The Underground
The Underground was once a privilege reserved only for Queen Victoria, who was known for being a vocal queen, especially on the topic of transportation. She loathed horse and carriage rides. Her chronic foot disease made walking painful, thus she grew envious of the peasant’s new Overground train system, which was fast and convenient. As such, she demanded her own train.
The Underground’s construction started in the mid 1850’s. Victoria wanted to ride in peace without people’s opinions or eyes on her, so the train was true to its name and built below ground. Seven train cars were hooked together and painted purple, the Queen’s favorite color. The train seats were upholstered with velvet, the safety bars made of pure gold. Portraits of the English Royal Bloodline were etched into the ceiling.
Victoria rode the Underground from the basement of Buckingham Palace to several different locations in central London. Her presence always seemed majestic to the people and many commented that she seemed to appear out of nowhere.
The public remained unaware of the Underground until 1901 when Victoria passed away. King Edward VII then agreed to close the train access to Buckingham Palace, expand the lines and open the Underground to the people. The seven train cars now reside in a courtyard at Buckingham Palace. There are a few rare photos of Prince William and Prince Henry using it as a clubhouse when they were children. The Underground now reaches across six zones and is the main transportation in London for locals and foreigners alike.
The Gap
Londoners didn’t always have to “mind the gap.” The Tube’s original platforms extended right to the train’s opening doors and injuries from boarding weren’t an issue. Workers could rush onto the Tube, travelers had no hassle with their luggage, and people with short legs didn’t have to leap across. Mindfulness had more to do with other pedestrians than oneself.
This changed in the mid 1900’s when Earthquake Charles shook London’s streets, buildings, and Underground stations. The earthquake’s epicenter started 86 miles outside of the city in Dover Straight. The Richter scale measured vibrations at 7.8, and damage was evident to anyone who stepped out of their home. The Tube was especially in ruins. Walls were cracked from floor to ceiling, small chunks of roof lay on station floors, tracks were uplifted and platforms left jagged. “Mind the Gap!” (between the platforms), “Mind the Top!” (of the ceiling), and “Mind the Sides!” (of the walls) could be heard throughout stations that day as passengers made their way off the trains.
The city identified the Tube as being the most expensive piece of the city to restore after the natural disaster. They set aside a budget of 1.5 million pounds and a timeline of 210 years to finish all repairs. Over time the ceilings have been replaced, walls patched up and new tracks laid between most Underground stations. However, the budget has been shuffled around a bit since then because the Queen needed more guards and tourists demanded a huge Ferris wheel. The budget shortfall left the expensive, broken platforms a problem.
Because entire new floors couldn’t be installed in every station, the solution of “smoothing” out rough edges was suggested. Workers entered the Underground and spent grueling hours sanding platform cement into one straight line. The platforms are less of an eye sore today, but no less dangerous. A small space, or a large one depending on the Earthquake’s damage, exists between every platform edge and train in London. They’re like slim, black pits that are perfect for a foot or suitcase wheel to get stuck in.
To avoid as many casualties as possible, the English have ensured that people don’t forget about the gaps. Every Underground station is equipped with a looped recording instructing passengers to “Mind the Gap!” If for some reason the recording is not working, an Underground worker will be there to aggressively shout the warning at pedestrians. 210 years of Earthquake reconstruction still have another 145 years to go.
Entertainment
Anyone in London during the summer of ’99 knows the name Lola Ginger. Men smirk, women frown and children cover their ears anytime she’s mentioned in conversation. Lola is most famously known for being the taboo subject of the Tube.
Originally named Margaret Allen, she graduated from Oxford and decided her next step would be to move to the city. Upon arriving, she dropped her suitcases in a flat more fitted for a mouse and bought a supply of 80-pence Ramen noodles. This lifestyle lasted for about a month before she realized she would need a job. Her desperation took her straight to the steps of Peter Stringfellow’s Angels in Soho. She filled out an application, took a one-month course on pole dancing and changed her name.
