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031/270: #WestHampstead – The Trio

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A glance over the parapet at West Hampstead shows the three separate routes running beneath us. From left to right we see the Chiltern Main Down, Chiltern Main Up, Metropolitan Northbound, Jubilee Northbound, Jubilee Southbound and Metropolitan Southbound; all of which multiplex to create a true eclectic mix of local, suburban and intercity services. West Hampstead served exclusively by the Jubilee Line is of the former, with a single island platform located between the six lines.

West Hampstead tube station is one of a trio of stations on the same short stretch of West End Lane. Out of shot, and 280ft to the right of the photo, lies West Hampstead (Overground) on the former LMS North London Line. A further 380ft on again is West Hampstead Thameslink on the Midland Mainline. The combination of West Hampsteads makes for a total of 14 lines running through these parts. It’s not uncommon for two separate stations to be located in such close proximity, however three is rare. It is likely to be the closest, if not only, instance of this happening in the country.

At one stage all three stations had separate names, so it’s quite unusual that they all ended up sharing the same title seeing as this practice was often actively avoided to mitigate public confusion. It’s been proposed to marry all three stations together under an umbrella of “Hampstead Interchange” with some form of internal connection. Such plans are yet to come to fruition.

Image copyright A Carter – CallingAllStations.co.uk

030/270: #Swiss Cottage – The Pub

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Along with St. John’s Wood (029), Swiss Cottage plays host to the familiar platform stylings we’ve already seen at many imposing 1930’s stations. It seems odd then, that very little surface level presence is, or was, provided. A short turret marks one of the subway entrances, but without this and a number of more modern roundels, it wouldn’t be all that obvious that a station exists here.

Information on the surface exploits of Swiss Cottage station is thin on the ground. One would have to assume that the “subway turret” was a later addition, and that the original station, much like Bethnal Green, had no surface structures at all.

With not much to photograph, let’s instead turn our attention to the station’s name sake – The Swiss Cottage pub. Built as The Swiss Tavern, this building was constructed in 1840 in the then popular Swiss style. When opened it would have originally stood in open countryside, offering a stop to horse drawn coaches heading in and out of London.

There are 6 tube stations named after pubs, can you name the other 5?

Image copyright A Carter – CallingAllStations.co.uk

029/270: #StJohnsWood – The Beatles

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It has to be assumed that TfL would only name an East End DLR stop in a back alley off Stratford, Abbey Road, purely to troll tourists.

We all know that the real Abbey Road is situated near Lord’s cricket ground, a short walk from St. John’s Wood station. I therefore went in anticipation of some Fab Four references, happy in the knowledge that this would be one of the easiest stations to provide a unique blog name for. I was not disappointed. This Beatles themed coffee shop sits within the ticket hall foot print and even underneath the station name itself. This is too easy St. John’s Wood, you’re not even trying… (I’ll regret those words on my trip up the Jubilee Line later).

Image copyright A Carter – CallingAllStations.co.uk

028/270: #TottenhamCourtRoad – The Mosaic

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Here we have a station once so grotty a duplicate of it was constructed to depict the seedy underbelly of planet Earth in We Will Rock You‘s dystopian future. Dirty, dark, overcrowded and full of strip lighting, for years Tottenham Court Road was the unloved runt of all the Central London stations.

Then along came Crossrail. Not happy with connecting up it’s flagship construction project to dilapidated tube stations, TfL have been making haste with the paint brush. Emerging from it’s slumber Tottenham Court Road is now a bright symphony of colour and space. Lifted too from the years of grim are the famous 1984 Eduardo Paolozzi mosaics that give this station it’s unique identity.

It’s difficult to post these pictures in black and white when the artistic purpose of Paolozzi’s tiles is to be bright and vibrant. However this is a format I’ve now set myself, and will stubbornly follow until the end. In the absence of colour, instead appreciate the patterns and shapes of his work – which depicts the nearby music and record shops that used to populate the area above.

Image copyright A Carter – CallingAllStations.co.uk

027/270: #Southwark – The Reverse

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So by now you will have no doubt noticed that I’m giving every station a unique blog title in the format “The <Insert Unique Name Here>.” This is with the exception of South Woodford (001) which is simply called “Home.” Home should be special though shouldn’t it?

Thinking up unique identifiers for each of the remaining 269 stations will no doubt at some stage bite me in the backside, but for now I’m doing OK. The names will originate from a mixture of sources; some might be about the station features itself, some might be about nearby attractions and activities, whilst others will be about my own personal connections with using the station.

Southwark falls into the latter of those categories.

Last year I embarked on the #WalkTheTube challenge, where all 270 stations need to be visited in a single service day. Some may refer to this as “The Tube Challenge”, but ours was for charity and we weren’t trying to break any records. This is of course different to the Map Challenge as for #WalkTheTube we didn’t have to actually get off the train. If you weren’t aware of all this by the way then where have you been?! I’ve banged on about it enough times… If you really haven’t caught up with this episode in my life then do head here.

Anyway what has this got to do with Southwark?

Southwark is one of the likely places Tube Challengers use to ‘double back’ on themselves. This action is often referred to as a “Reverse,” where you arrive at a station in one direction and then change platforms and leave in the other. (The colloquialism also has connotations with timetabled rolling stock manoeuvres).

By the time we reached Southwark, in the evening of that fateful day back in April of 2016, we were severely behind schedule. We’d been struck by the Bermuda Triangle of Aldgate/Aldgate East. Several District Line trains had vanished into the ether and we’d been stranded for 15 minutes at Whitechapel. This caused a knock on affect and come Southwark we were very late and very grumpy.

Unfortunately Southwark always makes for a great #WalkTheTube photo opportunity against the backdrop of it’s cavernous corridors. Never have I seen a collection of people so down in the dumps about taking a group photo. We’d just missed an eastbound Jubilee Line train and I recall being in a particularly bad mood as a result.

Fittingly however, the “Reverse” at Southwark was not only one of a directional nature, it was also one of a change in fortune. The following three connections at London Bridge, Elephant & Castle and Baker Street would put us pack in the game, ultimately allowing us to complete the challenge at Chesham later that night. The picture below is the same place where we waited for that reverse in fortunes to start.

Image copyright A Carter – CallingAllStations.co.uk