Inside the new train. Photo: Melanie Mcleod

Looking East from the roof of the control room, you can just catch the sun glinting on the spire of Nicholas Hawkmoor’s Christ Church in Spitalfields in the heart of bustling East London. To the south, you can see the densely packed streets of Lewisham and, in the distance, the suburbs of Croydon.

In between, there are the gleaming new tracks of the East London Line, which from the 23rd of May –  now the official opening date of the ELL -  will link these disparate parts of east and south London, creating a whole new community along the line.

Yesterday, East London Lines was among the first group of media representatives to be given a sneak preview of the newest addition to London’s transport network, which has cost £770m to complete.

The new trains themselves are a feat of modern design and engineering. The standard East London Line train has 4 cars, and is designed for maximum capacity, with lots of standing room. Allan Ramsay, press officer for TFL said: “The journey length of the train is an acceptable length of time to stand, and this is why so much standing space has been made available.”

The trains have been designed to match those of the Underground network. Even the seats are laid out in the same way as seats on the tube. This makes getting on and off the train far more efficient than with the airplane style seating, seen on most overground trains.

And with these new trains the warning of ‘mind the gap’ is a thing of the past: all of them have a sloped door entrance, so wheelchair users can alight easily.

Even the East London Line colour scheme has had thought put into it: “We kept it the same as the original line colour scheme so the re-use of the old signs would be easy” said Clare Mann, the general manager of the ELL.

As well as taking a ride on one of the new trains, the party was given a guided tour of the East London Line trains depot and the Operations Building Complex (OBC).

The OBC is a large minimalist grey building, with a glass roof and yellow metal meshing covering it ‘like a honeycomb’, Ms  Mann observed. The building houses the driver accommodation, as well as the administrative side of  ELL and the signal room.

The signalling system is one of the most advanced available – the long term aim being to link with the EU, and have trains from countries such as Poland running along the East London Line track.

Since 2007, 100 new drivers have been employed, mostly all new to the railway, the majority recruited locally from areas along the East London Line. In total 275 new staff members have been employed across the line, making up the 400 strong staff. Many new jobs have been created, such as station hosts, controllers, cleaners, route cleaners, supervisors and managers.

Nowhere are these new staff positions more present than Shadwell station, our first stop on the train. Anyone familiar with the old station will remember the lack of staff presence, and the horrible decor. Tony Baker, Stations Operations Manager for Transport for London shows us a small store cupboard telling us this used to be the station managers office. The staff are now clearly visible, in the ticket office, where customers will see them immediately. “There will now always be at least two visible members of staff,” Mr Baker said.

The ticket office holds a monitor for all CCTV cameras and live PA announcements can be made from the office. All the computers are touch screen for ease of use.

Mr Baker said: “It is a remarkable transformation. Out with the avocado greens last seen in 1970’s bathrooms…’’ Sam Russell, the station delivery manager, added: “We’re really keen to get down and use the station… we’re looking forward to day one.”

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LadyFest Band Night. Photo: Anna Haswell

Female creativity has been celebrated in New Cross during the past week, as Goldsmiths hosted its annual ‘Ladyfest’.

The event, described by co-organiser Francesca Bancarino, 22, as ‘a pop-up feminist festival’, aims to exhibit women’s talents in artistic endeavours of all kinds. Contributors from the worlds of art, activism and music come together each year to show off their skills.

Originally held in Olympia, Washington, in 2000, the Ladyfest formula has been successfully adapted around the world, with versions taking place in locations as disparate as Dresden and Singapore, each attempting to spread the word about local female creativity.

As fellow coordinator Evy Samuelsson, 26, explained, this year’s event at Goldsmiths featured a variety of different attractions. “We’ve had different workshops and talks and film screenings, and also a big band night,” she said. “The talks have been on everything: we’ve had the NUS women’s officer, and a fat activist come and talk – which was really great. We had cabaret performers as well, so we’re trying to cater for lots of different kinds of people.”

However, as Samuelsson is keen to highlight, Ladyfest is not just about having fun. It is also intended to raise awareness of the difficulties that can face women working in the worlds of art and music.

