Did chuckle at that! On the flip side, I did a six month contract at a company near Aldgate East and used the station daily.. I always wondered what the point of those hooks was! TIL
I love the tiles. It’s such a small thing, but signals both that someone cared for how the small things brighten our existence, and that someone *paid* for it. Quite rare these days, even in more ambitious architecture. Thanks for making and sharing!
Someone could go round with some latex, paint the tiles with it and create a negative, to make your own. Something to adorn a model railway operations room.
Until 1968, the existence of Aldersgate Station (now renamed Barbican), just a couple of stops from both Aldgate and Aldgate East, added even more confusion.
@@mbvideoselection I worked on the Strand and once had to redirect a bloke and his family to Hammersmith cos he asked the black taxi driver to take him to Charing Cross instead of Charing Cross hospital.
Gods, can you imagine what it would've been like riding a tube train through there with the track suspended from the ceiling? That's easily the third most insane thing I've heard on this channel. Did they keep the station open while they were doing that? Did they have to post signs saying "Mind The Gap And The Drop"?
When I lived in East London I spent a lot of my life waiting in that stupid triangle. It sort of felt like the wild west, shunting to a halt whilst some other train passes in front of you at short notice. Also never look at the tracks when climbing the stairs out of Aldgate East because the points cause a break in the traction rail and as the trains depart westbound, as they're at such low speeds, without fail it causes an absolutely blinding arc.
There is still an entrance to what's left of the St. Mary's platforms - if you look in the driveway of the hotel next to East London Mosque, on the back wall there's a grey door with very familiar-looking warning signs on it. It was used for access for the construction of the St. Mary's Curve which allowed Met line trains to run on the East London Line without having to build a new depot for them when the Underground took over the line. The curve runs straight through what were the westbound platforms at St. Mary's, and this and the fact that re-siting at the current position opposite the hospital allowed direct interchange between the ELL and the District) was another important part of the puzzle of rejigging the lines around there.
Elements like those tiles are the finishing touches that are always missing in modern design. Always interesting and informative. Keep up the good work fella and stay safe.
You have almost reached 100K subscribers, Jago. Early congratulations from me in Melbourne, Downunder - a regular visitor to London who has thoroughly enjoyed your contributions.
Great to see this. My first job after leaving school meant alighting at Aldgate East and going through a dingy subway up to Leman Street. It was an office rule that the ladies weren’t allowed to go in the subway alone. Our manager always said it would be an up and coming area one day. Well it became ridiculously expensive anyway!
The Leman Street Entrance was removed to make way for an office block, then the block was knocked down to re-do the road junction and create new land for more offices - I have not been around there for some time since the last re-modelling. I used to buy my Jeans from the cheap shop on the corner of Commercial Street opp the Aldgate East northern entrance.
The original Station is still there as you leave Aldgate East WB, if you look towards the ceiling there is a lattice footbridge still in place. A great video thanks.
_Yet again that toxic relationship between the Met and the District..._ People cursed with the rigmarole of buying separate tickets, changing lines, must’ve wished they’d just smashed and got it out of their system.
@@brianartillery _”Now, I like the suburban regularity of the Metropolitan... Then again, I like the riverside City convenience of the District... But _*_which_*_ Line is better?... There’s only _*_one_*_ way to find out:”_
Fascinating information about the relief tiles, which I've never noticed before, but I've often wondered why Aldgate East feels so spacious for such a relatively insignificant station, as I only really use it to hop-off a District Line train to get a Hammersmith and City Line into Liverpool Street; you could accommodate an army on its platforms.
I do have to wonder what frank pick expected to be the grand demand for patronage at Aldgate East Station. In 1938 most traffic was tram or trolleybus along the Whitechapel and Commercial Roads and down from Commercial Street or the Green Line coaches in from Romford to Minories.
For about 10 months in 1986 and 87 I travelled to Aldgate East as I worked in a BT office on commercial road. I was always fascinated by the fleeting glimpse of Aldgate station in both directions. I am not sure I ever really noticed the tiles, but it’s great to find out the history of this station over 30 years since I was last there. Thanks.
You could almost do a piece about Frank Pick on his own . He and Charles Holden changed so much on the tube and are in my view fading a little into time. I do not know how true this is but I was told that Frank Pick and Winston Churchill once fell out over something or the other and it damaged Pick more than he cared to admit. Loved the Aldgate East story .Thank You .
Very nice mini documentary. Aldgate also brings to mind the connection with Green Line bus route terminating here for routes to the Essex destinations in the good old days of LT.
