Kate Middleton New Sexy Photos 2019

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Born at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, Berkshire, England, Middleton is the elder daughter of self-made millionaire Michael Middleton (born 1949), who was an airline officer at the time of her birth, and his wife, the former Carole Goldsmith, who was an air hostess. Her parents now own Party Pieces, a mail order company that sells children’s party paraphernalia. She has a younger sister, Philippa (“Pippa”) and a younger brother, James.

Middleton was raised in Bucklebury, Berkshire, in the south of England. She went to St Andrew’s School, Pangbourne until she was 13 and then attended the public school Marlborough College (the same school William’s cousin Princess Eugenie of York attends), where she passed eleven GCSEs and three A-level exams. Like the Prince, Middleton was a student at the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. She graduated in 2005 with a 2:1 (Upper Second-Class) MA (Hons) degree in History of Art.

In early 2006, it was rumoured that Middleton intended to found her own mail order company, selling high-end children’s clothes. After a key investor stepped down, however, she decided to hold off on this plan. In November 2006, she accepted a position as an accessories buyer assistant with the British clothing chain Jigsaw.Kate Middleton Pics,Kate Middleton Images,Kate Middleton Pictures,Kate Middleton Wallpapers,Kate Middleton Photos,Kate Middleton 2016,Kate Middleton 2016 Images,Kate Middleton Hd Walpapers

Born at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, Berkshire, England, Middleton is the elder daughter of self-made millionaire Michael Middleton (born 1949), who was an airline officer at the time of her birth, and his wife, the former Carole Goldsmith, who was an air hostess. Her parents now own Party Pieces, a mail order company that sells children’s party paraphernalia. She has a younger sister, Philippa (“Pippa”) and a younger brother, James.

Middleton was raised in Bucklebury, Berkshire, in the south of England. She went to St Andrew’s School, Pangbourne until she was 13 and then attended the public school Marlborough College (the same school William’s cousin Princess Eugenie of York attends), where she passed eleven GCSEs and three A-level exams. Like the Prince, Middleton was a student at the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. She graduated in 2005 with a 2:1 (Upper Second-Class) MA (Hons) degree in History of Art.

In early 2006, it was rumoured that Middleton intended to found her own mail order company, selling high-end children’s clothes. After a key investor stepped down, however, she decided to hold off on this plan. In November 2006, she accepted a position as an accessories buyer assistant with the British clothing chain Jigsaw.

Happy Independence Day England 2016

Well I Hope My Vote Was One That Counted .... Happy Independence Day UK
👊 Let's See What Fuck Ups Appear On The Horrizon Now..... Wait A Minute David Cameron Has Resigned Already 😂😂 He Cannot Even Stand On His Own Two Feet! Our Country Our England!

First of all the, I'd like to congratulate the people of United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Northern Ireland for their vote to leave the Soviet Union oops sorry the European Union! Second, I'd like to thank the efforts and the tireless campaigns of UKIP or United Kingdom Independence Party, Britain First, other far right Nationalist Parties (our brothers and sisters) and some member of the Conservative Party (even Labour). If UK did it, so why not the other European countries? There are clamors from Hungary, Poland, Romania, Greece and more.

The globalists are really pissed about the Brexit. They will find ways to subjugate the free people of Europe and the world but free people will fight back!
Happy Independence Day UK! Enjoy the victory! Again congratulations! Yes to Nation State! Yes to Sovereignty and Nationalism!

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Cambridge Prince George New Photos 2016

Prince George Latest Pictures 2016

Prince George was born at 4.24pm on 22nd July 2013 at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London. As the first child of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge he is third in line to the throne, and news of his birth was celebrated the world over. 

Kensington Palace Press Office issued a press release at 8.30pm that day, to inform the world's media that "The Duchess of Cambridge had been safely delivered of a son".

Following Royal tradition, an official announcement was then taken from the hospital and driven to Buckingham Palace before being placed on an easel in the forecourt of the Palace for the public to view. People queued outside the gates of Buckingham Palace the following day, to read the traditional notice. 

The news was also posted on Their Royal Highnesses' official website and across all Royal social media channels. We asked our Twitter followers to tell us if they were welcoming any new arrivals the same day by using our hashtag #WelcometotheWorld. Lots of people responded and here is the resulting Storify. 

The Duke and Duchess left hospital with their new son on 23rd July. They paused on the steps of the Lindo Wing to allow the world to catch a first glimpse of the new-born prince. 

The Duke of Cambridge then safely installed his new son into the car seat, before he drove his family home to Kensington Palace.

On 24th July, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced that they would name their child George Alexander Louis. He would be formally known as Prince George of Cambridge.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge formally registered the birth on 2nd August, when The Duke of Cambridge signed the birth register at Kensington Palace, witnessed by a Registrar from Westminster Register Office.

