please empty your brain below

Saturday 1st January 2005
As part of London's New Year celebrations, tonight 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.

Sunday 2nd January
The station is open on a Sunday for the first time since November.

Monday 3rd January
New year, but no new work yet.

Tuesday 4th January
I saw a man standing on the scaffolding outside the bridge holding a wide flat tool, scraping or painting the window frame.

Wednesday 5th January
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.

Thursday 6th January
I saw just one workman, standing at the foot of the eastbound stairwell having a chat on his mobile phone.

Friday 7th January
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.

Saturday 8th January
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.

Sunday 9th January
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.

Monday 10th 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'.

Tuesday 11th January
All the grey sheeting has finally been removed from the new light fittings along the westbound platform.

Wednesday 12th January
The metal railings outside the station have been replaced by thick metal barriers, protecting the public from sections of scaffolding piled up inside.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.

Thursday 13th January
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.

Friday 14th January
Wet Paint signs are now stuck to the the remainder of the windows on the bridge.

Saturday 15th January
The station is closed again all weekend. There are workmen all over the station (at 3pm, but not at 11pm).

Sunday 16th January
Local graffiti: someone has spray-painted E3 on the new metal barriers outside the station.

Monday 17th January
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.

Tuesday 18th January
The blue wall in the ticket hall has been removed. 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.

Wednesday 19th January
Conker tree update:
only one yellow shrivelled leaf remains on the tree. It falls during the day.

Thursday 20th January
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.

Friday 21st January
All the scaffolding has been removed from the left hand side of the front of the station. The brickwork looks a bit cleaner than it did nine months ago.

Saturday 22nd January
Two thirds of the big blue sign on the front of the station that used to read BOW ROAD STATION District & Metropolitan Lines has been taken down, leaving only the panel that reads BOW ROAD.

Sunday 23rd January
The complete BOW ROAD STATION District & Metropolitan Lines sign has been returned to the front of the station - despite the fact that Bow Road hasn't been on the Metropolitan line for the last 15 years. Sigh.

Monday 24th January
After another weekend closure the floor at the entrance to the frshly-stripped ticket hall is covered by a temporary yellow surface, and a wooden recess has been revealed to the left of the station entrance.

Tuesday 25th January
Wooden strips have been laid along the edge of the wall beneath the windows of the passenger bridge, stuck down by lengths of black and yellow tape.

Wednesday 26th January
Some work has taken place on one small plank of rotten wood on the wall of the passenger bridge. Today's smell: sawdust

Thursday 27th January
Overnight the walls of the ticket hall have been freshly painted, in white. Today's smell: paint

Friday 28th January
The wooden strips on the floor below the windows on the passenger bridge have been removed, revealing freshly dried concrete. Today's smell: glue

Saturday 29th January
The station is closed for another weekend. Workmen are using both front entrances, as well as a rear entrance up a gated alley in Wellington Way, entering the station through the usually-locked doors at the top of the westbound stairwell.

Sunday 30th January
Travelling through the closed station I could see that most of the protective sheeting above the blue walls on both platforms has been removed, revealing cabling, lights and what looks like white plastic panelling along the top of the walls behind.

Monday 31st January
All the ironwork bolted to the ceiling along the rear half of both platforms has been repainted blue (the same blue as the blue walls).

Wednesday 1st June
Things still to be done:
The new 'next train' indicators need to give details of the next train.

Thursday 2nd June
Things still to be done:
Several more poster frames need to be affixed to the platform walls.

Friday 3rd June
Things still to be done:
The numerous Help Points around the station need to be made operational.

Saturday 4th June
Things still to be done:
The protective sheeting covering the floors in the stairwells and overbridge needs to be removed.

Sunday 5th June
Things still to be done: The raised strips a short distance from the edge of each platform (for the benefit of visually impaired passengers) both need to be replaced..

Monday 6th June
An intercom activated by a security keypad has been installed in the ticket hall to the right of the new control room window.

Tuesday 7th June
Both the drinks machine and the chocolate machine on the westbound platform have new signs saying Out of service.

Wednesday 8th June
A smart new sign reading District and Hammersmith & City lines has been installed at the top of the electronic display board above the ticket machine in the ticket hall.