Lola Ginger’s gig was cut short when the manager accused her of keeping tips in her stockings instead of the communal coin jar. She was allowed to keep one lingerie outfit and her next paycheck and was sacked. Lola began to recognize how tarnished her reputation was when other strip joints such as Platinum Lace, The Horns, and Metropolis declined her applications. Her chance of employment seemed slim on the night scene.
How the idea to perform on the Tube struck her was never uncovered, but on June 2nd, 1999, reports of Lola Ginger began circulating through London. The night before she had asked Tube passengers to play their Walkmans out loud, began suggestively dancing on the silver safety poles, and finished by baring her birthday suit. The rumor was that she earned 120 pounds that night. This seemed like a joke to Londoners at first until Lola began showing up nightly on the trains.
Her former coworkers heard of Lola’s new start-up business along with her raise in salary and made a deal with her to fill up a few more of the train cars. Lola Ginger’s routines took place on her home turf of the Piccadilly line, while Anastasia Cherry performed on the Central line, Dallas Diamond turned heads on the Victoria line, and Scarlet Kitty frequented the Northern Line. The Tube had become a sort of gentleman’s club from the hours of 10:30 pm to 12 am.
London life began to change accordingly. Children were banned from riding the Tube past 9 p.m. Streets became crowded with nighttime pedestrians looking to avoid the racy entertainment. Men made sure to keep cash in their pockets. For the most part, Londoners seemed content with altering their routines and conveniently swiping their oyster cards to see those lovely ladies, and Lola Ginger performed on the Piccadilly Line every night until September 5th, 1999. Nightclubs became outraged as their attendance numbers dropped and employees quit. The Tube lost money as spouses became more disgruntled. The government finally decided to intervene and passed a law banning the use of metal Tube poles for anything other than safety. The trains were restored to their normal operations by the end of September and Lola Ginger was last seen changing into a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt in the Piccadilly Circus loo.
Performances are almost never seen inside London trains today. Entertainers stick to the corridors of the Tube stations. Most acts include a guitar, piano, saxophone, singing or all three combined. Performers leave small cups or open musical instrument cases for willing pedestrians to drop coins into. The only reminders of the summer of ’99 are the few stickers that read, “Poles are for your safety, not your routine,” that can be found on the Piccadilly, Northern, Central, and Victoria line trains.
The Busiest Station
London was one of the first places in England to receive indoor plumbing. Bathrooms in houses, restaurants, museums and public transit buildings popped up all over the city. Most of the water supply filling the toilets and gushing out of faucets came from surrounding wells and the River Thames. All except for the Pennington Tube station. Pennington received its water from a natural spring located directly below the station’s speeding trains.
One man in particular frequented the Pennington station. Policeman in the station noticed that he would always arrive with an empty water bottle and leave with a full one. Reports say that policeman stopped the man to question his behavior.
The man’s reply was, “I fill it up in the bathroom sink. Keeps me healthy. You see sir, one day I was roasting from the heat down in the Tube. I went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face. The second sink to the left. I was refreshed, but the real miracle was that the cold sore on my lip was healed about ten minutes after.”
Passengers walking by heard the man tell his story and soon the news spread. People of all ages and genders were lining up at the magical sink second to the left in Pennington station. Cases of colds, broken bones, problems with eyesight and other serious health issues seemed to clear up. All someone had to do was drink the sink’s water. Lines of impatient people waited day and night to be healed. Soon Londoner’s were drinking from every Pennington sink, tap and even toilet. Doctors received less patients. People claimed they had stopped aging. Nursing homes shut down. A new vivacity had struck London. The faucets poured and poured, until they didn’t. Toilet bowls refilled and refilled, until they stopped. Four years later the spring had run dry. Workers tried drilling deeper and wider, but no fresh water appeared. An announcement was made to the city that Pennington station would be closed while new pipes were laid to connect to the River Thames.
Pennington station is still the busiest Tube station, even though its name has been changed to Waterloo. Waterloo sees around 89.2 million passengers a year. Unfortunately, there is no gift shop there to purchase a keepsake of what seemed to be the “real” Fountain of Youth.
