Ian, Author at Randomly London

150 Posts About The Tube At 150 – The London Underground Anniversary

Google Doodle of the Tube's 150 anniversary — *Even Google’s getting in on the 150th anniversary.*

While the official grand opening of The Metropolitan Railway (the first bit of what would become the London Underground) occurred on January 9th, 1863 – it did not accept it’s first fare paying customers until the 10th. Given that it’s a means of mass transportation for the masses and the fact that our political elite wouldn’t be caught dead using it on a regular basis – many (myself included) think the official 150th anniversary of the Tube should be today, not yesterday.

In any case if you celebrated it yesterday, today or more likely don’t really care one way or the other you will no doubt have seen a huge amount written about it. Now given that I’m walking the tube network in support of Bowel Cancer UK, you might reasonably assume I’d have some sort of post ready for the momentous occasion. Alas, a move to a new flat and sporadic internet have meant that writing anything interesting has been difficult.

More importantly there is nothing really left to say. Below I’ve collected 150 websites/articles/books/etc. about the 150th anniversary of the Tube. They should provide you all the information you could possibly want about the London Underground.

Official

1. London Underground’s 150th anniversary (TFL)
2. Transformation of the Tube network continues apace during historic 150th year (official press release)
3. TFL Facebook Timeline
4. 150th Anniversary of the London Underground (London Transport Museum)

From London Bloggers

5. Happy Birthday, London Underground (A View From The Mirror)
6. Happy 150th Birthday to The Tube (Shit London)
7. Mind the Maps: Celebrating 150 Years of the Tube (Mapping London)
8. Rather English – Celebrate 150 years of the Tube (Tired of London, Tired of Life)
9. Underground sesquicentennial! (Caroline’s Miscellany)
10. Underground on film (Caroline’s Miscellany)
11. TimeOut Tube Infographic (Annie Mole)
12. LU150: London Underground Past, Present & Future (Annie Mole)
13. 150 years of the London Underground (The Great Wen)
14. London Underground at 150: its past and future (Dave Hill)
15. Photos and Videos: Eye Candy Celebrating the London’s Underground’s 150 Anniversary
16. See how the Tube was built 150 years ago
17. LU150: A Birthday Steam Test (London Reconnections)
18. LU150: Steam On the Underground Timetable and Prices
19. Google celebrates the London Underground with a Doodle (IanVisits)
20. Best places to photograph London Underground’s heritage steam train trips (IanVisits)
21. Diverting the Fleet River for the London Underground (IanVisits)
22. 150 – 150th anniversary celebrations (Diamond Geezer)
23. Happy 150th Birthday London Underground: 30 reasons we love the tube (TimeOut)
24. @tube_boob’s ode to the Underground (TimeOut)
25. And don’t forget the humble tube map’s 80th birthday… (TimeOut)

Continue reading 150 Posts About The Tube At 150 – The London Underground Anniversary

The End To One Of The Tube’s Strangest Commutes – South Kensington to Kentish Town

South Kensington Underground Station — *My home station for only one more day.*

Today will be the last day I make my daily commute from South Kensington to Kentish Town. I suspect (although I can’t confirm) that I may be the only person to make this trip each morning and the reverse trip each evening.

This isn’t a commute I ever planned on doing, just a random combination of events. My wife and I were lucky enough to find discount student accommodation in South Ken., a year and half ago and then I got my current job in Kentish Town about 9 months ago. Over that period, I’ve experimented with a variety of different routes.

However, before I look at them, I should just mention that my office is actually located closer to Kentish Town West Overground station than Kentish Town Underground station. This also means that’s it’s a fairly short walk from Chalk Farm station. Over the past 9 months I’ve tried using all of them.

My normal route is a slight variation from one of TFL’s suggested ones and involves 3 trains, so each morning I have to be sure and double check that there aren’t any service disruptions.

The fastest everyday route is as follows:

Walk to South Ken. (2 minutes)
Travel to Victoria via a District (or better yet Circle) line train. (5-6 minutes)
Change to Victoria line going north. (1 minute)
Travel to Euston. (8 minutes)
Make cross-platform change at Euston to Northern line towards High-Barnet or Mill-Hill East. (15 seconds)
Get off at Kentish Town. (6 minutes)
Finally walk to office. (5 minutes)

If all goes according to plan and I catch each train right away, I can get to the office in just under 30 mins. door-to-door.

