175. Harlesden

Saturday 8th June 10.20am

It was certainly sunny at Harlesden but not busy at all. Turns out that almost nobody wants to head north on the Bakerloo line on a Sunday morning.

The station building itself was tiny, nestled between the railway and a surprisingly busy road but not on the same level as either. The barriers in the ticket office - one in, one out - were both open, which confused both me and my Oyster card.

Wikipedia entry here.

174. Brent Cross

Monday 3rd June 4.30pm

This was renamed after the shopping centre it's near to although as I was wandering around I saw no sign of it, and two other people asked me where it was so I'm guessing it's not that near. It's not like you could miss a shopping centre is it?

I seemed to go into this through some side entrance, down a narrow alley between houses where it seemed to be hiding in some trees. I'm guessing that all grew up around it after. Another above ground platform. It wasn't very busy.

Wikipedia entry here.

173. Hendon Central

Monday 3rd June 4.05pm

This is one of those stations that's in a row of shops and has flats on top, overlooking a roundabout, which is probably brilliant if you live there as everything is nearby and connected. But it doesn't make for a good picture. The booking office is actually quite plain, just painted white and not remotely decorating, so its Grade II listing can't be for that.

The platforms are lower than the station but are above ground, which is confusing as Hampstead, just a couple of stops further along is the deepest tube on the underground. But I guess that's how hills work. It was sheltered but sunny when I was there, and I quite like the wooden frame around the station name on the roundel (it looks like something my Dad might have made) although there wasn't much space to photograph it.

Wikipedia entry here.

172. Plaistow

Saturday 16 February 11.30am

While I'd heard of this because of differing ways you could pronounce its name I would have assumed it was in a bit of south London not served by the Tube. I really am rubbish at geography.

The station sits on a bridge over the tracks and is quite imposing as you walk up the street to it. It appears to be cube shaped, with the two sides I saw being identical, but then inside it feels different with the passage from two doors leading to the ticket hall and the stairs to the platform all feeling a bit unsymmetrical. I'd like another look at that.

By coincidence I was in the area for an exhibition and two of the paintings were of this station. Here's one:

Wikipedia entry here.

171. Upton Park

Saturday 16th February 11.15am

I'd never heard of this station and if pushed might have assumed it was somewhere in suburban north London, when in fact it couldn't be more East End - just a couple of stops from Bow and the nearest station to West Ham's football stadium before they moved to the Olympic park

It's a very traditional station with just two platforms with stairs to the booking hall which leads directly onto a busy high street, which is a bit of a shock really as I was expecting something quieter and more suburban.

Wikipedia entry here.

170. Mile End

Wednesday 3rd October 4.25pm

Part of this station is an island platform with pillars in between which are benches. The benches are crying out for roundels on them, like lots of other places on the Tube but there aren't any - I walked the length of the platform hoping to find some but no, so we're left with modern metal ones which somehow feel a bit disappointing.

It has a surface building but it's really just an opening in a row of shops. It did have a pair of roundels sticking out from it, one with "underground" on it and the other with the name of the station on it. I'd have liked to get a picture of them but it didn't feel like the kind of street where you could stop and do that.

Wikipedia entry here.

169. Bethnal Green

Wednesday 3rd October 3.50pm

This has got the older yellowy tiles that you see elsewhere on the Tube and as a bonus has nice lettering above it, which proved too difficult to photograph in any useful way. The whole station is below ground, most of it probably under the crossroads you come up to. It was really quite when I was there and after months of failing to get there it felt like a bit of an anticlimax.

Wikipedia entry here.