It's not quite suburbia.
But it's not quite London, either.
With its airports, forests, palaces, marshes and snowy mountain peaks (OK, maybe no snowy mountain peaks), Zone 6 is one of the least-understood areas of the great urban sprawl we call London.
Take a tour through the outer rim of London, meet the residents and find out the exciting (or not) places that a zone 1-6 Travelcard can bring you – and should you be unfortunate enough to get stuck there after the last train, you can learn how to make it back, too.
Why not explore? Choose from the list on the left or go to a random station. Questions? Visit the FAQ.
Page design, research, artwork and text by Quin Parker. Why not get in touch?
News
10.06.05 (1) Some readers have written in complaining that I haven't been giving enough attention to the east side of the city. As a westsider, I plead guilty, although it does take flipping well forever to make it across. Anyhow, have Emerson Park and the one I know you've all been waiting for, Upminster. Don't explode with excitement, now.
10.06.05 (2) Think that getting stuck in Zone 6 after the last tube is bad? You're absolutely right, it's awful. The Last Tube, a Shockwave game based on tube horror Creep, is not nearly is bad. All that happens here is you get gruesomely murdered alone and in the dark in a stinking tunnel. Far preferable.
10.06.05 (3) A big hello to everybody who has come in from Thames Ditton Island to read about Thames Ditton. I'd like to know more, but your website, just like your island, is members only. Hey ho.
31.05.05 Yes, an update! And what an update. I've spent the past month or so recoding this in PHP, with the net effect that it looks exactly the same but works properly. Plus I've done both WAGN stations, Hadley Wood and Crews Hill. Keep writing in with your suggestions, flames and bouquets, although I'm afraid if you want information about bus passes in Hillingdon for under-16s I really can't help you.
16.04.05 Right-ho. With any luck that nasty bug that was causing the page to disappear halfway up the screen in Internet Explorer has gone (and if you're using IE, sodding well stop it). If you insist on using IE and it's still pestering you about activating scripts, let me know. Also, I have started putting in some wonders of interactivity courtesy of London Bloggers; you can now see whether any blogs are registered at the particular station you're reading about. Obviously many stations have no bloggers, but one especially intrepid individual has registered three stations in Zone 6. I don't know whether to cheer or weep.
15.04.05 Chessington South is the place to go if you like pigeons and scary rides.
11.04.05 Geoff Marshall spent an afternoon taking me around the wonders of Stoneleigh, which was such a wonderful place it made me want to have a cup of tea when I got back home.
09.04.05 Do you have a story about your station? yourstation.co.uk is collecting them in a Wiki. Tube stations only at the moment, I'm afraid, but it's a lovely idea.
21.03.05 (Looks at clock) Oh dear, it's tomorrow. Well, have a Hampton Court and like it.
19.03.05 Thought I might give Hidden London a bit of a stronger position than down at the bottom as it's really quite a special site. Ever wondered what's in Yeading or in Goodmayes? You can find out here, along with some great illustrative art.
07.03.05 (1) Two correspondents from south London have contacted The Guide with advice about Smitham, the place that doesn't appear to exist on the map but still has a station named after it. With varying degrees of politeness the two tell me that the area used to be called Smitham before it was swallowed up by Purley and Reedham to the north and Coulsdon to the south; indeed, Purley station used be called Caterham Junction. To this I say, that's all well and good, but if you get off at a place called Smitham you expect to visit a place called Smitham. Not sodding Coulsdon, nice as I found Coulsdon. And if it was so easy to change one station name, why not another? Places and people change over the years. I still think it's fictitious, in the same way the Vikings were mythical and lots of stories were told about them, but nobody's ever met one. But thanks for your input, anyhow, guys.
07.03.05 (2) Everybody, put your hands together to welcome one of the biggest places in Zone 6 – and one of the biggest entries – beautiful Romford.
07.03.05 (3)Oh dear, SEO 101 says that if I take any of the links away from the front page to the stations, everything buggers up and nobody can see the entries any more. Phooey. As the column to the left is scripted, here, for Google etc's, benefit, is a hard-coded list of the stations we have so far... Debden Enfield Lock Erith Feltham Hampton Hatch End Heathrow Terminal 4 Hillingdon Ickenham Moor Park Rainham Romford Ruislip Manor Slade Green Smitham Thames Ditton Turkey Street Uxbridge West Drayton. We now return to our regular scheduled human-readable stuff.
18.02.05 New York performance artist Bill Aitchison has come to London to perform 'Zone 2-6', in which he plays his own double searching for himself in Zone 6. It seems a bit baffling, but I'm sure it works well. It is currently touring around, well, where else but Zones 2-6. There is a performance in Zone 6 in St John Ambulance Hall, Athelstan Road, Kingston, at 8pm on 25 February. Call 07981 834 210 for reservations and other dates/venues. [Source: What's On In London]
15.02.05 An eagle-eyed Surrey resident has written in to point out that Cheam and Belmont have been removed from Zone 6 by Southern! Cheam and Belmont are now Zone 5; especially weird, because the next stations out, Banstead and Ewell East, still remain outside London. This is something unprecedented, I am sure. Therefore, with great reluctance, I will have to remove both stations from this guide. I will still keep Cheam online for reference, but all eager residents of Belmont must, alas, resign themselves to never being part of this guide. Cry! Cry, damn you.
