London visitor

As a symbol of our city, the red double-decker is up there with Big Ben and Tower Bridge. But did you ever wonder why the colour was chosen?

One theory holds that early prototypes were painted red as a warning to other drivers — as though to say ‘keep your distance; this thing’s experimental’. These German test vehicles were known as ‘Rotmeisters’ (translates as red master [vehicles]), a name corrupted to Routemasters by the British public when the buses were put into active service without a colour change.

It’s an intriguing theory. Unfortunately, we just made it up, and the truth is more prosaic.

You have to go back to 1907, when most buses were still horse-drawn, to witness the crimson dawn.

Before that time, buses came in all manner of shades, with rival companies operating different routes. In 1907, the London General Omnibus Company rouged-up its entire fleet in an effort to stand out from the competition.

The LGOC soon became the largest bus company, and its livery came to dominate the streets. When London Transport formed in 1933, it extended the convention to most (though not all) London buses, a decision whose effects remain with us today.

What’s the shade?

A quick glance through Transport for London’s colour standards guide reveals that buses under its purview should be coloured in Pantone 485 C (which corresponds to RGB 218, 41, 28; see here).

This popular hue is also used on the tube roundel and Central line, as well as by Royal Mail, Kit Kat, McDonald’s and the Russian flag.

Actually, London buses aren’t all that red

But there’s a snag. The surfaces of London buses are mostly not red. This becomes clear when seen from above. Here’s a view we somehow managed to get from Victoria station.

As you can see, bus roofs are largely white, to reflect sunlight and thereby reduce heating in summer. We’ve never checked, but we’d be willing to bet that their underbellies aren’t red, either.

Now subtract the area taken up by the windows and adverts — the latter can encanker the whole backside of a bus. We’d guess that the typical vehicle is only 30-40% red.

New Routemasters, like the one leading the pack in our photo, are decidedly more crimson than their stablemates. Seen from behind, they also look a lot like the alien from Alien, though that’s neither here nor there.

Finally, we have to acknowledge those buses that get the all-over, wrap-around advertising. You can see a black example, lurking at the back of the Victoria image above.

At any given time, a small percentage of London’s buses don’t feature any red at all.

This symbol of our city is in danger of disappearing. The London red bus might actually be a red herring.

Cramming onto a tube train, not going anywhere, getting off again, and doing the whole thing over, might sound like just another bad day on the Northern Line. But that’s one of the science experiments at University College London’s PAMELA Lab.

PAMELA, short for Pedestrian Accessibility Movement Environment Laboratory, is in a shed in an industrial estate in Tufnell Park. Inside, the walls are painted black, street lights hang from the ceiling and students, researchers and volunteers mingle, with eye trackers, brain monitors, circuit boards and cups of tea. The research happens on a big concrete platform that can be adjusted to create different surfaces and conditions to test how people move.   

Tube tests

The PAMELA team work with TfL to test new designs for train carriages and platforms. Dr Catherine Holloway, director of the lab, tells us about a recent experiment to measure the effect of platform edge doors on how quickly people can get on and off a tube carriage. Platform edge doors are used on the Jubilee Line (and soon Crossrail), providing a barrier between the platform and the track. Catherine explains «the doors improve safety but increase heat in the tunnels, which means that components of the track, signalling and trains wear out faster». TfL also wanted to know if they have an impact on people getting on and off the trains, and the PAMELA experiments showed that overall the extra doors have no significant impact.

Assisting people

Extra doors on tube platforms might not make much difference, but moving around London can be difficult if you are in a wheelchair, on crutches, sight impaired or suffering from dementia. Testing new designs and developing new technologies to help people with disabilities is what excites engineer Catherine the most.

«We have equipment here to measure brain function, eye movement, and full biomechanics of people moving through different environments», says Catherine. «We can test assistive technologies here in ways that are just not possible in the outside world». For instance, PhD student Chinemelu Ezeh, is researching head controlled wheelchairs. Chi is hacking new controls into motorised wheelchairs, then measuring how well they work and what impacts they have on users’ bodies.

PAMELA researchers are also working with neuroscientists to get a better understanding of how people with dementia see their environment and move around. Mr Brown is a research participant with a form of dementia that has reduced his ability to understand the objects that he sees. He can see a chair, and tell you that he is looking for a place to sit, but his brain can’t put the two together. Working with experts in dementia, PAMELA researchers design experiments to find out how Mr Brown sees the world, and test interventions that might help him. «Perhaps Mr Brown would know where to sit if we put a flashing light or a label on the chair,» Catherine says. «In our lab we can safely test things that might help Mr Brown and others suffering from his condition».

Science bus

Because no London lab is complete without one, PAMELA has its own bus.