Aldgate Station I suppose should have been called Minories, (its only a pedestrian crossing away). but I dont suppose the london commuters could have pronounced it.)
"I just quite like Aldgate East. It's to the East." (Paraphrasing) This, you maniac, is why we hang around. We want to see what come up with next: You make Geoff Marshall look like Expedia.
Not sure how I’d feel about being on a packed tube, on a line, hanging from ceiling hooks. It’s not like getting the underground at rush hour isn’t spicy enough as it is!
Interesting to see. I used Aldgate East daily in the mid 90s when I worked around the corner at the bottom end of Brick Lane (officially Osborn Street), and then in Leman Street just down the road. I have to admit to never noticing those tiles though, although I was usually in a rush to either get to work, or wasn't very observant following a few "swift halves" after work. 🍻
Spent many an evening waiting for the tube home from what was City Poly SU bar - always nice to see the trains sweep down that incline - and now I know why.
Things you didn't know you didn't know. Not a Londoner myself but I've stayed in a hotel in the area and used Aldgate East tube station. Those relief tiles are wonderful- I must've walked through the station with my eyes closed. Many thanks for the enjoyable and interesting video.
1:03 I really wish I knew how close some stations were when I visited London in 2016. I got stuck trying to take the Circle counterclockwise when they had some issues around Aldgate, and ending up having to take a detour when I ended up at Aldgate East. It did mean got to ride D-Stock, admittedly before I was knowledgable enough to appreciate it.
Hi Jago! Just wanted to say that I have been finding your series of videos on the history of the Underground thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining! Keep up the great work!
As a American normally I'd take exception to being called a "fellow traveller" (you know how we feel about Commies). But in Jago's case I'll make an exception. The tall ceiling and wide platforms with square columns are very reminiscent of the NYC IND 8th Ave line stations which were built at around the same time.
The platforms of St Mary’s still exist and can just about be seen as you approach Whitechapel east bound. Also visible is the tunnel entrance that used to connect to what is now the Overground line - this can be seen looking out of the left side of the tube just a little way after you enter the tunnel after leaving Whitechapel.
Ah! Aldgate East! I knew it well, my Dad worked in Commercial Road and this was the station we got off to see him - and on. I was there 2 years ago and apart from the fact that the entrances didn't look at all what I remenbered, I had to notice what I never noticed (pardon the double use of "notice") at 8 years old, there's no lift, no step free access!
There was never any step free access on what turned into London Underground, as the Victorians didn't think that looking after passengers with mobility problems was important. It is being retrofitted now, in various stations, but there was a deadline to get this done, that has expired. The government needs to provide massive railway investment to get lifts retrofitted. And we might need to sacrifice a few listed building features to make space for lifts. It shouldn't be too hard to get step free access at Algate East, but they probably can't get a lift installed where that library is. It will probably end up only getting done at the western end.
@@DavidShepheard You probably dont need step free at all stations, once its in at Whitechapel that station is not too far from the East Entrance of Aldgate east anyway and it covers all the line west and east as you can catch from Aldgate East. Step Free at Liverpool Street , Tower Hill and Bank gives you access to the other sides of the Aldgate Triangle.
When I used to use the Tube to go out to Upton Park (to watch a certain football team play !) I regularly used to change on my way home at this station from the District to the Circle lines. I've spent more fruitless hours waiting at AE than I care to remember !! 😱😱
Thanks for this. The line the 1938 Aldgate East station stands on was actually a joint line between the Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Lines that opened eastwards in 1884 from a triangular junction either side of Aldgate station, opened in 1875, and which formed a connection with the LBSCR's East London Line north of Shadwell station. This was used by Metropolitan trains to either New Cross or New Cross Gate entering the line on the north side of the Aldgate triangle. District trains arrived from the south side of the triangle and travelled as far as St. Mary's from where a spur diverged sharply north-east and climbed steeply to the surface to a terminus station for the District's exclusive use, built above the East London station. This was eventually used as a starting point for the Whitechapel & Bow Railway of 1902 that extended the District further east to a connection with the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway at Campbell Road junction, just west of Bromley station (now Bromley-by-Bow) and was the nucleus for the eastern stretch of the District Line to Upminster as we know it today. The resiting of Aldgate East station also included a new District Line tunnel to the west of the station. Although St. Mary's station closed in 1938, the St. Mary's spur to the East London Line remained open until 1941, served by a Metropolitan service that started at South Kensington and ran via the west and north sides of the Circle Line before accessing the spur through the resited Aldgate East station. After this service was withdrawn as a wartime economy and never reinstated after 1945, the East London Line received a self-contained shuttle service from the New Cross stations to Whitechapel, extended to Shoreditch in peak hours and on Sunday mornings for the Petticoat Lane street markets. BR summer excursions from Chingford and Loughton (even after the latter became part of the LU Central Line) also served the East London Line, reversing in Liverpool Street main line station; these ended in the early 1960s and the junction with the East London Line outside Liverpool Street at Shoreditch was severed in 1966. The point where present day District and Hammersmith & City Line trains make the sharp curve up to Whitechapel from the now non-existent junction with the abandoned St. Mary's spur is very noticeable while the East London Line, of course, has since 2010 been part of the London Overground. Kind regards, David, Crouch End, N8.
