Telecom news

• The London Buzz – 6th August 2024

  06-08-2024 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Today’s round-up of what’s happening in London:
  The justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has promised additional staff and extra funding for Wandsworth prison in London after an inspection in April and May found alarmingly high rates of self-harm, dangerous levels of violence and more than 40% of prisoners taking drugs. A Lawyer Writes
  Croydon Council has announced plans to fill the vacant Allders building with pop-up retail and food outlets. Surrey Live
  Banksy has unveiled a second ne
  
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• Tickets Alert: Perivale Wood’s 2026 bluebells open days

  19-03-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A usually closed nature reserve in west London will open for two days in April so the public can see the wood carpeted with bluebells.At 27 acres in size, Perivale Wood sits just next to the Central line railway and is one of the oldest dedicated nature reserves in the UK. Set up as a bird sanctuary at a time when all around here were fields, it was an unusually farsighted vision of how urban sprawl could someday leave no large swathes of woodland for birds.
  Now, each spring, the woods are blank
  
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• World’s largest private Victoria Cross collection finds new home at National Army Museum

  19-03-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  After leaving the Imperial War Museum last year, the world’s largest private collection of Britain’s highest gallantry medals is set to return to public display in London.
  National Army Museum
  Lord Ashcroft’s collection of Victoria Crosses (VC) and George Crosses (GC) has found a new home at the National Army Museum, restoring public access to the medals after the closure of the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum in September 2025.
  Built up by Lord Ashcroft over m
  
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• Two Tates, one Hockney: Artist to headline major 2027 exhibition season

  19-03-2026 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  There’s going to be a double dose of David Hockney coming to the Tate galleries next year, with a takeover of Modern’s huge turbine hall, and an exhibition down the road at Britain.They are part of the year of exhibitions announced by the Tate galleries.
  Tate Modern highlights
  Among the headline exhibitions, Monet: Painting Time (from 25th Feb) will be Tate Modern’s first show dedicated to Claude Monet. Drawing on new research, it will explore how the artist captured the passag
  
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• Cricklewood bus shelter sprouts a living roof in climate trial

  19-03-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A new bus shelter in north London is testing whether a sedum-covered roof can bring a little biodiversity — and rainwater control — to the capital’s streets.The bus stop, born out of the BarNET ZERO Challenge, where local residents put forward their best ideas for tackling climate change, can be found on Cricklewood Lane.
  It’s superficially a normal bus shelter, with the usual advertising board and seating, but it also comes with a low-maintenance sedum-covered roof. At t
  
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• Tube strikes for next week have been cancelled – but the future strikes are still on

  18-03-2026 18:58 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Next week’s tube strikes have been cancelled, but there might still be more strikes in the months ahead.Transport for London (TfL) had been expecting severe disruption from Tuesday 24th through to Friday 27th March across all tube lines.
  However, the RMT Union has suspended the tube strike – but only for next week.
  Unless a deal is struck, the strike action planned from Tuesday 21st until Friday 24th April, and from Tuesday 19th until Friday 22nd May, is still scheduled to go ahead.
  
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• Could London eventually approve its own transport projects without Whitehall delays?

  18-03-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The Mayor of London could gain the power to approve major transport upgrades without central government approval under an amendment that was proposed in Parliament.Although ultimately defeated, it raised the issue on the record, and some of the suggestions are understood to be considered anyway.
  At the moment, major transport upgrades require a Transport and Works Order to be approved by the Secretary of State for Transport, which can add lengthy delays to projects, even when funded entirely by
  
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• Lifeline for London’s largest city farm as Mudchute lease agreed

  18-03-2026 14:22 via ianvisits.co.uk
  East London’s Mudchute City Farm, which has recently faced an uncertain future, looks set to stay with a new long lease — but will have to pay a much higher annual rent.Mudchute Park and Farm was established in the early 1970s as an urban farm, but was threatened just a few years later when the Greater London Council earmarked the land for a high-rise housing estate.  The plans sparked outrage (and indirectly, an episode of Yes Minister), and were eventually dropped, leaving the
  
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• Mind the bap! Morgan Freeman lends his loaf to Baker Street tube station

  18-03-2026 12:52 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Commuters at Baker Street tube station are being told to “mind the bap”, as Morgan Freeman is loafing his voice to the London Underground with a crumpet makeover from Warburtons.
  (c) Warburtons
  For two days only, the unmistakable tones of Morgan Freeman are echoing around Baker Street station, swapping cinematic narration for something a little more… toasted. The Oscar-winning actor has taken over the Tannoy on the northbound Jubilee line platform, delivering bakery-themed ann
  
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• TfL launches a new map of London Underground artworks

