Greggs has decided to shut [a small number of] stores in London due to the extreme heatwave. Standard

The man regarded as the ‘architect’ of the ‘new town’ in Enfield has quit his job. Enfield Dispatch

Buy Back Brixton submits ‘competitive’ bid for the purchase of Brixton Village and Market Row Brixton Buzz

Several London councils have today launched court action against the Mayor of London over plans to slash affordable housing targets amid claims the city is being “turned into an investment asset for the super rich”. Standard

Dagenham social club owner in last ditch plea to keep trades hall alive Barking Star

A replica of New York’s historic Stonewall Inn will take to the streets of London Pride this summer as part of a partnership between the venue and Brooklyn Brewery. Attitude

Wimbledon qualifying was suspended for almost an hour-and-a-half on Wednesday due to a power outage at Roehampton. Standard

Despite hearing some early progress on grant funding at Housing 2026, a major London landlord has warned that the lack of demand in the capital is making it difficult to cross-subsidise social housing. Inside Housing (£)

London families told to refill water bottles despite having no running water during heatwave The Canary

And from ianVisits:

Tickets Alert: Early openings and late closings at Horizon 22 viewing gallery

Drones to patrol Romford railways in trespass crackdown

Tickets Alert: The heritage tube trains are back out on the rails

Exhibition tells the 300 year history of St Martin in the Fields

Tickets Alert: Visit the Logos Hope, the world’s largest floating book fair

Visiting Our Lady of the Rosary and St Patrick, Walthamstow

Things to do in London tomorrow

Routemaster RM1 on display at Covent Garden
Covent Garden
London Transport Museum will bring the iconic AEC Routemaster RM1 to Covent Garden’s Piazza for one day only.

Inside the Infinite Shed: Heat Pumps Explained
Southwark
Ever wondered how a heat pump actually works? Curious about switching out your boiler but not sure where to start?

Lunchtime Talk: Screening London – The GLC Film Viewing Board Files
Clerkenwell
Join this lunchtime talk to hear what 27 boxes of archived files can tell us about the cinematic & cultural history of the mid-20th century.

Fletcher Priest Architects – open studio
Holborn
An open studio exploring 100 Fetter Lane’s printing heritage, material passporting and belonging through making, film and conversation.

The Evolving Life of an Islington Home
Islington
A talk and Q&A considering the past, present and future of retrofit.

A History of Georgian Feasting with Dr Amy Boyington
Twickenham
A talk and Q&A with Dr Amy Boyington, exploring the country house dining room as a carefully orchestrated theatre of wealth, power and performance.

Paths Through Britain
Camden
In this panel conversation, explore how ancient tracks, pilgrim ways and long-distance trails reveal a hidden history of how people have travelled slowly through these islands, and why walking still holds such power today.

Richard Price and America’s Revolution: evening talk with Sir Roly Keating
Stoke Newington
Join Sir Roly Keating for this talk on philosopher, mathematician, scientist, non-conformist preacher and political radical Richard Price.

Wellcome Collection Late: Shaping Age
Camden
An evening inspired by ‘The Coming of Age’ exhibition, featuring performances, talks, workshops, music and tours which challenge and subvert expectations of age and ageing.

This free news roundup is delivered at 5pm daily via Substack – sign up for free here.

However, unlike the free daytime visits, these “out of hours” openings are charged for, which also means they’re quieter and less crowded.

The early bird tickets cost £15 per person (including a hot/cold drink), and open the tower for visiting on selected Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays in July from 7:45am.

The late evenings are on selected Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 6.30pm to 10pm, and cost £25 including a drink.

Tickets are available from here.

Scroll down to the dates and look for the little blue or orange dots indicating early or late openings.

Alternatively, if you wait until the clocks go back in late October, you can go up later in the afternoon for sunset from about 4:30pm and all for free. Free tickets are released on their website daily and are snapped up fairly quickly, but they reserve some space each day for walk-ins if you’re willing to take a chance.

GBR Anglia will start the trials of a new BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) drone technology later this summer and will allow Network Rail teams to access live aerial coverage up to 400 metres from Romford Rail Operating Centre, providing faster access to information compared with standard drone systems and reducing the need for staff to enter higher-risk areas.

The beyond visual line of sight trial has been approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority and forms part of the ongoing work by Network Rail, c2c and Greater Anglia as Anglia’s integrated railway.

Following sixteen months of development work, these BVLOS drones will be operated on Network Rail’s behalf by Heliguy.

The drones are also fitted with high-resolution thermal imaging cameras, which enable early identification of wear or damage across track, drainage, structures, and lineside equipment before it develops into faults. The long-term aim is to expand BVLOS drone operations across strategic locations in Anglia, with flights extending up to 4 kilometres.

