When I first came to London, I had a girlfriend that lived in Loughton. Going to see her, as a country boy, I had no idea that you went through fields with cows and stuff, on the Underground. I thought the Underground was, you know - under the ground...
The Lunette window was originally chosen as an international symbol of rail travel. Compare Margate. Another now demolished 'thirties station with a Lunette window was at Hastings 1933 - 2004. The architect was James Robb Scott, famous for Waterloo. He also designed Wimbledon and various other stations. The Lunette Window was abandoned as a symbol of Rail Travel after the Second World War and has never been used since. Your videos are always interesting, and I hope you'll be making many more. Thanks for uploading.
I'd love to see a complete 'architecture timeline' from the early days to the modern Underground. It might be a bit of an epic as a single video, maybe a chronological series would work.
John Murray Easton: Can I copy your homework? Charles Holden: Sure mate, just change it up a bit so it doesn't look obvious- John Murray Easton: It may be an old style of design, but even today Tube stations are more aesthetically pleasing than NYC Subway stations
I must admit, I hadn’t noticed how rather fetching the station architecture is at Loughton other than a cursory look at the nonetheless splendid canopies when passing through to Epping. Certainly worth a second look though. And even if it was his only eventual contribution, what a splendid legacy the station is in itself 🤔 All about quality not quantity after all…even if Holden managed to do both in fairness 😄 I have rather liked the decent attention you have afforded the eastern end of the Central Line. One of those things that you could easily overlook whereas in fact there are some absolute gems 😎 Have a splendid weekend sir 👍🍀🍻
The fact that it is a one-off, is a double blessing. It's simple, bold, Art Déco design is best appreciated when juxtaposed with what it was supposed to replace. i am so happy those other beautiful stations were not demolished. We humans have been smashing up the old paradigm of beauty to make room for the next one for millennia now. 💜🙏⚡️
My grandparents on my dads side briefly lived in Loughton. They move from slums of Hackney but didn’t like being out of the city and away from family and moved near to their parents in Tottenham. They finally move out to the glamorous new town estates of letchworth garden city
I really love these videos. They're fun, interesting, and engaging. Plus the humor is always great. It's always nice when a London based channel about London things can be enjoyed everywhere, like New York. Though because I love in New York, I don't really know where most things are. I could point to Bank/Monument, Paddington, Hammersmith, Aldgate, places like that with ease but the places like Sloughton or Woodford or Wimbledon I have a much harder time with. It would be nice to point out on a map where the station is for five seconds on these videos. It helps ground them to the real world and have these feel a bit less like interesting stories in a vacuum. Just an idea and either way I still love these videos and will keep watching for a long time coming
I too grew up in Loughton and I lived in Station Road between 1943 and 1955. Back in those days the 38A bus started at the station and I used it to get to school. Then I worked in the city for two years and took the train London bound five days a week. After two years I got a job in Debden, so took one stop in the other direction. Now and then an empty train went through, I assume to Debden or beyond to turn round and come back London bound. One day, when I was waiting alone on the platform, the train stopped and the driver invited me into the cab and gave me a privileged ride to Debden. That would just never happen now, would it!!
It's nice and all but it still pales in design when compared to the more gorgeous stations of our iconic Pyongyang Metro. Does the Tube use rolling stock from Berlin? That's what I thought...
I live on Oakwood Hill, 10-15 minutes from the station. Use it all the time when using the tube. My Dad and sister particularly as they work in Selfridges on Oxford Street and go all the way to Bond Street from Loughton. Great video on the the history of the station.
I grew up in that area and what I like about Loughton station in particular is how open the platforms are. There's a real sense of space and light that you don't get at Woodford or Buckhurst Hill.
Times change, I grew up in Loughton and my father commuted each day to the City. I remember him showing me the invoice for the house he had built in 1948, something like £1100 10s 6d, now Zoopla have it at £2.7 million! How can a young couple with a family ever afford those insane prices?
Yup. My parents bought our house for £17000 in the 1970s. Sold it for over 1/4 Million when they retired in the late 90's. And we're not even talking about London.
