Elephant & Castle to Lambeth North walk

We exit the Bakerloo line station and navigate to Newington Butts – the road running south from the Elephant & Castle junction. It’s all a bit traffic-filled and not so pleasant. Past the Metropolitan Tabernacle and into St Mary’s Churchyard. And breathe!

Navigate due west across the churchyard until we reach Churchyard Row. Admire the tall building and then  turn right to reach Brook Drive.

From the corner of Dante Road, the Osborne Water Tower can be seen. This tower was built in 1867 and once supplied water to the Lambeth Workhouse. This workhouse used to house 800 destitute families. A seven-year-old Charlie Chaplin lived there with his mother. In 2012, it was converted into a home and featured on the TV programme ‘Grand Designs.

On the corner of Brook Drive and Hayles Street, Dexy Midnight Runners filmed their ‘Come On Eileen’ video in 1982. Shops on the corner of Hayles Street and Dante Road, featured in the video have both disappeared since.

Walk along Brook Drive until Austral Street (which was once called South Street) and turn right, reaching West Square. Here there was once a huge telegraph tower which is long gone.

Exit the square via Geraldine Street, around its corner and into the park which contains the Imperial War Museum.

Cross the park and exit onto Lambeth Road (beside the World Garden). Left up to the traffic lights. Cross the road up to Kennington Road which leads to Lambeth North station.

 

THE LAMBETH NORTH MUG

Lambeth North is the area surrounding the Imperial War Museum.

Since the 19th century North Lambeth has been one of the names to describe the area around Waterloo station and the shopping district around Lower Marsh market, which was the heart of the original Lambeth village. This area contains many business premises and nationally important locations such as St Thomas’ Hospital, the London Eye, the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Festival Hall, County Hall, Lambeth Palace, and the Imperial War Museum.

Lambeth North tube station serves the area. Designed by Leslie Green, the station was opened by the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway on 10 March 1906, with the name Kennington Road. It served as the temporary southern terminus of the line until 5 August 1906, when Elephant & Castle station was opened. The station’s name was changed to Westminster Bridge Road in July 1906 and it was again renamed, to Lambeth North, in April 1917.

Nobody has to go to war over the beautiful Lambeth North 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE ELEPHANT AND CASTLE MUG

Elephant and Castle is one of five London tube stations named after a pub.

One thing Elephant and Castle is not named after is ‘La Infanta de Castilla’, seemingly referring to a series of Spanish princesses such as Eleanor of Castile and María, the daughter of Philip III of Spain. However, Eleanor of Castile was not an infanta – the term only appeared in English about 1600. María has a strong British connection because she was once controversially engaged to Charles I, but she had no connection with Castile. Infanta de Castilla therefore seems to be a conflation of two Iberian royals separated by 300 years.

Regardless, the pub of that name gave its name to the station, and in turn the station to the nearby area.

Elephant & Castle tube station is on the Bank branch of the Northern Line between Kennington and Borough, and is the southern terminus of the Bakerloo Line.

It’s large yet not elephant-sized. The Elephant & Castle ceramic mug weighs 11 ounces. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page



Tower Hill to Aldgate East walk

From Tower Hill station, we follow the signs for Tower Gateway station which takes us past part of a surviving section of the London Wall.

The London Wall was first built by the Romans around 200 AD. While a few sections remain to this day, a particularly impressive part can be found on the short walk between Tower Hill Underground station and Tower Gateway DLR station.

The eastern section of this wall began in what became the Tower of London and reached this point. What we see here goes back nearly 2000 years

Just beyond the wall, the walkway beyond – called Trinity Place – is a little underwhelming and a lot more modern. The Greater London Council created the walk and the open space to its south as part of the road widening scheme at Tower Hill in 1975.

About halfway along Trinity Place is a small entrance on the left. This was the site of one of the pioneering roads of the capital – “Circus”. This is not a misprint because I’ve neglected the first part. It was simply called Circus for the notable fact that this was the first road of this name in London. Circus was a Roman concept but it had never been applied as a street name before. The hundreds of roads that followed in its stead took their names from this – Piccadilly Circus, Cambridge Circus and many more lowly circular streets throughout the UK.

Circus was constructed from 1768 to 1774 under the architectural guidance of George Dance the Younger.

During the late 18th century, London experienced economic prosperity, partly fueled by the flourishing trade with the Americas. This period of growth created a need for high-quality housing catering to the newly affluent merchant class.

Sir Benjamin Hammett, a city alderman and property developer, secured the lease for the land hereabouts and enlisted the services of architect George Dance. His aim was to create a speculative residential development that would attract merchants to establish their residences in the City, strategically located near the bustling docks.

Not only was Circus built, but a road just to its north which he called simply “Crescent”, was also finished by 1774.

Crescent was the first planned crescent in London and introduced the concept of curved street frontages. Crescent was originally eleven identical houses.

North of Crescent was “America Square”. Thus was a square linked to a crescent and linked to a circus. Vaingloriously-named, if short, Hammett Street connected the development to the outside world at Minories.

Two years after all of these were complete, the United States gained its independence.

George Dance was likely influenced by John Wood’s work in Bath but the success of Circus and Crescent set a precedent, and other architects, including John Nash, followed suit by connecting circuses, crescents and squares in a similar fashion in the West End.

A decade later, Dance replicated this concept with Finsbury Circus and Finsbury Square.

In 1841, Fenchurch Street – the City of London’s first railway station – opened, leading to the construction of a railway viaduct that cut across the area between America Square and Crescent.

