Telecom news

• Tickets Alert: Luke Jerram’s Mars comes to West London

  11-07-2023 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Luke Jerram, the artist who fills large buildings with floating models of the moon and the Earth has now turned his attention to Mars, and the God of War will be visiting three venues this summer for free.
  (c) Luke Jerram
  Measuring seven metres in diameter, the artwork features 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Martian surface. At around one million times smaller than the actual planet, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents 10 kilometres of the surface of Mars.
  T
  
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• Leyton tube station’s new footbridge installed in overnight crane operation

  31-08-2026 11:48 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Regular users of Leyton tube station will see a big difference from this morning, as a large footbridge was installed overnight as part of the station’s step-free upgrade.
  Earlier in August (c) ianVisits
  Later in August (c) ianVisits
  At the moment, Leyton station’s entrance is little more than a shed above the tracks, a type of tube station in need of refurbishment, but it is also overcrowded during the rush hours.  The upgrade involves building an entirely new ticket hall next
  
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• First of ten new Elizabeth line trains enters passenger service

  29-08-2026 11:37 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The first of the Elizabeth line’s ten new trains entered passenger service this morning.
  Elizabeth line train 345071 (c) TfL
  The ten additional trains were ordered in the dying days of the last government, partially to assist in keeping Alstom’s Derby factory functioning but also because Transport for London (TfL) was able to put forward a strong case that it needed them to deal with surging passenger numbers on the Elizabeth line.
  The capacity is needed not just because the Elizabet
  
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• Tickets Alert: 600th anniversary of the Harmondsworth Great Barn

  28-08-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  To mark the 600th anniversary of the Great Barn at Harmondsworth, a one-day conference will celebrate the building’s history and survival.The ‘new barn’ was built in 1426 by Winchester College, who owned the manor of Harmondsworth, to replace old barns used to store cereal crops. The manor had been bought a generation earlier by William of Wykeham, then Bishop of Winchester, as part of his endowment for Winchester College. Despite its agricultural origins, the barn has been hai
  
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• V&A museums to close for a couple of days due to strike action

  28-08-2026 15:30 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Several of the V&A Museums in London will close for a couple of days due to staff strike action.
  V&A East Museum (c) ianVisits
  PCS members at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum are taking coordinated strike action with Prospect over pay, conditions, and dignity at work.  This follows a vote in which 95.39% of PCS members voted for strike action, with an 87.04% turnout.
  PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote explained today that V&A members “have now been left with no c
  
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• Three floral displays coming to London

  28-08-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  An increasing number of venues are filling up with floral arrangements to attract visitors, and three big ones are taking place in London.Strawberry Hill House
  10th to 13th September
  The gothic house in south-west London is filled with floral displays dotted around the building. They promise over 30 floral designers will be displaying during the exhibition.
  Prices are £30 per adult.
  Tickets and details here.
  St Mary le Strand
  22nd to 24th Septemer
  A three-day display, but also with an opti
  
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• Seiko’s designers let their imaginations loose for a tiny watch exhibition

  28-08-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  London Horophiles* may like a new exhibition showcasing seven custom-designed wristwatches based on designers’ interests rather than a commercial brief.This year’s project theme explores ‘passionately and obsessively crafted watches’, with each design inspired by a different watch component.
  Wristwatches are by their very nature quite small objects, and with just seven on display, this is naturally a small exhibition. But the seven watches are quite fascinating as objects
  
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• Aberdeen takes £200mn hit on failure of UK broadband provider

  28-08-2026 12:28 via ft.com
  Sale of Airband to Macquarie-backed rival is latest sign of distress in indebted ‘altnet’ sector
  
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• Aberdeen fund takes £200mn hit on failure of UK broadband provider

  28-08-2026 12:28 via ft.com
  Sale of Airband to Macquarie-backed rival is latest sign of distress in indebted ‘altnet’ sector
  
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• Thameslink to replace its notorious ‘ironing-board’ train seats

  28-08-2026 10:33 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Thameslink is planning to replace its much-criticised “ironing-board” seats with more comfortable cushions.
  Thameslink ironing boards
  Over the next two years, Greater Thameslink Railway (GTR) will be upgrading the standard-class seats across all 115 of its Thameslink trains, replacing more than 60,000 seat-base cushions and improving the backrests.
  First class seats will keep their existing backrest design but are also planned to benefit from improved seat base cushions. Seat back ta
  
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• Tickets Alert: Southeastern’s “Network SouthEast” train tour