Passmore Edwards left his legacy in Libraries. Also likes his connections with railways including the Railway Studies centre in Newton Abbot which has a bigger legacy library than Plymouth
The only time I visited Aldgate East I was trying a different route to work. In the front carriage I noticed we stopped abruptly halfway along the platform. Doors remaining shut, for several minutes the driver shouted "Don't move! Stay where you are! Do not move! Stay right there!" Someone had attempted suicide by Tube. Four men helped that shaking, wobbly driver walk to the office.
Spent many a happy hour wandering around the East End as a lad, from of course Aldgate East...there I mentioned ‘East’ twice in the same sentence...lol...it was a very different place then, and the roads outside the station were not duel carriageways, but single lane carriageways....there used to be a great Pie, Mash and Eels shop just up the road and opposite on the corner of Cable Street...alas, long gone too...😔... The East End was a much friendlier place in those days...and mostly spoke English too...!
I passed through here today travelling from Whitechapel to Liverpool Street. The train had to wait several minutes at the junction and I recall that this is common practice. Whitechapel now proudly displays a wonderfully confusing piece of geography. The signs at the steps proudly indicate that you need to go up the steps to the Underground line which is over the Overground line while you go down the steps to the Overground line which of course is under the Underground line.
In my 'commuting on the Circle Line' days, many years ago, I do recall that Aldgate could be an infuriating place where Circle Line trains used to get stuck waiting for either District or Metropolitan Line trains in all directions to clear junctions. There could be delays at Edgware Road on the Circle Line too, whilst trains were taken out of service or reversed, drivers were changed, urine soaked drunks removed, Hammersmith line trains given priority, etc. The innovative solution to that, of course, was to stop the Circle Line actually circling more than one rotation any more.
The train describer at Aldgate East was always a lying thing, with the oft Paddington via Liverpool Street appearing and disappearing at random without a train arriving. Seeing as I wanted the Northern Line to go south I really just should have walked to Bank it was only a few hundred yards from the far side of Aldgate one way system anyway but I could not be bothered after a day out around the Liverpool Street Area
When I visited London last year I stayed one street off Whitechapel Road, and Aldgate East was my go-to to get on the Tube. Very fond of this station :) shoutout to the lovely bubble tea shop right next to it, one day I'll come back and complete my free drink punch card lmao
This is one of my favourite stations... good to photograph, nice light, and you can get good shots of the trains from that elevated bridge section… The east side entrance has a Doctor Who Tardis type vibe… Oh and the junction right outside the station on the other side is also another good street photo spot.
... What I always say: forget your Harry Potter and what not fantasy books and discover the truly adventurous and weirdly mystical reality, reality as in "real everyday life"! 😉 Great story, like always. 👍🏻 I loved " wrong said the engineers .. " Of course they were right! ✌🏻🚀
Aldgate East is a lovely little station, the cream and blue tiling, the Stabler tiles, the LT sign and the platform level signs too. Spacious too boot. What's not to like?! Another great video - thank you.
THAT'S MY LOCAL STATION!! Well, almost, I live closer to Whitechapel so tend to use that instead. But have been through Aldgate a LOT over the years. And many more trips to that KFC or the cafe near it after a long day of lectures (I study at Barts and the London). Still remember the days in first year when about 5 of us would get the H&C from our halls to Whitechapel for lectures, but without fail, every time we had a test it would NEVER come. So took the circle or met to Aldgate and legged it to campus. Or being stuck on that infernal curve between Liverpool Street and Aldgate at peak rush hour, for at least 10 minutes due to "congestion". Every. Single. Day. The view of Aldgate from the track is pretty cool though :) Never noticed the tiles before, will definitely go have a look at them soon! Also so cool that the Griffin is the mascot of London transport, cause it's also the mascot of my university! Our student union is called the Griff Inn, just down the road in Whitechapel. If you're in the area again, would love to meet up over a pint and talk trains :)
@@JagoHazzard For sure! The whole area has a lot of history. You can see the new station from my garden, it's coming along really nicely. Made all the construction noise over the summer worth it!