  18-03-2026 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Transport for London (TfL) has launched a new edition of its Art Map – highlighting some of the public art on the London Underground.Although I will warn that it’s quite hard to find, as few stations have put them out on display at the moment. In fact, I am still finding pocket tube maps from December 2024 left out on display in some stations.
  A new leaflet, once you’ve found one, updates Art on the Underground’s 2016 Art Map and highlights six permanent commissions that
  
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• London’s Alleys: Church Yard Walk, Paddington, W2

  16-03-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  This is a short open passage that splits a church and its former graveyard, and was once likely a full-sized road, making this an early example of pedestrianisation.The passage sits alongside St Mary on Paddington Green, a church that has been a place of worship for at least 800 years. Originally a chapel to St Catherine, it was rebuilt as a parish church in 1678 and dedicated to St James.
  The current church, consecrated to St Mary in 1791, was built on a site slightly to the south of the origin
  
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• Step into Friends, House of the Dragon and more at free HBO Max pop-up in Piccadilly Circus

  13-03-2026 15:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  An immersive exhibition opening for two days in central London will let visitors explore TV sets, props and costumes from shows including Friends and House of the Dragon ahead of the UK launch of HBO Max.Opening in Piccadilly Circus on 25th March, visitors will be able to walk through themed sets, see original props and costumes, and take part in interactive installations inspired by the programmes.
  The immersive exhibition will also feature a projection-mapped experience inspired by Superman&rs
  
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• Giant TBM starts digging tube-train sized tunnel beneath the Thames

  13-03-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A giant tunnelling machine has started digging a tube-train-sized tunnel beneath the River Thames in east London, creating a 2.2-kilometre crossing between Kent and Essex.
  The TBM – with the statue of Saint Barbara, patron saint of miners on the side (c) National Grid
  But instead of trains, the tunnel will carry electricity cables.
  Earlier this week, a 270+ tonne tunnel boring machine (TBM) was launched to excavate the new tunnel, which will eventually replace the existing Thames Cable Tun
  
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• Looted from a royal palace: The medieval jug now on display in London

  13-03-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A bronze jug looted from West Africa and displayed in the British Museum might sound like the same old story — but this is a bit different as the jug was originally English, not African.A large bronze medieval jug bearing the English royal coat of arms would be a rare find if dug up in England, but somehow it had ended up in West Africa, in modern-day Ghana, thanks to early trading routes between nations.
  Dating from between 1340 and 1405, the jug is the largest surviving bronze ewer from
  
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• Go behind the scenes at London Transport Museum’s vast Acton depot this April

  12-03-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Next month, there will be one of the occasional open weekends at the London Transport Museum’s large storage warehouse in Acton, and tickets to visit are on sale now.
  Photos from the Transport Museum’s Acton Depot open weekend
  Visitors will be able to discover the Museum’s vast collection of more than 320,000 objects not on display in the Covent Garden Museum – from tiny palm-sized collectables to entire train carriages and old buses.
  April’s event celebrates 120 ye
  
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• Platform 37: Google names its huge King’s Cross HQ as staff prepare to move in

  12-03-2026 14:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Google’s giant groundscraper of a building, which has been a construction site next to King’s Cross station for longer than most people can remember, is finally getting its first occupants.
  Platform 37 (c) Google
  The building sits alongside King’s Cross station on land that was once a goods yard, and later an extension of the station. It also included the “hotel curve”, a rail tunnel that ran from the mainline station to the Metropolitan line, back when it was thoug
  
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• 200 Years of UCL: A small exhibition packed with big discoveries

  12-03-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  University College London (UCL) is celebrating its 200th anniversary with a small exhibition highlighting some of the university’s most notable discoveries, artefacts and moments from its history.Spread across the campus, most of the displays are concentrated in two locations: beside the famous Jeremy Bentham auto-icon and inside the university’s main Octagon Gallery.
  The Octagon Gallery contains four large display cases filled with an eclectic selection of objects. Some celebrate gr
  
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• Wheel good news: Thameslink bikes help fund skills for adults with learning disabilities

  12-03-2026 12:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Bicycles abandoned at railway stations are now helping fund training and work experience for adults with learning disabilities.
  The bikes, set to be donated to TAG in Huntingdon, on the back of a flatbed at Great Northern’s depot in Letchworth (c) GTR
  Bikes left behind at Thameslink and Great Northern stations are stored for three months, but if not claimed by the owner, they are delivered to TAG Bikes in Huntingdon, where adults with learning difficulties repair and refurbish them before
  
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• Free Friday performances at the Royal Opera House

  12-03-2026 11:03 via ianvisits.co.uk
  It’s not that well known outside the usual circles, but the Royal Opera House puts on regular free lunchtime performances.
  Paul Hamlyn Hall, Royal Opera House (c) ianVisits
  Artists from The Royal Opera, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, The Royal Ballet, and a range of guest artists perform at the Royal Opera House roughly twice a month on Friday lunchtimes, free of charge.
  You can’t book tickets as they are allocated on the day, on a first-come, first-served basis. Entry token
  