UK house prices are utterly ridiculous now. I live in a small, 19th century terraced house in an inner-city district of a small Midlands city and that has quadrupled in price in 20 years, and yet if I sold it tomorrow I'd only get enough to put a 30% deposit down on a decent semi in the same city because they've quintupled in the same time. We're back to the 1950s/60s when most people had no choice but to rent, only instead of renting a council house or flat with security of tenure as they did, today's tenants will mostly be renting off private landlords who can give them notice tomorrow.
@@atraindriver I know the feeling lol. My mortgage ran out in Northampton so I moved to the NE because I couldn't afford a new one and paid cash with the profit from my place there. What do you expect though when last year the government let in over 800000 people and that's not counting the illegals! You're wrong about private renting though, it is virtually impossible to get a tenant out even if they don't pay rent and unlike the council, a private landlord has to pay all the legal costs! I rent a place out and I even had to have a criminal record check, the tenants didn't have to and when I had problems the council just shrugged their shoulders. I bought it in 2005 as a pension but so far it has not made me a penny.
Went back to the House my Dad was born in Willesden 1920. A terraced house no front garden just enough room for the Wheelie Bin. Now converted into two flats. 1/2 Million each!
The Belgian bricks are a different size to British bricks. However, it's a great pity they didn't bring over some Belgian bricklayers to erect the station. They are brilliant at creating wonderful patterns with their bricks.
I lived in Loughton for a few years. Can't afford it now 😭 but it is a beautiful area. I love the station. Nice simple waiting rooms with crittal style windows... Lots of light. I love the central running line/island line - or is it two island platforms? Same difference. Unlike Stratford though they tend to only open one set of doors at a time... Presumably to avoid confusion about the direction of travel.
@@robertward7449 Yes it is... Though oddly enough they seemed to more often use Debden one stop further east, which only has 2 platforms and a siding for trains to pull into.
As said, the “middle road” is generally used as a reversing point for trains going back in the other direction. We do sometimes run trains through it (from Epping or towards Epping) is platforms 1 or 4 are otherwise occupied. For that reason, you don’t open the doors on both sides - platforms 1 and 2 are westbound, platforms 3 and 4 are eastbound. A westbound train opening doors on the eastbound side just confuses the whole situation. Interestingly, White City has the same set up, but the directions are reversed - westbound trains come in on the right hand side rather than the left. When I was training, and easy way to remember which doors opened first was White is Right and Loughton is Left (white and right rhyming, and Loughton and left starting with the same letters. Now if you really want to throw a spanner in the works, sometimes we reverse a westbound train from the eastbound platform 4… that really confuses people (including the drivers 😆)
At 3:00 and 5:54, note the car from the 1930s(?) casually chilling in the parking lot with the modern ones. Oddly appropriate for a station with this style of architecture.
I can remember as a kid growing up in the early 60's watching Mrs Mills on the telly . Was always amazed by her distinctive style of playing the piano. Just a shame that such talented people are largely forgotten now . It's only old 'wrinkleys ' like me that remember her .
As a pianist myself for 60 years, I am a great fan of Mrs Mills style of stride piano playing, which is very difficult. BBC did a great documentary on her around 2014. Look it up, it was called "The Piano Genius of Mrs. Mills". ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bjKCqtVlSqs.html
Ongar sounds like the sort of place one might find fencing foils. And thank you for clearing up the argument I was having with an alcoholic, who assured me that a canopy was also known as Budweiser.
I had a LT book once on the Central Line. It described the platform canopies as cantilever. I always thought it odd that the sign says 4 platforms, yet there are only 3 tracks, with the middle track simply used for trains in either direction, and they merely open the train doors on whatever side is to be used.
As an aside at Chessington, I dont think all the skylights in the platform canopies were ever all glazed , some being blind in at least 1966, but the pattern seemed random - or just allowed key areas to be lit from the sky
With the amount of wealthy and poor lines, I wonder what the breakdown was. It seems there was only 2-3 really top earning companies with most struggling to earn and get money to keep up.
