Former Underground Stations

So, we ended the challenge with me thinking that we’d see about whether it was all over – even before I’d finished drinking the champagne. If you’re old enough to have a good enough memory of Tom and Jerry cartoons, I invite you to recall that a number of times our protagonists would find themselves on the horns of a dilemma. This would be represented by a good angel version of either Tom or Jerry, and a naughty devil version appearing on either shoulder, both trying to persuade the original to decide on their preferred course of action. This is how I’d like to present the dilemma which now faced me as I was driving us home on the Sunday morning. Basically, the little devil told me that I’d done the job, and that was that. The little angel reminded me that I’d passed a number of disused station buildings – or passed under them, and I hadn’t sketched any of them, and shouldn’t I take care of this oversight? Little devil just laughed, but it was a nervous laugh, and when he was unable to come up with an argument against doing so, he promptly vanished with a puff of indignation. 

·       I will make one final trip, during which I will try to make a sketch of all the former station buildings I saw during the challenge, and as many others as is feasible.

·       Only stations which were once part of the lines as they exist now count. Stations from branches or arms which no longer exist as part of the Underground do not count.

·       Except Aldwych. (since it’s easy to get to in Central London)

·       Only stations with street level buildings remaining count.

·       I reserve the right to change, revise and cancel existing rules as I feel like it, and to create new ones on an ad hoc basis. 

One trip then, and an itinerary consisting of:-

Osterley and Spring Grove

South Harrow

Brompton Road

Knightsbridge

Hyde Park

Down Street

Aldwych

Mark Lane

York Road

Euston

South Kentish Town

Marlborough Road

 The problem with the rules was, of course, the fact that they didn’t really give me a clue about how I was going to persuade Mary to give her blessing to another trip. So far it had taken up a fair proportion of our free time for over 3 months. With the best will in the world it was going to be hard to talk her into giving her blessing for one more trip which wasn’t even part of the original challenge. By rights I ought to leave it for a good year or so before broaching it. 

I need to be careful how I phrase this next bit. I would never want to give the impression that I look on my mother in law having a bout of ill health as a slice of good fortune on my part. My in laws – Jen and Mary’s step dar John live in the Alicante area of Spain, and both have had their health issues over the last few years. When it gets particularly difficult, Mary will often fly out to help them for a week or a fortnight. Within a month of our return from the final challenge trip, Jen was hospitalised for a week, and so Mary flew out to help.  

If me not doing this additional trip could have had any bearing on Jen’s illness, or made things easier for Mary and John, then of course I wouldn’t have done it. But in all honesty it could make no difference to them at all. So. . . play ball. 

This was my planned itinerary. Having to do the two western arms of the Piccadilly is a pain, but the simplest way will be to forget about the rule, from the challenge, of not doubling back on myself in the same trip. So I start at Osterley and Spring Grove, catch the Piccadilly to Acton Town, and change for South Harrow. Then it’s back along the Piccadilly all the way to Brompton Road. In a very doable walk, I can take in Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, Hyde Park Corner and Down Street. A short walk to Green Park station, and then a ride to Holborn will put me just a few minutes’ walk from Aldwych station. Another brief walk to Temple station puts me on the District or Circle Line which will give me a ride all the way to Tower Hill, from which it’s just a sort step to Mark Lane station and back. From Tower Hill the Circle will get me to Kings Cross. It’s a round trip walk of about 25 minutes to York Road station and back, but only a short ride to Euston. Once I’ve bagged the disused Leslie Green station building there, then it’s up the Northern line to Kentish Town, and a walk to South Kentish Town and back. Then it’s back to King’s Cross, and the Metropolitan to Finchley Road. A walk to Marlborough Road, and then relax. Simples.  

