please empty your brain below
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Is Greenwich inner London? It feels a bit too far out to deserve that description.
What do you call the London that is neither inner London or outer London? (Zone 2/3 boundary, I’m looking at you).
dg writes: Here's the official demarcation.
Dan | 09.02.19 - 9:11 a.m. | #
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The irony is that Lakeside is more rather than less public transport friendly than the existing London sheds because of the out of town shopping centre next door.
There is now the much smaller shop in Tottenham Court Road though.
Sprout Eater | 09.02.19 - 9:26 a.m. | #
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Half an hour. You made it through in half an hour!! I don't know whether to be impressed or in despair. I know the layout of my nearest IKEA well and have yet to be able to pop in for just one item in half an hour.
Did you buy anything?
Caz | 09.02.19 - 9:46 a.m. | #
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Is it wise to put "free toilets", "desperate" and "loose stools" in the same paragraph? Excuse me i -
Milo | 09.02.19 - 10:26 a.m. | #
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I both love and hate Ikea at the same time.
I (mostly) love the prices - until you realise that every little screw and bracket needs to be added in separately, which soon adds up, but hate the whole "safari" feel of the place. I usually know what I want so therefore want to go straight to it - not be led on a weaving 30 minute hike first!
In the last several years I've only been to my nearest one a handful of times, usually only to stock up on tealights or pick up a set of kitchen utensils for university-bound kids.
Cornish Cockney | 09.02.19 - 10:46 a.m. | #
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There are different “official” designations of inner vs outer London. For instance the mayor of London has both Newham and Greenwich as inner London while (and I haven’t been able to double check this) ONS (I think) has Greenwich as outer London.
Haringey is another borough that jumps about between inner and outer London depending on who’s is defining. Was always a pain when developing planning policy in the London Plan.
Flare | 09.02.19 - 10:52 a.m. | #
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Ikea is great on a quiet weekday evening and hellish on a weekend.
Have they built a big multi story car park as well as otherwise the car park looks pretty small compared on google maps.
flare | 09.02.19 - 10:57 a.m. | #
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Flag-waving staff are currently stood at one end of North Greenwich bus station to remind passengers that IKEA is open.
A sign alerts bus passengers that "You will not be allowed to board if you are carrying an item more than two metres long, or which you are not able to carry yourself."
The enormous car park is 90% full. There are no traffic jams.
diamond geezer | Homepage | 09.02.19 - 11:33 a.m. | #
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5-6pm will be interesting when the football at charlton finishes, although their attendances aren’t as large as they could be at the moment.
Flare | 09.02.19 - 12:09 p.m. | #
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I once saw someone on the bus in Wimbledon with an IKEA mattress. Presumably they had just got off the tram from Croydon. Crazy times.
Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 09.02.19 - 12:10 p.m. | #
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Ikea is one of those places that feels like a "Disneyland" for adults
Grumpy Anon | 09.02.19 - 12:14 p.m. | #
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It’s laudable that you went by bus, but trying taking a bookcase home on the 108.
Kim | 09.02.19 - 12:16 p.m. | #
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I went inside an IKEA store when the Wembley store on the North Circular Road opened. Once was enough.
John | 09.02.19 - 12:26 p.m. | #
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Caz, you need to learn all the shortcuts - I can be in and out of the Croydon Ikea in 15 mins if I only want one or two items.
I once sat in the cafe there and laughed myself silly at a guy in the carpark trying desparately to attach a long flatpack to the side of his motorbike, no matter what he did it wouldn't stay put and he wouldn't have been able to ride the bike even if it had. He gave up in disgust after 20 mins and went back inside - to claim a refund or arrange delivery, who knows?
Margaret | 09.02.19 - 12:36 p.m. | #
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At school, the Millennium Village was used as a case study of urban regeneration in our geography textbooks, and the eco-Sainsbury's stood out as a cornerstone of the development. Two decades on, this is what has become of it? Too expensive to maintain in this day and age perhaps?
TheLupineOne | 09.02.19 - 1:42 p.m. | #
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Inner or outer London? I don't know, but to those of us who work there, North Greenwich feels like the middle of nowhere.