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London Eye New Pictures And Wallpapers 2016

London Eye Latest Wallpapers 2016

A TEAM EFFORT

It took seven years and the skills of hundreds of people from five countries to make the London Eye a reality

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A VIEW FIT FOR A QUEEN

You can see around 40KM (25 miles) from the top as far as Windsor Castle on a clear day

DING! DING!

The London Eye can carry 800 passengers per revolution - equivalent to 11 London red doubled-decker buses

HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

Each of the 32 capsules weighs 10 tonnes. To put that figure into perspective, it's the same weight as 1,052,631 pound coins!

SLOWLY BUT SURELY

Each rotation takes about 30 minutes, meaning a capsule travels at a stately 26cm per second, or 0.9km (0.6 miles) per hour - twice as fast as a tortoise sprinting; allowing passengers to step on and off without the wheel having to stop

THE ONLY WAY IS UP

The circumference of the wheel is 424m (1.392ft) - meaning that if it were unravelled, it would be 1.75 times longer One Canada Square in Canary Wharf

TONNES OF FUN

The total weight of the wheel and capsules is 2,100 tonnes - or as much as 1,272 London black cabs!

UP, UP AND AWAY

The height of the London Eye is 135m (equivalent to 64 red telephone boxes piled on top of each other) making it the fourth tallest structure in London after the BT Tower, Tower 42 and One Canada Square in Canary Wharf

BLAST OFF

The spindle holds the wheel structure and the hub rotates it around the spindle. At 23 metres tall, the spindle is around the size of a church spire and, together with the hub, weighs in at 330 tonnes: over 20 times heavier than Big Ben.

Historical Facts About Big Ben

The first ever clock tower established at the Palace of Westminster was in 1288. Unfortunately, it was destroyed along with the old Palace of Westminster by the devastating fire that broke out on the fateful night of 16 October 1834. Then the chief architect of the palace Charles Barry was assigned with the contract of designing the palace and he included a clock tower in his designs. Thus, the credit for designing the Big Ben goes to Charles Barry while the cast iron dials of the clock were designed by Augustus Pugin.

The building of the tower was completed in 1856. The lower part of the tower is made of brick and stones and the upper part is made from cast iron. The spire of the tower consists of an iron frame that provides support to the heavy bells. The hour bell of the clock is named Big Ben but its remaining four quarter bells are nameless. It is said that Big Ben got its name after Sir Benjamin Hall who was the Commissioners of Works and was famous for his bulky body.

Big Ben Facts for Kids
The Big Ben is the largest chiming bell of the world. The height of the clock tower, where Big Ben is located is 316 feet and it took 13 long years to build it. The tower is slightly leaned (8.66 inches) towards northwest direction. Its inner volume is 4,650 cubic meters.

The diameter of Big Ben is 8 feet and it weighs 13.5 tons which is almost the same as that of a small elephant! The giant structure of Big Ben was built at Whitechapel Bell Foundry, in East London by George Mears. It was cast on 10th April 1858. It took almost two weeks to cool down. Then it was transported to the Westminster Palace by a horse-drawn carriage.

The four faces of the clock are at a height of 55 meters above the ground and the diameter of each of the dials is 23 feet. There is a Latin inscription with gold letters at the base of all the four clocks of the tower: "DOMINE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM". This means, "O Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the First".

The Big Ben chimed for the first time on 11th July 1859. The chimes of Big Ben was first broadcast by BBC radio on the New Year's Eve of 1923. Over the years, the sound of Big Ben became well-known to the BBC World Service listeners all across the world. Till date, it continues to be the focus of the New Year celebrations in the UK.

After reading all these exciting Big Ben facts that we have shared in this article, you know that it is one destination you do not want to miss while sightseeing in London. In fact, it is one of the most famous tourist attractions of the world. However, you can see the tower ONLY from outside. General public is prohibited from getting inside the tower due to security reasons. The view of the Big Ben is at its best during the nighttime when the faces of the clock are illuminated.

England Facts - Interesting Facts About England

England, home to the world's largest financial center, has many interesting places and facts that one should know. It is the largest and the most populated country as compared to all the constituents of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is northwest to Continental Europe. England covers almost two-thirds of the southern areas of the island of Great Britain. Now, let us know some facts about England.

