London's Disused Underground Stations

by J.E. Connor

Author J.C. Connor describes the life histories of 21 Tube stations that have been taken off-line since 1900: King William Street, North End, Hounslow Town, City Road, South Kentish Town, Park Royal & Twyford Abbey, Down Street, York Road, British Museum, Brompton Road, Osterley Park & Spring Grove, St. Mary's (Whitechapel Road), Uxbridge, Lords, Malborough Road, Swiss Cottage (Metropolitan Line), Wood Lane, South Acton, White City, Aldwych, and Charing Cross (Jubilee Line). The twenty-one appear in chronological order based on the year of closure; King William Street, closed in 1900, comes first, and Charing Cross, closed in 1999, comes last. Ten of the twenty-one shut their doors in the 1930s. LONDON'S DISUSED UNDERGROUND STATIONS contains many photographs of the under-ground (or above-ground) platforms and street-level facades, mostly black and white prints from the late 19th century and the first 30 years of the 20th when the stations were in their working prime. Perhaps most interesting to readers who are fascinated by "then" and "now" pictures are the contemporary color shots of still extant street-level facades that can be compared to earlier views.The book's final pages include narrative summaries about a further 13 stations that have been re-sited rather than shuttered-up, and text about other disused street-level buildings associated with the Central, District, East London, Northern, and Piccadilly Lines. By Joseph Haschka of Amazon.com

Genres: History, Travel, London, Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Timo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who knew that a book with so much history and information could be so interesting. Why weren't my school books like this?
So much in interesting information, so many cool (and eerie) old photos, plentiful urban folklore and mishaps. This was just so good.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the premise of this book very intriguing. Living near DC and taking the metro with its big cut-and-cover vaulted stations fairly frequently, the idea that a subway system could just decide that a station should no longer be used kind of blows my mind. Reading this, and learning that were a whole lot of stations that are no longer used, blew it even more.

At the same time, it's very dry. I wanted something that read a little more history book and less factual recitation of things like the number of lifts or the grade the trains had to climb. I'd of rather had more pictures and less of the details, if those were all the details available.

If you're interested in the subject, buy this book to flip through, not necessarily to read. And if anyone has suggestions for a good overall book on London Underground history, this book has made me want to read something like that even more.

[Gretel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing in here that you can't find on specialist websites, but it's nice to have it as a physical book. There's some technical engineering stuff in here that is not explained well for the casual reader.