I took a ride past Ikea on the opening day just to see how it was going from the safety of the top deck of a bus (busy but not manic as it happens, though the shop and car park on opposite sides of the road did make it a bit tricky for the bus to get over the zebra crossing.) Main problem was that I planned to get off at the next stop, but I now know the 132 heads straight for the A2 and doesn't stop again until half way to Dover. To rub salt into the wound, the bus stop back then isn't across the road but on a different road about half a mile away. A somewhat longer lunch break than planned...
Andrew S | 09.02.19 - 2:22 p.m. | #
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"Inner London" (as in the old Inner London Education Authority) is, I believe, the old London County Council area, and roughly coincides with the London Postal Area.
timbo | 09.02.19 - 2:40 p.m. | #
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The old London County Council area (319 km²) is very much not coterminous with the London Postal Area (624 km²).
Tedious Pedant | 09.02.19 - 6:38 p.m. | #
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Indeed, ILEA = LCC, except for those two exclaves of the old Woolwich BC north of the river, which joined Newham rather than the London (now Royal) Borough of Greenwich.
The London Postal Area is much, much older (as well as bigger). Though, if you want a pub quiz question, there are bits of the old LCC and ILEA areas that are outside the London Postal Area -- Lewisham's Downham is in Kent according to the Royal Mail.
AlanBG | 09.02.19 - 7:17 p.m. | #
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*ding ding*
We've hit the 'Lewisham is in Kent' old chestnut, and I hereby declare this thread off-topic, cheers.
diamond geezer | Homepage | 09.02.19 - 7:25 p.m. | #
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Yippee - IKEA anecdotes:
1) I worked out that by depacking the posher version of the BILLY (have lots of those as well) it will fit into a Polo, and still allow the wife somewhereish to sit.
2) Why do they provide full strength tea bags for itsy bitsy sized cups. I hate waste so we leave half used ones on a paper towel ready for the second one. Repeat for three and four.
3) At a certain age and not having moved for the last 10 years, there is less and less need to go, now once every two years. Still fills me with dread though when she mentions it.
Ken | 09.02.19 - 8:35 p.m. | #
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When I was working, one of my colleagues used to describe IKEA as "the walk of the living dead"!
John Simmons | 09.02.19 - 9:44 p.m. | #
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Post match traffic was already bad in the area due to the sea of out of town retail parks in the area...
I walked there after the match, it was still very busy at 5:30 today, but then Ikeas are incredibly rare considering the sales volumes they must generate in the Greater London area.
Mikey C | 10.02.19 - 12:14 a.m. | #
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And no one has mentioned the gridlock in Reading when IKEA opened near J12 of the M4, chaos for hours! These sheds are a neighbourhood blight.
J. | 10.02.19 - 7:57 a.m. | #
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You might say I did the reverse journey, passing Greenwich en route to see the Doreen Fletcher exhibition at Bow. I did stop by at Ikea, mostly to get a view of the car park from the restaurant*: at the time of my visit (about 2pm) the car park was about 95% full.
It was a couple of hours later when I came back from Bow. By that time the outer lanes on the northbound approach [for the Blackwall Tunnel] didn't actually seem too bad, but lane 1 was absolutely solid, right back to the Sun In The Sands and beyond, with people queuing for the Greenwich exit.
In itself, the queue wouldn't have been so bad, but for one thing, which was the number of people who - out of dumbness or impatience - had dodged the main queue and could be seen trying to squeeze their way in at the actual exit. I mean, sheesh, just sticking on your indicator and stopping in a live lane is just tantamount to stupid and an accident waiting to happen.
The restaurant was getting quite full when I went up there. It was amazing to see how many diners had chosen the meatballs!
RogerW | 10.02.19 - 8:24 a.m. | #
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I scored a free Oyster card loaded with £5 yesterday from a nice man at the Cutty Sark (it also comes in a cute little holder made of recycled IKEA blue bags). They're definitely *trying* to encourage people to travel by public transport, though the cynic in me wonders if these attempts will last beyond the first few weeks. I hope so.
mightymouse | 10.02.19 - 9:41 a.m. | #
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I also scored a freebie £5 Oystercard from an IKEA promoter, standing in the square outside Deptford station on Saturday lunchtime. Shame he didn't actually tell me *how* I could get there.
In retrospect I wish I'd've asked; I half suspect the young graduate trainee–type would've floundered for a bit, then guessed at taking the train from Deptford to London Bridge, for the Jubilee line.
Rich Thomas | 11.02.19 - 10:24 a.m. | #
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