Looks like the Student Union has moved, it used to be next door to the Aldgate East Station Entrance from Memory, only went a couple of times. Most of the College buildings were rented or on short leases apart from one freehold and some leases from the John Cass Foundation were restricted to educational use, quite interesting.
Well I'm guna go and look out for the hooks now , then I can reflect on the toil and sweat of the engineering involved ! Many thanks for this information jago !
At last! Years of travelling and wondering and now I know what the tiles represent! Could they put up a list somewhere, which would also show appreciation for the history? We're getting careless about details like this, tourists love to selfie in front of them!
3:57 Aldgate East is historically in Middlesex.The crests for for both Middlesex and Essex were the same until a crown was later added above the Middlesex seaxes, so perhaps the tile crest at Aldgate East represents Middlesex?
@@highpath4776 yes, you are correct (at 5:00). I posted the above before watching it all the way through, as wasn't paying enough attention when the Middlesex one briefly appeared!
We could discuss, somewhere (does need a Foreman and Hazzard collaboration) of would England be a better place if the old counties were restored, including Wessex. Or should they just lie as needed to bestow on minor royals peerages of defunct administrations.
Aldgate East, Aldgate Out - one of my late dad’s favourite lines. Couldn’t wait - other Harold Stabler tiles are to be found at St. John’s Wood, Swiss Cottage, Bethnal Green - including a few duplicates of those at Aldgate East. More ‘covid induced digging’ revealed that the arms at 4.14 in fact represent part of those of the City of Westminster - the water being the Tyburn; the birds are heraldic martlets - connected with the Abbey and King Edward the Confessor. The arms of the tile at 4.58 represent the County of London).
There is a similar situation on New York-MTA,Metro-North! In Mount Vernon,there are two stations,one on the Harlem line(ex-NYC),and the New Haven. One is East,and the other is West,and they very close to one another! Also there are some subway stations,that would fit the same criteria. Example- 161st Street-Yankee Stadium. Upstairs is the IRT,4 line,downstairs is the IND,B&D lines,and both lines are 3 tracks for rush hour expresses! Nearby is Yankee Stadium,and the Bronx County Court House,and one very impressive hill!! Worth visiting,as that part of NYC,is better known to the natives,but not the tourists!! Thank you for,again,an interesting video! Go,Jago,go!!!
Not all of those relief tiles are original. When the station underwent renovations in 2007-2009 by Metronet- they attempted to remove many of them on the Eastern entrance and eastbound platform but didn't realise they were physically concreted into place and a number were damaged beyond use. So they were forced into making new ones in an identical style. I believe though cant confirm the "new" designs were made at the original Poole Pottery but the designer was "in house" TfL staff.
In between Whitechapel and Aldgate East stations (Westbound to your left, Eastbound to your right) you can still see part of the St Mary's platform and also one end of the St Mary curve, which comes out just south of Whitechapel station on the Overground line. While the curve was no longer used as part of the passenger route it was being used to transfer trains from the Metropolitan Line to what was then the East London Line (now Overground), which formed part of the Met Line. It was only in the last few years they totally decommissioned the curve when the tracks were lifted. I believe there is organised tours of the tunnel should anybody be interested.
I've been held up many a time between Aldgate East and Tower Hill. Looking at Aldgate whilst a Circle line train crosses the junction between Tower Hill and Aldgate.
@@highpath4776 I don't need a map - I know where Bow Church and Aldgate are, thanks. I worked in the City for decades, and you won't hear Bow bells at Aldgate on anything like normal circumstances, wind or no wind.
@@rodjones117 But there is the possibility the reference was to being within earshot of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry where they would have been made (and no doubt regularly tested)
East is East oh wait i did it too Jago. Fantastic look at a enigma of the railway. Interesting to see the line suspended and must have been scary being a passenger.
The platforms of St Mary's are still in place on both sides, to which you can see while passing on the train. The orignal Aldgate East stairwells over the tracks are still there, along with one platform remaining. The old station lights are still hanging from the ceiling. Interesting bit about Aldgate station. Behind the buffers on both tracks of the Metropolitan line, there are tunnels that lead directly towards the Hammersmith line. I don't know if these where going to be used to link the two stations.
