What is the best ‘temporary’ thing in the UK? – 21 items that have grossly outstayed their welcome

The dictionary definition of the word ‘temporary’ is ‘lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent’. But it seems that there are plenty of buildings, processes, rules and devices that have been introduced as only for the time being but ended up being a fixture.

Over on the AskUK subreddit, user mr_bearcules posted this:

What is the best “temporary” thing in the UK?

These “temporary” lights have just celebrated their 5th birthday! Doesn’t look like they’ll be moving any time soon either.

Many happy returns to this set of lights, which turn out not to be the only things that have hung about a lot longer than expected, as the replies showed…

1.

‘Gallows Corner Flyover in Romford. It was designed to be a temporary structure for a max of 15 years in the 70s. Havering Council started dismantling it to replace with a permanent structure in 2025.’
–Traditional_Cress987

2.

‘I raise you the Hogarth Flyover which has been ‘temporary’ since 1971.’
–LittleBigBaws

3.

‘Far from the ‘best’ thing, but income tax was brought in as a temporary tax to fund the Napoleonic wars. Don’t hold your breath that they get rid of it any time soon.’
–LargePlums

4.

‘Stamp duty is an even older temporary tax. It was first introduced in England on June 28, 1694, as a temporary four-year measure to raise funds for the war against France.’
–Dave-the-Flamingo

5.

‘The train we built as a ‘stopgap’ while we tried to develop a high-speed tilting train in the 1970s. The InterCity 125. When Scotrail withdraw theirs they’ll have passed 50 years in service.’
–crucible

6.

‘The Millennium Dome is technically a temporary structure. The roof material has a finite lifespan and will need replacing. Will cost at least £30m to replace and was only designed to last 30 years.

Going to be a headache for the O2 as while AEG Live run the arena and some of the other bits inside, the Dome itself is (weirdly) owned by a government body called ‘Homes England’ who are in charge of funding affordable housing. Expect a massive argument over who’s going to pay for it.’
–RecentTwo544

7.

‘The message on all companies telephone messages since Covid… ‘we’re currently experiencing high call volumes so the wait time to get through to customer services will be a little longer than usual’.’
–I_C_Seashells

8.

‘Wedgwood station near Stafford has had a ‘temporary’ rail replacement bus service for over 20 years now.’
–I_hate_cross_country

9.

‘When I started at secondary school we had a temporary gym that had been built in 1936. It was also there several years after I left.’
–smoulderstoat

10.

‘There are some aluminium bungalows in Chelmsford built at the end of WWII with an expected lifespan of 10 years, still going strong.’
–Greatgrowler

11.

‘The temporary scaffolding on the Egyptian Halls in Glasgow, erected in 2009. Right outside the busiest station in the country.

Made double weird when the building over the road burned down earlier this year and everyone went mental about how it had to be restored and how important the architecture is. My brothers in Buckfast the category A listed building over the road has been basically falling down for three entire decades.’
–Northwindlowlander