please empty your brain below
The blue portakabins behind the blue wall are now fully illuminated.
Tuesday 2nd March
A new blue wall has appeared halfway down the westbound platform, floor to ceiling, dividing off a short portion of platform space.
Wednesday 3rd March
The new blue wall is about seven metres long. It makes the platform half as wide.
Thursday 4th March
As suddenly as it arrived, the blue wall on the platform has completely vanished.
Friday 5th March
Behind where the blue wall used to be, the paint is still peeling off the platform wall just as badly as before.
Saturday 6th March
Meanwhile, back outside the station, the lamps on the original blue wall are now illuminated.
Sunday 7th March
A new sign on the blue wall apologises to the public for any inconvenience caused. To be honest, not enough inconvenience has been caused yet.
Monday 8th March
A sign on the blue wall warns passers-by that they are being recorded on CCTV. No cameras are visible.
Tuesday 9th March
The first graffiti has appeared on the blue wall. It's big, it's silver, and it displays all the artistic merit of a two-year-old.
Wednesday 10th March
The public information plan finally kicks in as homebound commuters get to 'Meet The Managers'. Or more likely not meet them.
It is announced that Bow Road station will be closing between 10pm and 6am every night from Monday 15th March until early 2005.
Thursday 11th March
A poster has gone up on a board in the ticket hall with full details of the early closure of the station from next week. The board is currently facing towards the excess fare window, not towards the ticket barriers which might have made it easier to read.
Friday 12th March
Another new blue wall has appeared, this time along the west end of the eastbound platform. The new blue wall is approximately 48 panels long.
Saturday 13th March
All visitors are asked to report to the site office. I'm tempted, but I have yet to comply.
Sunday 14th March
Another sign demands that safety helmets and safety footwear must be worn. Again, I have yet to comply.
Black and yellow tape has been stretched across the edge of the top and bottom step in each flight of stairs at the station.
Monday 14th June
There's now black and yellow tape stuck along lots of other steps and changes of floor level across the station.
Tuesday 15th June
There are seven separate small rectangles of black/yellow tape stuck to the blue wall at the top of the westbound stairs.
Wednesday 16th June
Most of the black and yellow tape on the stairs has disappeared.
Thursday 17th June
Someone's drilled six envelope-sized holes in the brickwork beside the the blue wall at the top of the westbound stairs, three holes on either side. The six holes are covered by rectangles of black tape.
Friday 18th June
The front of the two steps leading up from the pavement into the ticket hall have been painted bright yellow.
Saturday 19th June
The top of the single step into the ticket office from the ticket hall has also been painted yellow.
Sunday 20th June
Two extra strips of black/yellow tape have appeared on the blue wall at the top of the westbound stairs...
Monday 21st June
... one bottom left and one bottom right.
Tuesday 22nd June
The black/yellow tape round the giant 'No Smoking' sign at the top of the westbound stairs is peeling away.
Wednesday 23nd June
Looks like the sign might eventually fall down.
Thursday 24th June
It's being held up by the strip of tape down the right hand side, and the small length still attached in the top left hand corner.
Friday 25th June
A strip of black tape has been stuck across the bottom of the sign to keep it attached to the wall.
Saturday 26th June
Behind the long blue wall on the westbound platform they're storing some metal grilles and two rows of green seats.
Sunday 27th June
The metal grilles and two rows of green seats are secured by a long strip of black and yellow tape.
Monday 28th June
The only other things visible stored behind the long blue wall are two portable yellow plastic 'Caution wet Floor' safety signs.
Tuesday 29th June
The yellow safety signs are also secured by the black and yellow tape.
Wednesday 30th June
One would hope that the Bow Road workmen are busy today doing up the station during the enforced tube strike closure. But somehow I think not.
Thursday 1st July
As I suspected, nothing (obvious) has happened.
Friday 2nd July
The wooden panels halfway up the eastbound stairs are still rotten.
No sign of any of these new cameras yet, just the old ones.
Sunday 28th November
A new poster is on display in the ticket hall apologising that the station will have to be closed more often at weekends over the next three months in order to complete all renovation work to schedule.
Monday 29th November
Instead of the two remaining planned weekend closures, there will now be seven weekend closures during the next three months, including all three weekends in the run-up to Christmas.
Tuesday 30th November
Conker tree update: half of the leaves have now fallen off, mostly from the top half of the tree. Of the leaves that remain most are yellow, but some (particularly the lower leaves nearest to the station building) are still mainly green with yellow edging.
Wednesday 1st December
A silver sticker labelled Z2-5E has fallen off the wall and is stuck face-up to a stair in the eastbound stairwell.
Thursday 2nd December
The writing on the silver sticker is now completely illegible.
Friday 3rd December
The previous silver sticker has disappeared, and the sticker reading Cam 12 is now stuck to one of the steps on the eastbound stairwell instead.
Saturday 4th December
A new leaflet being given away at the station apologises that "modernisation work will involve more closures than originally anticipated." This weekend sees the first of the additional closures.
Sunday 5th December
I saw a few workmen standing on the platform of the closed station. If they were doing any work, it wasn't on the platforms.
Monday 6th December
After the weekend closure, it appears that:
a) lots more cables have been coiled across the ceiling of the ticket hall.
b) strips of red and white tape have been stuck up the walls of the two stairwells, perhaps to protect the tiles (or where the tiles used to be).
c) strips of black and yellow tape have also been stuck up the walls of the eastbound stairwell, and also stuck to the wooden panels above the two ticket office windows in the ticket hall.
