107. Canada Water

Saturday 28th November 7pm

This is another one of those enormous Jubilee line stations that looks a bit oversized for the area and probably makes more sense when it's busy. There are big underground spaces, then the escalators go up into a huge cylinder which forms the surface building and lets the light in - it's all very impressive. The only problem I had with it is that it's relentlessly grey - there is no other colour, apart from the people, and it begins to look a bit drab.

This station has the distinction of being the only one that has taken sponsorship money to change its name: on the day of the London Marathon it became Buxton Water (one of the sponsors of the marathon) for the day, and as I was in the city that day I went and took a photograph:

I can't imagine what other stations that would work at, which is a relief as it's a trend I don't think I'd like.

Wikipedia entry here.

106. Barons Court

Thursday 12th November 7.40pm

First things first: it really does look like it needs an apostrophe doesn't it, but apparently there's a good reason why it hasn't (have a look on Wikipedia).

There's some nice extra signage on the platform seating:

The ticket office is tiled with gorgeous green tiles but there were staff loitering an I didn't want to look like some mad tile fetishist so I didn't get a picture. Really lovely they were too.

Wikipedia entry here.

105. Ravenscourt Park

Thursday 12th November 7.30pm

This is the next stop along from Stamford Brook and is unsurprisingly very similar. The only difference is that this has a much larger building at ground level although weirdly it's an empty space with an extra exit, so I'm not sure what purpose that serves.

Up on the platforms there are signs for the Piccadilly line but the electronic train indicators tell you that Piccadilly line trains don't actually stop there, which is frustrating when you're waiting for a disrupted District line service and one flies straight past you.

Wikipedia entry here.

104. Stamford Brook

Thursday 12th November 6.15pm

This is one of those stations where the track is actually elevated and looks down over the houses, and the platforms are open air with white wooden roofs, with the ends of the wooden strips cut to triangles (like a picket fence but upside down). Then you walk down stairs to get to the ticket office, which is plain and practical - just brickwork. There's something about these kind of stations I like, which is weird as they're the exact opposite of underground - I think it's something to do with the fact that they're more "everyday" stations, which people use for commuting rather than pleasure, so they're functional and useful

Wikipedia entry here.

103. Notting Hill Gate

Saturday 7th November 10.30am

This is an entirely underground station with no surface buildings, just stairs to the ticket level and platforms, and other than that it's quite an unremarkable station.

Wikipedia entry here.

That is also the last station in Zone 1 ticked off my list. It's good to final complete a sub-set of the whole Tube thing, instead of just percentages. I thought I'd probably get a line finished first, probably the Victoria line as it's the shortest, but my travels haven't been that organised. But while it's good to achieve a goal it also makes me realise that it's taken me almost three years to do what was basically the easiest bit of the challenge. Goodness knows how long it'll take me to get to Chesham!

102.High Street Kensington

Saturday 7th November 10.10am

I'm not sure I really like the big fat strip of blue across the middle to accommodate the name of the station - it messes with the proportions. 

This is one of those stations where the train randomly stops and you have to switch to another service on the opposite platform which then doesn't seem to go anywhere very quickly. That's the charm of the District and Circle lines for you!

I liked this old labelling over a noticeboard:

Above ground you exit the station through a shopping arcade, which has a fancy domed roof over a cross-shaped layout, which is all as fancy as you'd expect from Kensington.

Wikipedia entry here.

101. Archway

Saturday 31st October 6.25pm

I nearly couldn't find this station as the building it's part of was covered in scaffolding and also next to a big junction on a busy road that turns out to be the start of the A1. Any interesting surface buildings have long since been replaced so it's a fairly unremarkable station withjust an escalator down to platforms serving a single line. Even the nice tiling (like Highgate) has been taken away.

Wikipedia entry here.

100. Highgate

Saturday 31st October 6.05pm

I liked this as soon as I got off the train as it's got interesting tiling:

The station itself seems to be built into the side of a hill with several exits, and inevitably I picked the least interesting but most confusing one, which led out into a car park and immediately disoriented me. You can tell I'm getting further away from zone 1 and moving into suburbia as the station actually has a car park. It's a pity I hadn't visited in the daylight as the station seems to have been an interesting part of an abandoned line, some of which is still visible and which sounds really interesting. I think I'll have to visit again.

Wikipedia entry here.