Author: Ian

Watch Patrick – Ageing & Independent Living In London – England Your England Short Film

http://vimeo.com/55962094

Patrick, part of the England Your England short film series, is about 81 year old Patrick who continues to live an independent life in central London and helps those around him. It touches on ageing in the city and the feeling of alienation that sometimes results.

Each film in the series is helping to raise money for charity, with Age UK Camden being the chosen one for this movie. You can learn more about the making of the film and see other stills on the England Your England website.

Watch London Architecture Timelapse (Hyperlapse) By Mattia Bicchi

Big cities in general and London in particular seem to lend themselves to timelapse videos. If you’ve read this blog for any period of time you’ll know I’m a huge fan of timelapse films and one of my favourite film makers is Mattia Bicchi. He’s done some amazing videos over the last year or so, including the London Architecture Time Lapse above.

This is another wonderful video that features many of his tracking timelapse shots and many architecturally interesting locations in London, that while well known, aren’t famous. The full list of locations include:

  • Canary Wharf
  • Tower of London
  • Tower Bridge
  • Strata Tower
  • King’s Cross Station
  • Palestra Building
  • Royal Albert Hall (amazing tracking shot)
  • British Museum
  • RBS Building
  • Broadgate Tower
  • Wembley Stadium (amazing tracking shot)
  • Heron Tower
  • O2 Arena (amazing tracking shot)
  • St. Giles Building
  • The Shard
  • National Maritime Museum (amazing tracking shot)
  • Wellington Arch (great zooming shot)
  • St. Paul’s Cathedral (amazing tracking shot)
  • Houses of Parliament (great zooming shot)

Not sure how he’s able to find so many blue sky days in London. Among his best yet, so give it a watch.

You can follow Mattia’s work on his website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Watch Richard – Working & Sleeping Rough In London – England Your England Short Film

Richard from the England Your England short film series focuses Richard Roberts who both tunes pianos and sleeps rough with no fixed address. The film looks at our consumerist society and what we really need to be happy. I won’t say any more other than watch it.

Richard also runs a blog and you can find out more about the film here. The series is designed to raise money for charity with Westminster Boating Base being the chosen one for this movie.

Bakerloo Line Walk – From Harrow & Wealdstone to Elephant & Castle

This post is part of my Randomly London v. The Tube Challenge. Get the latest about challenge updates here. Donate to Bowel Cancer UK here.

Red Telephone Box at Queen's Park
Red Telephone Box Seen at Queen’s Park

My overall impression of the Bakerloo line was not altogether favourable when I visited the stations, and initially, walking it does little to improve this. However, this is due as much to mistakes on my part as anything else.

I’m walking the Bakerloo line from Harrow & Wealdstone in far north-west London to Elephant & Castle in the south-east. It’s a cool, overcast day in October when I begin – the perfect weather for walking. Nevertheless, things begin to go wrong almost immediately.

A Shaky Beginning

First of all, I’m sleepy because I stayed out late at a work party the night before, which means I am slightly hungover as well. Far worse is the realisation that the internet on my phone is no longer working. For most experienced and/or prepared walkers this wouldn’t be a problem, but for me it is.

While I don’t have the best phone, it’s perfectly sufficient to run Google Maps. Within a very short period of time, I’ve become wholly dependent on it to navigate London’s streets. Why use an A to Z when you have a map with GPS right in your pocket?

Continue reading Bakerloo Line Walk – From Harrow & Wealdstone to Elephant & Castle

Watch The London Perambulator – Walking In London Documentary

The London Perambulator is a wonderful short documentary about walking in London’s fringes. Although it was made in 2009, I’ve only just come across it. Directed and shot by John Rogers it focuses on Nick Papadimitriou and his walks on the edges of London.

It includes interviews with Will Self, Iain Sinclair and bizarrely Russell Brand. A lot of the discussion focuses on the psychogeography and deep topography of London; two terms I’ve never heard of before, but something I can certainly relate to on my tube walks.

I won’t spoil any more of it here, you’ll just have to watch it.

For more visit The London Perambulator website.

The Overground Circle Pub Crawl – How 2 Aussies & A Canadian Became The First People In History To Complete It

the start and finish of the overground pub crawl
The 3 of us at Clapham Junction, the start and finish of the Overground Circle Pub Crawl. Proof that we can take photos at the same station during the day and at night.

Warning: The following account is not a part of my tube walking. It in no way endorses binge drinking or drinking along the Overground. It was an experiment to see if it was possible. It was in no way endorsed, supported, condoned or even tolerated by the Overground network and/or Transport for London. We did it so you don’t have to.

Well, it was bound to happen. Once the new Overground Circle opened on 9 December 2012, it was only a matter of time before some group of people attempted to outdo the Circle Line Pub Crawl using it instead. Turns out I was one of the first 3 people to complete it, on 16 February 2013.

So how does it compare to the Circle Line pub crawl? The Circle Line pub crawl goes through 27 stations, with 28 total stops, as you’re supposed to have a drink back at the original starting location. The Overground Circle has 33 stations, and we decided to adopt the Circle Line convention and have a final drink back at the starting point for a total of 34.

Continue reading The Overground Circle Pub Crawl – How 2 Aussies & A Canadian Became The First People In History To Complete It

London in Motion – Travel Patterns From 3.1 Million Oyster Users & 16 Million Daily Transactions

This visualization in the video above builds upon the thesis research of Jay Gordon. It was sponsored by the MIT Transit Research Group and Transport for London.

From the YouTube Description:

This visualization merges all 16 million daily transactions made on London’s Oyster card with vehicle-location data from the city’s 8,500 buses to infer the travel histories of that day’s 3.1 million Oyster users. After inferring the times and locations of each bus boarding and alighting, bus and rail transactions are combined to reconstruct each cardholder’s daily travel history.

Each pixel represents an approximately 100-square-meter section of Greater London, and the brightness of each of the three RGB color components indicates the number of riders in one of three categories. Green indicates the number of passengers in the transit system, whether on a bus or in one of several rail modes. Blue indicates the presence of riders prior to their first transaction of the day or after their last: it is assumed that the location of a rider’s first or last transaction approximates their place of residence. Red indicates cardholders who are between transit trips, whether transferring, engaging in activities, or traveling outside the transit system.

By matching Oyster transaction records to data from the iBus vehicle-location system, buses are shown to traverse the street network at their observed speeds, and their brightness reflects the number of passengers on board. Rail customers tap their cards when entering or exiting stations, but their waiting times and choices of line and transfer location are not known (in this version). Rail passengers are therefore shown traveling in straight lines at constant speeds, interpolated between their entry and exit taps.

Found via Reddit.

Yet Another London Timelapse, This One By Greg Brummel

If there’s one thing I can’t resist, it’s a London timelapse video. The one above was created by Greg Brummel and features your standard London locations. The footage was clearly taken over a relatively long period of time, as shots of sledding are followed by those in the summer. I found some of the crowd sounds a little creepy, but its well worth a watch. Hope to see more from Greg in the future.