Interesting Facts About England

• England is bordered by Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. It takes its name from Angles. Angles was the name of the Germanic tribes that settled in the territory during the fifth and sixth century.
• England enjoys a temperate climate. It has rainfall all year around. The seasons are however variable in temperature. Temperature rarely falls below minus five degrees Celsius or rise above thirty degrees Celsius. The weather is therefore mild and wet, due to the prevailing wind from the Atlantic Ocean, which lies to the southwest of England.
• England is the second largest economy in Europe. It is the fifth largest economy in the world. It is also the largest of the four economies of the United Kingdom. At least a hundred of Europe's five hundred largest corporations are based in London.
• The chief sectors in England are chemical, aerospace, arms industry, pharmaceutical and the hardware industry. London, capital of England, imports materials like tea, raw sugar, timber, butter, meat and various metals. Tourism is the sixth largest industry in the United Kingdom. The epicenter of tourism is London. Tourism employs about six to seven percent of the total population.
• It exports manufactured goods, with beef being one of the main goods it exports.
• Once again, the service industry has seen a robust growth in the past few decades, heralding a decline in the manufacturing industries. England is also home to the London Stock Exchange. The London Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in Europe and is the main stock exchange in the United Kingdom. The official currency of England is the Pound Sterling.
• England is one of the most populous countries in the world. It has almost thrice the population of Australia and California. Its population is only three times lesser than the population of Japan. However, England is seventy-four times smaller than the United States of America, three times smaller than Japan and fifty-nine times smaller than Australia.
• The English love their tea. They consume more tea per capita than any other country in the world. Their tea consumption is more than thrice of Japan and a whopping twenty-two times more than America or France.
• England has many cultural and other places of interest all over its territory. It was the host to the world's first ever modern Olympic Games, and not Athens as it is popularly said. The first modern Olympic Games were in Much Wenlock in Shropshire, England in 1850. The Olympic Games in Athens were held in 1896, almost half a century later.
• England also has the world's used books market at Hay-on-Wye, a small village bordering England and Wales. It's a country of high society and high tea, intellect, education and culture. Therefore, it is evident that things to do with knowledge, for example books will be found in England. The world's oldest and largest chained library lies in the Hereford Cathedral, England. This place also has the world's best preserved Mappa Mundi.
• The first building to overtake the Great Pyramid of Giza was the Lincoln Cathedral in 1280. It held the title of the highest construction ever built until 1884, though it was demolished in 1549.
• The Windsor castle is the oldest royal residence in the world still in use. It occupies more than thirteen acres of land and combines the features of a fortification, a palace and a small town.
• The world's oldest public zoo was opened in London in 1828.

Interesting 15 Facts About England

London is the largest city in Europe. There are over twelve million people living within the greater London area.

With over 51 million inhabitants, England is the most populous country of the United Kingdom, accounting for 84% of the combined total.

The Saxons destroyed London Bridge in 1014 by using boats and ropes to tear it down. Some people wonder if this is where the idea originated for the nursery rhyme, “London Bridge”.

The English class system is not determined by money, but by one's background (family, education, manners, way of speaking...). Many nouveau-riches, like pop-stars or football players, insist on their still belonging to the lower or middle class.

Berengaria of Navarre married King Richard the Lionhearted and became Queen, but never once stepped on English soil!

Public schools in England are in fact very exclusive and expensive (£13,500/year in average) private schools. Ordinary schools (which are free), are called state schools.

Windor Castle is both the oldest and the largest royal residence anywhere in the world that is still being used as a royal home.
French was the official language of England for about 300 years, from 1066 till 1362.

In Medieval England animals were brought into court, and tried and sentenced by the judge for any mischief or damage they did!

A clever Frenchman opened London’s first hot chocolate store during the mid 1600s. By the early 1700s these chocolate stores were almost as common and popular as the coffee stores.

The Bank of England has a nickname, 'The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street'

During the summer heat wave of 2003 the temperature in London reached 100 degrees F for the first time.

The world's first public zoo first opened in 1829 in London.

England is 74 times smaller than the USA, 59 times smaller than Australia and 3 times smaller than Japan. England is however 2.5 times more populous than Australia, and 1.5 times more populous than California. With 2.5 times less inhabitants than Japan, its density of population is slightly higher than the country of the rising sun.

English people consume more tea per capita than anybody else in the world (2.5 times more than the Japanese and 22 times more than the Americans or the French).

Top 20 Interesting Facts About United Kingdom

1-98% of British homes have carpeted floors. In Italy, only 2% do.

2-There are 5.9 calories in the glue of a British postage stamp.

3-British spies stopped using semen as invisible ink because it began to smell if it wasn't fresh.

4-Over 600,000 companies (including 25 with flats in One Hyde Park) are registered in the British Virgin Islands (population 28,882).

5-51% of British women under 50 have never been married: twice as many as in 1980.

6-In 2011, British trains were delayed by 16,000 hours because of people stealing metal parts from the railways.

7-95% of the lead in British army bullets comes from recycled materials.

8-The Companies Act (2006) is the longest act in history; it is so complex that most British companies unwittingly break the law six times a day.

9-The average British woman spends £100,000 on make-up in a lifetime.

10-The Royal Mail spends £1 million a year on a billion red rubber bands. British postmen use 2 million of them every day.

11-Prince Charles is the longest-serving heir to the throne in British history. He has held the position for 60 years.

12-1968 was the only year of the 20th century in which no member of the British armed services was killed on active service.

