Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => OT Knowledge => Topic started by: citoyen on 02 June, 2022, 12:34:48 pm
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Need somewhere secure to leave a bag in London, either in Stratford/Westfield or Liverpool Street. Any thoughts?
I'll be working in Stratford during the day, then going out to Brick Lane in the evening and don't want to lug my stuff (laptop etc) around with me.
Will need to be able to access the storage on the way home, same evening - probably after 11pm, which instantly rules out all the options I've found online so far...
Somewhere at Stratford will be the preferred option, then I can use the hire bikes to get to Brick Lane, rather than going in via Liverpool Street.
Won't be working at the same location the following day so can't leave stuff there.
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Cheap hotel room? Premier Inn? Travelodge?
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Hand it in at police station saying that you've found it at a nearby bus stop. Return after change of shift (11pm?) Saying that you inadvertently left your bag at a bus stop and hoped it had been handed in.
:-\
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Just leave it next to this chap. He'll look after it & no one will notice an extra bag.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Paddington_Bear_Statue_%40_Paddington_Station.jpg/540px-Paddington_Bear_Statue_%40_Paddington_Station.jpg)
Or give it to a courier firm & have them priority deliver it to the next days work place ?
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Cheap hotel room? Premier Inn? Travelodge?
that is what I was thinking
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If you're staying in London most hotels will look after your luggage before you check in later
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Hand it in at police station saying that you've found it at a nearby bus stop. Return after change of shift (11pm?) Saying that you inadvertently left your bag at a bus stop and hoped it had been handed in.
:-\
Ha! Nice thinking.
Hotel room sounds like overkill, and even a cheap one would be more expensive than I was hoping it would cost, but OTOH actually using the room would save me having to worry about possibly missing the last train home (though the event I’m attending probably won’t finish all that late).
I’ll probably be fine keeping my bag with me, just would rather not if I can find an easy and cheap solution.
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Just leave it next to this chap. He'll look after it & no one will notice an extra bag.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Paddington_Bear_Statue_%40_Paddington_Station.jpg/540px-Paddington_Bear_Statue_%40_Paddington_Station.jpg)
Or give it to a courier firm & have them priority deliver it to the next days work place ?
Paddington is wrong side of town, alas.
Courier is a good idea but it would be expensive (next day’s workplace is back home in east Kent).
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Get a friendly YACFer with too much time on their hands and an overinflated sense of their thighs to pick it up from you when you leave work in Stratford and ride with it to Chez Citoyen, in return for coffee, beer, a meal or other favours from Mme Citoyenne, assuming she'll be home.
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other favours from Mme Citoyenne
:o
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;D
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Reviving this thread because I had the same need again recently and was given a solution, which I'll share in case anyone else is interested...
I went to a gig at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, after work so had my bag with me, and it was only when I got to the venue that I learned of their no bags policy. :facepalm:
Fortunately, the security were able to recommend stasher.com - basically, a network of places like hotels and shops that offer a left luggage service at very reasonable rates (about £6 per bag in total, including fees).
https://stasher.com/
Some of the places listed don't open late but there are plenty that are 24/7.
I used it again last night for a gig in Hammersmith, at the Apollo - I'm wise to these bag policies now so thought to check their terms beforehand. As it happened, they seemed a lot more relaxed on the door about letting people in with bags so I might have got away with it, but actually it was much better to be unencumbered, especially as the venue was heaving.
There's also a service called Bounce that I haven't used but looks very similar (even down to the web interface) - probably should have checked it yesterday because they have a location that's even closer to the venue than the place I used.
https://usebounce.com/
I don't know if either of these existed back in 2022 when I was looking before but they would have been perfect.
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What time did the gig end? I had a look at both those sites pretending I was going to a gig or something in Bath next Friday, and all their sites close by 7pm at the latest. Bounce did suggest two open later – but they were both in Bristol.
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The place I used last night was a hotel that has 24-hour reception, so doesn’t close. Ever!
Options do seem to be a bit more thinly spread outside that London.
(To answer your question, I left the gig just before 10 - the band were still playing but they were rubbish so I decided I’d be better off getting the earlier train.)