In 1884, the Metropolitan District Railway further altered the landscape by slicing diagonally through the southern half of The Crescent, resulting in the loss of five out of the eleven houses.

During the Second World War, America Square suffered extensive damage, resulting in the complete loss of its original houses. Nathan Meyer Rothschild had lived at No. 14 in the 19th century but a bomb in 1941 put paid to Rothschild’s house. Today, America Square is occupied by offices, restaurants and a gym.

Crescent lost four out of its remaining six houses, and in Circus, only one house remained intact. Post-war, the surviving house continued to be used for commercial purposes.

In 1962, the Tower Hill Improvement Trust acquired the local leases, which were later sold to the Greater London Council in 1975.

The GLC decided to demolish Circus and transformed the land into open space as part of the Tower Hill road widening scheme. Crescent, America Square and Hammett Street survived the final work of the bulldozer.

Nowadays, few know of these roads and their pioneering role in London nomenclature.

Turn left on Trinity Place here past the former site of Circus into Crescent. Hammett Street then takes us to Minories. Turn right at Tower Gateway DLR station.

After local demolitions and road realignments, a part of Royal Mint Street was renamed Shorter Street during the twentieth century. It ran up to the Royal Mint and had a number of courtyards and alleyways running off of it. The site of the modern car park was a railway depot.

Next up is Royal Mint Street itself. Very originally this was Hog Lane (or Hoggestrete) but, in time, Rosemary Lane. This was the continuation of what is now Cable Street, running from the junction with Dock Street and Leman Street towards the Tower of London. After the Royal Mint became located here, Rosemary Lane was renamed Royal Mint Street (in 1850). In the Rosemary Lane era there was a street market – primarily for second-hand trade.

At the Dock Street junction, turn left under the bridge into Leman Street.

Leman Street was formally named after Sir John Leman but it was already ‘Leman Street’ and pronounced like ’lemon’ locally. ’Leman’ was an old term for a mistress or lover.

The street was once officially called Red Lion Street. In 1831 the Garrick Theatre was here but was demolished in 1891 and a police station rebuilt on the site.

There was a strong local German community which supported a ’Christian Home for German Artisans’ (later a German YMCA) and also a private German hotel.

The Eastern Dispensary was set up in Great Alie Street in 1782 by a group of doctors. This moved to new premises in Leman Street in 1858 but closed its doors finally in 1940.

In 1887 the Co-operative Wholesale Society opened the headquarters of its London operations on the corner of Leman Street and Hooper Street. This was a seven-storey structure in brick, granite and Portland stone incorporating a sugar warehouse and a prominent clock tower.

All the way up Leman Street, to the Whitechapel Road junction, we reach Aldgate East station.

Ealing Common to Acton Town walk

Ealing Common station features the first Nando’s branch in the UK. There is still a bomb shelter at Ealing Common station.

Optionally we cross the main road to Fordhook Avenue where Ada Lovelace lived. Her house is no more, alas. But then we return to the station and take Leopold Road beside the common itself.

On Ealing Common itself, the Bollo Brook apparently rises somewhere near to the tube station. There are bunkers under the Common and some are under the Leopold Road end.

From Leopold Road, walk along Tring Avenue

The area between Acton Town and Ealing Common is called the Rothschild Estate (more recently, Rothschild Residential Area) and it was formed from the orchards of the Rothschild Estate. Roads were named in conjunction of the Rothschild family who owned the area and Gunnersbury Park. Tring Avenue was named after Tring Park Mansion in Hertfordshire, the main family home. Leopold, Lillian, Gunnersbury, Evelyn (either linked to Leopold or daughter of Edgar Curtiss who developed the estate). Stuart Avenue was named after Curtiss’ son.

Once over the bridge, take Carbery Avenue.

There is a Buddhist temple at 55 Carbery Avenue called Three Wheels. You can visit by appointment. It’s quite serene, especially in the garden.

We finally Acton Town station via Gunnersbury Crescent.

Royal Oak to Paddington walk

Leave Royal Oak station and take Portchester Road south to the junction where the Porchester (formerly the Royal Oak) is. Turn left into Bishops Bridge Road until Paddington station is reached.

 

Barbican to Farringdon walk

This is a walk you can do without actually leaving an Underground station. You get get from Barbican to Farringdon (Elizabeth Line) by using the lift at the western end of Barbican station platforms

Notting Hill Gate to Bayswater walk

The walk between Notting Hill Gate and Bayswater station begins at busy Notting Hill Gate itself but then gets rapidly quieter with a trip up Pembridge Gardens.

Pembridge Gardens – dating from the 1850s – was developed by Francis and William Radford. Houses here were designed for the \”well-to-do\” with servant areas such as the kitchens in the basements.
At the top end of Pembridge Gardens, turn right into Pembridge Square. Pembridge Square was developed between 1856 and 1864, mainly by Bayswater builders Francis and William Radford. In 1972, the Pembridge Association was set up to protect the conservation area here.

Walking in the same direction, Pembridge Square becomes Moscow Road. Moscow Road’s origins can be traced back to the early 19th century when Edward Orme, a renowned painter, publisher, and property developer, played a pivotal role in its development between 1814 and 1815. The street owes its name to Tsar Alexander, who participated in the visit of the Allied sovereigns to England, marking the victorious aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Adjacent to Moscow Road, another street was named Petersburgh Place as a tribute.

Throughout the 19th century, Moscow Road became a vibrant hub for the Greek diaspora in London, attracting a significant Greek community. In 1879, the Greek Orthodox Saint Sophia was established as a church on the road and later transformed into a cathedral in 1922, serving as a spiritual landmark for the Greek population.

