As a young Commis Chef at Savoy in the 70's-80's, living in Finsbury park we used to be able to get onto the tube for nothing, jumping as it was known. getting off at Covent Garden and running up the stairs to beat the lift. Also when we finished late getting on the last tube there were never any staff around so running down the stairs and having no one at the barrier at Finsbury Park, again jumping. yes i know it wasnt right, sometimes the staff would know us as working at Savoy and our low wage, so good old fashione allowances were made for us young Commis Chefs. Weekly take home £18,75 per week, rent 13, so it was tight to say the least. we lived for our job, experience and knowledge and keeping fit. which has satyed with me always. When i go to London, always try and use Covent Garden as brings back happy memories, with a paid ticket of course. Also remember the transition from the old market which as Commis Chefs we loved....
In the 1970s 'redevelopment' often meant developers smashing down historic buildings and replacing them with faceless, but highly profitable, towers of glass and steel. I'm glad Covent Garden was spared this fate. It's now a very nice place to visit.
Aah, what are the two stations where they purposely made the tunnels longer than necessary so there wouldn't be a blockage of walking passengers? I thought it was this one.
The London Transport Museum, my sons spiritual home. He loves it and has taken his own sons there. He watches this too, it’s a real refuge from the COVID misery right now.
Other problems with the lifts at Covent Garden: violently ill children. A few years ago I was in one of the lifts when a small girl threw up absolutely everywhere. Fortunately I was stood behind her, out of the ‘splash zone’; the people in front weren’t so lucky.
My late father claimed to have seen Terriss' ghost at Covent Garden in the early '80s, very late at night coming back from work. He said he thought this tall bloke in what appeared to be Victorian era costume looked completely normal and just like a regular person, albeit in beautiful and authentic period costume. He initially assumed the fellow was in fancy dress. That is, until the figure simply disappeared. He said he did not fade out or become translucent, he simply "winked out" like a sudden edit in a movie. In astonishment he told the underground staff member what he had seen, and instead of being laughed at, was informed about the ghost.
First trip to London, first day in London, a young(ish) Australian couple. We get out at Covent Garden and, lo, lifts. We look at each other and say, “bugger this”, so we head for the stairs. OMG.... Though, 30 years later, it was an unforgettable moment in our trip, and sparks pleasant memories
I was rostered at Covent Garden as a Station Assistant at the end of the last century (that feels weird to say) and for most of the time it was brilliant because most of the punters were tourists or the gay crowd from Soho, so you got very little trouble. Later, the west end bar types moved up from Leicester Square (at which I also worked) and it became rougher. Indeed, I even got punched in the face by a druggie who was peeing on exiting customers. Covent is so close to LSQ that if you stand at the platform end, you can pick up radio messages from the other station. They were actually going to pull down the Indigo Jones marketplace but locals protested and when it became lucrative again, they priced the locals out.
Strangely, I think the most fascinating bit was the mention of the typeface used in the station name. It may seem relatively inconsequential at first glance, but I think a typeface can tell a lot, such as dating a building (or some other artifact) to a particular year or time period, or subtlely influence people into reading or buying something.