This route differs from TFL’s by the fact I change to the Victoria line at Victoria and not Green Park. The reason for this are two fold. One, District and especially Circle line trains at South Ken. are less crowded than Piccadilly line ones in the morning. Two, getting down to the Piccadilly line at South Ken. and then changing to the Victoria line at Green Park take far more time than just using the sub-surface District/Circle line platforms.

Other routes I’ve tried:

South Ken. –> Leicester Square –> Chalk Farm (My original route, slower but only two trains).
South Ken. –> King’s Cross-St. Pancras –> Kentish Town (Still only two trains, but slightly faster).
South Ken –> Green Park –> West Hampstead –> Kentish Town West (3 trains, but avoids some walking at the end, however, have to change between station buildings at West Hampstead).
South Ken. –> Green Park –> Highbury & Islington –> Kentish Town West (3 trains and you can transfer in the same building at Highbury & Islington).
Walk to West Brompton –> Kentish Town West (The only route with only 1 train, can also take district line train to West Brompton from South Ken and do this).

Now all this information is useless. My wife and I have been lucky enough to find a flat in another set of discount student accommodation in Primrose Hill. This means I will be able to walk to work in about 15 mins. door-to-door. It also means I can avoid paying the £116.80 it now costs each month for a zone 1-2 travel card. And thus the end of one of the Tube’s strangest commutes.

Know of any one else with an even stranger commute? Tell me about it in the comment section below:

Top Of The Shard With Moving Clouds

Continue reading Top Of The Shard With Moving Clouds

Is Christmas Time – Another Amazing Mattia Bicchi London Timelapse Film

Is Xmas Time – A London Time Lapse film from Mattia Bicchi Photography on Vimeo.

Unfortunately, most of us had to go back to work yesterday after a long Christmas holiday. Is Christmas Time (or Is X-mas Time) is an another amazing timelapse film by Mattia Bicchi. I think it helps remind us of how wonderful London looked during the holidays.

While the film includes a few of what we can call standard London timelapse shots (e.g. Thames & London Eye), it also includes some incredible panning/moving/zooming ones. Apparently according to Mattia, he “used a monopod and shot for each step, and then stabilized in post-production.” Watch to see what I mean.

Locations include: The South Bank, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Oxford Circus, Regents Street, Natural History Museum, Winter Wonderland (in Hyde Park), and Harrods, among others. Where was your favourite London spot for Christmas 2012?

Happy 2013 – A Look Back At Randomly London In 2012

New Years 2013 London Eye Fireworks — New Years Eve 2013 Fireworks from @MPSinthesky – Original Source.

Well the past year has been nothing short of amazing for Randomly London. Although I registered the domain name back in December 2011, I didn’t get around to writing my first post until March 24, 2012.

In that very short period of time, I’ve played around with a few different content ideas and London related topics. The overall response has been great, especially for my Tube challenge related posts.

Here are just a few numbers that sum up 2012:

Number of posts: 155
Unique Visitors: 7,592
Unique Pageviews: 11,392

Top 5 Sources Of Traffic

Reddit – 4,426 visits – By far my biggest source of traffic. A huge thank you to everyone who’s upvoted and commented on my various posts.
Google Search – 937 visits – I’m deliberately not trying to target search traffic, so it’s interesting to see it being my number 2 traffic source.
Stumbleupon – 622 visits – Lots of visitors, most of whom don’t stay very long.
Twitter – 420 visits – A huge thank you to everyone who follows, and retweets my posts on Twitter. You can follow me @RandomlyLondon
Facebook – 311 visits – Also thanks to everyone who’s liked my Facebook page.

So overall a fantastic 2012 and here’s hoping 2013 will be even better. You can expect a whole bunch more tube related posts as I continue my tube challenge along with some other surprises too.

Bakerloo Line Underground Stations – Facts, Trivia And Impressions

This post is part of my Randomly London v. The Tube Challenge. Get the latest about challenge updates here. Donate to Bowel Cancer UK here.

