1998....Only A Gastric Band Can Save It Now....2011

The Original Pink Floyd Tour Of London

"Witty, self-deprecating and full of great ideas" - Record Collector, 2001
"This site is stupid. It mentions like so many things that don't really have that much to do with Pink Floyd" - Anon, 2007
"I think I'd get a bit bored after a while.....not fun" - Anon, 2007
"Sadken's masterpiece,,,well,,,a very good somewhat updated net tour of Pink Floyd sights and history" - Mags, 2010


"We didn't think it'd be this bad" - Psychic News, 1998

What?

Welcome to this atrocious site, the Original Pink Floyd Tour of London.  It is, as the title above suggests, a seven part tour (plus some supplementary bits) of Europe's largest city, linking some of the places connected with the hip, cool, trendy and physically stunning combo - Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Nick Mason,  Roger Waters and Richard Wright - known collectively as Pink Floyd.  Through the medium of the Interweb (or whatever they're calling it this month), I shall propel you by the shaking limbs through the mean streets to take in such places as Abbey Road, Battersea Power Station, the UFO Club, Alexandra Palace, the Roundhouse, Earls Court, the Rainbow Theatre, the Astoria, the Royal Albert Hall, Hyde Park and many, many more - some of which have so little relevance you'll probably want your money back. Or you would if you were paying, but you're not - so shut your neck and lump it, sunbeam.....

Why?

Fair question. Why go to such trouble, when people don't want to see things like abandoned rubble-strewn power stations when they come to London? Well, apparently, some unhinged characters DO want to see such glorious sites. And they come from miles around to view them. From other countries even. It was in March 1998 that someone posted a message to the Usenet newsgroup alt.music.pink-floyd, asking if anyone knew of any must-see sites in London, for a trip they were planning. A few responses were given, mostly offering a few ideas, then saying "Dunno. Ask the Brits". And us Brits responded in our droves. Alright, three of us. But it did the job, and myself, Trevor and Angus came up with a suggestion or two. I took it upon myself to write an excessively long post containing all sorts of places, and followed it up with a bit of field research. And then I decided to really do it, including all the places I mentioned in that post. Or most of them. And this is the result. So, inspect the links to your left, and decide for yourself whether it's worth the effort or not. Given that there's plenty of Beatles ones and Jack the Ripper ones, I think it is. But seeing as I've spent years on and off working on it I would, wouldn't I?

It has come to my attention, a mere five years after first putting this shambles up on the web, that in some cases - maybe most - the links don't actually appear on the left as I so confidently stated a few lines above. Should this dastardly circumstance be the one you're in at the moment, then click on this and they should, by rights, appear in their own frame next door on the left as I foolishly supposed they would anyway. So sorry about that.

Things you'll need

1. Lots of time

As with any journey of any length, one requires a lot of time. Many of the places on the tour are not served directly by public transport, and going by car is a less than attractive option; traffic in the capital and indeed the suburbs can be diabolical. Parking places are either non-existent or full up, and astronomically expensive too.

2. A Travelcard, a bus map of London and an A-Z map of London.

So, however slow it may be, public transport is the only real option unless you want to hire a taxi for the day. Which may be slow too, dependent on traffic. It'll also be costly. And I've never heard of anyone hiring a taxi for the day (although it can be done, apparently). So what you'll need is a off-peak all-zones one-day Travelcard, which you should be able to buy at any railway or Underground station after 9:30am for £8.00 (at current prices). Owing to the zoning system in use, it could conceivably be cheaper depending on where you're coming from within London to start with before you even begin any of the tour. But as I have no way of knowing where you're starting your day from, I'm going to recommend an all-zones one anyway. It's much easier, and there's only a couple of quid's difference in it anyway. If you're really committed, there's a seven-day ticket which costs £50.40 (at last report) but these are only available from railway stations that aren't *exclusively* tube ones (which makes it typically awkward). You can then use these on buses, trains and tubes. If you're determined to get an early start in, it means buying a peak-time one-day or seven-day Travelcard, but as you've probably guessed it costs more - roughly twice as much - and you'll be cattle-trucking it with the regular nine-to-five commuters too. Unless your time really is limited, I wouldn't bother myself - but it's up to you. You might have heard speak of things called Oyster cards; you can pick one up at bus/railway stations or newsagents and get it credited as a Travelcard - but not a one-day one, bizarrely. Weekly ones, by all means - but with comparable costs. In truth, this might be preferable because there's no way you can do every leg of the tour in a single day anyway. Just don't lose your Oyster along the journey somewhere, and you're laughing. Well, until you start the tour....getting hold of the bus map is much easier nowadays than it used to be; time was you could only get them from mainline railway termini, bus garages/stations and the like, but as it's the 21st century we can now obtain them online at the Transport For London website in PDF format. Sadly you'll need a printer that can take sheets of paper four foot square to make them appear legible, but it's the thought that counts. However it's worth getting them, as I couldn't have devised the tour without it and if you're staying in the capital or just a day tripper, it's very handy indeed. They used to print a giant one for the whole of London, both inner and outer, but they don't do that anymore. It was a bit ungainly to be honest, and positively dangerous on a windy day. I would also advise you to get hold of an A-Z street map of London, if only to confirm where you are in relation to everywhere else should you want to break off the tour and go elsewhere, and to point out where you should be if my instructions are no bloody good. It's only advisable, however. Not compulsory by any means. You'll just get lost that much quicker!

