Not The Tube Olympics: Northern Line

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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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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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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Spring colour in London

Highgate   Northern Line   Added on 4 Apr 2009

Yellow daffodils.  Greenish red leaves.  A red London bus.  London can be quite pretty when seen from certain angles, like on this road near Highgate, and on the edge of Hampstead Heath in north London.  The urban jungle isn't all about the bright lights, you know.
 
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The derive tree on Hampstead Heath

Hampstead   Northern Line   Added on 1 Apr 2009

This is an interesting-looking tree.  Its branches tangle all over the place and look really rather ... well, interesting.  Quite a beautiful thing.  Kiri and I found it as we went on a derive round Hampstead Heath, a random adventure with (deliberately) no destination and lots of fun along the way.  You discover all sorts of things when you wander like this.
 
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Relic of the Paint Storm

Tottenham Court Road   Northern and Central Lines   Added on 27 Mar 2009

Many of us will recall the Great Snow of 2009, when the whole country (and certainly London) was covered from head to toe in white stuff.  Fewer will recall the Great Paint Storm of that same year, when the entire place was white once again, but this time with a curious blend of Dulux.  People will tell you that this never happened, but that is because every resident of London was paid a considerable sum to keep it all quiet.  The clean-up was rapid and meticulous, and this bicycle, bathed from saddle to pedals in white emulsion, is the only surviving evidence that the event ever took place.
 
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This station is not oval

Oval   Northern Line   Added on 25 Mar 2009

Every time I pass through Oval Station, which is on the way from my home to the city, the automatic lady on the train declares, "This station is oval." She's wrong, frankly.  Round, maybe, if you looked end-on at a platform.  Polygonal, possibly, if you examined the ticket hall from above.  But not oval.  And when you get out of the station, you find something even odder.  This shop specialises in repairing oval shoes.  Well, at least next time my snow shoes need a bit of TLC, I'll know where to go.
 
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The Great Edgware Elevenses

Edgware   Northern Line   Added on 7 Mar 2009

The people of Edgware take their festivals very seriously - none more so than the daily ritual of morning coffee.  "It's far more than just a drink and a biscuit round here," one resident told me.  "Coffee time sees the entire district come alive as revellers take to the streets, mugs and Hobnobs in hand.  Music plays, there is laughter and singing, and the streets are filled with dancing throngs for just one precious hour between 10.00 and 11.00 each weekday morning." Sadly I didn't witness this spectacle first-hand as I only arrived in the afternoon, but it must be true.  You can see the "Controlled Zone" signs all over the borough, clearing the streets for that particular 60 minutes.  I must return and be part of it one day.
 
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A rubbish little branch line

Mill Hill East   Northern Line   Added on 4 Mar 2009

Mill Hill East is a lesser terminus at the end of a small, unregarded single-track branch of the Northern Line.  It's very new and swish around there.  The smell of fresh tarmac and new brick abounds, and to indicate the class of the neighbourhood, there's the largest Waitrose I have ever seen.  There's a Scout Camp and a military base up there.  And ... wait for it ... a recycling depot.  Oh yes.
 
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