  27-08-2026 18:15 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  To celebrate 40 years of Network SouthEast, Southeastern is running a special commemorative rail tour aboard its uniquely restored Network SouthEast Networker train.
  Southeastern’s Network SouthEast at the Greatest Gathering (c) ianVisits
  Beginning and ending at London Victoria, this one-off journey will travel across both Metro and Mainline routes to Ramsgate and Dover, passing some of the oldest stations on the Southeastern Railway network.
  As with last year’s sold-out tour and jus
  
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• The London Buzz – 27th August 2026

  27-08-2026 18:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Old London – Waterloo Bridge, circa 1907
  Today’s London news round-up:
  The Children’s Black Book Fair UK (CBBF UK) has made history by becoming the largest event ever held in a Hackney library. The Voice
  Mystery vandalism returns to Harrow as homes targeted with black and red paint Harrow Online
  Three years after London’s Ulez expanded across the capital, businesses and residents on the border of the scheme have said strong feelings remain, although many have adapted. BBC
  
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• Cloth Cornhill to open in October inside the former Simpsons Tavern

  27-08-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  The restaurant that’s taken over the building that housed the venerable Simpsons Tavern chophouse has confirmed that it will open in October, with bookings accepted from next month.
  Simpsons Tavern (c) ianVisits
  Simpsons Tavern has been open in its narrow alley location since 1757 and was famous for its unfussy food and its determined retention of 19th-century dining, with communal tables shared by diners.
  However, a contentious dispute with the landlord led to Simpsons Tavern closing in N
  
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• Photo exhibition of “animals behaving amusingly” opens next month

  27-08-2026 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A decade of photographs of animals behaving amusingly will go on display in central London next month.
  Andrea Zampatti: The Laughing Dormouse
  The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards Immersive Experience opens at Frameless next to Marble Arch on 12th September, bringing together 91 award-winning photographs from the competition’s first ten years.
  Rather than displaying the photographs conventionally, a 15-minute film will project them at large scale around the walls of the Blank Canvas Gallery, pl
  
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• TfL marks 70 years of Caribbean recruitment and 60 years of Notting Hill Carnival

  27-08-2026 10:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Transport for London (TfL) is marking two anniversaries this week, celebrating 70 years since London Transport launched a major recruitment drive in the Caribbean and 60 years since the first Notting Hill Carnival.
  LT Recruiter Charles Gomm interviewing an early Barbadian applicant 1956 (c) TfL
  The commemorations will include a new plaque at Westbourne Park tube station honouring people who helped establish and develop the Carnival, a specially decorated London bus joining Sunday’s parade,
  
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• London’s Pocket Parks, Holmsdale Tunnel Open Space, Waltham Cross, EN8

  27-08-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Visiting a park just after umpteen heatwaves have lain waste to the land might seem awkward, but to be honest, this park simply changes colour, and that’s all. A long, wide rectangle of grasslands doesn’t seem that interesting, unless you start to wonder why there aren’t any trees – and the reason is just a metre or so below your feet.This parkland sits on top of the M25 motorway, to dampen the noise of motorcars passing through a fairly residential area. Not by much, to
  
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• Tube-sized tunnel under London gets a power boost – with help from its own monorail

  26-08-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A 20 year old tube-train sized tunnel under north-west London is getting an upgrade to help it carry more electrons, and the engineers might be able to use a monorail to carry out the work.
  Fata Automation monorail
  The Elstree–St John’s Wood cable tunnel forms a key part of National Grid’s newly launched North West London Upgrade (NWLU), a programme to increase the amount of electricity that can be carried into London and provide connections for new developments.
  As part of the
  
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• Ham House is offering conservation tours through November

  26-08-2026 15:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Ham House is a grand 17th-century house set in formal gardens beside the River Thames near Richmond in southwest London. The National Trust took over the property in 1948, and after a major restoration completed in 2002, the house is generally open to visitors year-round.
  Ham House
  However, during November, weekday access to the house will be a little different, with general opening replaced by a series of conservation tours.
  The quieter period gives staff and volunteers an opportunity to carry
  
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• From tobacco to tea shops to computers: Exhibition tells the story of J. Lyons & Co

  26-08-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Lyons is one of those vanished companies whose name is still remarkably familiar. Its tea shops and Corner Houses once filled British high streets, its cakes and ice lollies became household brands, and behind the scenes it even built one of the world’s first business computers.
  Now, a small exhibition at the Jewish Museum London’s temporary home inside JW3 tells the story of the catering empire – although largely from the point of view of the Gluckstein and Salmon families who
  
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• ‘Juggernaut’ BT’s decade-long turnaround hits crunch time

