Day 80
Southfields - Southgate - South Hampstead - South Harrow - South Kensington
There was a time, when I first set out - fresh-faced and hopeful - on this strange journey of mine, when I hoped (foolishly optimistically as I now realise) that it wouldn't take all that long to complete.
In those early, naïve days, I even toyed playfully with the idea of re-packaging the collected chronicles of my travels under the all-encompassing and (to my mind rather pithy) title: "Around The Tube In 80 Days"...........
Well... Day 80 is finally upon us and, while I'm certainly a large part of the way through my list of stations, there are plenty still to go and I don't think I'll be finishing any day soon - and somehow "Around The Tube In 137 Days" (or whatever it turns out to be) doesn't have quite the same literary ring to it. Ah well, it was a nice idea, which must sadly go by the wayside.
On the other hand, if any of you have alternative titular suggestions - feel free to drop me a line...
***
But back to the job in hand...
Today I'm continuing my foray into the various stations demarcated as being in the 'South' of their respective locations (though not necessarily in 'South' London).
I start with Southfields (which does happen to be in South London) which will be familiar to anyone who's ever visited the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.
 |
| Southfields |
Despite there being two stations actually in the area of Wimbledon, which is further south (Wimbledon Park and Wimbledon Station itself), Southfields is the station at which people are advised to alight - and then to walk the fifteen minutes or so to the All England Lawn Tennis Club where the championships are held.
The distance from the other two stations doesn't look to be much different than from Southfields, so it must purely be a crowd control exercise - one for which the local shopkeepers must be very thankful.
Given that I still have to visit the two Wimbledon stations, I decide not to visit the Tennis courts today, and to leave it until the 'W's later on - which seems the more appropriate juncture.
Instead I'm left with the areas immediately surrounding, and to the north of, the station - neither of which (though perfectly pleasant) offer much to divert the casual visitor.
The station sits at the junction of several roads, including the major north-south thoroughfare called Wimbledon Park Road, which leads south to the All England Club. Around the junction are a number of shops, banks, cafés and other small businesses which all seem to be doing a steady trade.
 |
| Southfields 'town centre' |
Not too far in every direction, the shops give way to the sort of late Victorian / early Edwardian terraces typical of much of suburban London, including my own home patch of Ealing.
 |
| Southfields terraces |
I'm heading north, as there's one site of particular interest some 10 minutes walk away.
This is the 'London Mosque', also known as the Fazl Mosque - the first purpose built mosque in London, opened in 1926.
The mosque, and the buildings next to it, together form the headquarters of the 'Ahmadi' Muslim community. Founded in 1889 by a Punjabi named Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, this (relatively) recent offshoot of Islam has the stated aim of promoting Islam through peaceful means - and the URL of their website (www.loveforallhatredfornone.org) does seem to reflect this.
They are currently running a national campaign under the banner 'United Against Extremism', which will hopefully prove a welcome contrast to the often perceived view of Muslims in the modern age.
It is, however, really all there is to see in this part of town, so I leave Southfields and head decidedly Northwards, to pretty much the far end of the Piccadilly Line, and the seemingly (given how far north it is) misnamed Southgate.
***
Southgate actually gets its name from being the southern 'gateway' to the former Royal hunting ground known as Enfield Chase.
The station itself is an excellent example of Charles Holden's geometric design - much like nearby Arnos Grove - in the shape of a giant cylindrical drum.
There are a few decorative details - such as the 'mini-spire' on the roof - but otherwise it's typical of his simple, yet effective, designs.
The station sits on a junction at the heart of the 'town centre', which is an odd mix of typical inner-city shabbiness and mild gentrification.
Among the 'pound marts' and the nail salons, are a Harris & Hoole coffee shop, a Pizza Express and an independent patisserie. Hipsters mingle with mooching youths, almond croissants and fried chicken sit side by side - the area feels like somewhere poised halfway between two camps, not quite ready to fully shake off its prior shabbiness and go all out hip and trendy.
I admit my expectations on the way here weren't all that high (we're not, after all, so very far from Bounds Green, where I had such a jolly time having a gun pointed at me), so, despite its stuttering beginnings, I hope Southgate manages to make it from tentatively up-and-coming into the bohemian chic it clearly hopes to be.
