Day 92
Wapping - Warren Street - Warwick Avenue - Waterloo
Ah, the British summertime weather - how quaintly unpredictable it is...
After several days of wind and rain which have felt more like autumn than the height of summer, we're now back in the throes of another heatwave - making the tube trains as hot and stuffy as a Turkish bath.
Luckily my first stop - Wapping - is by the riverside, so there's a hint of a breeze to take the edge off the heat.
Wapping, being by the river, is very proud of its maritime history and has been an integral part of London's docklands for centuries.
The station itself is built over the northern end of the Thames Tunnel - the other end of which I encountered at Rotherhithe, and the trains passing through Wapping on their way south now make use of the former pedestrian tunnels.
There's a Thames Path running along the river, but this is interrupted at regular intervals by the old dock warehouses, which have of course all now become luxury apartments.
However, links to the past remain, in particular the sets of stairs leading down to the water's edge at various points along the waterside.
These 'Watermen's Steps' - of which Wapping Old Stairs is just one example - gave access to the waterline and were used by the various 'watermen' who taxied passengers to and fro across the river from 14th Century onwards. In much the same way as London's present-day Black Cab drivers have to pass 'The Knowledge', the watermen of old used to have to memorise the locations of the steps as part of their apprenticeship.
Wapping Old Stairs is next to the 'Town Of Ramsgate' pub, one of three along this stretch of the river. This one is also said to be near the site of the old 'Execution Dock' - a noose situated near the shoreline, from which pirates and other seafaring criminals were executed, and their bodies left hanging until at least three tides had washed over their heads.
The notorious pirate Captain Kidd - who has given his name to one of the other two pubs here - was executed in this manner in 1701, following which his body was left in a gibbet by the Thames for three years.
A short distance along from the steps is the Metropolitan Police Marine Policing Unit (aka the Thames River Police). This was formed in 1798 and is said to be England's oldest police force. It merged with the newly formed Metropolitan Police Force in 1839.
Having walked a little way westwards from the station, I retrace my steps and head eastwards to the third of the pubs along Wapping High Street - the 'Prospect Of Whitby'.
This claims to be the oldest riverside pub in London (don't they all!) and has a large sign on the front listing all the monarchs who have reigned since the pub's construction in about 1520. The first Fuchsia plant to appear in Britain was sold here in the 18th Century.
That's about it for this part of town though, and I head back to the station and on to my next stop.
***
Warren Street station is on the Victoria Line and is, in fact, the final station on that line I have to visit. The imminent end of this long and peculiar journey certainly becomes a lot more real when I begin crossing entire tube lines, instead of just individual stations, off my list!
The station sits at the top end of Tottenham Court Road, where it meets Euston Road, and indeed the station was originally named after the latter.
Its name was changed, after only one year, to that of the much smaller and seemingly insignificant side street off Tottenham Court Road, and once again I'm left to wonder at the rationale behind the naming procedure on the tube network.
This was also the first station to receive wi-fi coverage in 2012.
To the north of the station - across Euston Road - is a very modern office development centred around an attractive and (during the summer months at least) popular open space called Triton Square.
At lunchtime (which is when I arrive) the square is filled with office workers enjoying the sun and their sandwiches and - for the next two weeks - the sights and sounds of Wimbledon courtesy of the giant screen at one end of the square. In front of this are deck-chairs, bean-bags and concrete blocks to sit on, and the surrounding coffee shops and sandwich bars do a roaring trade.
As you can see, beyond the square and looking back across the Euston Road, the former Post Office Tower is fairly close by, in the area known as Fitzrovia.
I've visited this area before of course, when I came to Goodge Street but this time I restrict myself to the far end of Warren Street form the station, on the corner of which stands the empty shell of a shop dear to my heart, and now sadly closed.
Samuel French is a name every theatre-maker knows, as the company has been publishing 'standard' editions of plays both here and in the United States since the middle of the 19th Century.
It began as two companies, one run by Samuel French in New York, the other in London by a former actor-manager called Thomas Hailes Lacy. They joined forces in the 1850s but there has been a theatre bookshop as part of the company in London since its inception in 1830.
It was the place to find any play you happen to be looking for. but more than that, it was a place to discover plays you didn't know you were looking for. As an actor you are constantly in search of new audition material, and an hour or so spent browsing the shelves here would nearly always yield an unexpected treat.
Sadly, as the bleak sign in the empty window tells me, after 187 years they have been forced to move to an online only shop - the rising rental fees on the property proving impossible to keep up with.
