Angel Station's 1990s Corridors | Hidden London Hangouts Christmas Special (S04E18)
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- Опубликовано: 24 дек 2021
- In this episode the team give Alex the Christmas present he's always wanted - a visit to the disused areas of Angel station. Explore this time-capsule from the 1990s and discover what the team are getting for Christmas.
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Alex the presenter here. I guess one extra point not mentioned in the episode but worth keeping in mind…. You might wonder why overcrowding at the original Angel station was so acute by the 1990s. When the line originally opened there in 1901, there was ALSO a station just down the road at CITY ROAD, which helped to - and would have continued to ease - congestion at Angel and indeed Old Street. But City Road shut shortly after it opened, leaving a huge catchment area for Angel. With an original design (island platform, lifts and narrow passages) limiting capacity and stopping expansion, the shelf life of the original station was inevitably limited. As time went on Angel’s redevelopment was not only welcome; it was essential. I wonder what difference City Road would have made to passenger numbers at Angel thru the 20th C…..
Just watching this. Having been a regular user of the station at the time of heart of the angel, I can confirm that the lifts were regularly not working and that the island platform was a scary place to wait for a train in rush hour. Not sure if this was fact or fiction but we heard that Angel was being considered for closure as passenger numbers were down which tied in with the run down Islington I first started working in in the mid 80s. I worked in the building next door to the entrance to the current station and I believe that the plans to build that building which was completed in 1986 lead them to reconsider closure and then with the old station being unable to handle the now increased volumes of passengers then you have what is there today. The station staff in that documentary always made us somehow manage in what was a daily lottery as to whether you would be walking up the 183 stairs to exit. Thanks for this video very enjoyable.
@Alex Grundon At 8 minutes the warehouse building behind the Torrens Street station building is now the Electrowerkz 2 which is a night club but is used as a paintball place during the week. I used to go clubbing there in the early 2000s. Happy days
DJ is that ….. ROAST? 😉
@@alexgrundon2346 Slimelight. Great fun. 👍
Late to the party, been binge watching every episode over the last few weeks. All of them wonderful. I worked opposite the KX Thameslink in the late 80s/early 90s, Occasionally used Angel if KX was non-stopping and I returned during the last week of the old station. It was a difficult platform, but what a place. And how wonderful to see behind the scenes, Some memories, and that siding, amazing, Thanks all, hope by the time I get to the end you are still making these!
My school, Dame Alice Owens (founded in 1613), was across the road from Angel station. I was there from 1955 to 1962 and occasionally used it. Even by the standards of those days it was an unpleasant, grimy experience.
Thanks for all your work on these episodes, looking forward to future ones, and Happy New Year!
It was really great to meet you all the other day at the location yet to be aired :). We had a lovely chat about the Angel station and i made sure i watched this episode as soon as i could. I worked there back in the 80s and was working there during filming but made sure i wasn't on camera :) The foreman was a guy called Ray Stocker and i believe Ray passed away a few years after the Heart of the Angel was filmed. Back then we didn't interact that much with the booking office staff so i really can't recall the guy in the ticket office but the manager was a guy called Jerry Gold. Jerry left the underground quite a few years ago but i still see him now and again coming through his local station not far north of Angel. Mr Simms? i don't know what happened to him.
A lot of the stations back then were similar to the Angel in respect of the offices and staff messrooms weren't the most up to date but working there was no different to any other station other than the island platform. The lifts were probably more of a problem than other lift stations but i always enjoyed my time working there and it is great to see the videos of the old station. the Heart of the Angel was a brilliant documentary, probably the best one ever made about the tube. I still work on the tube and i have been lucky enough to work at virtually every station on the Northern Line and quite a few on other lines. The series that Siddy and Tim do as well as these youtube vids that Laura, Siddy, Alex and Chris do are simply superb and it is great to see all their passion for the place i work.
I have a love of history, mainly North American native American history, but also of London and the Tube and the LT Museum is an amazing place, i actually wish it was a lot lot bigger.
Glad I'm old enough to have visit this station when it still was served by Lifts.
My final bit of contribution is that angel was the 5 th deepest lift only station at the time with the shaft at 97 feet Hampstead (181),covent garden (112),Belize park (108) and Russell Square (100) the top four,also the standard diameter of most of the shafts are 23 feet though angel has the 18 feet shown , Queensway and Russell Square have one 30 feet diameter shaft,have a great 2022 and look forward to more excellent videos from the team thanks
The thing i always found strange is Angel had 183 stairs and Russell Square has 175 stairs and Russell Square lift shaft is slightly deeper than Angel.