Richard Barke, route crime and security manager for Network Rail’s Anglia route, said: “Trespass, vandalism and cable theft are some of the biggest causes of delay for passengers across the East of England.

“The learning from Romford will help us understand how this technology could support faster and more effective incident response across the Anglia route in the future.

“That means better coordination between route crime teams, operations and response teams, so we can deal with incidents more quickly and keep disruption to a minimum for passengers.”

Apart from the charm of riding in the old tube train, there’s the fun of watching people in the stations as you go through and wave to the crowds who marvel at the sight of the old train.

If you pick the Amersham and Watford route, that includes a rare chance to use the “north curve” on the line between Rickmansworth and Croxley.

1938 train

The 1938 era train will be on the rails on the weekend of 25th/26th July, running between Amersham and Watford and back again, or via Amersham and Harrow on the Hill. There is no reserved seating, but you can choose the car you ride, and – subject to availability – the front and rear carriages may also open their driver’s doors for a look.

Sarah Siddons

There will be three days of travel available in 1950’s ex-British Rail 4TC coaches, hauled by Sarah Siddons, one of the few electric locomotives still in service, and by a Class 20 locomotive.

Those services will run on 24th/25th/26th July.

—

Tickets are now available for Friday 24th and Sunday 26th July. Tickets for Saturday 25th July will go on sale next week. Tickets are available here.

There’s been a church on the site next to modern-day Trafalgar Square since at least 1222, when records show that the Abbot of Westminster and the Bishop of London were in dispute over control of a church at this location.

The church’s name, St Martin, is a reference to St Martin of Tours, who is often considered a patron saint of many travelling trades, and churches devoted to him are often found at the boundaries of cities. The church was rebuilt by King Henry VIII, with its own parish, in 1542, not for reasons of piety, but to stop local plague victims from walking through his Palace of Whitehall to reach the burial grounds in Westminster.

It was rebuilt again in 1606 and again in 1724-26, and the current church was consecrated by the Bishop of London on 20th October 1726. The date is no accident, as it was the anniversary of King George I’s coronation, and the King had contributed to the cost of the church organ and authorised the church to fly the Royal Standard as it was within His Majesty’s parish.

And now, a new exhibition has brought together a range of historic items from its past 300 years.

Among the highlights of the exhibition are the original door handle for the 1726 church, which features a design of St Martin sharing his cloak with a beggar. There are also paintings and prints spanning 300 years, as well as an original London transport poster. The church is the hub for  London’s original Pearly Kings and Queens, so the Pearly Stole worn by the Vicar of St Martin’s for Pearly ceremonies is also here.

Probably the most impressive to look at is an exploded model of the church, showing the undercroft. The hole underneath the model isn’t a tube tunnel – alas.

Away from the historic drawings, there’s quite a bit more about the more recent history of the church, showing how it adapted to the Chinese migration from Limehouse, was one of the first to introduce a cafe in the church and through its homeless outreach and support for civil rights issues.

As part of the exhibition work, they’ve also been investigating the people who were buried in the church, and whose ledger stones now form the floor of the crypt cafe.

And over by the toilets, look for William Fatt, who likely worked in the royal palaces and voted in the 1749 Westminster by-election, making him one of London’s earliest known Black voters.

Until now, John London was understood to be the first Black voter in London, but it now appears that William Fatt can join John London as the joint-earliest, both pre-dating the well-known Black British writer and composer, Ignatius Sancho, by 31 years.

You can check out the ledgerstone while visiting the exhibition, which is free to visit and open until 15th November 2026.

(update, the ledgerstone is for his son, also called William)

The church is next to Trafalgar Square and open daily from 11am to 5pm (10am on Thur and Sat). Do check the website as opening hours may vary each week.

There are also short tours of the church every Wednesday at 2pm.

Described as the “world’s largest floating bookfair”, the Logos Hope is a former passenger ferry built in 1973 to service routes in northern Europe, before being refitted by Operation Mobilisation (OM) as a travelling Christian missionary ship in 2005-9.

During the refurbishment, a new deck was inserted into the former vehicle area to create a public Visitor Experience area, and an additional deck was added at the stern to accommodate an onboard school for families serving aboard. The international volunteer crew, drawn from around 60 nationalities, are all non-salaried and serve on board for 3 months to 2 years or more.

The Logos Hope launched into active service in February 2009, sailing around the world, typically remaining at each port for approximately two weeks. And for the next couple of weeks, the ship is in London, and you can go on board for a visit – or a guided tour.

The ship is in the Royal Docks, near the Excel centre, and will be open daily from 10am to 10pm (Sun 1pm to 10pm) until 5th July 2026. There’s a nominal charge of £1 to go on board – and details are here.

You can also book a guided tour for just £5 for adults and £2 for children. Tickets available here.