I took a voluntary detour around Hereford Road, Prince’s Square and Ilchester Gardens, returning to Moscow Road after the ‘three sided’ detour.

Moscow Road then continues to Queensway and Bayswater station.

 

 

Stockwell to Vauxhall walk

The subtitle of this article is “An odyssey in SW8“. An odyssey is a ‘long wandering series of travels’, named for a long poem from ancient Greece telling the story of the wanderings of Odysseus, a Greek hero and king.

This journey won’t take the ten years of the original but often, we take the place where we live or work simply for granted. We come. We go. We walk or drive down the same set of roads each day.

I found while I was researching this walk, that a seemingly dull yet busy road in south London had such a variety of stories to tell that, given a street’s antiquity, it’s probably true of all thoroughfares. The slightest curiosity reveals a hidden tapestry of history.

Before Covid, I worked in Vauxhall and sometimes spiced up my daily commute by finding a different way twixt home and work.

One of these different ways, was dull old South Lambeth Road, which I could walk to connect with London Underground’s Northern line rather than the Victoria line of Vauxhall.

At one end of South Lambeth Road is Stockwell station. This station was part of the first deep tube line in the world and it has its own tale to tell. I’ll walk from here up South Lambeth Road to its other end at Vauxhall station.

Stockwell station is rather famous as being the southern terminus of the City and South London Railway, opened on 4 November 1890 by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Just over a month later – on 18 December 1890 – passenger services commenced. The City and South London became the Northern Line in time. The original domed station design was replaced first in the 1920s and again with the introduction of the Victoria line in 1971. According to Ed Glinnert, American troops used the Stockwell station as a hostel during the Second World War.

A few weeks after the 7/7 bombings of 2005, London was on edge. A day after the failed 21 July London bombings of trains and a bus, a Brazilian electrician living locally, Jean Charles de Menezes, was travelling. In a tragic case of mistaken identity, Menezes was shot dead by plainclothes police officers at Stockwell station. A small shrine to de Menezes was created by mourners outside the station and this evolved into a permanent memorial mosaic made by local artists, Mary Edwards and Chrysoula Vardaxi, with the help of the victim’s cousin.

Menezes was part of the large Portuguese-speaking community which is centred on South Lambeth Road, and known as “Little Portugal”. The majority of the Portuguese residents in the area come from Madeira and Lisbon, contributing to the establishment of numerous cafes, restaurants, bakeries, neighbourhood associations and delicatessens.

Another work of art dealing with tragedy is the Stockwell War Memorial Mural, located just north of the entrance to Stockwell station. It is a community art project led by Brian Barnes. Created in stages between 1999 and 2001, the mural features scenes and images with connections to the local area. The artwork decorates the main external entrance to the former Stockwell deep-level Second World War air-raid shelter. This was completed in September 1942, and was used by the Government until 1944 when it was opened to the public. It was used for one year as a shelter.

The mural includes fields of painted poppies with faded images of soldiers in the trenches along the base. Various sections of the mural tell different stories, with a particular emphasis on honouring the wartime SOE hero Violet Szabo, who grew up in Stockwell.

We’ll now set off up South Lambeth Road. The immediate row of eight three-storey mid-nineteenth-century terraced houses of Stockwell Terrace, facing you, are Grade II listed. In 1802, the Manor of Stockwell had been sold and these first houses were constructed in the 1840s with the idea to form an elegant middle-class suburb.

The next road we encounter is Lansdowne Way which crosses South Lambeth Road. Along its west section, the 1952-built Stockwell Bus Garage has a reinforced shell concrete roof on nine arches. Covering 73 000 square feet, at the time it was built it was the largest single-span roof in Europe.

On the left next is the Stockwell Baptist Church. The church was founded and built in 1866 by James Stiff, a pottery manufacturer, who commissioned William Higgs for the construction. The site included not only the chapel but also school rooms and a house for the chapel keeper.

The church has witnessed significant sermons by notable figures such as Charles Spurgeon. It was damaged during the Second World War, but restored to its glory afterwards.

Next right, Adalbert Terrace, took shape between 1865 and 1875. It was originally called Canton Street – hence the name of the pub, the Canton Arms which opened in 1848 on Adalbert Terrace’s future junction with South Lambeth Road.

We are merging imperceptibly with the ancient area of South Lambeth. Lambeth was geographically split into two: North Lambeth (which is the Lambeth of today) and South Lambeth is recorded as Sutlamehethe in 1241. The area now called Vauxhall lies in between, which confusingly has separated North and South Lambeth.

The history of South Lambeth is bound up with a man called Noel de Caron, Lord of Schoonewale in Flanders, who held most of the freehold land in Vauxhall Manor at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1581, he was elected to the States General of the United Provinces, demonstrating his loyalty to the Prince of Orange. Caron played a crucial role in the negotiations between the States General and Queen Elizabeth I in 1585. Over time, he developed a strong affinity for England and spent much of his time living there.

Caron acquired property in South Lambeth through two transactions. In 1602, he purchased a substantial house with a dairy house and around 70 acres from Thomas Hewytt of St Andrew Undershaft. Later, in 1618, Caron expanded his estate by acquiring additional land from William and Catherine Foster.

Despite his extensive property holdings, Caron continued his diplomatic career as an ambassador until his death in December 1624. He was buried in St Mary’s, Lambeth, in January of the following year.

South Lambeth was a flourishing area of market gardens and on the right, past the Canton Arms, was John Tradescant’s botanical garden.

