The Time Out London blog team

Londoners who grew up pretty much anywhere north of the Thames will be familiar with the charms of Brent Cross. Whether you trawled its hallowed halls after your mum as she did the yearly Christmas shop or hung around the Fenwick parking lot with mates, it’s been a well-trodden staple for north Londoners for exactly half a century. It seems hard to believe that when Brent Cross first opened in 1976 it was an entirely novel concept, becoming the first out-of-town shopping centre not just in London, but in the entire UK. As the decades have passed, BX has lost much of the glitzy newness of its early days. But that could all be about to change.  Now celebrating its 50th birthday, Brent Cross is receiving a well-earned facelift. Plans for up to 150 news shops, 50 restaurants, a cinema complex and hotel will restore the shoppers’ paradise to the glory of its heyday. The exact details and timescale for the new development haven’t yet been announced, but plans will be finalised by spring 2026. Barnet Council originally released redevelopment plans for Brent Cross in 2019, at which time the revamp was estimated to cost a whopping £1.4 billion. The shopping haven’s transformation formed part of the borough’s wider vision for Brent Cross Town, which included ambitions for a new high street and town centre and a sparkly new Thameslink railway station.   Photograph: TK Kurikawa / Shutterstock.com   Brent Cross West station opened in 2023, becoming the capital’s biggest new rail stop...

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...