Telecom news

• Barking Riverside switches on its Cold-War replacement substation

  29-11-2024 16:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A large anonymous-looking brick building that was recently built next to Barking Riverside station has been “switched on,” as it’s a brand new electricity substation for the wider area.
  The new 132kV Barking substation (c) National Grid
  Replacing a substation built in the 1950s on the other side of the road, the new building only needs about a quarter of the space to handle the same amount of electricity as the old site.
  The new 132kV indoor substation connects the local grid o
  
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• The London Buzz – 12th June 2026

  12-06-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Piccadilly
  Today’s London news round-up:
  More than 70 people have been evacuated from their homes after a huge fire ripped through a nearby warehouse. Metro
  A “living legend” DJ who has played every Sunday night at a Hornchurch pub for the past 27 years has decided to stop. Romford Recorder
  A north London cat who has helped to save countless lives has been named blood donor of the year. Ham and High
  Dozens of protesters expressing support for Palestine Action have been arrested
  
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• The Red Arrows to fly over London for the King’s Birthday flypast

  12-06-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Weather permitting, a military aircraft flypast will take place over central London on Saturday to mark the King’s official birthday.
  (c) ianVisits
  The flypast is part of the Trooping the Colour ceremony, the ceremonial event that takes place on Horseguards Parade in the morning, and once that has finished and people have time to get into place, a flypast over London accompanied by the Red Arrows.
  As it happens, there’s also a rehearsal over the North Sea a week or so before the flyp
  
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• Canada House exhibition explores visibility, loss and LGBTQ+ lives

  12-06-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Some exhibitions are content to tell stories from the past. Invisible Portraits, by British-Canadian artist Lucy Ash, is more interested in asking why certain stories disappear in the first place.Through painting, film and sound, the exhibition explores lives that have been overlooked, erased or only partially remembered, bringing together figures from LGBTIQ+ history alongside personal works that confront prejudice, grief and loss.
  Among the cultural figures represented are poet Wilfred Owen an
  
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• Tickets Alert: A chance to step inside the original Public Records strongroom

  12-06-2026 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  There’s a rare chance to step inside the original strongroom where the nation’s public records were once housed as part of a new immersive audio exhibition.
  Entrance to the former Public Records Building (now the Maughan Library)
  The Public Records Building was constructed in the 1850s next to Chancery Lane in the City of London and is claimed to have been the first purpose-built fireproof building in England. To further minimise the risk of fire, the document storerooms were designe
  
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• This week’s sale theatre ticket offers from London Theatre Direct

  12-06-2026 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  This week’s sale and discount theatre ticket offers from London Theatre Direct.
  Kinky Boots
  Kinky Boots struts back into the West End!
  From £15 – SAVE UP TO 53% Oliver!
  Experience the Olivier Award-winning family musical today!
  From £25 – SAVE UP TO £41 To Kill A Mockingbird
  Opens 25th June 2026
  Harper Lee’s masterpiece, reimagined for London theatre
  From £37 – SAVE UP TO 31%
  Titanique
  All aboard the Titanique!
  From £25 &ndash
  
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• The London Buzz – 11th June 2026

  11-06-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Digging the Piccadilly line – old cigarette card
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Serious cycling accidents have jumped in Hackney and other London boroughs, a new analysis reveals. Standard
  Ealing Council has decided to pull the plug on its arms length housing venture after the scheme left it needing to make huge write-offs and delivered just 180 homes as opposed to thousands Neighbournet
  Enfield Council agrees out-of-court settlement with owner of T
  
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• Dress for 1066: The Bayeux Tapestry now has its own official Scottish tartan

  11-06-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Any Scots planning a trip to London this summer to see the Bayeux Tapestry could choose to arrive suitably dressed — in an official Bayeux tartan. That’s because a tartan has been designed by Professor Michael Lewis, who just happens to also be the lead Curator of the British Museum’s Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition.Its colours are drawn directly from the famous embroidery, particularly a scene depicting the dying King Edward the Confessor apparently promising the English throne to
  
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• Limehouse station platforms to close in phases for upgrade works

  11-06-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The national rail platforms at Limehouse station in East London will be partially closed until late this year for maintenance. They will also extend the London-bound platform.The first phase of works will run from Monday 22nd June to Monday 6th July, when the Essex-bound platform (Platform 2) will remain closed throughout.
  During this phase, customers using the Essex-bound Platform 2 at Limehouse Station are advised that there will be no station entrance or exit access for Essex-bound services,
  
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• London unveils a blue plaque for Sir Laurence Olivier

