VE Day 1945-2025: eighty years of peace 1946 Greece civil war 1600001947 India independence 8000001948 Madagascar independence 150001949 China civil war 10000001950 Korea Korean War 3000000 1951 Malaysia civil war 130001952 Kenya independence 150001953 Tunisia independence 30001954 Vietnam independence 6000001955 Morocco independence 3000 1956 Hungary civil war 20000 1957 Cameroon independence 320001958 Cuba civil war 50001959 Kenya Mau Mau 150001960 Zaire civil war 100000 1961 Algeria independence 1000001962 Yemen civil war 15000 1963 Iraq civil war 1050001964 Guinea independence 150001965 Indonesia civil war 500000 1966 Vietnam US intervention 20000001967 Israel Six Day War 750001968 China Cultural revolution 5000001969 Uganda Idi Amin 3000001970 Nigeria civil war 1000000 1971 Bangladesh independence 10000001972 Burundi civil war 110000 1973 Israel Yom Kippur 160001974 Cyprus Turkish invasion 50001975 Cambodia Pol Pot 1000000 1976 Lebanon civil war 1000001977 East Timor massacre 1500001978 Afghanistan Russian invasion 15000001979 Laos civil war 1840001980 Iran v Iraq war 500000 1981 El Salvador US intervention 10000001982 Falklands invasion 10001983 Sudan civil war 15000001984 Sri Lanka civil war 500001985 Peru civil war 69000 1986 Mozambique civil war 9000001987 Angola civil war 7500001988 Somalia civil war 3500001989 Panama US intervention 10001990 Burundi civil war 170000 1991 Iraq US intervention 1000001992 Croatia civil war 250001993 Bosnia civil war 2600001994 Rwanda civil war 9000001995 Chechnya intervention 30000 1996 Guatemala civil war 2000001997 Algeria civil war 1500001998 Congo civil war 38000001999 Kurdistan independence 350002000 Ethiopia border dispute 75000 2001 Afghanistan civil war 250002002 Ivory Coast civil war 30002003 Iraq US/UK invasion 1500002004 Sudan civil war 1500002005 Chad civil war 7000 2006 Iraq civil war 700002007 Somalia civil war 700002008 Congo civil war 38000002009 Nigeria insurgency 3500002010 Chechnya insurgency 3500 2011 Libya civil war 300002012 Syria civil war 6500002013 C. A. Republic civil war 140002014 Ukraine invasion 150002015 Yemen civil war 370000 2016 Congo uprising 50002017 Chad insurgency 70002018 Iraq insurgency 90002019 Ethiopia civil war 160002020 Azerbeijan border dispute 6000 2021 Myanmar civil war 800002022 Ukraine invasion 2600002023 Gaza invasion 800002024 Lebanon invasion 40002025 VE Day + 80 (nb: death tolls are estimates for each war, not for each year)

The bluebell photo scale 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Score not awarded.

If you want to use the least used tube station, from today you're semi-buggered. You probably don't, it is the least used tube station after all, but the Londoners who live nearby are being inconvenienced even more than normal. RODING VALLEY STATION: From Tuesday 6 May until end of July 2025, westbound trains (towards Woodford) will not stop at the station and the footbridge will be closed. Access to and exit from the station will be via Station Way only. Please travel via eastbound trains and change at Chigwell, or for step-free access change at Hainault or use local London Buses route W14 to Woodford. The issue is the footbridge which is in need of repair. The lattice bridge dates back to the station opening in 1936, and was brought in from another station so is even older than that. You only have to walk across or stand underneath to see how necessary the upcoming works are, the green paint peeling and the metalwork exposed and tarnished. The plan is thus for the steelwork to undergo essential maintenance and for everything to be repainted, protecting the structure underneath for many years to come. This requires closing the footbridge for twelve weeks, dividing the station and the local community in two. But apparently it also requires closing the westbound platform, just not for any reason you'd be expecting. very few passengers, it sits precisely on the London/Essex boundary and it's one of only three tube stations with no ticket barriers. It also sits between two streets, both of which have direct access to one of the two platforms, meaning it's been step-free for ages without the need for lifts. What's thus odd is that the station could still function fine without a footbridge, yet they're closing half of it for three months anyway. 