Tuesday 7th December
A cross made out of yellow and black tape has appeared on four of the windowpanes above the eastbound stairwell.
Wednesday 8th December
New fluorescent light fittings have been attached to the grey cabling boxes suspended from the ceiling along the western half of the eastbound platform. The lights are not yet functional.
Thursday 9th December
Four of the pillars in the middle of the westbound platform have been painted grey, then covered by transparent plastic sheeting.
Friday 10th December
Some of the new cabling is a light shade of mauve-y purple.
Saturday 11th December
The station is closed for yet another whole weekend.
Sunday 12th December
Still closed. The station is closed every weekend this month, actually.
After the weekend closure, it appears that:
a) there are loops of thin white cable in various locations around the ceiling of the ticket hall and up the stairwell.
b) cheap wooden boards have been placed over most of the rotten wood on the bridge.
c) there are irregular areas of brown cement daubed on the walls of the ticket hall
Tuesday 14th December
All of the pillars on both platforms have now been painted grey (except for the very top of the easternmost pillar on the westbound platform which remains green and yellow).
Wednesday 15th December
A giant reel of one-inch thick rubber cabling has appeared in the fenced-off area on the pavement in front of the station entrance.
Thursday 16th December
The brown cement on the eastern wall of the ticket hall has been plastered over. The brown cement on the western wall of the ticket hall has been covered by orange plastic sheeting.
Friday 17th December
Some of the windows on the bridge appear to have been reglazed. There is the smell of fresh (white) paint.
The station is again closed this weekend. Through the entrance I could see the ticket machines covered by black plastic protective sheeting.
A small crane is fenced off to the right of the portakabins outside the station, supposedly being used to lower materials down to the platforms.
After the weekend closure, there are loops of fresh cable hanging all across the station.
There are more than ten loops of coloured cable hanging in the eastbound stairwell, and more than ten loops of coloured cable hanging in the westbound stairwell.
Finally, after 9 months, I have seen workmen actually working. Two men were visible through the freshly-glazed window panes on the passenger bridge standing on the scaffolding with paintbrushes in their hands. And I heard the noise of drilling behind the blue wall at the western end of the eastbound platform.
And again. I saw one man standing on the scaffolding, painting the external window frames white, and heard the sound of sawing behind the east end of the western blue wall on the eastbound platform.
The Christmas decorations at Bow Road this year are loops of multi-coloured wire and cable hanging from the ceiling all around the station.
There have been no obvious changes at the station over Christmas.
Some of the plywood boards covering the wood on the bridge are coming unstuck.
All the health & safety licences on the blue walls across the station (at least one of which was due to expire tomorrow) have been covered by a fresh sheet of paper showing that the licence is now extended to 31 May 2005.
Conker tree update: The lower branches of the tree still have leaves on them (approximately 300 leaves, I estimate). Most of the leaves are yellow, but a handful are still predominantly green. It's not natural, I tell you.
As part of London's New Year celebrations, today Bow Road station is open throughout the night. I alighted here at 3:45am. It was deserted. This is the first time I have been able to use the station after 10pm since 15th March.
The station is open on a Sunday for the first time since November.
New year, but no new work yet.
I saw a man standing on the scaffolding outside the bridge holding a wide flat tool, scraping or painting the window frame.
The wall and floor around the doors in the centre of the longest blue wall on the westbound platform looks as if they've been splattered with splotchy sand.
I saw just one workman, standing at the foot of the eastbound stairwell having a chat on his mobile phone.
The orange plastic covers over the eastern wall of the ticket office have been removed to reveal a smooth brown plastered wall with approximately ten bolts sticking out. There are three strips of red and white striped tape stretched across the plaster to protect the surface from passing passengers.
Conker tree update: After last night's gales there are only about 100 leaves left on the tree, all yellow bar a couple which are still approximately half green.
A laminated noticed attached to the metal railings in front of the station announces that planning permission is being sought to install a Chip and PIN reader by the ticket window. Comments should be made by 25th January.
The window frames at the southern end of the bridge have been painted white. Posters on each window warn passengers 'Do Not Touch - Wet Paint'.
All the grey sheeting has finally been removed from the new light fittings along the westbound platform.
The metal railings outside the station have been replaced by thick metal barriers, protecting the public from sections of scaffolding piled up inside. A red sign on the barriers directs pedestrians towards the station entrance.
Looking through a new gap in the sheeting above the door in the blue wall on the westbound platform, another row of new fluorescent lights can be seen to the rear of the platform parallel to the new lights already visible above the platform edge.
Wet Paint signs are now stuck to the the remainder of the windows on the bridge.
The station is closed again all weekend. There are workmen all over the station (at 3pm, but not at 11pm).
Local graffiti: someone has spray-painted E3 on the new metal barriers outside the station.
Over the weekend the floor surface of parts of the ticket hall, bridge and stairwells has been stripped away. At 8am a workman stands by the top of the westbound stairwell urging passengers not to tread on the not-yet-dry bit of cement on the top step. A sign by the ticket office reads "Cution Uneven Floor"
6pm update: the spelling mistake on the main sign has been amended.
Conker tree update: only one yellow shrivelled leaf remains on the tree.
The blue wall in the ticket hall has disappeared. Behind the wall are two areas covered by large sheets of plywood, a door and some newly-painted white panelling. It's very hard to work out why this particular corner of the ticket hall has been walled off for the last eight months.
Most of the pillars on the eastbound platform have been repainted in the original green and yellow colours, although some of the strips on some of the pillars are still covered by grey undercoat.
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