Tubewalker Blog: Blog Archives

Momentous news (well, it is for me). At the end of last week I finished mapping the last stretch of my tubewalk, and this week I hope to publish my proposed route right here, in the form of a collection of Google Maps, one for each line. The next step is to add the points of interest I’m hoping to visit en route, but I’m just relieved that the biggest chunk of planning is done and dusted.

For those who are interested, I’ll explain how I created the routes when I publish them. Non-nerds might want to look away…

How do you go about planning a walk along a huge network like the Tube? You start off with some research, and here are the books and maps I’ve found most useful over the last few months.

The good old Tube map is an obvious place to start, particularly as it was recently updated to include the London Overground, and it’s important to plan a walk like this with the most up-to-date version. I’m not walking the Overground or the Docklands Light Railway, as they aren’t part of London Underground, but if I’d used last year’s map, I’d still be walking the East London line, which was closed at the end of last year and will be incorporarated into the Overground. In this case, it pays to be current.

Second, I picked up a copy of Christian Wolmar’s The Subterranean Railway, a very readable history of the Tube that’s particularly good on the very early days of the Metropolitan and District lines, as well as the development of Metro-land along the further reaches of the Metropolitan. I finished the book feeling rather fond of the old Tube, which is a good sign.

Third, I wanted a map of central London showing points of interest and walking opportunities, and I found an excellent one by Andrew Duncan, author of a number of popular walking guides to the capital. His London Walks Map details loads of walks in and around London, all on one handy map, and where his route and mine coincide, I’ve doffed my hat and followed him with gratitude.

Along the way I’ve picked up a number of other books, including the following:

• London’s Underground by John Glover: A detailed reference book on the Tube that’s not as readable as The Subterranean Railway, but which is crammed with useful facts

• City Secrets: London by Tim Adams: This guidebook contains a number of relatively unknown attractions throughout the capital, some of which I’ve tried to visit in my route planning

• Secret London by Andrew Duncan: Contains a few walking routes, but as it’s mostly text, it has proved less useful than his excellent London Walks Map

• What’s in a Name? by Cyril M. Harris: This thin tome explains the origin of each Tube station’s name, and is more interesting than it might sound

• One Stop Short of Barking by Mecca Ibrahim: A humorous look at the Tube, unfortunately written with a sense of humour that is incompatible with mine

All of these books and maps are available through Amazon, and I can particularly recommend The Subterranean Railway and the London Walks Map. I owe them a considerable debt.

It’s typical. The day after I launch a new website, I find that my web server has been invaded by some kind of malicious robot, intent on filling my server with pages selling ring tones. How did that happen? I have no idea, but I’ve spent the last few days moving my websites to a different server, changing all the login details, and eradicating all trace of the bloody thing.

Annoyingly, this means I haven’t had time to actually do any tubewalk planning, which is a shame because I’ve got loads of it to do. If I’m to walk the entire Tube network, then if I include the new Heathrow Terminal 5 station, by my reckoning there are 309 walks between neighbouring Tube stations. I might have to omit the Heathrow stations, as they’re inaccessible by foot (particularly when you’ve got a beard and a backpack), but even so, that means I’ve got plan some 306 individual walks, complete with points of interest. Still, I like a challenge.

I’ll let you know how I get on…

Hello, and welcome to my newest project – tubewalker.com. Over the summer I’m planning to walk the London Underground network, station to station, but on foot. Why? Well, I think it will be fun, and I’m hoping to raise some money for the Cure Parkinson’s Trust in the process.

I’m currently in the planning stages, but the idea is that I’m going to walk alongside each Tube line, visiting each station in order. Obviously I won’t be walking along the tracks, as that would be stupid, so instead I’ve broken each Tube line up into the small segments between neighbouring stations, and I’m designing a route that will join those stations while taking in as many interesting locations en route.

I’ll be writing as I walk and publishing the results here, naturally. Over the next few weeks I’ll post here to explain my plans in more detail, but right now my priority is getting this website launched and the donations started.

Watch this space…