please empty your brain below
You need a 'Random Cities Manager' who picks out the slip of paper a month early, books you an Apex ticket and reasonably-priced accommodation, then sends you everything in a sealed envelope to arrive the day before. Your mission, if you choose to accept it ...

Max Roberts | Homepage | 30.04.12 - 8:31 a.m. | #

@max, "Apex ticket" !? Did we fall back in time to 1988 an no one old told me? :-)

[But yes, fantastic idea!]

Geofftech | Homepage | 30.04.12 - 8:46 a.m. | #

I quite enjoy watching "Time Team" on Channel 4 even though I know that it is stage managed. I wonder whether it would be feasible for you to "follow on" some of their digs, discovering whether their has been any lasting value to the dig. Whether there has been any further developments of interest.

Rick Berej | 30.04.12 - 9:00 a.m. | #

How about villages and places threatend by airport expansion ie Sipson et al. Also places place already gone due to the same. One place that has always intrigued me is "Perry Oaks". This was the name of the sewerage works which existed prior to the building of terminal 5 at Heathrow. But where did the name Perry Oaks come from?

Rick Berej | 30.04.12 - 9:20 a.m. | #

After completing the years-long Random Borough, I reckon you've earned a spell to think it over, DG.

James | 30.04.12 - 9:28 a.m. | #

Waterworks.

But then I keep mentioning that idea...

Blue Witch | Homepage | 30.04.12 - 9:34 a.m. | #

London parliamentary constituencies? Or how about a random random? Readers submit ideas each month and you pick one at random...could be lively.

Waterhouse | 30.04.12 - 10:01 a.m. | #

A random PR event. Then kill it with fire (aka withering words etc.)

Whatever you do will be interesting. And best decided by yourself in your own time: sounds patronising but I'm sure you get it.

Karen | 30.04.12 - 10:33 a.m. | #

I'd vote for Random Cities. You know it makes sense.

Lorenzo | 30.04.12 - 11:17 a.m. | #

How about:
1. Random London Tourist attraction? You'd need to start with someone's predefined list of "must see in London". And maybe not entirely random as, for instance, you'd want to do Buckingham Palace in the summer when it's open and you can also include the Queen's Gallery and the Royal Mews.
2. Random National Museum/Art Gallery? There are quite a few in London from the Wallace Collection to the British Museum. And this could be expanded to include the likes of the Horniman Museum, Dulwich Art Gallery etc.
3. Random London National Trust property? Enough to get your teeth into but not an overwhelming number. Everything from George Inn in Borough to Osterley House.
4. Random London Famous (Historic) Person? Everyone from Robert Hooke to Samuel Pepys. No, probably too open-ended unless, again, you find someone's predefined list to work from.
Just thoughts!


dg writes: Hi Keith. If you look back through my archives, almost all of these are already done. For example.

Keith | Homepage | 30.04.12 - 11:31 a.m. | #

How about visiting the highest point of each of the Home Counties? Should be doable, and take you to some nice places.


Bob | 30.04.12 - 11:54 a.m. | #

Not sure if you'll be able to come up with a complete list or how practical it is but how about visiting places in England that share a name with a London borough; for a start there are apparently 'Merton's in Oxfordshire and Suffolk.

Whiff | 30.04.12 - 12:02 p.m. | #

I'm sure there's an ace solution where the answer is 52.

B | 30.04.12 - 12:19 p.m. | #

I actually think Random Areas Just Outside The London Boroughs is a good idea. I like to do an expedition outside London when I'm there on vacation. If you include information about public transport in the area, such an article would be very helpful.

Jarle Hammen Knudsen | 30.04.12 - 12:34 p.m. | #

Parliamentary Constituencies gets my vote - 74... do one a month for a few years!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Parliamentary_constituencies_in_London

MarcB | 30.04.12 - 12:48 p.m. | #

Hmm, not sure what's best, but don't do tube lines etc, there are lots of other 'tubey' blog sites out there already.

Rob C | 30.04.12 - 12:54 p.m. | #

Random Museum. It was thanks to you I visited the Museum of London to kill a couple of hours on the way to somewhere, and it was indeed interesting and enjoyable.