John Tradescant the Elder, a 17th-century English naturalist and gardener, embarked on several trips during which he collected seeds and bulbs. He accumulated a diverse collection of curiosities in natural history and ethnography from his travels. Tradescant housed this collection in a large house called “The Ark”. The Ark served as a “Cabinet of Curiosity,” and it became the first museum open to the public in England, known as the Musaeum Tradescantianum.

The botanical garden played a significant role in introducing many plants into English gardens. This contribution has left a lasting impact on the modern gardener’s repertoire. John Tradescant the Elder worked alongside his son, John Tradescant the Younger, in managing and expanding the garden.

Over the following centuries, it fell into disrepair and was built over finally in the 1880s. Tradescant Road now follows the precise line of the garden’s wall.

The Ark, by the 1880s, was in the way of a project to straighten a kink on South Lambeth Road which turned sharp left at Beaufoy’s Vinegar Works.

Old South Lambeth Road was the former route of the main road before straightening in 1883. This transformation left a section of the old road to the east, now referred to as Old South Lambeth Road. The two sections – old and new – were confusingly both called South Lambeth Road until 1887.

In the corner of the old and new sections stands Victoria Mansions, here shown on the right of the photo, which also features a tram. Trams plied South Lambeth Road during the twentieth century

Paul O’Grady lived in Victoria Mansions when Lily Savage was a local feature.

Albert and Atholl Mansions on the left were demolished around 1975 to make way for the Mawbey Estate. All the streets on the left of South Lambeth Road between here and Wyvil Road to the north, shown on the early maps above, also disappeared for the estate, replaced by a single road called Walton Close.

The Beaufoy family had been in business since 1741. Rejecting the distillation of gin due to its harmful effects, the Beaufoys became major producers of English malt vinegar. Over the years, their business expanded to include a variety of products such as cordials, non-alcoholic drinks and mineral water.

In 1812, John Henry Beaufoy relocated his vinegar brewery from Cuper’s Gardens to here. The move was prompted by the need for the Cuper’s Gardens site for the construction of the new Waterloo Bridge. John Henry Beaufoy received significant compensation for the relocation, making the transition financially viable.

Amidst the industrialisation of Vauxhall in the mid-19th century, the Beaufoy family played a philanthropic role by providing educational facilities for the underprivileged. Henry Benjamin Beaufoy built and endowed the Ragged School for Boys and Girls in Newport Street, Lambeth. Later, Mark Hanbury Beaufoy erected the Beaufoy Institute in 1907, replacing the Ragged School that had been demolished in 1904 to make way for the railway.

At the industrial site, the Beaufoy vinegar brewery underwent significant changes in ownership and operations over the years. After around 1961, the name Beaufoy ceased to be used, and own-brand bottles were labelled as Sarsons.

In 1985, outline planning permission and listed building consent were granted for the residential development of the Beaufoy site. Some original brewery structures, such as the former brewhouse and mill, were retained, providing a historical character to the redevelopment. The office block underwent a separate conversion and extension process, becoming the Comfort Inn Hotel.

The area no longer smells of vinegar.

Continuing along our road, on the left is Wyvil Road. Not to be outdone by its historical neighbours, this short street running to Wandsworth Road has a significant historical connection to the automotive industry, with the first Vauxhall motor cars being manufactured at the Vauxhall Iron Works in 1903.

A small area then, producing not only most of London’s vinegar but also the first Vauxhall-branded motor cars.

Next right is the 1830s-era Fentiman Road.

Noel de Caron – mentioned above – erected a large mansion house. This took several years to build and was surrounded by a large park, well watered by the River Effra and adorned with trees. In the Commonwealth period, the house was owned by Alderman Francis Allen, one of the Commissioners appointed to try Charles I.

In 1666, the house and park were granted to the Lord Chancellor, Edward, Earl of Clarendon, for an annual rent of 10 shillings. After Clarendon, the estate passed to Sir Jeremy Whichcott of Hendon, who had served as Solicitor-General to the Prince Elector Palatine. In 1677, Sir Jeremy’s son, Sir Paul Whichcott, was noted as the owner of Caron House and park. By 1685, Caron House itself was demolished, but its name persisted.

In 1725, the estate was acquired by Edward Lovibond, and it remained in the Lovibond family until 1797 when it was sold to Sir Charles Blicke. Blicke likely had Carroun House built as his residence on the site of the future Fentiman Road.

The area, including buildings known as The Lawn, was later covered by Vauxhall Park. In 1889, eight and a half acres of this land were purchased by the Lambeth Vestry for £43 500 to create a public park. Landscape gardener Fanny R. Wilkinson designed the layout of the park. The opening ceremony took place on 7 July 1890, attended by Octavia Hill and performed by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. “Bertie” was busy in the area that year – later he also opened Stockwell station.

The site where the large house once stood now features an artificial stone statue in the memory of former owner Henry Fawcett. The statue, created by George Tinworth at Doulton’s manufactory, was unveiled on 7 June 1893. The raised terrace running northward through the park from the statue follows the same line as the paved way in front of The Lawn.

The Lawn terrace of houses were buried under the park in a rare piece of reverse urbanisation but lent their name to Lawn Lane, running north of the new park.

Optional detour: Enter Vauxhall Park, exit the far corner onto Fentiman Road and then left into Meadow Road.

There’s a path on the right which leaves Meadow Road, just before this road bends right. The Effra runs under the Ashmole Estate behind Archbishop Tennyson’s school on Harleyford Road. Take the path up to the Oval beside Wisden House.

