65. Chancery Lane

Saturday 11th October 4.50pm

This is one of those stations that wasn't where I thought it was. If pushed I'd have said it was further south, near the river, probably where Cannon Street is, but it isn't there at all - it's along High Holborn, within walking distance and almost in sight of Holborn station, which probably explains why I've never been there before.

It has not surface buildings, just subways from either side of the road which converge on the ticket office then down escalators to the platforms. It was almost deserted when I went through it some I'm guessing that most of the millions of people who use it do so during the week. When I was there a train left the station and stopped with the end of the last carriage just beyond the end of the platform so the next train waited with the front of the first carriage just beyond the platform at the other end. If only I had a fancy camera that did a panorama I could have got a shot of two trains at the same station at the same time.

Wikipedia entry here.

64. Farringdon

Saturday 11th October 11.50am

This was my second attempt at Farringdon this year - the first attempt failed as I couldn't actually find the entrance. To be fair the place has been a massive building site in preparation for Crossrail and I did begin to wonder if it was actually shut. But I've been through it since and people have got off so I assume it's just badly signposted and I'm an idiot. So I figured that if I actually arrived at the station I'd have to be total fool to get so lost I couldn't get out.

Turns out it's a rather lovely station, and unbelievably quiet on a Saturday lunchtime. One of the exits was shut so you had to walk along a corridor with windows along one side which blazed with sun, and there's some lovely honey-coloured brickwork too. I think it might be a bit of triumph when it's finally finished, and I'm glad I had an excuse to give it another go.

Wikipedia entry here.

63. Aldgate

Tuesday 2nd October 3pm.

I liked this station as it's the eastern terminus of the Metropolitan line, which means that the west-bound trains sit on the platform ready to depart, but seem in no rush to do so. It also meant that at the time of day I travelled it was quiet and I nearly had a whole carriage to myself. Tube travel isn't meant to be that relaxing.

Wikipedia entry here.

62. Stockwell

Wednesday 2nd October 9.10am

This is another one of those stations that was one stop away from where I needed to be, although when you get out of the centre of London they get further apart and this was a good twenty minutes walk. The Station itself is initially quite disappointing, a very boxy thing in chocolate brown brick, but actually it's got something about it which I quite like.

It's the station where the Brazilian electrician was mistaken for a terrorist suspect and shot in 2005, a tragic event which inspired a Pet Shop Boys song called We're all Criminals now which I ended up singing to myself for the rest of the day.

Wikipedia entry here.

61. Kennington

Tuesday 1st October 11pm.

The first thing that strikes me about that picture is the wooden frame around the name, which looks like the kind of thing my Dad would have knocked up out of bits of wood he had lying around but which isn't just restricted to one roundel or indeed one station - so far I've also seen it at Oval, which is the next stop, and St. James's Park, which is on a completely different line, so it must be a real thing although it hardly sees that stylish.

The rest of the station is as you'd expect it: lots of tiling, and a lift to the ticket office level. It's also situated on a corner, which is ideal for confusing you if you don't know the area or where you're going.

Wikipedia entry here.

60. North Greenwich

Tuesday 1st October 10.45pm

I actually went through this station last summer but had been drinking and forgot. This time round I had my wits about me, which you need anyway after coming out of a gig at the O2. It's another of those huge, spacious Jubilee line stations although this one seems less spacious quite quickly when you get underground, on a funny mezzanine level between the station and the platforms. Down on the platforms there are big columns covered in blue mosaic tiles, which you can see in the picture, which is an unusual splash of colour as the rest of the Jubilee line stations are almost exclusively concrete and metal.

Wikipedia entry here.

59. Vauxhall

Tuesday 1st October, 2.45pm

I've been to Vauxhall a few times but always on foot, which is unexpected as it's a bit of a transport hub with Tube, railway and buses all converging on one place, right beside a busy road over the bridge. The Tube station is probably the least interest bit of it with no interchange and as I was with a friend I didn't really pay much attention to it as we walked through it.

Wikipedia entry here.