176. Willesden Junction

Saturday June 8th 10.35am

That sign makes me cross. This station has had Underground trains going through it since 1915 but there are no Underground red roundels on either of the Underground platforms, just orange Overground ones. The Overground didn't exist until 2007 - where did all the red roundels go?! How annoying. Confusingly the Underground and Overground services are listed on the same arrivals board by the time they're scheduled to arrive and their destination, like in all train stations, but unlike all Underground stations where it just counts down the minutes to their arrival. There is no differentiation between what service they are, so unless you're used to it you don't know what's coming until it rounds the bend.

The platforms are old but the station building is mush newer, although not in any fancy or interesting way - it hardly looks much grander than a bus shelter, not helped by it's location just off a main road above the railway in what feels like a bit of a wasteland.

Wikipedia entry here.

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.

162. Dollis Hill

Saturday 9th November 10.25am

"Dollis" is an odd word isn't it that makes me smile for no good reason. The station is the exact opposite to the one I'd been to before (Neasden) in that its ticket office is underneath the rail tracks, with a subway to roads on either side. It's only little with two barriers and an office with a window opposite them to keep an eye on what's going on, and it was surprisingly busy when I was there.

Wikipedia entry here.

162 stations is 60% of the stations on the underground (270). This is what that looks like:

There's still a lot to do isn't there? Unbelievably I'm now in my fifth year of this foolishness and I suspect I thought it would all be over by now, but looking at the map and all those stations stretching beyond the M25 I can't help thinking it will take another five!

161. Neasden

Saturday 4th November 10.10am

Unexpectedly for a zone 3 station in the middle of nowhere - it's very adjacent to the North Circular - this is a station I've been through several times before, way back when, and could remember. There's an IKEA within walking distance and I went there several times about 25 years ago when it was one of the few in the country. How time's change!

The station is a small building perched on top of a bridge over the railway itself which really is a very practical way of building stations. I do like the roundels built into the seating, and actually despite its location it's a nice little station.

Wikipedia entry here.

159. Bromley-by-Bow

Saturday 9th September 5.45pm

Another outdoor platform but this one is at ground level. The station building isn't though - it's on the bridge over the tracks, and is currently being refurbished so all you can see of the front is scaffolding, not that you could probably see much anyway as it's right next to a busy main road.

Slightly confused by the name though as I thought Bromley was in Kent.

Wikipedia entry here.

155. Willesden Green

Saturday 10th June 10.10am

This station made me smile as they've got flowerbeds on the platform - this part of the Jubilee line is above ground, and actually used to be a Metropolitan station so it's older. It's also got two types of roundel on the platform, although this one is really badly positioned between the benches:

Apparently there's a very rare clock on the front of the station - I looked at it and wasn't impressed. Oops.

Wikipedia entry here.

154. Blackhorse Road

Saturday 6th May 7.00pm

This is one of those stations on a corner at a junction so you don't see it until you're on top of it, although to be honest the building was nothing special.

The tiling is fairly straightforward:

Wikipedia entry here.

That completes all the station on the Victoria line! I thought it would be the first line I'd complete because it has the least (fewest?) amount of stations on it but it turns out I have no real need to be in east London. I am rather fond of it as a line though, partly because it's a nice blue colour but also because it's has no confusing branches to trick you.

153. Walthamstow Central

Saturday 6th May 6.30pm

I was surprised by how busy the train was when it got to this station although I don't know why I should assume the end of the line would be quiet as this is a really busy area with a market all the way down Walthamstow High Street and bus and train stations very close by. I didn't notice what the station was like, which usually means it's fairly nondescript.

The tiling is slightly baffling - what's this got to do with the local area? I guess that by the end of the line they'd simply run out of inspiration:

Wikipedia entry here.

152. Seven Sisters

Saturday 6th May 10.20am

This seems to have no surface building and you get into it from a subway beside a busy road, which I guess makes it a proper underground station although I do miss an interesting building at street level.

The tiling is a slightly awkward arrangement of seven trees which the area gets its name from:

Earlier in the year the Overground station was briefly all over the internet when someone took a picture of seven nuns on the station next to the name sign but sadly there were none about when I visited and it was actually really quiet.

Wikipedia entry here.

151. Tottenham Hale

Saturday 6th May 10.00am

I've been to the station here before when King's Cross has been shut and mainline services have terminated here. The train station is a modern glass box but the underground station is exactly like you'd expect a Victoria line station to be, and exits onto a slightly windswept plaza next to an industrial estate, which is a bit bleak.

In common with all the stations on the Victoria line - although I haven't always noticed this - it has tiling that specifically relates to the station, although quite how this does escapes me - it reminds me of Moses being abandoned in the bulrushes (lets assume he'sin the basket), but I hadn't realised he was from east London:

Wikipedia entry here.

150. Hampstead

Saturday 8th April 12.00pm

I'd purposefully decided to go south from here as apparently the tiling on the platform still has its old name - Heath Street - but I couldn't spot it and only noticed it right at the end of the platform as I was on the train out! I resisted the urge to get off at the next station and head back just to take pictures of tiles - that would be silly wouldn't it?

I remember using the station years ago and found it easily on a corner although for some reason one of the entrances is permanently shut which might make it a bit of a bottleneck if it were busier. It's also the deepest tube station although you'd never actually know it!

Wikipedia entry here.

149. Golders Green

Saturday 8th April 11.30am

This confused me a bit - you exit the platform down stairs despite it not feeling remotely elevated and only a few hundred yards before the station coming out of a tunnel. But then then as I walked from the station to Hampstead I realised why - there's a great big hill between the two! It's also quite weird to see 'crematoriums' on the signs for local destinations as you leave - I can't imagine that happens anywhere else.

Wikipedia entry here.

143. Canning Town

Wednesday 12th October 12.25pm

I like the way the roundel has been given a mohican to scare away the pigeons. It wasn't just this sign - it was all of them. I've not seen that anywhere else before, and there are plenty of other outdoor stations, so I guess this one is unusually popular with pigeons.

The station is very long and thing, squeezed in beside a main road and under a flyover, it's really just a long glass box. But sadly it's not as glamorous as that sounds.

Wikipedia entry here.

142. West Ham

Wednesday 12th October 12.05pm

It's nice to see some good honest brickwork on a modern station instead of concrete and steel, and it's all the more surprising as this is a Jubilee line station and the whole line is quite literally built of concrete and steel. There's the familiar large open spaces inside the building too, and I was so busy enjoying them that I completely missed the exit.

Wikipedia entry here.

137. Turnham Green

Saturday 24th September 4.00pm

My first trips to London after leaving school were to visit friends who were at college in West London. We had to pass into this station on our way into the city, and without fail someone would exclaim, "Turnham Green with envy!" We though we were funny. We weren't.

This is one of those stations where the track is elevated so the entrance and ticket office are at ground level and you have to go upstairs to catch the train. It feels the complete wrong way round for the underground but it does mean you get a great view down the tracks and over the green itself.

Wikipedia entry here.

136. Chiswick Park

Saturday 24th September 3.45pm

This is one of those stations that Piccadilly line trains go through but don't stop, which is confusing if you just look at a Tube map quickly and aren't paying proper attention.

The building is rather brilliantly circular, to suit its position on the bend in a road:

Rubbish picture but you get the idea. We don't really do many circular buildings in this country, although there are a surprising amount of circular Tube stations.

Wikipedia entry here.