Popular appreciation of London Underground’s 1930s Modernist Tube station buildings has kept them well in the public eye. There was an equivalent programme, however, during the same decade at remote outposts of London Transport’s empire in the counties surrounding London. Thanks to an estate of run-down bus garages, London Transport’s Country Bus department enjoyed a renewal and replacement programme which left it with some Modernist and Streamline Moderne buildings that reflect their common patron – Frank Pick. This is the story of the best London Transport buildings you’ve never heard of – London’s Country Bus garages.
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Friday Reading List – April 7
This is the next installment of our weekly Friday Reads post – listing some links and articles we’ve been reading at LR Towers. Also check out our Industry News posts, updated every weekday, with the …
Continue readingIt’s Good To Talk
From telegraphs to telephones, cables to Connect, over its 150-year history the London Underground has remained at the forefront of communications technology. We look at the journey from a single telegram line to an integrated …
Continue readingIn Pictures: The Buses of London
It will likely come as a surprise to no-one that the residents of LR Towers are inveterate browsers of second-hand bookshops. Occasionally these dusty forays yield more than obscure texts. Such is the case here, …
Continue readingEmpire of the Air: The Imperial Airship Service
In 1926 artist Montague Black, famous for his work with the White Star Line, created a new piece of art for London Underground. According to the painting in 2026 the city would be dominated by …
Continue readingDiving Into The Fleet: Jubilee Line Derailed, 1974-1979
The waters of the Fleet (Line) became considerably murkier in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. To recap, Fleet Line Stage 1 costs to Charing Cross had risen from an estimate of £35m in 1971 …
Continue readingIn Pictures: “An Album of Railway Engines”
Between our more detailed pieces it is nice, occasionally, to draw breath. Beginning in 1875 cigarette cards became a popular collectable in both the UK and abroad. They often featured illustrations of various modes of …
Continue readingIt’s Arsenal Round Here
In 1932 Arsenal became the only football club to have a Tube station named after them. This is the story of how a station helped lure the club north and of Herbert Chapman, the man who was determined to see that station renamed.
Continue readingSigns and Sensibility: The Last, Great Quest To Reform London’s Road Signage
Signposting is one of the great civilising forces in a city: it gives the regular traveller reassurance and the stranger hope. For today’s motorist London’s road signage can be hit and miss, but it wasn’t …
Continue readingDiving Into The Fleet: A Look At London’s Lost Tube
A major river used by the Romans, the Fleet is the largest of London’s lost subterranean rivers. Flanked by great wharves, for centuries it was a gateway to the City. By the end of the …
Continue readingEast of Enfield, North of Stratford
At the end of the month London Overground will take over more of north-east London’s railways. It seems timely, therefore, to take a look at the history of the railways in the area. For though …
Continue readingDown Street: The Secret History of a Lost London Station
It was early one autumn evening in 1940, as the Luftwaffe’s bombs fell on London overhead, when Mr G. Cole-Deacon finally got the call. Cole-Deacon, the secretary of the Railway Executive Committee, had half expected …
Continue readingLondon’s Lost Pneumatic Railway: The World’s 2nd Oldest Underground
In the white heat of the Victorian age a number of motive powers seemed set to vie for the future. Steam power? Cable? Both were relatively new technologies whose potential seemed endless. Briefly in the …
Continue readingRT Buses To Run On Route 11 This Weekend
TfL and the London Bus Museum have announced that as part of the “Year of the Bus” celebrations, 20 RT buses will operate on the Number 11 route this Sunday (2nd November) between 10am and …
Continue readingIn Pictures: Buses. Lots and Lots of Buses
Last weekend saw a variety of buses displayed on Regent Street and an open day at Stockwell Bus Garage – both events staged as part of TfL’s “Year of the Bus.” A selection of photos …
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