IanVisits (an occasional and always welcome guest author here at LR Towers) and M@ from Londonist were able to visit parts of Brompton Road, one of the Piccadilly Line's disused stations.
The little-used station, designed by Leslie Green, closed in 1934. It was used by the War Office as a command centre during WW2 (its wide lift shafts being converted into bunkered office space) and has remained in MOD hands ever since.
A small selection of Ian's photos are below. Londonist have more here, and Ian's own piece on the station (with more photos) can be found here. We highly recommend taking a look at Ian's photostream on flikr for the full Brompton Road set.
All the photo's above come courtesy of Ian and have rights-reserved
Well that's one station TfL won't the trying to reopen/ convert into a LO line or do some other random stuff with for some time! :)
ReplyDeleteBrompton Road station has always fascinated me. There was no point in even starting to build it, as it was so close to Knightsbridge. Only a mere two-and-a-half years later, certain trains ran non-stop through the station, causing much confusion to passengers as shown below...
ReplyDeleteBelow is a letter to the then Editor of The Times, dated 12th July 1933:
"Passing Brompton Road"
To the Editor of The Times,
Sir, - The other day I entered Dover Street Station [now Green Park] to go to Brompton Road. The platform indicator said "Passing Gloucester Road" [designed to speed up services as the station was shared with the District]; so confidently I got into the in-coming train. Immediately after there was a cry "all change," and afterwards the now empty train disappeared through the tunnel. The indicator remain unchanged.
The next train came in, and, a passenger asking: "Is this right for Brompton Road?" doubly assured I entered it, and then I found myself at South Kensington. Hurriedly I entered a lift and changed stations [should really be platforms!] for the east-bound train. There was nothing at all on the indicator and the platform was empty, save for a young porter cleaning the wall. I asked him, " Does the next train stop at Brompton Road?" He replied "I do not know, you must ask the guard." The train ran in; I was in the middle of the platform, the guard was at the extreme end. I called as loudly as I could: "Does this train stop at Brompton Road?" He waved his flag, crying "Jump in," and I did so, only to find myself at Knightsbridge!
Again I changed platforms [he got it right this time!], telling my troubles to an official, and was assured that "indicators frequently got out of order".
The next train passed Brompton Road, but the next took me safely there, 23 minutes exactly from Dover Street and 13 minutes late for my appointment!
My daughter, coming from Holborn the same day, had the same experience, and ours cannot be isolated incidents. A word in your mighty paper might rememdy things, for there are few of us who have spare time to indulge in Tube jaunts.
Yours truly,
Noel Farquharson.
31, Dover Street, W.1, July 10
Taken from "London's Disused Underground Stations" by J.E. Connor. Published by Capital Transport Publishing, 1999.
And there was even a West End farce that was called "Passing Brompton Road" so well-known was the phrase. In its time it was probably more famous than "Mornington Crescent is currently closed" was in the 1990s. See here.
ReplyDeleteDon't know how I got that link wrong. It should be www.bromptonroad.org.uk.
ReplyDeleteAs opposed to a tube station which would have been REALLY USEFUL, still exists, but was never opened, because of what are now called NIMBY's ...
ReplyDelete"Bull & Bush".
Or another one, which might be useful again, now office-space in the city has moved North ...
"City Road".
Though re-opening the latter might be difficult, given what is (extremely scarily) at the surface there, now, with the station vent-shaft sticking up in the middle.