The Underground

Tuesday 9 January

Friends of Rob and Judy met us at the entrance of the Baker St Tube Station this morning and we all joined a walking tour - Mind the gap! We learned a lot about the history of the Underground - it’s been around for more than 150 years - and saw things that you would never normally notice.

Guess where

One example is the labyrinth diagrams. There’s one on each of the 270 stations and they’re all different. They were part of an art project to celebrate the London Underground’s 150th birthday. More roundels! But they’re not as interesting as the coal holes, thank goodness. I’ve no intention of trying to find and photograph all 270.

231 of 270 labyrinths

Harry, our guide, told us lots of statistics and stories which were really interesting, but which I’ve already forgotten. He explained where some of the lines run. One was built under a main road using the cut and fill method, which is what they’re doing in Melbourne. Another runs along under the Thames embankment and has a set of flood gates which people pass every day without noticing.

Our tour group

He also explained that in the early days many people were illiterate and couldn’t read the names of the stations so the colours and patterns of the tiles on the walls were how they knew where to get on and off. Some of this tiling has been rediscovered and restored. We started at Baker St and finished at Embankment, having ridden on a few trains, been up and down numerous escalators, a lift and many stairs.

Covent Garden tiles

After the tour we returned to Piccadilly and walked to Covent Garden, where we looked around the market, visited the Transport Museum (Rob and James) or the Transport Museum Shop ( Judy, Helen and Heather). We said hello to Covent Garden Opera House and then headed home - on the Tube, of course!

Covent Garden Market

Little dancer