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Tubewalker: The Tube, on Foot

District Line: Turnham Green and Kensington (Olympia) to Victoria

Hammersmith Cemetery
Hammersmith Cemetery

Things started off on the wrong foot this morning, and I have to admit it spoiled things for a little while. As I lined up to take a shot of Turnham Green station – more to make a note of my starting time than anything else, as I already have a shot of the station from yesterday's walk – a man, who was unloading flowers from a white van, walked up to me and said in a fairly brusque manner, 'Oy, why are you taking pictures of the Tube?'

Turnham Green to Stamford Brook

Houses along Bath Road
Houses along Bath Road

It particularly annoyed me that I should get the cold shoulder from the locals at Turnham Green station, as I lived here for three years and still consider it a kind of home. Feeling a little rejected, I slumped east from the station along Bath Road, but it wasn't long before the pretty houses of Chiswick started to cheer me up. Separated from the busy main road by the Tube line, this is a landscape of desirable detached and semi-detached houses, with the odd bit of greenery thrown in for good measure.

Stamford Brook to Ravenscourt Park

Ravenscourt Park
Ravenscourt Park

From Stamford Brook the houses get even more delightful as you approach the 32-acre Ravenscourt Park, a large, airy park that consists of a wide open grassy area in the southern half, and a manicured garden to the north. A popular spot with the pram-pushing inhabitants of Nappy Valley, it's an enjoyable place to relax when the sun is out. The park was originally the gardens of Ravenscourt House, which was built in 1650 but was destroyed in 1941 by incendiary bombs during the Blitz; the only remaining building is the stable block, which houses a pleasant café in the middle of the park.

Ravenscourt Park to Hammersmith

Offices on King Street
Offices on King Street

From Ravenscourt Park I thought I'd join King Street, the main shopping road in Hammersmith, just to set the tone for the next couple of stations. King Street is a busy shopping street that stretches all the way from Chiswick to Hammersmith, and walking along the main road is an interesting exercise in seeing the cappuccino cafés of Chiswick slowly morph into the Primarks and Prets of Hammersmith. It is much more pleasant away from the main road (like everywhere in the city), but a quick burst of King Street is good for the soul, if only to compare the Chicken Cottages and curry houses with the delicious architecture to be found in the backstreets.

Hammersmith to Barons Court

Charing Cross Hospital from Hammersmith Cemetery
Charing Cross Hospital from Hammersmith Cemetery

Easily the most famous Hammersmith landmark (for me, anyway) is the Hammersmith Apollo, just south of the shopping centre. Dating from 1932 and designed in an Art Deco style, it was known as the Hammersmith Odeon from 1962 to 1963, and during this, its heyday, it hosted all sorts of famous artists, including the Beatles, Queen, Bob Marley and Neil Young. But the most famous event took place in , when David Bowie played his last show as Ziggy Stardust, famously announcing the break-up of the Spiders from Mars before the last number, much to the surprise of the band, who had no idea their careers as Bowie's backing band were over.

Barons Court station
Barons Court station

Barons Court to West Kensington

Mews off Comeragh Road
Some charming mews just off Comeragh Road on the way to West Kensington station

A short stroll from the station, along a road of large, three-storey Victorian terraces, lies Queen's Club. There was a hive of dismantling activity as I walked past, the club having hosted the traditional pre-Wimbledon tennis tournament just last week (incidentally, Rafael Nadal won, and became the first Spaniard to win on grass in 36 years).

Flats on Talgarth Road
The block containing Renton's London flat from the film of Trainspotting

West Kensington to Earl's Court

Railway lines heading south to Earls Court Exhibition Centre
Railway lines heading south to Earls Court Exhibition Centre

The only sensible way to get from West Kensington to Earl's Court is to brave the A4 (or West Cromwell Road, as it's known round here). If you can zone out the traffic and try not to breathe too deeply, it's an interesting walk over a raised road that crosses the rail tracks that feed Earl's Court to the south. Not only are there two Tube lines passing through here – the District and Piccadilly – but this is also London Overground territory, with the line heading south through West Brompton and on to Clapham Junction. It makes for an impressive view.

Earl's Court to Kensington (Olympia)

The door into Garden Lodge, Logan Place
The door into Garden Lodge, Logan Place, the last home of Freddie Mercury

The spur line from Earl's Court to Kensington (Olympia) was originally built as part of the Outer Circle, some of which has now morphed into the London Overground joining West Brompton to Kensington (Olympia) and Willesden Junction, and some of which is now the District line spur from Earl's Court. Although it's a short Tube journey that is mainly aimed at those attending exhibitions at Olympia, it makes for a lovely tubewalk, once you get out of Earls Court, anyway.

The Scarsdale pub, Edwardes Square
The Scarsdale pub, on the way into Edwardes Square
Kensington (Olympia) station
Kensington (Olympia) station

Earl's Court to Gloucester Road

WS Gilbert's house at 39 Harrington Gardens
WS Gilbert's house at 39 Harrington Gardens

Back at Earl's Court, it's a continuing architectural treat as you walk along Barkston Gardens from the eastern station exit (this exit is pretty similar in appearance to Barons Court station, which is no coincidence as they were both designed by Harry Ford, this one a little later, in 1915). You stumble across the likes of St Jude's Church in Courtfield Gardens (which seems to fill up the entire square), long crescents of five-storey Victorian terraces, and the impressive house of the lyricist WS Gilbert at 39 Harrington Gardens.

Gloucester Road station
Gloucester Road station

Gloucester Road to South Kensington

The Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum

Not far along Cromwell Road from the Tube lies the striking building of the Natural History Museum, its terracotta façade looking for all the world like a massive Victorian layer cake. Opened in 1881, over the road from the Victoria and Albert Museum (which itself was founded in 1852), the Natural History Museum houses some 70 million items, including a famous cast of a Diplodocus skeleton that sits in the central hall of the Waterhouse building, just beneath the main towers. It's a staple of school visits, and I can still remember visiting the dinosaurs for the first time; it's not something you forget in a hurry.

South Kensington to Sloane Square

St Luke's Church
St Luke's Church

I chose a fairly roundabout route to Sloane Square, because the area to the south of Kensington – Chelsea – is lovely, and this is the only opportunity on my tubewalk to take in some of the great sights of this part of town. Heading south towards the river, I crossed Fulham Road before taking a break for lunch in the pretty little garden next to to the impressive St Luke's Church on Sydney Street. Built in Bath stone to resemble King's College Chapel in Cambridge, it has a grand neo-Gothic style, and dates from 1824, which roughly translates into a very grand-looking church indeed.

Chelsea Embankment
Chelsea Embankment

Sloane Square to Victoria

Chester Square
Chester Square

This is a hugely expensive part of town, and the walk from Sloane Square to Victoria wafts across one of the most exclusive addresses in town, that of Belgravia. Groaning under the weight of foreign embassies and old money, it's a wonderful place to walk through (well, unless you're a communist, in which case it must be awful). Everywhere you look there are amazing white stucco terraces gleaming off into the distance, and the whole area is relatively unchanged from when it was developed in the 1820s by the 2nd Marquess of Westminster, Richard Grosvenor. Money still talks round here, and Belgravia is one of the most expensive areas in the world, which possibly explains why you can find Margaret Thatcher (who lives in Chester Square), Roman Abramovich, Joan Collins and Nigella Lawson here.

Victoria Place Shopping Centre
Victoria Place Shopping Centre