Nobody wants to read boring old text any more, the moving image is where it's at. So today I'm pivoting to video and bringing you my first thrilling dynamic transport content. Like and subscribe! For those of you without playback capability, I've included a transcript below. Warning, spoilers! THE BIG LONDON AIRPORTS RACE Train versus plane - City to Heathrow Scene - outside City Airport DEEJ: Hi there. Welcome back to the channel and we've got a wild one for you today. What's the fastest way to get from London City Airport to Heathrow Airport. Is it the train? Or could it be flying? I kn ..read more

 Freshwater fish quiz Here are clues to 21 freshwater fish. The first column are definitions, the rest are cryptic. How many can you catch? (quiz complete... all answers now in the comments box) 1) roost 2) plump 3) long spear 4) below tenor 5) director Ken 6) former Sussex MP 7) Surrey MP     8) vehicle (quiet)   9) phone company (large) 10) 10 swiss 11) 60 secs at present 12) 500 + 1 13) 1000 in hairdressers 14) elkcits   15) time thrashing 16) undo egg whisk 17) cockless insect 18) I didn't eat initially 19) rung at closing time? 20) sounds like light b ..read more

I don't wear my mourning clothes very often, thank goodness. A freshly laundered white shirt, a black jacket unwrapped from the dry cleaners (not actually a suit but the forecast was for showers), suitably shiny shoes and a tie in my pocket in case sartorial standards require. "Don't worry on my account," he'd have said. The crematorium is busy, but in a streamlined way which helps prevent you noticing. The day is cold but the trees are bright and the wisteria is fortuitously at its peak. At the appointed time the family arrives, one down, and the chapel fills up from the rear. The deceased ..read more

30 unblogged things I did in April 1984 They didn't have blogs or the internet forty years ago, indeed my Sinclair ZX81 wasn't capable of much, but here are 30 things I didn't digitally publish at the time. To help you get your bearings I was 19 and most of this is the Easter break from university. The best bit's in the middle of the month. Sorry there are no photos. Sun 1: It's both Mothers Day and April Fools Day which is a recipe for potential disaster. Give Mum her card, watch her face, then give her her real card. I have a box of Thornton's truffles ready as a back-up. Lunch is early be ..read more

The centre of London is generally taken to be the statue of Charles I on the south side of Trafalgar Square. It sits on the site of the original Charing Cross and is also the point from which mileages are measured, as a plaque at its foot attests. But the geographical centre of London is harder to define. Based purely on maps and boundaries, not historical precedent, where might the centre of the capital be? In today's post I'm going to visit some of the candidates, laugh at a suggestion made for marketing reasons and throw in a potential candidate myself. Without offering too many spoilers ..read more

A Nice Walk: Twickenham Riverside (1½ miles) Sometimes you just want to go for a nice walk, nothing too taxing, a bit of a stroll, lots to see, pretty views, leafy waterside, historic houses, plenty of seating, optional foot ferry, multiple refreshment opportunities, entirely step-free, won't take long. So here's a classic mile and a half along the Thames in Twickenham, nowhere near enough to make a day of it but a nice walk all the same. This is the third time my Nice Walk recommendation has kicked off at Richmond Bridge, but this time we're walking the west bank of the Thames all the way ..read more

Yesterday's big reveal from would-be Mayor-to-be Sadiq was a major extension to the Superloop express bus network. Phase 1 has ten routes and the plan is to add another ten and call it Superloop 2. There's a map and everything. The most important thing on the map is the box in the corner which says 'Draft route, subject to change'. These additional routes would need to be subject to public consultation and anything could get tweaked, so best not take every link and connection on the map as gospel. But like Phase 1 it's very much an Outer London project, like Phase 1 it links multiple town c ..read more

London has eight public footpath level crossings, and today I'm going to walk you across another of them. Bourneview (CR8 5AD) We're in Kenley in the London borough of Croydon, a couple of miles southeast of Purley. Two railway lines wend down this dry chalk valley but we want the line to Caterham, the lower of the pair, shortly before trains cross the boundary into Surrey and pull up at Whyteleafe. The footpath crossing to the north of Kenley station has been converted to a diversionary footbridge in the form of two very long ramps. The footpath crossing nearer Whyteleafe has been converted ..read more

Sadiq's manifesto has finally been published so let's take a look (mainly so there's a blogpost to check at the end of his term in 2028). Title: A fairer, safer, greener London for everyone Pages: 67 Top 10 pledges 1) Free school meals ...a current policy planned for extension but not actually a given, merely to "work to make universal free school meals permanent", and only for primary schools 2) Freeze TfL fares ...but only "until 2025" which isn't a pledge it's a fact because fares only rise once a year. There is however a promise to "continue to freeze fares for as long as economic con ..read more

In precisely two weeks' time Londoners get their chance to vote for a new Mayor. They won't, they'll vote for the old Mayor because Sadiq Khan is so far ahead in the polls he's effectively unstoppable. But we do know the 12 people who won't replace him, most of whom are destined to lose their £10,000 deposit, and we also know many of their policies. Here's my clickable summary. The mainstream three • Susan Hall (Conservative Party): Susan entered London politics in 2006 as a councillor for Hatch End and rose to become Leader of Harrow council, at least for a few months. Since 2019 she's be ..read more