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• Rarely seen Stubbs horse painting gallops into the National Gallery

  10-03-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A large painting by the master horse painter, George Stubbs, has been kept in a private collection, but has gone on public display for only the second time in its history.
  This is Scrub, by Stubbs, and a free exhibition of equine art by George Stubbs has opened at the National Gallery.The painting dominates the exhibition space with an almost theatrical presence. Scrub rears against a pale, open background, his powerful body twisting mid-movement, the light catching every muscle and tendon.
  The
  
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• Tickets Alert: Take your old things to the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow

  10-03-2026 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  If you’ve ever fancied having something valued by the experts at the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, one of the new series will be filming in London later this year, and tickets are now available.The London recording will take place on Sunday 7th June 2026 at Valentines Mansion in Ilford, east London. You need to apply for a ticket, which will be issued by ballot about 4 weeks before the recording takes place. If they are over-subscribed, they reserve the right to allocate tickets according
  
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• London Transport Museum adding new exhibitions galleries

  10-03-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The London Transport Museum is adding more space for temporary exhibitions and events, having submitted plans to convert some of its staff spaces into a public area.
  They recently opened up some old space on the ground floor for a quiet space that also doubles up as a cinema room. The next plan is to convert a large office area on the first floor of the museum, next to the now semi-permanent posters gallery, into a public gallery focused on education and community programmes.
  Proposed Wellington
  
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• Mind the tap: Stansted Airport starts accepting London’s contactless travel tickets

  10-03-2026 07:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The long row of bright red signs at Liverpool Street station, warning passengers heading to Stansted Airport that they need to buy a paper ticket, has been replaced with signs promoting contactless travel.
  From this:
  To this:
  The change follows the delayed rollout of contactless payments on Greater Anglia services, which finally came into effect on Sunday. Passengers travelling to Stansted Airport can now use contactless payment instead of having to buy a paper ticket in advance.
  The lack of con
  
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• India cuts telecom spectrum prices as operator interest dries up

  10-03-2026 02:30
  Also in this newsletter: States move to ban social media for minors
  
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• Why Mother’s Day used to be about churches, not mums

  09-03-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  This weekend is Mother’s Day — although the day didn’t originally have anything to do with your mum.
  Instead, it was about your stone mother.
  Yes, really.The original “mother”
  Mother’s Day, as we know it, began as Mothering Sunday, a religious tradition in which people returned to their “mother church” — the church where they were baptised. Each year, Mothering Sunday falls on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent and in 2026, that l
  
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• TfL taps our largest nuclear fusion reactor to power the London Underground

  09-03-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  Transport for London (TfL) is planning to power parts of the Underground directly from nuclear fusion — aka the sun — through a number of new solar farms that could be built in the future.TfL currently uses about 1.6 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity each year, making it the largest single electricity consumer in London. Once operational, the solar installations could supply up to 65,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable electricity each year — equivalent to roughly two-third
  
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• Designers revealed for London Museum’s underground collection store

  09-03-2026 14:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  The London Museum has named the team responsible for fitting out the basement galleries beneath the former Poultry Market in Smithfield.
  Proposed ground floor exhibition space in the Poultry Market (c) Atelier 78
  The museum has been converting a former Victorian meat market near Farringdon station into its new home, and the site also includes the 1960s concrete poultry market. The intention is that the Victorian buildings will house the museum’s permanent collection, while the poultry mark
  
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• Suffragette medal awarded to Pankhurst’s nurse goes on display

  09-03-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A rare and previously unseen Suffragette medal, awarded to the nurse who cared for Emmeline during her hunger strikes, has gone on public display for the first time.The silver medal, awarded to nurse Catherine Pine, had been missing for decades before recently being rediscovered. It will now be shown publicly for the first time in a new display at the Florence Nightingale Museum.
  The circular medal is decorated with eleven silver bars and the purple, white and green ribbon of the suffragette mov
  
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• The Last Collar: Rare survivor from Charles Dickens’s wardrobe goes on display

  09-03-2026 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  A rarely seen piece of clothing believed to be the last shirt collar worn by Charles Dickens will go on display in London – a rare survival from a writer whose personal wardrobe has almost entirely vanished.
  Dickens by William P. Frith (c) Charles Dickens Museum
  The collar, recently acquired by the museum, is believed to have been worn by Dickens as he sat down to dinner at his home, Gad’s Hill Place in Kent. He collapsed during the meal and died the following day.
  After Dickens&rsqu
  
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• Virgin Media O2 owner eyes broadband deals to take on BT Openreach

  09-03-2026 09:46
  Telefónica’s Marc Murtra vows to ‘help’ UK subsidiary better compete with Openreach network
  
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