It’s funny coming back to Osterley and Spring Grove having visited all of the functioning stations since. In some ways it’s slightly – only slightly, mind you, reminiscent of some of the westernmost stations on the Metropolitan, and also some of the older District Line stations. Come to think of it, that’s really what this is. If you visit when the bookshop is open, the owners are perfectly happy for you to have a bit of a nose around because it used to be a station, although don’t embarrass yourself by trying to find an accessway down to what remains of the platforms.

I do have a liking for second hand bookshops, and it’s only with reluctance that I tear myself away from the place to walk back towards Osterley station.  However, I know that I must. The longest walk today is probably only going to take me about half an hour, but there’s several walks to do, since most of our disused stations aren’t conveniently situated right next to an existing station.

Back on the train, I come up with a rather silly London Underground station trivia question. Namely – which of the cardinal compass points occurs most often in the names of tube stations. My best guess is North. When I get to Acton Town I google this, and find out that East is very much the runt of the litter with a mere 8, while West does surprisingly well with 10, just being pipped by North and South which both have 11. However, once we add South Kentish Town as a tie break, that just gives it to South for me. So South progresses to the second-round stages of my new game of Tube station name world cup.

South Harrow station’s former building still backs onto the platform, I’ve saved a list of Underground stations on my Kindle, and this means that I’m able to play some more first round matches of Tube world cup while I’m waiting for the train to take me back along the Piccadilly, and for the ride to South Kensington. The results are as follows. Road vs. any other word for a thoroughfare always looked like a hefty win for Road. There are actually 13 stations with Road in the name, albeit that two of these are Ealing and Fulham BROADways. However a strong showing from Street ably supported by Lane won the day, although Road scored more than either did on its own. Green v. Park was an intriguing match. Well, at least at the start. For the first third of the alphabet it was pretty much neck and neck, but then Park just romped away a massive score. Completing the first round we had Natural features – Hill, Brook etc. vs. Buildings/parts of buildings proved to be a real thriller, with both scoring a hatful, seeing natural features home by the odd couple of goals.

The semi-finals and the finals have to wait as we alight at South Kensington.  

Looking back at my own notes, I can see that I have at least mentioned all of the stations we’re going to visit in this walked section. I didn’t actually go so far as taking in Brompton Road station though. What remains of the station, essentially the front of the side entrance, isn’t on Brompton Road at all, but Cottage Place. Apparently, the Brompton Road entrance remained until being demolished in the early 70s. I believe that the building now adorned by remains of the station is a residential block. I certainly hope so. I’d love to live in such a place, although I can’t see it ever happening on an English teacher’s salary.

One of the reasons why Brompton Road was closed was because when elevators were installed in Knightsbridge Station, the entrance was sited closer to

Brompton Road, so that the other station became completely unnecessary. Still, at least part of the old station can be seen on Hoopers Court, where the rear exit forms part of a much larger building. On the sketch you really have to look closely to see the remnants of the rear entrance to the Leslie Green station, but they’re there. I have to say I love the idea that you can just walk around a corner and see something that was so obviously once a tube station just minding its own business as part of an office building. I remember of an archaeologist friend of mine who once paid a visit to Ephesus telling me that if you wander the streets you can still see blocks, stones, and mouldings which were once part of the famous Temple of Artemis, one of the original 7 Wonders of the World, which were reused centuries later in new buildings. This is a similar thing to me. Pretentious? Moi?

Hyde Park Corner’s Leslie Green Station has actually been the entrance to the Wellesley Hotel since

2012. On a whim, I checked out how much it costs for a double room for one night. Let’s just put it this way, I can’t afford it. Still, I applaud the place for preserving the station façade by building the hotel around it as much as they have, even though I can’t help wishing that the previous occupants, Pizza on the Park, were still there. I’m hungry, and it’s only mid-morning, but stuff it, I’m not going to hang about with my packed lunch today.
We've just had three disused Leslie Green stations in a row, and we're not even close to be done yet. It's only a brief walk to a disused station that I did actually visit way back on my third Piccadilly Line trip months ago.

