Jay Foreman's video (his most recent one, about the history of the tube map I think) had starring roles for both gentlemen, amongst other RU-vidrs - but I won't say anything more and spoil the joy and surprise I hope you'll get from it, just seek it out.
OK who else heard Jago talking about London Electric Railways buying the Metropolitan District Railway and held their breath waiting for That Photo? I felt like one of Bart's classmates saying "do the line!"
Here's an interesting fact about Alexanderplatz on the U-Bahn: A part of it was at one point in time...a ghost station! Yes, a part, not the whole station. So why? Well, when people think about a divided Berlin, they only think about the wall, but this division also included the trains. Alexanderplatz was located in East Berlin, and before the division, it had services to West Berlin. Trains on the U8 line had stations in East Berlin (six total) before crossing from one part of West Berlin to the other, so what they did was these U8 platforms in East Berlin simply became ghost stations and trains skipped them. This was the case at Alexanderplatz from August 1961 to July 1990. The U6 had to skip five stations as well as the S-Bahn having to skip four. Friedrichstraße on the other hand was an exception as it was a transfer point between U6 and S-Bahn lines. Wollankstraße as well because it had a West Berlin exit right on the border.
I recall travelling through the station in the late 70s and seeing the 1945 posters still up and the East German armed guards and their dogs on the platforms, making sure no East Germans tried to hutch a ride to the West. Thank goodness such things are now only memories.
I was in Berlin in 1971. I entered the Russian zone through the famous Checkpoint Charlie and had my passport stamped as such. I also took the Ubahn and remember the train could slow to a crawl but not allowed to stop at the dark stations. These were patrolled by guards with large Alsatian dogs and armed with machine pistols.
I travelled through some of these ghost stations in 1975. Then we(I was with my parents) took a visit to the east and the difference between the west was quite a shock. There was a sugar shortage and the cola was served unsweetened. The cars(that's if you could call them cars as most were only slightly bigger than a Smart car) were running around with the petrol "cut" with something to make the fuel stretch further which resulted in a "put put" sound.The shops seemed to be stocked only with tinned goods.We couldn't wait to get back to the West. Ironically when the wall eventually was torn down by the people in the East they were greeted with free McDonald's. The figures aren't available as to how many people turned back !!
These ex-ghost stations are now some of the most beautiful on the network, escaping as they did the various misguided attempts at modernisation that plagued the 60s and 70s. They scrubbed up a treat after the wall came down.
Agreed, it's a station whose charm and useability lies in its compromises rather than aesthetic purism. And wouldn't it be lovely if all underground stations had their architect's model on display?
As a former typesetter, I had to look up the fonts. ;-) Percy Delf Smith designed numerous fonts and his font used at Sudbury Town is similar to his Petite-serif typeface. Johnston's variant has a bit more of a slab serif but the little bit of a hook is still there. Johnston's font is very, very similar to News Gothic which is another sans serif font from probably around the same time period. Charles Holden was an amazing architect. I saw a recent video on 55 Broadway and that is a truly gorgeous work of art. I'm glad his buildings are grade listed otherwise they'd be lost.
I think Pick was right about the internal furniture. The team did get it spot on with what I think is their masterpiece, Southgate Station. The uplights along the escalators for example. Pure genius.
I agree. Watching "The Architecture the railways built" on Coventry Station, that's another station where the architect designed EVERYTHING, including all the interior fittings.
I love the addition of the ceiling murals- they work really well with the building, and seem to strike just the right whimsical note for the period, almost as if Eric Ravilious had designed them. However, what Frank Pick would have made of them is another matter entirely!
"A brick box with a lid" ah, so just a giant toy set...got it. Here's some Sudbury history: Sudbury, in the parish of Harrow, was in the Hundred of Gore in the historic County of Middlesex, and was one of ten hamlets which formed the larger of the Archbishop of Canterbury's two Harrow manors. The road to London and the proximity of Harrow School enhanced its status. Its upkeep was supported in part by Sir John Lyon, founder of Harrow School. The wealthy Copland Sisters, after which many local landmarks from streets to schools were named, commissioned Sir George Gilbert Scott, the architect who later designed the Albert Memorial and St Pancras station, to build the Church of St John in 1846 which marks the easterly extent of Sudbury. Opposite is Copland House, now a home for the elderly. The Coplands built Sudbury Lodge in the grounds of their father's home in Crabbs House. This would later change hands and be owned by another wealthy and philanthropic family, the Barhams, who also gave their name to a number of local landmarks, including Barham School and Barham Park.
