Tube Stop Baby

Tube Stop Baby – Euston Square

February 15, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

Euston Square station used to be on my daily commute to university when I was a student in London. At the time it was a very nondescript station that you disappeared down into through a very plain looking entrance on the south side of Euston Road, at the top of Gower Street. Very occasionally a student night out might mean I had to take the equally nondescript entrance on the north side of the road and go through the underpass, but rarely. I never really looked at the station as a destination of any sort, but boy they’ve spruced it up since those days.

Euston Square was given a new entrance in 2006 on the south side of the road as part of the new headquarters of the Wellcome Trust building on the corner of Euston Road and Gower Street. There’s even lift access now to the Westbound platforms.

Euston Square is a bit of a strange station in that it so often gets confused with nearly Euston on the National Rail Mainline. Euston is served by some of the deep level tube lines, but the older cut and cover lines (Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan) are a short walk away at the separate Euston Square station. It’s not a long walk between the two (and the latest version of the tube map actually now shows the connection with a dotted line between them) but I always used to find confused tourists on the platforms trying to work out where their train to Manchester or Birmingham was going from. There has been lots of talk of creating a subway linking the two stations, and it may still happen, but as yet there are no firm plans to do so.

Euston Square was originally opened in 1863 as Gower Street station, which makes sense seeing as it is on the corner of Gower Street, but it was renamed in 1909 to give it the current name.

If you look carefully on the platforms there you will see some slightly different roundels in the tile work. Alongside the station name there are two roundels in solid colours instead of the traditional red and blue.

One is yellow and the other purple, and across the centre they say either Circle Line or Metropolitan Line. These date form 1983, before the time of the Hammersmith & City line, hence the fact that there isn’t a pink version.

I’m told that the only other place on the Underground where you see the name of a line on the bar of a roundel is Holland Park. I’ll have to try to remember to seek it out when we visit there.

Tube Stop Baby Facts – Euston Square

Date of visit: 10 January 2019

Underground Line(s) – Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan

Zone: 1

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

Tube Stop Baby – Southwark

January 31, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

Southwalk was our final stop on a day of exploring some the Jubilee Line extension and for me it was a bit strange being back as I spent a summer working in the area once and getting out there every day for about 8 weeks. This was the first time I’d been back in a while and we used the opportunity to not only see the station, but also some of the area above ground as well.

When the Jubilee Line extension was planned, a station between Waterloo and London Bridge wasn’t included. Southwark station was only added after lobbying from the local council. The station though is actually west of the centre of Southwark which is served instead by London Bridge and Borough underground stations.

As you come out of the station and turn left under the railway line you can see the remains of the old Blackfriars station, which was later renamed Blackfriars Road to distinguish it from the modern day Blackfriars. Blackfriars Road was situated on the South Eastern Railway line between Charing Cross and London Bridge. Only open for five years (from 1864) it was replaced by Waterloo East.

As you walk along Blackfriars Road you can clearly see the old entrance to Blackfriars Station, as was, on the Charing Cross Railway.

Speaking of Waterloo East. On the tube map Southwark is marked as being an interchange station with Waterloo East and passengers can come out of Southwark, following the signs for Waterloo East and find themselves in a small no-mans land between the ticket gates for the Underground and ticket gates to go into Waterloo East. It has a bit of a feel of the area between two hostile countries that can’t quite agree on their border requirements.

Tube Stop Baby Facts – Southwark

Date of visit: 3 January 2019

Underground Line(s): Jubilee

Zone: 1

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

Tube Stop Baby – Bermondsey

January 23, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

So, Bermondsey. Stop number 4 on our trip around the underground, but not the most thrilling of the ones we’ve been to so far (at the time of writing we’re up to 14 stations).

Despite Bermondsey offering step free access we didn’t actually venture any further than the eastbound platform when we visited the station as part of our trip along the Jubilee Line extension. The simple reason being that we didn’t really have any idea what we might find above ground if we had decided to venture outside the station. A pathetic excuse really, but the truth all the same. One day we may return and see just what there is on the other side of the ticket barriers.

