Obviously one could write for ages about London Underground, its stations, lines, oddities and many people do. Even I have written more than the odd post 140 London Underground Facts. Today though by chance I noticed it was the birthday of Camden Town Underground Station. Or at least the station as it is in its current form.
There is something about Camden that stops it being a regular station. It’s not just the countless thousands who head here for its markets, shopping and nightlife. It’s its rather confusing setup, at last if you are in a hurry.
There are much bigger and more complex stations on the Underground. Baker Street in many ways seems almost like a regular railway station, not just an Underground station with its numerous lines on different levels.
The station at Bank has long been notorious though much work has been done recently to improve things and even now with the Elizabeth Line, if Liverpool Street and Farringdon weren’t complicated enough, the new Elizabeth line trains are so long that each end of the train peeks out at different stations!
I love Farringdon Station, it may be my favourite station and I know having a favourite Underground station is something only Londoners would have and even then probably only eccentric ones.
Camden though only has one line so ordinarily it shouldn’t in any way give pause to thought but it does and that’s because the Northern Line splits here into various directions.
I’ve often thought of how the track is laid out. Less so when on a through train which I don’t have to alight as it rattles over the points and the announcements are made on the tannoys but more so when in a hurry inside the station. Of course there is no need to be in a hurry when there is a train every 2 or 3 minutes but such is London life.
This old poster above is from this date in 1924 when the current and somewhat wondrous if complex layout was opened but here is a more modern one below.
The station was damaged by a bomb on 14 October 1940 during the Blitz. One person was killed. Shortly afterwards, Camden Town was chosen as one of eight stations on the Northern line where dedicated air-raid shelters would be constructed alongside the line. Across the entire network they could accommodate tens if not hundreds of thousands of people.
Most people have much better things to do in Camden such as come on my London Street Market Tour or perhaps to visit Walking Londons Canals at Camden Lock but if you go for a wander just behind one of the markets you come across this unusual building. You see see handful of them around London if you know where to look and I’d guess this is the above ground entrance/exit to the old bunker.
For an even more incredible plan of an even busier station check out An old plan of Piccadilly Circus Underground Station. Or if you’d like to know what it was like to be in a derelict station then Marooned in an abandoned London Underground Station.
Stephen Liddell 