N one in particular | 30.04.12 - 1:12 p.m. | #

How about random TV, where you get to stay at home, feet up, open a beer and just press buttons on the remote.

mclm | 30.04.12 - 1:28 p.m. | #

Random Worshipful Companies? They have some beautiful buildings and lots of interesting history.

Debster | Homepage | 30.04.12 - 2:54 p.m. | #

I wouldn't write off Random Railway Terminus so quickly - multiply the number of London Terminals by the number of terminal stations that suburban trains reach from each and you have a wide selection indeed.

Larry Lard | 30.04.12 - 3:11 p.m. | #

I agree with Rob... don't do tube lines etc, there are lots of other 'tubey' blog sites out there already.

Michael Riley | 30.04.12 - 3:45 p.m. | #

Whiff, I live near Wood Green (well, Woodgreen) in Oxfordshire, and it is immeasurably nicer than the London one. Kennington, Oxfordshire is merely quite nicer.

Dominic | 30.04.12 - 3:46 p.m. | #

What about Random Reader? Randomly select one of your devoted fans (of which I'm one) to take you somewhere of their choosing?

RogerB | 30.04.12 - 3:53 p.m. | #

Can you put some centuries [or perhaps eras] in a jar and then visit something each visit that corresponds to that time period? As close as you can get to time travel!

Steve | 30.04.12 - 3:55 p.m. | #

How about Random places/buildings or objects that interest YOU. After all you are the one who does all the hard work. ;-D

Michael in the Netherlands | 30.04.12 - 6:07 p.m. | #

Well, even with your response, I still like the idea of Random Tube Termini!

Alternatively: Random Cemetaries, Random Parks, Random Cinemas (and their localities), Random Old Tram Routes...

Lewis | 30.04.12 - 7:44 p.m. | #

Random First-Railway-Station-Outside-Greater-London-On-Each-Line

*Lowest* point of each of the home counties might be more different than the highest point.

Mark | Homepage | 30.04.12 - 8:40 p.m. | #

I rather like the idea of Random Reader. You could come and see one of your devoted fans, have a cup of tea and whilst the kettle is on rummage around their bedroom like they do on Come Dine With Me, and report back on their strange hobbies. (With photos of course). We would also, get to see what you look like!

TinafromSurrey | 30.04.12 - 8:56 p.m. | #

I'm not sure there is anything that can really top the Random Boroughs so it might be well to leave it stand as the achievement it is.

CornishCockney | 30.04.12 - 9:14 p.m. | #

Cool blog

Love London

Keep up the good work

James

James | Homepage | 30.04.12 - 9:58 p.m. | #

Agree that you should let your achievement stand rather than struggle to find a comparable project. How about deciding on an initial place of interest in London, visiting it, then identify a link there of your choice eg. a famous person, an object, an organisation, a historic event etc that takes you to your next place of interest. Lots of scope (hopefully) for which link to choose, no fixed time between visits, second guessing by readers. Quite liberating I would have thought.

andygryce | 30.04.12 - 10:50 p.m. | #

I really like the London-based themes and am firmly against DG resting on his laurels.

What about an A-Z of country-themed things within London? Pick a country beginning with the next letter in the alphabet and visit things within zones reachable by travelcard. Possibly multiple countries things (monuments/museums/etc) are allowed provided the country starts with the same letter and the choice is particularly limited.

andrewS | 30.04.12 - 11:12 p.m. | #

How about random places on the Monopoly board? There's only twenty-eight of them, which includes utilities and railway stations, so it's perfectly doable. It will also give you an excuse to visit Vine Street (although writing in length about it may prove a challenge).

Andrewh | Homepage | 30.04.12 - 11:45 p.m. | #

I'm firmly in favour (following DG's epic perambulation of the Boroughs which cannot really be beaten)of Thames Bridges.

Let's look at the advantages:
1) They can be done either at random or in sequence
2) Each is likely to have much of interest - architectural, engineering, historical, geographical, entymological, natural, demographic etc.

3) They are by definition very clearly defined

4) DG can confine himself to London or continue (or start) at the source in Gloucestershire (after all I think he deserves an easy ride for a bit)

5) The project would lend itself very well to the same 'Somewhere.......' theme e.g. Something Historical, Something Bus, Something Natural etc. about each bridge

Go for it DG!

