Telecom news

• India reverses order to install government app on all smartphones

  03-12-2025 12:36 via ft.com
  Communications minister says use of state-run cyber security app is ‘completely voluntary’ following public outcry
  
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• Government to broaden railcard train travel access for disabled travellers

  02-12-2025 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The eligibility for disabled people to get discounted rail travel is to be improved, reflecting a better understanding of disabilities.The application process for the Disabled Persons Railcard (DPRC), which offers a third off rail travel for themselves and a companion, is to be expanded so that both visible and non-visible disabilities are better recognised and supported.
  The changes follow a review that concluded that the Railcard’s eligibility criteria should better reflect modern unders
  
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• Mayor of London urged to restart Crossrail 2 – and seek new tax powers to fund it

  02-12-2025 14:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The Mayor of London should restart planning for Crossrail 2 while also arguing for more powers to raise local taxes to pay for it, concludes a report by the London Assembly’s Budget and Performance Committee.
  The Crossrail 1 portal at Royal Oak
  The report spends most of its time looking at why building new infrastructure in London (and the UK generally) is so much more expensive than in most other countries, and suggests that the UK could slash costs if it wanted to.
  The headline claim is
  
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• Hyakkō reveals the art of imperfection in Japan House’s label-light exhibition

  02-12-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A static sushi conveyor belt of handmade domestic craftwork has gone on display in central London, celebrating the makers of Japan.Japan has long been associated with a rich culture of craft, with many practices such as urushi (lacquerware) and metalwork being passed down through generations, often as the result of strict apprenticeships.
  However, in the 1920s, the mingei (folk craft) movement drew attention to the beauty of handcrafted, utilitarian objects.  Integral to this philosophy was
  
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• India demands installation of government app on all smartphones

  02-12-2025 09:24 via ft.com
  Privacy advocates raise concerns about potential snooping
  
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• A little noticed statue of St George and the Dragon in the City of London

  02-12-2025 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Just behind St Bride’s Church in the City stands a large sculpture of St George and the Dragon, surrounded by an unmistakable air of neglect.Created by Michael Sandle, the work was commissioned by the Mountleigh Group for what, at first glance, looks like a quintessentially 1980s office block. In fact, the building was St Bridget’s House and built in the early 1950s and later reclad in the 1980s, when its main entrance was shifted from Bridewell Place to what had previously been a se
  
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• Carnaby Street set for heritage makeover

  01-12-2025 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Soho’s Carnaby Street could get a bit of a makeover as the estate owners are consulting on plans.
  Early concept (c) Shaftesbury Capital
  The consultation proposes a general revamp of Carnaby Street and improvements to its links with the surrounding streets.  They want to create new wayfinding signs, change the lighting and increase the amount of planting in the area.
  The main change is likely to be the pavement though, as they propose removing the existing artificial stone paving and r
  
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• Borehamwood set for major new museum honouring EastEnders, Star Wars and Hitchcock

  01-12-2025 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A museum of TV and film history could open on the edge of North London, after the local council offered £2 million towards the cost of building it.
  Stormtrooper Parade at Elstree Studios 2021 (c) Elstree Studios
  The museum, with the somewhat long-winded name of the “Elstree Immersive Experience and Borehamwood & Elstree Film and TV Heritage Centre”, would open in Borehamwood, which has long been home to a number of historic TV and film studios.
  According to the organiser&he
  
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• The Gingerbread City returns with real architecture baked in icing and imagination

  01-12-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Once upon a time, a wicked witch lived in a house built entirely from bread, cake and sugar — and now whole towns of the stuff have sprung up in London.
  This is the annual Gingerbread City, and it’s not just a festive sprawl of icing and sprinkles, but a showcase of genuine architectural ideas, all realised in gingerbread by actual architects.Threaded between the sweets and gummy bears, the biscuits and fondant façades, are explorations of how real-world places might evol
  
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• Patrick Drahi’s ‘super aggressive’ asset move hits Altice International bonds

  01-12-2025 12:21 via ft.com
  Franco-Israeli tycoon has locked horns with creditors over debt-laden telecoms empire
  
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• Empty trains to Euston highlight why scrapping HS2 to Manchester makes no sense

  01-12-2025 12:12 via ianvisits.co.uk
  UPDATE – the regulator has reversed its decision.
  —
  If you wanted an example of why the UK needs to build HS2, look to the news that a rush-hour train will travel from Manchester to London but can’t carry passengers.In the upcoming railway timetable change on 15th December, Avanti West Coast’s 7am service from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston will cease to carry passengers. The service, which is quite busy as it’s timetabled to arrive in London just before 9am
  
