The stretch that stays open at weekends
On Friday and Saturday nights the Overground keeps one stretch of the Windrush line running straight through until the morning service takes over. It runs between Highbury and Islington in the north and New Cross Gate in the south, and in between it calls at Canonbury, Dalston Junction, Haggerston, Hoxton, Shoreditch High Street, Whitechapel, Shadwell, Wapping, Rotherhithe, Canada Water and Surrey Quays.
The rest of the line, out towards Crystal Palace, West Croydon and Clapham Junction, stops at the normal hour, as do the other Overground lines. For the East End, though, the all night stretch is the one that matters, because it threads straight through Dalston, Hoxton, Shoreditch and Whitechapel, which between them hold most of the late evenings booked on this site.
Junction, not Kingsland
Dalston has two Overground stations a couple of minutes apart, which is one of the odder facts about the district. Dalston Junction, on the Windrush line, is the one with trains all night. Dalston Kingsland, a short walk up Kingsland High Street, is on the Mildmay line, which does not run through the night. At half past two in the morning that difference is the only one that counts.
Hoxton station sits on the viaduct behind the Museum of the Home, a couple of minutes from the square. Haggerston is just north of the canal. Shoreditch High Street is the stop for the City edge and Spitalfields, and it leaves a guest staying near Liverpool Street a short walk from his hotel. All four are on the night stretch, so an evening can end near any of them.
What the night line connects to
At Highbury and Islington, the northern end, you can change to the Victoria line, which is part of the Night Tube at weekends. At Canada Water, in the south, the Jubilee line runs through the night as well. And Liverpool Street, a short walk from Shoreditch High Street, is on the Central line, which also runs all night on Fridays and Saturdays and stops at Bethnal Green on its way east.
What does not run all night is almost as useful to know. The Elizabeth line at Whitechapel stops at its normal hour, and so does the DLR at Shadwell. If your evening ends near either of those, plan on using the Overground platform rather than the one you arrived on.
Why nobody waits for a cab at three
An evening in E8 that ends at three is ordinary rather than heroic, and the line is the main reason. Nobody has to cut the night short to catch something, and nobody stands on Kingsland High Street watching an app count down to a car that keeps not arriving. The trains are less frequent than in the day, but they run, the stations are open, and a guest heading back to a hotel on the City edge is there within a quarter of an hour of leaving the bar.
She travels by road, there and back, so her journey home is never a reason to end early, and the desk tells you at the start how she is getting back so that nobody is doing arithmetic at half past one. Her travel is inside the figure, as it is at every hour. The fee is handed to her in person when she arrives, whether that is at eight in the evening or at midnight.
A late night built around the line
Start in a basement in Hoxton, where conversation is still possible; our note on Hoxton Square bars has the method. Walk up Kingsland Road around eleven. Eat very late at one of the charcoal grills at the Dalston end, where two in the morning is dinner time rather than a problem. Then the choice: one more room, or the walk back to Dalston Junction and a train south.
A late night booking is designed for exactly this shape of evening, with a start after nine and a finish nobody has fixed in advance. Agree the length at the start, extend properly if the night wants to carry on, and let the Overground deal with the rest.
Who is at her best at two
Cindy is Hackney based and takes evenings and late nights with E8 first. She is quiet until she decides otherwise, at which point she is very funny indeed. Nancy works Kingsland High Street itself, with golden hair, a serious film habit and the patience for a proper conversation at any hour. Tina, from the Amhurst Road end of Hackney, prefers a late start and is usually the reason an evening on this road goes on longer than planned.
Cindy is on the slender shortlist, ten slim built women and where each one works. Nancy shares the blondes list with her, and Tina is among the petite. Anyone on the board can be asked for a late night, though Nell will tell you honestly who actually enjoys a three in the morning finish.
The figure at three in the morning
It does not change. An hour is £250 at nine and at three, ninety minutes is £400, three hours is £700, and nothing is added for a Saturday or for a start after midnight. The rates page prints every rung, and there is no separate ladder for the small hours.
The only thing the hour changes is the message. Write at midnight and it is answered at midnight, with a confirmation that names her, the figure and her arrival minute. If you are already out, name the bar or the corner and she will come to you there rather than to a door you have not reached yet.
Filed under: most of the names in this note also sit on the blondes list in the shortlists.