriving and departing passengers will cater only for arrivals until its demolition begins after the London Paralympic Games. The area will have been transformed into a new public open space by September 2013. Ian Fry, NR's programme director for the new station, said: "I'm sure that regular users of the current station will be very pleased with the new concourse when it opens."

The wonderfully restored Midland Grand Hotel @ St. Pancras

Not everything will change at Kings Cross. Platform 9 3/4 still serves the famous Hogwart's Express but not many people seem able to find it! However, in the film 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets', St Pancras stands for King's Cross Station - the Gothic building fits in better with the magical story than functional King's Cross!

For the inspiring story of the renewal of St. Pancras next door see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/st-pancras-reborn.html

For the re-opening of the wondrous Midland Grand Hotel in front of St. Pancras see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2011/02/st-pancras-reborn-part-ii.html

Platform 9 3/4 @ Kings Cross 

Happy Diwali

I wish my Hindu, Jain, Sikh (and some Buddhist) friends Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak. Let us hope the festival of lights celebrating the triumph of good over evil will illuminate the year ahead.



Enthusiastically celebrated by people of all nationalities, races and religions, Diwali, the festival of lights creates a magical world of joy and festivity. It celebrates the triumphant victory of good over evil – and the glory of light over darkness, a beam of hope over despair. The word Diwali or Deepavali (in its full form), means ‘a row of lamps’.

Diwali marks a new beginning, a renewal of commitment to family values, and represents all the good virtues we seek such as love, reflection, forgiveness and knowledge.



Under the auspices of the Mayor of London Diwali Day was held with celebrations and fireworks on Sunday 16th October in Trafalgar Square "Diwali in the Square." The real celebrations will be held tomorrow throughout neighborhoods in our diverse city. During Diwali on the Square '11 in London, Trafalgar Square was decorated and traditional Indian music played all over the square. There was Indian theatre along with traditional as well as contemporary dances such as Garba, Dandia and many more.



Deepavali ki Shubhkamnayein दीपावली की शुभकामना

Diwali on the Square 2011: dance dance dance!

Single to Totenschinken Hofstrasse, bitte

Click on the map for a larger image

I’m grateful to Ross Lydall of the London Evening Standard for the heads up on what the London Underground map may have looked like if Germany had won WWII. Never mind the map of Europe, this is how the map of the London Underground could have been redrawn if the Germans had won, or would it? An Austrian university librarian has imagined how the Tube network would look if we all spoke German, renaming the capital's 270 stations from Heidenreihe (Heathrow) to Hahnenzuchter (Cockfosters).



Horst Prillinger has used a mixture of wit and linguistic dexterity - Heidenreihe most accurately translates as "heathen row" while Hahnenzuchter could be read as "chicken farmer" - in adapting the station names. Mr Prillinger said the map had translations that preserved the meaning of the English words, such as Burnt Oak becoming Verbrannte Eiche, and "deliberate misunderstandings".

While the suffix "ham" means "home", he translated it as the meat, so West Ham becomes Westschinken. Here is Horst’s website;

http://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/metro/english/network_maps.html



For the history of Mr. Beck’s iconic London Underground Map see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/11/mapping-world.html

Der Untergrund

Die Linien, Bahnhöfe und Zonen von London Underground, London Overground und Docklands Light Railway (DLR). Als Klassiker des Designs macht die U-Bahn-Karte das Fahren im Londoner U-Bahn-Netz denkbar einfach. Diese übersichtliche Karte enthält einen Schlüssel zu allen eingezeichneten Stationen sowie die 6 Gebührenzonen.


Click on the map for a larger image

For more see TUBE BLOGS and TRANSPORT BLOGS in the Blog sidebar >>>>>

London Bloggers Meetup

We had another great London Bloggers Meetup last week with our guest speakers Leo Babauta from Zen Habits and Arvind Devalia from Make it Happen. I thoroughly enjoyed both of their talks, not only interesting and informative, but very inspirational too.