Nothing wrong with saying "East" multiple times; after all I'm from East Anglia, from the north-eastern corner of Suffolk where I lived on the east side of the town. See, Jago's got me doing it now. And our house faced east. ARGH!
@@mquietsch6736 Right, here goes. At 3:10 Jago said “..have a butchers at the hook..” referring to the hooks attached to the ceiling. What he meant when he said “.. have a butchers..” was “..have a look..”. This is because “butchers”, which is shortened from “butchers hook”, is cockney rhyming slang for “look” (butchers hook - look). I believe that Jago was being deliberately witty with his choice of words here. We also have many other examples of rhyming slang including apples and pears - stairs, but that’s another jackanory for another video (hopefully).
@@skf957 Thank you. No wonder I didn't get it. I know the concept of rhyming slang, but so far I've never seen it in action. Pretty creative kind of slang, I think. It sounds a bit like a crossword clue to me. Either you know how to deconstruct it, or you don't, and in this case you're lost. Well, live and learn...
Next: a video about ticket halls that are underground -- and face East. And the link to churches. Anglican, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches face East.
Aldgate East is like a time-warp; it doesn't look any different to what I remember it being like as a local kid in the early 70's. I can imagine a 5p Poppets sweet machine still there on the platform wall. I think at one time, Aldgate East Station was up there amongst the highest death rates on the Underground; albeit many of those poor souls were probably intoxicated; as this part of Whitechapel/Aldgate was poverty-stricken and had a number of homeless people. That said, it's such a depressing station, it's probably fair to say that it could generate suicidal thoughts into the happiest amongst us! Must go........now where did I put that razor?
Those tiles really are great. Imagine back in the 30’s (I think you said 30’s), some artist, hand making those moulds. It must have been months of work for someone.
Развлечения
“You can still take a butchers at the hooks.”
Well played, sir.
Concluding with, “more than meets the EYE,” for those of us seething at the mentioned wordplay... double well played.
Did chuckle at that! On the flip side, I did a six month contract at a company near Aldgate East and used the station daily.. I always wondered what the point of those hooks was! TIL
I laughed out loud when I heard that, but I wonder how many outside the UK understood it.
I liked that bit too haha
As soon as I heard it, I thought: whale oil beef hooked
I’m almost disappointed St. Mary’s wasn’t renamed Aldgate Easter, and only opened on religious holidays.
🤣
Or Aldgate East East
😀
or Aldgate East-by-East
D'oh! I really do need to read through the comments before posting!
No platforms of st Mary’s left ?
I love the tiles. It’s such a small thing, but signals both that someone cared for how the small things brighten our existence, and that someone *paid* for it. Quite rare these days, even in more ambitious architecture.
Thanks for making and sharing!
Someone could go round with some latex, paint the tiles with it and create a negative, to make your own. Something to adorn a model railway operations room.
Yes love them as well. Agree it's the small things that matter
They could sell replica tiles and make a fortune.
@@snich63 Hmmm, that's a great lockdown business start-up idea...
Maybe someone would think of it now, but they would execute it in a sticker with a lifespan of weeks rather than decades
at this point we could just name every station on the line Aldgate East or Aldgate West relative to their orientation
Baker Street needs to be renamed to Aldgate Yeast
Aldersgate is Aldgate West?
@@emporioalnino4670 da-dah... *BOOM* ...🤣🤣
I used to do Jack the ripper walks from Aldgate East. I found it a very weird and disorientating station.
@@ronmac9522 I went on one of those when I lived in London a million years ago. Was good fun!
Until 1968, the existence of Aldersgate Station (now renamed Barbican), just a couple of stops from both Aldgate and Aldgate East, added even more confusion.
The number of times I've redirected lost people who were trying to get to Canning Town but were heading towards Kennington instead (and vice versa)
@@mbvideoselection I worked on the Strand and once had to redirect a bloke and his family to Hammersmith cos he asked the black taxi driver to take him to Charing Cross instead of Charing Cross hospital.
@@kanedaku Not sure the relevance of the taxi driver's colour.
Gods, can you imagine what it would've been like riding a tube train through there with the track suspended from the ceiling? That's easily the third most insane thing I've heard on this channel. Did they keep the station open while they were doing that? Did they have to post signs saying "Mind The Gap And The Drop"?
Methinks they were a hardier bunch of people back.
If the works were done today, they’d have to close the station for five years whilst they did the work.
When I lived in East London I spent a lot of my life waiting in that stupid triangle. It sort of felt like the wild west, shunting to a halt whilst some other train passes in front of you at short notice.
