dg comments

please empty your brain below

I can't believe they're not suggesting people use the Dangleway, the ultimate in socially distanced public transport.

martin | 22.01.21 - 7:06 a.m. | #

The signs for Excel that were already showing the walking route from Canning Town should have sufficed. Now I am wondering if the sign for West Ham United football ground is still posted on Silvertown Way towards Upton Park.

Scrumpy | 22.01.21 - 7:13 a.m. | #

This is not unlike your report about the Hammersmith Bridge closure, where TfL were dispensing information - but the wrong type of information, and the people dispensing it weren't aware it was the wrong information, because they had no idea about the locality.

If only there was a quick, convenient way of getting between Palestra (assuming that's were the work is done) and Custom House then someone could have popped over to check before updating the website.

Still Anon | 22.01.21 - 7:39 a.m. | #

and those of us in South London are left to guess how to get to our nearest centre at Epsom Downs.

timbo | 22.01.21 - 8:04 a.m. | #

I was going to give them a pass on South London, being that we have nothing like Excel or Wembley. And then they tacked Hornsey on there.

Chz | 22.01.21 - 8:29 a.m. | #

Westminster has issued a leaflet for locals showing vaccination sites and symptom bearing/symptom free test sites.

Vaccinations at Lord's (well served and has permanent /reuseable signage for cricket crowds) and Vincent Square Health Centre (less well served)

Don't know if there is any specific signage locally for any of this, or whether match day day-time weekend parking restrictions will be enforced for Lord's.

Milest | 22.01.21 - 8:55 a.m. | #

Being one of your 'out of town' readers, I can gloat that the invitation to my first jab, done this week, was accompanied by precise and totally accurate arrival instructions to the local racecourse and that the jab itself involved zero waiting time despite my arriving early as a result of caution regarding serious roadworks on the way. For once a public sector activity worked perfectly and our local paper yesterday is full of appreciative letters.

J. | 22.01.21 - 9:00 a.m. | #

Currently the nearest mass vaccination centre to Seaside is Epsom Downs Racecourse and err, the ExCel Centre! Nothing else in the South East (Kent, Sussex & Hants). I'll check the TfL website later for directions from the South Coast.

msjs | 22.01.21 - 9:04 a.m. | #

how odd ... my GP surgery is in Hornsey Central but when I was offered a covid vaccination a couple of weeks ago I was sent off to a health centre in Bounds Green ... not that I'm complaining as Bounds Green is easy enough to get to by car but I just find it strange

Caroline | 22.01.21 - 9:07 a.m. | #

So, Go Ogle is now embedded in the Journey Planner, one assumes.

B | 22.01.21 - 9:52 a.m. | #

Several friends who live in London have been able to get jabs easily at Guys and St Thomas's by ringing up and getting a jab date a few days later. Even though this appears to blow a hole through the "stay at home-wait for a letter-protect the NHS" mantra", it sounds a lot less faff than the trip to ExCel.

Rick | 22.01.21 - 10:01 a.m. | #

This could be solved (for some) using what3words I suspect!

R2 | 22.01.21 - 10:37 a.m. | #

Since all the over 80s (in fact all the over 66s) qualify for a bus pass, I can see buses being the most attractive way to get to and from the Vaccination Centres.

anothertim | 22.01.21 - 11:31 a.m. | #

One could say that this is typical of TfL and by extension the current government. It makes one weep to see how pathetic the English are now in a crisis and even worse at giving the offending authorities a good kick up the backside to get things done properly. If we had been like this during the war I hate to think what would have happened then.

Tones | 22.01.21 - 12:42 p.m. | #

When I turned on my mobile this morning there was a message telling me to book my jab (I will be 75 in May). I was given a choice of 3 locations from which I chose the most convenient for me - "The Hive"*. I chose 9:50 as my appointment time. There was a long queue when I got there at 9:45, but I was ushered to the front of the queue and was sitting with my allocated nurse at 9:50. The person aged 66 in a wheelchair who arrived just before me was halfway along an even longer queue when I left.