The PAMELA bus is full of instruments to measure the forces and movements of passengers getting on and off, and travelling on London buses. The bus is the focus of a collaborative project led by PAMELA artist in residence Zoe Schoenherr. Zoe is working with a visually-impaired dancer and five other artists to turn the bus into an art installation, exploring tactile experiences of places and things. Zoe’s work will be ready for a public performance and exhibition at PAMELA in September and October.

This super skinny London home is narrower than a double-decker bus! It’s described by estate agents as a ‘cool’ space which ‘oozes charm and character’.

A Grade I listed Royal Palace in the heart of Richmond, Hampton Court Palace, was the primary residence of King Henry VIII.  Much of the original Tudor structure was subsequently demolished and rebuilt in a new style by King William II, but some of the castle’s previous residents remained.  Several ghostly figures have been reported within the walls of Hampton Court Palace, from strange sounds in the rooms to full spectral figures that stalk the halls.  Follow us—if you dare—as we explore some of these supernatural presences that continue to haunt Hampton Court Palace.

THE GREY LADY

In life, the “Grey Lady” is believed to have been Sybil Penn, a servant to four Tudor monarchs, including Henry, Queen Mary I, Queen Elizabeth I, and King Edward VI.  She was a wet nurse to the last three and cared for Elizabeth when the then-princess caught smallpox in 1562.  While Elizabeth recovered, Sybil herself caught the pox and died from it.  The story is that her ghost did not begin to appear until after her tomb was disturbed in 1829 by renovations to the chapel.

SINISTER SPINNING WHEEL

Potentially linked to Sybil Penn, reports also began in the 19^th Century of an eerie spinning wheel sound within the palace walls.  The Ponsonby family, who were living in the palace at the time, began to complain about the noise that seemed to be coming from behind the wall of their apartment.  When the wall was removed, there sat a spinning wheel that had been abandoned by time—but not by Sybil.  There is no definitive proof it once belonged to her, but the timeliness of the events has led many to speculate that she was behind the spinning noise.

“SKELETOR”

Another Hampton Court Palace ghost or just a prank?  This ghost, dubbed “Skeletor” for his skeletal appearance, was spotted on three consecutive nights in 2003.  CCTV footage captured the robbed figure forcefully blowing open some fire doors in the palace.  Once the second night, the “ghost” pulled the doors back after opening them.  In addition to the palace’s security staff, a visitor left a note in the guest book that they had seen a specter in approximately the same area.  There haven’t been any reported sightings since, and no one has come forward to admit to the prank, so it remains a mystery whether “Skeletor” is yet another supernatural inhabitant or just someone having a bit of fun.

JANE SEYMOUR

The third wife of King Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, was the only one of his six wives to produce a male heir in the person of King Edward VI.  However, the very act of childbirth took her life when she died twelve days afterward from post-birth complications (believed to have been puerperal fever).  She supposedly never left the palace walls and is said to be seen stalking the palace hallways with a single lit candle.  She was first spotted on Edward’s first birthday, carrying her sole candle up the Silverstick Stairs to the room where she gave birth and passed away.

CATHERINE HOWARD

Catherine Howard, Henry’s fifth wife, was reportedly the exact opposite personality of Jane—a trait that is reflected even in death.  Catherine led a wild life and was ultimately beheaded by Henry for treason as she allegedly had been carrying on affairs behind his back.  When she was arrested, it’s said she broke free from her guards and ran screaming down one of the palace’s galleries, trying to reach Henry to plead with him before she was recaptured and hauled away to her doom.  Her ghost has been spotted repeating this failed journey in what is now known as the “Haunted Gallery.”  Visitors still claim to hear, see, and even smell strange things as they pass through the Haunted Gallery.

Ever noticed the whopping great width of the southbound platform at Angel tube station? Passengers are allocated around twice as much space as the trains, in marked contrast to other stations where it’s more like 50/50. A similar thing happens at Euston.

The reason is simple. Angel and Euston used to have island platforms, as still sported at Clapham Common and Clapham North stations.

Such a set-up just about functions in Clapham, but was a major headache at busier Angel and Euston. The narrow waiting space — just 3.7m — soon became overcrowded and potentially dangerous.

Both stations were reworked: Euston during the construction of the Victoria line in the 1960s, and Angel in the early 1990s. In each case, one side of the island platform was filled in, creating a double-width platform. Trains were diverted into a newly excavated section of running track.

At Angel, the major engineering didn’t stop there. The unreliable lifts were removed and a new station entrance was built on Upper Street, some distance from the original entry on City Road. This required a set of extra-length escalators, which remain the longest on the network.

Most of the time we’re packed into an Underground carriage and will take any seat we can get. But what about those halcyon moments when we’re greeted by an empty carriage and a plethora of locations to posit our derrieres? Maybe you’re travelling off-peak; maybe you live at the end of a line and this is an everyday occurrence? Whatever the case, there are seats aplenty.

