Have You Seen The Stunning Old Paintings Of London In Their Modern Settings?

Northumberland House (1752) by Canaletto
Northumberland House (1752) by Canaletto

Halley Docherty (Reddit user shystone) has created 10 mashups of old paintings of London and placing them in their modern settings. I think you’ll agree that the juxtapositions created are stunning.

A View of Greenwich from the River (1750-2) Canaletto
A View of Greenwich from the River (1750-2) by Canaletto
Blackman Street London (1885) by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Blackman Street London (1885) by John Atkinson Grimshaw
Covent Garden Market (1737) by Balthazar Nebot
Covent Garden Market (1737) by Balthazar Nebot
St Martins in the Fields (1888) by William Logsdail
St Martins in the Fields (1888) by William Logsdail
The 9th of November, 1888 (1890) by William Logsdail
The 9th of November, 1888 (1890) by William Logsdail
The River Thames with St. Paul's Cathedral on Lord Mayor's Day (1746) by Canaletto
The River Thames with St. Paul’s Cathedral on Lord Mayor’s Day (1746) by Canaletto
The Strand Looking East from Exeter Exchange (1822) Artist Unknown
The Strand Looking East from Exeter Exchange (1822) Artist Unknown
View of The Grand Walk (1751) Canaletto
View of The Grand Walk (1751) by Canaletto
Westminster Abbey with a Procession of Knights of the Bath (1749) by Canaletto
Westminster Abbey with a Procession of Knights of the Bath (1749) by Canaletto

You can learn more about each image on the imgur album page.

A Simplified Map of London’s Ghost Stations

Click for full size
Click for full size

Above you can find yet another map of London’s abandoned and disused ghost stations. However, what sets this one apart is how simple it is to read.

Created by current Tube Challenge record holder Geoff Marshall and author of Do Not Alight Here Ben Pedroche it’s a really easy way to see what bits of the network are no longer in use.

For more on maps of disused stations be sure to check out:

Disused Tube Stations Mapped – London Underground’s Ghost Stations

London Underground Tube Map Showing All Ghost Stations & Unbuilt Lines

James Borrell: Walking the Victoria Line Video

Well it seems walking tube lines is becoming ever more popular. The video above shows James Borrell and his girlfriend Jess walking the Victoria Line from Brixton to Walthamstow Central. Really brought back a lot of memories for me.

Continue reading James Borrell: Walking the Victoria Line Video

Where to Stay & Things to Do in London: An Incomplete Guide

London is only this grey 90% of the time
London is only this grey 90% of the time.

London in a sentence: “London is a city by a river, plus lots of villages joined up by an underground railway.”@TubeRambler

Continue reading Where to Stay & Things to Do in London: An Incomplete Guide

This Picture of The Shard Looks Like It Could Have Been Taken In the 19th Century

A rather Dickensian looking Shard
A rather Dickensian looking Shard

How’s this for a Friday photo? Daniel Thorndycraft describes how he took the picture above:

“I was looking at trying to find somewhere to upload a photo that I took at 09:30 Tuesday 21st January as I was on my way to a training course just over the Southwark Bridge

I was gutted that I didn’t take me DSLR with me and this was taken on my iPhone 5, the only things on my phone that was switched on was the HDR function and its not been adjusted on the phone at all, and I was stunned at to how perfect it looked, and I know have it on my background on my work computer, I hope you like it as much as I do!”

Well I certainly do, what do you think?

Check Out Today’s Google Doodle Celebrating The British Museum’s 255th Birthday

Google Doodle for British Museum's 255th Birthday
Google Doodle for British Museum’s 255th Birthday

Today (January 15th, 2014) marks the 255th anniversary of the public opening of the British Museum in 1759. The Museum had actually existed for 6 years prior to the public opening with its collection largely coming from Sir Hans Sloane.

You can learn more on the British Museum website.

Watch Dalston Photo Story – Pictures Of Hackney 1978-85

The video above shows what Dalston and Hackney looked liked in the late 70s and early 80s before gentrification came. I found the video from reddit user PalestraPilgrim who commented that:

As you can tell from the video, the area was really deprived but at the same time I think people were also a lot more united and organised in their communities. It was a place that celebrated diversity as something to defend and be proud of. This attracted a lot of the left-wing radicals that eventually settled and formed communities in Hackney as well, such as the crusties, anarchists, activists, socialists, squatters, etc.

Watch A ‘Day in the Life’ of London Underground in it’s 150th year

The TFL video above looks at the Tube over the past 12 months during its 150th anniversary. It quickly whizzes you around the network in (bizarrely) one minute and 52 seconds. It includes several great timelapse shots as well snapshots of normal Londoners using the network.

