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.

Love this thread too - another Tube nerd! I get very misty-eyed about the way the Victorian technology is still just about functional, and I specially love going through high-ceilinged, wide stations like Baker Street and Gloucester Road, where you can almost imagine the first Tube passengers in their hats and crinolines. And then the way the architecture of London reflects the effect of the Tube as it spreads into the suburbs and beyond in the 30s - fascinating.

My favourite abandoned station is Down Street, on Piccadilly; you can still see the ghostly arches where the entrance was.

Fascinating thread :)

Oh God, this thread totally pleases the nerd in me. I shall revisit later if I get the girls napping (or occupied in the paddling pool)...

Aldywych apparently closed because of the enormous costs of replacing unsafe lifts, and it not being justified by the very low numbers using it. It was always an odd line configuration - something to do with the piecemeal way bits of various lines patched together to make the tub - and was rather overshadowed by the huge interchange at Charing Cross.

aw - i didn't know there were so many of us!
Dsis's nearest tube is Osterley, which is another Holden one. I also like that bit of the Piccadilly line because it's overground.
I used to work near Farringdon, which is the oldest, and loved it for that reason.

for any newer tube-fanciers, I can recommend some light reading. And if you are a more continental type

Whilst I have the ear of fellow tube obsessives, I know it is off-topic, but the comments about 'thought for the day' got me thinking. Has anyone else noticed the amazingly cheerful announcer at Southwark? Is he still there? I used to pass through most days, but don't now. He was sometimes on the platform too - skinny black guy. I always wanted to say thank you because he cheered me up every time he was on duty, and never did before I moved.

Mornington Crescent obviously...

but really Baker Street, Covent Garden (that staircase!)

and from Uni days very fond memories of Camden

btw, if you haven't yet visited, you MUST go to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. One of the best of the capital's museums imho

I love the "ghost" stations.
Years ago I used to get a comic called Misty - they had a story about a ghost station in that once, where the tube train stopped accidentally at one and the doors malfunctioned and opened, allowing a daydreaming schoolgirl out onto the platform, where she was mysteriously transported back in time to the Blitz.
Can't remember how it ended but it was quite cool.

I don't think I have a favourite tube station but Elephant & Castle has a special place in my memory - going down and up all those steps, because we couldn't be bothered to wait for the lifts at rush hour - I was fit back then!
I think E&C has a heart attack warning at the bottom of the steps - I know Covent Garden used to.

Which other stations still have lifts, except E&C and Covent Garden? (other than for disabled access, etc). I haven't used one for years that wasn't escalators.

Belsize Park has lifts IIRC
I have hazy memories of drunkenly falling down a lot of steps there...

Goodge Street was lifts-only last time I was there.

I remember because I was running late for an interview at UCL and decided to run up the the stairs instead of wait for the lifts, despite the warnings not to. Turns out I wasn't as fit as I thought , was still red and wheezing when I got into the interview. That was a lot of steps.

Did you get the job/place though Ephiny?

Lifts:

Belsize Park
Hampstead
Chalk Farm
Bank - in places
Borough
E&C
Covent Garden
Russell Square
Goodge Street

Polishes tube badge proudly
ScrambledSmegs I can report that St John's Wood and Swiss Cottage remain proudly glamourous with their railings, tall lights etc. Apparently the designer wanted to make it feel a bit like a nightclub (1950s one of course). There are echoes of it at Leicester Square (in certain places) too.

No, I didn't get it unfortunately, though much as I'd like to, I can't blame that entirely on Goodge Street station stairs :)

Gosh, more lifts than I expected. The only stations on those lists that I ever use are Bank and Covent Garden, which perhaps explains it.

overthemill - is the Transport Museum relatively interactive? Contemplating taking DD1 some time. She's 3 and really into buses and trains, but bores easily!

:) Ephiny

Youlllaugh

Most 3 year old of my acquantaince loooove the transport museum. V interactive, especially the ground floor. Expensive (ish) to get in, but then free for a year.

Tablefor4 -ooooh, thanks. One for when the weather gets yucky then!

I had no idea that St Johns Wood station was so glam, I will have to go.

Which is the one with the massive escalators - is it Angel?

I have stupidly never been to the London transport museum and will definitely go and visit.

I like the busier stations with the cheery despatchers - I hate waiting for a circle at Paddington in the morning - it is eerily silent.

I had no idea that St Johns Wood station was so glam, I will have to go.

Which is the one with the massive escalators - is it Angel?

I have stupidly never been to the London transport museum and will definitely go and visit.

I like the busier stations with the cheery despatchers - I hate waiting for a circle at Paddington in the morning - it is eerily silent.

Oh god, those lifts at Bank are hotter than hell in the summer

GetOrf - St John's Wood tube is befitting of its meilliure

I think Westminster has lifts, but really stupid ones in that you have to go down (or up) halfway through the station in one, and then wander over to another one to go the rest of the way down/up. I want to like it but that station is just toooo big - getting from ground level to the Jubilee line takes forever!

What I do like about it is the "secret" door from the subway at Westminster into Parliament - only people with a special pass can get in. Are there other doors straight from tube stations/subways into buildings anywhere?

ashamed at discovering just how excited I am about tunnels

GetOrf oh yes, Angel escalators are the ones that taken about a week and a half to ascend.

whatkungfu Agreed. I stumbled upon by accident once and ended up desperately trying to find another way to go. But no. I imagine that's what Dante had in mind for the souls of the damned.

What a fab thread - I was even thinking about old tube stations the other day and wondering if there was a website... and there is!

I used to use Aldwych when I lived in London. I suggested to DW I would get off there the other day and was so shocked when DW told me it was closed.

Shows how out of touch I am.