The London Buzz – 23rd January 2025

Today’s London news round-up:

Hundreds of Hoxton residents have been left without hot water for days on end over the winter – as heating issues continue to blight three estates. Hackney Citizen

A man has been arrested after a knife attack in which five people were injured at an Argos warehouse in Croydon, south London. Sky News

London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has insisted that his “views haven’t changed” in terms of his opposition to the expansion of Heathrow airport. Standard

Half a decade after it was last open, the Blue Eyed Maid pub in Borough High Street is set to make a comeback. SE1

How renting in London became an unimaginable hellscape Independent

Woolwich Works is likely to turn a profit for the first time this financial year, its boss has said – two years after Greenwich Council bailed out the cultural hub with a £2 million loan. The Greenwich Wire

Lift outages on Islington estate causing serious problems for residents EC1 Echo

Songwriters and producers Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman this week unveiled a blue plaque outside the former location of their studios in Southwark’s Vine Yard. SE1

Nearly half of London’s workers expect to be back in the office five days a week this year, according to a new survey. Standard

A sex shop in Bexley wants to renew its operating licence, but not everyone is happy. Local London

A 31-year-old woman who was found dead at a house in Croydon, south London on Monday has been named by police as Jamelatu Tsiwah. BBC News

A Soho resident has described the pending closure of the Central YMCA Club as a “huge loss”, adding it feels as if it is another London facility disappearing “in the interest of tourists and big businesses rather than the local communities”. Fitzrovia News

Metropolitan Police removed from ‘enhanced monitoring’ following improvements OnLondon

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And from ianVisits:

The famously quirky Osterley Bookshop is closing down

HMS Wellington will reopen to the public later this year following restoration work

First look at Canary Wharf’s annual Winter Lights display

A new memorial marks the site of London’s Smithfield Market bombing

Some things to do in London tomorrow:

The Battle of Ulundi – Free

Hear from Michael Nicholas as he sheds light on the events and impact of the last major battle of the Zulu War. While much popular attention has been given to the Battle of Isandlwana and the Defence of Rorke’s Drift,

Neuromorphic computing for science – £17.27

Our brains consume around 20 Watts of power, a negligible amount in comparison to the multi-million Watts consumed by supercomputers. The emerging paradigm of Neuromorphic Computing draws inspiration from the structure and functioning of the human brain

Forced Marriage, Consent, and Property in Seventeenth-Century England – Free

This talk focuses on efforts to deal with forced marriages in the English Revolution and then in its aftermath, years in which the political salience of marriage, consent, and contract became especially fraught.


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