Day 44
Hatton Cross - Headstone Lane - Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 - Heathrow Terminal 4 - Heathrow Terminal 5
Since day one of this journey, one particular section of the Tube Map has regularly caught my eye as somewhere the alphabetically-minded traveller can feel very much at home. Of the eleven stations on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly Line, no fewer than seven are brought to you by the letter 'H' (as our friends on Sesame Street would say). Everything beyond Osterley in fact - which seems more than mere coincidence.
It's true that three of the stations are named after the various terminals of Heathrow airport, and three of the others are in the borough of Hounslow - but if I've learned one thing on this journey, it's that geographical proximity does not necessarily equate to alphabetical juxtaposition. Many's the planning headache given me by the christeners of London's underground stations, who - rather than giving us the sensibly alphabetical names of, for example, Acton Central, Acton East, Acton North, Acton South, Acton Town and Acton West, thus enabling me to visit them all in one day - have instead tended to put the 'north', 'south', 'west' (and so on) bits first, giving me such ridiculous itineraries as South Hampstead - South Harrow - South Kensington - South Kenton, and leaving me zig-zagging across London like a lunatic.
Except - for some curious reason - they haven't followed this pattern on this particular stretch of the Piccadilly Line...
Here we find Hounslow Central, Hounslow East and Hounslow West - conveniently adjacent both geographically and (with a minor bit of to-ing and fro-ing along the line) alphabetically. Great for my purposes, but a puzzling departure from the usual practice.
I'm not visiting the Hounslow Stations today, of course - they're towards the end of the 'H' section - and the Heathrow stations would be next to each other even if the word 'Terminal' came at the beginning (which would be a contradiction in terms, when you come to think about it) rather than the end of the name. It's just odd, that's all.
Anyway, with the minor inconvenience of a departure up to Headstone Lane, I'll be spending most of my time down here in the south-west corner of the Tube Map, and - for once - having a relatively easy time of it.
***
And of course, the major theme today is...
AIRPORTS!
Not only will I be visiting the various airport terminals, but my first station - Hatton Cross - is located right next to the south-eastern perimeter of Heathrow, and is the location of many of the usual hotels and other businesses that rely on the airport for their livelihoods.
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| Hatton Cross |
Not that it's an especially salubrious location.
To quote Douglas Adams: 'It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the expression "as pretty as an airport"'.
The 24-hour neon-lit anonymity of the departure lounges, duty-free shops and check-in desks is depressing enough - but outside it's all just car-parks, hotels, freight depots and triple-carriageways.
There is, of course, the regular arrival or departure of planes to liven things up a little, but I'm not close enough here to get any really impressive photos, and - well, when you've seen one plane, you've seen them all.
I head south from the station (which is on a busy crossroads - the 'Cross' which gave it its name) towards the village - if it can be called that - of Hatton itself.
On the way, I'm surprised to find myself passing a field with grazing horses, ducks and geese.
There doesn't seem to be any particular farm building attached to the field, and it gives the impression of having been somehow overlooked by everyone as they were busily building a whopping great airport next to it. Any day now someone's going to look round, do a double-take, and yell: "Who the %*&! left that there!!!"
A little further on is a quaint-ish pub called the Green Man. It looks shut when I get here (as it would be at 10.30 in the morning) and I wonder how much business they actually do - it's not exactly a tourist attraction, and the only buildings around are all freight-depots. I suspect other than a brisk lunchtime trade it's very quiet round here.
So, having exhausted the delights of Hatton Cross, I move on.
***
I make my way north to Headstone Lane.
This is an isolated Overground station on the way to Watford, just south of Hatch End, and in much the same way as I failed to find very much of interest at that earlier H station, Headstone Lane similarly provides little in the way of entertainment.
The road that gives the station its name is a winding affair on the outskirts of North Harrow. There are fields to the west, and a smattering of residential streets nearby, but it's to the south that I head, to the Headstone Manor Recreation Ground - and Headstone Manor itself.
It sounds like something from a Hammer Horror movie, but Headstone Manor is actually a 14th Century Manor House, famous round these parts for having the only water-filled moat in Middlesex.
It's a Grade I listed building, and apparently has much of interest to the student of architecture.
I can't see any of this, however, as the building is closed to the public.
The attached museum, in some old barn buildings, is also out of bounds today, as they're repairing the roof, so I leave Headstone Manor with nothing but a few photos for my trouble.
***
And so it's back south to the Piccadilly Line and the various stations serving Heathrow Airport.
Technically speaking I wasn't supposed to take any photos for some reason (probably something to do with terrorism, though quite what benefit a potential Bin Laden will gain from a photo of a fluorescent sign is beyond me) - however, I managed to grab the requisite Signage snaps with my phone.
Since they're all much of a muchness, I'll treat the stations as a 'collection' for the purposes of description - they are practically indistinguishable from one another, being on the whole grubby, white, fluorescently lit, and crowded with identical mobs of holiday-makers battling with their suitcases.
I don't seem to be able to get much beyond the ticket halls of each station, and am therefore unable to get to any useful vantage point from which to take exciting photos of planes landing and taking off.
I'm sure I remember, as a kid, coming here and being taken to the 'Observation Area' where you could watch the planes for hours. But there's no indication of such an area now - probably another victim of the heightened security post 9/11.
So that ends my journey for today.
Not altogether stimulating, I admit, and I hope that some of the later Hs have more to offer!
There is, of course, the regular arrival or departure of planes to liven things up a little, but I'm not close enough here to get any really impressive photos, and - well, when you've seen one plane, you've seen them all.
I head south from the station (which is on a busy crossroads - the 'Cross' which gave it its name) towards the village - if it can be called that - of Hatton itself.
On the way, I'm surprised to find myself passing a field with grazing horses, ducks and geese.
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| Airport? What airport? |
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| Jet-propulsion and horse-power in perfect harmony. |
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| The Green Man |
***
I make my way north to Headstone Lane.
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| Headstone Lane |
This is an isolated Overground station on the way to Watford, just south of Hatch End, and in much the same way as I failed to find very much of interest at that earlier H station, Headstone Lane similarly provides little in the way of entertainment.
The road that gives the station its name is a winding affair on the outskirts of North Harrow. There are fields to the west, and a smattering of residential streets nearby, but it's to the south that I head, to the Headstone Manor Recreation Ground - and Headstone Manor itself.
It sounds like something from a Hammer Horror movie, but Headstone Manor is actually a 14th Century Manor House, famous round these parts for having the only water-filled moat in Middlesex.
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| Headstone Manor (to the right) and its moat. |
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| Headstone Manor |
I can't see any of this, however, as the building is closed to the public.
The attached museum, in some old barn buildings, is also out of bounds today, as they're repairing the roof, so I leave Headstone Manor with nothing but a few photos for my trouble.
***
And so it's back south to the Piccadilly Line and the various stations serving Heathrow Airport.
Technically speaking I wasn't supposed to take any photos for some reason (probably something to do with terrorism, though quite what benefit a potential Bin Laden will gain from a photo of a fluorescent sign is beyond me) - however, I managed to grab the requisite Signage snaps with my phone.
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| Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 |
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| Heathrow Terminal 4 |
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| Heathrow Terminal 5 |
I don't seem to be able to get much beyond the ticket halls of each station, and am therefore unable to get to any useful vantage point from which to take exciting photos of planes landing and taking off.
I'm sure I remember, as a kid, coming here and being taken to the 'Observation Area' where you could watch the planes for hours. But there's no indication of such an area now - probably another victim of the heightened security post 9/11.
So that ends my journey for today.
Not altogether stimulating, I admit, and I hope that some of the later Hs have more to offer!