13-In the 1930s, British women working for Directory Inquiries were required to be at least 5 feet 3 inches tall so they could reach the top of the switchboard.

14-British geologists have discovered more of the world’s oil than the geologists of all the other nations put together.

15-After being annexed by the British Empire, the sarong-clad Burmese referred to their new overlords as ‘The Trouser People’.

16-A 2011 study in the journal Psychology, Crime and Law tested 39 British senior managers and CEOs and found that they had more psychopathic tendencies than patients in Broadmoor.

17-Until 1857, it was legal for British husbands to sell their wives. The going rate was £3,000 (£23,000 in today’s money).

18-If all the British Empire’s dead of the First World War were to march four abreast down Whitehall, it would take them almost four days and nights to pass the Cenotaph.

19-British moths include the Uncertain, the Confused, the Magpie, the Lackey, the Drinker, the Streak, the Ruddy Highflyer, the Buff Arches, the Figure of Eighty, the Anomalous, the Dark Dagger, the Lettuce Shark, the Isabelline Tiger, the Waved Tabby and the Mother Shipton.

20-British troops in India during the Second World War were issued with the memorable advice: ‘Defeat the Axis, Use Prophylaxis’.

What Lives In The Thames?

Spend your days criss-crossing the Thames via various bridges, but never stopped to contemplate what lies beneath? Despite its murky brown appearance, the water quality of the Thames has steadily improved since sewers were repaired in the 1960s, and is home to seals, otter and even seahorses.
Species of fish

According to Ian Tokelove of the London Wildlife Trust, there are 125 types of fish in the Tidal Thames (from the estuary mouth to Teddington Lock). Ed Randall of the Thames Angler’s Conservancy names bream, perch, pike, roach, rudd, dace, ruffe, barbel, native and non-native carp, chub and gudgeon among them.

The once-prevalent salmon is now rare due to overfishing, but is occasionally spotted on Environment Agency camera traps migrating upstream between October and January, such as at Molesey Weir near Hampton Court.

Non native species such as zander are occasionally spotted around Teddington. In 2010 the now-defunct British Waterways organisation identified it as one of the non-native species most likely to harm native wildlife along rivers in Great Britain.

Sturgeon have been caught occasionally, like the non-native Siberian sturgeon which was caught in the Thames near Dartford last year.

Trout are sometimes hooked — sea trout migrate upriver from the estuary to spawn, whereas brown trout tend to stay up the river. The River Wandle, a tributary of the Thames, is a known trout-spawning ground in the Croydon area. Non-native Rainbow trout also occur, but have usually escaped from lakes or fish farms.

Non-native Wels catfish are rare but were introduced to the river in the 1930s and persist to this day, occasionally making headlines due to their size. In 2008, Brett Ridley landed a Wels catfish on the Kingston stretch of the river, believed to be the largest fish ever caught in British waters. In 2013, Chiswick RNLI was called to reports of a body on the foreshore in Barnes, which also turned out to be a catfish.

Eels migrate up the River Thames every year between April and October, but face many hazards and obstacles and are regarded as critically endangered. They are usually found close to the estuary, travelling as far as Greenwich.

Other information about record-breaking or rare fish in the Thames is hard to come by. Anglers are notoriously secretive about specimen catches, as publicity may attract too many others and spoil the fishing in a favourite spot.

Other species

In September, it was announced that seal numbers in the Greater Thames Estuary had increased almost back to their natural rates thanks to a conservation project, after being hunted for fur and meat. While they do mainly hang around in the estuary, Tokelove tells us that they’ve been seen as far west as Teddington Lock.

Famously, in 2006, a Northern Bottlenose Whale swam up the Thames until becoming stranded near Battersea and sadly not surviving. It is now in the National Research Collection at the Natural History Museum.

In 2013, a pod of porpoises was spotted near Tower Bridge and a small pod of dolphins was seen in Bermondsey. In 2001 a lone dolphin also made the trip, spotted between Wapping and Blackfriars. Recent improvements in water quality and availability of fish brings these animals to the Thames in search of food. What’s the Thames Barrier to stand between a porpoise and its lunch?

Otters are often the hardest to reintroduce to a habitat, so the fact that sightings are on the up (one was spotted on the River Lee a few years back, and they are approaching the western boundaries of the Thames catchment), shows that the waters are once again in excellent health, providing plenty of fish for Tarka and co. to get stuck in to. However, buildings, walls and roads create barriers that they cannot currently get around, accounting for why they are often seen in urban Thames areas.
In 2011, a rare seahorse from the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean was found at Greenwich, leading to theories that a breeding population existed in the Thames.

Pipistrelle and Daubenton’s bats will feed over bodies of water such as the Thames, but can be difficult to spot. Tokelove recommends signing up for a bat walk which uses electronic bat detectors to track them down.

