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emfcamp_feedTube strikes set to go ahead as RMT accuses TfL of negotiation U-turn
Apr. 19th, 2026 11:13 amianvisits_feedIt’s looking likely that there won’t be a last-minute cancellation of this week’s tube strikes after the RMT union accused TfL of a U-turn on the negotiations.
The RMT union says that Transport for London (TfL) had offered to negotiate on all elements of the proposals for a four-day working week. The union wants a four-day work week with roughly the same hours per shift, so a net reduction in working hours. TfL’s position was for a cost-neutral change, so a reduction in the number of shifts worked per week would result in shift hours being extended.
TfL says it put forward a proposal to its trade unions for a four-day working week for train operators in March 2025, similar to the working patterns offered by most other train operating companies. Since then, TfL has been engaging with the unions on how best to introduce the new working pattern, including a pilot for train drivers on the Bakerloo line only. TfL says that the changes to working patterns would be voluntary, with no reduction in contractual hours and those who wish to continue working a five-day week pattern would be able to do so.
The RMT says that it has now been informed by TfL that it will impose its planned four-day week shift change.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “We have approached negotiations with TfL in good faith throughout this entire process.
“But despite our best efforts, TfL seem unwilling to make any concessions in a bid to avert strike action.”
According to TfL, if the strike goes ahead, then disruption is expected to be widespread across the London Underground.
The strikes will kick in from lunchtime on Tuesday and Thursday, with disruption expected before and after as well.
During the strike:
- No service is expected on the Piccadilly and Circle lines.
- No service is expected on the Metropolitan line between Baker Street and Aldgate.
- No service is expected on the Central line between White City and Liverpool Street
Any services that do run will be less frequent, very busy, and you may not be able to board the first train
Elizabeth line, DLR, London Overground, Trams and most bus routes will be running as normal but are expected to be very busy.
Tuesday 21st April
- Morning – normal services expected until mid-morning
- Late morning – some disruption as services start to reduce ahead of strike action starting
- After midday – significant disruption is expected on all lines
Wednesday 22nd April
- Morning – significant disruption expected on all lines
- After midday – continued disruption throughout the afternoon and evening as they return the service to normal
- Evening – normal service
Thursday 23rd April
- Morning – normal services expected until mid-morning
- Late morning – some disruption as services start to reduce ahead of strike action starting
- After midday – significant disruption is expected on all lines
Friday 24th April
- Morning – significant disruption expected on all lines
- After midday – continued disruption throughout the afternoon and evening as they return the service to normal
- Evening – normal service
In addition, on Friday 24th April, a strike will affect a few bus routes in East London. Roads are also expected to be busier during this time.
Mudlarking 104 - Farewell to Beaumont Stairs
Apr. 19th, 2026 07:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
squirmeliaBeaumont Stairs in Chelsea have been my go to place when I want somewhere quiet, where I'm definitely not going to be bothered by tourists, and there probably won't be any other mudlarks.
I saw the remains of trees that once grew here and it amazes me that they are still here. The bus stop was also still on the foreshore. I thought once it was gone, but no.
After the tide had turned, I walked along, wondering if I could find the Saxon fish trap. I had seen a picture of it near some boats. I couldn't see any way down to the foreshore near the boats though. I think the tide was just too high on this day to see it. I walked on and found myself in Cremorne Gardens which used to be pleasure gardens from 1845 to 1877. They have saved the grand gate and it's in the little park there still. There used to be all kinds of entertainment there - from tight-rope walkers across the Thames, to hot air balloon rides, fireworks, dances, a marionette theatre, and so on.
Further on and I could see a mudlark on the foreshore but I couldn't work out where steps were to get there. There looked like there was a range of stuff down there.
Finds:
A piece of an Express Dairies milk bottle
A piece of a bottle that says Wells on it
Two patterned pipe stems - one looks to say “d market” on it and “nny” on the other side.
An original vulcanite bottle stopper from Barrett & Elers.
Part of a Hartley’s jam jar
A few pieces of mocha ware
A nice piece of Staffordshire style combed slipware
A chunky glass stem. I have another of these and liked to imagine it might once have been part of a penny lick.
A Bourne & Son stoneware base
A Doulton Lambeth stoneware base
A saucer shaped like a teapot, which I think i modern
A plate with a diamond mark - this shows the plate was made on 6th April 1868.
A toothbrush, missing the handle, made of bone.
Keys, attached to a Lego keyring.
(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)
I saw the remains of trees that once grew here and it amazes me that they are still here. The bus stop was also still on the foreshore. I thought once it was gone, but no.
After the tide had turned, I walked along, wondering if I could find the Saxon fish trap. I had seen a picture of it near some boats. I couldn't see any way down to the foreshore near the boats though. I think the tide was just too high on this day to see it. I walked on and found myself in Cremorne Gardens which used to be pleasure gardens from 1845 to 1877. They have saved the grand gate and it's in the little park there still. There used to be all kinds of entertainment there - from tight-rope walkers across the Thames, to hot air balloon rides, fireworks, dances, a marionette theatre, and so on.
Further on and I could see a mudlark on the foreshore but I couldn't work out where steps were to get there. There looked like there was a range of stuff down there.
Finds:
A piece of an Express Dairies milk bottle
A piece of a bottle that says Wells on it
Two patterned pipe stems - one looks to say “d market” on it and “nny” on the other side.
An original vulcanite bottle stopper from Barrett & Elers.
Part of a Hartley’s jam jar
A few pieces of mocha ware
A nice piece of Staffordshire style combed slipware
A chunky glass stem. I have another of these and liked to imagine it might once have been part of a penny lick.
A Bourne & Son stoneware base
A Doulton Lambeth stoneware base
A saucer shaped like a teapot, which I think i modern
A plate with a diamond mark - this shows the plate was made on 6th April 1868.
A toothbrush, missing the handle, made of bone.
Keys, attached to a Lego keyring.
(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)
Stroudley Walk redux
Apr. 19th, 2026 07:00 amdiamondgeezer_feedStroudley Walk has reopened! It's been four miserable years.
Memo to non-Bow residents
Stroudley Walk is a pedestrianised street in Bromley-by-Bow near Bow Church, the church. It was redeveloped in the 1980s, exceptionally unattractively, wiping away all but three of the original Victorian buildings. Formerly it was the top end of Devons Road but they renamed it Stroudley Walk when adding the hideous brick colonnades. It's just been redeveloped again.
I went to the pharmacy on Friday afternoon and noticed most of the hoardings had been removed, with just a feeble plastic tape to keep people out. When I came back out a few minutes later a man was rolling up the aforementioned tape, and I asked "have you actually finished?" and he said yes. I'm not sure we had much of a language in common but he must have picked up on my enthusiasm because he grinned, and when I said "you must be proud" he nodded and continued to roll. By collecting a prescription I had accidentally borne witness to the precise moment of regeneration.
It's hard to overstate how horrible Stroudley Walk used to be, despite the good efforts of the businesses and residents based there. Four rows of shops mostly concealed behind brick arches. A tall block of flats surrounded by scrappy grass. A large central zone optimistically left empty for market stalls but where only pigeons ever gathered. A dingy Post Office that shifted somewhere nicer in 2014. A Victorian pub that called last orders in 2006 and morphed into a cash and carry, then a chicken shop. A broad windswept cut-through devoid of charm. The architects should have been forced to live in one of the flats above the betting shop as some kind of punishment.
