An Intriguing Ghost Site From "Across the Pond"

A Ghost Site correspondent whose home site is http://www.ashleypomeroy.com/ wrote us about an intriguingly derelict UK site he recently located; his research notes follow.

Although I lived in London for a while I had never heard of "The London Line," which is or was a free-ish paper. It has a website which was last updated in August 2005:
http://www.thelondonline.co.uk/londonline/

(does research)

The BBC ran a news report about the launch, which took place in April 2005.

Unlike the very popular The Metro, the London Line was not strictly speaking free. "Londoners can pick up a copy outside Tube stations from "honesty" boxes in return for a donation of 1p", says the report. The 1p donation was a means of getting around some rule or other that only applied to free papers, and there was no obligation to donate any money.

According to Media Week, the paper closed in July 2005 for a summer break and was due to relaunch in September of that year.

(more research)

Ah, in fact the newspaper was axed in October 2005. It's interesting to
read the headlines of the stories of Media Week:
http://tinyurl.com/h8y4w

London Line gets go-ahead for launch - 04 Mar 2005
New fighter enters London fray - 08 Mar 2005
London Line launch - 19 Apr 2005
Young, free, urban and successful - 31 May 2005
London Line halts presses in bid to raise funds - 01 Jul 2005
Summer break for London Line - 05 Jul 2005
London Line axed after funding collapses - 05 Oct 2005

"London Line editor, Joy Lo-Dico, said the reason the project had failed
to get off the ground was down to "the classic mistake of under-estimating
advertising revenue."

According to Reclaimthemedia, "The influence of the internet is also detectable in the eclectic subject matter and design. Aside from the expected film, music, bar and restaurant reviews, highlights include an agony aunt column by notorious call girl
blogger Belle de Jour. As long as it does not tip too often into student newspaper territory, The London Line could yet grow into the capital's Village Voice."

The blog comments are filled with link spam. Confusingly, the story about
the July 7th London Underground bombings is dated June 30th: