119. Swiss Cottage

Saturday 27th February 10.50am

Another Bakerloo line station that got swapped to the Jubilee line without a makeover:

I really love these little tiles:

I've been wanting to photograph escalators with uplighters for ages and finally this was the place the was quiet enough to do it:

At the top of the escalator there's a roundel guiding you downwards that says "trains" on it, although stupidly I didn't take a picture.

There is no surface building - the whole thing is underground, under a busy junction, so there are five different exits to leave from, all labelled with street names which is of course the most practical way of doing it but completely confusing if you've forgotten the name of the street you're heading for and only have a landmark in mind.

Wikipedia entry here.

118. St Johns Wood

Saturday 27th February 10.45am

Does that need an apostrophe?

Surely the only station on the underground whose ticket building includes a Beatles cafe, because of the station's proximity to Abbey Roads studios. Interestingly it's also got flats built on top of it, which must be a mixed blessing for the owners.

It's a Jubilee line station but it has none of the modern elements to it, and is entirely vintage:

Turns out it used to be on the Bakerloo line and was swapped when the Jubilee line opened. I've got a 1953 Tube map on my landing which shows the Bakerloo line splitting with two lines heading north, the kind of thing that makes it tricky to navigate so it was probably for the best.

The down escalator is currently being replaced and having to walk down the stairs makes you appreciate the escalator more.

Wikipedia entry here.

117. Kilburn Park

Saturday 27th February 10.10am

This made me realise that for years I've been confusing Kentish Town and Kilburn in my head, when actually they're sort of other sides of Hampstead. It's a small, practical station and the best bit about it is the huge window over the escalators which means you ascend to ground level bathed in light even on quite a dull day in February.

Wikipedia entry here.

116.White City

Saturday 13th February 5.30pm

This is within sight of Wood Lane station and is so close it's a wonder they haven't found some way of combining them into one station. It's an old station that hasn't been significantly changed so there's some nice bits of old signage around it which is always interesting to see:

Wikipedia entry here.

115. Wood Lane

Saturday 13th February 5.25pm

This is a modern station so it's got that Jubilee line look that has become the default look for anything new: steel, glass, concrete. And despite usually similar materials they all end up looking different. I like the fact that this one has an elevated platform so when you get down to ground level there are old brick railway arches which are a nice mix of old with the new. At the turn in the stairs, behind the big window is this:

It's the old logo as a mosaic, which I thought was a really nice touch. It's a really nice little station.

Wikipedia entry here.

114. Westbourne Park

Saturday 13th February 11.15am

I like the wooden building the roundel is attached to - very simple and straightforward, like the station really. The building itself is a single storey thing on top of a bridge and has nothing remotely fancy about it at all.

Wikipedia entry here.

113. Ladbroke Grove

Saturday 13th February 11.05am

I took an instance dislike to this station when I saw the roundel - it's one of those with a horrid addition to help tourists find their way. You don't see them very often which is probably what makes them so appalling when you do. It just seems to go against all the Tube branding and spoils the look too. I hate it.

On the plus side it's one of those elevated station with open air platforms, with stairs down to a ground level ticket office, which are common in this part of west London and which I think might be my preferred type of station if I had to pick a fantasy local one. The building itself is nothing special at all squeezed in between some shops.

Wikipedia entry here.