Rather than me tell you all about it, why not watch some short clips from the night below.



http://zenhabits.net



http://www.arvinddevalia.com/blog



www.daithaic.blogspot.com

http://www.londonbloggers.net

A slow day in London Town

“Worst Tube strikes yet say commuters as walkouts cripple London” was the headline in today’s London Evening Standard. Commuters struggling to get to work were today caught in a war of words over the third 24-hour Tube strike in as many months. All 11 lines suffered major disruption, 80 stations were closed and 100 stations were picketed in a row with the RMT and TSSA unions over job cuts and ticket office closures. Union bosses and angry passengers claimed the service was “far worse” than during the two previous strikes. At Marylebone Station this morning the lack of alternatives to The Tube were evident. The “Marshall” at the taxi rank had added to the confusion by reversing the direction of flow of the queue but this didn’t really matter. As with the last strikes there were hardly any taxis at the ranks as the “City Boys” block book them as these titans of Casino Banking are more important to London than people who do real stuff. No sign of the extra buses either, rather the opposite as road works made the traffic in the area impossible. A 205 bus to Bow in East London turned up from Paddington already full and no sign of the No. 2 bus to Victoria.



Commuters struggling home this evening were warned to expect another Tube strike on November 29 and then a series of stoppages after Christmas. Union bosses said walkouts in January could be announced after a “truce” next month. Tens of thousands of passengers suffered today as the third 24-hour strike in as many months caused disruption across the network. All 11 lines suffered major problems or were suspended, 80 stations were closed and 100 stations were picketed in a row with the RMT and TSSA unions over job cuts and ticket office closures.

The Standard quoted commuters urging Boris Johnson to tell Tube workers “enough is enough”. A commuter from Richmond was quoted as saying said: “The strikes are obviously getting worse. I have to get a taxi instead.” A spokesman for the RMT said there was “no question” disruption was worse than the last strikes with leader Bob Crow saying: “Today's action is rock solid the length and breadth of the system.”


Covent Garden Tube Station

London Underground insisted it had more trains running and more stations open than before. Managing director Mike Brown said: “Despite the deluded claims by the RMT and TSSA leaderships the Tube service this morning is moving hundreds of thousands of people across London. Over 40% of our services are running, with all but one line being served and that is the Circle line, where almost every station is served by other lines. 75% of stations are being served, and we are keeping London moving.” LU said 50 trains were operating on the Northern compared with 29 last time. But a third of the line's 33 stations were closed because there were no staff to operate them, meaning that even though trains were running, commuters could not get onto the platforms to catch them.

Among the Tube stations closed during today were Charing Cross, Westminster, Piccadilly Circus and Knightsbridge as well as Heathrow Terminal 4. The Mayor came under renewed fire for not personally meeting the RMT and TSSA unions. A fourth walk-out is planned for November 29 and with no resolution to the dispute in sight passengers were warned of more strikes in the run-up to Christmas. London Underground said at the height of the morning peak period it was operating 44 per cent of services compared with 28 per cent last time.



Lines were either suspended over part of the route or ran with massive delays and cancellations. The Circle line will be suspended throughout the day and there was no service on the Waterloo and City lines for an essential part of the morning peak. Roger, travelling through Victoria, said: “It was terrible down there. It's the queuing to get into the station that's really bad. Some of the lines are totally crippled. People just have to get on with it as best they can.”



Gary, an IT trainer from Kent, said: “I can see these strikes going on for some time because their positions are fairly entrenched and it is difficult to see how a speedy resolution will be arrived at.” Mr Crow insisted that the strike was over “safe Tube staffing levels as our members send out the clearest possible message to the Mayor to call a halt to cuts before there's a major disaster”.



The conciliation service ACAS announced that fresh talks will be held tomorrow. The unions are protesting at plans to axe 800 mainly ticket office jobs, although they claim the number is set to rise to almost 2,000. TfL deny that safety is being compromised and insist there will be no enforced redundancies. While commuters in London had well practised strike routines, tourists to the city found their plans thrown into disarray.



Stefan from Berlin said: “It's a nightmare for people visiting London.” However the cutbacks in Underground are regarded as the thin end of a pointed political wedge to cutback the Underground which includes further redundancy, centralisation of HR, Finance and IT within the TfL organisation and selling off 55, Broadway, London Underground’s iconic and fully paid for Head Office (Estates Gazette February 14th 2009).

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/give-my-regards-to-55-broadway.html

Whereas London Underground is being told to cut its cloth according to a recent BBC article on pay and bonuses TfL is very much committed to Rolls-Royce solutions with some employees on large salaries getting half as much again as bonuses.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11369278

Having explicitly committed to no ticket office closures in his Mayoral election manifesto Mayor Boris Johnson is now hoisted on his own petard, so being Boris you then make noise about something nay anything and wave your arms frantically! So now Boris is on the news banging on about banning strikes where less than 50% of union members vote. This could also be an awkward argument for BoJo as such a "turnout threshold" would have prevented his own election on the back of just 19% of London voters.