The boat is about a 10-minute walk from Custom House station (DLR/Elizabeth line) – just head to the waterside and head to the very obvious large white boat.

After London, the Logos Hope will visit:

• Edinburgh – 9th July to 21st July
• Aberdeen – 21st July to 5th August
• Dublin – 8th August to 17th August
• Cork – 18th August to 24th August
• Torshavn, Faroe Islands – 27th August  to 2nd Sept
• Klaksvik, Faroe Islands – 2nd Sept 2026 to 7th Sept
• Cardiff – 10th Sept to 29th Sept
• Belfast – 1st Oct to 21st Oct
• Liverpool – 22nd Oct to 10th Nov

From the street, it looks as if the church was built at an odd angle, but that’s because the ancient Blackhorse Road is very curvy and you’re standing on one of the curves. The housing that developed around here in the late 1890s is in regimented lines, and the church actually sits in a straight line with the housing.

The Catholic church was one of three added at the ends of the roads to serve the new population, alongside a Methodist church to the south (since demolished) and a Baptist church to the north (still there).

The CofE church at St Michael is a few streets away, which might give a subtle hint as to the sorts of people expected to move into the new housing, who were less likely to be CofE adherents, so more Irish migrants and the like. Today, there’s a strong Polish congregation living there, so the tradition continues.

The Catholic church was funded by the heiress Miss Frances Ellis, who was a prolific funder of Catholic churches in South London, but also one north of the river – here in Walthamstow.

Frances Elizabeth Ellis was born into a wealthy family in Brighton in 1846 and raised in the Anglican faith. Following her father’s death, she inherited a substantial fortune and devoted much of her adult life to caring for her blind mother and infirm sister. During a stay in Ramsgate, Kent, she appears to have developed an interest in Catholicism. According to tradition, she was particularly struck by the devotion of a local man, Mr Leahy, whom she regularly saw walking to Mass at St Augustine’s Abbey regardless of the weather. Whatever the exact circumstances, Leahy seems to have played a key role in introducing her to influential members of the Southwark clergy, including Canon St John, who was closely involved in fundraising efforts.

Eventually, she funded more than 20 churches, requesting that they be small, simple, and Romanesque in style. They came to be known as Miss Ellis boxes, and were often designed by architects more used to building railway sheds, hence their utilitarian appearance.

The Walthamstow church was designed by Fr Benedict Williamson (who designed seven other Ellis churches), and Miss Ellis provided a substantial £1,000 towards its cost. The church opened in October 1908, was extended in 1930, and was reordered in the 1980s.

It’s part of the Diocese of Brentwood, and although opened in 1908, it was only consecrated in 1985.

Internally, it’s quite a plain church, by catholic standards, with a simple white and cream decoration, and various statues of saints and decorated panels showing the Stations of the Cross.

One of the more unusual saints here is St Martin de Porres, the patron saint of black and mixed-race people, barbers, innkeepers, public health workers, hair stylists, television… and animals.

The pews have a rather nice mid-century appeal.

The Lady Chapel, added in 1930 in the northeast of the church, has a large statue of Our Lady of the Rosary. To the southeast is the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, with a glass door, as it’s also used as a confessional.

As you leave, there’s a warning sign to look out for cyclists and scooters on the pavement.

Today’s London news round-up:

Overnight storms bring flooding across TfL network BBC News

Knocking down a former Watford bank for a six-storey 24-flat building has been recommended for approval. Watford Observer

An Enfield resident has been prosecuted over a fly-tipping incident – for the second time in as many years. Enfield Dispatch

A video installation in the National Portrait Gallery has been removed following a dispute about the role Sir Winston Churchill played in the 1943 Bengal famine. Standard

Football groups, political parties and business leaders have joined forces to demand that London’s Night Tube runs on week nights when England and Scotland have World Cup matches. Metro

The living room of a house in North Walworth was destroyed by a lightning strike during thunderstorms early this morning Southwark News

A local artist “cancelled” and barred from her own exhibition over views on transgender issues has settled with Watford Borough Council. Watford Observer

London’s schools are supposed to remain open in all temperatures. They’re closing anyway. London Centric

A man stabbed to death in south London has been named by police as Kamahl Cameron-Williams. BBC News

Wembley Stadium relaxes rules for Harry Styles gig during 33C heatwave Standard

The United Nations chief has warned that London is ‘cooking’ while issuing a sobering reminder of the dangers of fossil fuels. Metro

This week, Nimby Watch is in Danson Park, Bexley, in South East London. But why?  CapX

And from ianVisits:

Work starts on Thameslink upgrade to cut delays through central London

London to gain another rooftop viewpoint as Tower Hill scheme moves forward

British railway passenger journeys now exceeding pre-pandemic levels

From Persil to Perrier: A nostalgic trip through the products that shaped Britain

The boat, the dolphins and a disused tube tunnel under the Thames

Things to do in London tomorrow

Governor’s Lecture Series – “The Boleyn Secret”
Chelsea
Join bestselling author Alison Weir in the Royal Hospital Chelsea’s State Apartments as she discusses her new book, The Boleyn Secret.