There thus weren't many dissenting voices when it was proposed to knock most of it down and building something better. The block of flats would be replaced by something twice the size. Two lower blocks would be shoehorned into excess space elsewhere. The southern parades would be replaced by a street of actual houses, not flats. All in all there'd be 274 new homes where previously there'd been 52, also a pocket park, also a community hub, also 33 new trees, also half the original shops would be retained in a cluster around the three listed buildings. But they'd been promising this would happen for years.
The crunch came in June 2022 when construction finally began, or rather demolition started. Down came Warren House floor by floor, and a team of builders moved in to undertake everything the redevelopment demanded. Annoyingly they set up camp in Stroudley Walk's central space, entirely blocking it off, which quite wrecked connectivity hereabouts. A gap of just 50m forced a quarter mile detour from one side to the other, this particularly annoying for those living to the south who couldn't easily get to the shops any more.
Those shops could also only be accessed via a thin strip of shielded walkway, necessitating squeezing past the takeaway and several trays of vegetables laid atop upturned crates. The hit to custom proved too much for Ahmed's Bakers Delight which ceased trading, also the coffee shop called Posted which opened with high hopes in 2024 and admitted defeat a year later. This cafe was about the only thing which might have appealed to incomers moving into the replacement 25-storey apartment block, a private tower branded Upper East, but instead its construction snuffed the business out.
But hurrah, after 46 blockaded months the hoardings are finally down and we can all walk through again. I thought I noticed a broader smile on the face of the minimart cashier yesterday morning. And yes haven't they been busy.
We have herringbone paving all the way down. We have imported shrubbery. We have rising bollards so only very selective vehicles can get in. We have angular patches dotted with rocks and logs, these filled with gravel suggesting they might be for drainage. We have mature trees and saplings that came in on the back of a lorry. We have additional brick colonnades, these thinner and taller in an attempt to better conceal the ugliness behind. We have a part-finished play area, larger than expected but nowhere near ready for children to clamber over it. We have doors to at least four blocks of flats. And we have a rather nice artwork reflecting the most significant event that ever happened here.
On 17th February 1913 Sylvia Pankhurst climbed onto a cart outside the LCC school, which was located where Upper East now stands, and delivered a campaigning speech in support of Votes for Women. She pleaded for the women of Bow to join her in making a sacrifice to secure enfranchisement, then walked a few steps up the road and hurled a large flint through the window of the local undertakers. Two policemen duly seized her and dragged her along Bow Road to the newly-opened police station, which led to a sentence of two months hard labour and a famous hunger strike in Holloway prison. The new artwork is thus a big disc in suffragette colours featuring the dates 1903-1928 and a swirl of related positive phrases. It's great to finally see recognition here, but I doubt Sylvia would have been pleased to see the roundel attached to railings which bar entry to a private garden.
Some of the new blocks were opened in October by the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, his visit commemorated by a really cheap-looking plaque. But at least two blocks are still being fitted out ("Blue Overshoes Must Be Worn Throughout Block E") which'll be why there's still a small corral of diggers and portakabins outside the Halal Meat & Fish Bazar. The blocks all have locally relevant names, appropriately enough four pioneering women but seemingly skipping Sylvia Pankhurst. Let's see if we can work out who they were.
Zellie Emerson House: Zelie was an American activist who stood alongside Sylvia Pankhurst on her cart, spoke to the assembled crowd and ended up in prison for smashing the window of Bow Liberal Club. All the documentation I can find says her name has a single 'l' so I'm not sure why it's Zellie rather than Zelie here.
Muriel Lester House: Along with her sister Doris, Muriel was responsible for two great social projects to support the downtrodden of Bromley-by-Bow. One was Children's House, a nursery school which opened just round the corner in 1923 and the other was Kingsley Hall, best known as the place where Mahatma Gandhi stayed when he spent three months in Britain in 1931. Muriel explains all in this Pathé News report, and she is brilliant.
Rosaline McCheyne House: Rosaline was another member of the East London Federation of Suffragettes, more in an administrative role but none the less important for it was her who gathered the subscriptions that helped pay bail to get offenders out of prison. She also set up a pioneering Baby Clinic in St Leonards Street offering health advice and free milk to the mothers of newborns, this long before Call The Midwife.
Estelle House: Estelle who? Aha, Sylvia Pankhurst's full name was Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst, so she is commemorated after all, appropriately enough by the tallest of the new buildings.
It's lovely to have Stroudley Walk back and open again, even if not all the workmen have cleared off yet. Four years of severance are finally over, I have hundreds of new neighbours and I suspect a few new businesses will be moving into the units under some of the newbuilds. Stroudley Walk's gentrification journey isn't over yet and could still arguably go too far, but it's impossible to look back on the previous grim brown incarnation and say this isn't a huge improvement.
Memo to non-Bow residents
Stroudley Walk is a pedestrianised street in Bromley-by-Bow near Bow Church, the church. It was redeveloped in the 1980s, exceptionally unattractively, wiping away all but three of the original Victorian buildings. Formerly it was the top end of Devons Road but they renamed it Stroudley Walk when adding the hideous brick colonnades. It's just been redeveloped again.
I went to the pharmacy on Friday afternoon and noticed most of the hoardings had been removed, with just a feeble plastic tape to keep people out. When I came back out a few minutes later a man was rolling up the aforementioned tape, and I asked "have you actually finished?" and he said yes. I'm not sure we had much of a language in common but he must have picked up on my enthusiasm because he grinned, and when I said "you must be proud" he nodded and continued to roll. By collecting a prescription I had accidentally borne witness to the precise moment of regeneration.
It's hard to overstate how horrible Stroudley Walk used to be, despite the good efforts of the businesses and residents based there. Four rows of shops mostly concealed behind brick arches. A tall block of flats surrounded by scrappy grass. A large central zone optimistically left empty for market stalls but where only pigeons ever gathered. A dingy Post Office that shifted somewhere nicer in 2014. A Victorian pub that called last orders in 2006 and morphed into a cash and carry, then a chicken shop. A broad windswept cut-through devoid of charm. The architects should have been forced to live in one of the flats above the betting shop as some kind of punishment.
There thus weren't many dissenting voices when it was proposed to knock most of it down and building something better. The block of flats would be replaced by something twice the size. Two lower blocks would be shoehorned into excess space elsewhere. The southern parades would be replaced by a street of actual houses, not flats. All in all there'd be 274 new homes where previously there'd been 52, also a pocket park, also a community hub, also 33 new trees, also half the original shops would be retained in a cluster around the three listed buildings. But they'd been promising this would happen for years.
The crunch came in June 2022 when construction finally began, or rather demolition started. Down came Warren House floor by floor, and a team of builders moved in to undertake everything the redevelopment demanded. Annoyingly they set up camp in Stroudley Walk's central space, entirely blocking it off, which quite wrecked connectivity hereabouts. A gap of just 50m forced a quarter mile detour from one side to the other, this particularly annoying for those living to the south who couldn't easily get to the shops any more.
Those shops could also only be accessed via a thin strip of shielded walkway, necessitating squeezing past the takeaway and several trays of vegetables laid atop upturned crates. The hit to custom proved too much for Ahmed's Bakers Delight which ceased trading, also the coffee shop called Posted which opened with high hopes in 2024 and admitted defeat a year later. This cafe was about the only thing which might have appealed to incomers moving into the replacement 25-storey apartment block, a private tower branded Upper East, but instead its construction snuffed the business out.