I return to the station ready to move on to my next stop.
I arrived here on the Northern Line, but am departing on the Victoria Line, and there's a final little treat for me on the Victoria Line platform.
The visual pun on the word 'warren' is a maze designed by influential British designer Alan Fletcher, who also designed logos for the V&A museum, Reuters news agency, the Institute of Directors, and book covers for Penguin Books.
The maze is designed to be tricky enough to be difficult to solve in less than four minutes - providing a challenge to the passenger on the platform waiting for their next train, which - on average - will take only three minutes to arrive.
***
Warwick Avenue is my next stop, and is one of the many stations on the network with no surface building to blot the landscape - preferable to the locals perhaps, but frustrating for the would-be blog-writer...
On the other hand, there is a whopping great ventilation shaft in the middle of the picturesque avenue on which the station lies, looking rather like a WWII guard tower, and you do wonder what the locals make of this...
It's in the affluent area of Maida Vale, so there are plenty of grand residential buildings, but not much else to see or do in the immediate vicinity of the station.
Not too far away though, is a little gem of a place (especially on a sunny day like today) called - for reasons that will become clear - 'Little Venice'.
The Grand Union Canal, Regent's Canal and Paddington Basin all meet here in a large pool known officially as Browning's Pool (after the poet Robert Browning who lived in the area) and unofficially by the locals as the 'Lagoon'.
After several days of wind and rain which have felt more like autumn than the height of summer, we're now back in the throes of another heatwave - making the tube trains as hot and stuffy as a Turkish bath.
Luckily my first stop - Wapping - is by the riverside, so there's a hint of a breeze to take the edge off the heat.
 |
| Wapping |
Wapping, being by the river, is very proud of its maritime history and has been an integral part of London's docklands for centuries.
The station itself is built over the northern end of the Thames Tunnel - the other end of which I encountered at Rotherhithe, and the trains passing through Wapping on their way south now make use of the former pedestrian tunnels.
There's a Thames Path running along the river, but this is interrupted at regular intervals by the old dock warehouses, which have of course all now become luxury apartments.
 |
| Wapping High Street - former warehouses turned luxury flats |
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| View from Thames Path |
However, links to the past remain, in particular the sets of stairs leading down to the water's edge at various points along the waterside.
 |
| Wapping Old Stairs |
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| The Town Of Ramsgate leading to Wapping Old Stairs |
Wapping Old Stairs is next to the 'Town Of Ramsgate' pub, one of three along this stretch of the river. This one is also said to be near the site of the old 'Execution Dock' - a noose situated near the shoreline, from which pirates and other seafaring criminals were executed, and their bodies left hanging until at least three tides had washed over their heads.
The notorious pirate Captain Kidd - who has given his name to one of the other two pubs here - was executed in this manner in 1701, following which his body was left in a gibbet by the Thames for three years.
A short distance along from the steps is the Metropolitan Police Marine Policing Unit (aka the Thames River Police). This was formed in 1798 and is said to be England's oldest police force. It merged with the newly formed Metropolitan Police Force in 1839.
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| Thames River Police HQ |
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| Police Boats |
Having walked a little way westwards from the station, I retrace my steps and head eastwards to the third of the pubs along Wapping High Street - the 'Prospect Of Whitby'.
 |
| Prospect Of Whitby |
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| Royal Roster |
This claims to be the oldest riverside pub in London (don't they all!) and has a large sign on the front listing all the monarchs who have reigned since the pub's construction in about 1520. The first Fuchsia plant to appear in Britain was sold here in the 18th Century.
That's about it for this part of town though, and I head back to the station and on to my next stop.
***
Warren Street station is on the Victoria Line and is, in fact, the final station on that line I have to visit. The imminent end of this long and peculiar journey certainly becomes a lot more real when I begin crossing entire tube lines, instead of just individual stations, off my list!
 |
| Warren Street |
The station sits at the top end of Tottenham Court Road, where it meets Euston Road, and indeed the station was originally named after the latter.
Its name was changed, after only one year, to that of the much smaller and seemingly insignificant side street off Tottenham Court Road, and once again I'm left to wonder at the rationale behind the naming procedure on the tube network.
This was also the first station to receive wi-fi coverage in 2012.