On the other hand, like Southfields, there's not much to see and do beyond the initial collection of shops. So, after a brief pause for lunch, I head off once again.
***
At South Hampstead, my next stop, I begin to get a distinct feeling of déjà vu as, once again, I emerge from a relatively quiet station onto a small parade of shops, surrounded by residential terraced housing.
Admittedly, given that this is Hampstead, the houses are somewhat grander than at Southfields or Southgate (although more likely to have been divided up into flats as a result), but nevertheless, that's really all there is to the area immediately outside the station.
The station's main problem is that it is surrounded by other stations - all within a fifteen minute walk, and all with plenty of amenities of their own. Working clockwise from the north, you have Finchley Road station at '12 O'Clock', Swiss Cottage at '3 O'clock', then St. John's Wood at about 5, Kilburn High Road at 8, and West Hampstead at about 10.
All this leaves South Hampstead standing forlornly in the middle of them all like some kind of weedy school kid being picked on by the big boys.
None of which is any use to an aspiring travel blogger such as myself.
Even less usefully, it's on the Overground Line with no easy way of getting from here to my next stop. So I end up walking to nearby Finchley Road station, getting the Metropolitan Line from there to Rayner's Lane, and then the Piccadilly Line south (where else?) to South Harrow.
***
Hmmmmm.....
Station?..... Tick
Parade of shops?..... Tick
Terraced housing?..... Tick!
Ok, so there's been some minor variation in the number (and quality) of both the shopping and the housing on offer - but in all other respects South Harrow is hardly distinguishable from its three predecessors on my travels today.
The main road - Northolt Road - is where all the usual shops and so on are gathered. The collection here is a tad on the downmarket side on the face of it - more shabby than shabby chic.
I try to find a little variety by heading off the main road to the south of the station, and into Roxeth Recreation Ground.
Roxeth is the original name of the small hamlet, adjacent to Harrow on the Hill, which was gradually overtaken by the urbanisation spreading out from its bigger next-door neighbour.
The Recreation Ground is a pleasant, if fairly run of the mill, park which does at least provide a welcome relief from the same old shops and cafés.
Obviously on this journey I've come across stations and areas that have had much in common before now, but they always seem to have been interspersed with other, more interesting, inspiring, or at least aesthetically pleasing locales.
Quite why all the stations today should be so similarly... mediocre... is beyond me. Is it perhaps something to do with their names? Is there something inherently humdrum about the south of any given location? Is 'southness', by definition, a bit, well, 'meh...'?
I sincerely hope not, because there are a hell of a lot more 'South...' stations still to get through and I don't know how I'll cope if they're all like this.
In an attempt to dispel any such notions, I decide to squeeze in one more station before I call it a day - and it's one I can be fairly confident will provide rather more than just a few shops and houses...
***
South Kensington - even the name sounds somehow more promising...
Yes - there's a parade of shops outside the station, but this one includes not just an artisan bakery, various patisseries, upmarket restaurants and every major chain of coffee shops known to man, but also a Lamborghini showroom - which you must admit does rather set it apart from the crowd.
The station is a popular one, being the closest to the 'big three' London museums - the Natural History, Science, and Victoria and Albert museums.
I'll be having a wander up to the museums in a little while, but first I head north past a building that most tourists - unless they happen to be French - probably don't give a second glance.
The Institut Français (or French Institute) was opened in 1910, by a French woman called Marie d'Orliac, with the aim of promoting French culture and language to the London public.
It was originally called the Université des Lettres Françaises - a name which it amuses me to imagine causing untold embarrassment and confusion to the poor, hapless and sexually inexperienced young Brits who - mis-translating the last two words - thought their luck was in and that they were entering some kind of practical Safe-Sex Education college.
The main part of the Institut is around the corner from here in Queensberry Place, and contains a cinema, library, multimedia centre and restaurant. The building I'm passing on Cromwell Place is the Language Centre, and language teaching is actually one of the main focuses of the Institut.
Beyond the Language Centre, heading north, is Cromwell Road, on which I encounter the first of the museums - the Natural History Museum.