But hurrah, after 46 blockaded months the hoardings are finally down and we can all walk through again. I thought I noticed a broader smile on the face of the minimart cashier yesterday morning. And yes haven't they been busy.
We have herringbone paving all the way down. We have imported shrubbery. We have rising bollards so only very selective vehicles can get in. We have angular patches dotted with rocks and logs, these filled with gravel suggesting they might be for drainage. We have mature trees and saplings that came in on the back of a lorry. We have additional brick colonnades, these thinner and taller in an attempt to better conceal the ugliness behind. We have a part-finished play area, larger than expected but nowhere near ready for children to clamber over it. We have doors to at least four blocks of flats. And we have a rather nice artwork reflecting the most significant event that ever happened here.
On 17th February 1913 Sylvia Pankhurst climbed onto a cart outside the LCC school, which was located where Upper East now stands, and delivered a campaigning speech in support of Votes for Women. She pleaded for the women of Bow to join her in making a sacrifice to secure enfranchisement, then walked a few steps up the road and hurled a large flint through the window of the local undertakers. Two policemen duly seized her and dragged her along Bow Road to the newly-opened police station, which led to a sentence of two months hard labour and a famous hunger strike in Holloway prison. The new artwork is thus a big disc in suffragette colours featuring the dates 1903-1928 and a swirl of related positive phrases. It's great to finally see recognition here, but I doubt Sylvia would have been pleased to see the roundel attached to railings which bar entry to a private garden.
Some of the new blocks were opened in October by the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, his visit commemorated by a really cheap-looking plaque. But at least two blocks are still being fitted out ("Blue Overshoes Must Be Worn Throughout Block E") which'll be why there's still a small corral of diggers and portakabins outside the Halal Meat & Fish Bazar. The blocks all have locally relevant names, appropriately enough four pioneering women but seemingly skipping Sylvia Pankhurst. Let's see if we can work out who they were.
Zellie Emerson House: Zelie was an American activist who stood alongside Sylvia Pankhurst on her cart, spoke to the assembled crowd and ended up in prison for smashing the window of Bow Liberal Club. All the documentation I can find says her name has a single 'l' so I'm not sure why it's Zellie rather than Zelie here.
Muriel Lester House: Along with her sister Doris, Muriel was responsible for two great social projects to support the downtrodden of Bromley-by-Bow. One was Children's House, a nursery school which opened just round the corner in 1923 and the other was Kingsley Hall, best known as the place where Mahatma Gandhi stayed when he spent three months in Britain in 1931. Muriel explains all in this Pathé News report, and she is brilliant.
Rosaline McCheyne House: Rosaline was another member of the East London Federation of Suffragettes, more in an administrative role but none the less important for it was her who gathered the subscriptions that helped pay bail to get offenders out of prison. She also set up a pioneering Baby Clinic in St Leonards Street offering health advice and free milk to the mothers of newborns, this long before Call The Midwife.
Estelle House: Estelle who? Aha, Sylvia Pankhurst's full name was Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst, so she is commemorated after all, appropriately enough by the tallest of the new buildings.
It's lovely to have Stroudley Walk back and open again, even if not all the workmen have cleared off yet. Four years of severance are finally over, I have hundreds of new neighbours and I suspect a few new businesses will be moving into the units under some of the newbuilds. Stroudley Walk's gentrification journey isn't over yet and could still arguably go too far, but it's impossible to look back on the previous grim brown incarnation and say this isn't a huge improvement.
Saturday 18 April 1663
Apr. 18th, 2026 11:00 pmpepysdiary_feedUp betimes and to my office, where all the morning. At noon to dinner. With us Mr. Creed, who has been deeply engaged at the office this day about the ending of his accounts, wherein he is most unhappy to have to do with a company of fools who after they have signed his accounts and made bills upon them yet dare not boldly assert to the Treasurer that they are satisfied with his accounts. Hereupon all dinner, and walking in the garden the afternoon, he and I talking of the ill management of our office, which God knows is very ill for the King’s advantage. I would I could make it better.
In the evening to my office, and at night home to supper and bed.
Trader Applications Open for London Vegan Beer Fest
Apr. 18th, 2026 10:35 pmfatgayvegan_feedAfter what feels like a lifetime of plotting and planning, London Vegan Beer Fest is coming back on Saturday 19 September, 2026. Yes, really. It has been gone since 2018 and now it is returning. And I’m excited to hear from independent breweries and food traders who want to be a part of the day ... Read more
Wandering around the South Bank - the Crossbones Graveyard of the Outcast 16-04-26
Apr. 18th, 2026 10:46 amflaviomataniI couldn't go in as it was closed -so many years in London and I didn't know this existed, the Graveyard for the Outcast Dead. The outcasts were sex workers, immigrants, disabled and other minorities. Will try to go at a time it's open next time. The site next door is also interesting. London is full of interesting things!
East Bank (almost)
Apr. 18th, 2026 07:00 amdiamondgeezer_feedToday's the day another building opens in the Olympic Park and the East Bank is three quarters complete.
From left to right
• V&A East, an outpost of the Victoria & Albert Museum, opens today!
• UAL London College of Fashion, opened September 2023
• BBC Music Studios (the new Maida Vale), opening next year
• Sadler's Wells East, a jazzy dance hub, opened January 2025
It's been a very very long time coming.
» 2007: Carpenters Road is a string of grubby car repair shops and trading units [blogged] [photo]
» 2012: a fortnight's use as the Water Polo Arena, a dismantlable wedge of Olympic pool [photo]
» 2014: Boris announces 'Olympicopolis'; the V&A, UAL and Sadler’s Wells will be involved [blogged]
» 2016: a long thin empty space awaits cultural nirvana (expected completion 2021) [blogged] [photo]
» 2018: Sadiq unveils building designs for the 'East Bank', now with added BBC [blogged] [photo]
» 2020: huge cranes arrive at Stratford Waterfront, UAL kicks off first [photo]
And even that was six years ago. Since then...
During lockdown I watched the shell of V&A East creep up floor by floor. In 2022 I watched cranes swinging panels of angular cladding into place. Since 2023 I've been taking photos of the alien bug exterior while work continued fitting out the interior. In 2024 I got to walk round the exterior for the first time with the remodelling of Carpenters Road substantially complete. Last week I stood beneath the huge statue out front and peered in through the glass door where the cleaners were doing some last-minute tidying up in the shop. And today's it's all systems go.
You'll find V&A East easily enough, there are big circular signs plastered on the ground across the Olympic Park pointing in the right direction. The easiest walk is out of Westfield, head for the Aquatics Centre and turn right at Sadler's Wells. If you're really stumped you can ask a security guard, there are loads of security guards, even first thing on Friday morning there were half a dozen security guards each patrolling their little bit of untrodden waterside. But that's surveillance paranoia for you, even though it's acknowledged "levels of crime on the Park are very low" I guess better safe than sorry. Alternatively you can come by bus, the 241 now stops round the back.
The statue out front is by Thomas J Price, a mixed race artist who grew up on a south London council estate. He specialises in oversized likenesses of young folk in casual get-up, usually black, often clutching a smartphone as is indeed the case here. We've had plenty of TJP's work in East London before, the first in 2013 near Three Mills and recently two anonymous gentlemen outside Hackney Town Hall. They always look good and they're always making a point, that point often being "you don't normally see statues of ordinary people like me". A Place Beyond is his tallest yet at 18 feet, and according to V&A East's director "it symbolises those historically excluded from public monuments, challenging our preconceptions about representation, perception and identity".