Closed Assistance and tickets booth at South Kenton

Closed Assistance and ticket office at South Kenton. Miles away from Oxford Circus.

The Bakerloo line is the third London Underground line I’m tackling as part of my Randomly London V. The Tube Challenge. Heading from south of the Thames at Elephant & Castle to the suburban edges of north-west London up at Harrow & Wealdstone, the line – like almost all Underground lines – connects some very diverse parts of London together.

However, the line feels like the forgotten middle child of the London Underground. It doesn’t go the furthest north or south and it isn’t the newest or oldest, longest or shortest. In fact, it’s the third least used line it terms of total passenger volume, although if you look at passengers per mile of track, it’s actually the fourth most used.

The line even went into massive retreat between 1979 and 1982 when it lost the Stanmore branch to the Jubilee line and had services withdrawn so Stonebridge Park became the line’s northern terminus. Nevertheless, the forgotten middle child of lines has come back a bit since then and has some interesting stations.

Here’s a brief summary of my impressions of each of the 25 stations that currently make up the Bakerloo Line.

Elephant & Castle

Elephant & Castle Bakerloo line exit – classic Leslie Green.

Impressions: Elephant & Castle is one of those parts of London that will never look good, no matter what scheme the council, developers or mayor’s office devise. The roundabout is designed only for cars and pedestrians are left as an afterthought.

Once you accept these facts, then the area isn’t so bad. Murals in the subways brighten up what would otherwise be very drab concrete walls. The Strata building is interesting and impressive.

And, the Bakerloo platforms are best accessed through a classic Leslie Green red brick entrance. Thus, if you’re a glass half-full kind of person there are some good points to the area that go at least partly mitigate the glaring negatives.

Random Fact: In 1924, the first recorded birth on the London Underground occurred at Elephant & Castle. There has been only 1 other since then. Tweet This

Tube Nerd Fact: The furthest south of Leslie Green’s Tube stations. Tweet This

Continue reading Bakerloo Line Underground Stations – Facts, Trivia And Impressions

Another Great Timelapse Video – ‘Timelapse London’

Timelapse London from Ben Grubb on Vimeo.

Besides the Tube, I probably feature more timlapse videos of London than anything else. ‘Timelapse London’ was shot by Ben Grubb and features most of your standard timelpase locations: Waterloo station, Houses of Parliament (with a great shot of the clock on Big Ben rotating), Canary Wharf, Battersea Power Station and St. Paul’s among others.

Overall, the quality of cinematography is better than average. My only criticism is that the video doesn’t really hold any cohesive narrative. It jumps from the West London to East and then back again. Still this is only a minor niggle and the short film deserves more attention than it’s received.

TUBE TUBE Back2Work (5 of 7) – London Underground Short Film Series

Part 5 of the ongoing Back2Work series of TUBE TUBE.

52 Great London Blog Posts Plus One Book From The Past Month

This is the second of my irregular looks at great London blog posts from the past month. Overall, the past month has seen a huge output of great writing and content. Below are just a few of the highlights for me.

Special Mentions

London’s Lost Pneumatic Railways – Ian Mansfield (of IanVisits fame) has written a short Kindle ebook about a forgotten aspect of London’s transport heritage.

Bomb Sight – Maps every bomb dropped on London during the Blitz. See if your address was hit.

Transport for London Urban Design – Just discovered this gem of a website. Looks at all design aspects of TFL’s offerings. The undeniable highlight is the inventory of all listed buildings and structures owned or operated by TFL.

An Edwardian Advent Calendar – Ian from IanVisits looks at ads from 100 years ago. Some highlights so far include: Scrubb’s Ammonia, Foot’s Bath Cabinet, His Master’s Voice, A Motion Photograph of Yourself and my favourite Wolsey Wool Underwear. Fascinating to see the difference in what things are advertised and how it’s done compared to now.

News

Final Section Of Overground Network Opens In South London – London’s second ‘circle line’ opens for business.

London private rents up by a third in three years – Dave Hill has a look at the very worrying statistic.

Fares To Rise By More Than Inflation For Next Ten Years – As if rising rents weren’t bad enough…

Tube/Rail

This section should really just be titled ‘Diamond Geezer and the Tube’ since almost all the posts come from him. One of London’s best bloggers.

