Preserving The Medieval Past - Saving The Curzon Cinema For The Future

Happy About The Cross Rail
The new Crossrail line running East-West across London, England, has provided a vertical peep into the past where stations are being created in a 'well', literally unearthing slices down into the past of different centuries, plus a horizontal tunnel across London, revealing one era geographically. The good news is that increasing co-oeration between archaeologists wanting to save the old, and engineers wanting to build the new, which will be called the Elizabeth line. (Yes, the pun on happy and cross is deliberate.)

The Elizabeth line is a tongue twister and at four syllables a nuisance, too long to say, although I have not had trouble saying Bakerloo. But to abbreviate it to the Liz line might offend purists, after all Liz is slang, and H M THE QUEEN is called Elizabeth not Liz. However, Liz line is neatly alliterative.

Problem
The serious question about the Crossrail line is how do you save and identify what's dug up by excavations?
How do save, should you save historic buildings such as the Curzon Cinema which will be destroyed by the new ticket office? Actor Stephen Fry is campaigning to save the Curzon.

The Americans are good at saving entire buildings and moving them along the street or even several miles. I remember first coming across this concept when it was new to the British, before the days of the internet. It could have been as long ago as the Sixties, or maybe the Nineties. I visited a famous home. It might have been the home of Molly Brown. I and the other visitors were told by the guide, "This is the exact same building, every stone of the structure, the desk and every item in the house is the same, but when it was in use it was 100 yards down the road. It was moved because of the railway (or road) being built.

So, I would like to see the Curzon Cinema saved. Those in charge of finance can decide whether it is more cost effective to move it entirely (losing its position in the nearby Curzon Street), or whether to preserve it as part of a new skyscraper building going up and down, and losing the exterior view from the road (unless it can be preserved by glass, like the glass being built around the Eiffel Tower).

Author, Angela Lansbury, see my books on Amazon and Lulu.com
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News From Crossrail: Glass doors and a chamber pot

What is Crossrail. It is the new Elizabeth line. If you have been into London in the past five years you will have seen building work at stations such as Tottenham Court Road near Foyles Book shop.

Information
I saw an exhibition on Crossrail at Tottenham Court Road station in London and signed up for newsletter emails on updates. You have to hunt around the sight which contains a lot of information but you will be rewarding by nuggets of interest.

Upgrade Glass Walls and Doors
The Cross Rail project upgrade central London stations and extends west via Heathrow airport station as far as the university town of Reading, as well as East.

The most delightful upgrade for me is the glass doors separating passengers from trains. We have those on the underground in Singapore. It's much safer.

You don't get delayed by suicides. You aren't afraid that somebody will push somebody else on the line. Nor can anybody fall.

The trains have to line up neatly exactly next to the doors, so the passengers can be directed so stand in specific places either side of the doors. Arrow shape lines hold back the passengers from entering so those alighting do not collide with those trying to get in.

It is win win all around. Making for a fast and reliable service, quicker and safer.

Website Archaeological Amusements and Joys
I was interested in the archaeology section. the figures are stunning. They have found more than 10,000 objects, ranging from The Romans to the The Plague.

Individual amusements included the chamber pot with the joking motto: I will not tell. I couldn't help adding the line 'what I have seen'. What a great motto for a modern towel, or even toilet paper.

Whoever thought that one up!

Tip
To read more and sign up for information go to:
http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/news-and-information-about-crossrail-events#DesignLine%20exhibition
http://www.crossrail.co.uk/sustainability/archaeology/archaeology-at-stepney-green

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please follow, like and share my posts. See my books on Lulu.com and Amazo.ncom

Tottenham Court Road station

Why would you go to Tottenham Court Road station? Because it is right next to Foyles bookshop, as well as theatres and shops and a convenient corner when catching trains.

Tottenham Court Road station is in Tottenham Court Road, in central London, many stops away from Tottenham. The station is also on the corner of Oxford Street, which might lead to Oxford but is not near it.

I was so looking forward to seeing the new station which was cordoned off for many months whilst it was being redeveloped as part of Crossrail which will transform London, bringing new area within reach, new restaurants and shops and friends and meetings. Easier journeys.

If you've got a moment, stop to read about Crossrail.

the entrance near Foyles is not colourful, in fact the design is black and white, striking, sombre and sophisticated, like Westminster station.

However, down on the Northern line platform, going north to Euston, is a colourful mosaic by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Italian parents. He is also known for sculpture. See his sculpture P i s c a t o r (autocorrect is trying to change this word) on nearby Euston station. (And more sculptures around London and in Edinburgh.) Read more about Paolozzi in Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_Paolozzi
Photos by Angela Lansbury, 2016. Copyright.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tottenham_Court_Road_tube_station

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

New Plans For Crossrail Trains and Stations In London; please copy Singapore and Hong Kong

Free event takes place in London on Friday September 23rd, at the Building Store in London showing plans for Crossrail. The new Elizabeth Line will open not next year but the end of the year after, December 2018. But here's a chance to see preview, and possibly influence the decisions. The line is set to link up London and transform stations from Haringey over in the east to Hillingdon in the West on the Heathrow side of London.

Major historic stations in central London will also be enjoying a re-fit. Streets now shrouded in scaffolding will emerge in their new glory, sparkling new and clean.