Bermondsey will be celebrating its 20th birthday this year (2019) as the station was opened as part of the extension to North Greenwich (and beyond) for the Millennium Dome. More on that when we visit North Greenwich itself.

I read that the rest of the station is quite impressive due to the futuristic design that was used on much of this part of the Jubilee line. Certainly the grey and metallic look on the platforms, combined with the platform edge doors, give it a feel a million miles away from some of the older tube stations that I am more familiar with.

I remember when the extension was opened and there was lots of talk about ow platform edge doors were the future and that one day they would be installed across the whole tube network. I have to admit that I’ve not read up on the subject recently, but it certainly seems that 20 years on they’ve not retro-fitted any to any other station on the underground network.

Tube Stop Baby Facts – Bermondsey

Date of visit: 3 January 2019

Underground Line(s): Jubilee

Zone: 2

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.

Tube Stop Baby – Pinner

January 8, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

After kicking off the Tube Stop Baby challenge at Watford we took a short trip down the Met line to Pinner in Zone 5. Eventually we’ll go to every station along the Met, but on this particular day time was limited and we just wanted somewhere for a short wander round and a cuppa. Having been to Pinner before I knew that the Main Street being just a stone’s throw from the station meant that this would meet our needs. The fact that there is a lift up to the footbridge making the station accessible with Tube Baby’s pram was an added bonus.

Pinner station was part of the tube’s expansion into the surrounding countryside in what was known as MetroLand. Nowadays it’s part of the London Borough of Harrow. Certainly when you get off the tube there you don’t feel at all like you’re in London. The station’s a bit tucked away behind Sainsburys, but when you head out onto the street there’s much more an old fashioned village feel to the place. When we visited everywhere was decked out in Christmas lights (which stupidly we forgot to photograph!) which added to the charm.

If you’re ever planning to visit Pinner one thing you need to watch is the fact that in the peak hour trains run “fast” between Moor Park and Harrow-on-the-Hill meaning that they don’t stop at Pinner, or other intermediate stations. The Metropolitan Line is the only one on the London Underground to run “express” services like these, with some services also missing out Wembley Park, Preston Road and Northwick Park at certain times of the day. As someone who has once lived at one of these stations, it’s a quirk you quickly get used to, but one that catches other less frequent travellers out a lot!

Tube Stop Baby Facts – Pinner

Date of visit: 13 December 2018

Underground Line(s): Metropolitan

Zone: 5

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

Introducing Tube Stop Baby

January 1, 2019 by Penny 2 Comments

Sometimes you have a crazy idea, convince yourself it’s genius, then the next day realise that it’s actually a bit too bonkers, even for you. That’s pretty much what happened with my Tube Stop Baby plan. But, without the last stage. The Tube Stop Baby challenge is on!

Inspired by the likes of Geoff and Vicki from All the Stations, and also Louise from Little Heart Big Love (who, with her husband and daughter Jessica visited all the gold postboxes that were painted to celebrate the London 2012 Gold Medal winners), we decided that Little Miss D needed a challenge of her own. And seeing as she’s my and Bonn’s daughter it had to be a train related one. All the National Rail stations seemed a bit much for a baby, but the London Underground should be a bit more manageable. Living not that far from London we’re often there – either for work or pleasure – so taking LMD with us isn’t exactly difficult.

So, that’s exactly what we’re planning. For her to visit all the stations on the London Underground – and hopefully be the youngest person to do so. Not that I’ve researched if there is any such record, but then again we’re just doing this for fun, so it doesn’t really matter.

Looking at the tube map, we might even extend it to include all the stations on TfL Rail (if you know what that is!) and London Overground too. Maybe even the tram and the Emirates Air Line if we find the time.

We’ll document it all here on Penny Travels, and have also set up up her own Instagram account too (Tube Stop Baby if you’re interested in following).

It’s all a bit crazy, but after the year we’ve just had that seems somewhat appropriate for us and her. Hope you’ll join us for the journey!