TUBE TREASURE TROVE (G)

 

TUBE TREASURE TROVE (G)

     This is an A–Z of London’s most interesting Underground stations. In an age where we are often looking down at our phones, Tube Treasure Trove is an invitation to look up and discover the architecture, history and oddities hiding in plain sight - on what might otherwise be a mundane journey, perhaps one made many times before.

Preface (short version):

      London's Metropolitan line was the world’s first underground. Opening in 1863, it was a 3.5-mile Victorian steam railway with seven stations running from Paddington to Farringdon.

      More than 160 years later, the network has grown into a living museum of architecture, engineering and graphic design. Today the Underground carries around four million passengers on a typical weekday across 272 stations.

The Visionaries

Frank Pick – The design visionary of London's transport system from 1908 until his retirement in 1940, Pick shaped the identity of the Underground more than any other individual. 

Leslie Green – Green designed around 40 oxblood-red glazed stations in the early 1900s.

Charles Walter Clark - Metropolitan Railway architect; designed around 25 stations and helped define the architectural character of the Met line and Metro-land.

Charles Holden – Holden was responsible for designing more than 50 stations during the 1920s and 1930s. 

Edward Johnston – Johnston designed the distinctive Underground typeface, Johnston Sans, in 1916. It remains in use to this day. He also redesigned the famous roundel symbol. 

Harry Beck – In 1933, Beck transformed the underground map by prioritising clarity over geographical accuracy.

Roland Paoletti – As the architect behind many Jubilee Line Extension stations, Paoletti oversaw one of the most ambitious programmes of station design since the 1930s. 

GANTS HILL

     Construction of the Central line station began in the mid-1930s but was delayed by the outbreak of the Second World War. The incomplete tunnels between Gants Hill and Wanstead to the west were used as a munitions factory by Plessey between 1942 and 1945.

    The station finally opened in December 1947. Gants Hill is the only Underground station with a Charles Holden-designed concourse that has no surface buildings. His spacious barrel-vaulted platform, with dramatic lighting, was influenced by stations he had seen on the Moscow Metro in the 1930s. Gants Hill (understatement alert) isn't quite as elaborate but it does have brass uplighters - almost as good as Joseph Stalin's chandeliers.

Komsomolskaya station, Moscow

GLOUCESTER ROAD

     Gloucester Road station was where the Metropolitan and District railways first joined up in 1868, sharing a station while remaining separate companies.  

     The frontages of John Fowler's 1868 Metropolitan & District building (right) and Leslie Green's 1907 Piccadilly tube station (left) have been restored with the ticket office inside the Metropolitan building. Shops now occupy most of the oxblood-red Piccadilly station.

     Since 2000, a disused District line platform has been used for a series of contemporary art installations.

GREAT PORTLAND STREET

     Great Portland Street is another of the seven stations that formed the world's first subterranean passenger railway. Part of the original 1863 platforms survive and the original brick arches are still visible. Despite having three lines running through it, it only has one pair of tracks, making it one of the most intensely used parts of the network.

The ticket hall was rebuilt in the 1920s to designs by Charles Clark.

     

     Many heritage features remain, including a 1920s sign directing passengers to the trains and globe lamps. Throughout the station, original yellow tiles and brown-and-white tile borders can still be seen. The tiled floor was faithfully replicated when the modern ticket barriers were installed.

GREENFORD

       

     Greenford is the only Underground station where an escalator takes you up from the ticket hall to the platforms which sit on an embankment. There isn't a down escalator, but if you don't fancy tackling the steps, there is a funicular-style lift (inclinator).
     It was the last station to retain a wooden escalator (finally replaced in 2014). Following the fatal King's Cross fire in 1987, all Underground escalators were eventually converted to fully metal treads.

GREEN PARK

  

     Unusually for such a major station, Green Park has little in the way of surface buildings. However, it does have a Portland stone canopy on Piccadilly with a frieze entitled Sea Strata (2011) by John Maine. The stone carvings depict the fossil remains of marine creatures from 150 million years ago. 

    

     Sometimes, the tiled motifs on Victoria line platforms can be a tad cryptic - like Hans Unger's bird's-eye view of Trees in Green Park.  Conversely, June Fraser's leaves on the Jubilee line platforms need no explanation.

     Green Park is also where Blue Turns to Grey (no, not Cliff Richard's 1966 hit - but try as you may, it will now be stuck in your head).

     As you walk along the corridor from the Piccadilly line to the Jubilee line, the mosaic wall tiles gradually change, giving you a visual indication of how much further there is to go ....

      

Tube Trivia and Addenda:

     Earl's Court is one of the network's biggest bottlenecks. The Piccadilly and District lines share tracks west of the station, so trains often have to wait for the "all clear". If you're a Londoner, you'll know the announcement by heart: "We are being held at a red signal and should be moving shortly." (thanks for this, Steve)

     Unless otherwise specified, any mention of "Charles Clark" in this series refers to Charles Walter Clark, the architect who designed 25 Underground stations, not the Charles Clark who was London Underground's publicity manager from 1933 to 1960.

        

    If you enjoy discovering London's hidden stories and would like to support a good cause, please consider visiting the Willow Foundation.