There's more art if you look down, a chain of circles atop the paving representing the south Indian decorative tradition of Kolam. These are by Lubna Chowdhary, a Tanzanian-born Pakistani artist, who deliberately spaced out the blobs at a stride's length. They call this piazza Waterfront Square, this because all the imagination was put into the art and definitely not into the naming process. The most overlooked artwork, I'd be willing to bet, is a series of oral histories called Voices of East Bank. It's only mentioned in the corner of a small information board and expects you to surf to the website eastbankvoices.co.uk to listen to 120 themed stories told by local residents. It's a wonderful idea but I reckon the museum would have closed before you got to the end, so it's just as well they've also provided transcripts... and maybe better to peruse a few at home instead.
The waterfront is overlooked by a massive terrace with stepped seating. It looks ridiculously unnecessary out of season but is very well used by all the students at the fashion college nipping out for a chat, vape or bite of food. They must also be the target audience for the row of eateries hidden down below at the riverside, only three of which are as yet occupied, because I doubt most visitors will ever notice them. They all do drinks but only one does ceremonial-grade matcha, only one does detox zinger juices and only one accompanies theirs with a suite of board games. The art down here is a series of fluorescent starburst phrases representing modern Cockney rhyming slang with "modern diasporic influences", so Jollof Rice means nice, S Club 7 means heaven and Clock 'em 'n' Pree means see. My eyes rolled too.
If you've not yet got the hint, East Bank is targeting a younger diverse audience rather than typical culturegoers. That's especially obvious from the theme of the first paid-for exhibition at V&A East which is called The Music is Black: A British Story. It's had excellent reviews, mostly from trusted media who didn't have to fork out £22.50 on a ticket, all augmented by an interactive soundscape on dished-out headphones as you wander round. It's also fully sold out this weekend so don't come specially for that yet. You could instead sample the collection of words and music the BBC's put together on BBC Sounds, because even if their Music Studios aren't opening until next year they can always join in with the collective theme.
Be aware that you don't have to be a student to pop inside UAL and admire the architecture, especially the central staircase, and can also explore whatever exhibition they might have on. Currently it's called Resonant Matter and explores the symbiosis between underground culture, music and fashion, so expect pirate radio and immersive installations, not a neatly arranged collection of dresses. Likewise Sadler's Wells East are getting in on the theme with a black-focused dance programme, most of it ticketed performances but tomorrow as a special treat there's a free and joyful showcase of collective jiggling called the Get Into Dance Festival. When there's no event on, however, Sadler's Wells East is basically just a smart cafe in a foyer with a lot of students upstairs.
The latest addition to East Bank's hospitality offering is V&A East's ground floor cafe, Jikoni, which occupies a prime corner and a strip of outside terrace. Its menu is inspired by rich flavours from immigrant cuisine, as those who've dined in its Marylebone restaurant will be aware, so although they do sausage rolls theirs are filled with spicy Baharat lamb. Meanwhile their toasties contain Goan aubergine achaar with Monty's Cheddar, all yours for 11.5, and if it's soup you want then the sole option is a mug of chicken, turmeric and lemongrass bone broth. It's not what Stratford folk were used to before the Olympic Park sparked mass gentrification, but I expect it'll be packed out.
Indeed I reckon the entire East Bank complex will be brimming over today with inquisitive culture seekers, making this the very worst possible day to look round V&A East's sole two free galleries. I'll probably give it a miss until midweek when all the rubberneckers have thinned out and there's a hope of admiring the architecture and the exhibits rather than weaving through a throng of people. Ian Visits has an excellent and honest review from before the place opened, hence his sightlines were clear and his staircase photos are immaculate. But how amazing to have all this on my doorstep, not just V&A East but the whole of the East Bank, now waiting for just one more building to open.
From left to right
• V&A East, an outpost of the Victoria & Albert Museum, opens today!
• UAL London College of Fashion, opened September 2023
• BBC Music Studios (the new Maida Vale), opening next year
• Sadler's Wells East, a jazzy dance hub, opened January 2025
It's been a very very long time coming.
» 2007: Carpenters Road is a string of grubby car repair shops and trading units [blogged] [photo]
» 2012: a fortnight's use as the Water Polo Arena, a dismantlable wedge of Olympic pool [photo]
» 2014: Boris announces 'Olympicopolis'; the V&A, UAL and Sadler’s Wells will be involved [blogged]
» 2016: a long thin empty space awaits cultural nirvana (expected completion 2021) [blogged] [photo]
» 2018: Sadiq unveils building designs for the 'East Bank', now with added BBC [blogged] [photo]
» 2020: huge cranes arrive at Stratford Waterfront, UAL kicks off first [photo]
And even that was six years ago. Since then...
During lockdown I watched the shell of V&A East creep up floor by floor. In 2022 I watched cranes swinging panels of angular cladding into place. Since 2023 I've been taking photos of the alien bug exterior while work continued fitting out the interior. In 2024 I got to walk round the exterior for the first time with the remodelling of Carpenters Road substantially complete. Last week I stood beneath the huge statue out front and peered in through the glass door where the cleaners were doing some last-minute tidying up in the shop. And today's it's all systems go.
You'll find V&A East easily enough, there are big circular signs plastered on the ground across the Olympic Park pointing in the right direction. The easiest walk is out of Westfield, head for the Aquatics Centre and turn right at Sadler's Wells. If you're really stumped you can ask a security guard, there are loads of security guards, even first thing on Friday morning there were half a dozen security guards each patrolling their little bit of untrodden waterside. But that's surveillance paranoia for you, even though it's acknowledged "levels of crime on the Park are very low" I guess better safe than sorry. Alternatively you can come by bus, the 241 now stops round the back.
The statue out front is by Thomas J Price, a mixed race artist who grew up on a south London council estate. He specialises in oversized likenesses of young folk in casual get-up, usually black, often clutching a smartphone as is indeed the case here. We've had plenty of TJP's work in East London before, the first in 2013 near Three Mills and recently two anonymous gentlemen outside Hackney Town Hall. They always look good and they're always making a point, that point often being "you don't normally see statues of ordinary people like me". A Place Beyond is his tallest yet at 18 feet, and according to V&A East's director "it symbolises those historically excluded from public monuments, challenging our preconceptions about representation, perception and identity".
There's more art if you look down, a chain of circles atop the paving representing the south Indian decorative tradition of Kolam. These are by Lubna Chowdhary, a Tanzanian-born Pakistani artist, who deliberately spaced out the blobs at a stride's length. They call this piazza Waterfront Square, this because all the imagination was put into the art and definitely not into the naming process. The most overlooked artwork, I'd be willing to bet, is a series of oral histories called Voices of East Bank. It's only mentioned in the corner of a small information board and expects you to surf to the website eastbankvoices.co.uk to listen to 120 themed stories told by local residents. It's a wonderful idea but I reckon the museum would have closed before you got to the end, so it's just as well they've also provided transcripts... and maybe better to peruse a few at home instead.
