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.

I am going to move this into the less nerdy trainspotteresque fabulously unspecific other subjects topic until such time as there are enough trainspotting nerd-like threads to warrant a whole topic.

Fact-ette for you: directly above the Aldwych tube station is the Classics Department of King's College, London, where I spent a fair amount of time snoozing in the mid 90s.

I will be back at some point to give you some more factoids; like I said, I love all this stuff.

Thanks
MNHQ

British Rail decommissioned the last steam train in the UK in.... 1968. I love that.

I love the underground with a passion, but living here in Edinburgh I don't have any tube facts to add. But for the transport history geeks, I can tell you that when I was a kid in the 1970s, the milk was delivered in Edinburgh via horse drawn cart. We used to queue up at school to clap the horse.

Sean Connery used to work in the stables at Bread Street when he was young.

Bertie, yes, I heard that when I was on a ghost tour (proper geek) of the City.

I really like when you're on the clipper and you can see the sign on the Tower of London that says "Entry to the Traitors' Gate".

Makes me blood run cold it does.

Was on a guided tour of the river (geek, yes) and the tour guide said "That's what we call "the bloody tower", unfortunately, as it's summer, you can't see the bloody tower for the bloody trees."

Oh how I LAUGHED.

Thanks Olivia.

Just marking for later on. I am an abandoned tube station geek. Spooky glimpses of British Museum's old platforms. Delicious!

Off to read now.

Olivia - can you use all those amazing MN contacts to get us a tour of an abandoned underground station? You could call it a study day and make it part of the Mumsnet Academy thing

YES YES to MN tour!

I'm going to have to go pay some attention to DH now, but I wanted to add from earlier in the thread that the Thought Of The Day at Oval station will be implemented by staff there at the station, there may be a few of them that organise it, but it won't be something like a central list that is given out company-wide. I think it's really great!

Ooooh.

Tour tour tour tour tour tour.

What do we want? TOUR. When do we want it? TOUR.

You're shitting me, rachel ?!

Ok, am so definitely going to loiter at the end of the Met line or Central line (the countryside ends) with DSS. He's 12, but quite short and cute looking.

Trainspotters?!?! You what? We're station/underground river/escalator/random building spotters thank you!

I'll also join the queue for the disused stations tour! Might do some shameless asking around at work this weekend, too!

Oh, thanks for the reassurance re Oval, Rachel! I've noticed that they do it at a couple of the Clapham stations too so maybe there's a little band of devotees.

Yes do ask, Rachel! If it comes off I will express my gratitude with cake.

Yeah Lula you should try it! Some of the drivers aren't overly friendly, but some of them are very nice!

Yay re the disused station tours. I would love it.

I used to get the tube to aldwych! It was a shuttle service from just the one stop and it was really old fashioned with old carriages and stuff. It was really brilliant.

This was in about 1991

Ooh, YES TOUR PLEASE! Very educashunomal

We tried to do the Thought of the Day at the station I work at, but it ended up just being one guy doing it, so it just died out when he was on holiday. Sad, really!

I love the tube. I thought that recent BBC2 documentary about it was really interesting.

HA! I just told DH about my cunning plan to shamelessly use ensure DSS gets to ride with a driver of a train and he said
"You are very, very weird"

I do not care

YY to tour!

and GetOrfMoiIand thanks for the tunnel porn!

Rachelfruitloop - Oooh, ooh, you don't work at Southwark do you? If you do, please pass on my gratitude to the lovely cheery announcer man I mentioned upthread. I really wish I had broken down my Londoner-ness and said thank you before i stopped using that station!

bluebump my DH was in that BBC2 documentary!

I watched that - twas fascinating. God the public are hideous

You'llwin I don't work at Southwark, but you should email Customer Services, it's always good to get positive feedback, I'm sure they'll know exactly who you mean, he sounds very distinctive!