And the only reason he is talking about one now is to cover for his total inaction in getting the promised "no strike deal" with the unions. So as you mull that one over on your journey home tonight here's a few other statistics from the “Tory Troll” Blog to think about:

Boris Johnson's meetings since 2008:

Rupert Murdoch: 1
Rebekah Wade, The Sun: 2
Lord Rothermere, Daily Mail: 1
Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan: 1
Lily Allen: 1
Kelly Brook: 2
Tube Union leaders: 0


What Boris promised when running for election?


Boris discussing important matters with Lily Rose Beatrice Allen, a popular chanteuse. Who says Global warming is not real?

Churchill Arms

Few publicans in London can compare with Gerry O’Brien, colourful landlord of The Churchill Arms, who this weekend celebrates 25 years at the award-winning Kensington Church Street pub. I’ve a soft spot for Gerry as he hails from the County Clare and if I described him as a Mad Irishman he would take it as a compliment for he is a true eccentric and has made the Churchill Arms into something rare in London a brewery owned tenanted boozer with real character where people literally come from miles around to visit.


Churchill memorabilia in the bar

Now generally I am of the illiberal opinion that a brewery owned pub should be a capital offence negating a right to trial before execution. However the Brewery in question Fuller, Smith and Turner is one of the last traditional brewers based at the famous Chiswick Brewery in West London with family members still involved in running it and producing a proper range of real ales for which the name of their flagship ale, “London Pride” speaks for itself. Since taking over this typical London boozer 25 years ago Gerry has infused it with both his wacky contents and his unique personality and gained something of a cult following in the process.



On the outside, the Churchill is festooned with hanging baskets and window boxes, which regularly scoop up any flower awards going. On the inside, the pub is crammed full of dangling chamber pots, a collection of exotic butterflies, mementos of Winston Churchill and more hanging baskets. Oh and I forgot to mention Gerry’s collection of old radios “wirelesses” which I gave up counting after twenty.

On the significant days in Gerry’s calendar — sporting events, St Patrick’s Day, any anniversary remotely connected to Churchill — the interior is further enlivened with all the balloons available in London in the appropriate colours. In case that was not enough, the host regularly makes his way tirelessly around the premises, sometimes with a fake Guinness glass to tip over the unwary. Favoured guests are tooted from the premises with an old car horn.


The irrepressible Gerry O'Brien, Landlord of the Churchill Arms



Now Gerry is having a big party at the Churchill to celebrate his 25 years, having turned what was a dull old boozer into a cornucopia of nutty passions. Not the least of these is his devotion to Thai food, of which his pub was the first purveyor in London. “We can shift some beer with this stuff,” he remembers thinking. There are few regrets but the smoking ban saddened him: “I miss the time of smoking — not cigarettes, but giving a light to a lady or seeing someone light up a pipe.”


The conservatory eating area

The Churchill Arms is, without doubt, one of the best and most famous pubs in the UK. You won't find a warmer welcome anywhere else. 'London in Bloom' winner two years in a row and from spring it is easy to see why - the flowers and baskets literally tumble off the outside of the pub. The food on offer is Thai but you can also enjoy a selection of English classics, the Sunday roasts are also very popular. Events are the speciality here - 'Churchill Night' (30th Nov) is a must, as are the patron saint days. Indeed Gerry must be the only Irishman to throw a birthday party for Churchill and patrons return the compliment by turning up on the day in boiler suits and ARP helmets. St George’s day, uniquely in London, gets the full Paddy’s Day treatment for Gerry is nothing if not inclusive. This is one London pub you will want to come back to again and again.


St George being saluted by the Churchill arms on the 23rd April, St George's Day

Many years ago Gerry roofed over the back courtyard of the Churchill Arms and franchised out the catering to a Thai family and introduced Thai food to London Pubs. For over 15 years, the highly skilled chefs at the Churchill Arms Thai Kitchen have been preparing authentic regional dishes. From the soft and mild tasting noodles "Pad Siew" to the very hot jungle paste curry of "Kaeng Par". Family recipes handed down through generations are served in the wonderful butterfly-themed conservatory. So come and meet Gerry, Powe, Tai and Po for a real taste of Thailand. This is not the Thai banquet food you get served in restaurants but hearty Thai country food served in an ample portion with an equally ample portion of perfect Thai sticky rice. It is for people who enjoy strong flavours and are hungry – not using food as a fashion statement!


Real Thai food!