There are websites dedicated to Former London Underground Stations, and pretty much everyone I’ve seen features our next station, Down Street. Bearing in mind its history, that’s not at all surprising. Repeating what I wrote after my previous visit - Down Street was originally a stop between Green Park and Hyde Park Corner, which opened in 1907, and closed, due to lack of use, in 1932. The Leslie Green station building still remains, but probably wouldn’t be much remembered other than for the fact that it was used by Winston Churchill as a bunker during World War II. Apparently, it is possible to access the underground levels of the station, and occasionally London Transport has allowed the privileged few to do just that. Last time I was here I bought a paper, but today I’m even more of a man on a mission, and I take the necessary photos for the sketch, and then stride onwards to Green Park station.

This gives me time to work out how the semi-finals of Tube station world cup pan out. Streets and Lanes United comfortably beat South Wanderers, while the all-conquering Natural Features All Stars trounce Park Rangers. In the final, it’s a very comfortable win for Natural Features, while Park Rangers wins the third place play off and will therefore not have to pre-qualify for the next tournament.

I walk from Holborn station to Aldwych on the Strand. In case one should forget which thoroughfare it stands on, the restored station front proudly announces that this is Strand station. Aldwych is a prime candidate for the tube station most seen in films and on TV. I think that I can understand the thinking behind creating this station on its short spur from Holborn in 1907. The Strand is still chock-a-block full of theatres, which I can only guess were expected to provide the majority of passengers from their audiences. But . . . the area isn’t exactly poorly served with other stations, and I don’t believe that having this station here ever made real sense. Throughout my time growing up in London this little spur was in blue and white stripes, showing it was only a part time station. What it did for the rest of the time I have no idea. TfL just waited until the lifts needed replacing in 1994, then closed the whole thing. Various schemes to utilise the station as part of extensions to existing line have been made since, but to be honest the cost would probably be prohibitive. Then there’s the fact that this is a listed building as well. As for the films and television, well, even before it closed the part time nature of the station made it particularly suitable for filming.

Our last five stops have all been Leslie Green stations. Now, though, after walking to Temple Station, I take the District to Tower Hill, where it’s just a short walk westwards to Mark Lane station, which was later called Tower Hill until it was replaced by the current station in 1967. There’s little to show

that the arched doorway on a Victorian block once led into a station, apart from the engraved inscription, and the fact that the archway has a raised lintel above it, which the other arches along the front of the building lack. I’ll be honest, it in no way sticks out so much as a Leslie Green remnant, but on the other hand, at least it’s better than the Tower Hill station of today. Mark Lane itself replaced a nearby station called Tower of London on the Metropolitan Railway. There’s nothing to be seen of this station today, but it closed because, when the District and Metropolitan Railways finally made the connection to complete the Circle Line, it just wasn’t big enough to handle the projected passenger numbers. There you go.

Speaking of the Circle Line, this is what takes me from the current Tower Hill station to Kings Cross. We’re back on the Piccadilly Line now, in a way. From King’s Cross it’s just over a ten minute walk to York Road station. I didn’t walk this section when I made my Piccadilly Line trips, so haven’t seen York Road before. York Road itself is now called York Way, not that this is important. It’s a large and still relatively intact and impressive Leslie Green building. It currently serves as an emergency exit from the tunnels. I hope that the building stays. There’s been periodic talk about reopening it, but somehow, I can’t see that there’s any huge likelihood of this. I’m pretty sure that the reasons why it was closed would still apply – namely that it was underused, and closing it reduced journey times on the Piccadilly. I just hope that it doesn’t end up going the way of Euston. 

Yes, Euston. Let me explain that. Leslie Green’s Euston Station building on Melton Street has been disused for, well, I don’t really know, but my guess is that it’s decades. As part of the development of Euston to accommodate HS2, this building is going to be demolished, and demolished soon. Which was probably why I was in so much of a hurry today. Chances are that by the time you actually read this, it’ll be gone.

