London Bridge Chaos!

Argh...and I thought I had cleverly missed all the mess...!

With my usual platforms now completely destroyed (as I mentioned previously) - the journey into London Bridge has been much the same as normal (just slightly narrower platforms to disembark - walking up the train instead of the platform skips the queue - so no big deal)...getting home again last night was another matter entirely though (I'm hoping this was just a blip, but last night no-one knew where to go - it was bedlam) -





I'm fairly sure I visited all the remaining platforms at least twice before I found a train heading in the direction I wanted...so things aren't quite sorted yet...see how we go tonight...welcome back to work, Fink! >:P

Woah, London Bridge...

...looking down from the News Building, all my normal platforms have completely GONE (zoom in)!  Wonder which one I need to use to get home tonight?  Oo-er...

Views around Southwark...

Free Ice Cream....

...outside the office?  Yeah, may have got there a *little* bit on the late side compared to all the other eager beavers!

Still managed to get my hands on one though...*just*! ;)

Thanks to #UBERICECREAM (!)

So glad I don't get the bus any more...

...from London Bridge...it's heart breaking to have to join the back of a queue like that on a Monday morning!

Sun re-branding...

- spotted on the newsagent right opposite the Shard in Bridge Walk... ;)

London Bridge Platform 11

...was our final destination today (thanks to the ongoing improvement works at the station)...and oh boy is it narrow...I timed it, it took me seven minutes to get from my seat all the way to the ticket barrier (and this includes tutting, giving up waiting, getting back on the train at the next door and walking down the aisle in the middle instead - which surprisingly few other people did)...*very* annoying...hope this isn't our new normal platform! :(

Up the Shard on a Rainy day

So, today was the day, what a shame the weather wasn't too good...(oh well - I guess the cool thing is that hardly anyone would normally do this sort of thing in bad weather, so my pics might actually be somewhat unusual)... ;)

...so I got to London Bridge quite early (had to cab it to Redhill and get on a super early Luton train in order to make it on time) -

- found the Shard Arcade (which I has spied on previously during construction) now open, but it's still a bit shy in the way of actual shops - anyway - at the appointed time, I walked to the main entrance of the Shard itself - was directed to a lift -

- honestly, it felt a bit like playing a tutorial level on a run and gun game ("This way, Sir", "Yes, just up there") there must have been ten people employed to this end (which was the 22nd floor) -


- we had a couple of hours of (very informative) presentations after taking a couple of snaps from this (comparatively low level) -



...and then...it was back down to the ground floor to take a trip up to the top of the world (London-style)...

Watching the Shard being built...

...and then moving there (well into the baby version anyway)! Wow - the Shard was *small* back then!!  Anyway, tomorrow, assuming I can get a train into London from Earlswood early enough for the start of the session at 0745 (just a clue - that's a no - going to have to get a cab into Redhill to catch a different train if I want to make it) -

- I can participate in one of our office's "Shard Event"s (there are so many people involved I think they are going on all week long) but my place is booked for tomorrow morning -

- we assemble for breakfast on the 22nd floor (so same sort of height I used to work at in Canary Wharf) and then get a load of presentations regarding our relocation later in the year (progress/strategy/integration and a background/orientation session from the property group responsible for the London Bridge Quarter structures) -

- and then last but not least a trip up to the viewing platform (hope it's clear weather like today)!

Really looking forward to it, will need to make sure I charge the Canon ready for the morning! ;)

Evidence of improvement at London Bridge!

Well, there we go, the trains haven't managed to run on time (those happy few that managed to start running at all without being cancelled), but at least at London Bridge there are some tiny signs of improvement (at least for those who have no idea where they are going - which may speed things up for the rest of us during rush hour - once we are *off* the delayed trains and back onto foot power) - here you can see the nice, new colour coded "Follow me" lines (like out of Ender's Game) to hand-hold folk to where they need to be without raising their eyes from the pavement (in order to notice all the existing signs on the walls)...

I can just feel the rail network coming together...with this and the confusing footprints they spray painted onto the escalators, things are sure to improve!

London in the Fog

Quite amazing views today (trying to get into the office early, best option being to walk again - oh well) - First up - More London Place to the North East...

More London Place to the South West (you can normally see the Shard in the gap in the middle - no chance today)...!

London City Hall (and the fountains full of frolicking children - in more merciful weather)...

Approach to Tower Bridge (heading towards Dunwall Shad Thames)...





...and some of the boats in St Katherine Docks...Just need a Ripper Murder now...hehe... ;)

Update - a few of these pics made it onto The Times Facebook feed... ;)

Greater London...

Yes, getting there, I think! ;)

London Bridge Tube sign...

Yeah, so the sign at the entrance to the tube at London Bridge could do with a *bit* of a wipe...it sort of looks like it's derelict!

London Bridge Sleepers

Spotted these the other day, while I was sat on a train awaiting a platform at London Bridge (you may want to zoom in by clicking to get a better look)...I don't know about you, but to me, those sleepers look just a little bit worse for wear...in fact, I would go so far as to say that they wouldn't look out of place sticking out of the sea as the weather beaten remains of a ruined pier (certainly when compared to the nice new ones next to them)...!

I'm sure they are perfectly safe though... 

Bankside - Then and Now

(1997, not even that long ago)!

...and now...How things have changed!

Christmas Railway Fun!

Just got a *very* good bit of news - I only have to cover one day between Christmas and New Years (the 31st) *and* I can do that cover snuggled into my duvet with a laptop (instead of trying to get into London)...

The reason that this is *very* good news, instead of just ordinary good news is the fact that between the 25th of December and the 1st of Jan they are basically going to shut down the railway between Brighton and London (major building works at Gatwick airport, working on the wonky signals that fail all the time in town and *totally* ripping out the huge great rickety junction outside Purley station and making a shiny brand new one)...pretty much the only way into London Bridge from the South of England is going to be hopping on a replacement bus (and praying)...

This would be fine (and probably a nice adventure) apart from the fact that Flyingpops (at that stage) is going to be just a handful of weeks from the new baby being due and I *really* don't want to be stuck in London (if "The Call" comes) waiting around for a replacement bus service (not normally terribly new/reliable buses) to shudder into view and then wend it's merry way through central London/East Croydon/Purley and the Purley way (during the sales) finally to deposit me half an hour's walk away from the hospital (goodness only knows how many hours later)...

So that's one less (big) thing to worry about...now able to look forward to my (apart from that one day of cover) twelve days (off) of Christmas! :)

Peeping over the fence at London Bridge Station

Yep, there is still quite a lot of work to do... ;)