Baby names, vampire slayers and lies, lies, lies
Stoke Newington
Three short talks on nerdy topics.

This free news roundup is delivered at 5pm daily via Substack – sign up for free here.

To help reduce delays, Network Rail engineers are installing a backup train detection system between London Blackfriars and Farringdon, so if one fails, a secondary system can take over.

Train detection systems play a vital role in keeping services running safely and on time by monitoring trains’ positions and movements. However, in recent years, a small number of faults with the current system have caused significant delays and disruption for customers travelling through central London.

When faults occur, trains must run at reduced frequency under strict safety conditions, meaning fewer services can pass through, and journeys can take longer or be cancelled.

The upgrade to a new dual detection system will see axle counters installed alongside existing track circuits, providing an additional layer of resilience so that trains can continue to run even if one system fails.

A track circuit is an electrical system that detects the absence of a train on a section of track. Axle counters perform a similar function but count the wheels of trains in and out of a section of track. Both systems help the signalling system know if it’s safe for another train to proceed.

Network Rail is also replacing the 20MW electrical substation between City Thameslink and Blackfriars station. This is the largest on the 750V third-rail network and is under heavy load due to the volume of trains passing through.

And following a successful trial, Network Rail and Thameslink are also looking to fit thermal imaging cameras permanently to the front of Thameslink trains to detect ‘heat spots’ and catch faults before they even happen.

The Thameslink ‘core’ route between London St Pancras International and Blackfriars is one of the most intensively used sections of railway in the UK, with up to 44 trains per hour on a two-track system connecting services from Kent, Sussex and the East Midlands through the heart of London.

With frequent trains and no diversionary routes available, even small faults can quickly cause disruption across the network, as far afield as Brighton and Cambridge or Horsham and Peterborough.

Louise Greaves, Network Rail’s Infrastructure Director said: “The heart of Thameslink, in central London, is one of the most critical sections of railway in the country, where even small issues can quickly have a big impact on thousands of passengers.

“By installing a dual detection system, upgrading the power supply and looking at the fitment of train cameras, we’re making a targeted investment in reliability and resilience. Two detection systems means that even if one fails, trains can keep moving, reducing disruption and improving journeys for passengers.”

‘Dual detection’ technology was successfully introduced north of Farringdon in 2020, where delays caused by track circuit failures have declined. Similar improvements are expected once the new system is in place between Blackfriars and Farringdon.

Following installation, the system will be tested over the autumn of 2026, with final commissioning planned by the end of the year.

The deployment of the dual train tracking system is unrelated to the recent trials of the radio signalling system, which is also being upgraded.

The new building, which secured planning permission in 2023, will replace a rather tired 1960s glass-clad office block with a more restrained brick-clad office block with a series of stepped-back floors and roof terraces.

The development sits on the busy road that runs past the Tower of London, and is directly opposite All Hallows church, the oldest (if heavily modified) church in the City of London. At the moment, the dark glass building presents a rather forbidding appearance, its only redeeming feature being the reflections in its glass of the more interesting buildings opposite it. A row of small shops runs along the ground floor.

The 2023-approved scheme would have redeveloped the site, with fewer, larger retail outlets on the ground floor and, in the middle of the building, a large heritage centre.

However, during marketing of the development to potential occupants, the developers found that the design wasn’t finding favour, mainly due to the ground-floor layout. The tenants generally wanted a larger office entrance and less retail space around the ground floor.

After some work, the developer found a tenant for the site, if there were changes to how the ground floor was laid out.

An amended scheme has now been approved, which scraps the heritage centre, but introduces a new “tourist touchdown centre”, which is basically a tourist information centre similar to the one next to St Paul’s Cathedral.

It also has a modest improvement in how access to the 12th floor roof terrace will work. It was going to be split between two entrances for weekday and weekend entry, but will now be via a single entrance through the tourist centre.

Another change is that the roof terrace, which was going to be open during the week plus two weekends a month, will now be closed during the week but open every weekend.

Which is probably a better deal for most visitors.

The office tenant is the insurance firm Lockton, which is currently based in a blue-glass building next to nearby St Botolph’s church and had been looking for a new site for its headquarters. They expect to increase their staff from 1,500 to 3,000 when the new building is ready.

The changes to the development were approved by the City of London’s planning sub-committee, and construction is expected to be completed in early 2029.

And that’s when London gets another roof terrace to visit.