Follow Harleyford Road to find the back way into Bonnington Square and Vauxhall Grove. Follow Langley Lane back to South Lambeth Road.

At Lawn Lane, the River Effra once joined the “right bank” of South Lambeth Road, shown by this 1829 map. The river flowed west from the Oval. All of the housing on the former “Vauxhall Place” had the river between them and the road.

Replacing Vauxhall Place, one of a series of new buildings became the headquarters of the British Interplanetary Society, on the corner of Langley Lane. This building, bought for the Society by Arthur C Clarke, merged two buildings formerly belonging to Dalton’s Weekly.

We leave South Lambeth Road and follow the old course of the River Effra up South Lambeth Place, under the huge Vauxhall railway bridges. At the intersection of Wandsworth Road and South Lambeth Road, where the railway bridge now stands, once stood Cox’s Bridge, also known as Vauxhall Bridge. The repair of “cokkesbrugge” was the responsibility of the Abbot of Westminster in 1340, and in 1504, one of his successors was making rent payments to the Prior and Convent of Christ Church.

Opposite Vauxhall station, at the top of South Lambeth Place stands a branch of Starbucks. Do coffee drinkers notice the elephants and castles adorning the building? In 1984, Paul O’Grady began working as a barman at the Elephant and Castle pub. As his drag alter ego Lily Savage, he hosted “Ladies Night” there every Tuesday, where amateur drag acts would perform. While hosting as Lily, he trialled comedy routines, becoming known for insulting both the acts and the audience. Six months later, he moved his act to nearby Royal Vauxhall Tavern.

The Elephant and Castle now being a Starbucks, the “Big Issue” offices having gone from next door to the pub, this former industrial and edgy part of Vauxhall is rapidly altering character with the mini-Dubai of Nine Elms starting to dominate.

But like South Lambeth Road, it’s all part of constantly changing London. It was ever thus and will ever be thus.

Embankment to Waterloo walk

The elevated walkway beside Charing Cross station not only serves as a quiet and convenient shortcut to the South Bank but also offers a journey through the architectural history of London.

The walkway is part of a route that allows you to travel from the National Gallery to the Royal Festival Hall without crossing a road, creating a quirky and interesting experience for those exploring the city. Starting from Trafalgar Square, you descend into the tube subway in the southeast corner, passing through the ticket barriers at Charing Cross station.

Upon entering Charing Cross station, head to the far left of the platforms and follow the sign indicating “Waterloo and South Bank” to access the elevated walkway. This walkway runs along the eastern flank of Sir Terry Farrell’s Embankment Place, showcasing postmodern architecture with playful shapes and colours, including distinctive circular windows and a unique postmodern clock.

As you progress, the walkway provides captivating views of Villiers Street and Embankment Gardens, allowing you to observe Gordon’s Wine Bar from above. Approaching Embankment station, the walkway leads through an older section of the building, presumably part of the original Charing Cross station built in 1864, complete with sloping sides to discourage undesirable activities.

The walk concludes with a final section of the covered walkway, offering the best views of Embankment station, one of the few tube buildings visible from above. Along the fence separating the walkway from Charing Cross’s platforms, you may encounter a small photographic exhibition and a modest collection of padlock mementoes.

Exiting onto the easternmost Golden Jubilee Bridge, you’ve completed one of central London’s longest routes that avoids road crossings.

Barbican to Moorgate walk

Here’s the map

Lambeth North to Elephant & Castle walk

West minster Bridge Road to St George’s Circus and do some history.

London Road then E&C

On the corner of Brook Drive and Hayles Street is the location of the Dexy’s ‘Come On Eileen’ video.

 

THE SOUTH KENTON MUG

South Kenton is situated on the southern fringe of Northwick Park in an area which was previously open farmland with virtually no settlement.

Its station opened on 3 July 1933 with access from both sides of the railway via a footbridge to the single island platform serving. The further growth of South Kenton was stimulated by the arrival of the railway.

South Kenton’s station footbridge was later replaced by a pedestrian tunnel, cutting out a long climb for passengers entering the station. The station was designed by the architect William Henry Hamlyn and built in concrete and glass.

The bespoke South Kenton mug is a veritable triumph of design. Its 11 ounces of ceramic goodness belies its glossy white finish and the fact that it’s dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE NORTH WEMBLEY MUG

North Wembley is an area of the London Borough of Brent and the location of the Sudbury Court Estate.

North Wembley station was first opened by the London and North Western Railway on 15 June 1912 as part of the ‘New Line’ between Euston and Watford Junction. Bakerloo line services began on 16 April 1917.

Originally to be called East Lane, after the road passing over the railway at this location, it was named North Wembley instead. North Wembley station was built to the same general design as the other new stations on the same line and the layout at North Wembley station makes it almost identical to Kenton two stops to the north.

Sudbury Court Estate was built between circa 1927 to 1935, one of the best surviving mock tudor housing locally. The estate was built by Captain Edward George Spencer-Churchill who also built the Northwick Park estate further north.

Along East Lane in North Wembley is a small range of shops.

Everybody wants a Wembley mug but a North Wembley mug is rather niche, we think. 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE WEMBLEY CENTRAL MUG

Wembley Central is an interchange station on the West Coast Main Line with the London Overground and the London Underground.

The through line opened on 20 July 1837 but then Wembley Central just couldn’t settle on a name. The station opened as ’Sudbury’ in 1842 before becoming ’Sudbury & Wembley’ in 1882 and ’Wembley for Sudbury’ in 1910.

