The Tube

Lockdown Travel – the armchair version

May 5, 2020 by Penny Leave a Comment

There’s no doubt about it – travel is, for now, off the agenda. Everyone is staying at home. International borders are closed. Aircraft are grounded. The travel industry as a whole will probably never look quite the same again. Something no one was really expecting to happen quite so fast.

Having been somewhat grounded to the UK already by the reality of being a parent, the current lockdown is even harder because I can’t even go to my go to places here in the UK. My local National Trust site is closed. The London Underground is for essential journeys only. We can’t even jump in the car to escape to the coast for a day. I totally understand and respect why, but at the same time it is frustrating for a family who like to be moving around a lot.

Instead I’m trying to get my travel kicks remotely via a screen instead.

At the weekend I saw the end of the second series of what has to be the most exciting travel programme I’ve ever seen – Race Around the World. Last year I wrote about how much I enjoyed the first series, but the second one has been even better. Not only did the winning team win by only 20 seconds (honestly!) but I think it was a longer series, and one which shows off a part of the world that I know very little about – South America. If you haven’t seen it yet then please do, it really is wonderful television. South America, especially the Southern part, is now firmly on my bucket list. It looks absolutely gorgeous and the terrain there isn’t really what I was expecting. I think most of my South American knowledge was about the more northern countries. That needs rectifying now.

The rest of my travel viewing has been closer to home focussing on the London Underground. I accidentally stumbled across the Hidden London Hangouts that the London Transport Museum is putting out weekly on their YouTube channel. The experts from the museum’s Hidden London series of talks and tours sharing their knowledge about the London Underground. What isn’t to love? It’s certainly satisfying my current Tube withdrawal symptoms. It’s also making me keener than ever to finish our Tube Stop Baby challenge when we can.

Continuing the theme, someone on Twitter recommended the Heart of the Angel documentary on BBC iPlayer. Recorded back in 1989 before Angel station was redeveloped it is a fascinating look at 48 hours in the station and some of the people who work there. In a way it is hard to believe how much has changed in just 30 years.

One thing I miss loads under lockdown is being able to either travel by train, or see a train anywhere. We don’t live near a railway line and have no essential journey that requires one. I’ve managed to scratch that railway itch a bit though by watching the first episode of Tim Dunn’s new series on Yesterday – The Architecture the Railways Built. Not only does episode 1 let you have a nosey around the closed Down Street Underground Station, but he also visits the gorgeous Central Station in Rotterdam that Bonn and I were lucky enough to see for ourselves a couple of years ago.

Television Travel Rotterdam Central Station

Travel might change forever after all this, but we’re still determined to get out there as much as we can (rules permitting etc) and hope to still be able to share our adventures on here with you. Until then they might have to stay confined to our back garden!

Tube Stop Baby: Upminster Bridge

April 2, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

One more stop out on the District Line from Hornchurch we came to Upminster Bridge. Yet another station where we only got to see the platforms and having done my reading up on the station afterwards I’m really kicking myself that I didn’t do my research beforehand.

Upminster Bridge station it seems is famous for what everyone walks over on their way in and out – a swastika pattern formed in the cream and brown floor tiles in the booking hall. Dated (as you’d expect!) before the Second World War, this was actually a popular decorative design when the Art Deco ticket office was built before its opening in 1934.

Despite not seeing the street level part of the station, which is incidentally is below the platforms which are up on an embankment with stairs between the two, the platforms themselves are with further discussion.

Continuing the Art Deco theme from the ticket hall, the platforms themselves have more than a slight mod towards the design of that era too. Especially with the seating on the platforms.

What I can’t yet get to the bottom of is whether these are original or not. Searching online I keep finding photos of the platforms at Upminster Bridge with different, more modern style, traditional TfL seats on them, but I can’t work out if these were taken away and replaced with the Art Deco style ones, or if they’re just at different ends of the platform and both are there. This really is why I ought to do so much more research before these trips so I can check all the facts out for myself whilst there! If you know any more about this though then please, please leave me a comment down below.

What I am sure about at Upminster Bridge though is the fact that there is a central island platform serving both East and Westbound on the District line, and then the c2c fast tracks run next to the Westbound District line track.

Tube Stop Baby Facts – Upminster Bridge

Date of visit: 29 January 2019

Underground Line(s) – District

Zone: 6

If you want to know more about our Tube Stop Baby Challenge then pop over here and have a read.

Tube Stop Baby – Waterloo

January 10, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

Waterloo is the first of our tube stops that we technically have “done”, but have in reality no way “done”.

Let me explain what I mean. Tube baby has been to Waterloo. We arrived there on foot after a walk along the South Bank and we even stopped for a coffee and sandwich (and her some milk) at the Costa on the concourse. But, at the same time I feel like we haven’t even really scratched the surface at Waterloo, and we really need to go back there and do the station justice.

I know we are visiting tube stations here, but in the cases where the tube stop is at a mainline station I don’t really think you can ignore the mainline station. Especially when, as is the case with Waterloo, you’re talking about the busiest national rail station in the UK.

Our visit just involved a trip down to the Jubilee Line where we then took the line east, along which I still refer to as the Jubilee Line Extension, in the direction of Stratford. Before heading underground we did take a quick look at the work being done where the old Eurostar platform were there, but at that stage we were all hungry and it was only a very quick look over the barriers.

I’d really like to go back and look properly. Try to understand what has been done, compared to what was there when I last took the Eurostar from there to Paris. Look at some of the history of the station and the old architecture that has been incorporated into the current station design and layout.

Waterloo actually has the Bakerloo and Northern lines running through its underground station, in addition to the Jubilee. There’s also a certain tube line that terminates there that I want to travel along. The only one I haven’t yet been on. The Waterloo and City Line. For that reason alone there will be a return trip to Waterloo as part of this challenge.

Tube Stop Baby Facts – Waterloo

Date of visit: 3 January 2019

Underground Line(s): Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern and Waterloo and City

Zone: 1

If you want to know more about our Tube Stop Baby Challenge then pop over here and have a read.