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.

[bruffin]

Not a tubestation but used to live in Upper Norwood and got to go in <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/c/crystal_palace_high_level/crystal_palace_high_level(2.1981)43.jpg&imgrefurl=www.subbrit.org.uk/site/117/crystal-palace-subway&usg=__F3GtwXD3x52zdBTQUhnYEbfzgeY=&h=488&w=598&sz=82&hl=en&start=1&zoom=1&tbnid=Qwho-A4sHJU4SM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=135&ei=AiURUPP0CqHL0QXqzIDgDw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsubway%2Bcrystal%2Bpalace%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">The Crystal Palace subway tunnels at the railway station once They are lovely piece of victorian architecture.

[almapudden]

I think Aldwych was basically the same place as Tower Bridge, wasn't it?

[Ephiny]

Bank station is amazing (not always in a good way), such a labyrinth of tunnels. I got lost a couple of times when I first moved to London and walked what felt like miles (probably in circles) trying to find the Waterloo&City line.

I think also the escalators were out of use (aren't they always though!) and you had to take all these convoluted diversions down spiral staircases etc.

[almapudden]

Pandemoniaa, what happened at Bethnal Green?!

[TwelveLeggedWalk]

PAssive, where did you read about the Royal London tube line? I used to live next to it, but not on the same side as the tube tracks, and I swear i would feel a tube going underneath the building sometimes at night. DH never believed me!

[whatkungfuthat]

IIRC Aldwych was a funny little station, I don't think it could handle high volumes. Its possible that when it was built it was for the theatre crowd.

[bruffin]

The Bethnal Green tube disaster

[Olympia2012]

Down st where Churchill was hiding! Very interesting read!

[Pandemoniaa]

Here's what happened at Bethnal Green, alma

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethnal_Green_tube_station#Wartime_disaster

[weblette]

Oh what a brilliant site! Thanks for that.
almapudden here you go. Tragic story :(

[tethersend]

Best. Thread. Ever.

I live in bethnal green- over 170 people were killed rushing down the stairs for shelter; there were no bombs. They were crushed to death as they fell. The station had not yet opened and was being used as a shelter. It was hushed up as thought bad for morale.

My next door neighbour remembers it- she and her family went there every night apart from that one. Her dad heard about it and went AWOL to check they were alive.

The old post office station is now St. Paul's.

[weblette]

Umpteen x-posts!

[GetOrfMoiIand]

Oh god I had no idea re Bethnal Green - I knew that lots of people had died but assumed it was from a direct bomb, not just a panic and crush. How utterly awful.

[almapudden]

Thanks Bruffin.

[GetOrfMoiIand]

harlot I can't open that link, my antivirus flags it up as malware.

[weblette]

We live at the very end of the Metropolitan line, Betjemin's Metroland is IMHO the best ever documentray about tube history. The Quainton Road station is now the Bucks Railway Centre.

[GetOrfMoiIand]

I would love to live in East London

[MooncupGoddess]

I am SO excited to see this thread.

Whenever I get the Central Line between Tottenham Court Road and Holborn I look out for the old British Museum station - you can still see it quite clearly in both directions though the platforms have been taken away.

Once I went to an art thingy in the Kingsway tram tunnel. Old posters on the walls and everything. Bliss.

[Pandemoniaa]

Apparently, what triggered the panic was the firing of an anti-aircraft battery nearby. The sound was unfamiliar and people mistook it for enemy action. So it was even sadder that the disaster occurred given that it wasn't actually a bomb.

[weblette]

We're doing the Central Line from West Ruislip to Stratford on Sunday en route to Olympic hockey so will keep my eyes peeled now.

[bruffin]

There was a tv play made about it Its a Lovely Day Tomorrow which I remember watching in my teens

[almapudden]

Those links are fascinating, but so sad. I had no idea!

On a lighter note, there is always a chirpy, chick soup for the soul-style message on the whiteboard at Oval :)

[tethersend]

They are building a memorial in bethnal green at the moment.

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

Ooh is that true about tube under the Royal London?

Bethnal Green tube disaster sounds horrific :( They've got a campaign to raise money for a proper memorial on the corner where the steps are: www.stairwaytoheavenmemorial.org/

[GetOrfMoiIand]

That is horrible - the woman who first tripped over at Bethnal Green (and caused the whole domino effect of people falling over her in the panic) - she survived but the child she was carrying didn't. So very sad.