Every Sunday morning, Londoners across the city wake up in a bed that isn’t their own, pull on last night’s clothes, and begin the long journey home.
Armed with a large McDonald’s Diet Coke and at least three hash browns, they descend into the capital’s underbelly, sharing the Tube with Pilates princesses and groups of friends heading to the Natural History Museum.
I’m of course talking about what was once rather crudely dubbed a ‘walk of shame’ – now, thankfully, more appropriately known online as a ‘stride of pride’.
And recently, escort platform Erobella did some boots-on-the-ground journalism of its own to find out exactly where London’s most popular ‘stride of pride’ hotspots are.
By looking at TFL data for unexplained journeys between 6am and 10am on Sunday mornings, outside of usual commuting patterns, they were able to pinpoint the Tube stations seeing the most likely ‘stride of pride’ traffic.
And there was one area in particular that stood out among the rest.
Now, as someone who spent four years enjoying being young and single in the big smoke, I just want to clarify that there’s absolutely nothing shameful about meeting someone spontaneously, making a connection, and returning home in the morning, bursting to tell your housemates all about your adventures.
That being said, it doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with it along the way.
How did they analyse the data?
Before the big reveal, here’s a little more background on how Erobella established what they’re calling ‘The Walk of Shame Line’.
According to TFL, over 725,000 people enter London’s transport network between 6am and 10am each Sunday.
To build the line, Erobella compared Sunday-morning journeys with typical weekday travel, removing anything that looked like a normal commute.
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They then focused on journeys heading to residential areas, excluding airports and major train stations.
Join me as I do a walk of shame across London #vlog #walkofshame #travelvlog #nightout
Stations had to have at least 3,000 Sunday entries, at least 1,000 of them between 6am and 10am, were residential rather than workplace areas, and received at least 100 arrivals after 11pm on Saturday night. Ultimately, just 80 qualified.
After all this, what they ended up with was around 98,000 ‘miscellaneous’ Sunday-morning journeys home every week.
One thing to note is that there isn’t an exact science to this conclusion.
You could argue that some of these Londoners may have simply stayed with friends or been put to bed by a platonic co-worker.
But, on the other hand, there’s every chance they’re actually trekking back to their own bed with a little more of a spring in their step…
You better be warehouse ready #hackneywick #warehouse #fishisland #queensyard #eastlondon
So, where is the biggest ‘stride of pride’ hotspot in London?
The official line runs down the Northern line from Kennington to South Wimbledon.
And along the way, it stops at every single tube stop in Clapham, with Clapham South crowned the official champion. According to the data, 9.6% of all its Sunday morning journeys fit the pattern.
I think I can speak for all Londoners when I say this isn’t a particularly shocking result.
Home to Margot Robbie’s favourite nightclub (shout out, Infernos), dozens of lively pubs and bars, and, of course, queer venue Two Brewers, Clapham is an epicentre for questionable late-night decisions.
So, it’s unsurprising that there are approximately 529 strides of pride recorded at Clapham South each week.
Closely behind is Balham at 9.4 per cent and Tooting Bec at 9.1 per cent. On the opposite end of the spectrum, stops like Richmond, Peckham Rye, and Wembley Park ranked incredibly low on the scale, slotting them firmly onto the ‘Smug Line’.
Erobella also revealed that even on a Saturday morning, Tooting Bec, Clapham South and Balham are still the top three stops. Could it really just be a coincidence…?
At the end of the day, it’s all a bit of fun.
But, if you do find yourself on the Northern line early tomorrow morning, it might just be worth offering a paracetamol to the passenger opposite you in last night’s shirt – he probably needs it.
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