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! 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." |
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