Walk the Lines, by Mark Mason

This is another result of Christmas and birthday book vouchers.  A trip to Waterstones and sever books later back home to work the way through them all.  As I am reading three or four at once it does not always flow, at last one is finished. 

The basis of this book is simple.  The writer takes note of the different Underground lines, marks them out on a map, he is obsessed with maps, and then walks along the streets and byways that are covered by each individual line.  Clearly he is young, clearly he is fit, clearly he is off his head.

I like the idea.

Beginning with the Victoria line our hero walks from one end to the other, offering small talk, descriptions of stations, conversations with individuals, and vague history as he passes.  This is good and quite enjoyable, especially when involving stations, streets, and situations we have all met with.

He then walks across all lines, visiting all stations, and describing the changing scene from built up London, rich London, depressing Harrow, and a vast number of green areas within the city itself.  

The only problem I encounter with the book is that after a while it all becomes somewhat 'same.'  That is, one line sound just like another, one street like one passed before.  This is because he has taken on too big a job.  Such an adventure featuring one line only could have investigated the much deeper, offered many more tales of past adventures, crimes and mishaps, and become a more enjoyable read.

However, the sheer size of London, as our friend Fun has shown, means it takes a much deeper enquiry into the locale before we get the best out of the city.  This is not to disparage the effort here, on the contrary, it reveals how wide and full the whole of 'London' actually is, and it is not just a spot somewhere in the centre seen regularly on postcards, TV and rubbish films.

The people met along the way can be interesting, though an artist who makes cakes would have been better thrown from the top of the former Nat West Tower Putin fashion rather than entertained.  

The whole of the Greater London area covered by the Tube lines, meaning much of the south over the Thames is ignored, reflecting the wide divergence of people, dwellings and high streets that make up the conurbation.  London, like all towns and cities, has its own atmosphere. not always pleasant, but it is an enticing place to live.  It is also overcrowded, full of pig ignorant people, far too much traffic, and expensive.  For instance, to live in the residence I once occupied many years ago, allowing for much improvement to the place, would require around £500 a week to live there.  This, plus gas, electric and all those other costs is not something everyone can afford.  

The book is well worth a read for anyone who has lived there, it is well written, even allowing for his 'interesting' thought processes as he tries to understand and comprehend what London actually is, and a good book to read, one line at a  time.  Published in 2011 but not yet out of date regarding most lines and their happenings.  I recommend it.   

1908

Bank Holiday Bread, by Tube

Having decided on a quiet Bank Holiday Monday, I foolishly read 'The Venomous Bead.'  This, as you possibly will find when reading, led to a desperate and urgent desire for lots of white bread.  At least this began the day with a laugh, though while laughing at others efforts, made worse by the man in the house being helpful, is of course wrong, I still managed to enjoy reading this stuff as I always do.  

My rising early, and shops don't open until 10 am on Bank Holidays, I was forced to wait until the did before dragging myself slowly out the door.  Early had by now become after 10:35 and traffic was rushing too fast to be first into the supermarkets before the crowd.  The crowd were already in the car park!  

I walked to Tesco down the splendid Avenue, the best road in town, home of some lovely homes all built about 1881, I know this as they missed the census of that year but houses appear in 1891.  The chill in the air noticeable after the warm weather of the summer.  Suddenly the east wind, coming originally from the north, disturbs the warmth in the air and reminds us of a normal UK summers day.  The beaches and the sewage filled sea will be packed of course.  Interesting that Tory 'Environmental spokesmen' are now saying the nation ought to 'rough it a bit' instead of complaining about sewage in the drinking water!  Tory Britain!  Poison the water to save money for the shareholders and expect the nation to drink it and shut up!  

I passed the retired solicitor filling his Jaguar with kids seats, clearly the grandchildren have forced him out for the day, elsewhere blinds were still drawn, and as we neared the store an occasional mum holding hands with a son passed by.  Quite a few were out and about in fact, kids do not like lying about indoors. 

