Trivia seems to be the lifeblood of any good tour. Back in the day when I used to take actual people on actual tours and actually talk to them I could go into an interesting ramble about pre stressed concrete construction and at the end get barely a flicker of appreciation. However, deliver a decisive… Continue reading Trivialising Matters
Tag: Underground
STAAAAAANDAAAAART!
I threatened last week to start posting reminiscences of childhood in Metroland. Well here’s the first one and goes back to the late 60s when I was around ten years old. For a ten year old back then there were three types of gainful employment, one poor, one middling and the third the pinnacle. The… Continue reading STAAAAAANDAAAAART!
A Suburban Boy
Born into 1960s “Metroland” as I was, its not difficult to see why the love of Art Deco and the 1930s has stayed with me. By the time I was conscious of my surroundings a lot of the housing estates, shops and public buildings had only just crept into middle age. There were symbols and… Continue reading A Suburban Boy
Thursday Doors
Transport
One Word Sunday London Underground 1938 Stock. London Transport Depot, Acton
Stairway to Heaven
I’ve always wondered at the design of the escalator system on many of London’s underground stations. It is such a simple idea, but the machinery involved is quite complex. The only design limitation came when they were retro fitted to existing stations with limited space. It was in 1892 that the first working escalator materialised,… Continue reading Stairway to Heaven
Wordless Wednesday
Red
One Word Sunday
In Plain Sight
Question: When is an underground station, not an underground station? Answer: When it’s a hotel. Central London has a number of what are called Ghost Stations, stations that were closed usually because passenger numbers made the station unprofitable. Added to that many original station buildings have been demolished, which is probably due to the other… Continue reading In Plain Sight
Directions
One Word Sunday
A LONDON MISCELLANY 