Not The Tube Olympics

How did this grow?

Redbridge   Central Line   Added on 18 Mar 2010

Epping Forest is a lovely green space in the north of London.  It has a river, a lake, some nice paths to walk down, a house that looks like a little castle, and this somewhat odd tree sculpture...
 
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A classier pick and mix

Angel   Northern Line   Added on 12 Sep 2009

In England, pick and mix usually means an over-priced mishmash of sugary jellies and sweets with E-numbers oozing out of them on all sides.  Not so in the French market at Angel.  Here, I saw my first sight of pick-and-mix biscuits.  I bought some, too.  And they were delicious.
 
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Keeping up with the times

Queensway   Central Line   Added on 5 Sep 2009

The world of technology is a frighteningly fast-moving place.  Websites change, and fads come and go faster than you can say "internet cafe".  But some internet cafes are making an effort to keep up with the times.  Some, like this one near Queensway Station, are not.
 
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Emerald City

Vauxhall   Victoria Line   Added on 5 Jul 2009

A fancy hotel on a beach front?  Not exactly.  This vision of green which looks like something out of the Wizard of Oz is in fact a block of apartments near Vauxhall Bridge, and the beach in front is in fact the bank of the Thames.  Cool, nonetheless, especially in the evening light.
 
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The minibus of true worshippers

Tooting Bec   Northern Line   Added on 19 May 2009

"Yeshua Christian Church - the church of true worshippers." This minibus made me stop and look.  I've been wondering what real and true worship is for some time, and at last it seems there's an easy way to experience it.  However, I feel a little bit self-conscious.  I think my worship might not quite be true enough.  I might spoil the true worship if I went along.  So maybe I'll start my own church, and my slogan will be "the church of people who think they're not very good at worshipping really but want to give it a go".
 
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Shop 2 Try - a Tooting oddity

Tooting Broadway   Northern Line   Added on 30 Apr 2009

The dubious honour of Oddest Shop Name In Tooting, according to my research, is hereby awarded to this establishment.  I looked long and hard at it, but ... I still don't get it.  Nevertheless, its colourful collection of assorted homewares adds to the marketplace feel that so many of London's regional shopping streets still have, and you can't fault the pricing in the current economic age.  Pound stores are the new chic.
 
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We get 529,600 channels

Woolwich Arsenal   DLR   Added on 21 Apr 2009

You always used to be able to tell who had the most expensive TV in the street, because they probably had the tell-tale satellite dish on the side of their house to go with it.  Nowadays you don't normally notice because so many people have digital, so they can get lots of channels another way (like the deliciously awful Bid TV).  But it's hard, frankly, not to notice the apparatus this particular block of flats has in front of it.  I wonder how many fascinating channels they get.
 
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Gone, but not forgotten

Aldwych   Piccadilly Line   Added on 16 Apr 2009

"How did you get to this station?" I hear you cry. "Aldwych isn't on my Tube map!" All right, I didn't go by train to this one, because its branch on the Piccadilly Line closed in 1994 ... but I found its old entrances.  Apparently it's now used as a film set, so it can be made into any station you fancy - and if you like, they'll even throw in a moving train.  So to speak.  But "Vauxhall Cross" in James Bond's "Die Another Day", sadly, is only a reconstruction.
 
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Healthy Competition in East Finchley

East Finchley   Northern Line   Added on 11 Apr 2009

Here, from the entrance of East Finchley Station, the imposing headquarters of the notorious fast food chain McDonald's jostles for attention with an even more imposing fruit and veg stall, and some recycling bins.  For a study in irony, it's not bad.  This photo comes in cartoon form because the angry man who owned the fruit and veg stall did not seem, let's say, enchanted with the idea when I asked his permission to take a picture.  In fact, the gentleman informed me that Data Protection legislation forbids me from taking pictures of anything in the vague vicinity of a Tube station, even if the station is not in the picture.  I tried to imagine a future British society in which this were true, and shuddered at the thought.
 
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From Cribb to Grave

Beckton   DLR   Added on 7 Apr 2009

This is what I call whole-life ministry.  During Wednesday's Bank of England protests, I took a short break and went exploring on the Beckton branch of the DLR.  As far as I could tell, Beckton has a large ASDA (where I purchased a roll of wrapping paper and returned to the protests looking like I was carrying an offensive weapon), a bus station, and a quirkily-named funeral director.  What a place.
 
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