Monday 14 January 2013

Homage to the TUBE - 150 years anniversary in London

This is a little off beat post but feel like sharing with you.

The subway system in London for those of you who may not know is called the Tube.

We all have a love/hate relationship with it in London.  I, like many others, like to sneer at it and complain but recently I have noticed that actually there is a lot of hidden beauty in the stations.

It has faithfully been serving the city for 150 years! The first tube ride was on January 9 1863.

Queen Victoria was in the middle of her reign then and she was the first monarch to have a Diamond Jubilee before the present Queen Elizabeth.

Queen Victoria in front of Kensington Palace - Kate and Wills live there now.  I was walking past early and no one was around so I took a picture for y'all.

One of the oldest platforms and stations of the Tube. Very Victorian example.
Iconic graphics of all the stations in the Underground.  You could spot it a mile away.



This does not lead to Middle Earth unlike appearances.
Even the trains are red, white, and blue.
Example of modernist architecture in a station.
The lines are beautiful and under appreciated.
An example of late Victorian architecture in Earl's Court tube station.
When you walk through it, one gets used to the shapes of the circle but this creates a great visual frame.
The tiling inside the stations is impeccable! The workmanship endures till this day. I am going to work on a new bathroom this year and this tiling is inspiring.

Some of the tiles have chipped but for those who have tiled their bathrooms should appreciate how good the work is. Does anyone have the tiler's number??

I am normally not a huge fan of the Victorians but 
thank you all for thinking of putting trains in tunnels because I can't imagine how bad London traffic would be without the Tube.

1 comment:

  1. Lovely pictures. I'd never thought of the red, white & blue of the tube as the 'Brit' colours. I guess I'm just too used to it. x

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