Queen makes rare Tube visit

The Queen visited Aldgate London Underground station yesterday, as part of her City of London tour. It was also to view a memorial plaque for the July 7th bombings, where seven people were killed at the station. She thanked the station staff for all they had done to help the injured.

However, staff felt that they ought to give her a more pleasant memento of one of her infrequent Tube visits & produced a personalised roundel for Buckingham Palace:


Howard Collins, London Undergrounds chief operating officer, said: "The Queen thought it was marvellous. She said, 'What a fantastic gift.’ There was a big smile on her face.

"She was saying about how busy [the Underground] is. She travelled on the Tube as a young lady. She recognised it was very busy."

The Queen first travelled on the Tube in May 1939, when she was 13 years old and still a Princess. She was pictured with her governess Marion Crawford and Princess Margaret.

Ironically, she might have been better off travelling by Tube yesterday, as her car broke down during the City tour, and she had to cadge a lift with the police. The Telegraph have more on this.

Perhaps she may be more used to London Underground travel than she lets on. Crash Calloway said: "I am led to understand that she has her own private underground stop anyway, doesn't she? Some kind of secret Tube stop/tunnel in case of Nuclear War or Revolution... " Stranger things have happened.

Suburban Golders Green Tube Walks

It's the second round of Golders Green walks starting this weekend. Seven residents from the area created a series of walks about what their suburb means to them to tie in with the London Transport Museum's latest temporary exhibition Suburbia.


Golders Green was apparently the first Tube-created suburb in 1907 when the green fields of Golders Green were transformed by the coming of the Tube.

The locals have created three walks, which run to the end of March, along the themes of tasty places to eat, places of reflection and green spaces that highlight the diversity of their community today and what makes it unique.

The free guided tours start from 27th February 2010, (bookable online or over the phone on 020 7565 7298), which start at Golders Green London Underground Station. There are pdf self-guided walks that can be downloaded from the London Transport Museum's website.

The museum have also set up an interactive Flickr map. Anyone going on the walks is invited to take pics and then add them to the growing map of Golders Green. Click here to join the Flickr group & find out more about the walks.

3D Subway Floor Tiles

Looking to re-tile your bathroom? Or for something to match your Tube Shower curtain? You may remember that there are some pretty expensive London Underground tiles that could do the trick. However, if you've got the patience, it would probably be cheaper to create a whole 3D effect for your bathroom based on a section of the subway map.


Floorcrunch spotted this amazing abstract effect where and "artist changed an abstract subway map into a concrete (or rather: glass and ceramic) tiling project covering three walls and the floor of this otherwise unremarkable bathroom."


The Dornob blog spoke to the artist Christoph Niemann who "started, of course, with a generic map of the New York City subway route system and abstracted it until arriving at a configuration that could be applied in straightforward square tile installation (art). Somewhere between pop art and abstract decor, this tile pattern is custom and unique to the place – but there is nothing to suggest that the savvy do-it-yourself type could not replicate the process in some form to crate a likewise personalized mosaic tile pattern for their own home bathroom interior (for that matter, would these not look neat in, say, the bathroom of the subway stations of NYC?)."

Or Tube toilets? Come on TfL, you know you want to, it would brighten them up no end! Although I imagine they'd be a bit disorientating, if you wandered into the loo slightly worse for wear & got hypnotised by the spiralling Circle Line. It might also encourage drunk blokes to follow certain routes, a la writing one's name in the snow!

CoverSpyLondon - Tube Reading

The secret book club that is the London Underground has inspired a new site that chronicles what people are reading on the Tube. CoverSpyLondon is a team of "publishing nerds" (their words not mine) who are hitting the Tube, streets, parks and bars to find out what Londoners are reading now.


It's not very often that you see two strangers reading exactly the same book, side by side, but I'm sure like me, you've been in several Tube carriages where people have been reading the same book as each other, or even yourself.

CoverSpyLondon is a collaborative site where you can follow what people are reading, chronicle which line they're on & there's even a short demographic description of their rough age and what they were wearing. Whether there's any links between fashion & reading habits, it's hard to say, but if you'd like to contribute with news on who you saw reading what, email the team on london@coverspy.com. You can also follow them on Twitter & send @ messages if you're Twitterly inclined.

Underground Maps Unravelled

London Underground map expert, Maxwell Roberts, will presenting a collection of his maps at South Essex College of Further & Higher Education from Friday 26th February to 8th March. Max has written a number of guest posts for this blog (remember his brilliant curvy Tube Map) & his exhibition explores the success of Beck's Tube map & asks whether the increasingly complex networks of today need new approaches.






At the exhibition you'll see Underground maps that break all the rules, maps that are easier to use, maps that teach us about good design, maps that challenge our preconceptions and maps (like the art deco looking one below) that are purely decorative.


The exhibition is free and Max will be on hand to answer questions on the 26th and 27th February and the 6th March. Further details and directions to the college can be found here.

As Max says "Whether you are a graphic designer, transport professional, or just a frustrated commuter or tourist, maps will never seem the same again".