I have often, in previous locations, felt duty-bound to explore whatever attractions were on offer and to give you my opinion of them, for what it's worth. I see this as a service I'm happy to provide to you - my readers - in order to allow you to judge the merit (or otherwise) of visiting these attractions yourselves, should you ever find yourselves in the same locations.
There are some attractions however that are pretty much compulsory viewing for anyone either living in, or spending more than a few days in, the Capital, and these museums are definitely on that list. Since, therefore, I fully expect you all to visit them yourselves at some point (if indeed you haven't already done so) with or without my say-so - I'll confine myself to giving you a potted history of the museums, and will not actually take you inside, so to speak.
(In any case, visiting just one of the museums, let alone all three, could easily take a whole day - so I hope you'll understand my just giving them a brief nod, as it were, in passing.)
The Natural History Museum opened in 1881, but its first exhibits were actually part of the collection bequeathed to the nation by Sir Hans Sloane (of Sloane Square fame) in 1753, and which formed the basis of the British Museum. When more space was needed for the Natural History exhibits, a new museum was agreed upon by the museum's board of trustees.
The 'cathedral to nature' has of course famously housed a skeleton cast of a Diplodocus for much of its history, though the hall it stands in is being renovated and 'Dippy' will be going 'on tour' around the UK from next year to 2020.
The Science Museum is of a similar age to the Natural History Museum, and indeed sits just to the north of it on Exhibition Road. It was originally part of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and was so successful as an attraction that a permanent Science Museum opened in 1857 on land which is now part of the V&A museum.
The museum's stated aim - 'to be the best place in the world for people to enjoy science' (note the word 'enjoy') - is reflected in its large collection of interactive exhibits, aimed particularly at children. This is no musty collection of 'Please Do Not Touch' exhibits.
Finally I reach the V&A museum.
This museum is dedicated to 'Art and Design' and was another successful offshoot of the 1851 Great Exhibition. Opened in 1857 in conjunction with the Science Museum, under the joint heading of the 'South Kensington Museum', the V&A now occupies the site alone, as the Science Museum has moved around the corner.
It houses ceramics, glass, textiles, jewellery, furniture, sculpture - in fact pretty much anything and everything that can be classed as 'art' from the last two thousand years or so, and from around the Globe.
Across the road from the V&A I come across this memorial sculpture:
It is called Twelve Responses To Tragedy and is dedicated to "...The countless innocent men, women and children from the Soviet Union and other East European States, who were imprisoned and died at the hands of Communist governments..."
There must be something about creating memorials to the victims of Communism, which inspires work of unusual power and fascination. Anyone who 's seen the haunting collection of gradually disintegrating human figures forming the similar memorial in Prague will, I think, be equally moved by this bust of twelve conjoined faces, and I urge you to stop and have a look next time you're in this area.
Having headed north, then east along Cromwell Road, I turn back south-west, and complete this fairly small circuit back to the station, passing more cafés and shops as I do so.
The area is certainly cosmopolitan, and I'm sure the various eateries do a roaring trade from the tourists visiting the museums, as well as the (of necessity, given the local property prices) affluent residents.
Funnily enough, I don't see anyone buying a Lamborghini while I'm here though......
 |
| Fazl Mosque |
The mosque, and the buildings next to it, together form the headquarters of the 'Ahmadi' Muslim community. Founded in 1889 by a Punjabi named Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, this (relatively) recent offshoot of Islam has the stated aim of promoting Islam through peaceful means - and the URL of their website (www.loveforallhatredfornone.org) does seem to reflect this.
They are currently running a national campaign under the banner 'United Against Extremism', which will hopefully prove a welcome contrast to the often perceived view of Muslims in the modern age.
It is, however, really all there is to see in this part of town, so I leave Southfields and head decidedly Northwards, to pretty much the far end of the Piccadilly Line, and the seemingly (given how far north it is) misnamed Southgate.
***
Southgate actually gets its name from being the southern 'gateway' to the former Royal hunting ground known as Enfield Chase.
 |
| Southgate |
The station itself is an excellent example of Charles Holden's geometric design - much like nearby Arnos Grove - in the shape of a giant cylindrical drum.
There are a few decorative details - such as the 'mini-spire' on the roof - but otherwise it's typical of his simple, yet effective, designs.