When Holborn Station had lifts it would have had the 2nd deepest lift it would have been over (120 ft) and would had well over 200 spiral stairs?
A station I used for 35 years between 1983 and 2020, knew it in its original form, the old station building, lifts and spiral stairs, remember very well the narrow island platform taken out of use in 1992 and the diversion tunnel that used part of a siding, the stairs up from the Moorgate platforms into the passage to the lifts, they were good days on the LU, will look forward to watching this fine video 🎄.
In the spirit of Alex’s closing “Make a change to make yourself smile more”, I had a career revelation in the summer after a number of **cough** decades doing very similar stuff in a very similar place. So from the start of next year I’m going to continue to do what I’m good at but I’m going to do it for TfL. That’s made me smile a bit this Christmas.
You have no idea how lovely it is when a comment I make somehow resonates with someone else. I’m so thrilled to read your news and I wish you every happiness in your new role! Do stay in touch and say hi if you see us on your turf!
@@alexgrundon2346 Will do! I just hope that moving to a professional involvement with the organisation doesn’t take away from the personal interest I have in the history and this sort of thing.
Allan you’ll have a blast. I can only speak from my own experience. A friend of mine commented how I had made a career out of my hobby - and I think he’s right. Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day again. Wishing you all the luck and happiness in the world for your new chapter.
Regarding the lifts.
3 x Original Easton Anderson lifts from 1901.
Changed to 4 x Otis lifts from the reconstruction of 1922-1924.
Lift 1 & 2 replaced in 1981.
Lift 3 & 4 made it to August and Seotember 1989 respectively before conking out and leaving the station with 2 lifts for the next 3 years.
Lovely episode, I used the station pre refurb and it really was a death trap !
You are BRILLIANT, thank you so much. Do you happen to know the closure dates and reopening dates (which I know were staggered) in the 90s? It’s a bit of a gap in everyone’s knowledge because of that staggered reopening….
Same idea as me. I’ve got a small tree and stood my roundel showing Angel just behind and above it so it looks like I’ve got an angel on top of my tree.
Angel was a really scary station, If I knew I had to alight at Angel, I made sure I would be at the staircase end. If I had to take a train from Angel, I stood on the stairs until the train came in. At rush hour, I never alighted or got on, too scary and damgerous - I used to have nightmares about being on the platform. I either walked to Kings' Cross or Old Street (a long way) or took a bus.
Fascinating how so many people have a story about Angel. Thank you for yours!
Angel really HAD to be rebuilt. Unlike the similar platforms at Clapham North and Clapham Common, the situation there had become really acute. I got on or off there a few times in the late 80's/early 90's, once or twice in the rush hour, and although not actually witnessing any capacity related incidents, it wasn't a pleasant experience at all. It took the installstion of the longest escalators in the country to bring about the reconstruction , but it was worth it!!
Excellent video! I've never seen the station since the 1980's, but the photo you showed with the very narrow platform down the middle and the old signage is the only memory I have of the station as I moved north in 1988. I remember how frightening it felt on the platform when a train was approaching through one of the tunnels, and in my mind hoping that the sudden blast of wind wouldn't blow me onto the other edge! I remember when there were two trains either side, and as they left to go either way, how dark the station platform felt...a bit eerie, with the rather dim station lights on. And yet, it was one of the most atmospheric stations I remember, and one of the few that stands out in my mind as iconic. I feel that I might be sad to see the station as it is today, having never seen it since 1985. I guess safety for passengers had to taken seriously, hence the much more accommodating platforms!
Angel station is so cool! Seeing this after the documentary.... its so nice! i wonder how mr smith is doing today...
Oh the birds custard! It seemed soo good but odd when I first tried it😂
Happy Xmas all! Happy to be visiting the UK so will watch at the “correct time!”😂
I remember using this station and those lifts as a child. I remember the old life and is why I have a fear of tube lifts to this day.
Loved this episode, poor Alex didn't know where to look next as there was so much to see.
Thank you to the fab four for everything this year.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and all Best wishes for the New Year.