But which seat is the best to pick? There are so many factors to take into consideration. Let us take you through them and explore the many facets of this conundrum.

The priority seat

It’s the obvious choice. Nearest the exit, only have to sit next to one person and a nice glass panel to lean against. But it’s rightly there for those less able to stand. So we run the risk of being required to give it up once the train is heaving and there are no other seats available. Now we stand when once we lorded over all our seating possibilities.

The second one in

The next best option. Sure we’ve now got a person either side, but at least we’re still near the exit. This means we don’t have to push past lots of others to get out. The drawback: those who love the priority seat will sit next to us even when there are plenty of other seats available. To these people we say «No! Always respect the one seat gap where possible!». Of course we’re far too polite/pathetic to ever say this to their faces. And we have a special look of hatred for those in the priority seat who don’t give it up when they should, thus requiring us to be the ones who make way.

«We have a special look of hatred for those in the priority seat who don’t give it up when they should».

In the middle

This may seem like a duff choice as we’re stuck in the commuter crush. But we’re getting off at London Bridge where half the train empties anyway. Plus we’re unlikely to have to give up our seat and as carriages tend to fill up from the outside in, we’re most likely to have empty seats either side of us. Could this be the one?

The others

For reasons of simplicity we’ve only covered the standard bank of seats that exist on all tube trains. We’re well aware that on the Overground the choice is obvious — the brilliant middle seat with a glass panel next to it. And we all hate sitting down on those hard and uncomfortable fold down seats.

So which seat is your favourite? Or is it all too much, and do you just end up standing to avoid the hassle?

England’s first fleet of hydrogen powered double-decker buses are set to be introduced in London.

Twenty of the vehicles, which produce no pollution from their exhausts, will serve the number 7 route between East Acton and Oxford Circus.

Transport for London already has more than 500 electric buses in its fleet as it aims to be zero-emission by 2030.

The new buses can be charged once a day within five minutes and the only direct by-product is water.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: «We have made real progress in London to clean up our air, but we still have a long way to go because toxic air pollution in our city is still leading to thousands of premature deaths every year and is stunting the growth of children’s lungs. 

«Our investment in these hydrogen buses is not only helping us to clean up London’s air, but is supporting jobs and local economics across the UK.»

The National Rail app — famously conservative in its estimations of how long it takes to get from one part of London to another — suggests just one minute for a changeover between King’s Cross and St Pancras railway stations.

Straddling the east and west sides of Pancras Road, the pair are literally a stone’s throw apart (although we haven’t put that to the test).

And their names are both totally representative of this shared area in which they find themselves; St Pancras being the older term for this part of London, but King’s Cross arguably the more widespread (and notorious).

They even share a tube stop, for goodness’ sake.

So why were these two grand old railway terminals built to be separate, rather than as some sort of integrated mega-hub?

For the answer, you have to go right back to the 19th century, to London’s early railway history.

King’s Cross is the more senior of the two stations. Built by the Great Northern Railway, it opened in 1852. Quaintly, it had just two platforms then: one for arrivals, the other for departures.

Back in the early Victorian era, businessmen competed with one another to bring the railway to new parts of the country. (In fact, the Underground ended up being a microcosm of this, with different firms racing to build new lines across London.)

The Great Northern Railway would have seen the likes of the Midland Railway as a rival. Midland spent years borrowing platforms at King’s Cross and Euston, before eventually pouncing on some land to build its own terminus. And that’s why there are two separate stations.

And as to why they were so close, it was a simple matter of land availability in a rapidly-growing metropolis. The site chosen for St Pancras required a pretty brutal clearance process, but crucially, Midland Railway had a lot of help from the Government.

The job meant flattening houses in a district called Agar Town, as well as bridging Regent’s Canal, ploughing through the St Pancras burial ground (a young aspiring writer named Thomas Hardy helped with the exhumations), and even moving a church to east London.

Along came St Pancras, opened in 1868. Five years later, George Gilbert Scott’s iconic hotel building was erected in an attempt to outshine King’s Cross — not to mention Paddington and Charing Cross.

Scott’s idea seemed too ludicrous to win the design competition — precisely why the rail bosses loved it so much.

So, every time you see his spectacular gothic-revival frontage, remember that it was born of a spirit of one-upmanship that prevailed during the age of industrialism.

And that’s the same reason these two stations were built independently of one another.

That almost certainly wouldn’t have happened a century later, when the railways were collectively under government control. Indeed, an idea was mooted in the 1960s to merge the two stations, perhaps demolishing both. Only a campaign by John Betjeman saved St Pancras.

But disuse and dilapidation meant that station struggled through the late 20th century. The hotel was turned into office space, then fell empty. British Rail tried to sell off the old station clock but accidentally smashed it in the process.