Shopping only for bread I paid my £21:95 into the self-service machine, the young lass only having to aid me twice, and left with my heavier than expected bag.  Who put that whisky in my basket?  

Talking of London Underground, I have been enjoying 'Fun'  as she wanders the Jubilee Line, though I still think of it as the Metropolitan, though it became the Bakerloo in 1939 and the Jubilee in 1979.  Quite why I think this way I know not.  However, she ends this line with a grand tour of the rich at the outskirts of London, well worth a read.  

The 'Tube' was always a place of adventure.  Some packed stations, Oxford Circus and Piccadilly for instance, some interesting designs both outside and in, and often interesting people.  The word 'interesting' there can be read in many ways.  The aroma of burning air as the train approached deep underground was always memorable.  The aroma of some passengers similarly.   A strange job driving underground all day.  While most trains find some light occasionally the Circle has limited opportunities so see the sun.  Boarding at Royal Oak, while HSTs departing Paddington belched diesel fumes over us all, and being crushed, if indeed we could get on, is always memorable, especially as we always had to stand and wait while the Paddington train got through to Edgeware Road before us.  Joy I call it, but the young ladies I often accidentally were forced up against may have felt differently.  Who can tell?  Well, apart from the creaming and hitting with their shoe I mean.  I miss this in many ways, the Underground I mean, not the screaming... 

Down the 'Tube'

London Transport Museum

As I passed by the museum on my way home from the horsemeat shop I pondered on the recent festivities on the London Underground.  Being 150 years since the first Metropolitan Railway line opened in 1863 they decided to run a steam special pulling carriages of ancient vintage full of hangers on dignitaries to commemorate the occasion.  Sadly my invitation appears to still be somewhere in the post.  

The first line was one of those 'cut and cover' jobs along the Euston Road.  This road had been built as circular route around the heavily congested centre of London and marked the then edge of the main metropolis.  To avoid railways cutting through this congestion, and knocking down MP's homes, all stations were built on the edge, which explains the setting for Paddington, Euston, Kings Cross and St Pancras.  The idea of an underground railway under this road was clever as little tunneling was required.  The road was dug up, tracks laid, walls and stations built, and the road surface returned once more.  There was little real disruption, except to those evicted or who's homes may have collapsed.  Always some 'Nimby' to complain!  

Running from Paddington, where Rolling stock help was obtained from Mr Brunel's Great Western Railway, hence the large tunnels to accommodate Brunel's 'Broad Gauge' tracks and engines, the line spread east to Farringdon.  Compare the tunnels on this line with the others.  I travelled this line on many occasions, not in the days of steam I hasten to add, and remain awed by the size of the tunnels and the complex arrangements of the various railway lines that run unheeded in the area.    

The idea of hastening travellers was a good one and enabled many to cross the city from one station to another with considerable ease.  The roadway itself soon lost the position as the rim of the city and as while the Metropolitan Railway pushed east to Aldgate to meet the new 'District' line the rising population pushed outwards.  The railways followed soon after.  By 1864 the GWR no longer assisted the Met line as they now possessed their own trains, however the GWR aided the line as it expanded west to Hammersmith, and the Met itself went northwards to chase the middle classes desiring a commuter lifestyle in fresh air in England's 'green and pleasant land,' which they proceeded to concrete over.  

By 1884 the Metropolitan Railway company had joined with the Metropolitan District Railway to create a circle line under London, this time using a new system of tunneling, suitable in the clay soil. Since then the railway, running on electric traction since the 1890's, has been a world of its own.  The experience is never forgotten, especially when the loony always sits next to you!  The warm air as the 'tube' approaches, the roar when the station is entered, the stuff that gets up your nose and the happy smiling faces stay in the mind always.  Only one of those is incorrect by the way.

How to build an underground railway. Pick and shovel!

The dignitaries at Paddington. (1863 not 2013 by the way)

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