I used Angel for three years just before it was rebuilt. The decor was a lot like your video showed with peeling paint. The platform never felt narrow though possibly due to the high ceiling height compensating in some way. I travelled to Waterloo and could go either north or south from Angel. The island platform was perfect for this as you could pick a direction based on what train came first.I often took the stairs due to crowding in the lifts. Lift Sardines. I think the limitedlift capacity benefitted platform crowding by slowing the influx of people. The stairs up were hard. After countless stairs I would reach what seemed to be the top and then encounter those few straight steps in your video and they were a killer. Nice to see them without being out of breath for once. Fantastic work. Thank you all four of you for so many hours of entertainment, education and sanity support.
What brilliant observations! Thanks so much for sharing them. And you’re so welcome. Thanks for finding us! HNY.
Brilliant episode. I remember using Angel in the 1980s. Island platform and all. 🙂
Another fantastic episode, love the Northern line, I remember the island platform at Angel but never knew Angel ever had a siding
Ohhhh, I loved this one! Sorry to have missed the live broadcast. I finished watching today’s episode and then immediately went and rewatched Heart of the Angel (in MY new Routemaster pyjamas, which miraculously arrived before Christmas!) I wonder if those ladies ever made it to Covent Garden on the Piccally-diccaly line? Alex, your enthusiasm was absolutely infectious, and I hope he took you out for pizza and Prosecco afterwards.
Love your reply. Thank you so much. No P and P that night but Nixy and I are due another Mandate very soon
I have just watched the heart of the angel. Oh my word!
It’s incredible telly and such a naked portrayal of grime and sadness in the 80s. That said, I’m so glad they made it
@@alexgrundon2346 I had to watch it after your recommendation, totally agree with the layers of humanity observation.
Great episode - thank you and Happy Christmas. I used to use the Angel when I was doing my MSc at City University, in 1978-79. It was not a very comfortable place to be!
I do feature in the Heart of the Angel doc , a non-speaking part. In the 1st 2 mins you see a couple (we weren't A couple) emerging from the station , I am chewing a pen 😅 I was 24 , working in telesales for the Independent near Old Street.(I was awful at it) . We are probably on our way to the Red Lion Theatre pub which was our regular haunt at the time
Hi team, Angel has got to be the best episode of the year, loved seeing the old original tunnels and the hidden station frontage, SUPERB !, can not wait for series 5.
Thank you all team for the best show on TV, love you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 🍾🎄💖💖💖💖😘
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This was amazing! I had seen the documentary Heart of the Angel after I heard Alex mention it in one of the early episodes.
This was an excellent episode; sorry I wasn't there for the live show and chat. Alex's joy was a joy in itself. As always thanks to everyone for putting these together every week and I agree that it's a community of happiness and joy
You’re so kind. Thank you so much!
Thanks for great Christmas present in the form of this amazing episode after watching this i had to go back and re-watch the documentary and try to piece together where Alex and Chris were in relation to Mr Sims and the others were. Thank you just thank you for showing us another great part of the London Underground that the general public of today wouldn't even know about
Thanks for another great episode. Those narrow platforms remind me of Clapham Common station in the 70's but wait they're still there 🙂
I worked in the building next door to the station for about ten years, moving in just after the new station opened. The station has many fond memories for me. A happy Christmas to everyone.
I spent 35 years using that station, right up to modernisation in 1992 into what it’s like now.
I used the old one platform station on the odd occasion. It was scary sometimes, although I never saw anyone fall onto the line, although a couple of people ended up on the platform floor. It became so overcrowded during rush hours.
@@daveharris7224 I found it intimidating at times due to so many people turning up for work at ‘rush hour’, a job to get on a train at times, remember the escalators going in at ground floor level, remember also the old building before it was demolished on the corner of the high st and City Road, by then just the frontages were seen, recalled also when it was a hole in the ground.
I remember that there was a big pub on the corner. I can't remember what it was called, but when the site was rebuilt, there was a much smaller pub called the Blue Anchor, I think.
@@daveharris7224 That was on the other side of the High St City Road side, the building still stands, think the site I mentioned were retail units.
Late to the party, having just jumped here after watching the Chalk Farm episode (S08E05), but the photo of the booking hall at 26:41 also dates it to some time between 18th November 1987 and early March 1989 when the Northern Line wasn't stopping at King's Cross St. Pancras following the fire.