On 16 April 1917, the Bakerloo line service commenced and on 5 July 1948 the station was renamed ’Wembley Central’. And it’s been that name ever since.

Is this the way to Wembley? No it’s Thursday. So am I. Let’s then pour a lovely cup of tea into an 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE STONEBRIDGE PARK MUG

From 24 September 1982 to 4 June 1984, Stonebridge Park was the northern operational terminus of the Bakerloo line.

Those glory days of Stonebridge Park terminus status were due to the location of the depot here. This was built on land next to the station which was opened by the London and North Western Railway as part of their “New Line” project on 15 June 1912. It closed on 9 January 1917 and reopened for Bakerloo line trains on 1 August 1917.

Breaking piece of trivia: Stonebridge Park was not the name for this area before the arrival of the railway.

Take the 11oz ceramic Stonebridge Park mug ove to the Ace Cafe, just there on the North Circular. They will admire its glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE HARLESDEN MUG

Harlesden proclaims itself “the reggae capital of London”

In the 19th century, Harlesden, then a rural village, began to develop some of its urban appearance with the arrival of the railways. Cottages for railway and industrial workers were built, as was grander housing for the local middle class. To the east of Harlesden, there were still several farms, Elmwood, Haycroft, Upper Roundwood, and Sellon’s until the late 1890s.

Harlesden was at the height of its prosperity at the turn of the 20th century.  Nine churches and chapels were built between 1876 and 1902 as were a court house, a library, a constitutional clubhouse, and a jubilee clock, the focus of High Street. Willesden Hippodrome, a large music hall, opened in 1907. Much of High Street, a major shopping centre, was rebuilt in the Edwardian period.

Mainly after World War I, one of Europe’s biggest industrial estates was constructed at nearby Park Royal, and large factories there included McVitie & Price (later United Biscuits) from 1910, and Heinz from 1919.

The image of Harlesden today began to take shape in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Continued immigration from Ireland and new immigration from the Caribbean, the Indian sub-continent and Africa changed the cultural make up of the area. More recently the area has now become home to Brazilian and Portuguese communities. Much of the housing is made up of Victorian terraces which have been attracting young professionals unable to afford similar properties in nearby Kensal Green and Queen’s Park.

Harlesden station opened in 1841 by the London and Birmingham Railway and closed in 1866, replaced by Willesden Junction station, half a mile to the south-east. A new station called Harlesden , opened on 15 June 1912. Bakerloo line services on the same tracks began in 1917.

Enjoy the reggae vibe and backbeat with the Harlesden 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE WILLESDEN JUNCTION MUG

Willesden Junction is a major interchange station of the London Overground linking to the Bakerloo Line.

The West Coast Main Line station was opened by the London & North Western Railway on 1 September 1866 to replace the London and Birmingham Railway’s Willesden station of 1841 which was half a mile to the northwest. The High-Level station was opened by the North London Railway in 1869.

In 1896 staff totalled 271, including 79 porters, 58 signalmen (in 14 signal boxes) and 58 shunters and yard foremen. They issued 1,006,886 tickets to passengers in 1896.

The ’Willesden New Station’ was opened in 1910 to the north of the main line. The bay platforms were originally long enough for four-coach Bakerloo trains when such trains ran outside peak times, but were shortened in the 1960s.

Willesden Junction is a complicated set of lines and platforms. Unlike our 11oz ceramic mug with its simple glossy white finish and the safeness of its dishwasher and microwave durability. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE KENSAL GREEN MUG

Kensal Green, site of England’s oldest cemetery still in use.

Kensal Green cemetery still contains many elaborate Victorian mausoleums, including those of William Makepeace Thackeray and Anthony Trollope.

Kensal Green is also a residential area with good transport links to central London. The names Kensal Green and Kensal Rise are used somewhat interchangeably by non-residents to denote the same district, although residents differentiate between the areas based on proximity to the local tube and railway stations.

Kensal Green is first mentioned in 1253, translating from old English meaning the King’s Holt (King’s Wood) and the station opened on 1 October 1916.

Hardly mausoleum-shaped, more 11oz ceramic mug-shaped, the glossy white finish of the Kensal Green mug is perfect for pondering the geographical differences from Kensal Rise. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE QUEEN’S PARK MUG

Queen’s Park, like much of Kilburn, was developed by a man called Solomon Barnett.

Queen’s Park station was first opened by the London and North Western Railway on 2 June 1879 on the main line from London to Birmingham.

The two-storey terraced houses east of the park, built between 1895 and 1900, typically have clean, classical lines. Those west of the park, built 1900–05, tend to be more Gothic in style. Barnett’s wife was from the West Country, and many of the roads he developed are named either for places she knew (e.g. Torbay, Tiverton, Honiton) or for popular poets of the time (e.g. Tennyson). The first occupants of the area in late Victorian times were typically lower middle class, such as clerks and teachers. Queen’s Park is both demographically and architecturally diverse. The streets around the park at the heart of Queen’s Park are a conservation area.

Services on the Bakerloo line were extended from Kilburn Park to Queen’s Park on 11 February 1915. On 10 May 1915 Bakerloo services began to operate north of Queen’s Park as far as Willesden Junction over recently-built tracks.

You can toast local team Queen’s Park Rangers with our 11oz ceramic mug. But you’d be slightly in the wrong place since they now play in Shepherd’s Bush. But enjoy the glossy white finish and the fact that it’s dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE KILBURN PARK MUG

The area of Kilburn Park was developed in the 1850s somewhat south of the area then known as Kilburn in the Fields, west of the Edgware Road.