The Underground was once a privilege reserved only for Queen Victoria, who was known for being a vocal queen, especially on the topic of transportation. She loathed horse and carriage rides. Her chronic foot disease made walking painful, thus she grew envious of the peasant’s new Overground train system, which was fast and convenient. As such, she demanded her own train.
The Underground’s construction started in the mid 1850’s. Victoria wanted to ride in peace without people’s opinions or eyes on her, so the train was true to its name and built below ground. Seven train cars were hooked together and painted purple, the Queen’s favorite color. The train seats were upholstered with velvet, the safety bars made of pure gold. Portraits of the English Royal Bloodline were etched into the ceiling.
Victoria rode the Underground from the basement of Buckingham Palace to several different locations in central London. Her presence always seemed majestic to the people and many commented that she seemed to appear out of nowhere.
The public remained unaware of the Underground until 1901 when Victoria passed away. King Edward VII then agreed to close the train access to Buckingham Palace, expand the lines and open the Underground to the people. The seven train cars now reside in a courtyard at Buckingham Palace. There are a few rare photos of Prince William and Prince Henry using it as a clubhouse when they were children. The Underground now reaches across six zones and is the main transportation in London for locals and foreigners alike.
The Gap
Londoners didn’t always have to “mind the gap.” The Tube’s original platforms extended right to the train’s opening doors and injuries from boarding weren’t an issue. Workers could rush onto the Tube, travelers had no hassle with their luggage, and people with short legs didn’t have to leap across. Mindfulness had more to do with other pedestrians than oneself.
This changed in the mid 1900’s when Earthquake Charles shook London’s streets, buildings, and Underground stations. The earthquake’s epicenter started 86 miles outside of the city in Dover Straight. The Richter scale measured vibrations at 7.8, and damage was evident to anyone who stepped out of their home. The Tube was especially in ruins. Walls were cracked from floor to ceiling, small chunks of roof lay on station floors, tracks were uplifted and platforms left jagged. “Mind the Gap!” (between the platforms), “Mind the Top!” (of the ceiling), and “Mind the Sides!” (of the walls) could be heard throughout stations that day as passengers made their way off the trains.
The city identified the Tube as being the most expensive piece of the city to restore after the natural disaster. They set aside a budget of 1.5 million pounds and a timeline of 210 years to finish all repairs. Over time the ceilings have been replaced, walls patched up and new tracks laid between most Underground stations. However, the budget has been shuffled around a bit since then because the Queen needed more guards and tourists demanded a huge Ferris wheel. The budget shortfall left the expensive, broken platforms a problem.
Because entire new floors couldn’t be installed in every station, the solution of “smoothing” out rough edges was suggested. Workers entered the Underground and spent grueling hours sanding platform cement into one straight line. The platforms are less of an eye sore today, but no less dangerous. A small space, or a large one depending on the Earthquake’s damage, exists between every platform edge and train in London. They’re like slim, black pits that are perfect for a foot or suitcase wheel to get stuck in.
To avoid as many casualties as possible, the English have ensured that people don’t forget about the gaps. Every Underground station is equipped with a looped recording instructing passengers to “Mind the Gap!” If for some reason the recording is not working, an Underground worker will be there to aggressively shout the warning at pedestrians. 210 years of Earthquake reconstruction still have another 145 years to go.
Entertainment
Anyone in London during the summer of ’99 knows the name Lola Ginger. Men smirk, women frown and children cover their ears anytime she’s mentioned in conversation. Lola is most famously known for being the taboo subject of the Tube.
Originally named Margaret Allen, she graduated from Oxford and decided her next step would be to move to the city. Upon arriving, she dropped her suitcases in a flat more fitted for a mouse and bought a supply of 80-pence Ramen noodles. This lifestyle lasted for about a month before she realized she would need a job. Her desperation took her straight to the steps of Peter Stringfellow’s Angels in Soho. She filled out an application, took a one-month course on pole dancing and changed her name.
