Leicester Square - which statues are visible during ice skating and other events

 I had just got excited by the idea of being photographed sitting on a bench next to Mr Bean in Leicester Square, when I read in the Times newspaper that the ice skating  facility will be renewed for another two years, despite objections including the fact that access to statue landmarks will be restricted.

In order to plan my next visit and inform others I asked Gemini to clarify. Of course, I shall need to check the locations of statues and the dates of events, before going to see the statues for myself and posing with them.

Here's what Gemini told me 

In Leicster Square which statues such as Shakespeare and Mr Bean will be seen or not seen on which dates when the ice skating and other events take place in leicester swuare

During major seasonal events in Leicester Square—most notably the winter festivities, which feature Skate Leicester Square and the surrounding Christmas market (running from late October / early November through early January)—the layout of the square changes dramatically, affecting which statues remain visible and accessible.

Visible Statues During Events

• William Shakespeare Fountain: Located right at the central point of the Leicester Square gardens, the Shakespeare fountain remains fully visible, though it is incorporated into the backdrop of the event enclosure. Twinkling lights, market chalets, or the ice rink infrastructure surround the base, but the central statue itself stays in place [cite: 1.2.2].

• Perimeter Statues (e.g., Batman, Wonder Woman, Mary Poppins): Elevated or wall-mounted statues around the edges of Leicester Square (such as Batman on the cinema roof or Mary Poppins near the trees) remain visible at all times throughout the year because they sit outside the ground-level event footprint [cite: 1.3.2].

Hidden or Restrictively Accessible Statues

• Mr. Bean: Located on a bench inside the gardens, Mr. Bean is part of the interactive Scenes in the Square trail [cite: 1.3.1]. During event setups, ground-level bench statues (including Mr. Bean and Paddington Bear) may be temporarily fenced off within ticketed event zones (such as the ice rink enclosure or festive bar/stall areas) or obstructed by temporary structures. While they are usually not physically removed, general public walk-up access and photo opportunities can be restricted or require entry into the event space during opening hours [cite: 1.2.1].

Key Dates for Event Setup & Impact

• Winter Events / Ice Rink Setup: Late October to Early January (e.g., Skate Leicester Square runs from October 31 through January 3) [cite: 1.1.3]. Ground access inside the central garden area is restricted to event attendees or ticket holders during this period [cite: 1.2.1].

• Restoration of Full Public Access: Mid-January. Once the ice rink, chalets, and temporary fencing are fully dismantled, unrestricted ground access to all bench-level statues returns.

• Film Premieres & Red Carpet Events: Occurring sporadically throughout the year, temporary barriers around the perimeter red carpet zone block immediate access to specific ground statues for a few hours on event days, though perimeter statues remain visible from afar.

 You need to check the facts for yourself regarding whatever date and time interests you.

-ends-

Useful Websites

Please share links to your favourite posts.

How To Keep Track Of Records, Travel Tickets, Passports, Visas, House Deeds, Court cases, Correspondence

Covid Passport.

 When you are at  home, you or family members are living or working abroad, or you move home, you need to keep track of vital documents. Passports. Visas. Birth certificates. University degree certificates. House Deeds. Rental contracts and agreements.

Double Filing Letters

How can you misplace a letter? It shouldn't happen. When I worked for the British Council we had a double filing system. One copy of any outgoing letter went on the top of today's file and was a chronological record. The second copy went on top of a thematic file, which was in alphabetical order with the others. Inside that, letters chronological. 

You should do the same with incoming mail and sign and date each time you removed a file or read a letter.

This requires space. You can save space, paper, and ink, by keeping documents online.

Online Documents

What about keeping track of online documents? A place for everything. Everything in its place. A or index of list of places. Accessible in future. Duplicated for disaster. Keep them on a separate device or place. Then, if your laptop is lost, stolen, mislaid, replaced, you still have your old documents.

You can send them by email to yourself. To other family members. 

Insurance Documents - Accessible

Print out insurance and leave it a pin board or magnetic door or side of the fridge or other meal cabinet. If you are in an accident, you need to have somebody at your home or office who has quick, instant access to the phone number to get help for your broken down vehicle or injured or trapped person.

Insurance documents about a house fire or flood need to be in a fireproof safe. And/or a duplicate copy with the phone number of the insurance company and the policy number and expiry date should be with a family member, business colleague or friend who is not in the same house and not in the same flood or fire zone. 

