Gritty Underground Stations

[billburns2]

Today's Underground stations look so much swankier than they did back in the 70s and 80s.
Are there any stations which still retain that "gritty" ambience?

I'm ideally after stations in Zones 1-3 for a photo project I'm working on.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

[SargeNpton]

Most of the stations on the north side of the Circle Line between Paddington and Liverpool Street. Even where they have been refurbished they don't really look fresh.

 

[Lewlew]

The Bakerloo line. Especially Lambeth North and Elephant & Castle

I might just be thinking of "filthy" rather than "gritty" though.

 

[The exile]

Today's Underground stations look so much swankier than they did back in the 70s and 80s.
Are there any stations which still retain that "gritty" ambience?

I'm ideally after stations in Zones 1-3 for a photo project I'm working on.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Not the Underground itself, but the (sub surface) entrance level at Charing Cross is not exactly pretty!

 

[Train Maniac]

Any station on the Bakerloo line. The place is a time warp!

 

[ah-media]

The platforms at Euston Square still have the old Met and Circle branding but no reference to H&C. Wembley Central is also ..er... well... awful

 

[stuu]

Essex Road... in fact most of the stations on the Northern City line (unless they have been done up and I missed it)

 

[bramling]

Today's Underground stations look so much swankier than they did back in the 70s and 80s.
Are there any stations which still retain that "gritty" ambience?

I'm ideally after stations in Zones 1-3 for a photo project I'm working on.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Hampstead
Old Street
Holloway Road
Caledonian Road
Wood Green
Highbury & Islington
Redbridge

Of those, Old Street is probably nearest to early 1990s condition. You will struggle to find any which are as properly run-down as “back in the day”, though.

 

[Dave W]

Turnpike Lane? Nice building, but doesn't feel brilliant inside and as for the outside... well...

 

[richardderby]

yes, definately the Piccadilly Line stations north of Kings Cross have an air of decay and days gone by...
Caledonian Rd has a 1930's roundel on the platform too..

Caledonian Road Roundel

The old-school Underground roundel at Caledonian Road station.

www.flickr.com

 

[LeeLivery]

Bond Street Central Line. Was there yesterday, surprised how dark and dusty it felt.

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Westminster’s Jubilee Line access always feels pleasantly gritty in the way the concrete has been used.

 

[Bald Rick]

Mile End. Has a NY Subway feel to it.

 

[Busaholic]

'''Hot town, summer in the city,
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty''

were the first lines of the Lovin' Spoonful's 1966 hit 'Summer in the City', and as they were an L.A. band they'd know.

My contenders on London Underground would be Paddington (Met) and Farringdon, but I admit that my knowledge of either is not terribly recent. Now, if the description 'grotty' was substituted, I might have come up with one or two others, but again based on probably outdated memories.

 

[AlbertBeale]

'''Hot town, summer in the city,
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty''

were the first lines of the Lovin' Spoonful's 1966 hit 'Summer in the City', and as they were an L.A. band they'd know.

My contenders on London Underground would be Paddington (Met) and Farringdon, but I admit that my knowledge of either is not terribly recent. Now, if the description 'grotty' was substituted, I might have come up with one or two others, but again based on probably outdated memories.

Faringdon's a bit swisher than it was years ago - though they haven't covered over all the historic brickwork etc. And I don't remember Paddington Met (ie "H&C") being so grotty these days either.

But if you really mean gritty (as in feeling a bit dodgy) rather than grotty (as in dirty etc), then some on the Morden line at times...

 

[Mojo]

Bond Street Central Line. Was there yesterday, surprised how dark and dusty it felt.

Really? It’s just been refurbished!

 

[LeeLivery]

Really? It’s just been refurbished!

I had thought that too before getting there. But Eastbound doesn't look like it had anything done to it, other than some new stickers added for the interchange & lifts. Maybe Westbound has?

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Mile End. Has a NY Subway feel to it.

