please empty your brain below
It's really good to read though.

Bob Lindsay-Smith | 17.08.14 - 11:31 a.m. | #

not only is it a cracking read - it's also an education in a city I thought I knew better than I really do!!! Many thanks for an illuminating read.

| 17.08.14 - 12:00 p.m. | #

We South Londoners have a secret orbital network. It is possible, albeit with multiple changes of train and long waits for services running at 30 minute frequencies, to get from Hounslow to Twickenham/Richmond to Kingston to Wimbledon to Sutton to Croydon to Beckenham to Bromley to Lewisham to Bexley to Woolwich by train (and tram) without going anywhere near Zone 1. Indeed, it is not generally realised that nearly all the infrastructure for the much discussed "R25" proposal in the mayor's "2050 vision" document is already there.
The direct train service from Hounslow to Richmond takes 15 minutes, although neither station is very conveniently situated for the respective borough tops.

timbo | 17.08.14 - 2:08 p.m. | #

As a sometime mountaineer who has had to give up for injury/health reasons, I'm used to lists like the Munroes/Alpine 4000ers/Welsh 3000s etc, but not familiar with this lot. They sound much more achievable though!

It is classic DG writing though - taking something not intrinsically that interesting and making something of it!

frustrated mountaineer | 17.08.14 - 4:29 p.m. | #

I keep checking back just to see if you've passed through my little bit of south London. Borough top just along my from my flat so interested what you'll make of it!

geo_rich | 17.08.14 - 7:53 p.m. | #

....having contrived to avoid it when doing both Boxhill, and Round the GLC Boundary by Bus, will this be the project where DG finally gets to ride the 465?
http://diamondgeezer.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/outer-oyster.html

timbo | 17.08.14 - 8:13 p.m. | #

I agree with timbo, if you get to know the suburban train network and the times of trains you can get about.
As he stated there is a direct service from Hounslow to Richmond, then from outside Richmond station the 371 bus will take you up the hill.

John | 18.08.14 - 7:54 a.m. | #

@timbo I've been looking (with the help of many others) at the path of the "R25" and I have made a nice "Overground" map to show it London 2050 – a Tube Map for the future.

Perhaps this can help DG with his South London trips?

Briantist | Homepage | 18.08.14 - 10:35 a.m. | #

The disc on Monolith Hill (picture as linked from your post) doesn't appear to mention Wembley's arch - not least because when it was placed in 2000, it would still have been pointing toward's the old Wembley's twin towers.

martin | 18.08.14 - 11:12 a.m. | #

Indeed, although your R25 shows the network as it might be in 2050, by which time I think DG will have had a Freedom Pass for a quarter of a century!

Actually, most of the R25 is already there. You can get from Barking to Abbey Wood, changing at Gospel Oak, Richmond, Wimbledon, Peckham Rye and Lewisham, in a little over three hours if you time it right. Completing the circuit (via the DLR from Woolwich to West Ham) should be possible within four.

timbo | 18.08.14 - 12:58 p.m. | #

You should really try riding a bike!

Brendon | Homepage | 18.08.14 - 6:50 p.m. | #

@Brendon
There's some serious hill climbing to come.....

timbo | 19.08.14 - 10:36 a.m. | #

Not very accurate but I think dg's smart phone may have GPS and that with the right application, and there are lots to try, gives some idea of Height above sea level.

John | 19.08.14 - 4:04 p.m. | #

One of the saddest bus stop names is Atherton Leisure Centre on the 86/25 bus route on the Romford Road in Newham.

This lovely, old fashioned but well loved swimming pool and leisure centre was closed down by the council during the 2012 Olympics, despite strong opposition in the locality. We had nowhere else to go! We loved our pool and the weights room and the dodgy sauna! The council did not give a toss, despite a lot of its residents being some of the unfittest and unhealthiest in the UK.

Now we see the diggers slowly demolishing what was left of a well-loved sports centre, seemingly ignoring the reason why it was doomed!

According to the council, the old building was riddled with asbestos so it had to be demolished. But Newham Council and the demolition crews don't seem to be taking any obvious precautions to protect themselves or the passing public from the deadly asbestos dust. So is it a toxic dust bowl, or were we deceived?!!

A magenta sign is on the site, promising another leisure centre to rise from the ashes. But when? When? It does not say.

When the automatic bus announcement pipes up "Atherton Leisure Centre", should we hold our breath lest we inhale the deadly asbestos dust, or what?

Flipper | 19.08.14 - 9:14 p.m. | #











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