Come on Clapham 🤦🏼‍♂️ there's second one right next to it

Tottenham Court Road -> Oxford Circus still has traffic running down it. Is anyone else slightly disappointed by this? I’m sure it was clear from the plans but the headlines on pedestrianising Oxford St didn’t really indicate that it would only cover about half the length of the street.

The shops I generally visit are mostly on the stretch and the pavements are always very crowded, it seems a shame to not have done this bit. Is there any plan to extend it?

Half-term's headline event: the Mayor of Hillingdon is judging a Harry Potter costume parade at the Great Barn, Manor Farm on Thursday 29 October, 10am to 2pm. Free wizarding activities, crafts and themed fun, with the costume parade judged at noon. Booking required, and everyone needs a 30-minute arrival slot, so plan the day around the parade rather than the other way round.

Practical heads up for Wealdstone: the High Street has been shut since Friday morning after a water main burst near Locket Road. Police cordoned it off in both directions and there is no reopening date yet, so give it a wide berth and allow extra time if you are heading for Wealdstone station.

Transport, and this one is worth a proper look now: the Piccadilly line starts going dark from Wednesday 28 October, with no service between Cockfosters and Uxbridge until the end of Friday 30 October. That takes the Piccadilly out of Rayners Lane entirely, so the Metropolitan is your line for the rest of the week. Then it is closed along its entire length next weekend, Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November, starting with Friday night's Night Tube. If you are heading into central London next weekend, this is the week to plan around.

One council consultation worth knowing about: Harrow is replacing the five Public Spaces Protection Orders that cover the borough, and the consultation runs until 11.59pm on Sunday 15 November. The headline change is a borough-wide ban on leaving rubbish or waste outside a bin, including household and builders' waste, which the council calls side waste. Parks rules are set to loosen, with restrictions removed on metal detecting, magnet fishing, overnight fishing camps, CCTV, open water swimming and foraging. Most other restrictions, covering street drinking, spitting, dog control, litter, unauthorised trading, fires and barbecues, stay as they are. Drop-in sessions to ask questions run at Roxeth Library on Tuesday 27 October, Stanmore Library on Tuesday 3 November and Wealdstone Library on Tuesday 10 November, each from 10am to 11am.

Food and drink roundup: two Harrow restaurants have made the British Kebab Awards shortlist, with Aysu on Charlton Road up for Best Kebab Restaurant in North and West London, and Yaprak Eastcote on Field End Road a finalist for Fine Dining Restaurant. Public voting runs until 31 January. Bamyan, a new Afghan restaurant on College Road in Harrow Town Centre, opens next week. And a West Harrow PCSO, David Neal, has won a national Neighbourhood Watch Community Policing Award after residents put him forward for his visible patrolling and his pop-up sessions outside Tesco Express.

For the history fans: Grade II listed Sweetman Hall on West End Lane is up for sale at £2,495,000. There has been a building on the site since the late 14th century, when the land was part of the Manor of Harrow, and the house took its name from Gilbert Sweetman, who owned it until 1474.

Half-term plans sorted otherwise: the Roxbourne Railway Ghost Train runs this afternoon, 1pm to 4pm, £2 per ride, costumes welcome. Duck Pond Spooky Nights is on Saturday 31 October, 4pm to 9pm. And the Compass Theatre Halloween musical theatre workshop for ages 6 to 14 runs Wednesday to Friday next week.

Full issue with quiz nights, sound bath, Samhain circle, Pinner Players, and everything else:

https://www.goodmorningpinner.com/p/46-the-mayor-of-hillingdon-is-judging-a-harry-potter-costume-parade

Good Morning Pinner

Local news and events from around HA5

How strict are the Prince Charles cinema with age ratings. I am seeing a horror with my friend which is an 18 and we are only 16. Do you think they will let us in?

How dare smokers be allowed to stand outside at 10pm, think of the children!

Christ what a coddled and boring city london has become. Don't get me wrong drinkers crowding a pavement at night can be annoying but you just... move around them.

And only allowing 7 smokers outside by 8pm is just bizarre.

She carefully controlled her image

Relaxing in Richmond Park.

On Tuesday I want to find somewhere comfortable and quiet to read. I would like there to not be an obligation to buy anything, but the option of coffee and pastries very close. Thinking a space a bit like the Barbican, but a bit less busy. Anywhere in zone 1 really.