Also never look at the tracks when climbing the stairs out of Aldgate East because the points cause a break in the traction rail and as the trains depart westbound, as they're at such low speeds, without fail it causes an absolutely blinding arc.
'You can still take a butchers at the hooks' brilliant 👍
This station has a beautiful staircase.
Yes Jago, there is room for a series about Tube staircases.
There is still an entrance to what's left of the St. Mary's platforms - if you look in the driveway of the hotel next to East London Mosque, on the back wall there's a grey door with very familiar-looking warning signs on it.
It was used for access for the construction of the St. Mary's Curve which allowed Met line trains to run on the East London Line without having to build a new depot for them when the Underground took over the line. The curve runs straight through what were the westbound platforms at St. Mary's, and this and the fact that re-siting at the current position opposite the hospital allowed direct interchange between the ELL and the District) was another important part of the puzzle of rejigging the lines around there.
🤔 ‘The curve runs straight through’ . . . Oops! Geometry revision needed!
@@sirmeowthelibrarycat Pedantry? On the internet?!?!? Why I never!
Is this on Fieldgate Street, this entrance?
Elements like those tiles are the finishing touches that are always missing in modern design.
Always interesting and informative. Keep up the good work fella and stay safe.
You have almost reached 100K subscribers, Jago. Early congratulations from me in Melbourne, Downunder - a regular visitor to London who has thoroughly enjoyed your contributions.
Great to see this. My first job after leaving school meant alighting at Aldgate East and going through a dingy subway up to Leman Street. It was an office rule that the ladies weren’t allowed to go in the subway alone. Our manager always said it would be an up and coming area one day. Well it became ridiculously expensive anyway!
The Leman Street Entrance was removed to make way for an office block, then the block was knocked down to re-do the road junction and create new land for more offices - I have not been around there for some time since the last re-modelling. I used to buy my Jeans from the cheap shop on the corner of Commercial Street opp the Aldgate East northern entrance.
The original Station is still there as you leave Aldgate East WB, if you look towards the ceiling there is a lattice footbridge still in place. A great video thanks.
What does wb stand for? I want to find this and trying to figure out where to look!
Westbound.
@@mbrady2329 : Would that be a westerly westbound or an easterly westbound?
Id say an interesting topic would be the St Mary's curve to the east London line
_Yet again that toxic relationship between the Met and the District..._ People cursed with the rigmarole of buying separate tickets, changing lines, must’ve wished they’d just smashed and got it out of their system.
Lmao
If only Harry Hill was about at the time...
"How do we sort this out? Fight!"
@@brianartillery _”Now, I like the suburban regularity of the Metropolitan... Then again, I like the riverside City convenience of the District... But _*_which_*_ Line is better?... There’s only _*_one_*_ way to find out:”_
Jago, you’ve given me a new found appreciation for trains and train stations. I’ve become that guy who tell people weird facts about stations
I used Aldgate East on a daily basis for years, and knew none of this history - thank you!
Fascinating information about the relief tiles, which I've never noticed before, but I've often wondered why Aldgate East feels so spacious for such a relatively insignificant station, as I only really use it to hop-off a District Line train to get a Hammersmith and City Line into Liverpool Street; you could accommodate an army on its platforms.
I do have to wonder what frank pick expected to be the grand demand for patronage at Aldgate East Station. In 1938 most traffic was tram or trolleybus along the Whitechapel and Commercial Roads and down from Commercial Street or the Green Line coaches in from Romford to Minories.
For about 10 months in 1986 and 87 I travelled to Aldgate East as I worked in a BT office on commercial road. I was always fascinated by the fleeting glimpse of Aldgate station in both directions. I am not sure I ever really noticed the tiles, but it’s great to find out the history of this station over 30 years since I was last there. Thanks.
You could almost do a piece about Frank Pick on his own . He and Charles Holden changed so much on the tube and are in my view fading a little into time. I do not know how true this is but I was told that Frank Pick and Winston Churchill once fell out over something or the other and it damaged Pick more than he cared to admit. Loved the Aldgate East story .Thank You .
I was watching it on the TV. "You can still take a butchers' at the hooks" made me log in and subscribe ....
Very nice mini documentary. Aldgate also brings to mind the connection with Green Line bus route terminating here for routes to the Essex destinations in the good old days of LT.
Aldgate Station I suppose should have been called Minories, (its only a pedestrian crossing away). but I dont suppose the london commuters could have pronounced it.)
"I just quite like Aldgate East. It's to the East." (Paraphrasing)
This, you maniac, is why we hang around. We want to see what come up with next: You make Geoff Marshall look like Expedia.