The ‘Park’ in the name was simply an invention by the developer, James Bailey. Bailey had teamed up in a consortium of five developers who in 1850 bought 47 acres from owner the Reverend Edward Stuart. The consortium laid out roads and sewers and divided the site among themselves, subletting to smaller firms who built a few houses each.

The isolated, muddy location failed to attract many buyers and the estate remained incomplete for several decades. Properties were soon subdivided, some containing as many as six households in the 1870s.

The suburb of Kilburn Park was finally complete in the late 1880s.

Kilburn Park station was opened on 31 January 1915 as the temporary terminus of the Bakerloo line’s extension from Paddington towards Queen’s Park.

Ponder how muddy Kilburn Park was when first developed with the 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE MAIDA VALE MUG

Maida Vale took its name from a public house named after John Stuart, Count of Maida who won the Battle of Maida in 1806.

The Maida Vale area was developed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in the early 19th century as middle class housing with the layouts followed on from the building of the Regent’s Canal between 1812 and 1820. From the 1860s onwards, red brick was used as the prevailing look of local housing which is still the look today. The first mansion blocks were completed in 1897.

Maida Vale tube station was opened on 6 June 1915, on the Bakerloo Line.

The public house that the area was named after was “The Heroes of Maida”, a pub on Edgware Road giving its name to the area. And to our 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE WARWICK AVENUE MUG

Warwick Avenue is an area, street and a Bakerloo Line tube station hiding out of sight near the canal.

The area of which Warwick Avenue is part – Little Venice – is one of London’s prime residential areas, known for its shops and restaurants. Built around the Grand Union Canal, the atmosphere is more Dutch than Venetian.

Warwick Avenue tube station opened on 31 January 1915 on the Bakerloo line’s extension from Paddington to Queen’s Park. For a time prior to its opening, the proposed name for the station was Warrington Crescent. There are no surface buildings and the station is accessed by two sets of steps to a sub-surface ticket hall. It was one of the first London Underground stations built specifically to use escalators rather than lifts.

When I get to Warwick Avenue, meet me by the entrance of the tube with this Duffy-tastic 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE PADDINGTON MUG

Paddington was the location of the departure of the very first underground train in January 1863.

Paddington main line station was designed by the celebrated engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and had long been the London end of the Great Western Railway.

Paddington, being far from central London in the 1860s, became the choice for the first underground railway in the world so the GWR passengers could reach the City. Before the coming of the railway, Paddington had been a medieval parish. Later it became a metropolitan borough and finally integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington is the site of St Mary’s Hospital where penicillin was first discovered.

Alan Turing, the pioneer mathematician was born in Warrington Crescent.

Fictionally, Paddington Station has a display case showing Paddington Bear, a character of children’s fiction who, in the book, is first discovered at this station and hence named after it.

Enjoy a beverage from darkest Peru in the Paddington 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE EDGWARE ROAD MUG

Edgware Road – so good they built it twice.

The main Edgware Road station serves the Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines.

A second Edgware Road station was opened on 15 June 1907 by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway (now the Bakerloo line) when it extended its line from the temporary northern terminus at Marylebone. In common with other early stations of the lines owned by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, that station was designed by architect Leslie Green with an ox-blood red glazed terracotta façade.

Now here’s a mug that you can deploy excitingly in two different stations called Edgware Road. 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE MARYLEBONE MUG

Marylebone is an area in the City of Westminster North of Oxford Street and South of Regents Park. 

Marylebone gets its name from a church, called St Mary’s, that was built on the bank of a small stream or ‘bourne’ called the Tyburn. The church and the surrounding area later became known as ‘St Mary at the bourne’, which over time became shortened to its present form Marylebone.

Today the area is mostly residential with a stylish High Street.

Marylebone station, opened in 1899, is the youngest of London’s mainline terminal stations, and also one of the smallest, having opened with half the number of platforms originally planned.

Change at Marylebone for the glories of the Chiltern Line up to High Wycombe and Aylesbury. Celebrate your change of trains with the Marylebone 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE BAKER STREET MUG

Baker Street – Sherlock’s stomping ground.

Baker Street is one of the original stations of the Metropolitan Railway – the world’s first underground railway, opened in 1863.

The Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (now the Bakerloo line) opened on 10 March 1906; Baker Street was the temporary northern terminus of the line until it was extended to Marylebone station on 27 March 1907.

On 20 November 1939, following the construction of an additional southbound platform and connecting tube tunnels between Baker Street and Finchley Road stations, the Bakerloo line took over the Metropolitan line’s stopping services between Finchley Road and Wembley Park and its Stanmore branch.

It doesn’t take a lot of sleuthing to appreciate the Baker Street 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE REGENT’S PARK MUG

Regent’s Park is one of the few underground stations without its own building.

The station was opened on 10 March 1906 by the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway. In the original parliamentary authority for the construction of the BS&WR no station was allowed at Regent’s Park. Permission was granted to add it to the already partially constructed line in 1904 but without a surface building.

The station is served by lifts – there is also a staircase which can be used and which has 96 steps.

Appreciate the fine designs of John Nash while drinking from the fine designs of an 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE OXFORD CIRCUS MUG

Oxford Circus was designed by John Nash in 1811.

Oxford Circus, the busy intersection of Oxford Street and Regent Street, was constructed in the beginning of the 19th century, and was designed by John Nash. Regent Street had been commissioned by Prince Regent, who was later to become King George IV, as a grand scheme to connect the Princes home at Carlton House with his newly acquired property at Regents Park. Nash designed a wide boulevard with a sweeping curve that became a clear dividing line between the less respectable Soho and the fashionable squares and streets of Mayfair. Born from the concept of Nash’s layout of the New Street in 1812, frontage alignments remain, with the rebuilt listed architecture of 1920s buildings.

