Category Archives: London life

Royal Wedding post

Posted on 29th April, 2011 by

OK, well I’m up London — right now, in the Apple Store in Covent Garden — where I had intented to take some pictures of the scenes surrounding the royal wedding. I wouldn’t have done so otherwise, but my friend … Continue reading →

Posted in London life |

6 Comments

The problems with paring down the Royal Mail

Posted on 27th March, 2011 by

Indigo Jo

Earlier this week I heard on the news that the Royal Mail were closing down two of their big London sorting depots, namely Bow and Nine Elms. I’ve worked at Nine Elms and it was a pretty busy place back … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, London life, Road Life |

Western Extension gone

Posted on 24th December, 2010 by

Indigo Jo

As I start writing this entry, the western extension to the London congestion charge ceases. The charge is being suspended over Christmas and New Year, and will return after that in its original boundaries with a raised fee of £10. … Continue reading →

Posted in London life |

The X26 and why it sucks

Posted on 5th November, 2010 by

Indigo Jo

The X26 is the bus I’ve been commuting to work on most of this week. It has one main benefit, which is that it runs directly from New Malden, where I live, to Croydon, where I’ve had to go for … Continue reading →

Posted in London life, Transport |

2 Comments

Costa comfort

Posted on 1st November, 2010 by

Indigo Jo

I’ve not always been a coffee drinker - I was first introduced to it by my Mum and it was an instant, and not sweet to my no doubt immature taste buds. I came back to it as an adult … Continue reading →

Posted in London life |

4 Comments

Why didn’t they use the fire doors?

Posted on 21st October, 2010 by

Indigo Jo

The other day, just after I finished my post on the “communication shutdown” supposedly in aid of autism, the fire alarm went off in the Bentalls centre in Kingston where I had written it (in the Apple Store). Of course, … Continue reading →

Posted in London life |

5 Comments

Suburban Barclays bank robbed

Posted on 29th June, 2010 by

Indigo Jo

Yesterday a branch of Barclays bank was robbed near London. It happened in Ashford — not the one in Kent where the Eurostar trains stop, but the quiet suburban sprawl north of Staines which is right next to Heathrow airport. … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, London life |

London minicabs and public service ads

Posted on 28th February, 2010 by

Indigo Jo

A few months ago, Transport for London published a set of advertisements aimed at encouraging people, particularly women, not to take the unlicensed “minicabs” which attempt to pick up passengers by the side of the road, because it could lead … Continue reading →

Posted in London life |

4 Comments

“Hijab gates” bring out the bigots

Posted on 16th February, 2010 by

Indigo Jo

Various newspapers have reported that two sculptures to be erected at both ends of Brick Lane in east London, a narrow street which has become a trendy hang-out place and which is supposedly full of Bengalis, have been dubbed the … Continue reading →

Posted in Islamophobia, London life, Women |

8 Comments

Kingston and snow

Posted on 6th January, 2010 by

Indigo Jo

I’m stopping to type this on my phone in the middle of a long trudge through the snow and ice on the back streets between Kingston and New Malden. I’m using the back streets to avoid a common hazard of … Continue reading →

Posted in London life |

5 Comments

Arrogant privilege rears its head again

Posted on 12th December, 2009 by

Indigo Jo

A while back, before I got the hang of Twitter as a means of announcing blog posts and conducting cross-border conversations without having to log into a chat client (and well before getting my Android phone yesterday and being able … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, London life, Politics, Road Life |

Tagged darren johnson, green party |

7 Comments

Wheelchair access at Green Park is money well spent

Posted on 18th September, 2009 by

Indigo Jo

There is an article in the current issue of The Spectator by Andrew Gilligan, attacking a project to make Green Park station, an important London Underground interchange, wheelchair accessible or, in London Transport jargon, to provide ‘step-free’ access from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Disability, London life, Transport |

14 Comments

Whole Foods UK ‘£36m in the red’

Posted on 4th August, 2009 by

Indigo Jo

The Guardian reports today that the British operation of Whole Foods Market, which took over the old Fresh and Wild organic chain and opened up a huge supermarket in a former department store in Kensington, is £36 million in the … Continue reading →

Posted in London life |

3 Comments

Borders to shut London flagship store

Posted on 14th July, 2009 by

Indigo Jo

I read a short article in the Evening Standard yesterday evening that Borders was to shut its flagship bookshop in Oxford Street; after looking it up I discovered that four other Borders stores are to go, including Swindon, London Colney, … Continue reading →

Posted in London life |

3 Comments

Planning decisions are never democratic

Posted on 24th June, 2009 by

Indigo Jo

There is a letter in today’s Guardian in response to the long saga of the intervention by the Prince of Wales in the planning dispute in Chelsea. The letter is from Georgine Thorburn of the “Chelsea Barracks Acton Group”, and … Continue reading →