  23-08-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Investors still waiting for the ‘show me the money’ moment
  
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• Save on theatre tickets from London Theatre Direct

  21-08-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  This week’s sale and discount theatre ticket offers from London Theatre Direct.
   Moulin Rouge! The Musical
  Pop the champagne and prepare for the spectacular spectacular Moulin Rouge! The Musical
  From £30 – EXCLUSIVE PRICES
   Now You See Me Live
  The magical film series has transformed for the stage
  From £25 – SAVE UP TO 37%
   Sinatra The Musical
  Start spreadin’ the news, the king of swing is back
  From £35 – GREAT SEATS AT £50
  &nbs
  
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• Visiting UCL’s delightfully difficult-to-visit architectural exhibition

  21-08-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  An exhibition that’s only open four hours a week, and sometimes not even that, is the sort of annoyingly difficult to visit exhibition I love.And this one tells the story of University College London’s classical Wilkins Building – the grand frontage that dominates the main quadrangle, but almost didn’t get built, or survive when it was built.
  It’s mainly a collection of old drawings, sketches and maps, and tells the story of how the newish University College London
  
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• Thames sea levels are rising faster as flood defence pressures grow

  20-08-2026 17:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Sea levels in the Thames Estuary are rising faster than previously measured, with the rate now matching the assumptions being used to plan London’s future flood defences.
  Thames Barrier
  A review of the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan has found that relative mean sea levels rose at an average rate of 4.10mm a year between 1993 and 2024 — up from the 3.65mm annual rate recorded between 1990 and 2018 in the previous monitoring review.
  Although that may sound like a small change, over decades i
  
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• Wish you were here? Exhibition looks back at six decades of British seaside holidays

  20-08-2026 13:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  One of the defining images of the seaside photos isn’t necessarily the image, but the colour – Technicolour, in fact – and an exhibition is celebrating the colours of the seaside photo.Spanning six decades of social history from the 1960s to the 2010s, the exhibition ranges from a collection of garish postcards through to modern photography showing the contrast between cultures swimming in the sea.
  There’s also a timeline of changing appearances, from older photos of coup
  
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• Oxford Street pedestrianisation works to start next month

  20-08-2026 12:12 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Work to ban vehicles from a large section of Oxford Street is set to start next month, when the first major construction work gets underway.Subject to the necessary approvals, works will commence on 2 September 2026, and Oxford Street between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street should be traffic-free by mid to late October. That’s basically from Selfridges in the west through to just past Oxford Circus in the east.
  Pedestrian areas overlay on OpenStreet Maps, with gaps for the north-s
  
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• Tickets Alert: Free Back to Hogwarts experience next to the Tower of London

  20-08-2026 11:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  Harry Potter fans planning the traditional 1st September pilgrimage to King’s Cross should take note – there will be no official Back to Hogwarts event, countdown or announcement at King’s Cross station this year.
  Instead, the main London celebration is moving across town to Old Billingsgate, next to the Tower of London, where HBO Max will host a one-day fan event ahead of the new Harry Potter television series arriving this Christmas.Back to Hogwarts at Old Billingsgate
  The on
  
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• London’s Pocket Parks: The Closes, West Drayton, UB7

  20-08-2026 08:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  This seemingly unremarkable looking public park has unexpected links with Roman England.This part of what is now London was originally part of the Manor of West Drayton, which King Athelstan gifted to the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in 925. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII granted the Manor to William Paget – 1st Lord Paget, and in 1714, the 7th Lord Paget was created Earl of Uxbridge.
  Although West Drayton developed as a small village, it wasn’t much mo
  
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• Travel eSIM boom threatens mobile industry’s roaming cash cow

  19-08-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Usage set to rise by a third this year as travellers opt for cheaper alternatives to data roaming charges
  
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• Travel e-sim boom threatens mobile industry’s roaming cash cow

  19-08-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Usage set to rise by a third this year as travellers opt for cheaper alternatives to data roaming charges
  
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• Tickets Alert: Ballot opens for free visits to Battersea’s Sky Garden

  18-08-2026 09:00 via ianvisits.co.uk
  
  A roof garden above the development next to Battersea Power Station will open to the public this weekend, and the ballot for free tickets is open now.
  Hurry, as the ballot closes at the end of Wednesday. Yikes!
  Photo: Aaron Hargreaves, Foster + Partners
  It’s not the roof of the power station, but the roof of the modern building next to it, which does have the advantage of offering better views of the power station next door. The gardens with 29,000 plants and 55 trees sit on the 16th floor
  
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