27. St. James's Park

Saturday 18th January 3.00pm

Blimey that's a punctuation nightmare isn't it? Now I've read Eats, Shoots and Leaves and thought I had a handle on the whole apostrophe business but this 's' followed by another 's' thing still catches me out and I'd have put money on this being St. James' Park. But no.

The station itself is build underneath 55 Broadway, which is the headquarters of the Tube company - a stunning building which according to Wikipedia they are vacating next year and turning into flats, so I've got a couple of years to win the lottery/find myself a sugar Daddy to buy me one.

The above ground bits of the station include shops and lots of marble, and it works unlike Picadilly Circus where you used to be able to get into Tower Records but it was all a bit of a nightmare. And somehow this reminds me of Grand Central Station, although obviously it's actually nothing like it.

Wikipedia entry here.

And with that I have visited one-tenth of the Tube stations in just over a year. I realise things are going to get a lot more difficult as I leave Zone 1 but it's been fun so far and has completely changed the way I think about the Tube - if you see me waiting for a train I'm likely to be lost in contemplation of the tiling. I love the Tube!

26. Temple

Saturday 18th January 2.45pm

Turns out this isn't where I thought it was. I knew it was on the Embankment but thought it was opposite Cleopatra's Needle - somehow I muddled it's religious name with the whole Cleopatra business and assumed they were connected. So I could never understand why anyone would use it when it was right next door to Embankment and Charing Cross stations. As I walked and walked along the Embankment, past Somerset House and beyond I realised my mistake.

It does feel like it's in the middle of nowhere though, and why would anyone use it? It's the quietest Tube station I've been though - I was the only person in the ticket hall as I went through the barriers. Disappointingly the rather lovely station building is now a Walkabout pub. But I guess it will get a new lease of life if Thomas Hetherwick's bridge gets built. Fingers crossed then.

Wikipedia entry here.

25. Barbican

Saturday 11th January 12.45pm

I love that picture! Now the underground has smartened its act up it feels quite rare to see anything looking tatty. Of course there are bits of it that are a mess because they're being rebuilt, and lots of it is going to look scuffed from use, but this is the first thing like this I've seen and it's right there on platform 1 as the train pulls into the station. Something about that makes me really happy.

The station itself is small with the platforms hardly below ground level, and open to the elements although I guess at one point they had a roof to keep you dry. It only serves one route and I'm starting to think that this type of station: small, no escalators, no endless corridors, just getting local people to where they need to go, is becoming my favourite kind of station.

Wikipedia entry here.