* Barnet FC's ground, which is in the LB of Harrow and can be seen from the Jubilee line between Queensbury and Canons Park.

Mike Roberts | 22.01.21 - 12:54 p.m. | #

I had my jab this morning at the Evergreen Centre in Edmonton - I live in Enfield only a 10 minute walk from the Carlton House Centre which would have been far more convenient for me. However, I was very impressed with how efficient the whole experience was; I was there for 25 minutes max.
Rick - I received a text yesterday inviting me for a jab at Guys and St Thomas's Hospital (I had two teeth removed there two years ago!) Rather a long way for me to travel across London though!

Sara | 22.01.21 - 1:36 p.m. | #

Many thanks to DG for the information. I spent hours the other evening trying to work out a car route to Excel Centre to see if it was viable to take my aunt who is 97. The alternative was apparently Stevenage or somewhere in the distant reaches of west London.

Then discovered that a local church hall in Chingford is being used, and that is about ten minutes or so by wheelchair. No information about how to get appointment there though and the same restrictions about not asking GP etc.

And a special thank you for the 20 January entry. That, and the responses from your readers, helped what is left of my sanity and cheered me up. Ta to all.

g.chingford | 22.01.21 - 1:49 p.m. | #

As a resident on Western Gateway, I'm delighted to inform you that multiple additional AA-style bright yellow road directional signs have been erected this morning.

I can't imagine any other reason for this than the contractors are avid readers of this blog. Good job, DG.

imp | 22.01.21 - 2:54 p.m. | #

There were yellow AA-style signs for drivers yesterday (but leading to the lower car park entrance, not the main pedestrian entrance).

diamond geezer | Homepage | 22.01.21 - 2:58 p.m. | #

I would suggest that the directions to the ExCel were written by someone many miles away (perhaps not even in the UK) doing a desk study. Thus they would have had no local knowledge at all.
I would further suggest that the problem was compounded by no-one at TfL actually looking at the data before it was published.
Or, even better, walking around "on site" to confirm that the data was correct.
Problem made even worse by the failure of TfL to walk around a second time checking that the signs actually erected were correct.
By the way, the last two actions require the use of the six most important management tools - two feet, two eyes and two ears, collectively known as MBWA - Management By Walking About.

strawbrick | 22.01.21 - 2:59 p.m. | #

there's a vaccination centre due to open soon in Westfield Stratford, in the unit formerly occupied by IKEA. Hopefully they'll manage more sensible directions to there - or perhaps the shopping centre can be trusted to put up their own local wayfinding.

martin | 22.01.21 - 3:14 p.m. | #

My wife had her jab at Barking hospital yesterday, about a 10-minute stroll from our house. (I had been expecting to have to go to Excel, so that was welcome. Uber are offering a free ride (up to £15) to a vaccination centre, though I had been in two minds whether a cab or the Jubilee line was a greater risk in a pandemic). The appointment had been arranged by our GP surgery. When my wife got there, she found they had no record of her appointment. After some humming and harring and checking of the NHS database to confirm she existed, she was given the vaccine.

JohnC | 22.01.21 - 3:34 p.m. | #

anyday that an "afternoon update" occurs on your blog following on from the morning post is a good day! :-)

Geofftech | 22.01.21 - 3:38 p.m. | #

Just a question to you Diamond Geezer, as much as you may feel this is useful can I ask were you in the area because you were having a vaccine jab and therefore attending The Nightingale ? If not why are you out and about potentially spreading the virus when you should be at home protecting the NHS rather than putting their good work in a bad light?

Anonymous | 22.01.21 - 5:45 p.m. | #

One can protect the NHS by getting some fresh air, exercise and vitamin D. I also expect it's perfectly possible to walk from Chateaux DG to the ExCeL and back without passing within 2 metres of another person.

martin | 22.01.21 - 6:18 p.m. | #

TridentScan v2.10.0 | Privacy Policy