Fascinating seeing old northbound tube tunnel + siding, spent a lot of years travelling that tunnel not noticing the old siding, nice to have been able to have seen the old passageway again to those former lifts, think I remember Mr Sims, someone once told me that the spiral staircase steps had been replaced since closure in 92, I was a frequent user of that well, and disliked walking up them after going home due to the lifts not working at night, I did wonder where that office was shown in Heart of The Angel, must have passed it by hundreds of time, and those stairs to the island platform, something I shall never forget using.
What a fantastic episode!
Thank you all at the Hidden London Hangouts team.
Yes I have walked these I remember walking down the stairs when the lift out or because I don't like lifts
U guys do have the best 80’s test patterns fwiw
Happy Holidays Fab Four! Thx for this Chrimbo edition!
Great episode, especially the old junction. Well done folks.
What a pleasant surprise to see you all!!
It was very busy I remember in the in the 90s seeing quite scared when the trains both
First think I've watched after Christmas with no internet or phone or telly,by choice I might add a complete old fashioned Yuletide and digital detoxification,
My word it's good to be back especially with you Four lovely people,enjoy your break ,and we will meet again in what I hope will be a Very Happy New Year .
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I reckon that was the best episode yet and, watching almost a week late, a fine antidote to a solitary new year's eve.
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This was my home station until the 90's.
I do remember the south side of the Northbound tunnel, if you looked south, you could make out what I thought to be the old signal cabin.
The station was not a pleasant experience in the rush hour!
this episode was wonderful, my christmas was wonderful especially when I opened one of my presents and it was a mug from the LTM shop and it just put a great big smile on my face because as I'm getting older Im starting to love a good brew in a great mug, Merry Christmas you wonderful bunch of angels
Good tea. Good shoes. Good bed. If you’re not enjoying one, you’re enjoying one of the others. Happy Christmas Mr Plonker. Thanks for your support
Aww you guys. Love a bit of positivity in an often miserable world 🙏👍👍👍
Love this one sooo much so much of the old station exists behind all the hoarding
Merry Christmas to you first and a Happy New Year. I love watching your videos on our beautiful country as it reminds me of just how lucky we are to live in the UK. Seeing your expressions and the wonder in your voices is just magical. Especially this time of the year visiting our amazing stately homes. I have watched your videos often and never subscribed, don't know why. So today, I have put that right.
Fascinating as always
Really interesting video. I remember standing on the Angel island platform on one occasion in the 1980s and being absolutely terrified as a train approached from each direction (and I'm not easily scared).
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, when Alex stood near the lifts at 32.14. On my other screen is Heart of the Angel, paused at the same spot where the lift attendant stood. Both scenes on the exact spot, 32 years apart. What a time capsule.
THIS, dear Matt (pleased to meet you, albeit virtually), is EXACTLY how I hoped you would come on this journey with us. Thank you for living it with us!!!
@@alexgrundon2346 I'm off to find the documentary right now. I must say, your enthusiasm and and presenting style lifts what is an already amazing show to new heights. I've only just discovered the series and am working my way through binge watching all the series now.
@shorey66 what a lovely thing to say. Thank you so much x
Brilliant episode, thank you. hope you are all having a great Christmas.All the best for the new year to all four of you.
27:22 - that dude has no head 😂 love this series of videos. Really appreciate being able to see behind the scenes like this. Thanks guys.
Great episode,what a wonderful time capsule.
Well done team.
The warehouse building at the back of the old station was a goth nightclub called Slime Light, I went there a couple of times in the late 80s. That island platform was terrifying when coming down the stairs onto the platform at rush hour.
Merry belated Christmas! I have been going backwards watching episodes, but I jumped to the 1st one. There the old documentary was mentioned and then had to watch this one. Haven't visited Angel in the 90s, but I have used their very long escalators after gigs in Islington. Loved all your pressies! I got a self pressent on my last trip to London, Elizabeth line socks 😊
I used that station from Aug 1987 when I started my first job to Feb 1988, when my company moved to Tufnel Road. As I was coming up from Moorgate and my workplace was on Essex Green, I mostly used Essex Road to avoid the crush and delays! Yes, it was often scary on that island platform!! Great to see the old place again!
On a school trip in approx 1988, all the way from Newcastle on a day trip, our teacher took us through Angel (he was trying to take us to St Pauls and I believe he was lost) I remember being prettified of being pushed by crowds and falling onto the tracks because the platform was so narrow. Later, I watched ‘The Heart of The Angel’ which was probably filmed about the same time as I was there and was amazed into the insight of the characters and secret life of the station. Even in the daytime, the station did have quite a depressed and run down feel but it was also special. I’ve love to know what happened to the people in the documentary.
