The Lure of the Underground
Baker Street Underground station, London (Baker Street North exit)
Guided by Aaron or Anne-Marie or Fiona or Steven Sz
Walk Times
| Day | Walk Type | Start Time | End Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Weekly | 10.45 am | 12.45 pm | Winter | Reserve Online |
N.B. this walk will not take place on the following dates:
30-04-2024Short read: Mind the Gap!
Awed walker: “There’s a whole other world down there.”
Long read: Down the Tubes. 150 Years of engineering and artistry from the inside. See things you’ve seen but not seen. Things you’ve not registered, not understood, not made sense of. We’re going places on this walk so get an Oyster Card or a Day Travel Card. Yes, some of the walk is outside but a lot of it’s down the Tube: inside stations, on platforms, in trains. Now a bit more background info. Not so very long ago the London Underground marked its 150th birthday. This tour explores that extraordinary “journey”, “trajectory”, “trip”, call it what you will. We explore several stations, inside and out. And bears repeating, this: you’ll see things that you won’t have seen before. Let alone things that you did see before but didn’t “see”, if you know what, I mean. I (David) went on this one with Fiona a year ago. It was a revelation. I’ve been taking the Tube for 40 years. She pointed out things that I’d never noticed – never noticed in stations that I’ve been in well over 10,000 times. Lots and lots of “well, I never” moments, jaw-hanging-open moments. The Tube. It’s a great London story. An integral part of the calculus of London life. So that in itself is a great foundation for a walk.
And while you’re at it, try this – it’s Fiona’s podcast of the walk. Makes for fascinating listening.
And to it you can add three great guides. Fiona, the Phi Beta Kappa of her Blue Badge graduating class (she won the Guide of the Year Award). has put this walk together brilliantly. And she delivers it with consummate artistry.
As do the other two members of the trio: Steven and Anne-Marie. This is a special couple of hours. Strongly recommended.
THE LURE OF THE UNDERGROUND – THE PRACTICALS
The meeting point is just outside Baker Street Tube, the Baker Street North exit (by Boots).
LONDON WALKS SOUPÇON
“The Underground is still for me the most romantic and mysterious part of London” David Piper, museum director and author of The Companion Guide to London, the finest guidebook ever written on London
West Ashfield Station. Heard of it? It sits on the third floor of an office building in West Kensington. A mocked-up station, it’s used as a training facility for London Underground staff. It’s fully kitted out with all the signage you’d find in a modern Tube station: LED displays, platform markings and a small section of Tube train.No trains enter or leave West Ashfield but you can hear them and feel them, thanks to the rumbling sound effects and fans that simulate a train’s arrival.
“With 11 different lines serving 270 stations [271 if you count West Ashfield], over 249 miles (402 km) of track, on which up to 500 t4rains can be in operation during peak hours, it’s a complex network that requires thousands of pairs of skilled hands to keep it running.” Emily Kearns
A previously unknown breed of mosquito, adapted to life underground, was discovered living in the Tube network in 1998.
LONDON WALKS REVIEWS
“by far the most impressive series of walks that I have ever encountered are those offered by London Walks” Travel and Enjoy
“the unfailingly fascinating London Walks… If you can’t find one [of their tours] that captures your fancy, maybe you really are tired of life.” San Francisco Chronicle
“Even jaded Londoners find these London Walks a source of astonishing gems of information about the city in which they live.” Daily Mail, Top London Treats
LONDON WALKS PRIVATE WALKS
If you can’t make the regularly scheduled, just-turn-up, public Lure of the Underground walk do think about booking one as a private tour. If you go private you can have the Lure of the Underground – or any other London Walk – on a day and at a time that suits your convenience. We’ll tailor it to your requirements. And – always with private London Walks and tours – we go to great lengths to make sure the guide-walker(s) “fit” is well-nigh perfect. Ring Fiona or Niamh or Peter or Mary on 020 7624 3978 or email us at [email protected] and we’ll set it up and make it happen for you. A private London Walk – they’re good value for an individual or couple and sensational value for a group – makes an ideal group or educational or birthday party or office (team-building) or club outing.
GIVE THE GIFT OF LONDON WALKS
A private London Walk makes a very special (and unusual) gift – be it a birthday or anniversary or Christmas present or whatever. Merchandise schmerchandise (gift wrapped or not) – but giving someone an experience, now that’s special. Memories make us rich.
MIND THE GAP
LONDON WALKS – STREETS AHEAD!
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE GUIDING
“If this were a golf tournament every name on the Leader Board would be a London Walks guide”
Phil –
Fiona was wonderful
Very enthusiastic and knowledgeable
Definitely recommend going out this tour with her
Liane –
As a Londoner, I’m used to moaning and groaning about the underground versus looking at it with wonder. It was great to go on this walk and see it with all new eyes. Learned a lot!
Alison –
A really enjoyable walk. Fiona told us all about the history of the tube, the architecture and station design, its role in WWII, art on the underground including the famous labyrinths, the technical and engineering details, Westminster Station in particular where the Jubilee line is incredibly deep. We started at Baker Street and travelled to King’s Cross, Covent Garden, Embankment and ended at Westminster. By far the most interesting for me was all the background to the visual designs; colours of the different lines, the styling in the stations and the worldwide recognised font, roundel and map. This walk has something for everyone. I’d definitely recommend it especially on a rainy day.
Debi –
1st walking tour with this group. Absolutely amazing, Fiona was our guide and she was very knowledgeable and full of facts. I would Highly recommend this tour .
C Kao –
get to see unexpect old london underground, old map, design of the building , love it
Beth Dubey –
Evidently the politics of the underground were as important as the engineering. Interesting to learn how the system grew; did the homes follow the rails or vice-versa. Fiona did a great job of tieing it all together.
Rachel Yeager –
This tour was very fun and engaging and I enjoyed being led by Fiona. I learned so much about the underground and the history of transportation in London. This tour had the added bonus of giving short breaks in walking by sitting on the tube! (if space was available) I really appreciate that in addition to the standard (though quality is above standard) types of London walks that guides like this are offered to get off the beaten track and learn something new! I have just moved to London and I am enjoying taking a series of London walks. I would recommend this tour for anyone with any interest in the system that facilitates every other adventure you have in London! Lastly, a special thank you to Fiona for being a good sport when we brought along our dog on this tour (yes, dogs are allowed on the underground!). 🙂 <3
Vic Roberts –
Excellent, absolutely excellent! My darling wife is American and has been arranging these guided walks for a couple years now. I’m a Londoner, former London bus mechanic and bus driver so it never would have occurred to me to do guided walks in my city let alone one transport related – lucky for me my wife ignored my grumbling. ‘The Lure of the Underground’ is the fourth walk we have done and was as illuminating, curious and fun as the others. Fiona is brilliant, as are all the guides. As always I learned more about the city that brought me up and on this walk more about and the transport system that took me to school, to work and out to play of an evening – and a transport system but for a split second decision would have taken my life in 1987 when it took those of 31 others. A tragedy you will learn about on this walk along side engineering history, architecture then and now, and transport design from the roundel to the moquette. And she’ll definitely flummox you with at least one of her questions…!