Marble Arch mound

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661-Pete
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Re: Does anyone from London know?

Post by 661-Pete »

mjr wrote: 12 Oct 2021, 10:17pm
661-Pete wrote: 12 Oct 2021, 8:46pmAFAIK, 'Hyde Park Corner' refers to the SE corner of Hyde Park, opposite the Hilton - a cyclist's nightmare.
Nightmare? It's brilliant! You ride out of the park, under the Wellington arch ignoring all the silly motorists orbiting it, then coast down Constitution Hill.
I think I once tried to negotiate from Grosvenor Place to Piccadilly - treacherous but I managed it. Haven't been that way by bike for years, though.
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pete75
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Re: Does anyone from London know?

Post by pete75 »

DaveReading wrote: 12 Oct 2021, 11:07pm
661-Pete wrote: 12 Oct 2021, 8:46pmAFAIK, 'Hyde Park Corner' refers to the SE corner of Hyde Park, opposite the Hilton
If all else fails, go into the Tube station and look at the name on the platform. :?
Not easy to do when you're on a bus as I was. :D
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
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mjr
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Re: Does anyone from London know?

Post by mjr »

661-Pete wrote: 13 Oct 2021, 12:10pm
mjr wrote: 12 Oct 2021, 10:17pm
661-Pete wrote: 12 Oct 2021, 8:46pmAFAIK, 'Hyde Park Corner' refers to the SE corner of Hyde Park, opposite the Hilton - a cyclist's nightmare.
Nightmare? It's brilliant! You ride out of the park, under the Wellington arch ignoring all the silly motorists orbiting it, then coast down Constitution Hill.
I think I once tried to negotiate from Grosvenor Place to Piccadilly - treacherous but I managed it. Haven't been that way by bike for years, though.
Ah, yes. Grosvenor Place still isn't a nice road for cyclists, with its bus/cycle lane vanishing on entry to the massive gyratory and no easy way to turn onto the central cycleway. Piccadilly isn't the easiest exit to reach either, with motorists trying to turn entirely too fast towards Park Lane. It's annoying but I'd probably go via Marlborough Road to make that journey. It'd be so much easier if we were allowed to pootle through the park, but the Royal Parks are crackers.

But nonetheless, Hyde Park Corner is easy cycling between Constitution Hill and either Knightsbridge or Hyde Park.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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reohn2
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Marble Arch mound

Post by reohn2 »

I just seen this on BBC news:- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-59906865
It's totally bonkers.
What going on?
Estimated to cost £2million but cost £6million

I'm living in a country that's totally lost the plot and off it's trolley :shock:
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VinceLedge
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Re: Marble Arch mound

Post by VinceLedge »

Monumental waste of money!
thirdcrank
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Re: Marble Arch mound

Post by thirdcrank »

Jdsk
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Re: Does anyone from London know?

Post by Jdsk »

pete75 wrote: 12 Oct 2021, 1:29pm Recently travelled from Hammersmith Hospital to Oxford Circus on a bus. Surprised to see what appeared to be a grassed over pit heap at Hyde Park corner. Any Londoner know what it is and why it's there?
Screenshot 2022-01-08 at 11.02.01.png
https://themarblearchmound.com

Jonathan
reohn2
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Re: Marble Arch mound

Post by reohn2 »

Sorry I'd totally forgotten the other thread,marbles everywhere,some lost......
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francovendee
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Re: Does anyone from London know?

Post by francovendee »

I missed this post.
My BIL lives in Westminster and he's never mentioned it. I first heard about it in the news.
What a waste of council tax payers money, what were they thinking of.
Wasn't there a white elephant of a bridge across the Thames also cancelled costing millions?
Jdsk
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Re: Does anyone from London know?

Post by Jdsk »

francovendee wrote: 9 Jan 2022, 8:57amWasn't there a white elephant of a bridge across the Thames also cancelled costing millions?
There was. Fortunately the electorate immediately recognised the unsuitability of the main protagonist for further office, and it ended his political career before he could do any more harm.

Jonathan
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Philip Benstead
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Re: Does anyone from London know?

Post by Philip Benstead »

Jdsk wrote: 9 Jan 2022, 9:05am
francovendee wrote: 9 Jan 2022, 8:57amWasn't there a white elephant of a bridge across the Thames also cancelled costing millions?
There was. Fortunately the electorate immediately recognised the unsuitability of the main protagonist for further office, and it ended his political career before he could do any more harm.

Jonathan

The idea for bridge JL
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PH
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Re: Does anyone from London know?

Post by PH »

francovendee wrote: 9 Jan 2022, 8:57am What a waste of council tax payers money, what were they thinking of.
Westminster is renowned for having one of the lowest Council Tax rates in the country. Without going into the inadequacies of the system that allows that, it is in part achieved by it's huge income from Business Rates. With that in mind, the original plan - to spend £2 million on something intended to increase footfall for those businesses - doesn't seem unreasonable to me. Certainly badly managed with costs allowed to get out of control, they should have pulled the plug on it sooner. Could the money have been better spent on something else intended to achieve the same thing? Quite possibly, but I dislike the idea that everything has to succeed and we should point and sneer when it doesn't, what a drab world that would lead to. I'd have walked up it to get a different look over a familiar scene, happily have spent a couple of quid, maybe less so a fiver.
I also liked the idea of a London Garden Bridge, I'm doubtful it was ever feasible and it's something else where the costs were spiralling out of control with seemingly a lot of dodgy dealings going on. Had it become feasible my objection was the public money being spent on something privately managed rather than becoming a public space, or at least run for the public good.
francovendee
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Re: Marble Arch mound

Post by francovendee »

I would have thought there were enough attractions in the Westminster area to encourage footfall without something as daft as this.
I can think of many things that a few million could be better spent on but not to increase footfall.
I imagine the right wing press making a big thing of this stupid idea had it been done by a Labour council.
Headlines such Labour wasting your money whilst raising council tax would be one.
The bridge still cost millions although it was canned. Maybe Lumley and Johnson chipped in towards the 43 million of wasted public money :lol: :lol:
thirdcrank
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Re: Marble Arch mound

Post by thirdcrank »

Marble Arch Mound: Petition to save mocked attraction from closure

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-59940647

(No link to the petition)
pete75
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Re: Does anyone from London know?

Post by pete75 »

Jdsk wrote: 9 Jan 2022, 9:05am
francovendee wrote: 9 Jan 2022, 8:57amWasn't there a white elephant of a bridge across the Thames also cancelled costing millions?
There was. Fortunately the electorate immediately recognised the unsuitability of the main protagonist for further office, and it ended his political career before he could do any more harm.

Jonathan
Not so. You're obviously thinking Ken Livingstone was responsible but it was actually Boris Johnson.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
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