“It’s about showing that there are women in the creative industries, but also problematising it, and politicising it. It’s about saying: “Yes, but why is it that we need to have a Ladyfest? Why is it that we need to celebrate female creativity?” It’s very difficult for women to be in the music industry and the art world.”

It is this political angle that the festival’s coordinators want to emphasise to those who come to their events. Goldsmiths Ladyfest is largely organised by the university’s Feminist Society, and Samuelsson hopes that some of those who attended will feel motivated to learn more about the women’s movement.

She also believes that Ladyfest is also a great way to fight old stereotypes about feminist activism. “Feminism is a way of looking at life, and it isn’t about sitting in a room and hating men,” she said. Instead, Samuelsson and her friends believe that feelings of political frustration need not be merely negative.

“It can really be something positive. Say, for example, the issue with women in the creative industries – what do we do about this? We don’t sit around and moan about it, we do something! We have a festival at Goldsmiths! We do something fun, we promote female artists, but we also talk about the issue, and I hope that people are going to be inspired by this.”

Louise Harries proudly shows off Sun Ra yarn. Photo: Youmee Hwang.

What do Kurt Cobain, Sun Ra, and David Hasselhof have in common? They are all names of handspun yarns piled into the pigeonholed walls of Prick Your Finger, a wool shop for the new generation of trendy young knitters.

This haberdashery and gallery in Bethnal Green is brimming with balls of beautiful yarns: a soft, downy, dove grey named after the late singer; a mixture of sunshine orange and lipstick red inspired by the jazz musician; and dark chocolate encrusted with sparkling yarns dedicated to the hero of Knight Rider.

“Are these made of plastic bags?” asks a pleasantly surprised customer who dropped in on her way home, picking up a batch named Rubbish. It’s strange and lovely; spun from the fleece of Welsh mountain sheep, felt wool scraps, and a supermarket carrier.

“This would make an amazing jumper, wouldn’t it?” suggests the owner Louise Harries to the customer, who nods her agreement before coming up with her own ideas to share.

“The lovely thing about learning to knit is that you can create exactly what you want,” grins Rachel Matthews, the other half of the duo that started Prick Your Finger.

“You learn to become a designer by learning to knit, which I think is very exciting,” adds Harries, who is quite often amazed by how many people come up with a very good idea of what they would like to create once they realize they can knit.

And they are more than happy to help realize their customers’ dreams. Harries left her career in the fashion industry (Hoxton Boutique, Gucci and Gap), to share her love for knitting, two years ago.  Matthews, her Central St Martins schoolmate, had already written books about knitting and co-founded a knitting club in east London, so was a perfect partner.

They wanted to encourage people to make their own clothes, and “knitting is all about making and designing your own stuff,” said Matthews.

They also had common interest: concerns about yarn production in Britain going down and the British wool industry falling apart at the seams.

A growing number of yarn shops have begun to stock locally or ethically sourced yarns, though, and all those at Prick Your Finger are from UK-based brands.

“We make lots of it ourselves here (in the back of the shop or outside if weather permits) or at a mill, which is one of the last remaining British mills,” she added. They are even planning to build a bicycle powered generator for their wool mill for March. So instead of  guilt-ridden shopping at fast fashion chains, customers can design whatever they want, and knit it up with their eco-consciousness intact.

All you have to do to pick up the knitting bug is find a ball of yarn which you can really bond with (as it can be frustrating), and a pair of needles, then you can just ask friends, your grandmother or anyone who knits to show you how. You could also  invest in a book or go online where you can find countless tutorials or demonstrations; type in “knit” and the search results on Youtube are more than 42,000.

There is “a sense of community in the knitting circle,” notes Matthews. It lets people share and bond - even those who met for the first time at her knitting lessons have become a close-knit group.

Barley Massey, the owner of Fabrications on Broadway Market in Hackney, who also runs regular classes, agrees: “As well as learning a new skill, the classes are very sociable and fun. Once everyone is comfortable with the techniques, the tea, biscuits and gossiping come out!”

Fancy a proper way of learning? Then book one of the knitting classes (£30 for 2 hours at Prick Your Finger; £20 for 2 and a half hours at Fabrications, both including materials), have a cup of tea with fellow beginners and learn the basics.

To book a knitting class or for more information, visit www.prickyourfinger.com or www.fabrications1.co.uk.

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