I have mixed feelings, and I’ll try to explain. I think Leslie Green stations are beautiful, and in an ideal world, all of them would still be standing. It’s not an ideal world, though. The point of conservation and preservation is to protect the best of our shared cultural heritage, yes. However, it isn’t to preserve them in aspic. Yes, there should be debate, serious and prolonged if necessary, every time a building like this is considered for demolition. Development, and redevelopment, is a fact of life in any city, and even more so in a city like London, and if you look at the history of the city, it always has been. Otherwise there’d still be an amphitheatre where the Guildhall still stands, for example. And a gallows instead of Marble Arch. And fortified gateways blocking major roads in and out of the Square Mile. I absolutely love museums, but I’m not sure it would be a good idea to try to live in one. 

What we have to ensure, though, is that development does not impoverish the area, as happened so much from the 60s right through until the end of the 20^th century. Or to put it another way, if you’re going to take away a building like this, then make sure you put something worthwhile in its place., instead of something which a mere 20 years after its built causes those who even notice it to wonder ‘ what were they thinking?’ If nothing else, it must make each of the Leslie Green stations still standing more valuable to all of us.

You can tell we’re back on the Northern Line from that, can’t you? Our last two former stations of the trip are both stations I walked past on previous trips. The first of these is South Kentish Town. This is another entry in the ‘putting a station so close to another on the same line never really made sense’ stakes. In fact, in a very few years we will be celebrating its centenary. What’s that? No, of course it’s more than 100 years old already – it was built in 1907 during the great explosion of station building which saw the 50 Leslie Green stations raised in a few short years. No, in 2024 it will be the centenary of the closure of the station. There was a strike in the Lots Road Power Station in June 1924, and the station was closed, initially just for the day of the strike. Since it was closed anyway it made sense just not to open it again, and that’s what happened. Local residents are very fond of the building. There was quite a fuss a couple of years ago when it was proposed to build flats above the building. Hopefully this affection will continue to ensure its survival into the future.

The final leg saw me head from Camden Town station back to Euston, and then from Euston to Baker Street, and Baker Street to Swiss Cottage. I passed Marlborough Road During my Metropolitan Line odyssey. The temptation is to say that Marlborough Road was a short lived station, but it actually lasted for 71 years after it’s 1868 opening. For all that I’ve been able to find out, this may well be the original station building. In its time since it has had different occupant. It was closed as a Chinese restaurant in 2009, and I believe that it’s housed an electricity substation serving the network ever since.

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That really is that. As I drive past Boston Manor, I am absolutely certain that my challenge is at an end. I stop at Leigh Delamere and I’m still resolved to leave it there now. I know that there are still a significant number of disused station buildings that I haven’t visited which are outside the current reach of the network. Then there’s the Overground. And the DLR. And that’s absolutely fine. Maybe there’s a challenge for somebody else, maybe there’s a challenge for me to take up in a few years’ time.

I suppose it’s normal, on completion of a challenge’ to look back and reflect on what you’ve achieved. Bit difficult in my case, to be honest. What have I got out of it? Er. . . about 300 sketches and that’s about it. Well, that and the credit card bills for the fuel and topping up the nectar card. Has it increased my love for the tube? Probably not. What it has done, though, is booted it into the 21^st century. Prior to this my love of the tube was mostly fuelled by nostalgia, and memories of good times from my childhood and youth, before marriage and real adulthood. I can honesty say though that my rose tinted specs have been removed by this trip, and I have a clearer view of what the tube really is. It is dirty. It is smelly. It is crowded, and at times perplexing and frustrating. It is also utterly wonderful. The wonder of the tube isn’t that it occasionally provides a less than perfect service – the wonder of it is that it works as well as it does. When it comes to the stations, the underground network can be justifiably proud of the contribution they have made to the architectural heritage of the capital, and in the newest stations there’s evidence of this safely continuing into the future.