'Slow Down'

Day 3

 

Anerley - Angel - Archway

 

In the words of Tom Lehrer: "a-suh-puh-ring is here"...

 

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the crocuses are crocusing, and it's a fine old day for a spot of sightseeing. And yes, I know that much of this journey is, by definition, going to be spent underground, where the opportunities for sights to see are limited, but today I hope to see a little more blue sky than usual, as I'm kicking off with a trip on the London Overground service to Anerley.

 

Or, at least, I will be when I've crossed London to get onto it.

 

The Overground service is a sort of cross between the tube and a normal rail network. It's a roughly circular line (with occasional offshoots), which, if you look at the tube map, seems to have been designed to follow the path of the grey ring that designates Zone 2.

 

I could, therefore, board an Overground train at, say, Shepherd's Bush and travel all the way round to Surrey Quays, where I would take the West Croydon branch down to Anerley, without using the "proper" underground at all. I might have to change once or twice, as I don't think there's a train that goes 'full circle' so to speak, but it's a possibility.

 

However, today I'm on a tighter schedule than usual as I have a doctor's appointment back in Ealing at 4pm. In addition, although I'm trying not to let this dictate things too much, there's a chance I might actually complete the rest of the 'A's today! Five stations, all but the first of which are in North London, and are conveniently split between just two lines: Angel and Archway on the Northern Line, and Arnos Grove and Arsenal on the Piccadilly. If I get a move on I should be able to do it.

 

I decide therefore to get over to the other side of London as quickly as possible on the tube, and then take the Overground from Canada Water.

 

***

 

On the Central Line train at Bond Street, the driver announces that there will be a short delay while we wait for a member of station staff. His explanation for this starts formally enough, as we are told we are going to be given an "assisted dispatch" (not something I've ever had before - on the tube or anywhere else for that matter) as the driver's cab has a defective CCTV feed and he can't see the rear of the train. It's at this point that the driver's fluency in "announcement-ese" fails him and he makes the fair, if rather less formal, point that "we don't want to drag anyone along the platform, do we?"

 

Erm - no - no we don't. Well put.

 

***

 

It's a little after 11.15 when I get to Canada Water, and about twenty minutes later when I get off the train at Anerley.

 

The journey on the Overground train - the first time I've ever used it - is both interesting and disappointing. Not an easy combination to pull off you'd have thought.

 

The interest comes from the cleanliness, reliability and sheer size of the trains. They are like a supersized version of normal tube trains. Using the Central Line as an example, you can, I'm sure, picture the seating along the walls of each carriage, facing each other over a central aisle (I know some lines have occasional seats that face front or back, but ignore that for the minute).

 

The difference on the Overground trains is that the central aisle is roughly twice the width of that on the tube. Same size seating - twice the amount of leg room.

 

Or indeed - standing room (although given that, in the brief time I spent on the line, I never saw a carriage with more than half a dozen people on it, this seems an incredible amount of unused train space).

 

If there were any way of using these trains on some of the other underground lines, where space is always at a premium, we might all be a lot better off! (On second thoughts, scrap that idea - I suspect it would take the gravitational pull of a Black Hole to get people to abandon their territory in the doorways of some trains!)

 

As for the disappointment aspect of the Overground - this is, ironically, the lack of any view worth speaking of.

 

***

 

And here I feel obliged to offer a pre-emptive apology. This blog chronicles a journey. It is a journey of exploration. It is journey that covers an entire capital city and beyond. It is a journey that will take time, and effort, and pay-as-you-go Oyster Cards. It is a journey on which I hope to observe many and varied fellow travellers, and to share with you, dear reader, my impressions of them, and of their environment.

 

It is also a journey made up of lots of smaller journeys. And quite frankly, most of these are going to be pretty similar.

 

Travelling from one London Underground Station to another, along the same lines back and forth, will inevitably lead to a certain amount of repetition. I will try and keep this to a minimum, but I can see myself running out of different ways to describe the rows of terraces I pass, or the uninspiring architecture of some of the stations I visit, and for that, I apologise.

 

However, since the alternative would read something like this:

 

"Went from Baker St. to Balham (Bakerloo Line to Elephant & Castle; Northern Line to Balham)

Then from Balham to Bank (Northern Line all the way)"

 

I hope you'll agree that it's worth continuing to mine the seam of repetition in the hope of unearthing the occasional nugget of novelty.

 

***

 

Anyway - back to Anerley...

 

So having passed through some of the southern suburbs of London, with their annoyingly repetitive housing, I finally arrive at Anerley station.

 

The place itself has (according to the ever informative Mr Google) an interesting history. Or it would, if it actually existed, which apparently it doesn't.

 

Anerley - apparently it doesn't really exist

Now this is somewhat disconcerting, as I have a very clear memory of having arrived at a station claiming to serve this non-existent location, but let me explain...

 

Anerley was the name given to a vague area which spread outwards over time from Anerley Road.