The surrounding area contains important elements of the Nash heritage. All frontages on the Circus are Grade II Listed.

Pour a lovely cup of tea into the Oxford Circus 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE PICCADILLY CIRCUS MUG

Piccadilly Circus was built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly.

The junction has always been a very busy traffic interchange since construction, as it lies at the centre of Theatreland and handles exit traffic from Piccadilly, which Charles Dickens, Jr. described in 1879: “Piccadilly, the great thoroughfare leading from the Haymarket and Regent-street westward to Hyde Park-corner, is the nearest approach to the Parisian boulevard of which London can boast.” The circus lost its circular form in 1886 with the construction of Shaftesbury Avenue.

Piccadilly Circus tube station was opened 10 March 1906, on the Bakerloo Line, and on the Piccadilly Line in December of that year. In 1928, the station was extensively rebuilt to handle an increase in traffic.

The intersection’s first electric advertisements appeared in 1910.

“It’s like Piccadilly Circus in here!” said Mums throughout the 1970s and 80s. Of course it never was since 100,000 people pour through the station every day. You coul revel in the actual solitude of your home with the Piccadilly Circus 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE CHARING CROSS MUG

Since the 18th century, Charing Cross has been seen as the exact centre of London.

Charing Cross gives its name to several local landmarks, including Charing Cross railway station and is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. It was where King Edward I placed a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile.

It was one of twelve places where Eleanor’s coffin rested overnight during the funeral procession from Lincolnshire to her final resting-place at Westminster. At each of these, Edward erected an Eleanor cross, of which only three now remain.

The original site of the cross has been occupied since 1675 by an equestrian statue of King Charles I. A Victorian replacement, in different style from the original, was later erected a short distance to the east outside the railway station.

Until 1931, Charing Cross also referred to the part of what is now Whitehall lying between Great Scotland Yard and Trafalgar Square.

The Charing Cross mug could become the exact centre of your universe. Even if not, it’s a fine 11oz ceramic mug with a glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE EMBANKMENT MUG

Embankment underground station has been known by various names during its long history.

The station has two entrances, one on Victoria Embankment and the other on Villiers Street, adjacent to Victoria Embankment Gardens.

The station is in two parts: sub-surface platforms opened in 1870 by the Metropolitan District Railway as part of the company’s extension of the Inner Circle eastwards from Westminster to Blackfriars and deep-level platforms opened in 1906 by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway and 1914 by the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway.

After having been named both Charing Cross and Embankment, in 1974 the station was renamed Charing Cross Embankment. Then, on 12 September 1976, it became Embankment, so that the merged Strand and Trafalgar Square stations could be named Charing Cross.

If the Embankment mug was a station and not a mug, it would be three minutes walk from the Charing Cross mug. 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE WATERLOO MUG

London Waterloo station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex.

The London and South Western Railway opened the station on 11 July 1848 as ’Waterloo Bridge Station’ when its main line was extended from Nine Elms. The station, designed by William Tite, was raised above marshy ground on a series of arches. The unfulfilled intention was for a through station with services to the City. In 1886, it officially became Waterloo Station.

Waterloo tube station is, like its namesake, the busiest station on the network and is served by the Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern and the Waterloo & City lines.

The first underground station at Waterloo was opened on 8 August 1898 by the Waterloo & City Railway.

Enjoy a Waterloo Sunset in the comfort of your own home with the Waterloo 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE LAMBETH NORTH MUG

Lambeth North is the area surrounding the Imperial War Museum.

Since the 19th century North Lambeth has been one of the names to describe the area around Waterloo station and the shopping district around Lower Marsh market, which was the heart of the original Lambeth village. This area contains many business premises and nationally important locations such as St Thomas’ Hospital, the London Eye, the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Festival Hall, County Hall, Lambeth Palace, and the Imperial War Museum.

Lambeth North tube station serves the area. Designed by Leslie Green, the station was opened by the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway on 10 March 1906, with the name Kennington Road. It served as the temporary southern terminus of the line until 5 August 1906, when Elephant & Castle station was opened. The station’s name was changed to Westminster Bridge Road in July 1906 and it was again renamed, to Lambeth North, in April 1917.

Nobody has to go to war over the beautiful Lambeth North 11oz ceramic mug. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

THE ELEPHANT AND CASTLE MUG

Elephant and Castle is one of five London tube stations named after a pub.

One thing Elephant and Castle is not named after is ‘La Infanta de Castilla’, seemingly referring to a series of Spanish princesses such as Eleanor of Castile and María, the daughter of Philip III of Spain. However, Eleanor of Castile was not an infanta – the term only appeared in English about 1600. María has a strong British connection because she was once controversially engaged to Charles I, but she had no connection with Castile. Infanta de Castilla therefore seems to be a conflation of two Iberian royals separated by 300 years.

Regardless, the pub of that name gave its name to the station, and in turn the station to the nearby area.

Elephant & Castle tube station is on the Bank branch of the Northern Line between Kennington and Borough, and is the southern terminus of the Bakerloo Line.

It’s large yet not elephant-sized. The Elephant & Castle ceramic mug weighs 11 ounces. Glossy white finish. Dishwasher and microwave safe. Click on the image to be taken to the Shopify page

 

Shopping-wise, if the mug you want is not shown, you will find it on the TUM store.