Give it a watch to quickly relive the past year on the Tube.

Full video title: Snapshot 1:50 – a ‘Day in the Life’ of London Underground in it’s 150th year

Want To Be A Tube Sherlock? Then Read These Books About London Underground’s Abandoned and Disused Ghost Stations

With Tube 150 over, I figured interest in the London Underground would die down a little this year. I appear to be wrong. This is a result of the first episode of Sherlock series 3 heavily featuring the network as a central part of its plot.

Without spoiling it for the 7 people who haven’t seen it yet, one of locations featured is a fictional ghost station. While the station mentioned in the episode never actually existed, there are dozens of real ghost stations, some of which you can visit to this day.

Here some maps with their former locations: Google Map and Beck Style Map.

However, if you’d like to learn a little more about these stations, including their individual histories and why they became abandoned or disused in the first place I highly recommend the following books:

1. Do Not Alight Here: Walking London’s Lost Underground and Railway Stations

Ben Pedroche’s book is my favourite on the subject of ghost stations. Not only because he talks about the stations themselves, but because he provides walking routes for where to find them. Something I have some experience with.

Not convinced? I think this Amazon review sums it up nicely: “Got this book as a present for someone else but ended up keeping it for myself! Has lots of stuff about London I never knew, including places I’ve walked by every day for years and not noticed. I’ve done two of the walks and they were well informed with good directions. The best bit for me is the tube journeys section.”

Click Here To Buy: Do Not Alight Here

2. London’s Disused Underground Stations

Looking for something a bit more factual? Well then London’s Disused Underground Stations is the book for you. It has tons of great photos of many of the most best known ghost stations. In my opinion it’s the most comprehensive book on the subject.

Sample review: “This book is an excellent source of information about the 40 or so disused stations on London’s Underground, including both a wealth of facts and also pictures of the stations both past and present. Thoroughly researched, this book provides a window into parts of the London Underground that have long since been forgotten.”

Click Here To Buy: London’s Disused Underground Stations

3. Underground: How the Tube Shaped London

Underground: How the Tube Shaped London is not just about ghost stations but about the whole tube system from its earliest days until the present. I’ve included it here as it is in my opinion the best book summarizing the entire history of London Underground.

However be warned: “The book was excellent about the history of the Underground time-wise, politically, architecturally, and community-wise but was very poor on the mechanical side of the rolling stock, its developmental details etc. Difficult to understand how someone could write so much about a rail way and be so skimpy about what rolls on the rails!!”

Click Here To Buy: Underground: How the Tube Shaped London

4. Haunted London Underground

Now this is the first of the books on the list I haven’t personally read. However, if you’re after the spookier side of the tube this is probably the book for you.

Sample review: “I have to admit I purchased this book not expecting much as I have been a bit disappointed with previous books on hauntings that I have picked up. I found this book to be exactly what I was after; A solid coverage of hauntings on the London Underground without going overboard with unnecessary details.”

Click Here To Buy: Haunted London Underground

5. Secret Underground London

Another one I haven’t personally read but given that it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars it might be worth a look if you’ve read the other books above.

Review: “Excellent book with some excellent pictures and as a Londoner and a transport and London enthusiast it was great to find out some little details about which I’ve never been able to find out elsewhere. The only (slight!) drawback is the size and weight of the book!”

Click Here To Buy: Secret Underground London

6. Amazing and Extraordinary London Underground Facts

Finally if you just want some quick facts about the tube this may be the book for you. Again I have not personally read this one (even I have my limit) but the reviews look good.

Sample Review: “It works as a basic facts book for people wanting to get a sense of the history of the system, but no more than that. Its small size makes it handy for reading on trains, even those underground trains that were the book’s inspiration, though of course you would have difficulty reading it during the rush hour with everybody fighting for space.”

Click Here To Buy: Amazing and Extraordinary London Underground Facts

Now I’m sure I’ve left off many wonderful books dealing with the lost, missing and abandoned side of the Tube. So let me know what I’ve missed in the comment section below:

Going Underground: Tales from the Tube

Going Underground: Tales from the Tube, is a wonderful people’s history of the Tube. The documentary doesn’t have a central narrative or narrator, but instead focuses on interviews with people who’ve worked on the Underground and other tube enthusiasts.

Using an amazing collection of achieved photos and videos as a backdrop, it looks at the various jobs that have existed throughout the Tube’s history. Labour, race, sex and class relations all get attention and it examines how the tube was in many ways a leader in terms of the social changes that have taken place in Britain over the last 70 years.

Created by digital:works, I don’t think this has gotten anything near as much attention as it deserves. So if you do enjoy it please share it via social media and/or e-mail.