520m journey from one side to the other via the two streets so not exactly convenient, but better than closing the westbound platform entirely. "We need to close the westbound platform because station staff would not be able to cross between platforms in the unlikely event of an emergency with the footbridge out of service." There is a tiny but finite chance that an emergency could occur on the westbound platform before the end of July, whereas staff are generally located on the eastbound platform where the tiny backoffice and kettle are. It would be indefensible for a member of staff to see an unfolding emergency and be unable to reach it, other than via a half-kilometre jog round local streets, so to mitigate this the westbound platform is being closed. Minimal likelihood but severe impact ticks the wrong box on a risk assessment matrix, sorry, hence locals are being massively inconvenienced. Inconvenience 1: Roding Valley will be served by only three trains an hour Inconvenience 2: The trains aren't going very far anyway shuttle service was reintroduced between Woodford and Hainault, so you can only get as far as one or the other and then you have to change trains. And from today you can only get to Hainault, not Woodford. Inconvenience 3: Passengers travelling towards central London will only be able to travel via Hainault. from central London you can now only get here via Woodford. Inconvenience 4: "Please travel via eastbound trains and change at Chigwell" Inconvenience 5: "... or for step-free access change at Hainault" Inconvenience 6: "or use local London Buses route W14 to Woodford" Inconvenience 7: It's probably quicker to walk Inconvenience 8: Roding Valley station is often unstaffed. You probably won't be affected by any of this, it is the least used tube station after all. But if you have the misfortune to live near Roding Valley you're being inconvenienced even more than normal and even more than necessary, so bad luck. Until August.

Today is 5.5.25, a square day. It's also the second time a square day has been a bank holiday. 1.1.01 (Monday) century ending with a double-zero year. The reason for this is that there was no year 0, the first century starting in AD 1 and running until AD 100. Thus every successive century must have started with a year ending in 01, not 00, in this case 2001. As the 21st century slipped officially into existence, barely anyone at the time either cared or noticed. Centuryfact: A century can only begin on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday, not a Wednesday, Friday or Sunday. The reason for this is that the Gregorian Calendar operates on a 4-century cycle with all the same dates coming round again 400 years later. 1st January 1801 was a Thursday, 1st January 1901 was a Tuesday, 1st January 2001 was a Monday and 1st January 2101 will be a Saturday. Then 1st January 2201 will be a Thursday and so the whole cycle goes round again. Centuryfact: That Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday fact only works post-1752. Before the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, removing February 29ths in certain years, centuries could start on any day of the week. In Britain 1st January 1701 was a Wednesday, 1st January 1601 was a Thursday and 1st January 1501 was a Friday. The last time a century began on a Sunday was 1st January 1301 - the last time ever. On the telly: The TV god charged with bringing BBC1 into the 21st century was Dale Winton who was hosting National Lottery All Stars with music from Ronan Keating, the Corrs, Gloria Gaynor and Robbie Williams. Jools Holland was Hootenannying on BBC2 with Lionel Richie, The Stereophonics, Craig David, Roisin Murphy and Coldplay. Later in the day BBC1 showed Teletubbies, Blue Peter, Mary Poppins, EastEnders and a programme wrapping up the year-long Castaway experience on Taransay, should anyone still have been watching. In the wider world: The Millennium Dome closed, Greece joined the Eurozone and the French actress Madeleine Barbulée died. Here's Nicholas Witchell reading the BBC news, including