To the north of the station - across Euston Road - is a very modern office development centred around an attractive and (during the summer months at least) popular open space called Triton Square.
 |
| Triton Square |
At lunchtime (which is when I arrive) the square is filled with office workers enjoying the sun and their sandwiches and - for the next two weeks - the sights and sounds of Wimbledon courtesy of the giant screen at one end of the square. In front of this are deck-chairs, bean-bags and concrete blocks to sit on, and the surrounding coffee shops and sandwich bars do a roaring trade.
As you can see, beyond the square and looking back across the Euston Road, the former Post Office Tower is fairly close by, in the area known as Fitzrovia.
I've visited this area before of course, when I came to Goodge Street but this time I restrict myself to the far end of Warren Street form the station, on the corner of which stands the empty shell of a shop dear to my heart, and now sadly closed.
 |
| French's Bookshop |
 |
| Goodbye old friend |
It began as two companies, one run by Samuel French in New York, the other in London by a former actor-manager called Thomas Hailes Lacy. They joined forces in the 1850s but there has been a theatre bookshop as part of the company in London since its inception in 1830.
It was the place to find any play you happen to be looking for. but more than that, it was a place to discover plays you didn't know you were looking for. As an actor you are constantly in search of new audition material, and an hour or so spent browsing the shelves here would nearly always yield an unexpected treat.
Sadly, as the bleak sign in the empty window tells me, after 187 years they have been forced to move to an online only shop - the rising rental fees on the property proving impossible to keep up with.
I return to the station ready to move on to my next stop.
I arrived here on the Northern Line, but am departing on the Victoria Line, and there's a final little treat for me on the Victoria Line platform.
 |
| Warren Street Maze |
The visual pun on the word 'warren' is a maze designed by influential British designer Alan Fletcher, who also designed logos for the V&A museum, Reuters news agency, the Institute of Directors, and book covers for Penguin Books.
The maze is designed to be tricky enough to be difficult to solve in less than four minutes - providing a challenge to the passenger on the platform waiting for their next train, which - on average - will take only three minutes to arrive.
***
Warwick Avenue is my next stop, and is one of the many stations on the network with no surface building to blot the landscape - preferable to the locals perhaps, but frustrating for the would-be blog-writer...
 |
| Warwick Avenue |
On the other hand, there is a whopping great ventilation shaft in the middle of the picturesque avenue on which the station lies, looking rather like a WWII guard tower, and you do wonder what the locals make of this...
 |
| Ventilation Shaft |
It's in the affluent area of Maida Vale, so there are plenty of grand residential buildings, but not much else to see or do in the immediate vicinity of the station.
 |
| Warwick Avenue |
Not too far away though, is a little gem of a place (especially on a sunny day like today) called - for reasons that will become clear - 'Little Venice'.
 |
| Regent's Canal |
The Grand Union Canal, Regent's Canal and Paddington Basin all meet here in a large pool known officially as Browning's Pool (after the poet Robert Browning who lived in the area) and unofficially by the locals as the 'Lagoon'.
 |
| Entering the 'lagoon' |
There's always something pleasant about wandering along a towpath by a picturesque collection of narrow-boats, but somehow being in the middle of London makes it seem like an extra treat.
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| Browning's Pool |
There are, as well as the residential boats, a couple of floating restaurants and even a floating puppet theatre to entertain the local residents (who, as well as the aforementioned Robert Browning) include such luminaries as Robbie Williams, Richard Branson and Noel Gallagher.
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| Grand Union Canal |
Pretty as it undoubtedly is, it doesn't take long to run out of different things to photograph, and I do still have one (rather major) station to visit today, so I leave the canals behind me and head back the station to catch the Bakerloo Line southwards.
***
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| Waterloo |
Waterloo Station is, of course, a railway station as well as a tube station - and the combined passenger footfall makes it the busiest station in Britain. Trains from here serve the south of England's main commuter belt and take Londoners to popular coastal destinations such as Brighton.
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| The busiest station in Britain... though not everyone has noticed |
The tube station opens into the main railway station concourse, above which hangs a four-sided clock which has been the traditional rendezvous point here for decades.
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| 'Meet you under the clock...' |
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| Main concourse |
The station was opened in 1848 and named after the nearby Waterloo Bridge (which had been built in 1817, just two years after the famous battle after which it, in turn, was named).
It was also (though this is rather less well known) the terminus of an unusual train service called the London Necropolis Railway. During the 19th Century London was in the midst of a population boom, having more than doubled the number of its inhabitants from the beginning of the century. Not only did this create a housing crisis among the living, it also led to a similar problem finding sufficient accommodation for the deceased, as London's graveyards rapidly filled to capacity.