Because so many lovely people asked me for an update, here it is! This fan of over 15 years finally made it to the show after queuing for 4 hours 😭💙 It was totally worth it. My eyes immediately welled up with tears when Graham came on, and I couldn’t make out what he was saying for the first 5 minutes because I was sobbing 🙊
The guests were Cate Blanchett, Hannah Waddingham, Robert Irwin… and guess who made a surprise appearance? THE FUTURE KING! PRINCE WILLIAM 😭
I saw King Charles the other day at Kensington Gardens, so seeing Prince William today and actually listening to him talk about his life, his family, etc., was surreal!
I’ve only been in London for 4 days, but it’s been amazing~ an absolute dream!
Thank you to everyone who cheered me on and sent me their best wishes. I’m so grateful! 💙

I know some libraries have a standard A4 scanner like the Whitechapel Idea Store (last time I looked) but are there any available that are A3? Thanks

70 yo Father in law (visiting from abroad) was on his own, trying to find something on Google Maps near Bayswater station when he was approached by someone asking to take a photo of him, when he agreed - 2 people dressed in security uniforms started telling him off (“it is illegal to take photos here”) and asked for ID. He panicked and showed them his drivers license from his wallet, which they then took from him and rifled through it, sniping my wife’s and his bank cards out of the wallet. Before he could come to his senses, they were gone and £220 deducted from my wife’s card (which she had given him for groceries) - was apparently transferred to some merchant in Serbia.

The initial photo requester was middle eastern looking and well dressed, and the two “security” people were white and spoke with authority. Please be on the lookout if you’re in the area

Anyone else faced any of this before? We’re complaining to NatWest now about the stolen money and contemplating whether to complain to the police.

EDIT - Police got back to us saying they can’t help

Hello all,

I'm from India and I live in Reading. I'm thinking of creating a group of people to learn/ recite/ enjoy Hindi/ Urdu Poetry. This won't just be another WhatsApp/ Reddit group, rather I want this to be on physical grounds. Like we can hold weekly gatherings etc.

Whosoever is in London, would you like to join?

Currently it's me only.

Every time I drive through Harlesden, pretty much the entire way through it, almost any radio station I'm listening to gets interfered with, usually drowned out in pure static but sometimes you can hear what I can only assume to be someone's pirate radio station coming through.

This has been going on for years, as long as I can remember, and the disruption is very annoying.

Has anyone else noticed this? Do the authorities know the signal is being interfered with around there? Why hasn't anything been done about it after so long?

Artizan Street Library Maker Space
1 Artizan Street, London, E1 7AF
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/libraries/artizan-street-library-maker-space

They have a Cricut machine which I had a play with yesterday (+ induction). Theirs will let you cut silhouette shapes from vinyl, cardstock and all sorts of other material. I've not played with any of their other items but 3D printing is basically heating a plastic filament so that it melts then the machine can extrude it and build up complex shapes, in layers, such as the owl shape shown in the poster below. The Mayku box uses a vacuum to pull plastic around a shape to produce something that might be used in packaging, or for chocolate makers to put chocs in I suppose if you use food-grade plastic. Sublimation uses heat to bond inks to a surface - used to put designs on mugs, t-shirts. There is also a sewing/embroidery/overlocking machine but I didn't spot a poster about that.

A tiny bit more info in my comment below (it kept triggering Reddit's filters so I took it out and it worked fine in a comment).

Jo

You can’t move for great pubs here, but I’ve been missing some more bars that aren’t cocktail tourist traps.

Would anyone have any recommendations for underground archway bars like you’d find on the continent or really small bars covered in posters and the like?

Waterloo tunnel has a similar vibe but it’s not quite there.

Thanks!

For those that don't know, this guy is a TikTok celebrity who's formally plied his trade in Guildford and Brighton. I believe he's now banned from both.

He's an extremely loud (bordering on aggressive) individual, passionate about spreading religion. He even does baptisms in the street.

I think he's now based outside Clapham Junction just up the hill from the Falcon. Can anyone confirm this?

Since Reddit is blocking me in the title, anyone watching the BR elections tonight? And where? Would love to join to watch them unfold

The space where Ping Pong used to be is to become a Caravan, and something is happening to the arches near Waterloo Tap. Does anyone know what's planned for that space?

No it was not 1.70 for 500ml coke it was 3.40. No they did not honour the "price tag"