No far too clean - for the real NY ambience go to NY (Hoyt-Schemerhorn and Broad St on the "J")

London is immeasurably better than it was in the decline years of the late 1970's , when mould , running water down walls , flaking point etc etc was very common. The south end of the Northern line Northern line used to be the worst I recall.

What still has a veneer of dirt and really needs a good scrub is the somewhat iconic Baker St on the Circle - well restored maybe 30 years ago , but in need of a refresh.

 

[Failed Unit]

Essex Road... in fact most of the stations on the Northern City line (unless they have been done up and I missed it)

Still has NSE branding on the track side.

 

[LeeLivery]

Mile End. Has a NY Subway feel to it.

I feel more Berlin than NYC there

 

[Timmyd]

Nowhere near what they used to be like. The southern end stations on the Northern were awful in the 80s and 90s. We used to use Elephant a lot and there was a big and very official sign as you came out of the Bakerloo lifts warning people about urinating in the passageways!

Most tube stations are very well maintained these days, especially compared to New York or Paris say

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Nowhere near what they used to be like. The southern end stations on the Northern were awful in the 80s and 90s. We used to use Elephant a lot and there was a big and very official sign as you came out of the Bakerloo lifts warning people about urinating in the passageways!

Most tube stations are very well maintained these days, especially compared to New York or Paris say

Agreed - back in the day , Oval on the Northern line was without doubt one of the worst stations. The trains could be pretty messy too , not in the league of NYC - but graffiti scarred , and pretty dirty internally. A white shirt never lasted more than one day , you could smell the dust , and the wooden window ledges on the 59/ 62 TS were great sources of black dust. Tunnel cleaning , less metal brake blocks, better train cleaning over the years , made a significant difference. You really would not want to go back to that era.

Under London — Photos of London Underground in the 1980's - Hamish Reid Photography

Photos of London Underground in the 1980's (snapshots from another time and place… or maybe a love letter to The Tube).

www.pandemonia.com

Some striking work by Bob Mazzer to look at as well.

A picture paints a thousand words.

 

[greyman42]

My contenders on London Underground would be Paddington (Met) and Farringdon, but I admit that my knowledge of either is not terribly recent.

I would say Farringdon is now one of the best Underground stations.

 

[ScottGallagher]

Goodge Street doesn't look great inside or out.

 

[Busaholic]

In Underground days Wapping was as grotty as could be, with murky looking and smelling water dripping, and worse, in from God knows where onto the platforms, particularly the southbound one.

 

[90sWereBetter]

Edgware Road (Circle) feels like a bit of a timewarp, especially on grey days.

 

[edwin_m]

We used to use Elephant a lot and there was a big and very official sign as you came out of the Bakerloo lifts warning people about urinating in the passageways!

There was one of those in the steps from the Northern down to the DLR at Bank much more recently than that - may be there still, but I guess will disappear imminently in the re-build.

 

[Trackman]

Mile End. Has a NY Subway feel to it.

Last time I went it was very glum, not just the station.
When leaving the police where there with a couple of dogs, pulling back on their chains so they couldn't get at me!

Edgware Road (Circle) feels like a bit of a timewarp, especially on grey days.

I've always thought that about that of Maida Vale (Bakerloo), sort of eerie too.

 

[leytongabriel]

Finsbury Park, especially the pedestrian tunnels and old staircases, is pretty good at grimy 'gritty'. Some of the outer suburban District stations beyond Barking do a nice line in peeling paint, the odd pane of glass or two missing and a general air of not being on anybody's maintenance list. West Ham by contrast is modern and clean but the architecture is a bleak, over-scaled vaguely fascist style, 'gritty' in a cinematographic sense. Buckhurst Hill is damp, dark and moody and you could be alone on a murder set. For Wood Green it's not so much the building but the err 'customers' hanging around.

 

[Hadders]

Essex Road, admittedly not an Underground station but a National Rail station that is underground!

It was refurbished a couple of years ago but still has a decrepit feel. Make sure you take the spiral staircase rather than the lifts for the full experience!

As mentioned upthread there’s even some Network South East signage trackside.

One of my favourite stations!