The waterfront is overlooked by a massive terrace with stepped seating. It looks ridiculously unnecessary out of season but is very well used by all the students at the fashion college nipping out for a chat, vape or bite of food. They must also be the target audience for the row of eateries hidden down below at the riverside, only three of which are as yet occupied, because I doubt most visitors will ever notice them. They all do drinks but only one does ceremonial-grade matcha, only one does detox zinger juices and only one accompanies theirs with a suite of board games. The art down here is a series of fluorescent starburst phrases representing modern Cockney rhyming slang with "modern diasporic influences", so Jollof Rice means nice, S Club 7 means heaven and Clock 'em 'n' Pree means see. My eyes rolled too.
If you've not yet got the hint, East Bank is targeting a younger diverse audience rather than typical culturegoers. That's especially obvious from the theme of the first paid-for exhibition at V&A East which is called The Music is Black: A British Story. It's had excellent reviews, mostly from trusted media who didn't have to fork out £22.50 on a ticket, all augmented by an interactive soundscape on dished-out headphones as you wander round. It's also fully sold out this weekend so don't come specially for that yet. You could instead sample the collection of words and music the BBC's put together on BBC Sounds, because even if their Music Studios aren't opening until next year they can always join in with the collective theme.
Be aware that you don't have to be a student to pop inside UAL and admire the architecture, especially the central staircase, and can also explore whatever exhibition they might have on. Currently it's called Resonant Matter and explores the symbiosis between underground culture, music and fashion, so expect pirate radio and immersive installations, not a neatly arranged collection of dresses. Likewise Sadler's Wells East are getting in on the theme with a black-focused dance programme, most of it ticketed performances but tomorrow as a special treat there's a free and joyful showcase of collective jiggling called the Get Into Dance Festival. When there's no event on, however, Sadler's Wells East is basically just a smart cafe in a foyer with a lot of students upstairs.
The latest addition to East Bank's hospitality offering is V&A East's ground floor cafe, Jikoni, which occupies a prime corner and a strip of outside terrace. Its menu is inspired by rich flavours from immigrant cuisine, as those who've dined in its Marylebone restaurant will be aware, so although they do sausage rolls theirs are filled with spicy Baharat lamb. Meanwhile their toasties contain Goan aubergine achaar with Monty's Cheddar, all yours for 11.5, and if it's soup you want then the sole option is a mug of chicken, turmeric and lemongrass bone broth. It's not what Stratford folk were used to before the Olympic Park sparked mass gentrification, but I expect it'll be packed out.
Indeed I reckon the entire East Bank complex will be brimming over today with inquisitive culture seekers, making this the very worst possible day to look round V&A East's sole two free galleries. I'll probably give it a miss until midweek when all the rubberneckers have thinned out and there's a hope of admiring the architecture and the exhibits rather than weaving through a throng of people. Ian Visits has an excellent and honest review from before the place opened, hence his sightlines were clear and his staircase photos are immaculate. But how amazing to have all this on my doorstep, not just V&A East but the whole of the East Bank, now waiting for just one more building to open.
Friday 17 April 1663
Apr. 17th, 2026 11:00 pmpepysdiary_feedUp by five o’clock as I have long done and to my office all the morning, at noon home to dinner with my father with us. Our dinner, it being Good Friday, was only sugarsopps and fish; the only time that we have had a Lenten dinner all this Lent.
This morning Mr. Hunt, the instrument maker, brought me home a Basse Viall to see whether I like it, which I do not very well, besides I am under a doubt whether I had best buy one yet or no, because of spoiling my present mind and love to business.
After dinner my father and I walked into the city a little, and parted and to Paul’s Church Yard, to cause the title of my English “Mare Clausum” to be changed, and the new title, dedicated to the King, to be put to it, because I am ashamed to have the other seen dedicated to the Commonwealth.
So home and to my office till night, and so home to talk with my father, and supper and to bed, I have not had yet one quarter of an hour’s leisure to sit down and talk with him since he came to town, nor do I know till the holidays when I shall.
emfcamp_info_feedWe have a new name!
We’ve been known as Infodesk for some time, but now we’re info and *help*. No desk.
There will be wandering helpers as well as those behind the traditional desk.
The new name hopefully will let people know that we’re the first place for you to come for help, as well as information. We can direct you to the right people without you having to wander around. We can probably solve most problems, we’ll have things you’ve forgotten, and we… most of all… want to help!
And we’ll be available by phone, email, or here on mastodon.
Please spread the news 💚
emfcamp_info_feedWe are getting ever closer to the 2026 headers and avatar, and they look beautiful (as ever).
Other exciting things include a special role for the more experienced emf-goers which may or may not involve a special sticker if you’re good at herding ducks*. 🦆
Centenary tours of the Poppy Factory
Apr. 17th, 2026 01:00 pmianvisits_feedThis year marks the 100th anniversary of the Poppy Factory’s move to Richmond, where it recruits disabled former soldiers to assemble remembrance poppy wreaths.
And it’s a factory that you can visit to see how it all happens.
The poppy factory was first opened on the Old Kent Road in 1922, but just three years later it moved to a larger building in Richmond. Opened in 1926 took over a former bottling factory for the nearby Richmond Brewery, and built flats for the disabled servicemen and a new factory for the poppies.
The current Art Deco Poppy Factory building was built on the brewery site and was completed in 1933.
Today, although the production of the poppies we wear in November is now mass produced, here in Richmond they still assemble the poppies for wreaths by hand.
And you can visit to see how it’s all done.
Tours start in the visitor centre, then a guided tour of the factory, and you get a bit hands on assembling a poppy yourself.
Visits last 90 minutes. This includes a 30-minute presentation and a 1-hour self-guided tour.
Tickets cost £15 per person and can be booked here.
The Poppy Factory is on Petersham Road, about a 15-minute walk from Richmond station.
This week’s sale and discount theatre ticket offers from London Theatre Direct
Apr. 17th, 2026 12:00 pmianvisits_feedThis week’s sale and discount theatre ticket offers from London Theatre Direct are part of their “Spring Spectacular”.
Phantom of the Opera
Almost 40 years on, the West End still falls for the Music of the Night
The Mousetrap
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap is a West End staple. Do you know whodunnit?
Les Miserables
The Price
The Car Man
Opens 28th July 2026
Fasten your seat belts, Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man returns!
The Book of Mormon
London’s hit musical comedy from the creators of South Park
MAMMA MIA!
Kinky Boots
The Play That Goes Wrong
Anything that can go wrong will, with The Play That Goes Wrong!
The Oresteia
Hamilton
Witness for the Prosecution
Agatha Christie’s bone-chilling drama is presented in a perfect courtroom setting.
Magic Mike Live
Channing Tatum’s Magic Mike Live at the Hippodrome has everything you could ever want!
My Neighbour Totoro
Enter a world of magic and wonder with My Neighbour Totoro – a perfect enchanted adventure
Stranger Things: The First Shadow
See the world of Stranger Things like never before with STRANGER THINGS: The First Shadow
Myra’s Story
Homelessness, heartbreak, and hope intertwine in Myra’s unforgettable story.
Titanique
Disney’s Hercules
Disney’s Hercules will be flexing his muscles at Theatre Royal Drury Lane!
The Enormous Crocodile – Lyric Hammersmith
Opens 29th July 2026
For my lunch today I would like… a nice juicy little child!
Oliver!
Oh, Mary!
The Producers
It’s a disaster, a catastrophe, an outrage! The Producers plays at the Garrick Theatre.