Lola Ginger’s gig was cut short when the manager accused her of keeping tips in her stockings instead of the communal coin jar. She was allowed to keep one lingerie outfit and her next paycheck and was sacked. Lola began to recognize how tarnished her reputation was when other strip joints such as Platinum Lace, The Horns, and Metropolis declined her applications. Her chance of employment seemed slim on the night scene.
How the idea to perform on the Tube struck her was never uncovered, but on June 2nd, 1999, reports of Lola Ginger began circulating through London. The night before she had asked Tube passengers to play their Walkmans out loud, began suggestively dancing on the silver safety poles, and finished by baring her birthday suit. The rumor was that she earned 120 pounds that night. This seemed like a joke to Londoners at first until Lola began showing up nightly on the trains.
Her former coworkers heard of Lola’s new start-up business along with her raise in salary and made a deal with her to fill up a few more of the train cars. Lola Ginger’s routines took place on her home turf of the Piccadilly line, while Anastasia Cherry performed on the Central line, Dallas Diamond turned heads on the Victoria line, and Scarlet Kitty frequented the Northern Line. The Tube had become a sort of gentleman’s club from the hours of 10:30 pm to 12 am.
London life began to change accordingly. Children were banned from riding the Tube past 9 p.m. Streets became crowded with nighttime pedestrians looking to avoid the racy entertainment. Men made sure to keep cash in their pockets. For the most part, Londoners seemed content with altering their routines and conveniently swiping their oyster cards to see those lovely ladies, and Lola Ginger performed on the Piccadilly Line every night until September 5th, 1999. Nightclubs became outraged as their attendance numbers dropped and employees quit. The Tube lost money as spouses became more disgruntled. The government finally decided to intervene and passed a law banning the use of metal Tube poles for anything other than safety. The trains were restored to their normal operations by the end of September and Lola Ginger was last seen changing into a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt in the Piccadilly Circus loo.
Performances are almost never seen inside London trains today. Entertainers stick to the corridors of the Tube stations. Most acts include a guitar, piano, saxophone, singing or all three combined. Performers leave small cups or open musical instrument cases for willing pedestrians to drop coins into. The only reminders of the summer of ’99 are the few stickers that read, “Poles are for your safety, not your routine,” that can be found on the Piccadilly, Northern, Central, and Victoria line trains.
The Busiest Station
London was one of the first places in England to receive indoor plumbing. Bathrooms in houses, restaurants, museums and public transit buildings popped up all over the city. Most of the water supply filling the toilets and gushing out of faucets came from surrounding wells and the River Thames. All except for the Pennington Tube station. Pennington received its water from a natural spring located directly below the station’s speeding trains.
One man in particular frequented the Pennington station. Policeman in the station noticed that he would always arrive with an empty water bottle and leave with a full one. Reports say that policeman stopped the man to question his behavior.
The man’s reply was, “I fill it up in the bathroom sink. Keeps me healthy. You see sir, one day I was roasting from the heat down in the Tube. I went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face. The second sink to the left. I was refreshed, but the real miracle was that the cold sore on my lip was healed about ten minutes after.”
Passengers walking by heard the man tell his story and soon the news spread. People of all ages and genders were lining up at the magical sink second to the left in Pennington station. Cases of colds, broken bones, problems with eyesight and other serious health issues seemed to clear up. All someone had to do was drink the sink’s water. Lines of impatient people waited day and night to be healed. Soon Londoner’s were drinking from every Pennington sink, tap and even toilet. Doctors received less patients. People claimed they had stopped aging. Nursing homes shut down. A new vivacity had struck London. The faucets poured and poured, until they didn’t. Toilet bowls refilled and refilled, until they stopped. Four years later the spring had run dry. Workers tried drilling deeper and wider, but no fresh water appeared. An announcement was made to the city that Pennington station would be closed while new pipes were laid to connect to the River Thames.
Pennington station is still the busiest Tube station, even though its name has been changed to Waterloo. Waterloo sees around 89.2 million passengers a year. Unfortunately, there is no gift shop there to purchase a keepsake of what seemed to be the “real” Fountain of Youth.
About Sara
|