Beatle drive: Abbey Road’s iconic crossing

Cycling through the small village of Farnborough, near Biggin Hill, the other day, I was startled to see a street sign for Strawberry Fields. I never did have a clue what John Lennon was on about in that, or any other of his efforts, but it made me wonder what other Beatles songs might be on the London area streetmap.

Sure enough, there’s a Penny Lane out in Walton-on-Thames (near the Shepperton Ferry). No hard-working barbers or well-maintained emergency vehicles on it, though.


And of course there’s Abbey Road, scene of the iconic album cover. The area immediately outside the studios, by pop’s most famous zebra crossing, is something of a shrine now. Clumsily graffitied lyrics adorn the walls, and tellingly most are Lennon’s, which seems appropriate.


At the crossing itself, there’s a perpetual group of psychogeographical tourists taking pictures. It annoys the taxi drivers something rotten, so that's something positive.

The album cover shot was done in a hurry by a snapper on a stepladder, but the road’s far busier these days and you’ll get honked at and run over if you try the same.


The area round here is all wide avenues and big posh villa houses. (Primrose Hill, which Wikipedia suggests was the inspiration for Fool on the Hill, is just round the corner.)

From Abbey Road studios it’s a mile or so of gentle downhill-ish scoot to Marble Arch. If you can’t be bothered to cycle out that way, Abbey Road studios kindly provides a live webcam of the world’s most famous pedestrian markings.

Crossings and double-crossings

Another day, another route across central London into work. This time I went past the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace, by Wellington Arch, and through Soho and Bloomsbury. I like the game of following the bike-route signs - to 'Euston', say - and then seeing where I actually end up when the route disappears into a back-street cul-de-sac.

As ever, there was lots to enjoy on the way. For instance, just off Parliament Square, at the junction of Tothill St and Storey's Gate, is officially Europe's Safest Pedestrian Crossing (right). Well, that's what the 'Eurotest consortium of motoring bodies' thinks, according to the BBC. Yes, I know. It just looks like a crossing.


London's pedestrian crossings were in the news again yesterday. The mayor is proposing 'countdown crossings', which tell you how much time you have left to cross. At some crossings this may be used to cut down the time.

Cut down the time? Hmm. My route took me past Wellington Arch (right), where the cycle path grandly goes under the arch itself. Countdowns here would panic everyone except Dwain Chambers: you have a mere four seconds or so to cover the 25 yard (22m) crossing.


A horse might come in handy, which is presumably why this is also an equestrian crossing, complete with rider-height push buttons and horse-shaped green lights (right).

As you can see in the YouTube snippet here, the jogger just about makes it, but the chap crossing at normal walking pace only gets half way across by the time the green man disappears. No wonder the cyclist, who seems to be a regular, sets off a couple of seconds early. The green-man symbol should be in shape of a sprinter.

Finally, feeling like an adventure, I followed the separated bike lane west along Maple St, somewhere in the back lanes north of Oxford St. At the junction with Fitzroy St (right) the bike slot is excitingly situated on the wrong side of the road. That might put you in conflict with traffic turning right, so there's a separate traffic light for the bikes.

Except that when you press the button to request, you might have to wait two whole iterations of the other lights before you can proceed, forcing a wait of 90 seconds or so. Most cyclists, like the one in the picture, simply plough through the red.

On the other hand, if you had a countdown crossing here, you could do something useful during the wait, such as listen to a Wagner opera, or sit out the recession.