London & the tube strike - help!

I'm driving down to 'that' London tomorrow afternoon as I'm going to the
Astoria to see The Living End in the evening. After the gig I have to drive
up the M11 to Saffron Walden.

Given that I don't like driving in London, I had aimed to pop down the M1
and park up at Golders Green before getting the tube to Leicester Square and
then, on my return just hopping on the A406 to get to the M11.

Given that the tube strike is still on, this seems like a recipe for
disaster - I may get there OK, but how would I get back to the car at
midnight?

So instead I'm thinking of driving the extra 5 miles to, say, Euston Station
and parking there before making my way to the gig - at least there should be
buses running from the station and back.

So my question is: Does anyone who knows London well have a better idea?
I'll qualify that... Does anyone have a better idea for getting into and
out of central London between around 4pm and 1am tomorrow that is piss easy
to work out, requires no navigation of roadworks which would force me to get
confused and will not leave me stranded in the darkest corner of Hackney or
similar?

TIA

Dave

 

www.tfl.gov.uk

use the fucking bus.

 

Which is what I'm trying to work out now, but dial up + tfl site = a fucking
pain in the arse along the lines of "We aim to have some buses running at
some time or other during the day, maybe, but we can't be arsed to tell you
until you get to London you Northern pikey ****"

So you think Golders Green is a good place to park then, anyway?

Or are you suggesting getting the bus from Derby?

 

Me too.

I plan to park about here where there is normally some free spaces in the
evening and then walk to the astoria.
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.s...W1P+4LT&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf

It is in the congestion charge zone though and there is no chance of parking
there in the day so it amy not suit you.
--
Alex

YZF 600

"I laugh in the face of danger"

"Then I hide until it goes away"

www.upce.org.uk
www.drzoidberg.co.uk

 

And I thought there was no-one else here with good taste... Don't
suppose you know anyone who needs my spare ticket?

Its a fair walk, too! I used to work on Marsham Street and its bleedin'
miles away!

The tfl site is still fucking me about with various 'session expired'
messages every time I try to look at bus times, but I reckon I'll chance
going to GG, getting tube in and hoping I can get a night bus back out...

Any idea what times these things at the Astoria finish? Like I said, I've
got to drive back up to Saffron Walden after and I just get this feeling
that I'll be arriving at the in-laws at 4am or something equally stupid.....

Dave

 

Nope , sorry.

Any idea who the support band(s) are out of interest?

Yep , although I know how to find it and I've always been able to park there
in the past so its a relatively safe bet for me.
I'll hopefully be parked up by 8pm so that gives me at least an hour to get
there.

Dunno , although 10:30 is probably not too far out.

I had to be up at 5 this morning to be at a cutomer site for 8 so if it
finishes too late tomorrow I'll be heading back up the M40 sound asleep.
I'd be tempted to go on the bike it weren't for that.

--
Alex

YZF 600

"I laugh in the face of danger"

"Then I hide until it goes away"

www.upce.org.uk
www.drzoidberg.co.uk

 

Let's try to keep this as straightforward as possible.

If you are travelling tomorrow you will get in OK but do not count on
*any* tube services running after 18.30 hours. As dear old Bob Crow is
obviously determined to stick one on Ken for treachery I think this
strike could be a bit nasty.

The most recent strikes resulted in nothing running after the start of
the strike and there is nothing on the grapevine to suggest anything
different here. There may be some very limited services on the day of
the strike but that is another matter.

You could try to park in Central London but if you arrive too early you
will be clobbered for extortionate parking fees and also the congestion
charge. I see Dr Zoidberg is suggesting parking near Marsham St - wave
to Alastair Darling if you see him.

The buses during the evening peak will be hell on earth but may calm
down a bit as the evening progresses. You should be aware that if your
concert is finishing late that you are into night bus territory whereby
you get direct and pretty frequent services to the suburbs all through
the night. Here are some suggestions but take note that you may not get
on the first or even second bus on some of these routes.

Golders Green - day bus 13 (Golders Green) runs every 12-15 mins from
Aldwych via Strand, T Sq, Regent St then Baker St and via the A41 up to
Golders Green. There is also a night bus (North Finchley) over the same
route which runs every 30 mins from about 1am through the night.

Wood Green - day bus 29 runs every 12 mins in the evening and the night
bus is also every 12 minutes. Be warned - this route is VERY busy all of
the time but you may do OK as it starts from Trafalgar Sq so if you walk
down Charing Cross Rd and try to get on it before Tottenham Ct Rd you
may be OK.