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• London’s Alleys: Victoria Place, Richmond, TW9

  01-12-2025 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  This is an old alley in Richmond town centre that underwent a major change in 1909.Victoria Place is an alley that leads off busy George Street, lined with shops, and was originally a short, dead-end alley offering access to the backs of shops and houses. That was the northern end of the alley, and the southern side was filled with tenement housing and warehouses, which, by the end of the 19th century, were in poor condition.
  OS Map 1894
  In 1905, Richmond Council wanted to clear away the slums a
  
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• British Museum could gain a traffic-free entrance under new Holborn neighbourhood proposals

  28-11-2025 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The crowded road outside the British Museum could be pedestrianised under updated plans shown off by Camden Council.
  The council first announced plans for a Holborn Livable Neighbourhood last year and is currently running a consultation on their suggestions. They’ve now released some updated images, including what the space outside the British Museum could look like if the road were pedestrianised.
  Current layout (c) Camden Council
  Proposed layout (c) Camden Council
  The plans for Great Rus
  
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• Honest Burgers to hand out 3,200 free meals across London this Wednesday

  28-11-2025 14:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Upmarket burger chain, Honest Burgers, is giving away 3,200 free meals across London on Wednesday 3rd December.
  (c) Honest Burgers
  They will give 100 free burgers from each of their locations across the UK (32 in London) to the first 100 people to queue up outside their restaurants. Not just a burger, but also a portion of their rosemary salted chips to add some carbs to the protein-rich meal.
  Honest’s Double Smashed Burger features two smashed British beef patties, American cheese, brown
  
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• Saatchi Gallery marks 40 years with an oil lake, a spinning car and a riot of contemporary art

  28-11-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A vast lake of crude oil and a car spinning mid-air above a sea of discarded tyres headline the Saatchi Gallery’s winter exhibition, marking 40 years of contemporary art at the institution.Founded during the surge of Young British Artists in the 1980s, the Saatchi Gallery opened in 1985 in a former paint factory in St John’s Wood, later relocating to County Hall on the Southbank in 2003 and — after a rather fraught departure — to its current Chelsea home in 2008.
  For this
  
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• Barbican to unveil giant plant-covered clay pavilion next spring

  27-11-2025 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A huge circle of plant-covered clay will fill the Barbican’s Sculpture Court next spring and will be the first UK public commission by Colombian artist Delcy Morelos.
  Delcy Morelos, El abrazo (The Embrace, detail), 2023. Installation view, Dia Chelsea, New York, 2023. Photo credit: Don Stahl. Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery
  For the Barbican, Morelos has designed her most ambitious outdoor work to date: an “ovular pavilion” made of clay, soil, fragrant spices,
  
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• New DLR station back on track as long-delayed housing scheme finally moves forward

  27-11-2025 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) could be about to get a new station, as a long stalled housing development gets underway.
  The future Thames Wharf DLR station
  If built, the station, expected to be called Thames Wharf, would sit roughly halfway between Canning Town and West Silvertown on the Woolwich branch.
  It’s long been expected that a DLR station would be built there, and there’s a deliberately straight length of track and a station-style track bed in the location. However, the a
  
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• A Very Wes World: Design Museum’s pastel-hued dive into Anderson’s cinematic universe

  27-11-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The Design Museum is paying homage to Wes Anderson’s pastel perfection in its new exhibition about the filmmaker’s design-focused movies.Over this three-decade career, the filmmaker has carved out a popular niche in stylistically rich movies that have adoring fans swooning over the appearance as much as they do the plotlines.
  Now, from Anderson’s own archive, his uniquely quaint world has come to London.
  As an exhibition, it’s going to appeal to the fans, and like all per
  
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• JP Morgan revives £3 billion skyscraper plan for Canary Wharf after 20 years on ice

  27-11-2025 11:24 via ianvisits.co.uk
  One of Canary Wharf’s largest undeveloped plots is finally set to be built on, with JPMorganChase confirming plans for a new £3 billion skyscraper — two decades after the site was first earmarked for development.
  Artist’s impression: The view from JPMorganChase’s Riverside office
  The Riverside site, on the edge of the Thames, was bought by JP Morgan in 2008 for a new headquarters, but the banking crisis halted progress almost immediately. They later moved into Lehma
  
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• Oasis tour merchandise pop-up store opening in Piccadilly Circus

