Tuesday 14 December 2010

Proof!

Prepare yourself for a lot of photos of tube stations. If tube stations aren't your thing, then, well, I don't know you. I utilised my favourite wheels to raise money for some ace wheels for Digital Louis - see Louis' blog for more info.

If tube stations really aren't your thing, and you want to skip straight to the donation page, you can! Look this way: Just Giving page

1 London Bridge

2 Elephant and Castle

3 Westminster

Waterloo was my 4th change, but I took no photo, so it's not numbered. Fool!

4 South Kensington

4 South Kensington 2

5 Heathrow Terminal 5

5 Heathrow Terminal 5 2

6 Acton Town

6 Acton Town Cables 2

7 Ealing Broadway

9 South Kensington

And another change at Victoria with no photo.

10 Oxford Circus 2

11 Bond Street

12 Baker Street

13 Kings Cross St Pancras

13 Kings Cross St Pancras 2

14 Farringdon

15 Moorgate

16 Old Street

18 Wood Green (train terminated)

19 Cockfosters 2

19 Cockfosters

15 Finsbury Park

20 Walthamstow Central

21 Warren Street

22 Tottenham Court Road

23 Holborn

24 Leicester Square

25 Waterloo

25 Waterloo and City

26 Bank

27 Liverpool Street

28 Barking

29 Upminster

30 West Ham

31 Stratford

32 Epping

32 Epping 2

33 Mile End

33 Mile End 2

34 Whitechapel

35 Canada Water

36 Finchley Road

37 Wembley Park

38 Stanmore

39 Piccadilly Circus

40 Green Park

41 Brixton

Congratulations! You made it to the end. I hope you feel like you shared a bit of this experience with me. Now go and run up and down a few escalators, and sniff a bit of soot and you'll believe you were there. While you're in a state of delerium from the soot and exercise, just step this way...

Back from the bowels of London

Got home at 23:53 yesterday, and fell straight into bed.

Washing this morning was a treat - I was coated in a light layer of tube-dust, and the running up and down escalators and stairs had made me gently sweaty. Mmmm!

Anyway, the grand total is: 10 terminus stations, and 42 interchanges, travelling a portion at least of every line, including the entire length of the District, Central, Jubilee, Waterloo and City (!), and Victoria lines. The photos will go up this evening.

I was joined by a chum at Victoria, and we bounced around a bit of the Northern, District, Victoria, and Bakerloo lines, as well as interfering in some filming at Kings Cross St Pancras. Yay! Then my partner joined at Baker Street in the evening, and came up the Jubilee Line, down the Metropolitan Line, down the Victoria Line and up the Northern Line with me, to the finish.

I'm definitely doing it again, with a view to actually getting around the whole network. Though that'll just be for fun :)

Sunday 12 December 2010

Route plotting, a bit.

I have the ever-so-useful London Underground toilet map printed out, and a copy of the general tube map covered in little numbers and arrows.

I'm starting at Catford Bridge at 07:14, meaning I'll hit the underground at Southwark at 07:36. Then I'm heading roughly clockwise, to Waterloo, changing for the Northern Line to Embankment, then District or Circle to Westminster, then Circle or District to Victoria, on to South Kensington to change to the Piccadilly and up to Kensington Olympia for my first terminus.

Depending on how busy the tube is by then, I'll either head down to Heathrow or up to Ealing Broadway. I think Heathrow will be fun - I've never been out there by tube before.

Anywho, I'm not going to give my whole route away. Needless to say I'll be topping up with tea along the way, pacing myself with sandwich eating, and hopefully hitting the stations with toilets as required.

Off to bed now.

Whee!

Friday 3 December 2010

Help Louis get some wheels, Fit the Second

People, there are 62 interchange stations that I have counted on my own tube map. Sixty-two. Given an average tube station staircase of 23,000 steps, I will walk TO THE MOON AND BACK in my single day of Tubing.

I now have a Just Giving page where I'll be collecting donations after the event.

my Just Giving page

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Help Louis get some wheels!

I'm doing a tube challenge on December the 13th to raise money for so Louis can afford a good quality powerchair that will allow him to really explore the world. This is the chair he's trialling in the photo to the left.

I know Louis because his parents are good friends of my partner. We've chased each other round the outside of their kitchen, played with Duplo, and signed "GRRR" at each other. I can't imagine the chaos he would be able to wreak if he had the freedom of a really good powerchair, but I'd love to be able to support his capacity for havoc!

To this end I am going to be utilising my favourite wheels - those of the London Underground.

The plan is to make some sandwiches, pack a Thermos of tea, and get on a tube early in the morning, and trying to travel across the whole tube network in a day, taking photos at every interchange station I get off and change at.

You come in at this point by sponsoring me per interchange station I photograph. Any amount will do, if you set the amount low that just gives me incentive to change at every opportunity!

Just comment below stating how much you'd like to pay per station, and we'll tot the total up on the 14th, when I'll post the photos of the stations on this blog as proof I got off and changed there.

visit digitallouis.com for more information