Getting Around in London

Five days in London and I'm feeling like a local. In fact, now that I've embraced the underground, I've been rubbing shoulders with them very regularly in this fascinating labyrinth.

In 1863 the first of the world's undergrounds began operation right here in London. Steam locomotives lit with gas lights ferried Londoners around the fledgling rail network deep under the city. No wonder smoking wasn't considered detrimental to one's health in those days, just using the underground would probably see you in an early grave! The network extended bit by bit until today it services every corner of the city and beyond. An excellent history can be read here.

On my last visit to the great metropolis I travelled around the city by bus so as not to miss any of the sights. This time I want to get places in a hurry like the Londoners do and the only way to achieve that is on the underground.

And what a marvellously efficient system this is. Trains rocket around the incredible ant's nest of tunnels like toy engines in a train set, conveying thousands of commuters into, out of and around the city. I'm staggered at the number of people who can be remove from or added to a train in less than twenty seconds. The train pulls in, the doors open, a lava-flow of humanity pours out, and a stampeding herd leaps on. The doors close and off shoots the train. There's no time for ditherers and, given that I'm rather inclined to dither, I've had to lift my game! The beauty of it is that if you get on a train going in the wrong direction you can just get off at the next stop and get on another one in less than a minute. The longest wait I've had is four minutes.

But I'm guessing that the underground is not the place for claustrophobics. Peering down an escalator which is conveying one a great distance into the bowels of the earth may make some folks a little twitchy. Although the events of 7 July 2005 may have left some otherwise rational people preferring to stay at ground level.

In 2010 I visited the Jackfield Tile Museum near Ironbrodge where the tiles were made that decorate many of the underground tunnels. One could spend a week just roaming around looking at the walls (maybe not at peak hour). The Baker Street station has images of Sherlock Holmes in the tile work. 

Some areas have a distinctly art deco feel to them. Charing Cross has black and white drawings of medieval times (not in tile). An subterranean art gallery for people on the move.

I'm captivated and enthralled by the underground and delighted that I can get to anywhere in the city in just a few minutes. Must be off, I've got a train to catch!