Calendars - Visible and Invisible

A one year wall calendar can keep track of holiday dates for a family or company, plus birthdays, anniversaries, national holidays. A pin board or kitchen place such as the fridge door can keep track of appointments. Make sure it is not visible to outsiders, potential burglars or thieves, or people who might carelessly chat about your away dates in the pub, cleaners, delivery people, house sitters, dog walkers, or passers-by.

For babysitters, and a new home, the first thing to do is note the numbers of the property management, owner or rental agent, and the services, gas or electricity, etc, on the notice board for quick reference, or in a highly coloured box file, or a starred file on your laptop with the document name in capital letters or bold or underlined or starred or in a file called VITAL DOCUMENTS,ADDRESSES, EMAILS & PHONE NUMBERS.

I have had a series of mishaps in my life and have learned from them.

1 Lost Degree Document

To take up a teaching job teaching English as a Foreign language in Singapore, I needed the original, not a photocopy, because that could be altered.

I phoned home from Singapore to our son at our home in London, England. I told him, 

'I urgently need my university graduation certificate. We can't find it in our vital document file in Singapore. I think I left it in London. Can you find it?'

He said, 'You have loads of files. Where shall I start?'

'I usually frame important documents. Look on the walls.'

'You have abut a hundred framed pictures.'

'Look.' ...

'I've looked. I can't find it.'

'Some of the pictures obscure the one underneath.'

'I've found it. Behind another certificate.'

2 Worst Losses - Passports

a) Passport left inside the big suitcase from my last big trip. I thought that would ensure I did not travel without it. But I did not note where it was. Six months later I looked in bedside drawers for a short trip and in my small wheel on bag for a free trip to France. I discovered it only six months later.

b) Passport in neck pouch left hanging on the back of the chair at breakfast. The chair had two upright posts. I should have kept the passport with my coat in a large pocket with the strip hanging out visibly.

Lost Passport Rescue Successes

I was so busy making sandwiches for the journey that I rushed off without my passport. Twice. On the first occasion a family member found it and drove after us. We turned back and met him half way back, saving us time.

The same thing happened again. I was too embarrassed to tell the organizers I had no passport. Another person, my editor, told them. He soon came back with good news. 

This time I was able to buy a day visa, for a day trip on a ferry allowing just a few hours in France, by taking a photo in a photo booth for a couple of pounds, getting a witness that it was my likeness - that would have been easy?, and paying a few pounds or Euros for the document.

Passport Numbers, Phone Numbers And Other Numbers

You can buy password books and use them to keep track of passport details and national insurance numbers. I am rather wary of leaving around books labelled Password book.

However, agree with trusted members of your family, whether to have a labelled book or box, or another coded label, and where it will be.

Vital Numbers For Babysitters

When you have a babysitter, the phone numbers of the family, and local hospitals and emergency services need to be visible and accessible. Especially if you move to a new company, and / or your babysitter speaks another language, or your home language and is also in a new country or location.  

The moral is: 

Keep Track of Documents When Travelling

1 Have a checklist. 

2 Have documents checked in advance of the time needed to get visas and new passports or more insurance. 

3 Note where you have stored passports and certificates, or always have them clearly visible in the same place - but not where they could be stolen, copied or revealed by strangers.

4 Leave a copy of vital documents with somebody trusted at another address.

May all your travels and documents be safe and stress-free.

-ends-

Please follow me and share links to your favourite, entertaining or most useful posts.

Clocks Back In England

 

Time zones. Map from Wikipedia.

Our clocks went back in the early hours of the last Sunday in October. Now we have more light in the morning, less light in the evening.

We have a kitchen clock which alerted us to the changeover. We still had to change the oven and microwave, the clocks in cars, and our watches.

I remember the saying, spring forward, fall back.

An end to British summer time. I need to get out to see the sunshine and get vitamin D.

Useful Websites On Time

German words which are the same or nearly the same as English

 

GERMAN WORDS WHICH ARE THE SAME Or Almost the same 

Same GERMAN – ENGLISH 

Absolut – absolutely 

Bluse - blouse

Elegant - elegant 

Cousin - cousin 

Laptop - laptop 

Jacke - jacket

Moment - moment 

Museum - museum

oft - often

Radio - radio

Sushi – sushi 

 warm - warm

Same ENGLISH - GERMAN 

absolutely – absolut 

blouse - Bluse

cousin - Cousin 

elegant – elegant 

jacket - Jacke

Laptop - Laptop 

moment – Moment 

museum - Museum 

often - oft

radio - Radio

sushi - Sushi 

warm - warm