Really enjoyed this. We live nearby and I've appreciated it much more over the last few years. It's a shame it's a little hidden down the side street, but it's one of the few step-free stations in the area so proves very useful for many locals
In 1987, I was stood up by a girl at Sudbury station. Her loss, since then I had a very interesting career and have retired to a very nice village in Norfolk.
It’s such an iconic station that Bachmann/Scenecraft have immortalised it in 4mm in their art deco station building. Bears more than a striking resemblance! Cracking video again - to think Frank Pick was not so impressed?!
I spent most of my years growing up within a few minutes walk from Sudbury Town Station. I always thought of the area where the busses turn as the back since I arrived from the other side. I took many trips into London from this station for only 6d return - Dad worked for London Transport so we had the benefit of cheap travel. After living in Canada for almost 56 years, it was a delight to see this video about a place where I grew up (1948 to 1962) before my family moved to High Wycombe.
Gotta love a wedged serif. Once upon a long time ago, we did a typography module as part of the design degree at North Staffordshire Polytechnic, at the time Letraset rub down lettering were in vogue, as students we used to insult each other by calling each other Letraset typeface names, check it out but I think Yerkes is an American Superstar, or equally he could be grotesque. Thanks for some Sunday Architecture updated, now back to the Goodwood live stream.
Talking of Letraset,I'm a bus driver and back in the 90s when bus passes were still printed on card a revenue inspector showed me a pass that he had confiscated. The person he took it from had scratched out Zone 2 ,presumably with a scalpel, and used Letraset to put in zones 1,2,3,4&5. He got a hefty fine.
I was absurdly pleased with myself when I realized you were talking about Frank Pick before you said his name. I’ve been watching your channel since it was about 70K subscribers, so I guess I really have learned something. Now if I could only remember everything on my to do list. 😋 This isn’t railway related but I saw something last night and I wondered if you knew anything about it. I saw a video from 1967 about Piccadilly Circus and it talked about plans to build a pedestrian bridge over the roads. I checked google maps and there is no pedestrian bridge there, so I was curious what happened to the plans. I suppose I could do my own research but a video from you would be much more entertaining.
Thank you! I did a video on London’s half-built pedway system, which partially covers the concept of putting everyone at first floor level, but I haven’t covered the specific plans for the West End. Yet…
As a former architecture student : I totally understand him. It's like painting something and getting it modified by a bunch of nobodies : of course you'll like your original painting better ! (Well, usually)
Thanks gain Jago for this video. Holden's first work for Frank Pick was the side entrance to Westminster Station on Bridge Street facing the Embankment in 1922 (now demolished) before going on to the stations on the Morden extension. His use of Portland stone reflected his role in constructing War Graves after the first world war. The "Sudbury Box" family of stations owe a lot in their design/construction to the development of the steel window frames mass produced produced by the Crittall company in Essex after WW1.
I had a Dr. Who moment at 07:42, including waiting for a Tardis sound of sorts. The lid reminds me of the Euston Great Hall, all in all I like this station. Thank you for showing it Mr. Hazzard !
It surely had, but LPTB built for solidity and reliability back then; it was better optics, and cheaper overall with lower maintenance and renovation costs.
I cannot think of many of the stations that are suffering from overcrowding of the Holden Designs as Such - Balham could do with being Step Free might be one and Tooting Broadway's single entrance may be a little underspecified. Compared say with Walthamstow Central on the Victoria Line which was built to a budget rather than a thought to the now much increased populations.
I rather like that the station sits at the end of a residential road, rather than the town centre - though is there really a town centre, or just a quarter mile or so of gridlock? The position gives the station a more rural feel, and I always get a warm feeling when in a backwater you come across access to the big wide world.