Blackhorse Rd - big car park opposite the tube station and only minutes
from the A406 and the start of the M11. You can get the Victoria Line in
to Warren St and then connect to the Northern Line or walk. On the
return you can get a N73 night bus direct from Tottenham Ct Road Stn all
the way to Blackhorse Road (destination Walthamstow Central Stn). Every
30 minutes from 0124. Prior to that you could take the 73 (again an
extremely busy but frequent service) to Tottenham Garage and then walk
round the corner to Broad Lane and pick up a 230 or 123 along to
Blackhorse Rd or a N73 leaving the garage to go to Walthamstow. The
conductor on the 73 will point out the stop for you as you get off at
the terminus which is also the garage. I don't know if the car park
shuts during the night but the price and no of spaces is here
http://tube.tfl.gov.uk/content/carpark/default.asp

Arnos Grove / Bounds Green - night bus N91 (destination Cockfosters)
from Trafalgar Sq / Charing Cross Station. This runs every 30 mins from
00.40 and will take you direct to the above locations which are only a
couple of minutes from the North Circular. The Piccadilly Line will get
you into London OK. Do not catch a daytime 91 as it only runs to Crouch
End and I don't think you want to get stuck there late at night.

Islington Angel - again on the boundary of the congestion charge and a
long way into town but has the benefit of very frequent but busy
services right into the TCR area. Buses 19/N19 (destination Finsbury
Park), 38/N38 (destination Clapton Pond or Walthamstow Central), N43
(destination Friern Barnet nights only) and 73 (Tottenham) /N73
(Walthamstow Central) all run from the Angel to Tottenham Court Rd.
Daytime there's a bus about every 1-2 minutes and at nights you'll get
about 10 buses an hour.

If you were to drive into Camden Town and park then you have a much
bigger range of buses from Tottenham Court Rd to get you heading in the
right direction - 24 (Hampstead Heath), 29/N29 (Wood Green), 134 (North
Finchley). Buses every few minutes even in the middle of the night.
Parking will be the issue in Camden as it is nearly all residents
permits or similar AIUI.

I can't promise you that any of the above options will work but they
give you something to go on. The only saving grace is that people may
opt not to stay in the centre thus reducing the burden on the buses
later at night.

Best bet is to buy a One Day Travelcard to cover your tube trip and bus
journey out. It is valid until 04.30 on Wednesday morning if you buy it
on Tuesday so you can change buses and make connections at no extra
cost.

Good luck and I hope the above is of some help.

 

What i used to do was drive to Watford, get the train in, bus / taxi in
London, then get the train back out to Watford late.

London to Watford connections have always been good, even the late ones.

 

Some band called The Vaults.... Never beard of 'em. But then I'd never
heard of [spunge] til TLE played Leeds in 2001 and they've come a long(ish)
way since...

10.30! I was king of expecting TLE to be *starting* then, not finishing....

Or you could hook up with one of the many single young ladies who will be
attending from what's been said on the TLE website forum.....

Looks like I'll be taking Paul C's advice and going to Blaackhorse Road -
seems just the one for when we have to leave.

Maybe see you there? You can't miss me - I'm the 35 year old with the bad
dress sense[1] (so my dress sense will be the same as everyone else there,
but I'll be at least 10 years over the average age....)

Dave

[1] So the BOSM/EOSM crowd would have you believe anyway....

 

WavyDavy says...

I think it's great that you feel comfortable enough with yourself to
dress like that.

 

Silly question but why not take the bike? Ride in, park up for free then
ride out again. No need to worry about the congestion charge.

 

He's easy to spot - he looks like Geoffrey from Rainbow.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1436099.stm

 

Blimey, you're only 35?

 

He doesn't want to be taking his lid into a mosh pit?

 

Sounds like an ideal time to be wearing one :0)
--
Alex

YZF 600

"I laugh in the face of danger"

"Then I hide until it goes away"

www.upce.org.uk
www.drzoidberg.co.uk

 

I saw them at Reading , although I could have sworn it was 2000.

Very few places seem to have gigs that go on past 11 these days.
Still I may be proved wrong.

I'm only 30 but have still been to gigs where I'm near twice the average
age.
Its a bit worrying , but fun when you realise that the crowd surfers are
light enough to be thrown a good distance.

Still , I'll keep an eye out for anyone matching your description.
I'm pretty much like the pic on my website but about 5 years older.
--
Alex

YZF 600

"I laugh in the face of danger"

"Then I hide until it goes away"

www.upce.org.uk
www.drzoidberg.co.uk

 

Does the Astoria have a cloakroom?

Although if the accomodation inside is in the same run down condition as the
outside your description probably isn't far off and thus it's a bad idea.

 

Simple answer - I'm going with the missus and she's flying oput to Australia
the day after so we're taking her luggage with us, staying at her mother's
overnight and then I'm driving them both, with luggage, to Heathrow to start
my 3 week holiday....

If it weren't for that I'd be going by train and staying in a hotel.... And
getting pissed.