It’s a pity that there aren’t more fly on the wall documentaries now to create visual time capsules that simply witness and don’t provoke situations. The director/narrator did a wonderful job to enable the people to talk without allowing themselves to enter.
Our group did make it to St Pauls in the end and we got meet ‘Biggins’ too!!! I’ve since lived in London but I have never been to the new shiny Angel. Thank you for sharing and happy new year.
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One of best episodes yet, these time capsules are fascinating, well done everyone 👏👏
Great this is where I live
I used to travel through the station regularly as a teenager in the 1970s. I hated it. That island platform was horrible and felt really dangerous. When you “stood back” from the platform edge as a train approached, there was the scary possibility that you might fall off the other side of the platform. And it was grimy and dirty. That view from the top of the stairs looking down onto the platform brought it all back.
I love how this episode has unearthed so many personal experiences of the station - perhaps more than any other we have visited. Thanks for sharing your story
Northbound and ticket hall opened 10 August 1992, southbound opened 19 October 1992 all finished by Feb 1993,I think they had issues with the long new escalators for about the first month,
Sensational info. Thank you.
Thank you all for such a fantastic episode and for all of your superb videos this year. Loved Alex’s reactions - so similar to what I would have done. I hope that all of the team had a lovely Christmas and wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year. I honestly don’t think I would have made it through 2021 without being able to watch your superb videos each week, so thank you all from the bottom of my heart ☺️
You’re so lovely. Thank you for being so kind to us and I’m so glad we helped you through in some small way x
Merry Christmas all
Thank you for all the videos, I've watched every one. I look forward to Saturday nights at 6 giving me something to look forward keeping me sane. Happy New Year to you all.
…so do we. We have remained sane by trying to keep you sane! And it’s our pleasure. Happy New Year and keep watching!
Another brilliant episode! Thanks for all the episodes so far. Something to look forward to each week in this crazy world. All the best for 2022. Can't wait for more from you guys. The 4 of you are truly inspirational and your friendship shines on screen. Lots more Hangouts to come I hope.
Awww GAZZZZZZZ! You honey!
Great episode. Certainly lots to see in Angel Station. I watched the 40 Minutes, Heart of the Angel documentary the other day and it's incredible how much the station has changed! Liked the Snoop Dogg reference too, Chris Nix 😁. Merry Christmas to you all! 🎄
Freeze. At ease. Keys … cracked me up too
Yes it's all completely changed. The barricaded off areas featured today are no longer usually available to the public, and only one platform face of the old station remains in use (the southbound).
Squirrelled out Heart of the Angel to see the original layout in use, and then watched this a second time. Both equally fascinating and nostalgic, but rather sad to see so many so unhappy in their jobs and a station down at heel and in desperate need of upgrading and caring for. Alex's reactions were just lovely. Having watched all the 4 series' now, I knew he'd long wanted to do this and it looked like it definitely lived up to expectations. I have to agree, the rapport between you all is rare and really adds so much to already very special stories of each station you've been to. Very glad to have found this channel this year. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year, and I cannot wait for series 5!
LOVE. YOU. I’m glad you found us too! Happy New Year. Let’s go searching again together soon, via the Hangouts!
@@alexgrundon2346 Aww Happy New Year to you and yours. Can't wait to see more both vintage and brand spanking new!
Loved this episode. It was a real Christmas treat. Have rewatched the 40 Minutes documentary too. Merry Christmas & Happy new year to you all. Thank you so much for these programmes. They have been the highlight of 2021.
Thank you so much ❤️
Love your beanie, Chris!
Thank you all for an amazing series. Hopefully it will be possible to visit the real tours again one day.
Happy New Year from Sweden.
Another excellent episode. I commuted through this station for a couple of years and all the memories came flooding back watching this episode, a real treat. Thank you for all the episodes you've posted this year. Merry Christmas Alex, Laura, Siddy and Chris.
Have you seen Heart of the Angel documentary on RUclips showing how it was prior to 1992’’s modernisation works?.
Oh will have to look for that one!🙏
It is well worth a watch.
Hi yes, saw it s few years ago, it’s still on RUclips thou 🎄
Thanks for doing angel
Merry Christmas one and all XX
Another excellent video 👌
Thank you that was so interesting 😊all the best 👍
Fantastic episode!