Kensington Church Street where the Churchill Arms is situated meanders from High Street Kensington to Notting Hill which is the end where you’ll find the Churchill Arms. It is one of London’s more interesting streets being lined with antique shops and with the block of flats where TS Elliot lived and where his widow, Valerie, still does. Even in such august surroundings the Churchill Arms stands out in every way and either with friends or groups I’ve never failed to enjoy being there for good food and drink but above all for that something you can’t easily define real atmosphere. On a more practical note there is no where else in Kensington you can buy a pint of real ale to wash down real food and still have change from a tenner. So here’s wishing Gerry O’Brien from the County Clare slán agus beannacht leat for the next 25 years.

Churchill Arms decorated for Xmas with 43 Xmas Trees!


Churchill Arms
119 Kensington Church Street
London W8 7LN

Tel: 020 7727 4242

Email: churchillarms@fullers.co.uk

Licensee: Gerry O'Brien

Free Gerald the Elephant!

Johnathan Yeo's "Blue Elephant"

I recently reported on how Londoners were rubbing their eyes in disbelief as a colourful herd of 258 life-sized model baby elephants has appeared across their City to raise money for charity. Artists including Sacha Jafri and Sam Hacking have decorated each of the 1.5m (4.9ft)-high fibreglass models, which are being displayed in public places from May. Then on 30 June, the charity Elephant Family will auction the models, and hope to raise about £2m to protect India's elephants. The animals have been placed at numerous landmarks including Buckingham Palace. The 2010 London Elephant Parade has now become something of an obsession with many Londoners pursuing an unofficial challenge to photograph all the elephants across London.

Now imagine their distress reported in the Evening Standard that Gerald the Elephant is being held in captivity! According to the report a model elephant painted by artist Jonathan Yeo is generating a cult following after it was banned from its home in Selfridges for being too risqué. The sculpture is covered with Yeo's trademark pornographic collage, which proved too much for bosses at the Oxford street store who asked for it to be removed after complaints.


Selfridges, Oxford Street, London

The artwork, called Gerald and created by the son of South Suffolk Tory MP Tim Yeo, is one of 258 life-size statues of baby jumbos dotted around London for the 2010 Elephant Parade in aid of the Elephant Family charity, set up by Mark Shand, brother of the Duchess of Cornwall, to help save the Asian elephant from extinction.

Gerald was moved from Selfridges to the charity's Bloomsbury HQ, where staff were besieged with calls and emails from elephant fans who have been tracking the sculptures across the capital, desperate to find Gerald and take his picture.


Elephant with Tower Bridge in the background

After a "Free Gerald" Facebook group was set up to trace him, the charity decided to let visitors in to take a snapshot. Mr Shand said: "We had put him near the staff entrance at Selfridges because we thought he would keep the adults company and not offend anyone, but he offended everyone. So we brought him back to the office but we got two or three hundred emails and phone calls asking, 'Where is Gerald?'


Elephant with the Houses of Parliament in the background.

"Then a Facebook campaign started. All we could do was offer appointments to come and take a picture. More than 200 people turned up and we let them in one by one." Now John Stephen, co-owner of Chinawhite nightclub in Fitzrovia, has offered Gerald a home. "He said he belonged there," said Mr Shand. "All Gerald wants is a roof over his head." The statue will be on public display at Chinawhite between 1pm and 2pm on Monday. It will stay at the club until June 30. Sotheby's will auction the elephants, at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, between June 29 and July 4 in a bid to raise £1million.



Each model has been decorated by a different artist or celebrity, including Tommy Hilfiger and Sir Terence Conran. Secretary Petra Jirusova, 32, from south-east London, who set up the Free Gerald Facebook group, said she has now photographed all 258 elephants. "This quest of finding them takes you to parts of London you may never visit," she added. "It's great fun."

For the full story on the 2010 Elephant Parade in London see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/05/elephants-of-old-london-town.html



The crowd to see the "Blue Elephant" at Elephant Family charity in Bloomsbury

The Elephants of Old London Town

Elephant Parade

First time visitors to London may feel it is inhabited by herds of elephants as they get crushed at rush hour on the Tube or trampled underfoot trying to go shopping in Oxford Street. However they can now rub their eyes in disbelief as a colourful herd of 260 life-sized model baby elephants has appeared across London to raise money for charity. Artists including Sacha Jafri and Sam Hacking have decorated each of the 1.5m (4.9ft)-high fibreglass models, which are being displayed in public places from May. Then on 30 June, the charity Elephant Family will auction the models, and hope to raise about £2m to protect India's elephants. The animals will be placed at landmarks including Buckingham Palace.