I’m Sorry, Prime Minister
Griff Rhys Jones and Clive Francis star in the final chapter of the political satire
Driftwood
Teeth ‘n’ Smiles
Rebecca Lucy Taylor stars in the 50th anniversary of Teeth ‘N’ Smiles
Derriere on a G String
Opens 6th May 2026
Raucous comedy-dance subverting classical music
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Opens 25th April 2026
An uplifting new musical based on the international best-selling memoir
I Was A Teenage She-Devil
A new comedy horror rock musical with serious bite!
A Mirrored Monet
Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Dear Louise
A UK premiere from Olivier Award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig
Why I Stuck A Flare Up My Arse For England
Opens 21st June 2026
One flare. One man. One bum. One unmissable story.
Being Mr Wickham
Opens 31st May 2026
Starring Adrian Lukis (Pride and Prejudice), the critically acclaimed one man show returns to London
Counterpoint of Chaos
Opens 31st May 2026
Counterpoint of Chaos has its world premiere in London
Winnie-the-Pooh at 100: Rare sketches go on show in Mayfair
Apr. 17th, 2026 11:00 amianvisits_feedThe Winnie-the-Pooh books are 100 years old, and a small exhibition of rare early editions and sketches has opened in Mayfair.
It’s a small pop-in and out type of exhibition, filling one display case for the books and the sketches at the back, but for most of us, it’s a chance to stand in the presence of books that are both very familiar and yet also vastly unaffordable.
Among the sketches on display are two tentative pencil drawings for scenes that never made it into the finished 1926 book. Shepard’s published drawings are so deeply embedded in the cultural imagination that it’s easy to forget they were once the product of trial and revision. Here, you can see that process laid bare: hesitant marks, abandoned compositions, figures that never quite resolve.
Much of Shepard’s preparatory work ended up in national collections — notably the Victoria and Albert Museum — and is unlikely to re-enter private hands. These drawings, by contrast, have remained with the Shepard family until now, some apparently lifted straight from sketchbooks and never formally catalogued.
“Those who visited the major V&A Shepard retrospective a few years ago will have seen examples of both his preliminary sketches and finished ink drawings, mostly from the museum’s own holdings, but also loans from several private lenders”, says Dr Philip W. Errington, Senior Specialist at Peter Harrington. “None of the works we are offering here were included in that exhibition. In fact, several of these sheets appear to have been torn directly from Shepard’s own sketchbooks. We don’t know why they were kept back from the group he gave to the V&A – perhaps he was particularly fond of them, or perhaps they were already given to family members. Either way, their survival within the family is what makes them even more special.”
A fleeting chance, then, to see Pooh as he almost was — before imagination, ink, and (ahem, Disney) fixed him in our minds forever.
The exhibition, Winnie-the-Pooh – Where It All Began, is at Peter Harrington Rare Books on Dover Street until 27th April 2026.
It’s open Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm, and the shop is a few minutes walk from Green Park or Piccadilly tube stations.
London Vegan Shop Closed for Refurbishment
Apr. 17th, 2026 09:59 amfatgayvegan_feedOne of London’s most beloved vegan businesses is undergoing a shake up. The Third Estate is the legendary vegan shoe store and ethical boutique with two locations, but the original spot is currently closed with a change to come! Read more below. The Third Estate started well over a decade ago in Leeds, a space ... Read more
Anorak corner (tube edition)
Apr. 17th, 2026 07:00 amdiamondgeezer_feedAnorak Corner (the annual update) [tube edition]
Hurrah, it's that time of year again when TfL silently updates its spreadsheet of annual passenger entry/exit totals at every tube station. It's really early this year.
As usual passenger numbers are surveyed for a typical week in autumn then multiplied up to a full year.
The data also includes DLR, Overground and Crossrail stations, but we'll get to those later.
London's ten busiest tube stations (2025) (with changes since 2024)
1) ↑1 King's Cross St Pancras (73m)
2) ↓1 Waterloo (70m)
3) ↑1 Tottenham Court Road (60m)
4) ↓1 Victoria (59.3m)
5) Liverpool Street (59.2m)
6) ↑1 Paddington (57m)
7) ↓1 London Bridge (55m)
8) Stratford (52m)
9) Oxford Circus (51m)
10) ↑1 Bond Street (42m)
King's Cross returns to the top of the table after Waterloo nipped in for a year. Several other small swaps take place lower down with Tottenham Court Road overtaking Victoria and Paddington leapfrogging London Bridge. Liverpool Street may be Britain's busiest National Rail station but it's only the fifth busiest tube station. All ten stations have lower passenger totals than last year. Half of the tube's Top 10 are also on the Elizabeth line. The spreadsheet confirms that this is gateline data, i.e. passengers entering or exiting the station, so interchanges are not counted and no distinction is being made regarding mode of travel. Oxford Circus remains the busiest tube-only station and Stratford is still the busiest tube station outside zone 1.
The next 10: Farringdon, Bank/Monument, Euston, Canary Wharf, Green Park, South Kensington, Moorgate, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, North Greenwich
24 tube stations had more than 20 million passengers last year and 60 exceeded 10 million. For comparison, 22 National Rail stations had more than 20 million passengers and 50 exceeded 10 million... so pretty similar.
London's ten busiest tube stations outside Zone 2 (2025)
1) Barking (17.2m)
2) ↑1 Ealing Broadway (17.0m)
3) ↓1 Wimbledon (16.7m)
4) Wembley Park (15.3m)
5) Tottenham Hale (13.8m)
6) Walthamstow Central (12.8m)
7) ↑2 Richmond (12.3m)
8) ↓1 Tooting Broadway (11.7m)
9) ↓1 Seven Sisters (11.6m)
10) Upton Park (11.1m)
Barking remains in the top spot while Ealing Broadway nudges ahead of Wimbledon. The top three here all have gatelines shared by tube and rail services so Wembley Park's total is more reliably tubular. Northeast London has a particularly strong showing including three stations on the Victoria line. If the list were to continue then Harrow-on-the-Hill (8.4m) would be the highest performing tube station in Zone 5 and Heathrow Terminals 2&3 (5.3m) the busiest in Zone 6.
London's ten busiest tube stations that are only on one line
Canary Wharf, North Greenwich, Vauxhall, Brixton, Camden Town, Wimbledon, Old Street, Tottenham Hale, Knightsbridge, Walthamstow Central
Tube stations with over 10% more passengers in 2025 than 2024
Roding Valley, Kew Gardens, Upminster Bridge
Tube stations with over 10% fewer passengers in 2025 than 2024
Tufnell Park, Burnt Oak, Hendon Central, Park Royal, Sudbury Town, Alperton, North Ealing, Piccadilly Circus, Sudbury Hill, South Harrow. Covent Garden. Kingsbury, Hyde Park Corner
Last year Colindale and Kentish Town were both closed during the period of the survey. Their neighbouring stations were thus busier than usual but are now back to normal, hence Tufnell Park, Burnt Oak and Hendon Central show the biggest decline in passenger numbers.
London's 10 least busy tube stations (2025)
1) Roding Valley (201000)
2) Chigwell (304000)
3) Grange Hill (367000)
4) North Ealing (510000)
5) Theydon Bois (699000)
6) ↑1 Moor Park (795000)
7) ↑2 Ickenham (805000)
8) Ruislip Gardens (813469)
9) ↓3 Upminster Bridge (813470)
10) Croxley (865000)
As usual the top three consists of the three stops on the Hainault shuttle. Roding Valley remains the least used station on the Underground but its passenger numbers are up 22% since 2024, the greatest increase of any tube station. North Ealing is unusually lightly used for a zone 3 station because Ealing Broadway and West Acton are close by and more useful. It haemorrhaged 18% of its passengers in 2025. Upminster Bridge had one more passenger than Ruislip Gardens! Only four of these ten stations lie within the Greater London boundary.
n.b. In this particular set of data Kensington (Olympia) counts as an Overground station, recording 2.5m passengers last year, whereas if you were only to count District line passengers it'd easily beat Roding Valley and be the tube's least used station.
