please empty your brain below
At the time that station platform was lined with panels, there was a lot of platform wall paneling taking place on the Underground. The idea seemed to be don't clean the old tiles and walls but panel them over.
I always thought it was a bad idea as it made the platform space smaller, and all the dirt and decay was still there just covered up.
I am pleased that this is no longer seems to be done and work is carried out stations nowadays get a proper cleanup and re-furbishemnt.

John | 25.10.13 - 7:16 a.m. | #

*below* the gap, surely?

Andrew | 25.10.13 - 8:09 a.m. | #

Wasn't the Charing Cross original actually located to the south of Trafalgar Square where it meets Whitehall? There's a statue of Charles I there now but I'm sure there's also a plaque saying it was the site of the Eleanor Cross.

| 25.10.13 - 8:26 a.m. | #

Not entirely upper-class free. If I recall correctly, one bit shows the master mason presenting his design to the king, which is about as upper-class as you get...

Baldassaro | 25.10.13 - 8:27 a.m. | #

This Station (as no doubt you are aware DG) was back in the late sixties/early seventies originally named "Strand" and was closed completely whilst the refurbishment took place and these beautiful panels were installed, at the same time (and taking advantage of the major refurbishment works being carried out on "The Pepper Pot Building" by John Nash in The Strand major works took place to link it with the former "Trafalgar Square" station and to build a new ticket hall to link both stations. On completion of the works both Trafalgar Square station and Strand station ceased to exist and were renamed Charing Cross station and the former Charing Cross station that was located at the bottom of Villiers Street was renamed "Embankment" which due to its location was far more sensible.

Fishislandskin | 25.10.13 - 9:05 a.m. | #

I stared reading this post with a sinking feeling, I was expecting you to reveal the murals were going to be ripped out and replaced an with urban graffiti collective art-project or something else totally unsuitable for there.

DTL | Homepage | 25.10.13 - 9:57 a.m. | #

The amalgamation of Strand and Trafalgar Square stations was part of the Jubilee Line project; the new platforms being at right angles to the other lines in anticipation of the second stage along the Strand to Aldwych (which station was also originally named Strand).

To avoid potential confusion by having Charing cross station move one stop up the line overnight, the original Charing Cross station had actually been renamed Embankment some years before.

Oh, and Queen Eleanor died at Harby which, although only six miles from Lincoln's city centre, is actually in Nottinghamshire

timbo | 25.10.13 - 9:59 a.m. | #

And now that the Jubilee has long gone there is a good argument for giving the Bakerloo station it's old Trafalgar Square name back so that people are not tempted to change there for the Northern line (although any changes should probably wait until after the fun and games of the Embankment escalator closures next year!)

Whiff | 25.10.13 - 10:32 a.m. | #

"Underground postmen?". Well, not quite. Up to the mid-1980s the mail was carried by train in the care of the guard, who would post letters in the "staff letters" boxes on platforms. Of course this didn't work if the destination station was off that particular train's line. The way around this was to use dedicated workings as "Despatch" trains. So for example train XX would leave Upminster at 0600 and station staff along the route would meet it and put any letters on board, at St. James's Park the whole lot was put off for the Mail Room in 55 Broadway. Mail from, say, the south end of the Northern Line would be collected by train as far as Embankment, then met by staff and taken up to the District Line for onward travel to St. James's Park. It might all seem a bit hit & miss or overcomplicated but it actually worked quite well for many years (and of course no 'value' items were carried like this - that was another procedure!), and only came to an end upon the introduction of One Person Operation on trains from 1984.

Kim | 25.10.13 - 11:55 a.m. | #

The competition to find all the errors in today's post remains open until 6pm. Please continue to submit your entries to the usual place. Many thanks.

diamond geezer | 25.10.13 - 12:20 p.m. | #

Sorry, we are pedantic buggers aren't we, and we rarely give you enough thanks for your sterling work.