They will also appear in areas such as Trafalgar Square, Parliament Square and on the South Bank. Jewellery designer Sabine Roemer dressed her elephant with a 700-carat emerald on its forehead. She said it was "amazing" to see her completed work in Trafalgar Square. "We started talking about it a year ago," she said. "I wanted to have a very traditional Indian-looking elephant and to make a jewellery piece."

Artist Sacha Jafri stood next to his gold elephant emblazoned with hearts. "I had the birth of my little baby during all of this so it has these heart motifs," he said. The artworks include three anonymously-decorated 'election elephants' with boxing gloves, representing the Liberal Democrats, Labour and the Conservatives. Elephant parades have already been held in Antwerp and Rotterdam, and after London the elephants will move to New York and Milan. The parade follows the format of Cow Parade, which began in Zurich in 1998 to increase tourism and raise money for charity.










Trafalgar Square

An Elephant Family spokeswoman said: "The elephants will appear overnight to cheer London up and raise some vital funds." Here is their site and explanation of Elephant Parade;


Chinatown

“Elephant Parade is a conservation campaign that shines a multi-coloured spotlight on the urgent crisis faced by the endangered Asian elephant. Brought to you by www.elephantfamily.org , the event sees over 250 brightly painted life-size elephants located over central London this summer.

Each decorated by a different artist or celebrity, the elephants brighten and beautify the city, enhancing every park, street corner and building they grace. Running from May to July 2010, this is London’s biggest outdoor art event on record. With an estimated audience of 25 million, we aim to raise £2 million for the Asian elephant and benefit 20 UK conservation charities.

All of our elephants are for sale by auction and every bid you place is a bid for habitat. Mini elephants are available at Selfridges, 80 Regent St, 36 Carnaby St and Greenwich Central Market or at the elephant parade online shop. Happy elephant spotting!”








Leicester Square

So on this Friday evening these 260 Elephants provoke a great smile from passers by as I stroll through Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Hanover Square and up to Selfridges. There in the Basement there is the Elephant Parade shop selling miniature versions of the Elephants I had just seen. There they have a full sized Elephant called “Heaven’s Haathi” (Haathi is the Hindi / Punjabi word for Elephant) and a full range of miniature elephants including my personal favourite “Bobby Elephant.”


Only 3175 miles to Accra, Ghana

London has always been a city of many cultures and many faiths, with a population from all over the world. Throughout history it has been an important centre for the settlement of immigrants and refugees. Today, over 200 languages are spoken in London. As I wandered through the centre by the wonderful iconic Trafalgar Square with its pedestrianised north side and into Leicester Square and Chinatown the diversity which makes this city so special and such an iconic World City was obvious. In the park in Leicester Square the capitals of the Commonwealth are commemorated in plaques and over all of it beams the statue of England’s greatest playwright, William Shakespeare, whose statue boasts the apt epigram; “There is no darkness but ignorance.”


Great Titchfield Street


Hanover Square

London is a special place and a great World City not because of its place in history or its great monuments, architecture, museum’s and art galleries but because of the special qualities and dynamic it gets from the ethnic diversity of its people living in a free and tolerant society. My regular Blogistas will have denoted a tincture of unhappiness on my part about the recent elections but what is impressive is the way the well oiled wheels of the British State move and how power and authority are transferred; No meetings of “Strong Men” in back rooms take place, no militias on the streets, no protests rather the Civil Service prepare tea and briefing notes for the new ministers. This tolerant and well ordered inclusive society is treasured no more than in this dynamic city whose inhabitants appreciate its interest and variety.
A bit like that remarkable and hugely social animal the Elephant who has been so ill served in the last century by the attentions of mankind. Hopefully the proceeds of Elephant Parade will do something to redress that balance whilst adding greatly to the gaiety of the urban streetscape.




“Heaven’s Haathi”

“No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." Since Dr Samuel Johnson uttered these words to James Boswell in 1777 opinions have differed on whether being tired of London is just that for obviously there is plenty of life elsewhere but there is no doubt that this is still an iconic World City attracting hordes of visitors and herds of Elephants in the run up to hosting the Olympic Games in 2012.




Bobby Elephant

For a (busy) day seeing this diverse city whilst avoiding the usual tourist traps see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/09/day-in-london.html



“There is no darkness but ignorance.”