Well, I mean, East is East, after all?
Now, now, there is room for both Jago and Geoff on RUclips.
Not sure how I’d feel about being on a packed tube, on a line, hanging from ceiling hooks. It’s not like getting the underground at rush hour isn’t spicy enough as it is!
I suspect they were only used to lower the tracks after the trestles were taken away.
Hey, doubt that wasn't too much of an issue, after all the line was supported by glorified decorator's trestles!
Interesting to see. I used Aldgate East daily in the mid 90s when I worked around the corner at the bottom end of Brick Lane (officially Osborn Street), and then in Leman Street just down the road. I have to admit to never noticing those tiles though, although I was usually in a rush to either get to work, or wasn't very observant following a few "swift halves" after work. 🍻
Spent many an evening waiting for the tube home from what was City Poly SU bar - always nice to see the trains sweep down that incline - and now I know why.
Loved it!! Worked at Aldgate area for many years and have passed through Algate East on way to Upton Park for over 50 years!! Great Work Sir!
Things you didn't know you didn't know. Not a Londoner myself but I've stayed in a hotel in the area and used Aldgate East tube station. Those relief tiles are wonderful- I must've walked through the station with my eyes closed.
Many thanks for the enjoyable and interesting video.
Like all the best presenters, you feel that he could make whichever topic he turns to sound interesting.
1:03 I really wish I knew how close some stations were when I visited London in 2016. I got stuck trying to take the Circle counterclockwise when they had some issues around Aldgate, and ending up having to take a detour when I ended up at Aldgate East. It did mean got to ride D-Stock, admittedly before I was knowledgable enough to appreciate it.
Hi Jago! Just wanted to say that I have been finding your series of videos on the history of the Underground thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining! Keep up the great work!
Also wanted to mention that Jock McFadyen has some fantastic paintings of this station and other parts of Eastern London
As a American normally I'd take exception to being called a "fellow traveller" (you know how we feel about Commies). But in Jago's case I'll make an exception. The tall ceiling and wide platforms with square columns are very reminiscent of the NYC IND 8th Ave line stations which were built at around the same time.
Let's not discuss the condition of the major station West 4th though.
"1 minute ago"
*A surprise, to be sure; but a welcome one*
I quite like that the Crystal Palace tile was covered in cracks. Karma or Foreshadowing? Or just history?
The platforms of St Mary’s still exist and can just about be seen as you approach Whitechapel east bound. Also visible is the tunnel entrance that used to connect to what is now the Overground line - this can be seen looking out of the left side of the tube just a little way after you enter the tunnel after leaving Whitechapel.
I shall have to keep an eye out next time I’m there.
Ah! Aldgate East! I knew it well, my Dad worked in Commercial Road and this was the station we got off to see him - and on. I was there 2 years ago and apart from the fact that the entrances didn't look at all what I remenbered, I had to notice what I never noticed (pardon the double use of "notice") at 8 years old, there's no lift, no step free access!
There was never any step free access on what turned into London Underground, as the Victorians didn't think that looking after passengers with mobility problems was important.
It is being retrofitted now, in various stations, but there was a deadline to get this done, that has expired.
The government needs to provide massive railway investment to get lifts retrofitted. And we might need to sacrifice a few listed building features to make space for lifts.
It shouldn't be too hard to get step free access at Algate East, but they probably can't get a lift installed where that library is. It will probably end up only getting done at the western end.
@@DavidShepheard You probably dont need step free at all stations, once its in at Whitechapel that station is not too far from the East Entrance of Aldgate east anyway and it covers all the line west and east as you can catch from Aldgate East. Step Free at Liverpool Street , Tower Hill and Bank gives you access to the other sides of the Aldgate Triangle.