 

Anerley Road itself was only so named because, when a Scotsman named William Sanderson built the first (and - for a time - only) house on it in 1827, he imaginatively named it "Anerly" (or "Only" in Scottish dialect).

 

Prior to that, the area was merely part of Penge Common - and if the authorities hadn't built the road, and friend William hadn't built his house, who knows what it would have been called.

 

In my imagination it becomes a kind of Narnia or Brigadoon and I wonder whether the others will believe me when I tell them of my adventures in this strange land...

Anerley - just checking it's still there

I wander down the hill from the station, and come across what must be one of the shortest sections of waterway I've ever seen.

 

Croydon Canal - probably not long enough to
actually hold a narrow-boat any more

It's what's left of the Croydon Canal, which lasted all of 27 years before it was abandoned as a waste of time, and now stands as a rather long and thin park lake.

 

The park is Betts Park, and is pleasant enough, with benches, a play area and even some gym equipment, which is currently being used by a couple of gents, who look to be well into their retirement.

***

So far, on this journey the stations I've visited seem to have fallen into two categories. There are stations which serve a very clear and obvious "DESTINATION" - in other words, they were built because people wanted to visit a particular building, or street, or attraction and needed a station nearby at which to get off the train. Covent Garden, St. Pauls, Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus - you get the idea.

 

Then there are those stations which seem to have just sort of slipped in between the houses while no-one was looking. The people who live in the surrounding area presumably welcome the proximity to a transport link, but I can see no other reason why anyone (other than the occasional alphabetically obsessed nutter like myself) would ever choose to go there.

 

Anerley Station falls most definitely into the latter category, and so after a relatively short visit, I head back north.

 

***

 

Deciding that I have a bit of time to spare, having been in Anerley for only half an hour or so, I take the Overground again, this time heading north all the way to Highbury & Islington. I then plan to walk to my next port of call - which is Angel - along Upper Street, where the great and good of Islington practise their air-kissing.

 

My main reason for this decision is once again the novelty of travelling on something which looks and feels like a tube train, but which is travelling overground.

 

Unfortunately, once north of Canada Water, it seems the definitions of the words 'over' and 'ground' are applied somewhat loosely, and we spend most of our time in what feel very much like tunnels, with only occasional glimpses of the sky through gaps in the concrete roofs.

 

"I never saw a man who looked

With such a wistful eye

Upon that little tent of blue

Which prisoners call the sky"

(Oscar Wilde - The Ballad Of Reading Gaol)

 

A glimpse of The Shard (London's newest and tallest skyscraper) between the rooftops north of Whitechapel signals  a return to daylight, and sadly a return to the views of terraces, tower blocks and warehouses which seem to greet my eye at every turn.

 

***

 

As I pull into Highbury & Islington  I realise that time is shorter than I thought. The London Overground seems to run at a more sedate pace than the tube, and it's already 1pm. Conscious of an increasing desire to finish off the 'A' section of my list, and having only visited one station so far today, I set off briskly to walk the length of Upper Street.

 

I know the area quite well already, as I've been to the theatre here (The Almeida) often, as well as visiting some of the many coffee shops and eateries along the street. I might therefore be forgiven for not taking time to look around very much on my way to Angel.

 

However, I should take a little time here to describe the area for those not familiar with it.

 

Islington has an affluent and fashionable air about it - with many familiar and famous names having lived there over the years. The shops and restaurants include the usual High Street names, but also an eclectic selection of antique, clothing, food, décor and toiletry shops.

 

It's a pleasant street to stroll along, and there are plenty of places to stop for a drink and watch the world go by, if that's your thing.

 

Today, however, my 'thing' is to grab a sandwich and a bottle of coke and head straight into the station (pausing for a photo first, naturally). 

 

Angel - sorry, must dash!

A sense of urgency has really taken over me now as I head north on the Northern Line to Archway. If I'm going to get to the other two stations on the Piccadilly Line after this I'm really going to have to hurry. I find myself hoping that there's nothing much to see at Archway so I can grab the photo and leave as quickly as possible.

Archway - but I don't think it's that one

I almost breathe a sigh of relief as I find that this is in fact the case. I do a quick circuit of the station to make sure I haven't missed anything, and - dismissing the few mini-markets and kebab shops I see as not being worth my time - I turn on my heel and take the first train back southwards towards Kings Cross where I can change to the Piccadilly Line.

 

And sitting on the train I suddenly realise what I'm doing.

 

I've forgotten my purpose. I've practically ignored places I'm supposed to be exploring. I've very nearly been reduced to simply 'ticking the boxes' and completely missing the point of why I'm doing this. Ok, so some stations will have less to see or do around them than others - but what they do have should be given the breathing space to at least make an impression on me. And what about the people who live there? Maybe half an hour with a cup of tea in a greasy spoon café will furnish me with a wealth of anecdotes I might otherwise have missed.

 

I give myself a mental telling off, and, promising to keep on track (oh, shut up - I'm allowed a pun at such a revelatory moment) decide that, for now, Arnos Grove and Arsenal are just going to have to wait.