  11-06-2026 13:15 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Sir Laurence Olivier, widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, has been honoured with an English Heritage blue plaque at his childhood home in Pimlico.
  (c) ianVisits
  Unveiled by Ian McKellen, the plaque at Olivier’s childhood home on Lupus Street marks the London address where Olivier first discovered a passion for acting and where the foundations of his stage and screen career were laid.
  Olivier lived in the house between the ages of six and 11 while his father s
  
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• Warburg Pincus and KKR tap buyers for UK broadband businesses

  10-06-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Altnet sector grapples with lower-than-expected customer fibre uptake and higher costs
  
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• The London Buzz – 9th June 2026

  09-06-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Embankment
  Today’s London news round-up:
  China accused of ‘snubbing’ judicial review over controversial London mega-embassy Jurist News
  First Putney gym to win community protection now battling TfL over rent Putney News
  Brent Council has been ordered to pay out £2,500 for the “distress and difficulties” it caused a mum and her three children after they were left in unsuitable housing for 10 months. Harrow Online
  New powers s
  
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• VodafoneThree bids for TalkTalk consumer business

  09-06-2026 16:00 via ft.com
  Acquisition would help UK’s largest mobile operator fulfil ambition to double its broadband business
  
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• Tickets Alert: Backstage tours of the Eventim Apollo

  09-06-2026 15:45 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  This summer, there’s going to be the first in a series of backstage tours of Hammersmith’s famous Eventim Apollo.
  (c) Eventim Apollo
  Originally opened in 1932 and renowned for its Art Deco architecture, the Grade II*-listed venue has hosted generations of legendary music, comedy, theatre and cultural events.
  There are three events – one for performers, a stage show, and one offering the backstage tours.
  Centre Stage – Saturday 8th August
  A rare chance for music fans to pe
  
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• Blue plaque honours East End anti-racism pioneer Kamal Chunchie

  09-06-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A blue plaque has been unveiled on a sailors’ hostel in Poplar to commemorate Kamal Chunchie, the pastor, community worker and anti-racist campaigner whose work transformed the lives of Black and Asian communities in London’s docklands.Installed by English Heritage on the Queen Victoria Seamen’s Rest in Jeremiah Street, the plaque marks the building where Chunchie’s mission first took shape. Working there between 1922 and 1924, he encountered Black and Asian seamen and th
  
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• Pride Month on the move with new TfL art trail and audio tour

  09-06-2026 14:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Transport for London (TfL) is marking Pride Month with the launch of a new audio tour celebrating LGBTQIA+ stories across the capital’s transport network, while also commemorating the 10th anniversary of the distinctive Pride-themed pedestrian crossings in Trafalgar Square.
  (c) TfL
  Produced by Art on the Underground in partnership with OUTbound, TfL’s LGBTQIA+ staff network, the free Pride Audio Tour invites Londoners to explore five artworks across the network while listening to per
  
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• The many faces of Marilyn Monroe on display in London exhibition

  09-06-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  There are nearly 300 Marilyn Monroes in the National Portrait Gallery at the moment as they put on a centenary exhibition about the woman whose image was fixed by an untimely death.The exhibition opens with two images, one instantly recognisable as an Andy Warhol print, but opposite something small and easy to overlook – an early, untouched photo of a young lady. That’s the Norma Jeane who would become Marilyn Monroe.
  Then there’s room after room of Marilyn. A smorgasbord of Ma
  
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• Tickets Alert: Explore miniature worlds at London’s Bonsai treehouses exhibition

  09-06-2026 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The team that brings us the Gingerbread city in the winter has turned to the Japanese art of Bonsai trees for its summer exhibition.
  Galina Nelyubova For Unsplash+
  On display will be a collection of bonsai specimens alongside treehouse designs, created by architects and designers, that are inspired by the distinct form and character of these ancient trees.
  Each tree has its own story, and every treehouse design explores this year’s theme: “Together”.
  Bonsai are not naturally mi
  
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• What phantom traffic jams can teach us about crowded Tube escalators

  09-06-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Have you ever stepped onto an escalator intending to walk up the left-hand side, only to find yourself trapped behind a wall of people standing still because a bottleneck has formed ahead?
  And wished there were some way to make it clear?
  As it happens, there is.
  Oddly enough, the answer comes from the way traffic behaves on motorways.
  Elizabeth line’s Farringdon station in the rush hour (c) ianVisits
  Drivers have long experienced the curious phenomenon of crawling through a traffic jam, ex
  
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• The London Buzz – 8th June 2026

  08-06-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Bridge to Cannon Street station circa 1875
  Today’s London news round-up:
  Man denies causing nuisance by climbing Big Ben BBC News
  TfL must use new regulatory powers granted by the government to crack down on “nuisance” e-bike parking, City Hall Labour have said. South London
  The Met Police have backed down on plans to force out dozens of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) previously tasked with enforcing red route restrictions on roads
  