Thanks Jago - a beautiful station. My favourite station is Osterley, designed by Heaps in the style adopted by Holden. It opened in 1934. It is often said that Holden was inspired by the Dutch 20th century domestic brick architecture school, one of the finest examples being the Town Hall in Hilversum. Incidentally this style also influenced the architects of the 1938 Town Hall in Norwich.
One of my favourites too because it was the nearest station to my relatives' house (we would visit from our home in the North West when I was a kid) One of the things which fascinated me was the fact that one had to step down into the trains from the platform. It was only a few years later that I learned that this was because both Piccadilly and District trains used to serve the station and so the platforms were at "compromise" height.
Useless trivia; the approach road to Sudbury Town Station has two different types of houses. On one side of the road houses, built by a builder who built houses in Neasden, on the other side house built, by a builder who built houses in Willesden. I love the bridge, it reminds me of the old penguin pool at London Zoo.
Whilst on the subject of not letting geographical accuracy get in the way of a good station name Streatham station is right by Streatham Common whilst Streatham common station is about a quarter of a mile from the common .
'This looks the type of building for the portico I need', scanning walls for known words, how then to proceed, all that rush & bustle . . . to breathless inertia, stillness, . . . & waiting. Some time to lift our heads up, & soak their lofted lonely spaces with our gaze : )
Despite having a work collegue who lived in Sudbury, and came all the way to Canary Wharf, poor chap, I have never had the need to visit the place, and barely know where it is. I may have got lost there once trying to get to Watford avoiding a blocked North Circular and M1.
Thank you Jago for an absolutely fantastic outlook/overview/review of this station and the whole design concept. I think my whole interest in architecture is due to my exposure to the industrial and railways I experienced from a very early age? My late Father was an out and out GWR/I.K. Brunel fan and I am too, BUT I also realise that my enthusiasm for this type of architecture is also from visiting my Mothers parents in central London, almost within spiting distance of Waterloo station, so our journeys up to see them. So in my early years were from home to Uxbridge Station then into central London via either the route changing at Baker Street or Finchley Road, IIRC? Where ever we changed we always ended up at Lambeth North just a short walk down Baylis Road to the ex-Southern Railways 'Campbell Buildings', just off of Frazier Street. Perhaps theirs a 'look' into the infrastructure that the railway companies provided for their workers in the earlier days of their massive transformation of this country and the 'wider world'?
Thanks very much Jago - very interesting to learn of the background to Sudbury Town. It's got me wondering about Sudbury Hill station now, and the other two Sudbury stations on the Chiltern Line between Wembley Stadium and Northolt Park stations 🚉 👏🏾
Sudbury Town is another of those 'Bright underground spaces' documented by David Lawrence in his book of the same name about Charles Holden designed stations.
Nice detail is the semicircle "apsis" shown at 4:44 especially in the context that you mentioned Berlin's Krumme Lanke station which has that semicircle entrance. I like the station, nice brick facade, right proportions, functional.
The only thing I know about Sudbury Town is that it has quite a nice car park - was travelling to a gig at Wembley and we parked there and got the bus the rest of the way, very reasonable prices, especially for a Sunday. But yes, it is a really nice looking station.
Great Video Jago!I for sure that Sudbury Town is really cool and Stylish. Speaking of Dutch Architecture I totally love Maastricht Central Station as it’s stunning. Any update on that video of Great Portland Street Station?
I have much family who don't live far from it and have stopped at it frequently. I could never say it's one of my most liked stations, but I totally understand it's profile and history.
Geoff Marshall went there before and he actually quite liked it. Why not do Sudbury Hill Harrow station that doesn’t get a lot of Chiltern Railways trains stopping there except for some that do during off peak times. And is very much close to Sudbury Hill Piccadilly Line station on Greenford Road in Sudbury Hill. Which is just walking distance from one station to the other.
My family lived in Berlin for about a year. We took both S-Bahn and U-Bahn. But this was the first time I've seen the Alexanderplatz U-Bahn stop because it was in the Russian zone, aka East Berlin.