Refurbishment in 2007 gave the station a new lease of life; it now hosts Eurostar, and its hotel is a hotel again. Even Thameslink services were re-routed from King’s Cross to a pair of new platforms under St Pancras.

St Pancras got Paris. King’s Cross got Harry Potter. Safe to say there’s life in that old rivalry yet.

There are beaches near London, but then there are beaches IN London! Just the one of them, mind you: Ruislip Lido.

Ruislip Lido is a 60-acre lake sat on the edge of a lovely 726-acre nature reserve – that’s twice the size of Hyde Park, stats fans. Ruislip Woods National Nature Reserve is, as you might guess, mostly bucolic ancient woodland.

Head through the forest to reach the lake…

And on the southern edge you’ll find a miraculous beach!

Dating back to the 1950s, this tropical spot has had its ups and downs over the years, lapsing into some heinous disrepair during the ’70s before being returned to its current glory in the 2000s. Now it’s a popular spot for families, locals and anyone looking for a bit of faux-seaside fun.

And that’s not all. As well as climbing frames, play areas and a little café for ice creams, there’s even a miniature train that’ll take you on a fun little trip around the lake. Transit goals!

It’s an indisputably cute reason to push your Oyster Card to the limits and head out to Zone 6 – it’s an hour from central London, door-to-door, with a tube journey to Ruislip Station, and then a choice of two buses to take you the rest of the way.

There are, however, a couple of important things we ought to point out before you grab your bucket and spade. First, swimming and boating are not permitted at the lake, which does make the whole ‘Ruslip Lido‘ a bit of a misnomer. (Consider a trip to one of London’s outdoor pools if you want to splash around.) Meanwhile, on a sunny bank holiday or summer weekend, let’s just say it can get a little bit busy…

Paddington railway station was built as the terminus of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Great Western Railway in the 1830s. Perhaps you travel through it regularly — but how well do you really know it?

1. The area was once owned by someone called Padda

Paddington station is named after the wider area of Paddington (the bear, in turn, is named after the station). The name originates from Anglo-Saxon times. Padda is believed to refer to a local land owner, with ‘ton’ or ‘tun’ meaning ‘the village of’.

2. It was the destination of Queen Vic’s first train trip

Queen Victoria became the first reigning monarch to travel by train in 1842, heading from Slough to Paddington after a trip to Windsor Castle.The reason for her deviance from road travel, according to the Dublin Evening Mail:

«In consequence of the annoyance, from the extremely dusty state of the road between here and London, to which Her Majesty was subjected in her progress from Buckingham Palace to the castle».

Prince Albert was with Vic on the trip, but it wasn’t his first experience of railway travel (show off). Railway engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel was also on the royal charter train, but he travelled in the cab with the driver (bigger show off).

Following this inaugural trip into Paddington, Queen Victoria became a regular on the railways due to her frequent trips to Windsor Castle.

3. It’s inspired by another London building

Paddington station was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as part of his plans for the Great Western Railway. When designing his new station, he was inspired by the construction of Crystal Palace, housed in nearby Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851, hence the abundance of glass and metal in the station’s design.

4. It used to be in a different place

The original Paddington station opened on 4 June 1838 on a site to the west of what is now Bishop’s Bridge Road, using the arches of the bridge to house passenger facilities. In May 1854, the new station opened in its current location.

During Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s planning of the original station, he was forced to scale back his plans due to spiralling costs. A few years later, rail travel was becoming so popular, the larger station was needed after all.

5. The roof isn’t original

When the new station was opened in 1854, the roof consisted of three arches, or spans, making it the largest train shed roof in the world at the time.

In 1916, cover was needed for platforms 9-12 (now 9-16), so a fourth span was added. Surprisingly, Brunel’s original glass roof survived until the 1990s, when it was replaced by polycarbonate panels in a refurbishment.

6. The secret train service

Did you know about the parliamentary train service which runs from Paddington to West Ruislip once a day on weekdays?

7. Seen the multi-story horse stables?

Ever noticed the steep ramps around St Mary’s Hospital opposite the station, particularly the Mint Wing? They’re remnants from the days when the building housed multi storey stables for the horses that worked on the railways at Paddington — up to 600 horses at any one time.

The building remained as stables until the 1950s when it became a research laboratory.

8. It’s on a rock record

The background track of Supertramp’s 1974 single Rudy was recorded at Paddington station. It includes an announcement that ‘the 19.45 train to Bristol Temple Meads will depart from platform two, calling at Reading, Didcot, Swindon, Chippenham, Bath Spa, and Bristol Temple Meads.’

9. You can buy a ticket to Ireland

From Paddington station, you can buy yourself a ticket to Rosslare Europort and other selected stations near Wexford in Ireland. No, there’s not an Irish equivalent of the Channel Tunnel — it involves getting to Fishguard Harbour by train, and then taking a ferry to Rosslare — but the one ticket covers it all.