bA nice site giving (and showing) the history of the London Tube map.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/clivebills ... e.html#top
John has also found a nice site with UKL overland rail maps - see here.....
http://www.friendsoftherail.com/phpBB2/ ... 311#p17311
UK - London Tube Maps
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John Ashworth
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Re: UK - London Tube Maps
Where has my beloved Thames gone?
The new map of the London underground hasn't got the river Thames on it. How wrong is that?
* Patrick Barkham
* The Guardian, Thursday 17 September 2009
'What new tube map?" grunted the official stationed at King's Cross, when I asked for a copy of the design classic that shows the lines of the London Underground.
"Your imbecilic and geographically illiterate new diagram that's wiped the River Thames off the map," I replied, in my head at least.
By removing the blue sweep of the Thames from its latest map, Transport for London has not just messed with the design classic created in the early 30s by Harry Beck. It has removed a vital orienting point, besmirched the capital's history and, worst of all, annexed the separate kingdoms of north and south London.
OK, so non-map-nerds may argue that the tube map never exactly reflected geographical reality. And if cartographers put points of interest on the tube map, where would it end? Big Ben? The Emirates stadium? Aberdeen Angus Steakhouse?
But that misses the point. The Thames is the reason London is here. No Thames, no Londinium, no largest city in Europe, no, er, boat race. Rivers define great cities. We want to know the closest stations to the Thames's banks, to taste its salty breeze. We crave a pub by the water where we can watch the sun set over plastic bags bobbing in its brown waves. The Thames is the oldest line in London of all – and we still travel on it by boat.
King's Cross does not yet stock the new tube map but when I reach Leicester Square, tourists are peering at a large version of the redesigned map. They look newly vulnerable, unable to tell if a station falls in the badlands or the cradle of civilisation (I wouldn't dare suggest which side of the river is which). Interestingly, the Ikea advert that appears on the bottom of the large maps in stations these days has survived. But the River Thames doesn't pay TfL any money, so it is gone.
TfL says it "wanted to remove clutter" – and, to be fair, it has erased much of the pointless "information pollution" added to the map over the years (instructions about interchanges, closures, and zigzags where lines intersect, making it look as if the trains must navigate a zebra crossing). But please, bring back the Thames. Without it, our great capital looks emasculated and featureless. This is not a tube map – it's a pointless diagram.
The new map of the London underground hasn't got the river Thames on it. How wrong is that?
* Patrick Barkham
* The Guardian, Thursday 17 September 2009
'What new tube map?" grunted the official stationed at King's Cross, when I asked for a copy of the design classic that shows the lines of the London Underground.
"Your imbecilic and geographically illiterate new diagram that's wiped the River Thames off the map," I replied, in my head at least.
By removing the blue sweep of the Thames from its latest map, Transport for London has not just messed with the design classic created in the early 30s by Harry Beck. It has removed a vital orienting point, besmirched the capital's history and, worst of all, annexed the separate kingdoms of north and south London.
OK, so non-map-nerds may argue that the tube map never exactly reflected geographical reality. And if cartographers put points of interest on the tube map, where would it end? Big Ben? The Emirates stadium? Aberdeen Angus Steakhouse?
But that misses the point. The Thames is the reason London is here. No Thames, no Londinium, no largest city in Europe, no, er, boat race. Rivers define great cities. We want to know the closest stations to the Thames's banks, to taste its salty breeze. We crave a pub by the water where we can watch the sun set over plastic bags bobbing in its brown waves. The Thames is the oldest line in London of all – and we still travel on it by boat.
King's Cross does not yet stock the new tube map but when I reach Leicester Square, tourists are peering at a large version of the redesigned map. They look newly vulnerable, unable to tell if a station falls in the badlands or the cradle of civilisation (I wouldn't dare suggest which side of the river is which). Interestingly, the Ikea advert that appears on the bottom of the large maps in stations these days has survived. But the River Thames doesn't pay TfL any money, so it is gone.
TfL says it "wanted to remove clutter" – and, to be fair, it has erased much of the pointless "information pollution" added to the map over the years (instructions about interchanges, closures, and zigzags where lines intersect, making it look as if the trains must navigate a zebra crossing). But please, bring back the Thames. Without it, our great capital looks emasculated and featureless. This is not a tube map – it's a pointless diagram.
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Kevin Wilson-Smith
Re: UK - London Tube Maps
I think they drained the Thames some time ago. Something to do with a new by-pass and housiong project....
Aside from that I could not find an official version (with the TfL or Underground logo) of the new map!
The official London Underground site has the traditional map on (although the black and white one does not have the Thames!). Could not find a copy anywhere else. So, why is the old there still? What is the exact status of the new one?
Aside from that I could not find an official version (with the TfL or Underground logo) of the new map!
The official London Underground site has the traditional map on (although the black and white one does not have the Thames!). Could not find a copy anywhere else. So, why is the old there still? What is the exact status of the new one?
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John Ashworth
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