Where there are fish, there are birds, so a few species to keep an eye out for are swans, grey herons, cormorants, Canada and Egyptian Geese, mallard, grey wagtails and pied wagtails. London Wildlife Trust’s Species Explorer has photos of each bird to help with identification — and could be great to keep the kids occupied on a riverside walk.

Can I fish?

If we’ve got you hooked, it’s worth knowing that there are quite a few Environment Agency national and regional byelaws (PDF) to abide by. Fishing is not permitted at all during the closed season, which runs 15 March-15 June inclusive ,and all fishing in England and Wales requires an 

Environment Agency rod licence.

Finders keepers, right?
Legally, you can take some of the fish that you catch, but British anglers generally catch and release. Randall says, “There’s a real cultural thing that you just don’t do it. You’ve had your sport stalking the fish and it deserves to be treated with respect and put back in the river quickly and unharmed”. Plus, fishing is not sustainable: there are simply not enough fish in our rivers to support widespread removal.

So what’s the future for watery wildlife? “The Thames has made an amazing comeback since the 1950s, but significant investment will be required to sustain this progression. “Without investment in the city’s sewage management, life in the river and on the riverbanks will diminish as sewage and pollution levels rise,” says Tokelove.

source-http://londonist.com/

London News Review 2014 Infrastructure

In the third part of our round-up of London’s news in 2014, we’re taking a look at the capital’s infrastructure, from garden bridges to the Olympic Park, after Boris Johnson released his £1.3trn infrastructure plan in August.

Bridges and roads
With the news that the Garden Bridge got approval in December, we asked what it’s for. It’s been one of the biggest infrastructure stories of 2014, with opinion divided on how much Londoners will actually benefit from it (and end up paying for it). Some commenters on our article about moving the cable car suggested a combination garden bridge/cable car which is certainly an interesting prospect.

The question of river crossings in east London has reared its head yet again, with TfL opening a consultation on tolling the existing Blackwall Tunnel and its future neighbour, the Silvertown Tunnel. The proposed tunnel has drawn fierce criticism over congestion, air quality and road planning, with the likes of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry on one side and local campaign groups on the other. We thought it was a bit unfair to impose tolls on just the east London crossings, so we speculated on how much money could be raised from tolling all of the capital’s crossings (a lot).

Other slightly odd transport proposals included plans for a 22-mile ring underground ring road, the ‘Bounceway’ (an urban trampoline), a flexi-lane using intelligent road studs and dynamic signs and turning parking spaces into mini parks.

Ever wondered why Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridge are the colours they are? Find out in our 60 second video. We also delved into some of the history behind famous London road junctions.

Cycling
Cycling infrastructure has become big news. We’re waiting with bated breath to find out who the new sponsor of the cycle hire scheme will be, after TfL announced in June that they were looking for someone to stump up some cash and have their logo splashed around. Meanwhile, new docking stations are opening up all over the place, including in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, bringing the number of bikes up to 10,000 at over 700 docking stations.

Much as the Tour de France brought crowds of people and good cheer to London, claims about TfL’s use of cycling infrastructure budget underspend to pay for it were met with criticism.

Back in September, routes for what’s been called ‘Crossrail for bikes’ were announced to bring long-campaigned-for segregated cycle lanes to London’s roads. And that’s not all, oh no. TfL also announced that the first two ‘Quietways’ — less busy routes to encourage the less confident onto bikes — would open in early 2015. Some of London’s most unpleasant and dangerous junctions are also in for an overhaul, with plans released for Vauxhall, Old Street and Stockwell Cross.

The winning bidders for the Mayor’s ‘Mini-Holland’ scheme were also announced, with each of the four boroughs to get £30m to improve cycling infrastructure. The plans for Waltham Forest’s were released in November.

Crossrail and Crossrail 2
Probably the biggest rail infrastructure project in London in modern times, Crossrail has turned parts of the city into a forest of hoardings, plant machinery and high vis jackets. It’s extending out towards Reading and possibly into Hertfordshire.

With focus on the accessibility (or lack of it) for disabled passengers on public transport, it was good to see TfL announce that all Crossrail stations would be step-free.

Londonist got a peek inside the hoardings at Tottenham Court Road station and made a video. We also hitched a ride through the tunnels —

A TfL consultation in 2013 showed that a Crossrail 2 route which extends into Hertfordshire and Surrey was overwhelmingly popular. Though as we noted at the time, when TfL start demolishing someone’s favourite pub to build it then we think opinion might shift. The route changed again in June, but Boris Johnson reckons it’ll be built by 2030.

Airports
Now known as the infrastructure proposal that refused to die, the Thames Estuary airport (or Boris Island as it’s been known) was put out of its misery in September by the Davies Commission. Given its previous zombie-like re-animations, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it back on the agenda when 

Boris Johnson gets back into Parliament.