And aside from the usual rations required for a trip of this kind, that should be about it. An iron will, grit and determination are also desirable qualities, but if you don't possess these then not to worry. It'll just be much harder. Good luck!

Of course, what with this being the 21st Century we've now got Google Streets at our disposal too. Despite the hysterical press complaining it's a grotesque invasion of privacy (that'll teach you for taking an alfresco piss) and a security risk (which shows you little you can't see once you're there anyway), it's bloody useful to do the tour inch-by-inch without having to get off your arse, buy a travelcard and find that upon arrival an addition you wanted to make has been flattened and replaced by a branch of Ikea or somesuch. Certain elements claimed it rendered my entire enterprise redundant too, which is fair comment - as long as they don't need to refer to this website in any way, shape or form whatsoever to find out where they need to point themselves using Google Streets in the first place....

Any comments, criticisms, death threats, adverts for a table lamp with a stuffed fish as a base or missives on septic tank maintenance, etc. can be hurled in the general direction of sadken@aol.com.

And, as a late (October 2004) endorsement of sorts by some old bloke who's almost certainly never actually seen this abomination.......


P.S. - It didn't. He made just as many mistakes as I did....

Acknowledgements

Where to start? I know not, really. Just everyone who's inquired, shown an interest and supported me, I suppose. The mystery man who asked for those places on alt.music.pink-floyd, Angus and Trevor for helping me along in the original newsgroup thread, April for reminding me a long time ago that I've got my work cut out (she was right, but then she's never not), Systah Q for the gift of the printed page and much, much more besides, Tim Kosuzko for being the only person I know with one Z and two K's in his surname (not to mention sharing this ludicrous old rock band-related buildings perversion with me) and...anyone else who wants to be counted. Outside of a.m.p-f, Angela McDonald, Jane Bracey and Julia Segal deserve mention for, amongst other things, all unintentionally giving me the opportunities for the most bizarre and interesting public transport journeys I've ever undertaken, plus the Legal Eagle for similar reasons, bound papers and nearly a lifetime's worth of things beyond that, Jocelyn Rea for her videos and unforgettable stationery, Allen Eyles and the CTA members who let me loiter with intent on the 28/2/04, Jono.C for his memories of fire, anybody and everybody at i386 (especially Jon Brownlee, for his inexplicable patience and underpant stories), and my family for putting up with my eccentric ways. Yes, that's you, malnourished moron, slaphead bastard and fat cow (I said they were eccentric ways). And the folks in Yorkshire too. Can't leave you out, can I? Don't quite know why I should put you in either, but that's beside the point I suppose....

And Gray wants a credit too - for our fleeting meeting. Which sounds very suspect, on the whole. Indeed he deserves much more credit than that, for his inexplicable and continued enthusiasm for the whole thing over the years - which is rather more than I've had at times....

And a final, famous last word from my Alt.Music.Pink-Floyd profile, as previously seen on Trevor's profile page:

"WWW site URL [if applicable] : There'll be one one day. It won't be about PF though."


This affront to Pink Floyd used to be on the...

Pink Floyd Web Ring
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About 12000 people had seriously considered complaining - before BeSeen's hit counter decided to ironically do a Lord Lucan on me and thousands of others without prior warning....

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