Manor House tube station ventilation grille

Comment by John D on May 25, 2009 at 16:41

I think there's something similar at Turnpike Lane, showing horse and cart on the turnpike.

Comment by StephenBln on May 25, 2009 at 17:54

Manor House is also my favourite Underground station, probably because like you, it was the 'home' station of my childhood. Days out, often started here and the anticipation of a day out, waiting for the train as well as the push - pull draughts of the trains has stayed in my memory.

The 1959 stock trains built for the Piccadilly line were first sent to the Central line, which had overcrowding problems and it wasn't until the 1962 Central line stock was built that the 1923 built trains in service on the Picadilly line were withdrawn..
At that time there also used to be non-stopping trains on the Piccadilly line, that didn't stop at Arsenal, Holloway Road and Russell Square, I think it was.. these were discontinued in the 1960s.

Comment by Roy aka Smiffy on May 26, 2009 at 11:37

Thanks John, next time im in London must get up to Turnpike Lane to take some pictures. My picture of the grille at Manor House is many years old and the tiles may be cleaner now.

Stephen, yes, exciting days out - usually to relatives, would often start at the station, and I always liked Manor House station because it seemed very 'modern' compared to all the other inner London stations.
Lots of handy exits when playing 'runouts' with friends. The telehones at the bottom of the pub entrance stairs would often cough up a few pence, left after people had pushed button 'B' and not taken their pennies from the cup.

Having a mechanical interest, the ticket machines held a fascination for me when they were opened up by the ticket office staff when a ticket got stuck.

Across the road from our house in Woodberry Grove was the LT transformer station and behind it, still, is the ventilator shaft. Another of our off-limit playgrounds! The house next to it, 10 Woodberry Grove was owned by LT. My parents good friends Jock and Jenny lived there. Jock painted Routemasters, by hand. I still have one of his LT marked brushes.

Comment by StephenBln on May 26, 2009 at 13:34

Manor House was also special because of the 'Black Cab Rank', which meant we could always get a cab home from the West End right back to Warwick Gardens.. We only did this occasionally, but it did happen. We used to go to Horse Racing at Hurst Park (Sunbury, Middx), Kempton Park (Hampton Court) & Newbury by train from Waterloo or Paddington and get a cab home from the station.
On Sundays and Holidays in the summer, we occasionally went on a Thames Steamer from Tower Pier to Southend and Margate and alway got a cab home from Tower Pier.

Comment by John D on May 26, 2009 at 14:17

Very difficult to get even lighting, but this is Turnpike Lane. While taking the pix, I was acccosted by someone knowledgable who said Southgate Station was brilliant for contemporary (30s) features.

Comment by Caroline on May 26, 2009 at 16:11

I think that there are hunting scenes on the grilles at Wood Green but I would have to go there to check. There is also a bronze creature above the ticket office - presumably a white hart. To be honest whenever I am at Wood Green I am too busy clutching my bag to spend much time staring up at the roof. Southgate is a marvellous station and is well worth the trip to zone 4. For me it's less the features than the building itself: the ticket hall is a circular drum and a parade of shops wraps itself around at the back. Looking at Southgate you can see how lovely Turnpike Lane must have been when it was built with its triple height ticket hall and the balconied shopping parade on Green Lanes.

I do agree that Manor House is the best station though, and always choose to use it even though Turnpike Lane is the quicker walk. It doesn't have the grand buildings of the other stations on the Piccadilly line extension but it has it's own charm ..... and the best music.

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