Thanks Jago, your research explains why, when I frequently travelled through Sudbury Town to South Harrow, the passenger traffic did not seem to justify the size of the station 😂😂
I've never quite gotten the fondness of the brick box with a lid, until I watched this vid. I dunno what or why it is, but its just strangely beautiful now
I am fairly sure it is South of Wimbledon (Town and Village), but the station is strictly in Merton , with South Wimbledon being Wimbledon UDC name for what is now "All Saints"(no not the DLR one)
So not the best Pick to be Frank*. I'd love to see his idea of the inside arrangement. Concrete is fine when new. It's shiny. It gets grey and dour and miserable with age and that's unfriendly and depressing. You have to be careful with it. Brick is cool. It's warm. *In his opinion.
The map upon the ceiling brought to mind the 'map' of the path to eternity delineated by the cracks in the roof of the police cell in 'The Third Policeman' by Flann O'Brien.
"railways have never been ones to let truth get in the way of a good station name". You're not kidding, Dent station is about 4+ miles from Dent. That's a canny walk in the dark if you get off a train and are staying in the village.
One can clearly see that Charles Holden was inspired by the Dutch Modernist architecture movement. 5:20 the 1920 'New Hague School' style (related to the 'Amsterdam School' and German 'Bauhaus' group) used bricks and glass in a very similar way. The white painted concrete walls and use of that primary blue, makes me think of 'De Stijl' ('The Style') 🇳🇱and Architect/Designer Piet Mondriaan. So I kind of agree with Frank Pick that the interior wooden fittings make it look: "impure" ~ cluttered/fussy. Because they clearly deviate from how Modernist architects would have designed those finishing touches. BUT I really love the entrance hall with its high ceiling and use of glass and bricks. 👌🏻
Anyone who likes Holden's work sould look up the "Amsterdam School"of arcitecture. They did what Holden did with Sudbury Town times 10. It'd describe it as this mix of Modernism meets Classic architecture and it's gorgeous. They did do a few Railway stations too (The stations on the former Groningen to Delfzijl via Siddeburen line of wich a few survive. And on the Heritage railway between Stadskanaal & Ter Apel altough only the very small building of the Zandbuiten stop remains and is a private dwelling now). A lot of stuff of theirs survives however. Mainly, Schools, Public meeting halls, Churches and public housing projects. It's what I considder peak Art Deco.
Thanks to this video I have just noticed that (at 07:17 & other shots) the brickwork is of 2 different kinds of brick, laid (seemingly) at random!? I guess this must have been an order from Holden? No Underground building site would have had random colours of brick delivered and laid unless it was ordered. .
i'd be interested to know about the interaction (if any) between the LPTB design team and the Southern railway's architects. The thirties were the era of the SR's "odeon style" stations and I'm wondering how much they influenced each other - or were both influenced by wider currents in modernism (600V, Dc of course). I imagine I might find some study of modernism in british railway stations of the thirties if I looked - ah well, off to Google i go....
LeviNZ wishes to add his appreciation of this episode of London Transport Functionalism--an Architectural Focus Ep 12. Had I time and money, at the same time... I would revisit London with one main focus being to visit many of the really interesting stations,,interesting in many ways but primarily in terms of architecture. ((3 I would have to see again are Marylebone, Crystal Palace and surroundings and-- why, you may wonder,- Norwood Junction. So far as arch. styles go, the world famous ( really) Otago Railway Station from 1906 was designed by George Troup, known as "Gingerbread George". ( Geo. Troup as a name is not uncommon if you search for it.)
within limits, a tube station wont accomodate (easily) SubSurface Stock, and LU services over Network Rail gets voltage and signalling issues, but generally yep.
It's almost like the reasoning went: Let's try this new style on a station that needs updating, but one that's out-of-the-way enough to hide if it goes horribly wrong.
appears that only on the London underground does persimeter have this meaning. i am starting to suspect that the so called roundel doesn't belong anywhere else either.
I'm mildly amused by the idea that Station Approach is a **narrow** residential road. It's only a couple of feet narrower than the three-lane A1434 (formerly A15) Canwick Road which is the main access from the south into Lincoln!
Experiment is a good way to describe it because it does look like a station using all the options and then deciding what to keep and not what to keep for the next one.