Meanwhile, drawings for the proposed Heathrow City were released in July, giving us an idea of what it might look like if the existing airport was relocated. Which doesn’t look all that likely now that Boris Island’s been torpedoed. Not bad for £900,000 though.

City Airport caused all kinds of fuss in September after it was revealed that local residents had not been consulted over flight path changes. And in December, a technical glitch closed London’s airspace for several hours.

Olympic Park
The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park reopened in April after being closed for nearly two years. At the same time, the ArcelorMittal Orbit opened its viewing platform, prompting a rush for tickets to look across the park from the UK’s tallest sculpture. Here’s our video of some of the Olympic Park’s best bits, and a podcast from the top of the Orbit tower — which was to be turned gold if England won the World Cup. It would have come as no surprise to anyone that it stayed red. The Olympic Park will also form part of Boris Johnson’s proposed‘Olympicopolis’, a project to boost jobs and wring £5.2bn economic value from the local area.

In August, the park hosted part of the first Invictus Games. Championed by Prince Harry, the Games brought together 400 injured servicemen and women to compete in sporting events.

Great Scott! In July, the park nearly didn’t make it back to 1955 when the immensely-popular Secret Cinema Back to the Future event was postponed at short notice, prompting an international outcry and some rather extreme reactions. It got started again a week later and everyone calmed the fuck down.

London’s al fresco swimming community got some good news in February when the Mayor agreed to look at the feasibility of a Thames-based lido. Here are a couple of the designs which actually look rather tempting.

source-http://londonist.com/

London News Review 2014 Housing

2014 is the year housing finally made it to the top of everyone’s political agenda. Shame that hasn’t actually translated into meaningful action yet, but the thought’s there… Diane Abbott‘s called for rent controls, but even minor attempts to manage the private rented sector didn’t do much — the Mayor’s voluntary standard for landlords has not helped any of the tenants stuck with bad landlords, to nobody’s surprise, and two Conservative MPs managed to kill a bill aimed at preventing revenge evictions, by filibustering it to death.

The problem with housing, and why this tinkering around the edges makes us scream, is that we need action. Now. And lots of it. Rents are rising, benefit caps are pushing people out from communities they’ve been part of their whole lives to the outer boroughs (putting more pressure on services in outer London), evictions are now the cause of four in 10 Londoners being made homeless and house prices are rising so dramatically we can actually see the falling affordability on a map.

So, what to do? In essence, we need to build more bloody houses. But we also need to make sure they’re the right kinds of houses, and that they actually allow normal Londoners to live in them. London Councils reckons we need around 800,000 more homes over the next decade, so how are we doing? Well, “affordable rent” homes built with funds from City Hall will, in theory, create 55,000 new homes between 2011-2015, but we’re not convinced that target will be met (and don’t be fooled by the term “affordable rent”: where old-style council rents were around 30%-40% of rent levels in the local market, “affordable rents” average 60% of market rents and can be up to 80%). Later in the year, the E15 mothers’protest highlighted Newham council’s decision to allow perfectly serviceable homes to stand empty, while in Tower Hamlets the Balfron Tower is changing from social housing to private tenants.

Elsewhere, developers are stuck in a cycle of raising funds by selling off-plan to overseas investors, who either never live in these flats or rent them out for profit — and thus help perpetuate the problem of spiralling rents. We like the idea of Build to Rent, where institutional investors such as pension funds pay to build developments 100% rented out by large scale, decent landlords, but currently they’re a drop in the ocean.

The problem’s neatly illustrated by taking a look at the year’s most high-profile new developments. Somehow, when what the city needs is plenty of housing for ordinary Londoners, this is what’s getting built:

Earl’s Court: 760 of 7,500 new homes will be classed as “affordable” and properties are being so heavily marketed overseas that campaigners resorted to bad feng shui to scare away the Chinese.

Battersea Power Station: 16% of the 3,500 homes will be “affordable”. The first tranche of pads were sold overseas and one has just been sold on for a profit of £500,000 despitenot even existing yet.

Wood Wharf: 25% of the Isle of Dogs development is slated to be “affordable”, but could rise to 40%.

Shepherd’s Bush Market: Hammersmith and Fulham council has allowed developers of the site to avoid any commitment to make some of the 200 properties “affordable” in return for sprucing up the market.

Tottenham: the 10,000 new homes being built in one of London’s most deprived areas will be a mix of private ownership and private rent, “affordable” and social rent and shared ownership.

Mount Pleasant: 24% of the 681 homes on the former Royal Mail site will be “affordable”, which we worked out would mean £1,225 a month for a two bedroom flat (might sound reasonable, but remember you can’t just walk into your local estate agent and pick up an affordable rent home, you have to apply to a housing provider and prove you have a need).

Convoys Wharf: the Deptford development will have 3,500 homes, 15% of which will be “affordable”.