  27-11-2025 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Oasis fans will have one last chance to buy souvenirs from recent tours, as unsold merchandise is going on sale at a pop-up store.
  Oasis store
  The store will be fully stocked with official Oasis Live ’25 tour merchandise, along with brand-new items such as hats, flags, scarves, posters, and commemorative tickets. The adidas Originals collaboration range will also be restocked for the occasion.
  The pop-up store at Piccadilly Circus will also feature a dedicated visual experience room showca
  
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• Taking a first look at the restored Banqueting House

  27-11-2025 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Although Banqueting House’s full opening isn’t until next Summer, for the next few days, there’s a chance to get a preview of the restoration work that’s been carried out.Most of the work is invisible, in that it involves replacing and upgrading worn-out, inefficient facilities, but there has been a simple yet dramatic change in the main hall itself.
  The decoration seems somehow richer, and that’s mainly thanks to dimming the daylight in the hall and turning up the
  
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• There’s a Harry Potter themed Christmas Tree in King’s Cross station

  26-11-2025 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A Harry Potter themed Christmas Tree has arrived at King’s Cross station, that is both delightful and yet also manages to be a bit depressing.Accepting that outside the home, Christmas decorations in shops and high streets are there to encourage shopping, the trees themselves usually stand aloof from the commerce around them.
  A central meeting point and focus, but not on the same level as a sales tool.
  However, the Harry Potter tree has a shop inside it.
  Yes, they’ve put a shop in th
  
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• Altice USA bridles at an outbreak of creditor-on-creditor congeniality

  26-11-2025 16:33 via ft.com
  Company says that bare-knuckle restructurings outside court, like the one it would like to achieve, are better for all parties
  
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• Architects pitch alternative Liverpool Street station “Arch” to rival Network Rail’s “tower”

  26-11-2025 16:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  An alternative vision for an oversite office development of Liverpool Street station has been unveiled, offering what its designers claim is a less disruptive route to funding an upgrade of the railway station.
  (c) John McAslan + Partners
  The concept, drawn up by architects John McAslan + Partners (JMP), which had previously worked on King’s Cross Station, and engineering firm Expedition, proposes a series of station improvements and accessibility upgrades delivered without, they say, the
  
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• Government shuts VAT loophole that used by some taxi firms to lower their tax bill

  26-11-2025 15:35 via ianvisits.co.uk
  People who use private taxi operators such as Uber might see the cost of a ride rise after the government closed a rather complicated tax loophole, which could lead Uber and other companies to pay a higher tax rate on their fares.The situation applies to the Tour Operators Margin Scheme (TOMS), a mechanism originally designed for traditional travel companies bundling services such as hotels and transport into a single sales package.
  Currently, VAT is not charged on the full selling price, as is
  
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• Smoke and sirens at Fenchurch Street as c2c stages fire evacuation drill

  26-11-2025 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  There was smoke and fire engines outside Fenchurch Street earlier this month, as they carried out a fire evacuation drill while the station was closed for engineering works.
  Fire Fighters enter the smoke filled rooms at Fenchurch Street station (c) c2c
  The fire drill simulated smoke coming from the station and showed the collective response of c2c staff to a real incident. Four fire engines were on hand, as the London Fire Brigade’s (LFB) firefighters cleared the building and found the sou
  
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• Government presses UK telecoms bosses over mid-contract price rises

  26-11-2025 10:55 via ft.com
  Chancellor Rachel Reeves calls for more consumer protection for mobile customers from further above-inflation increases
  
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• Altice USA accuses creditors of forming ‘illegal cartel’

  25-11-2025 21:53 via ft.com
  Defendants who own large chunks of $26bn distressed debt pile include Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and Oaktree
  
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• London’s cycling trips hit 1.5 million a day as ridership surges 43% since 2019

  25-11-2025 01:05 via ianvisits.co.uk
  London’s cycling boom shows no sign of slowing, with new Transport for London (TfL) data revealing a 43% increase in cycling journeys since 2019. In fact, since TfL was set up 25 years ago, the number of daily cycle journey stages in London is estimated to have more than tripled.With a provisionally estimated trip-based mode share of 4.7% of all journeys in 2024, it is a smaller mode of transport in the overall London context. However, its growth trajectory, both in the longer term and mor
  
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• New mural unviled at Brixton tube station

  24-11-2025 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A new mural has been unveiled at Brixton Underground station as the ninth of a series of murals at the south London tube station.
  (c) TfL
  The Congregation, spanning the entrance to Brixton Underground station, is by London-based artist Rudy Loewe and features 20 scenes celebrating the figures and history of Brixton.
  The new work features local landmarks, places and cultural spaces and pays tribute to figures and communities that have shaped the local area.
  In total, it features 20 scenes celebra
  
