2026LON Part 3: Harrods, Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Albert Bridge, Battersea Park, Abbey Road & More

Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to visit London on a work trip. In the last part , I visited a few of the free observation decks around London. This time, I’ll be focusing on things I spotted in my neighbourhood near Earl’s Court and a few different parks and locations I visited “on foot”. Observations on Foot Being in London definitely felt like a big change in many ways. Traffic, for example, seemed to flow more slowly and congestion seemed to be a bigger thing. But footpaths were also surprisingly cramped – I found myself rubbing shoulders with locals quite literally. The area of Earl’s Court treated me quite well – during the day, it felt safe for the most part, but there were a few homeless people who can become a nuisance. The one below was near the Wellcome Collection museum near Euston. But seeing this sign definitely put the area in a new light – it’s under a “Public Spaces Protection Order”. It seems some anti-social behaviour does happen in the area but I never witnessed it in-person, likely because I was safely tucked up in my hotel room at night. But one night I did hear what sounded like two drunkards screaming and arguing as they walked from the station to where they needed to get to … that definitely did rattle me a bit. Seeing that sign cleared up this one which I saw on Cromwell Rd near the Natural History Museum. It would seem PSPOs extend to roads too … as for what antisocial driving is, I have no idea? Does this mean “don’t break the law” – i.e. don’t speed, don’t drink and drive, don’t park illegally, etc. Or does this mean something a bit more than just driving legally? They also do seem to like their acronyms. ANPR stands for Automatic Number Plate Recognition, but I wonder how many non-technologists would be familiar with that? Well, that open box answers a question before I had even asked it. Yep. That’s cable-TV style coax, indicating that they’re most likely running HFC connections here. That open F-connector is a bit ominous.…