Nine Elms: the ‘nine towers’ of Nine Elms will each have between 4.5%-23% “affordable” housing. (Keybridge House got away with the 4.5% after promising to finance a primary school, and The Tower at St George’s Wharf will have no “affordable” housing at all, but is providing around 100 homes in a separate block.)

source-londonist.com

London News Review 2014 Politics

Boris Johnson and the Parliamentary quest

The biggest story in London politics this year was, arguably, Boris Johnson finally admitting he wants to go back into Parliament. He denied it and denied it and, dear god, did he deny it, and then in August said ‘actually, yeah, I’m well up for that’ (we paraphrase).Uxbridge and South Ruislip is the constituency that gets the mop-headed one as its Conservative candidate and — given it’s a very safe Tory seat — doubtless its MP as well. Though we don’t expect Boris to be given an easy ride since one of his flagship Mayoral policies has been to close down Heathrow, a place that gives lots of new potential constituents jobs…

Johnson also claims that he’ll continue as Mayor until the May 2016 London elections, whatever happens in Uxbridge. There is precedent for the mayor being an MP at the same time — Ken Livingstone did it in 2000/2001. But, since nobody has any idea how the 2015 general election will pan out, if Johnson ends up with a cabinet role, ‘real’ or shadow, that might be a bit much for one person to handle. Luckily ol’ Boris has a team at City Hall who already do much of the mayoral admin for him and we don’t think we’ll much notice him being a part-time mayor. (For what it’s worth, we reckon Boris will hold both jobs until he can resign without triggering an automatic by-election — so, roughly November 2015 — and then his deputy Victoria Borwick will take over. But don’t tell anyone we said so.)
Council elections: goodbye Lib Dems, hello Greens

While parts of the country were welcoming UKIP with open arms, in the local and European elections this May London largely told the gaffe-prone, berk-laden party to take a hike. In the council elections, the Liberal Democrats took a severe beating, losing seats all over the place. Lynne Featherstone should be concerned about her parliamentary seat after the cudgeling the party took in Haringey; Simon Hughes may also look at the Lib Dems losing half their seats in Southwark and be worried. Sutton bucked the trend however, with the Lib Dems actually increasing their hold on the council. Expect Paul Burstow to be returned in Sutton and Cheam.

On two councils it’s actually the Greens who provide the official opposition in Islington (Caroline Russell) and Lewisham (John Coughlin) — though given we’re talking about just one councillor, the amount of opposition is minimal. These councils now join Barking and Dagenham and Newham as effective Labour one-party states. Bexley and Bromley have five UKIP councillors between them, while Havering elected seven UKIP-pers in what was a very confusing election. But the real shock of the night came in Hammersmith and Fulham, where the Tory council — much beloved of Number 10 — lost out to Labour.

And we finally said goodbye to Brian Coleman who, in losing his seat on Barnet council, has gone from being one of the most powerful men in London politics to a nobody. Well, that’s showbusiness.

The election in Tower Hamlets was subject to fraud accusations, but it was a “culture of cronyism” that caused the government to intervene in November.

Take a look at our full rundown of the council election results for more details. Or maybe ponder whether we even need all these councillors?
Politics and the people

But what of how politics affected us, not just politicians, in 2014? Ten London fire stations closed in January, victims of budget cuts imposed from City Hall. The effect of that has been to push up average fire engine response times across the whole city — yet more wards are now within the target response time.

Food banks have also been a major story this year. Whichever way you cut it, demand for help with basics like just eating has risen in the city. It’s such an emotive issue that austerity defenders have been saying they’re a self fulfilling prophecy, so we busted a few food bank myths back in February.

Something that’s going to run and run next year is the question of London getting more devolved powers so the city doesn’t have to keep going cap in hand to the Treasury to build things like Crossrail. If that happens, we can expect more exciting infrastructure projects as well as potentially more housing and City Hall input into health, education and training.

source-http://londonist.com/

The Best Five London Books Of 2014

More books about London get published each year than any human mind could possibly appraise or innumerate. Yet we try. In 2014, we diligently read and reviewed 60 books, both fiction and non-fiction, all with a London setting. Here, then, is our personal pick of the top five (non-fiction) titles of 2014, in reverse order.

5. Subterranean London by Bradley L Garrett
The author is one of the world’s most noted ‘place hackers’ — people with an insatiable urge to explore the parts of the city that most would consider off-limits. That means sewers, cable tunnels, building sites and bunkers. Here we see this world in all its glory, for these urban adventurers not only reach some unbelievable locations, they also bring along the best photographic equipment and lighting to capture the moment. There’s no shortage of books describing subterranean London, but this book — a visual treat — gets us closer than any to the dank, dark stygian realm.