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• Telefónica proposes cutting 5,000 jobs in Spain

  24-11-2025 15:57 via ft.com
  Plan presented to unions following stock slide sparked by failure to unveil broader changes at capital markets day
  
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• 14 gift ideas for Londonphilles this Christmas

  24-11-2025 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  What do you buy for the Londoner who probably has everything there is to do with London already? Here’s a selection of what I would want you might want to buy for them.
  Prices range from stocking filler to second mortgage.
  UK Departure boardsDecorative and functional, these olde-style railway and bus departure boards are plugged into the live data feeds from most of the UK’s transport networks, so you can see whether your local public transport is working before you leave home.
  At th
  
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• Strawberries, Pimms and a side of tennis: Wimbledon’s tennis museum serves up a food-themed exhibition

  24-11-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The Wimbledon Tennis Championship is as famous for the red strawberries as it is for the yellow tennis balls, and now their museum has opened an exhibition about the food.Wimbledon’s long association with food dates back to its origins, when tennis emerged from the garden parties that accompanied lawn tennis matches. As tennis became professionalised, the food remained resolutely English country-fete style.
  That makes Wimbledon as much a social event as a sporting one – and one famou
  
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• London’s Alleys: Budds Alley, Twickenham

  24-11-2025 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  This narrow passage slips between the railway and houses next to the Thames in Twickenham, and owes its name to a man who hated moustaches.Long before the railway arrived, the area was known as Twickenham Park and had a large villa in the middle. The park is itself interesting as it’s the site of the army’s encampment at the start of the Second Barons’ War, when the barons led by Simon de Montfort challenged the royalist forces of King Henry III.
  In the autumn of 1263, De Montf
  
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• Chase replacing Google on Tube readers as TfL unveils new ‘Official Payment Partner’

  24-11-2025 01:05 via ianvisits.co.uk
  You’ll start to see a new logo on London Underground’s contactless payment readers, as a new sponsor takes over from the current incumbent.At the moment, you’ve probably noticed they often say “Google Pay”, but soon they will say “Chase”, as the digital bank is becoming TfL’s ‘Official Payment Partner’.
  The deal will see the Chase brand take pride of place on over 5,000 contactless Oyster readers across the London Underground, London Ov
  
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• England’s rail fares to be frozen in 2026 — well some of them will be

  23-11-2025 10:40 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Around half of England’s rail fares will be frozen during next year’s ticket price change, but the fares freeze will only affect regulated fares and will put pressure on London’s tube and bus fares.
  The annual fares rise is traditionally aligned to the July Retail Prices Index (RPI) figure of the preceding year, so it had been expected that fares would rise by 4.8% in 2026.
  That will not happen.This is the first time in 30 years that regulated fares will not rise during the ann
  
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• Could Batman encourage more people to offer their seats on trains?

  21-11-2025 18:20 via ianvisits.co.uk
  If you spot Batman on the train, he might be heading to a party, or he might be a psychological decoy, silently nudging you to give up your seat to someone who needs it — because nothing says “do the right thing” like being judged by a man in a rubber suit.It turns out that commuters are far more likely to relinquish their seat when Batman is in the carriage with them, and that the caped crusader’s effect on people’s behaviour can be quite substantial.
  A study condu
  
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• Nokia’s third reinvention will be harder than its first two

  21-11-2025 18:00 via ft.com
  Move from hardware to software market puts company more open to competition
  
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• Trafalgar Square Christmas tree on its way to London after protestor delays felling in Norway

  21-11-2025 15:35 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Trafalgar Square’s Christmas tree is on its way to London after it was chopped down in a forest north of Oslo this afternoon, after a climate protestor delayed the event from this morning.
  Photo: Sturlason / Oslo municipality
  The Mayor of Oslo, Anne Lindboe, and Lord Mayor of Westminister, Paul Dimoldenberg, joined forces and made the first cut into the 20 metres tall Norwegian spruce “Ever Oslo”.
  The symbolic slice dealt with, professional tree surgeons did the rest. A replace
  
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• Pantos, musicals and plays go on sale as West End unveils early Black Friday deals

  21-11-2025 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  London’s theatreland has launched its Black Friday sale early this year, kicking off a full week before the American holiday and running through to early December.
  In truth, it’s less a Black Friday and more a Black Fortnight — but the discounts are real, with some West End tickets reduced by as much as 60%.
  Here are some of the standout offers:
  PantominesJack and the Beanstalk (Lyric Hammersmith)
  The Lyric Hammersmith Pantomime returns to bring gigantic laughs!
  From £13
  