The next 10: Fairlop, South Kenton, Chesham, West Acton, Barkingside, West Harrow, Boston Manor, Hillingdon, Park Royal, Sudbury Town
The least busy tube station in each zone (2025)
zone 1) Regent's Park (2.1m)
zone 2) Goldhawk Road (1.8m)
zone 3) North Ealing (0.5m)
zone 4) Roding Valley (0.2m)
zone 5) Ruislip Gardens (0.8m)
zone 6) Theydon Bois (0.7m)
zone 7) Moor Park (0.8m)
zone 8) Chalfont & Latimer (1.5m)
zone 9) Chesham (1.0m)
And while we're here...
DLR Top 10: Greenwich (12m), Canary Wharf, Limehouse, Lewisham, Woolwich Arsenal, Shadwell, Heron Quays, East India, Westferry, South Quay
DLR Bottom 10: Beckton Park (0.4m), Stratford High Street, Prince Regent, Royal Albert, Elverson Road, Abbey Road, Blackwall, Star Lane, Poplar, King George V
n.b. Tube stations with DLR services don't count, otherwise Bank, Stratford and Canning Town would all be in the Top 5.
Canary Wharf would normally be the busiest DLR station but Greenwich beat it last year because Cutty Sark was closed. Beckton Park remains Tumbleweed Central after the neighbouring office development stalled. Pudding Mill Lane spent two decades in the Bottom 5 but thanks to ABBA it's no longer even in the Bottom 20.
Crossrail Top 10: Canary Wharf (19m), Abbey Wood, Hayes & Harlington, Woolwich, Heathrow T2&3, Ilford, Romford, Custom House, Heathrow T5, Southall
Crossrail Bottom 10: Iver (405000), Taplow, Langley, Twyford, Burnham, Hanwell, West Ealing, Gidea Park, Shenfield, Acton Main Line
n.b. Tube stations with Crossrail services don't count, otherwise every station from Paddington to Whitechapel would beat everything here.
Overground Top 10: Liverpool Street (16m), Clapham Junction, Shepherd's Bush, Hackney Central, Watford Junction, Peckham Rye, Shoreditch High Street, Denmark Hill, Dalston Junction, Dalston Kingsland
Overground Bottom 10: Emerson Park (0.3m), South Hampstead, Headstone Lane, Theobalds Grove, Hatch End, Penge West, Wandsworth Road, Cheshunt, Kilburn High Road, South Acton
n.b. Tube stations with Overground services don't count.
Liverpool Street and Clapham Junction are a very long way ahead of Shepherd's Bush. South Hampstead is the least used of all zone 2 stations. Barking Riverside has crept out of the bottom 10 (it's number 12) as the amount of housing nearby grows. Of the six Overground lines, the Suffragette line no longer appears in the Bottom 10 and the Liberty line takes the 'least used' crown.
Taken overall, TfL's ten least used stations are Roding Valley, Chigwell, Emerson Park, Grange Hill, Iver, Beckton Park, North Ealing, Taplow, South Hampstead and Theydon Bois. That's five tube stations, two Overground stations, two Elizabeth line stations and a DLR station.
As a final statistic, Roding Valley may be TfL's least used station by a country mile, but it's still busier than 45% of National Rail stations. We barely know what 'least used' means here in London.
» Search the data yourself
» Anorak Corner [rail edition]
» Anorak Corner [bus edition]
Hurrah, it's that time of year again when TfL silently updates its spreadsheet of annual passenger entry/exit totals at every tube station. It's really early this year.
As usual passenger numbers are surveyed for a typical week in autumn then multiplied up to a full year.
The data also includes DLR, Overground and Crossrail stations, but we'll get to those later.
London's ten busiest tube stations (2025) (with changes since 2024)
1) ↑1 King's Cross St Pancras (73m)
2) ↓1 Waterloo (70m)
3) ↑1 Tottenham Court Road (60m)
4) ↓1 Victoria (59.3m)
5) Liverpool Street (59.2m)
6) ↑1 Paddington (57m)
7) ↓1 London Bridge (55m)
8) Stratford (52m)
9) Oxford Circus (51m)
10) ↑1 Bond Street (42m)
King's Cross returns to the top of the table after Waterloo nipped in for a year. Several other small swaps take place lower down with Tottenham Court Road overtaking Victoria and Paddington leapfrogging London Bridge. Liverpool Street may be Britain's busiest National Rail station but it's only the fifth busiest tube station. All ten stations have lower passenger totals than last year. Half of the tube's Top 10 are also on the Elizabeth line. The spreadsheet confirms that this is gateline data, i.e. passengers entering or exiting the station, so interchanges are not counted and no distinction is being made regarding mode of travel. Oxford Circus remains the busiest tube-only station and Stratford is still the busiest tube station outside zone 1.
The next 10: Farringdon, Bank/Monument, Euston, Canary Wharf, Green Park, South Kensington, Moorgate, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, North Greenwich
24 tube stations had more than 20 million passengers last year and 60 exceeded 10 million. For comparison, 22 National Rail stations had more than 20 million passengers and 50 exceeded 10 million... so pretty similar.
London's ten busiest tube stations outside Zone 2 (2025)
1) Barking (17.2m)
2) ↑1 Ealing Broadway (17.0m)
3) ↓1 Wimbledon (16.7m)
4) Wembley Park (15.3m)
5) Tottenham Hale (13.8m)
6) Walthamstow Central (12.8m)
7) ↑2 Richmond (12.3m)
8) ↓1 Tooting Broadway (11.7m)
9) ↓1 Seven Sisters (11.6m)
10) Upton Park (11.1m)
Barking remains in the top spot while Ealing Broadway nudges ahead of Wimbledon. The top three here all have gatelines shared by tube and rail services so Wembley Park's total is more reliably tubular. Northeast London has a particularly strong showing including three stations on the Victoria line. If the list were to continue then Harrow-on-the-Hill (8.4m) would be the highest performing tube station in Zone 5 and Heathrow Terminals 2&3 (5.3m) the busiest in Zone 6.
London's ten busiest tube stations that are only on one line
Canary Wharf, North Greenwich, Vauxhall, Brixton, Camden Town, Wimbledon, Old Street, Tottenham Hale, Knightsbridge, Walthamstow Central
Tube stations with over 10% more passengers in 2025 than 2024
Roding Valley, Kew Gardens, Upminster Bridge
Tube stations with over 10% fewer passengers in 2025 than 2024
Tufnell Park, Burnt Oak, Hendon Central, Park Royal, Sudbury Town, Alperton, North Ealing, Piccadilly Circus, Sudbury Hill, South Harrow. Covent Garden. Kingsbury, Hyde Park Corner
Last year Colindale and Kentish Town were both closed during the period of the survey. Their neighbouring stations were thus busier than usual but are now back to normal, hence Tufnell Park, Burnt Oak and Hendon Central show the biggest decline in passenger numbers.