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• Fancy a scoop of… what? London’s strangest ice cream shop returns

  08-06-2026 17:15 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  One of London’s more unusual summer pop-ups has returned, as Anya Hindmarch’s Ice Cream Project opens for its fifth year. The annual venture takes familiar supermarket and pantry staples and turns them into ice cream and sorbet flavours – with varying degrees of weirdness and success.Previous years have featured everything from Heinz Baked Beans and Branston Piccalilli to Bisto Gravy, alongside slightly less challenging options such as Sun-Pat Peanut Butter, McVitie’s Mil
  
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• After-work art: National Gallery opens until 7pm throughout summer

  08-06-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The National Gallery is extending its opening hours and will open late every evening for a couple of months this summer.The gallery, which has seen its visitor numbers struggling to recover to pre-pandemic levels says that the late opening initiative responds directly to audience demand for more flexible visiting hours, particularly for Londoners and commuters who are unable to visit during traditional daytime opening hours.
  National Gallery Summertime also aims to attract first-time visitors lo
  
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• Bouygues Telecom consortium agrees to buy Patrick Drahi’s SFR for €20.35bn

  07-06-2026 00:16 via ft.com
  Bid from group including Orange and Free-Iliad faces showdown with antitrust regulators in Paris and Brussels
  
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• Five-day bus strike to disrupt seven East London routes next week

  06-06-2026 09:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  There will be a five day long bus strike in London next week, affecting seven bus routes across East London.The strikes are planned on bus routes operated by Stagecoach from Bow Bus Garage, and Transport for London (TfL) says that some services will be severely delayed and buses may be cancelled.
  According to Unite the Union, over 300 bus drivers will be on strike in a dispute over long shifts without breaks, insufficient time between shifts, and increased weekend work.
  These routes are affected
  
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• Giant Joseph Paxton bust restored to its original Crystal Palace location

  05-06-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A monumental bust of Sir Joseph Paxton, the Victorian designer behind both the Crystal Palace and the park that bears its name, has been returned to its original position on the Italian Terraces as part of the ongoing restoration of Crystal Palace Park.
  (c) Crystal Palace Park Trust
  The oversized stone sculpture, which had stood for many years on a rather unappealing brick plinth near the sports ground, has now been installed on a newly constructed plinth overlooking the landscape Paxton himself
  
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• First images unveiled of future Thamesmead DLR station

  05-06-2026 13:15 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The first images of the proposed new DLR stations for the Thamesmead extension have been released as part of the final consultation on the plans.
  Proposed extension route (c) TfL
  For the extension, a new station will be built at Beckton Riverside, with two tunnels under the River Thames linking to another new station at Thamesmead.  Previous consultations on the plans came, unsurprisingly, overwhelmingly in favour of a rail link, and this final stage is looking at more detailed plans for th
  
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• One of the world’s rarest Bibles goes on display at St Paul’s Cathedral

  05-06-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  One of the great treasures of the English language is going on display for the first time, offering a rare chance to see a book that was once hunted down and burned as heresy.The book is one of only three surviving copies of the 1526 Tyndale New Testament, a translation so controversial that King Henry VIII’s agents spent years trying to suppress it and track down its creator across Europe.
  Its significance is difficult to overstate.
  Not only did it help fuel the religious upheavals that t
  
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• First of 10 new Elizabeth line trains rolls off Derby production line

  05-06-2026 12:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The first of ten additional Elizabeth line trains has rolled off the production line in Derby and is now undergoing testing ahead of entering passenger service later this year.
  Unit 345071 testing at Derby Litchurch Lane Works (c) Alstom
  Built by Alstom at its Litchurch Lane Works, the nine-carriage train has completed assembly and is now running on the factory’s test track for final checks before moving to London for a programme of trials on the national rail network and the Elizabeth lin
  
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• A pride of painted lions has arrived in London

  05-06-2026 12:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  If you wander around central London over the next few weeks, you might spy some brightly coloured lions.They’re the latest in the genre of “get artists to paint a sculpture and sell it for charity”, and put them on display in public places for a walking trail.
  And, topically, they’re football-themed, as each lion/lioness is resting a paw on a football.
  The trail runs until 10th August and stretches across Westminster and Victoria. Two of the lions seemed to be missing, un
  
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• Advantage passengers as Barons Court tube station reopens all four platforms

  05-06-2026 11:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Good news for Barons Court tube station users as its long-running repair works are set to take a brief break, allowing trains to serve all four platforms again for a couple of weeks.Passengers have been unable to use the eastbound platforms since mid-January, after what started as a routine repair project turned into a longer rally when engineers uncovered additional structural problems. The restoration of the eastbound platform’s worn edges and corroded staircase canopy columns is now nea
  
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