As a solution, a huge area of land in Brookwood, Surrey was set aside to become a dedicated cemetery for London - to be known as the London Necropolis - and the bodies of the deceased were transported there from a dedicated station within the Waterloo complex.
Outside and to the north of the station is London's famous 'South Bank' - home of the National Theatre, Festival Hall, British Film Institute, London Aquarium and London Eye.
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| National Theatre |
It's also a vibrant promenade filled with street performers and food stalls, as well as the famous second-hand and antique book market tucked underneath Waterloo Bridge itself.
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| Waterloo Bridge Book Market |
This is probably one of my favourite spots in London, and somewhere I can I happily spend hours wandering up and down whenever I'm here - either for the theatre, or having seen a classic film at the BFI, or just enjoying the atmosphere.
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| Festival Hall |
In the years since the turn of the Millennium the most eye-catching landmark along the South Bank has, of course, been the London Eye.
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| London Eye |
The huge Ferris wheel, with its observation pods, stands 443 feet tall and is 394 feet in diameter. It has over 3.75 million visitors per year, making it the country's most popular tourist attraction.
Just to the south of the river, between the South Bank and the Station, is another cinema - and one you can't really miss as it takes up the entire roundabout.
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| IMAX Cinema |
This is the IMAX cinema, owned by the BFI, and location of the largest cinema screen in Britain at 26x20m. IMAX is a film format that offers larger image size and resolution, and though only entering the public consciousness in recent years as more and more films are shot on IMAX film, the technology has been around since the late 1960s and used in huge dome-shaped cinemas and planetariums.
I continue southwards, heading for a road called The Cut.
This road leads eastwards from the station, and contains - among various shops and restaurants - two more of London's best known theatres.
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| Old Vic |
The Old Vic was first opened in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre and subsequently renamed the Royal Victoria Theatre in 1833. By the end of the 19th Century it was already being nicknamed the 'Old Vic' and in 1929 the Old Vic Company was formed, led by Sir John Gielgud and under the artistic directorship of Lilian Baylis, who also managed Sadler's Wells and the company which would later become the English National Opera.
In the 1960s, the fledgling company that would become the National Theatre was based here under the management of Sir Laurence Olivier, while the new premises for the company were being constructed on the South Bank.
In recent years the theatre has been run by Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey, though he has now handed over the reins to Matthew Warchus.
Further along The Cut is the Young Vic - which, as the name suggests, was originally an offshoot of the Old Vic up the road, which started in 1946.
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| Young Vic |
However, the name 'Young Vic', doesn't refer to the fact that this building is newer than that of its 'parent' company, but is instead a reference to the original aims of the theatre, which were to create productions of classic plays specifically for younger audiences aged between 9 and 15.
Over the years the theatre's target age-group has broadened and though still performing classic plays, the audience is now made up of as many adults as younger people.
Having reached the end of another day's travelling, I head back to Waterloo Station to begin my journey home. However, there's one final curiosity for me to take in on the way.
Rather than taking the more obvious Jubilee Line up to Bond Street and getting the Central Line home from there, I'm going instead to be taking the one remaining tube line I've yet to make use of on this entire journey.
This might come as some surprise, after all, I've criss-crossed London several hundred times over the course of the challenge, and travelled on practically every single method of transport in town - from tube trains to overground trains, buses to cable cars, and of course (when absolutely necessary) my own two feet - in order to get from one station to another.
But actually, the fact that I've not yet used the Waterloo & City Line is precisely because it takes you from one station to another... quite literally.
It must be the most pointless route map of any line on the network, but sure enough, above the doors of the train I catch from one station (Waterloo) to another (Bank) is the following informative gem...
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| Don't think I'll be getting lost on this particular journey... |
The Waterloo & City Line was opened in 1898 (when Bank station was called 'City') and transports the many commuters who work in the City of London and who arrive at Waterloo from their homes in Hampshire and Surrey.
It is fully underground, and does not connect to any other line directly, so all the trains on this service have to be brought in and out by being lowered onto the tracks by hoist via an access shaft to the west of Waterloo Station.
It's the shortest line on the network at just under 1.5 miles from station to station and the journey time is approximately four minutes from end to end, which means that my enjoyment of this hitherto un-visited tube line is over practically as soon as it's begun. Nevertheless, I feel it's an appropriate end to the day - allowing me to cross off yet another entire line off the map.
There'll soon be nothing left...
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