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Season 2019 / 2020 – Talk 01 – The London Underground
The talk by Tim Davies on the London Underground is the first talk of the 2019 / 2020 year.
Tim tells us London before the Underground. Walkers ran the risk of unpleasantness from above and around their feet because people emptied chamber pots from above and horses and cattle on the streets also generated a great deal of compostable material.
On 10th January 1863 the arrival of the Metropolitan Railway changed this. The talk tells the story of the story of the planning and building of the line from Paddington to the city.
The talk covers the building techniques, tells the story of the expansion of the Underground and the coming of the deep ‘Tube’. The development of ‘house styles’ is discussed, initially these varied by company. Frank Pick did much to develop the style we know today.
Inter-war investment is described covering the expansion of the network, new rolling stock, advertising and maps. We look at the building of London’s first skyscraper at 55 Broadway. This Grade I listed building has been the HQ of the Underground since it opened in 1929.
The final part of the talk looks at a number of disused stations and considers their place in history.
Please click on a thumbnail to open the gallery:
Interested in finding out more?
The London Transport Museum (LTM) in Covent Garden has licensed photographs used in this talk. Visit the Museum understand more about transport in London; find out more by clicking here.
There are Open Days at the LTM Museum Depot in Acton, click here to find out more.
To find out more about the Hidden London tours click here. I have found these to be both informative and enjoyable.
About this podcast:
The Farnham U3A site is at Farnham U3A Home Page.
AKM Music has licensed Media Magazine for use as the title music.
© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham U3A World History Group 2020