a cafe fire in Holland, gun battles on the West Bank and Princess Margaret being unwell. It was lovely to see the BBC balloon idents again. In my world: I had a house guest as part of a date that hadn't gone as well as hoped. There was wine as midnight struck but also Dale Winton, so you can perhaps sense the disappointment. In the morning came bacon sandwiches and the realisation that pretty much everywhere would be shut, so the best we could do was some lacklustre shopping in Ipswich before retreating with a KFC bucket to my sofa and much of the TV mentioned earlier. You only get to enter a new century once, and mine was about as dire as it gets. 2.2.04 (Monday) On the telly: Daytime classics included Bargain Hunt, Cash In The Attic, Working Lunch, Neighbours and Doctors. CBBC included Rugrats and Blue Peter (again). Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen was hosting Changing Rooms. Evening comedies included Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Coupling and Room 101. There was a lot of snooker. In the wider world: A presidential commission launched into Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, Israel dismantled settlements in the Gaza Strip and Roger Federer became the world's number one tennis player. In my world: At work I had a meeting to run and tried to keep Judith in her place. Lunch arrived on a trolley and the sandwiches were both unappealing and unfilling. In the evening I went to the Limelight on Charing Cross Road where the London News Review was holding a launch event for their new print version. 500 people were invited, the only one of whom I knew was Dave Gorman, and I felt socially very out of it and left early. It's blogged here. The main action on the blog that day was two anagram quizzes under the frankly brilliant title "gee, randomized". 3.3.09 (Tuesday) On the telly: Homes Under The Hammer joined Bargain Hunt and Cash In The Attic. Chucklevision was still going, also Tracy Beaker and Blue Peter (again). The Weakest Link before the news, The One Show after, then EastEnders and Holby. On BBC2 Eggheads, Coast, Horizon and The Culture Show. In the wider world: Gordon Brown met Barack Obama at The White House. The Sri Lankan cricket team were attacked by gunmen on a bus in Pakistan. In my world: Back to the office again, but a new office we'd only just moved into. I had a lot of words to write and a lot of paper to print, shuffle and audit. Lunch was lamb, much better than we'd been used to at the old place. After work the entire team piled down to The Coalhole for drinks, mainly because the boss was paying, where the talk was of bungee jumping, upcoming weddings and inevitably [Peach]. On the blog that day, the Gail Trimble University Challenge scandal. 4.4.16 (Monday) On the telly: Homes Under The Hammer series 19, Bargain Hunt series 43, Doctors series 18, Escape To The Country series 14, Flog It series 14, Pointless series 12, Great British Railway Journeys series 6, EastEnders series 1, Master Chef series 12, the Graham Norton Show series 19, QI series M. In the wider world: The Panama Papers were released. Donald Trump failed to win the Iowa caucus. Sadiq Khan was campaigning to be Mayor for the first time. In my world: Back to the office again but to a new desk following a seating plan shift over the weekend. Hated the new one. Bangers and mash and apple tart for lunch. Back to a previous workplace for a meeting, hoping they'd remember me, but instead got a newbie who knew nothing of my reputation. Round to BestMate's in the evening to continue our Blake's 7 rewatch (one of the sillier episodes). On the blog, appropriately, four squares. 5.5.25 (Monday) On the telly: Bargain Hunt and Escape To The Country have escaped being cancelled by the VE Day parade and all the snooker. Pointless and House of Games are repeats. EastEnders appears again, up against Emmerdale rather than Coronation Street. The Snooker World Championships play to a finish. In the wider world: tbc In my world: Today is a getting a train to the seaside kind of day, followed by catching a bus to a cottage. 6.6.36 (Friday) 7.7.49 (Wednesday) 8.8.64 (Friday) 9.9.81 (Tuesday) Unimaginable. But still square.

