London Underground: closed stations, etc. (by K2)

[Deleted]

I confess that am one of those people obsessed with underground urban secrets. All of those amazing tunnels fascinate me, especially when they have been closed off or rerouted for various reasons.

Here is a site full of photos and explanations about the disused tunnels and stations of the London Underground:

underground-history.co.uk/deeplevel.php

[Deleted]

Wow,is totally fascinating. I confess to having a fascination with as well ,but,only to a certain degree,can't take in too much of at once,get overloaded..The scrapbook is really interesting..
and the dates of the Picadilly Line 's shut down going back to the 1930's.
I will revisit this,but,will have to really be in the mood when I do.
I got a good glimpse while in NYC last trip of the new Second Avenue line being put in,the machines that do the excavating etc..when I return in September will be staying back in that neighborhood again ( my friend's apartment that burned will be finished being refurbished,thank god.)It is a half block from 2nd Avenue and I will take lots of pics of.

[Deleted]

This is really interesting. They seem to keep changing and abandoning things all the time.

[patricklondon]

They seem to keep changing and abandoning things all the time.

Up until the end of the great expansions of the tube, they did. Since then, the major projects have been about adding new capacity. The only "new" deserted station that I can think of is the old low-level Shoreditch High St, replaced when that line was extended and incorporated into the re-badged "Overground".

There's quite an interest in deserted stations and other underground facilities - when there's an occasion for them to be opened to view, there's usually quite a rush for tickets. Here's a couple I've been to:
autolycus-london.blogspot.co.at/2010/03/one-doesnt-expect-to-be-asked-to-put-on.html
autolycus-london.blogspot.co.at/2009/11/chord.html

[nycgirl]

Jul 22, 2010 21:58:14 GMT casimira said:

It is a half block from 2nd Avenue and I will take lots of pics of.

Good to hear. I've been intending to, but never seem to get around to it.

[lola]

I like that sort of thing, too, Kerouac. Also knowing why a place like Mill Street or Marylebone is called that.

It's fun to know about the topography of old cities, how they've changed over the centuries, so I was happy to stumble on a library book recently called Secret London, by Andrew Duncan.
www.andrewduncan.co.uk/secret-london.htm

He takes you on several walks along the course of the rivers that empty into the Thames, like the Tybourne from the Serpentine down past Sloane Square and to the Chelsea Bridge. Some of the streets are dead-ended because of where the Tybourne was, and some streets are named things like Pont Street after long gone bridges.

You can walk down the course of the Fleet, too, past the Clerk's Well and the spa Nell Gwynne lived near. For the buried river walks you should time it to get to the Thames at low ish tide so you can see the outflow, and he tells you where to lean over the railings. Also with each walk he gives tips on where to stop for refreshment.

I'm hoping to bring the book next time I go.

[Deleted]

Here is an interesting piece about the evolution of the iconic London Underground map.

Frankly, I find some of the earlier versions more logical, because they resemble the Paris Metro maps and show the real geography of the city. However, I know it is more a question of habit, and I do like the abstract London map when it is just a question of getting from one station to another. The possible "superiority" of the Paris style map would lie in the fact that you can use it even when you want to walk somewhere and not take the metro at all. This is not at all the case with the modern London Underground map.

[Deleted]

It's a bit frightening how something so recent can seem so alien.

London Underground in the 1980's

[mossie]

I have bookmarked that for future reading.
Took me back to 1949, when, short of money, I would buy a penny happenny ticket and ride the Circle line the whole way round.

[Deleted]

In terms of the closed and abandoned stations in London, I am rather astonished because there seem to be at least 20 of them.

In Paris, we have only about six closed stations and a couple of interesting ones that never opened.