Swiss Cottage Underground Station London

Swiss Cottage Underground Station London

Swiss Cottage tube station is a London Underground station at Swiss Cottage. It is on the Jubilee Line, between Finchley Road and St. John's Wood. It is in Travelcard Zone 2 and on the Finchley Road

The station was opened on 20 November 1939 on a new section of deep-level tunnel constructed between Baker Street and Finchley Road when the Metropolitan Line's services on its Stanmore branch were transferred to the Bakerloo Line. It is named for a nearby pub, built in 1803-4, originally called The Swiss Tavern, and later renamed Swiss Cottage.
The new station initially operated as part of a combined station with the Metropolitan Line's adjacent sub-surface Swiss Cottage station (platforms 1 and 2 were Metropolitan Line and 3 and 4 were Bakerloo Line) but the Metropolitan Line station was closed on 17 August 1940
The station was subsequently transferred along with the rest of the Stanmore branch to the Jubilee Line when it opened on 1 May 1979. It is geographically close to South Hampstead station, but is not treated as a valid connection.

The platform design remains the same as when opened in 1939, and was designed by Harold Stabler. In 2006 the tiles were cleaned up and replaced.

Thanks to Wikipedia for the above info

Been to this station before but never saw these great vibrant colours being cast on the roof. With a bit of post work I managed to enhance them and make the picture really pop.

There really is some great architecture below London so next time your up there just take a few moments to look around you and take in some of the architecture that is all around you.




Taking the Stairs at Swiss Cottage Underground London

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London Underground



Gants Hill Tube Station London

Took my 5D mkiii to London yesterday for the first time since I have owned it. The weather has been nothing less than depressing all year so far so not exactly great for photography. However London underground is always a place of architectural beauty all year round, as this shot of a Art deco style underground station shows very well. This is Gants Hill, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It is served by the Central Line and is in Zone 4. It is the easternmost station to be entirely below ground on the London Underground network.

Construction originally began in the 1930s but was suspended during the Second World War. During the war, the station was used as an air raid shelter and the tunnels as a munitions factory for Plessey electronics. The station was finally completed and opened on 14 December 1947. During planning, the names "Ilford North" and "Cranbrook" were considered.

The station, like many others on the same branch, was designed by notable Tube architect Charles Holden; during the planning period London Underground Holden advised on the construction of the new Moscow Metro, which is why the barrel-vaulted halls of Gants Hill echo many stations on the Russian capital's system.

The station is located beneath Gants Hill roundabout, and reached via the pedestrian subway under the roundabout. There are three escalators from the ticket office to the platforms

Thanks to Wikipedia for the info.

This also gave me a chance to test out the much talked about high ISO performance of the camera. The shot above for instance was shot at ISO 3200 F/8.0 1/50th sec. While there was a little noise in the image it did not destroy it and was easily fixed in Lightroom for a perfectly useable image. This high iso capability is great for low light situations such as the underground where you are not allowed to use a tripod, officially!

This was the first time in a long time I had been to London with my camera but without a tripod, and it made a pleasant change not to have to carry that beast around all day. Its even made me consider purchasing the Joby Gorillapod slr and ball head as a option to keep in my bag for days when I do need a tripod for outdoor work. So if anyone has used one of these would like to hear your thoughts on how practical they are in a real world situation.

With the shots I did take yesterday I have been pleased with the results and look forward to sharing more of the images as I process them.

Check out my new website has been redesigned to go supersized !

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