More like a criminal conspiracy. You hear the glorious days of steam. The truth is that none of the companies profits even covered the land acquisition. WW2 is always sited as the reason for collapse. It did not help, but was not the whole picture.
A bit surprised at the title. Even though it wasn't replicated, I have always liked Loughton's architecture and the "butterfly" awnings (LT's description) are very striking and effective. So I wouldn't call it "failed".
Re the comments already posted on the Dutch bricks. I agree with all of these (so far), and I think that Dutch Modernism must have had an influence on this station's architecture. In particular, Hilversum Town Hall, which certainly was an influence, for example on Greenwich Town Hall on Royal Hill, SE10. The point about the slimmer Dutch bricks is spot on, and they were indeed used at Greenwich.
That is probably correct, the bricks look very similar. The Hilversum Town Hall was designed by Dudok, who is best known for the Town Hall, but also designed many other buildings great and small in Hilversum (schools, houses electrical sub stations etc.), and I think this station indeed drew some inspiration from his work.
I sometimes alight here on a Saturday to get the (half hourly) bus to Chingford - one of the few LT stations I've seen with a "gents" public lavatory still available by the gateline. I was always quite interested to note that the main station building and the platforms were entirely separated by the up line. Probably not that unusual, but a bit different to my usual C2C stations.
Yes, that's right - they give a more elegant feel. Perhaps they were influenced by ancient Roman bricks which were the same profile, and can be seen used in several extant Roman buildings.
Indeed, that Roman brick plus the arches gives it a kind-of Sullivanesque feel,* while the lack of ornamentation points toward the more minimalist modern styles of later decades. (And lots of 50s-early 60s buildings use long-and-flat Roman brick like that too, especially in lighter colors.) * For comparison, look up some of Louis Sullivan's work here in the US a couple decades earlier -- especially some banks he designed across the Midwest in the 1900s and 10s, like the National Farmers Bank in Owatonna, Minnesota.
The fascade to the main entrance reminds me of a v mini version of one half of the King X main elevation. The slimmer bricks (Roman bricks)are all over the Netherlands - 1 reason why I admire Dutch Architecture
Brilliant video, very informative. Thank you for creating it. Best regards Councillor Sebastian Fontenelle of Loughton Town Council member and of Loughton Residence Association.
Jago spots classic cars in London's suburban station car parks ! Now thats another Tale from the Tube I would certainly press like and subscribe to.. You are the Wolseley 14/60 next to my filthy Aston 😁Cheerio !
Loughton has been one of my favourite UndergrounD stations for many years. Back in the very late '70s, a few of us would travel out to the edges of the system on Sundays, taking advantage of cheap day returns to "anywhere" at a fixed price of under a £. I was always impressed with how well-kept the station seemed and the rural nature of the area. There were some really nice pubs on the short walk to Epping Forest and we would end up at a kind of roadhouse on a roundabout, slap in the middle of the forest.(Was it Robin Hood's Inn, or something similar?) I always enjoyed these trips and other tours, using the same cheap tickets, to the likes of Richmond and even Metroland. Returning about ten years ago with my wife, I was delighted to find Loughton station(and most of the pubs) little changed in the decades that had passed.
@@imconfused1237 That's the place. When I remember it as a pub, it was usually quite busy, lots of bar meals etc. I walked there a few times from Loughton, calling at the other establishments en-route and on the way back. Seem to remember some decent pubs; made for an excellent Sunday evening.😁👍 Don't know if there's street lighting nowadays but it was helluva dark after you left Loughton. I think the very last building was a pub too. A lot of these middle-of-nowhere/roadhouse-style pubs lost out when drink-driving became completely unacceptable.
Thanks for this, while I was born in north London and live there again now, I grew up in Loughton where my parents moved in 1955 and I travelled up to Holborn from this station on board the 1962 stock trains when I started work in 1968 and for several years thereafter, usually with my dad (who passed away in 2009) who only had to travel as far as Stratford for his employment. I also remember the early morning d.m.u. staff workings that started at Epping and ran to Liverpool Street main line via the original 1856 line between Leyton and the Lea Valley line at Loughton Branch junction that was not included in the Central Line extension (and today now occupied by the ghastly M11 Link road). Though officially for staff workings, they were available to the general public but, alas, I never got to travel on one before they were withdrawn in 1970. I've not been back to Loughton since my mum passed away in 2015 so it was good to see the station again and some shots of Loughton High Road too. Kind regards, David, Crouch End, N8.