Thursday 9th June
Some of the holes in some of the panels on both platforms have been filled by shiny metal squares, each with a lockable door.

Friday 10th June
Conker tree update:
the conkers now look like real mini conkers with tiny spiky green shells.

Saturday 11th June
Someone has drawn a crossed-sword shape in the filthy dust on the top of the lighting globe at the bottom of the westbound stairwell.

Sunday 12th June
The southernmost window in the ticket hall has a new sign above it reading:
Assistance (temporary sign)

Monday 13th June
A new (yellow) raised strip for visually impaired passengers appears to have been successfully installed along the eastern half of the eastbound platform.

Tuesday 14th June
Another (new) yellow strip has been installed along the eastern half of the westbound platform.

Wednesday 15th June
Both electronic clocks on the two 'next train' indicators are suddenly running 3½ hours slow.

Thursday 16th June
The raised yellow strip now stretches the full length of the westbound platform.

Friday 17th June
Both of the new 'next train' indicators on the platforms have been switched off.

Saturday 18th June
The chocolate and drinks machines are both functional again.

Sunday 19th June
Some new chairs have been delivered to the control room. They are still covered by polythene wrapping.

Monday 20th June
Most of the holes in some of the panels on both platforms have been filled by shiny metal squares, each with a lockable door.

Tuesday 21st June
A notice on the door to the new control room reads:
Caution
Wet paint on all walls.
BBCL


Wednesday 22nd June (report from Andrew)
"have just got back from looking around various stations, including Bow Road, where work is supposed to be going on... 23 workmen at Bow Road at 1.15am doing very little that I could see"

Thursday 23rd June
The new 'next train' indicators have been switched back on, but they only tell the time and not the destination of the next train.

Friday 24th June
The new 'next train' indicator on the eastbound platform now displays a destination which is not necessarily the destination of the next train.

Saturday 25th June
The new 'next train' indicator on the westbound platform now displays the destination of the next train, but not how many minutes away it is.

Sunday 26th June
The new 'next train' indicator on the westbound platform is five seconds slower in indicating the next train than was the old 'next train' indicator.

Monday 27th June
Some red boxes containing fire safety equipment have been installed on the southern wall of the ticket hall. They have been covered with black and yellow sticky tape, presumably to indicate that they don't yet work.

Where is the photo of the dome I grew up in charlton and live in Holland but I remember this small view

Very Interesting

Tuesday 28th June
The various Help Points around the station are now functional.

Wednesday 29th June
At 10pm I saw two workmen in orange jackets park their car on the cobbled pavement outside the courthouse nextdoor and walk to the portakabins in front of the station to report for work.

Thursday 30th June
A temporary Tickets sign has been placed on the ticket machine in the main ticket hall. It's long and very white with big blue lettering.

Friday 1st July
The new 'next train' indicator on the eastbound platform now seems to be displaying the correct destination of the next train, but still not how many minutes away it is.

Saturday 2nd July
New fire alarms appear to have installed at certain points around the station, but they are covered over by blue and white tape.

Sunday 3rd July
New fire alarm notices have also been installed, and they too are covered over by blue and white tape.

Monday 4th July
The globe light fittings above the westbound stairwell have at last been cleaned (and they look much cleaner).

Tuesday 5th July
The new control room beside the ticket hall looks to be in full operation, maybe.

Wednesday 6th July
A poster in the ticket hall congratulates London on winning the 2012 Olympics.

Thursday 7th July
Following terrorist bombings at three other stations at the height of the morning rush hour, Bow Road (along with the rest of the network) is closed for the rest of the day.

Friday 8th July
As the network reopens, Bow Road station is quiet but intact.

Saturday 9th July
The end date on the 'storage licence' posted on one of the black doors halfway along the westbound platform has been extended until 30th August.

Sunday 10th July
Those conker cases on the tree outside the station are looking proper big and conker-sized already.

Monday 11th July
One lonely-looking policeman is standing outside the station.

Tuesday 12th July
Two not-quite-so lonely-looking policemen are standing outside the station.

Wednesday 13th July
The two old 'next train' indicators, one on each platform, have finally been turned off after many decades of good and faithful service.











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