UNHIDDEN LONDON - Knightsbridge Step into secret parts of the underground network! An exclusive behind the scenes tour exploring time-capsule corridors unseen by the travelling public for decades. For many years the London Transport Museum has run guided tours of secret subterranean spaces, exploring exclusive infrastructure hidden in plain sight. Stations currently receiving the Hidden London treatment include Aldwych, Baker Street, Charing Cross, Dover Street, Euston, Holborn and Moorgate, all for an eye-watering fee of £45. Knightsbridge station as part of a step-free access project, bringing history to life along the way. Hello and welcome to Unhidden London, Knightsbridge. Before we kick off and explore the underworld please be aware of a few essential health and safety notices. It is advised that you have an adequate level of fitness to undertake this tour. Sturdy walking shoes are recommended. There are no cloakroom facilities available. You shall not bring on the tour any kind of weapon (potential or obvious). Photography, filming and audio recording is permitted for personal and non-commercial use only. No public toilets are available once on the tour route. OK shall we get started? Tap here to read full terms and conditions. Then make your way to Hoopers Court off Brompton Road - just look for the roundel. Imagine the year is 1799 and you're standing here in a dark alleyway ripe with earthy smells. It's lined on both sides by crowded houses, these recently built by former market gardener John Hooper who owned the land, hence the name Hooper's Court. Unfortunately the Piccadilly line is still over a century distant so let's jump ahead to 1906 and the opening of the new Knightsbridge station, a fresh connection to the West End sited here off Basil Street. The walls still have the glorious oxblood tiles you see at all the best tube stations, courtesy of top Underground architect Leslie Green, so feel free to touch them if you like. Recently the rest of the alleyway was retiled and relit as part of a new office development that funded much of what we're about to see, so all very pretty but please focus on the red tiles instead. Tap here to read the story of Leslie Green and his oxblood faience. Then enter the ticket hall. Tap here to read about oppression and inequality in Thirties London. Then enter the lift. two lifts taking full advantage of both shafts, both labelled 'Lift A' because both descend to the same place. It's likely that the original lifts were used by duchesses, spies and prostitutes, which you might like to ponder as you go down. And contain your excitement because you're not descending all the way to platform level, merely to a spatially awkward intermediate level where, deep breath, you're about to emerge into the actual secret passageways. Tap here to read the story of Elsie Batten, the Underground's first female lift attendant, a biography which usually pads out the £45 tour by at least five minutes. Wow, just breathe that in. These are the actual passageways the actual passengers would have walked down, all sealed off in the 1930s when the station gained proper escalators instead. How special it is to be able to stand in these unseen passageways, locked away behind the scenes for decades, just like on all the other Hidden London tours but cleaner. The tiles are again turquoise and green and positively gleam, the historic illusion only partly ruined by the stripe of modern illumination bolted to the ceiling. Easily the best part is the panel of tiles reading 'To The Trains' in a heritage typeface, so beautifully done that you can almost forgive the fakery of it. Again imagine making your way down this passageway past crinolines, flapper dresses and cheeky street urchins, because quite frankly half this tour is in your imagination. Tap here to look at the only known black and white photograph of the original passageway because nobody would have considered this mundane back passage to be of any heritage interest whatsoever. the end of the passageway, which as you'll have seen slopes gently downhill. Here we find Lift B and also a short set of steps which will be ignored by those requiring step-free access. The lift and staircase both descend to platform level but at separate locations, there now being a surfeit of confusing access points slotted between platforms 1 and 2. Now steel yourself because there's still one more secret to come and that's because there's another passageway hidden in plain sight, you just haven't seen it yet. What you need to do is go back up in the lift, definitely not back up the stairs, and this time when you reach the intermediate level, hey presto, the doors open on the other side. Mind blown. Tap here to hear fascinating stories about how Knightsbridge's long-abandoned areas were ingeniously repurposed to serve London’s modern needs, including which cleaning products were once stored here. The second passageway runs parallel to the the first, separated at both ends by lifts, ensuring you can only walk down one and up the other. Again the tiles are gorgeous, although this time the classic typeface says 'To The Lifts' not 'To The Trains'. You are essentially getting double value for your money here, or would do if this still cost £45. See also how the passageway crosses the westbound platform, here signalled by a pair of green arches embedded in the wall, suggesting you could always have known it was up here from down there had you only stopped to think. Also note the fire extinguishers strategically positioned everywhere, plus the bench at the far end where the infirm can sit and wait for the lift should this backwater be inexplicably busy. It is alas almost time to depart. Tap here to hear testimonies from crippled Edwardians whose lives could have been transformed had this station been step-free in the first place. Then return to ground level. You'll soon be back in the ticket hall at Hoopers Court, possibly getting strange looks from the member of staff because you're not supposed to go all the way down and straight back up again. Simply smile because you now have seen what most people have not, the secret tunnels hidden in plain sight, unseen for decades but now seen again as part of Unhidden London. It's a fair bet the London Transport Museum could have opened these walkways for paid tours and punters would have stumped up in the hope of seeing a scruffy tiled passage pasted with old school adverts and maybe a surreptitious glimpse down a ventilation shaft. But how much better to have opened them up to the wider public through conversion to a step-free entrance, bringing accessibility where once was none, because Unhidden London is truly where it's at.