Stephen Hosking | 01.05.12 - 12:12 a.m. | #

Random Ryanair Airport? DG bravely visits an obscure Ryanair destination airport and finds several worthwhile reasons to book your next holiday there. Beauvais, Prestwick, Weeze, Reus and Memmingen await!

James | 01.05.12 - 12:25 a.m. | #

Keith had most of my suggestions,
but one more I thought of how about London universities / colleges ?
there must a limited number, you could cover the history ,architecture, prospectus, places to eat there, famous alumni, etc .

Jon Allen | 01.05.12 - 12:28 a.m. | #

How about random river?

By my reckoning there are 50 unique bodies of water in Wikipedia's category http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Rivers_of_London

Or how about making a list of places you've been meaning to visit someday, then select them randomly and go visit them?

Chris M | 01.05.12 - 12:39 a.m. | #

If you fancy doing a Bus-themed project, just put all the bus numbers in one jar. Then randomly pick out however many you want and put that many in another jar.
Then pick one out of the second jar each time, and visit both ends of that route.

If you think bridges is perhaps too big, then what about random piers on the river Thames in London? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_River_Services#List_of_piers lists 33 between Kingston and Woolwich. Each pier will have some history of it's own and the area it serves will have more.

Chris M | 01.05.12 - 12:46 a.m. | #

I have walked from the Thames source to the QE2 bridge. There are quite a lot of towns I've been through that aren't worth going back to, although Staines in a hard winter frost was surprisingly pretty.
Pewsey and beyond starts getting expensive on the train fares. For the first two days of the Thames from the source you are looking at spending a weekend staying in Swindon.

andrewS | 01.05.12 - 12:48 a.m. | #

Chris M, buses are covered by the One Bus At a time blog: http://londonbusesonebusatatime.blogspot.co.uk/ - on the sidebar

andrewS | 01.05.12 - 12:51 a.m. | #

Random reader's choice.

You ask for suggestions of specific places/areas, then the readership votes which one it fancies (one vote each, natch)

The top 20 go into JamJarMkII and you're away.

Simon | Homepage | 01.05.12 - 12:53 a.m. | #

I'm a regular reader of the One Bus At A Time blog, but I was thinking about DG blogging about the places at the end of the route rather than the route itself. e.g. if he picked out the 473 (the most recent bus I used) we'd get blogs about Stratford and North Woolwich.

Chris M | 01.05.12 - 1:05 a.m. | #

How 'bout London Shapes?

Geometrically placed linked locations, maybe with the theme linked to the shape - sort of Square of Squares, but more esoteric. Pentagram of the Occult. Or, draw stuff with the lines between locations.

Not a closed series, but each one is finite.

Ham | Homepage | 01.05.12 - 1:50 a.m. | #

I like @Andrewh's idea of doing the Monopoly board.

I also like @Simon's idea of random reader's choice, although I'd do it a bit differently: Ask here for suggestions of specific places we'd like you to go; keep the comments open for a week. The 20-30 suggested most often in that week go into the jar.

Keith | Homepage | 01.05.12 - 11:33 a.m. | #

Visit every branch of Percy Ingle and choose a snack in each. At random.

Richard | 02.05.12 - 12:00 a.m. | #

I am still glad to have seen the special jamjar.

Amused | 02.05.12 - 12:15 a.m. | #

I have an idea - countries within London - Pick a country - e.g Cyprus - you can deal with placenames Cyprus - the place near Beckton - but also the Cypriot communities of London (Turkish and Greek) - Canada - Canada Water and links to Canada and where Canadians hangout - There is probably no country in the world without any London association

KissenMe | 02.05.12 - 12:27 p.m. | #

Random kittens?

Debster | Homepage | 03.05.12 - 1:31 a.m. | #

What about visiting each of the historic liberty areas in London? There's a manageable number, they're relatively central and, while small in area, each has an interesting history that would be worth individual write-ups.

Declan | 15.05.12 - 4:45 p.m. | #

Random Zones 1 and 2 Tube Station and the area around them ( in the centre, this could mean places 500 metres away?)

Tube Geek | 11.01.16 - 1:08 p.m. | #











TridentScan v2.10.0 | Privacy Policy