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Absolutely brilliant i have always wondered what happened to it it's not used after the rebuild I used to use it to get to my aunties in Morden after the king's cross fire between 1988-1990
Hi think that the wastinghouse box you found near ticket office could be the fire man's switch for lifts
Marvellous info. Thank you
Oh my gosh 😱 when I saw the picture of the old platform, the creepy sensation of standing just once there more then 30 years ago just come back to my memory. I do not recall why I was there, a wrong direction or a train terminated there, but did not forget the strange sensation on that platform 🫣
Alex, have you seen the video on you tube Northern Line 1990 "Above Us London ?
Part of it includes when the new Angel station was being built.
ruclips.net/video/42_bWMk842Y/видео.html this one? Fascinating. About 49 mins in?
Just go to either Clapham Common or Clapham North to experience the danger of the narrow platform during the rush hours....very scary daily!!
Building behind the old Angel station is the Electrowerkz club and event venue... Been to some amazing club nights there and a very interesting building
A wonderful episode and to get to see Angel that used to go though in 1980,s. You are all so up lifting in these darker times. Keep it up and hope you all have an enjoyable 2020.
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Great episode from a great channel - will need to re-visit Heart of the Angel after that. Enjoy the rest of Christmas!
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Coming to this a bit late, only just got round to watching the Angel documentary. I used Angel in early 1990 when I was recording at a studio on Upper Street. It was already terrible by then, corrugated iron everywhere, drafty and the paint had already started to peel in the tunnels. A lot of the Northern Line was like that at the time, to be fair. But how that platform survived that long, I don't know. Even off-peak it was unnerving.
I can't remember the exact date but around a year later I was back again at the same studio, and by this time the station was closed altogether. Whether because of the faulty lifts or the re-modelling I don't know. Probably both. Anyway, great episode.
I use to use the single platform and loved it. Looking at the picture at video time 28:54 it may have been grimy and could have done with a good scrub and paint but the lines are so cool
This is great. I just watched Heart Of The Angel and can’t believe it was only made 5 years before I moved to London in 94. Some of those jobs were a shocker. Do people still have to manually remove hair from the rails today?
Thanks for all the great vids and merry Christmas!
Thankfully some of the work is now done with huge vacuum cleaner trains but I dare say some is still a manual job!
The majority of the Glasgow subway stations still have the narrow platform arrangement, they will have PEDs fitted when the new rolling stock comes into service
Good work
Such narrow platforms must’ve been tough to say the least
Did the test pattern imbibe a bit too much sherry 😂😂❤️
I walked past Angel Tube Station as couple of months ago.....it was covered in scaffolding and Tarpaulin
I guess Alex "Met an Angel on Christmas Day" (musical reference here)
SO. TRUE. ❤️
11:05 Maybe they were testing different lift sizes (and maybe the technical side of things too) back then?
I visited Angel with my lad (9yrs) in Feb as i wanted to grab some photos of the now super wide platform, but mainly as he wanted to see the Longest Escalators on the tube. After watching and seeing the station was moved i'm guessing the length/height of the escalators was dictated by location of the new building and depth of line?
Waiting for test pattern impatiently 😂
I love my routemaster pj’s. Best £60 I’ve spent in a while🥰
They’re so incredibly comfortable x
Man standing a tad close to edge😳😂
Yes it was a very very gloomy station I remember going through it just before before the new station was built I remember the platforms and how now it narrow they were I remember first going on the going on the escalator for the first time I think it is still one of the longest escalators and the deepest I moved to Islington in the 1990s I remember the old station very well I remember the opening of the new station
the *Angel of the Northern line!*
Regularly used thie station both between 69 and 74 and 81-83. It really was a grubby horrible place but nice staff. I’m sure at the far end there used to be some sort of storage bin you could sit on. This being the optimal place to board a north bound train in you we’re going to change at Kings Cross. IIRC there were one on the side, making the platform even narrower. Late at night this could be a scary place especially if there were a few angry drunks around. TBF never worried me at the time, the optimism of youth, but I wouldn’t want to experience these days.
At some point during the 89s/90s the building behind with the advert on it was used for paintball survival games.
34:06 - I wish there had been a close-up of the inkpot. I could have recognized the remnants of the label, and given you more historical details about it.
angel: the longest escalator on the london underground!