London's 10 least busy tube stations (2025)
1) Roding Valley (201000)
2) Chigwell (304000)
3) Grange Hill (367000)
4) North Ealing (510000)
5) Theydon Bois (699000)
6) ↑1 Moor Park (795000)
7) ↑2 Ickenham (805000)
8) Ruislip Gardens (813469)
9) ↓3 Upminster Bridge (813470)
10) Croxley (865000)
As usual the top three consists of the three stops on the Hainault shuttle. Roding Valley remains the least used station on the Underground but its passenger numbers are up 22% since 2024, the greatest increase of any tube station. North Ealing is unusually lightly used for a zone 3 station because Ealing Broadway and West Acton are close by and more useful. It haemorrhaged 18% of its passengers in 2025. Upminster Bridge had one more passenger than Ruislip Gardens! Only four of these ten stations lie within the Greater London boundary.
n.b. In this particular set of data Kensington (Olympia) counts as an Overground station, recording 2.5m passengers last year, whereas if you were only to count District line passengers it'd easily beat Roding Valley and be the tube's least used station.
The next 10: Fairlop, South Kenton, Chesham, West Acton, Barkingside, West Harrow, Boston Manor, Hillingdon, Park Royal, Sudbury Town
The least busy tube station in each zone (2025)
zone 1) Regent's Park (2.1m)
zone 2) Goldhawk Road (1.8m)
zone 3) North Ealing (0.5m)
zone 4) Roding Valley (0.2m)
zone 5) Ruislip Gardens (0.8m)
zone 6) Theydon Bois (0.7m)
zone 7) Moor Park (0.8m)
zone 8) Chalfont & Latimer (1.5m)
zone 9) Chesham (1.0m)
And while we're here...
DLR Top 10: Greenwich (12m), Canary Wharf, Limehouse, Lewisham, Woolwich Arsenal, Shadwell, Heron Quays, East India, Westferry, South Quay
DLR Bottom 10: Beckton Park (0.4m), Stratford High Street, Prince Regent, Royal Albert, Elverson Road, Abbey Road, Blackwall, Star Lane, Poplar, King George V
n.b. Tube stations with DLR services don't count, otherwise Bank, Stratford and Canning Town would all be in the Top 5.
Canary Wharf would normally be the busiest DLR station but Greenwich beat it last year because Cutty Sark was closed. Beckton Park remains Tumbleweed Central after the neighbouring office development stalled. Pudding Mill Lane spent two decades in the Bottom 5 but thanks to ABBA it's no longer even in the Bottom 20.
Crossrail Top 10: Canary Wharf (19m), Abbey Wood, Hayes & Harlington, Woolwich, Heathrow T2&3, Ilford, Romford, Custom House, Heathrow T5, Southall
Crossrail Bottom 10: Iver (405000), Taplow, Langley, Twyford, Burnham, Hanwell, West Ealing, Gidea Park, Shenfield, Acton Main Line
n.b. Tube stations with Crossrail services don't count, otherwise every station from Paddington to Whitechapel would beat everything here.
Overground Top 10: Liverpool Street (16m), Clapham Junction, Shepherd's Bush, Hackney Central, Watford Junction, Peckham Rye, Shoreditch High Street, Denmark Hill, Dalston Junction, Dalston Kingsland
Overground Bottom 10: Emerson Park (0.3m), South Hampstead, Headstone Lane, Theobalds Grove, Hatch End, Penge West, Wandsworth Road, Cheshunt, Kilburn High Road, South Acton
n.b. Tube stations with Overground services don't count.
Liverpool Street and Clapham Junction are a very long way ahead of Shepherd's Bush. South Hampstead is the least used of all zone 2 stations. Barking Riverside has crept out of the bottom 10 (it's number 12) as the amount of housing nearby grows. Of the six Overground lines, the Suffragette line no longer appears in the Bottom 10 and the Liberty line takes the 'least used' crown.
Taken overall, TfL's ten least used stations are Roding Valley, Chigwell, Emerson Park, Grange Hill, Iver, Beckton Park, North Ealing, Taplow, South Hampstead and Theydon Bois. That's five tube stations, two Overground stations, two Elizabeth line stations and a DLR station.
As a final statistic, Roding Valley may be TfL's least used station by a country mile, but it's still busier than 45% of National Rail stations. We barely know what 'least used' means here in London.
» Search the data yourself
» Anorak Corner [rail edition]
» Anorak Corner [bus edition]
London’s weekly railway news
Apr. 17th, 2026 06:00 amianvisits_feedThis is a weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
London Underground
If strike action is not called off, there will be four days of disruption to the London Underground next week due to RMT strike action. ianVisits
Mainline / Overground
For more than 15 years, HS2 has divided opinion over one simple question: Is it worth the money? BBC News
Network Rail says that it has completed replacing glazing panels as part of its major roof refurbishment project at Liverpool Street, brightening the once-gloomy train shed. ianVisits
Could Thameslink this year be hit with over a million passenger complaints and compensation claims? Southwark News
Passengers on a train fell out of their seats after it sped across a junction because the driver had misread signals and was unaware the train had switched lines. BBC News
Work to upgrade Belmont station’s surroundings has started, as part of a wider plan to double train services on the Sutton to Epsom Downs line by 2027. ianVisits
Miscellaneous
Residents are calling for a dedicated, fast shuttle bus from Wokingham to link with Twyford’s Elizabeth Line services, Reading Chronicle
Person dies after ‘falling on the tracks’ at North Ealing Tube station Daily Star
South London’s Inter-War Stations Built To Rival The Tube’s Londonist
A 79-year-old professional violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra has been reunited with his missing violin, with help from the BBC, after he suspected it had been stolen from a train. BBC News
Man sentenced after causing nearly £1m in disruption to railway – South London BTP
A man who was arrested and released with no further action after a mass stabbing on a train complained that officers were influenced by racial bias. BBC News
And finally: Tube trains carry a warning sign not to obstruct the doors, but a few decades ago, the text changed very slightly – to stop vandalism. ianVisits
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The image is from an April 2019 article: Satellite radar reveals Crossrail tunnels under London
Thursday 16 April 1663
Apr. 16th, 2026 11:00 pmpepysdiary_feedUp betimes and to my office, met to pass Mr. Pitt’s (anon Sir J. Lawson’s Secretary and Deputy Treasurer) accounts for the voyage last to the Streights, wherein the demands are strangely irregular, and I dare not oppose it alone for making an enemy and do no good, but only bring a review upon my Lord Sandwich, but God knows it troubles my heart to see it, and to see the Comptroller, whose duty it is, to make no more matter of it. At noon home for an hour to dinner, and so to the office public and private till late at night, so home to supper and bed with my father.
Mudlarking 103 - Farewell to Custom House Lower Stairs
Apr. 16th, 2026 07:27 pmsquirmeliaCustom House Lower Stairs has been my lunchtime haunt, when the tides are amenable, so I had one last session there. There were a few tourists wandering about and the tide was not low enough to be able to get underneath the wharf, even at low tide.
Finds included:
White horse distillery bottle base
A piece of glass with a curious shape
A squashed pipe
A black thing with green circles, which may be from a fire bucket.
(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)
Finds included:
White horse distillery bottle base
A piece of glass with a curious shape
A squashed pipe
A black thing with green circles, which may be from a fire bucket.
(You need a permit to search or mudlark on the Thames foreshore.)