The station sits on a junction at the heart of the 'town centre', which is an odd mix of typical inner-city shabbiness and mild gentrification.
 |
| Shopping in Southgate |
Among the 'pound marts' and the nail salons, are a Harris & Hoole coffee shop, a Pizza Express and an independent patisserie. Hipsters mingle with mooching youths, almond croissants and fried chicken sit side by side - the area feels like somewhere poised halfway between two camps, not quite ready to fully shake off its prior shabbiness and go all out hip and trendy.
I admit my expectations on the way here weren't all that high (we're not, after all, so very far from Bounds Green, where I had such a jolly time having a gun pointed at me), so, despite its stuttering beginnings, I hope Southgate manages to make it from tentatively up-and-coming into the bohemian chic it clearly hopes to be.
On the other hand, like Southfields, there's not much to see and do beyond the initial collection of shops. So, after a brief pause for lunch, I head off once again.
***
At South Hampstead, my next stop, I begin to get a distinct feeling of déjà vu as, once again, I emerge from a relatively quiet station onto a small parade of shops, surrounded by residential terraced housing.
 |
| South Hampstead... |
Admittedly, given that this is Hampstead, the houses are somewhat grander than at Southfields or Southgate (although more likely to have been divided up into flats as a result), but nevertheless, that's really all there is to the area immediately outside the station.
 |
| ...and a parade of shops. |
The station's main problem is that it is surrounded by other stations - all within a fifteen minute walk, and all with plenty of amenities of their own. Working clockwise from the north, you have Finchley Road station at '12 O'Clock', Swiss Cottage at '3 O'clock', then St. John's Wood at about 5, Kilburn High Road at 8, and West Hampstead at about 10.
All this leaves South Hampstead standing forlornly in the middle of them all like some kind of weedy school kid being picked on by the big boys.
None of which is any use to an aspiring travel blogger such as myself.
Even less usefully, it's on the Overground Line with no easy way of getting from here to my next stop. So I end up walking to nearby Finchley Road station, getting the Metropolitan Line from there to Rayner's Lane, and then the Piccadilly Line south (where else?) to South Harrow.
***
Hmmmmm.....
Station?..... Tick
Parade of shops?..... Tick
Terraced housing?..... Tick!
Ok, so there's been some minor variation in the number (and quality) of both the shopping and the housing on offer - but in all other respects South Harrow is hardly distinguishable from its three predecessors on my travels today.
 |
| South Harrow |
The main road - Northolt Road - is where all the usual shops and so on are gathered. The collection here is a tad on the downmarket side on the face of it - more shabby than shabby chic.
 |
| Northolt Road |
I try to find a little variety by heading off the main road to the south of the station, and into Roxeth Recreation Ground.
 |
| Roxeth Recreation Ground |
Roxeth is the original name of the small hamlet, adjacent to Harrow on the Hill, which was gradually overtaken by the urbanisation spreading out from its bigger next-door neighbour.
The Recreation Ground is a pleasant, if fairly run of the mill, park which does at least provide a welcome relief from the same old shops and cafés.
Obviously on this journey I've come across stations and areas that have had much in common before now, but they always seem to have been interspersed with other, more interesting, inspiring, or at least aesthetically pleasing locales.
Quite why all the stations today should be so similarly... mediocre... is beyond me. Is it perhaps something to do with their names? Is there something inherently humdrum about the south of any given location? Is 'southness', by definition, a bit, well, 'meh...'?
I sincerely hope not, because there are a hell of a lot more 'South...' stations still to get through and I don't know how I'll cope if they're all like this.
In an attempt to dispel any such notions, I decide to squeeze in one more station before I call it a day - and it's one I can be fairly confident will provide rather more than just a few shops and houses...
***
South Kensington - even the name sounds somehow more promising...
 |
| South Kensington |
Yes - there's a parade of shops outside the station, but this one includes not just an artisan bakery, various patisseries, upmarket restaurants and every major chain of coffee shops known to man, but also a Lamborghini showroom - which you must admit does rather set it apart from the crowd.
 |
| A small Americano and a luxury supercar please... |
The station is a popular one, being the closest to the 'big three' London museums - the Natural History, Science, and Victoria and Albert museums.
