diamond geezer

30 unblogged things I did in September Tue 1: It's been the UK's hottest summer on record, and I wonder if in 10 years time we'll all be looking forward to September when temperatures finally cool down.

30 unblogged things I did on September 28th Mon 28: When I went to make my first cuppa of the day the tap spluttered to life, suggesting the water supply had been off overnight, but thankfully it powered back into action and I got my hot mug.

LONDON A-Z T is for Tokyngton For my 20th unsung suburb I'm off to a classic of the genre, a true "where on earth is that it sounds ridiculous why have I not heard of it before?"

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Liveblog 260926 (with hourly updates) 07:00 I have woken up and brewed a cup of tea. 08:00 I have bought a newspaper and am off to catch a train to the seaside. 08:15 I am at the ticket office trying to buy my ticket.

Bow Roundabout update #25 Last week I told you that a wedge of raised tarmac on Stratford High Street had been removed, immediately adjacent to the contraflow beneath the flyover that's never been opened.

Subservient transport news TfL sent out nine press releases this week which I shall now present in a grovelling subservient way, just as the PR team intended. 🚧 The Gallows Corner flyover has fully reopened to traffic following major refurbishment work.

A Nice Walk: Kew Gardens (1 mile) Sometimes you just want to go for a nice walk, nothing too taxing, oodles of horticultural variety, outstanding architecture, glamorous vistas, top quality sculpture, regular refreshment opportunities, all continents incl…

Hey folks, welcome to the new channel!

Five of HRP's six royal palaces are in London.

500 things I love about London [because it's exactly twenty-five years since I properly moved here] Life, nightlife, the sense of history, the Underground, the Overground, canalside strolls, the view from Greenwich Park, the fact there's always somewhere…

Let's round off Open House with yesterday's final four visits.

Open House weekend two started with this motley quartet.

Open House continues unabated this weekend.

I was heading home through Marylebone yesterday when I saw a train in new GBR branding.

Bow Roundabout update #24 It's now two years since TfL began major roadworks at the Bow Roundabout to prepare it for the opening of the Silvertown Tunnel, and 18 months since they supposedly finished.

Open House used to be one weekend, then it was two and now it's increasingly filling in the gap in the middle.

LONDON A-Z S is for Shacklewell My alphabetical quest has finally reached zone 2, because unsung suburbs exist even in inner London.

For my next trio of Open House visits, it's small dark places in the London borough of Richmond.

This year it's my 25th Open House, which is quite something.

It's exactly 100 years ago today since the Northern line was connected at Kennington and extended to Morden.

Anorak Corner [bus edition] (the annual update) Once again TfL have silently published their annual spreadsheet listing the number of passengers using every London bus route and how many kilometres those buses travelled.

Gadabout: READING Reading has been on the tube map since 2019 despite being 20 miles outside London, thus is an easy place to get to for a rather good day out.

The hottest ticket in town is for the Bayeux Tapestry, which goes on display to the public today at the British Museum.

If you fancy a meal at a Beefeater you've got two days left because they all close after tomorrow, every last one of them, because not enough people fancy a meal at a Beefeater any more.

Life viewed from London E3 Knitting The Air (4-20 September 2026) Nunnery Gallery, 181 Bow Road, E3 2SJ The latest exhibition at the Nunnery Gallery is a striking display of data, visualising something you can't see but might kill you.

It's diamond geezer's 24th birthday.

The end of another four-year period means it's time to renew the oversight bodies that help keep diamond geezer ticking over.

In 1985 the BBC made a documentary about the number 31 bus route called To the World's End.

Life viewed from London E3 An extraordinary thing is happening tomorrow on Stroudley Walk, a new cafe is opening!

30 unblogged things I did in September 1986 They didn't have blogs or the internet forty years ago, so here are 30 things I didn't digitally publish at the time.

It's September again but never fear, London's putting on a last flurry of events, activities and happenings before the nights draw in and we're all invited.

Slim Summer Saturday It's time to rest Slim Summer Saturday after eight slender weeks.

London's next dead bus 349: Ponders End to Stamford Hill Location: north London, outer Length of journey: 6 miles, 50 minutes Dies: tonight Normally when I do one of these write-ups I go for a last ride and then weave all the themes into a seamless travel…

LONDON A-Z R is for Roxeth The view from Roxeth is very fine.

31 unblogged things I did in August Sat 1: I have never previously tried to get ten days' blogposts prepared in advance whilst also writing posts for current publication.

25 things we learnt from TfL FoI requests in August 2026 1) In the first half of 2026 TfL earned £2,374,283 from 90,511 Penalty Charge Notices for bus lane infringements. 2) The TfL bus fleet comprises 6528 double deckers and 2454 single deckers, of which…

Belated transport news I missed reporting on several transport stories while I was away so here's a brief catch-up. 🚦 This Saturday the gyratory at St Paul's is being tweaked.

THE BASQUE COUNTRY Bilbao & its transport [70 photos] San Sebastián & cideria [50 photos] Biarritz France [40 photos] VITORIA-GASTEIZ & total solar eclipse [60 photos] DLR trains salt valley La Rioja [←40 photos→] Pamplona

This blog loves a boundary and the border between Spain and France is one of the more significant.

If you've driven all the way to France you might as well stop somewhere else on the way back. ✉ A postcard from Saint-Jean-de-Luz On my summer holidays we went to Saint-Jean-de-Luz which is in France but only just.

A Nice Walk: Biarritz (1½ miles) Sometimes you just want to go for a nice walk, nothing too taxing, plenty of variety, seaside chic, trois plages, lifeguard-assisted, Belle Époque architecture, multiple refreshment opportunities, rocky promontories, Atlan…

Slim Summer Saturday Since 1999 the London Café in Vitoria-Gasteiz has attracted punters with its London-themed decor, including a red bus behind the bar, a sign pointing to Earl's Court Station and the door of a red telephone kiosk a stuck to the wall.

Basque cuisine 🥓🫒🦐 The quintessential item of Basque cuisine is the pintxo (pronounced pincho, the 'tx' representing a 'ch' sound).

San Sebastián is the jewel of the Basque coast, a classy city sweeping around a perfect sandy bay bookended by two high hills.

It's exactly 25 years since I became a Londoner.

Spanish quiz Here are clues to the names of 30 Spanish cities, towns and islands.