At the weekend i headed down to London, i haven't been for a few months. I didn't want to visit any new stations this time, rather revisit some stations such as Lambeth North that i have not been to for some years. So, i headed up and down tbe Bakerloo Line, getting some updated photographs and also some street scenes at Lambeth, Maida Vale and Kilburn Park. You can see my photos here.
The parish church of St Lawrence in Little Stanmore, Harrow (now in north London) dates from about 1360 though only the tower remains from this original church. The church was rebuilt in the Baroque style in the early 1700s in a commission by the 1st Duke of Chandos. A mausoleum dedicated to the Duke was later added to the east of the church.
The tower is built from flint and dressed stone. The reconstructed parts of the church from brick. The nave had a gallery on the west end built from the Duke.
The church of St Andrew Undershaft (the name is derived from the shaft of the maypole which was traditionally set up opposite the church every Spring until 1517) in the City of London dates from 1147, with a rebuilding in the 14th century. The church has survived both the Great Fire of London and the Blitz, unlike most churches in the city.
The church is in the Perpendicular style with a tower added in the 15th century. The church has an aisled six bay nave with clerestory. The church is built from squared rubble.
It's been a few years since i last did a Hidden London tour of non-public areas of a tube station, for various reasons including bad luck with illness i had to cancel or miss three trips in a row. Luckily yesterday at Holborn i was able to break the curse! It was a good tour centred around the ex-Aldwych branch platforms at Holborn. You can see my photos here.
At the weekend i headed down to London for my first trip to the capital this year. I wanted to explore the northern end of the Piccadilly Line and went to a number of stations including the superbly named Cockfosters. Later on, i visited Essex Road which has some lovely surviving Network South East signage. You can see my photos here.
The parish church of St Olave is one of the few medieval churches in the city which survived the Great Fire of London. The church dates from the 13th century (as St Olave-in-the-Tower), St Olave (King Olaf II) was a Norweigan king who fought alongside Æthelred the Unready against the Danes in 1014 at the Battle of London Bridge.
The original church was wooden, and replaced by a stone one at a later date. The church was rebuilt a number of times, much of the current church dates from a rebuilding in 1450, though the tower was added in the 18th century. Although the church did survive the Great Fire it did not survive the Blitz but was rebuilt and restored in 1954.
The church is in the Perpendicular Gothic style and has a three bay nave and north and south aisles. The church has a clerestory. The tower is to the south west. The entrance to the graveyard is notable for it's grinning skulls!
I went down to London at the weekend, mostly it was to see my in-laws before Christmas but i also had time to finally track down the Roman wall fragment i had failed to find earlier in the year (though i had actually been very close to it!) I also took some photos of the Tower of London. You can see my photos here.
The guild church of St Mary Aldermary in the City of London is probably named for being the oldest church dedicated to Mary in the city, though the current church dates from 1510. However, this was on the site of an older church dating from the Norman period.
The new church was financed by Sir Henry Keeble. however, when he died in 1519 the church was unfinished. Indeed, it was not completed until 1629! Unfortunately, the church was badly damaged a few decades later in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and was rebuilt in the Gothic Revival style.
The church has six bay aisles. It has a short chancel and a tower to the south west. The church is built from Portland stone.
The parish church of St Mary Abbots in Kensington, West London was built in 1872 on the site of early churches. The church is said to have the tallest church spire in London. The first church on the site was built in 1280 and was replaced in 1370 and the end of the 17th century before the current church was built as the existing one was proving too small as London urbanised.
The church has been built in a mixture of neo-Gothic and early English styles. The church has an aisled nave, lower chancel and an east tower. The entrance cloister is vaulted. The church is built from rubblestone with an ashlar dressing.
After my trip down to Heathrow by train, i had time to visit somewhere else in London and wanted to go somewhere new. So, i went up to Harrow-on-the-Hill in the north west of London. I climbed up the hill (which is pretty steep) to see the famous school at the top and St Mary's church. You can see my photos here.
I went down to London yesterday, the main reason being to travel to Heathrow on the Heathrow Express. There were some cheap (relatively anyway) tickets available for the train from London Paddington so i took the chance to give it a try, even if i'm not flying anywhere! I visited two of the stations at Heathrow, i'll do the rest and the Underground another time. You can see my photos here.
The church of St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe is in the city of London. The name comes from when King Edward III moved his royal wardrobe from the Tower of London to a location near to the church when it was part of the royal residence Baynard's castle.
The original church was founded in the late 12th century or earlier, being first mentioned in 1170. The church was one of dozens lost in the Great Fire of London in 1666, it was redesigned by Sir Christopher Wren and rebuilt in 1695. The church was badly damaged in the Blitz but rebuilt in 1961. The original interior was lost and has been restored with surviving items from other destroyed churches.
The building is in the Baroque style and made from red brick with a Portland stone dressing. The nave has aisles with five bays. There is a west tower with a weathervane on it's steeple.
The District Line grew out of the District Railway which was formed to link up the railway termini in London, at first using Metropolitan Railway rolling stock and then later it's own. The District Railway eventually formed a sprawling network spanning London from west to east, becoming the District Line in 1933.
The branch from Edgware Road to Wimbledon (known as the Edgware Road branch of the District Line for obvious reasons) begins on shared tracks with two of the other sub-surface lines. Edgware Road itself was originally part of the Metropolitan Railway and indeed one of the original stations on the first stretch from Paddington to Farringdon.
The branch travels through down through west London including Earl's Court before heading south west via West Brompton and then south of the Thames before terminating at Wimbledon.
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| Edgware Road |
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| Ladbroke Grove |
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| Fulham Broadway |
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| Wimbledon |
Although the Hammersmith & City Line only dates from 1990 when it appeared on the tube map for the first time, some of it's route dates back to the 1860s and the earliest of London's underground railways. A line was built jointly by the Metropolitan and Great Western Railways from Paddington to Hammersmith, then a developing suburb of London. The line, and it's later extensions out east became the Hammersmith & City route of the Metropolitan Railway later Line. Finally, in 1990 it was given an identity on the network of it's own.
The Hammersmith & City Line starts in Hammersmith in west London, heading east along shared tracks with the other sub-surface lines through some of the major rail termini like Paddington. Kings Cross and Liverpool Street. It then heads out into east London through Whitechapel, Plaistow and finally arriving at Barking. For nearly all of it's length, the Hammersmith & City shares tracks and stations with the other three sub-surface lines though on the tube map there is a short stretch between Moorgate and Aldgate East where the pink line of the Hammersmith & City is all on it's own!
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| Hammersmith |
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| Moorgate |
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| West Ham |
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| Barking |