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• You can see a working Quantum Computer in IBM’s London office

  21-11-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  If you don’t mind peering through a sheet of glass, you can see a Quantum Computer at IBM’s office in Waterloo.Known as the IBM Quantum System One, it is the first circuit-based commercial quantum computer, launched by IBM in January 2019.
  Quantum computers are capable of using the weird world of quantum physics and simplistically, where a standard computer bit can be either a binary One or Zero, a quantum computer can be both at the same time. Thanks to that, it is widely believed t
  
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• Mayor shows plans to reroute buses and reclaim Oxford Street for pedestrians

  21-11-2025 12:15 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Plans have been shown off that could see Oxford Street pedestrianised from Ikea in the east to Selfridges in the west.
  Pedestrian areas overlay on OpenStreet Maps, with gaps for the north-south road traffic
  As part of the Mayor of London’s takeover of the area, a consultation has opened for the first phase of pedestrianising Oxford Street, revealing how road traffic will be diverted around the pedestrian zone.
  Under the proposals, buses that currently serve Oxford Street would be rerouted
  
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• Tickets Alert: UCL’s 200th anniversary light show in central London

  21-11-2025 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  To mark its bicentenary next year, University College London (UCL) is filling its large quadrangle with an outdoor Son et lumiére light display.
  UCL Illuminated (c) Double Take Productions
  UCL was founded on 11 February 1826, although it wasn’t allowed to call itself a university for another decade, which means it’s either England’s third oldest university, or its fifth oldest – depending on which date you count from. Assuming you count from the first, there will b
  
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• French telcos explore wider bid for billionaire Drahi’s assets

  21-11-2025 06:00 via ft.com
  Orange, Bouygues and Free consider new proposal for multiple Altice assets after €17bn bid for SFR was rejected
  
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• A Twin Peaks installation leads BFI’s month-long David Lynch celebration

  20-11-2025 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Something strange is arriving at the BFI Southbank early next year – a room that isn’t just a room, but a threshold.
  Black Lodge installation (c) BFI/ Twin Peaks Productions
  As part of a David Lynch season of films and talks, visitors will be invited to step sideways into a recreation of the Twin Peaks’ Red Room, the velvet-draped chamber deep within the Black Lodge where time coils, shadows whisper, and courage was the only true currency.
  They say the Red Room is a place of pa
  
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• Southeast London railway becomes UK’s first to use new low-carbon track

  20-11-2025 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A section of railway track in southeast London has become the first in the UK to use a new low-carbon track, which employs a range of techniques to reduce the embedded CO2.
  The 1,150 yards of renewals, delivered over two core weekends between Honor Oak Park and Forest Hill, was completed as part of the Southern Renewals Enterprise – Network Rail’s integrated delivery team in the south of England, of which VolkerRail is the track delivery partner.
  Honor Oak Park track renewals (c) Net
  
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• St Mary le Strand’s ‘shimmering’ art screen turns out to be painted fabric over scaffolding

  20-11-2025 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The 300 year old St Mary le Strand church has been partially covered in a shimmering screen that is part functional cladding and part artwork.Or at least that’s what’s supposed to happen, as the end result is not really what was suggested in the early concept image sent to other publications.
  The impression would be of a simmering, partially translucent screen that would be lit from behind. To show off the church through a veil. In fact, it’s a painted fabric hung over sca
  
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• Vodafone chief bets on selling AI and cyber security to businesses

  20-11-2025 06:00 via ft.com
  Chief executive Margherita Della Valle says telecoms group is back on the front foot after selling European assets
  
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• Tickets Alert: Winter canal trips through the Islington tunnel

  19-11-2025 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Winter trips through a long dark canal tunnel under Islington will resume next month, and tickets are on sale now.Run by the Canal Museum near King’s Cross, the tour is simple but wonderfully atmospheric – a trip from the museum in a narrowboat through the tunnel to the other end and back again.
  You embark at the museum, and then there’s a brief talk in the boat before heading out into the canal to go through the tunnel. The tours are for small groups, and there’s just ab
  
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• Archaeologists find prehistoric tools and lost Medieval Hall under Houses of Parliament

  19-11-2025 16:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Archaeologists working at the Houses of Parliament have discovered evidence that human activity at the site could be older even than Stonehenge.
  The discovery, part of a three-year research project, uncovered evidence of human activity dating back nearly 6,000 years – over a millennium older than the earliest earthworks at Stonehenge. The find includes more than 60 struck flint flakes, including one worked tool, likely dating to the late Mesolithic or early Neolithic period (around 4300 BC
  
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