Jago, for someone that has made an infamy career out of documentation of the underground, I was slightly surprised to hear you singing the praises of the "...light and airy windows..." at the station, or perhaps I am projecting my own thoughts on you, as I enjoy the claustrophobic element of the underground, the stations and the surrounding environments... except, of course, Margate station, which I enjoy because of its worn down state...
I think the choice of brick is influenced by Dudok’s Hilversum Town Hall, a very influential building in the 1930s. Transport architecture often emphasises the horizontal. It is hard to determine the brick module but they may not be a standard UK size. Also they do not have a flat face but are notched, again to make them appear longer, I suspect these bricks were only available in the Netherlands.
Great video as always Jago. With variety being the spice of life, would you consider a video about the 5 stations, 3 underground lines, one mainline, TfL depot, HS2 line works and it's own hidden railway of the great metropolis that is Ruislip?
I'm new and living in Loughton! As someone who's into visual arts and architecture, ppl often look at me wondering why I look at things. Never knew Loughton station would look so nice in a video!
I suppect the choice of Netherlands brick, was because otherwise they might have had to use London brick. An often an inferior brick variety, London bricks do not age well; there's a Morrisons built in the late eighties in Queensbury on Honeypot Lane, that is showing its age, so using the same brick, other than what was imported, would probably necessitated a rebuilt, a few decades later, and it's also likely they didn't want to build a concrete station, in such an exposed area. The front window reminds me of many modernist cinemas.
I love Loughton station , I used to meet my gf there also I have really good memories near by, I have a house there and I love everything there . History and lovely place to live and the forest is something unbelievable
Always good to see a differing style of station. I wonder how common the single line between two platforms is? I know on the big railway that Horsted Keynes (now preserved of course) has one, and Christ’s Hospital railway station had two (!)
Well, for a start there's Yeovil Pen Mill and Ascot on the former Southern Region. Ulverston and Sellafield on the Cumbrian Coast. Then there is Pl 2 at Carlisle station which this route uses. I don't know if the Metrolink station at Victoria counts. These are the ones that come to mind, I'm sure there are others.
Good Heavens! When I was a callow youth, my first ever "proper" girl friend came from Loughton. Her name was...... Well, I let's just say kb. She was the perfect girl friend. Trust me. I will have nothing bad said about Loughton. OK?
Jago, I was wondering if the tall gentleman waiting on the platform at 6:55 had to duck to enter the train or whether the doors open enough to let him walk straight up and in. Alas your film cut a few seconds short. If you still have the footage, would you let me know? As always your films provide a modicum of interest and entertainment as well as historical learning. Pray continue.
Dutch bricks are usually longer than English ones .... the Eastern counties of England are greatly influenced by dutch builders, and in the 20th century the 'Amsterdam School' (of Architecture) was highly influential. You can see the longer, thinner proportion of the dutch bricks in Cambridge and places like that, ever heard of "Flemish Bond" - ever wondered why?
Given past videos on Central Line station names pronunciation, me thinks a comment about why the area isnt called 'Luffton' ( c/w 'Loughborough') should have been included :)
do hope you had time for a trip up to the forest, only a 20 minute leisurely walk from the station to the edge of the forest, oddly its a shorter walk to Epping forest from Loughton than actual Epping
And Loughton which is in Essex and in the Epping Forest Borough is on the County border with Greater London and the London Borough of Redbridge. Loughton station reminds me of White City station in West London. And I have been to Loughton before.
The borders are confusing, Loughton doesn’t really look completely Essex. Romford is 14 miles north east of Charing Cross so north east London and Loughton 12 miles north east of Charing Cross is Essex doesn’t make sense, maybe snobby people there rebelled and didn’t want to join London??
