The Time Out London blog team

Never get in the way of harried London commuters rushing down the left side of the escalator. But ever wondered why in the capital you stand on the right and walk on the left, when on UK roads you overtake on the right? The people of Reddit seem to have been pondering that very question, with a heated debate ensuing on the online platform.  ‘In the UK we drive on the left and overtake on the right on all the motorways etc. Why in London on the underground stairs and escalators do you stand on the right and overtake on the left? Anyone else find that interesting?’ one user asked on the r/london thread.  Photograph: NataliaCatalina.com / Shutterstock.com One commenter had a theory that it was to do with being left or right handed. ‘Most ppl are right handed and naturally stand on the right to hold the hand rail with their dominant hand. Making the left side emptier for those who want to walk,’ they wrote. Other speculations suggested that the tradition came from the fact that we drive on the left, and one person even said it stemmed from Henry VII, who was very superstitious and would only walk up stairs on the left.  However, there’s actually a solid reason why Londoners stand on the right, and it’s to do with the design of the city’s first escalators. When the capital’s premier escalator was installed at Earl’s Court station in 1911, travellers were not able to disembark from the moving staircase in the same direction of their travel. Instead, the base of the escalator...

If you studied at UCL, have an allotment, and your only shoes are a pair of beat up Scarpa hiking boots, the name Friedrich Engels probably means something to you. The German philosopher, along with Karl Marx, was one of the fathers of communism. Now London could get an entire museum dedicated to the socialist.  A multi-million-pound house in Primrose Hill could become an Engels museum. The philosopher and writer who co-authored the Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx moved into the house in 1870 to be near Marx, who was his close friend. While living at 122 Regent’s Park Road Engels held weekly socialism debates, wrote books of political philosophy and took daily walks on Primrose Hill.  The property near Regent’s Park was later owned by elderly librarian Caroline Amy Read until 2020 when she died. Read bequeathed the house to a trust which reportedly now has plans for it to become an educational space. Located opposite The Queen’s pub and the entrance to Primrose Hill, the house has a blue plaque dedicated to Engels. Trustees are reportedly bidding to turn it into a space for young people to learn about the history of working-class struggle, gender equality, and international solidarity. Did you see that one of the original Broadway stars of ‘Hamilton’ is joining the London version this summer? Plus: London’s best airport is set to get bigger, quieter planes.  Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our...

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton is the last – or at least the most recent – of the great musical theatre smashes, the hip-hop hybrid stage biography of US Founding Father Alexander Hamilton still going strong at the Victoria Palace Theatre after almost a decade. When Hamilton’s West End transfer was first announced there was some hope that the wildly praised OG Broadway cast would come with it. Wisely, perhaps, they didn’t: the show hardly needed Miranda (who himself played Hamilton) and co to sell tickets, and it was probably important that a Brit cast show they were able to cut it if the show was going to have any legs over here. But now, for the first time, one of the Broadway cast will reprise their role in the West End production of Hamilton. It’s not Miranda, whose presence would undoubtedly be thrill on account of how famous he is now. But arguably it’s somebody even better. While Miranda was hailed as a genius for creating the show, the actual breakout star was Leslie Odom Jr, who played Hamilton’s nemesis Aaron Burr. Hugely praised for his magnetic, devilish performance, he pipped Miranda to the best actor in a musical gong at the 2016 Tony Awards. Although the original cast dispersed that year, Odom Jr reprised the role of Burr on Broadway for a limited stint last autumn. And this summer he’ll do the same here. Which is exciting! Whether you’re a musical theatre nerd who has long dreamed of ticking this performance off your bucket list, or somebody who has idly...