So thanks :)

Andrew | 25.10.13 - 1:05 p.m. | #

I love the story of the Eleanor crosses.The cross at Charing Cross is a replacement (not really a replica), the original was destroyed.

The cross at Waltham Cross is original I believe, and of course easily accessible from London.

The only two other extant crosses AIUI are at Hardingstone on the outskirts of Northampton and at Geddington (also in Northamptonshire).

The cross at Geddington may be slightly more difficult to reach by public transport (we went by car), but is considered to be the finest example and well worth the visit. I see the Star Inn almost opposite the cross has reopened after a period of closure. Ideal.

Lorenzo | 25.10.13 - 1:07 p.m. | #

Kim, It didn't quite work like that. As a guard on the Northern line in the early eighties, I remember the system used. The guard would be given a letter, and on the reusable envelope was the final destination and where on the Northern the letter was to be delivered. The staff letters box was opposite the guards position in the last carriage. The guard popped the letter in the box, nobody came to meet the train, that was the point of the box, time displacement. East Finchley used to send out a lot of letters southbound.
I can't believe i'm writing this, but i miss the canteens.

Tufnell Parker | 25.10.13 - 2:02 p.m. | #

I don't know how you can be so insulting of that glorious ticket hall. It's so beautiful with all that brown, coupled with bright blue and green plastic.

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 25.10.13 - 2:21 p.m. | #

Lovely post about another 'DG'. One of my favourite bits of the Underground. I didn't realise he'd studied under Bawden.

Have you managed to find a representation of the drawings other than in situ on the platform?

Auntie Doris | 25.10.13 - 3:58 p.m. | #

DG (the other one) has a print, it seems - http://www.bibleofbritishtaste.com/sue-and-david-gentleman/

Andrew | 25.10.13 - 4:54 p.m. | #

Something that has often puzzled me about the Eleanor Crosses is the circuitous journey of the funeral procession. One of the few very good roads in the 13th century was the Roman Ermine Street which ran all the way from Lincoln to London, but rather than follow this all the way, the cortege seems to have cut cross-country from Gratham to Stony Stratford (now part of Milton Keynes), and then followed Watling Street. A few days later, on eaching St Albans, rather than continue to follow Watling Street all the way to London, it cut across country again to rejoin Ermine Street at Hertford. December was not the ideal time to be travelling at all, so why the scenic route?

timbo | 25.10.13 - 4:54 p.m. | #

I didn't want to complicate the whole subject of internal distribution using Underground trains. In fact as well as 'ad hoc' individual staff letters there were Revenue Dispatch bags to Edgware Road, used tickets in wicker baskets to the Ticket Sorting Office at Harrow-on-the-Hill, lost property in padlocked cases to Baker Street; plus line correspondence to the four Divisional Managers Offices in 'DMO' envelopes. All of these had their own routes, and the used tickets even 'ran' to their own cross-line printed 'timetable'.

Kim | 25.10.13 - 5:16 p.m. | #

@timbo - Harper, in Wonderful Britain (1925) (http://oreald.com/b3/ch42.html) says that the route is devious because there were handy large churches or abbeys in which her body could rest. Sounds like a guess to me, but quite a plausible one.

Malcolm | 25.10.13 - 6:13 p.m. | #

Ermine Street would have been much more direct. The reasons for the somewhat circuitous route are not known, but may be a combination of wanting to revisit certain places, such as the royal hunting lodge at Geddington, and also wanting to visit the religious centres at Woburn, Dunstable, St Albans and Waltham. See http://www.qecw.net/the-route-taken-by-the-funeral-procession.html

Andrew | 25.10.13 - 6:55 p.m. | #

Or, what Malcolm said :)

Andrew | 25.10.13 - 6:55 p.m. | #

it's a what now.. a competition? cool! so who won? and what prize to they get?

geofftech | Homepage | 26.10.13 - 8:03 a.m. | #

Poor old DG, sweating over his keyboard for our enjoyment, only to receive a barrage of transport pedantry in return.

rjnet | Homepage | 26.10.13 - 10:28 a.m. | #











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