I am happy about the development, and hopeful that the new stations will provide state of the art artworks, entertainment, traditional history and modern design, and safety measures.


New pictures out of Crossrail plans. They are having a meeting in London to display the plans. Meanwhile, a few photos are online.

I looked at the escalators and felt nervous. We have had escalator accidents on London underground, in undergrounds and shopping malls in Singapore and China.

What are the causes? Children, drunks, daredevils, suicides, accidents. People caught in steps, falling, leaning, jumping, riding over rails, sliding down the handrails and edges. Teens and students sit on barriers chatting and eating ice cream or taking photos with legs having over concourses above stairwells and atriums.

Exits
I am also concerned about quick exit in the case of emergency, and signs to exits.

Singapore Safety Measures
Singapore has constant videos in four languages with subtitles on avoiding troubles. I watched videos about gaps, leaning on doors, getting bags caught caught in train doors.

Signs everywhere tell you how to alert staff, how to escape. (I did see emergency escape pictures on trains in Wales.

Singapore also has signs showing where to find alternative transport in an emergency.

Also signs to lifts for those with baby buggies, sticks, wheelchairs, suitcases on wheels.

Advantages Of New Stations and Routes
What is planned for Crossrail? You can visit their Facebook page.

In addition to the advantages for commuters, after the lull during building works shopkeepers will have more customers. People buying and selling property can expect that the new stations and train services will make property more saleable, quick sales, less stress, properties only empty briefly between sales and rentals, and prices for home owners and investors might rise.
In Singapore the development of the new train lines has been a delight. Good signs tell people to give up seats to the pregnant, and elderly.

The art on Hong Kong stations is wonderful.

I look for modern stations, shops and eating places on the move, free clean toilets. See my previous posts on stations in Hong Kong and Singapore and London.

Best station sights and sites?
London
Paddington
- see statues of Brunel;
and loving couple, not kissing goodbye but hello - the statue is called The Meeting;
Baker Street
- Murals of Sherlock Holmes inside Baker Street station and a statue of Sherlock Holmes outside.

Hong Kong:
The apple on the concourse at a station.
Videos on the airport express - like riding in a plane. All you need to add is a running commentary on the sights through the windows.

Singapore Stations (MRT)
Tanjong Pagar
- Modelled after Finland's Helsinki Central Railway station. Four statues outside. Inside, arched ceiling and six tall oblong coloured panels showing ships and houses and landscapes and the four characters and industries - like a cathedral but modern.

Little India
- Drawings of elephants on corridor walls.

Botanical Gardens
- Panels around entrance about the trees and plants in Singapore.

see www.remembersingapore.org (Tanjong Pagar station)

http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/news-and-information-about-crossrail-events

See my posts on London stations, Welsh stations, stations in Hong Kong, and stations in Singapore.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Good News For World Travel Market - 2019 Crossrail Heathrow to ExCel

The new Crossrail line which is already being mentioned in local papers is scheduled to go from Heathrow via Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Paddington and Canary Wharf to Excel.

I've seen the building works cutting off Tottenham Court Road station at the end of Oxford Street.

I was trying to calculate times of travel.

I've also seen the building works Farringdon station, near to Comptoir Gasgon restaurant (see my review in a previous post and on TripAdvisor) and Barts Pathology Museum. What a pity the Crossrail line does not connect Heathrow to City Airport.

2019 - some of us will be retired or dead by then. At least if you have a five year travel plan, you can put visit London on your list for 2019. MeanwhileI am watching progress.

What will happen is good news. But must we wait until 2019? No. Some of it will be open earlier.

The Farringdon station underground is currently open. Out in the street you can see the wonderful old mainline building with its art deco facade still standing waiting, I hope, for renovation, all curves and parallel lines and faces. (Or is it art nouveau?) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground_stations_that_are_listed_buildings

I do like the look of the new art work letting light from the ceiling or changing lights to it will change every day.

Go to the website:
http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/articles/heathrow-funding-major-artwork-at-paddington-crossrail-station

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, speaker and author.

Good news - Crossrail Heathrow to ExCel by 2019 from Paddington about 20 mins?.

Cross rail I had ignored, too long ahead, until somebody told me that the new line w be going to Excel.

I just filled in a questionnaire on the site to get emailed updates.

My questions
1 TRAVEL
Please put me on your press list. I am interested in anything I can use in my blog about new station opening especially from Heathrow to any part of the line. The first station to open. Step free travel. Moving luggage easily.

2 SAFETY
What happens in a fire or terrorist attack? Safety training of personnel. First aid room? CPR training of staff? Fire escapes and safety - places of refuge, quick exit, nearby hospital, multi-language signs and announcements.

Victorian safety rules sometimes say no flight of stairs greater than some number before you have a turn, to prevent children and the elderly or ill falling long distances, or creating a domino crush.

2 CONSUMER INTEREST SHOPPING & HISTORY
Nearby restaurants and museums now more accessible. Station and nearby architecture, art, art deco.  Statues and plaques to famous people and events in the area especially if honoured on the station, or nearby. (Sherlock Holmes, Kindertransport, Dickens, etc, artists and writers)

Offers by local traders to celebrate opening eg 10% off all restaurants in vicinity). Press preview.

My computer jammed so I started a new post with more details and the link. See next post for more details.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.