Out of station interchanges – Diamond Geezer looks at how long it takes to transfer between stations – that while close to each other – require exiting one and entering the other.

Tube Waiting Times – Mind The Gap – Diamond Geezer looks at how long you may have to wait for a train at some of the more far flung stations, plus the circle line.

No change – Diamond Geezer looks at places where lines cross but there is no interchange.

Chameleon stations – Diamond Geezer looks at which stations are busier at the weekends rather than weekdays.

Nice view – Diamond Geezer looks at some of the best views from the Tube.

The Circle line goes east – Diamond Geezer looks at a little know fact about the circle line.

Mark Lane – Diamond Geezer looks at Mark Lane, one of the lesser known ghost stations.

The platform tiles at Aldgate East – Number 66 of 150 Great Things About The Underground.

The old entrance to Highbury & Islington – Number 67 of 150 Great Things About The Underground.

The river over Sloane Square – Number 69 of 150 Great Things About The Underground.

The escalators at Angel – Number 70 of 150 Great Things About The Underground.

The interior of Westminster – Number 71 of 150 Great Things About The Underground.

How to take your appendix out on the Piccadilly Line – From the The Brand New Monty Python Papperbok found via The Great Wen.

Old Posters from “Ghost Station” Euston at new Exhibition – Annie Mole gives you the details.

The Overground Orbital Loop – Diamond Geezer claims the world record for going around it in 1 hour 40 minutes 40 seconds.

The End of an Era on the South London Line – London Reconnections says goodbye to the South London Line, which has been removed from service due to the Overground extension.

London Underground Stamps & £2 Coin – A preview of the new stamps and coin to commemorate 150 years of the Tube next year.

Walking Overground South – Diamond Geezer walks the new section of the Overground in South London in 4 parts. Read parts 2, 3, 4. This new service also removes the old parliamentary train that used to run between Kensington Olympia and Wandsworth Road.

Tube Map Circuit Board – Working Radio – Mapping London look at a very unique tube map.

Dangleway Data – Not the tube or rail, but it’s on the tube map – Diamond Geezer has a look at passenger numbers for the Emirates Air Line.

Shopping

Roman Road Market – Diamond Geezer has a look around.

The Shops of Old London – Amazing photos – as always – from Spitalfields Life.

First In Store – Diamond Geezer looks at the original locations of many of today’s high-street stalwarts. Turns out I used to live down the road from the very first Sainsburys.

London Winter Markets For 2012 – The Londonist tells you all about them.

London Life

Shit London Awards 2012 – Looking at the very worst of London.

Eel Pie Island – thelondonphile looks around this unique artists community.

Ask A Black Cab Driver: The Swedish Cabbie – The Londonist looks at the only Swedish national to have ever passed the knowledge.

Eleanor Crow’s East End Cafes – Highlights illustrator Eleanor Crow’s work, focusing on East End Cafes.

History

The Streets of Old London – More amazing photos of London’s old streets from Spitalfields Life.

Kentish Town Road – Birthplace of the Laptop – Little known connection between Kentish Town and the laptop.

A Christmas Carol’ London Locations – A View From The Mirror looks at locations from the famous Dickens work.

A Walk Through Time In Spitalfields – blends together old and new photographs of the East End, from the always outstanding Spitalfields Life.

Architecture

Tower Bridge to get a glass floor – Ian has a look at the plan.

London Tunnels – The Londonist includes photos of some of the various tunnels around London.

In Pictures: The Kings Cross Clock Tower – London Reconnections has a look at the clock tower that’s about to get a whole lot more visible.

Turkish Baths, Russell Square – Caroline’s Miscellany has a look a sign I’ve occasionally wondered about.

What A Difference 5 Years Makes – City of London 2007 vs 2012

While the Shard might be the most dramatic recent change to London’s skyline, it is by no means the only one. Comparing these two photos taken from St. Paul’s shows just how much the skyline in the City of London has changed in just 5 years.

The buildings under construction are the Leadenhall Building and 20 Fenchurch (aka the Walkie-Talkie). Completed new buildings include the Walbrook Building and Broadgate Tower.

You can see each photo below:

2007:

2012:

Found via reddit.

Author: Ian