I'll be having a wander up to the museums in a little while, but first I head north past a building that most tourists - unless they happen to be French - probably don't give a second glance.
 |
| Institut Français |
The Institut Français (or French Institute) was opened in 1910, by a French woman called Marie d'Orliac, with the aim of promoting French culture and language to the London public.
It was originally called the Université des Lettres Françaises - a name which it amuses me to imagine causing untold embarrassment and confusion to the poor, hapless and sexually inexperienced young Brits who - mis-translating the last two words - thought their luck was in and that they were entering some kind of practical Safe-Sex Education college.
The main part of the Institut is around the corner from here in Queensberry Place, and contains a cinema, library, multimedia centre and restaurant. The building I'm passing on Cromwell Place is the Language Centre, and language teaching is actually one of the main focuses of the Institut.
Beyond the Language Centre, heading north, is Cromwell Road, on which I encounter the first of the museums - the Natural History Museum.
 |
| Natural History Museum (hidden behind natural trees) |
I have often, in previous locations, felt duty-bound to explore whatever attractions were on offer and to give you my opinion of them, for what it's worth. I see this as a service I'm happy to provide to you - my readers - in order to allow you to judge the merit (or otherwise) of visiting these attractions yourselves, should you ever find yourselves in the same locations.
There are some attractions however that are pretty much compulsory viewing for anyone either living in, or spending more than a few days in, the Capital, and these museums are definitely on that list. Since, therefore, I fully expect you all to visit them yourselves at some point (if indeed you haven't already done so) with or without my say-so - I'll confine myself to giving you a potted history of the museums, and will not actually take you inside, so to speak.
(In any case, visiting just one of the museums, let alone all three, could easily take a whole day - so I hope you'll understand my just giving them a brief nod, as it were, in passing.)
The Natural History Museum opened in 1881, but its first exhibits were actually part of the collection bequeathed to the nation by Sir Hans Sloane (of Sloane Square fame) in 1753, and which formed the basis of the British Museum. When more space was needed for the Natural History exhibits, a new museum was agreed upon by the museum's board of trustees.
The 'cathedral to nature' has of course famously housed a skeleton cast of a Diplodocus for much of its history, though the hall it stands in is being renovated and 'Dippy' will be going 'on tour' around the UK from next year to 2020.
The Science Museum is of a similar age to the Natural History Museum, and indeed sits just to the north of it on Exhibition Road. It was originally part of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and was so successful as an attraction that a permanent Science Museum opened in 1857 on land which is now part of the V&A museum.
The museum's stated aim - 'to be the best place in the world for people to enjoy science' (note the word 'enjoy') - is reflected in its large collection of interactive exhibits, aimed particularly at children. This is no musty collection of 'Please Do Not Touch' exhibits.
Finally I reach the V&A museum.
This museum is dedicated to 'Art and Design' and was another successful offshoot of the 1851 Great Exhibition. Opened in 1857 in conjunction with the Science Museum, under the joint heading of the 'South Kensington Museum', the V&A now occupies the site alone, as the Science Museum has moved around the corner.
It houses ceramics, glass, textiles, jewellery, furniture, sculpture - in fact pretty much anything and everything that can be classed as 'art' from the last two thousand years or so, and from around the Globe.
 |
| V&A Museum |
Across the road from the V&A I come across this memorial sculpture:
 |
| Twelve Responses... |
It is called Twelve Responses To Tragedy and is dedicated to "...The countless innocent men, women and children from the Soviet Union and other East European States, who were imprisoned and died at the hands of Communist governments..."
There must be something about creating memorials to the victims of Communism, which inspires work of unusual power and fascination. Anyone who 's seen the haunting collection of gradually disintegrating human figures forming the similar memorial in Prague will, I think, be equally moved by this bust of twelve conjoined faces, and I urge you to stop and have a look next time you're in this area.
 |
| ... To Tragedy |
Having headed north, then east along Cromwell Road, I turn back south-west, and complete this fairly small circuit back to the station, passing more cafés and shops as I do so.
 |
| Café Culture |
The area is certainly cosmopolitan, and I'm sure the various eateries do a roaring trade from the tourists visiting the museums, as well as the (of necessity, given the local property prices) affluent residents.
Funnily enough, I don't see anyone buying a Lamborghini while I'm here though......
No comments:
Post a Comment