Turing Street, London E20

Turing Street E20

On a recent wander through the Olympic Park in Stratford, I noticed this new street off Westfield Avenue – Turing Street, London E20 – in the International Quarter.

I don’t know if Turing has any links to the area. According to his Wikipedia page he was born in Maida Vale and went to school in St. Leonards-on-Sea. But it’s great to see the father of modern computing and AI being honoured. It’s the least that can be done given the way he was treated during his lifetime.

11 Comments

  1. M Swart   •  

    Turing was a very good marathon runner, and even tried out for the British Olympic marathon team in the 40s. So a street named after him in the Olympic Park is quite a fitting honour!

    • JohnR   •     Author

      Great find – that’s a more solid link, I mean he deserves the tribute for his astounding contribution to computer science but this is a good addition to the story

  2. Kim Fox   •  

    What i find equally remarkable is the break with established street sign tradition – is this a first (where background details are provided to explain the particular entry) for London? Presumably the signage was created by private developers and therefore didn’t need to follow long-established mores – is this another first then – the private sector actually enhancing the public sphere/going beyond established custom and practice?

    • JohnR   •     Author

      Interesting point Kim – I’ve also never seen this elsewhere

      • Kim Fox   •  

        I knew that there was something else (niggling away in my semi-conscious) that caused me some disquiet. Walking away from the screen and it suddenly struck me! – the suggestion by the developer that the land was part of London. Of course, it is now part of Greater London, but when Turing was born, it was part of west Essex,

        • JohnR   •     Author

          Very true- and no firm connection to the area at all

  3. Kim Fox   •  

    By degrees we arrive at the truth – a corporate re-branding exercise laid bare. OUT LB Newham (toxic brand), IN trendy gay visionary of the computer era (who also helped save the country from the Nazi horde).

  4. M Swart   •  

    I find questions about and reasons for street naming (and renaming) fascinating, wherever it is in the world. Layers of history revealed (and sometimes obliterated). Google found this 2017 Street Name Plate Standards document (described as private and confidential on the title page) by an organisation/company/group called Applied Wayfinding for the LLDC. See p 3-6 for Turing Street.
    http://planningregister.londonlegacy.co.uk/swift/MediaTemp/7101-122158.pdf

    • JohnR   •     Author

      Thanks for that link, looks like an interesting resource

  5. M Swart   •  

    PS The document doesn’t give any answers to the link of Turing with Olympic Park, but it does provide fascinating technical info, in case you ever have to design a street sign 🙂

    • JohnR   •     Author

      Let’s hope I get that honour one day

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