4. Omnibus, edited by David Lawrence
Another doorstop of a book, Omnibus charts the history of the London bus. From its horse-drawn origins in the early Victorian era to the sleek new Routemasters, there’s plenty of ground to cover. Ombibus does it with bells on, through a superabundance of period photographs and illustrations. The focus is very much on the social history, but there’s also plenty of technical stuff for those who are more interested in the vehicles themselves.

3. Zeppelin Nights, by Jerry White
The accomplished London historian turns his gaze to the First World War. The book charts the effects on everyday life in the city, as pieced together from numerous diary entries and other sources. Despite the title, there’s relatively little about the terrifying airship attacks that remain a potent symbol of the city during the conflict. As ever with Jerry White, the broader themes are peppered with wonderful, throwaway trivia, while the main thrust is both meticulously researched and highly readable.


2. The Information Capital, by James Cheshire and Oliver Uberti
You probably saw this one all over the news. James and Oliver are master-conjurers of London’s data. They take information from the census, social media, private companies and anywhere else they can, then refract it into stunning visuals. One page might show you a map of the football affiliations of Twitter users, the next presents the arcing flightpaths into London’s airports. It’s that rare thing: a beautiful coffee-table book that also boasts deep and compelling content. We should declare the (non-financial) interest that Londonist contributed data for two of the maps.


1. Played In London, by Simon Inglis
Choosing the year’s champion of champions was easy. This magnificent tome will stand as the masterwork authority on the capital’s sporting heritage for many decades to come. We picked it up with only a passing interest in sport. We put it down, 240,000 words later, with a newfound appreciation for the stadia, pitches and sporting traditions of the capital.

The author made around 1,000 site visits in researching his magnum opus, sourcing almost 1,000 photos. It’s not only a publishing achievement of the highest order, but also an immensely good read. Weighing a kilo and a half, it’s more a stocking stretcher than filler, but would make a supreme Christmas gift for any sport fanatic in your circle.

Honourable mentions
Narrowly missing out is Lee Jackson’s Dirty Old London, a tour of the Victorian city’s relationship to dust, dung and dead bodies. We also enjoyed Mount London, an anthology of entertaining essays about the capital’s hilliest parts. Having contributed a chapter, however, we’re too close to the project to give it a ranking.

source-http://londonist.com/

Things To Do In London New Year’s Day

First things first: if it was a heavy night last night, you’ll be wanting to visit the best places in London to deal with a hangover. Sorted? Good.

ICE SKATING: What better way to shake off a fuzzy head than by going ice skating? Twinkly lights, elegant gliding — it’ll have you feeling right as rain quick-sharp. London’s seasonal ice rinks are mostly open into the new year.

TWITCHING: If bird-watching is your new activity for 2015, head to London Wetland Centre in Barnes where the wardens are offering hour-long tours pointing out the best spots for catching sight of specific species. £2+admission, 9.45am

PARADE: The New Year’s Day Parade remains a mystery to those Londoners who spend their New Year’s Day under the duvet. If you’re feeing bright-eyed and bushy-tailed enough this year, the procession begins at Piccadilly at noon and ends at Parliament Square at 3.30pm. See route map here. Grandstands are located in Waterloo Place and Regent Street South — get a ticket for £30 (or watch along the rest of the route for free). This year’s line-up includes more than 8,500 performers representing 20 countries worldwide including marching bands, cheerleaders, clowns, acrobats and much more. Free, just turn up, 12pm-3.30pm

SOHO NOSES: Get 2015 off to a trivia-based start with Discovering London guide Peter Berthoud’s walk around Soho. The focus of the walk is hunting down the Seven Noses of Soho. Legend has it that if you manage to track down all seven, you will receive infintite wealth, which would be a peachy start to the year. This special adaptation of Peter’s regular tour incorporates four pub stops. £20, prebook, 12pm-3pm

SOUTHBANK CEILIDH: The Ceilidh Liberation Front’s New Year’s Startup takes over the Clore Ballroom for an all-singing, all-dancing party to welcome 2015. Free, just turn up,2.30pm-5.30pm

NEW YEAR GALA: Head to Barbican for a musical celebration of the new year. Classics such as Hornpipe, Rule Britannia!, Nessun Dorma and Land Of Hope And Glory will be played by the London Concert Orchestra. There’s a complimentary drink with every ticket. £19.50-£44.50, prebook, 2.30pm

COMEDY: Have a giggle at The Comedy Store in Soho’s Best In Stand Up show. MC’d by Sean Meo, the line-up includes Louis Ramey, Phil Nichol, Josh Howie and Jarred Christmas. £15/£10, prebook, 7.30pm

FAMILY FUN: London Transport Museum has organised special family activities for museum visitors. Your little ones will be able to enjoy free storytelling sessions for children aged 3-7 as well as free craft workshops for kids aged 4-12. The activities are included in the entry ticket price, which is £15 for adults, £11.50 for concessions and free for under 17.

source-http://londonist.com/