A thread for mumsnet nerds to talk about the history of the London Underground (aka what's your favourite tube station)

[GetOrfMoiIand]

I spent a happy hour looking at this site www.abandonedstations.org.uk/

The history of the tube is fascinating, and I love travelling on it, it is so atmospheric (apart from when I am commuting within London and then I hate it with a vengeance like any normal person reserving special ire for the wanking Circle line).

Some stations feel really evocative - for instance Lambeth North looks as if it hasn't changed since the second world war.

Erm.... from the point of view of one the more prostate challenged or pregnant members of MN a pub crawl on the Circle line sounds like a very bad idea indeed.

Am I the only one who nowadays tends to navigate the Tube by way of a mental map of the provision of lavatorial facilities?

There is a really handy pdf map of Tubes stations with toilets here

Bank and Piccadilly Circus have realy nice old tiled ones. Central line is a bit sparse so I tend to detrain at Oxford Circus and Bond St for a short walk to Selfridges or John Lewis.

I am too scared to go in the public conveniences on the tube, I can only imagine they are revolting.

I resent paying that 20p at Paddington.

And re loos on normal mainline trains - when you flush it doesn't just go straight out onto the track, does it?

If anyone ever needs assistance, I can give ample guidance on which are the best Central Line tube stations to puke in. (a couple of memorable journeys home with a stomach bug)

Getorf - just up my street (tube but that sounds WRONG somehow) Haven't time to read the whole thread atm but someone who hasn't lived in Londn for 10+ years I still yearn for some Tubery.

Did anyone post about the John Betjamin short story - if so sorry for the repeat, but I alwys think of it when I do get the chance to rattle through a tunnel...

london-underground.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/south-kentish-town-tube-john-betjeman.html

I read somewhere that the reason that there are very few tube lines south of the river (other than for the normal south of the river reasons) is that the ground in the south is all muddy/silty and doesn't lend itself to tunnelling, whereas the north is more rocky.

I like the St Pancras toilets. They are all new and shiny and clean. :)

Yes I used the St Pancras loos as well. They were lovely.

Green Park is dreadful. Yes the endless tunnels, and for some reason it's always baking hot no matter what time of year, and then there's the hordes of tourists everywhere milling about and blocking the stairs with huge suitcases.

I never noticed the mosaic thing though, will look out for that!

We lived in Moscow so I can testify to the wonder of its Metro stations. The really deep ones were to be used as atmoic shelters, the escalators take forever. Architecture in some of them is stunning too. It is (or was anyway) also amazingly cheap.

My dd is 2.5 we live at the london transport museum on rainy days. Only charge for adults and it is an annual pass. She can get in the drivers cab of a red bus and they have a play area with taxis, buses, tubes with steering wheels and a screen so they can pretend to drive. Plus loads of buses/ train carriages to explore (dd is however bus mad so may not work for others).

Get there early - it fills up v quickly at the weekend.

My least favourite tube line is the Picadilly. It's the tourist line (Trafalgar Square, Kings Cross, Covent Garden, Picadilly Circus) so FILLED with amateurs who don't know that you need to let people off or move inside the carriage. An absolute nightmare on weekends.

lol at amateurs the BASTARDS

I so want to have a party at the LU Museum.

My other contribution to this thread is that if you're not careful on the Paris Metro, the doors'll take your arms off.

Oh, I like the Picadilly. If you live outside of zone 1 then the stations are quite nice, and the staff seem to be the most helpful on it.

When I was pregnant with DD I fainted in the Arsenal ticket hall and came to in the staff area, where 3 worried employees were fanning me, waving burning paper under my nose (wtf?!) and holding a cup of ice water to give me when I came round. And then I was given an ice lolly from the newsagents nearby in order to 'see me home'

I found myself yelling at DD1 down packed escalator the other day (she is 3, but had somehow got ahead of us) "stand on the right, you aren't a tourist!".

Thing with Aldwych is it was a piddly little branch line, so people from the West had to change to get there, and by the time it closed it was only serving about as many people as Mill Hill East.
Shame they never finished the loop between Edgware and Mill Hill.

I got a book of the Underground stations of Leslie Green for Christmas a couple years ago - the lovely faience tiled ones like Kentish Town and Barons Court. Though my favourite platforms are the Paolozzi mosaics at TCR.

notcitrus I think they're getting rid of those mosaics when they finish Crossrail (CROSSRAIL, SQUUUUEEEE, it's going to be AMAZING.)

Which is sad, as they're nice, especially the dog face in the little round bit as you come up from the central line.

I also refer to "Amateurs"; being tourists and provincials. FAOD I will be the person saying "Excuse me" in a breezy, but firm manner on the escalator should you be on the wrong side.

However, I will also be the nice person asking if you need any help if I overhear you discussing routes or peering hard at maps in carriages.

I also shift buggies (if not shifting my own).

PS - Piccadilly is dreadful. Heathrow/South Ken/West End/British MuseumBloomsburyKings Cross/Arsenal. Nightmare.

Yellow What?? What?? Getting rid of the Paolozzi mosaics!? That's actually criminal. Unless they are going to display them elsewhere.

hmm....

Reminds me. Knew them all through my childhood. It wasn;t until they were cleaned about 10 years ago that I realised that they were actually really bright primary colours as opposed to the pastel dirty shades that I always saw!

I did the Circle Line pub crawl during my gap year. Half a pint per pub. Bad move. Very bad. And I didn't get arrested unlike some of my companions...

Never again.

Anyone else remember the fug of the smoking carriages on the Tube? I hated when we got in them by mistake as I could hardly see my mum!

I mentioned smoking up there ^^ notcitrus

I thought I was well grown up 'avin a fag on the tube. Gross.

A friend used to work in the Egyptian-themed art deco building opposite Mornington Crescent. Apparently* there used to be a tunnel in the basement linking it to the station, so that employees didn't have to brave the elements. Closed now obviously. Not sure whether it was for all staff or just senior employees though.

• Information not independently verified so could be total bollocks

Ooh I love this stuff.
(marking place as will move out of chat and read properly later)

Getorf regarding prison names, I tried to get the boys in my band to call it Pentonville, they refused the arses I worked in London in the 80's, the smell of Giorgio Bevlerly Hills and Poison didn't quite cover up the piss smell in the lifts