When I used to use the Tube to go out to Upton Park (to watch a certain football team play !) I regularly used to change on my way home at this station from the District to the Circle lines. I've spent more fruitless hours waiting at AE than I care to remember !! 😱😱
Thanks for this. The line the 1938 Aldgate East station stands on was actually a joint line between the Metropolitan and Metropolitan District Lines that opened eastwards in 1884 from a triangular junction either side of Aldgate station, opened in 1875, and which formed a connection with the LBSCR's East London Line north of Shadwell station. This was used by Metropolitan trains to either New Cross or New Cross Gate entering the line on the north side of the Aldgate triangle. District trains arrived from the south side of the triangle and travelled as far as St. Mary's from where a spur diverged sharply north-east and climbed steeply to the surface to a terminus station for the District's exclusive use, built above the East London station. This was eventually used as a starting point for the Whitechapel & Bow Railway of 1902 that extended the District further east to a connection with the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway at Campbell Road junction, just west of Bromley station (now Bromley-by-Bow) and was the nucleus for the eastern stretch of the District Line to Upminster as we know it today. The resiting of Aldgate East station also included a new District Line tunnel to the west of the station. Although St. Mary's station closed in 1938, the St. Mary's spur to the East London Line remained open until 1941, served by a Metropolitan service that started at South Kensington and ran via the west and north sides of the Circle Line before accessing the spur through the resited Aldgate East station. After this service was withdrawn as a wartime economy and never reinstated after 1945, the East London Line received a self-contained shuttle service from the New Cross stations to Whitechapel, extended to Shoreditch in peak hours and on Sunday mornings for the Petticoat Lane street markets. BR summer excursions from Chingford and Loughton (even after the latter became part of the LU Central Line) also served the East London Line, reversing in Liverpool Street main line station; these ended in the early 1960s and the junction with the East London Line outside Liverpool Street at Shoreditch was severed in 1966. The point where present day District and Hammersmith & City Line trains make the sharp curve up to Whitechapel from the now non-existent junction with the abandoned St. Mary's spur is very noticeable while the East London Line, of course, has since 2010 been part of the London Overground. Kind regards, David, Crouch End, N8.
Passmore Edwards left his legacy in Libraries. Also likes his connections with railways including the Railway Studies centre in Newton Abbot which has a bigger legacy library than Plymouth
Passmore Edwards Museum In Straford , was associated with the North Woolwich museum for a while but Newham wouldnt do the full funding.
Honestly, I watch these as much for the narration as I do for the history!
What I love about your videos is that it makes me want to go and visit these places - I’d never think of going to Aldgate East otherwise! :)
I only really came across it by accident - I like Brick Lane, so I encountered the station that way. Really it was the tiles that made me curious.
The only time I visited Aldgate East I was trying a different route to work. In the front carriage I noticed we stopped abruptly halfway along the platform. Doors remaining shut, for several minutes the driver shouted "Don't move! Stay where you are! Do not move! Stay right there!" Someone had attempted suicide by Tube. Four men helped that shaking, wobbly driver walk to the office.
Spent many a happy hour wandering around the East End as a lad, from of course Aldgate East...there I mentioned ‘East’ twice in the same sentence...lol...it was a very different place then, and the roads outside the station were not duel carriageways, but single lane carriageways....there used to be a great Pie, Mash and Eels shop just up the road and opposite on the corner of Cable Street...alas, long gone too...😔... The East End was a much friendlier place in those days...and mostly spoke English too...!
Tubby Issacs wagon on the corner too.
anyone before 100,000 subs? Keep this content up!
Jago might reach this milestone next week. Absolutely deserved.
Thanks!
@@Voyagerch75 yes I agree lol
I think we're all vicariously watching for that. It's only a little over 6 months since he hit 1,000. The growth is phenomenal, and well-deserved.
I passed through here today travelling from Whitechapel to Liverpool Street. The train had to wait several minutes at the junction and I recall that this is common practice.
Whitechapel now proudly displays a wonderfully confusing piece of geography. The signs at the steps proudly indicate that you need to go up the steps to the Underground line which is over the Overground line while you go down the steps to the Overground line which of course is under the Underground line.
The Bowler Hat emblem in the 'Westminster' tile always amuse me.
In my 'commuting on the Circle Line' days, many years ago, I do recall that Aldgate could be an infuriating place where Circle Line trains used to get stuck waiting for either District or Metropolitan Line trains in all directions to clear junctions. There could be delays at Edgware Road on the Circle Line too, whilst trains were taken out of service or reversed, drivers were changed, urine soaked drunks removed, Hammersmith line trains given priority, etc. The innovative solution to that, of course, was to stop the Circle Line actually circling more than one rotation any more.
The train describer at Aldgate East was always a lying thing, with the oft Paddington via Liverpool Street appearing and disappearing at random without a train arriving. Seeing as I wanted the Northern Line to go south I really just should have walked to Bank it was only a few hundred yards from the far side of Aldgate one way system anyway but I could not be bothered after a day out around the Liverpool Street Area
When I visited London last year I stayed one street off Whitechapel Road, and Aldgate East was my go-to to get on the Tube. Very fond of this station :) shoutout to the lovely bubble tea shop right next to it, one day I'll come back and complete my free drink punch card lmao
Fascinating. I'm inclined to overlook the word repetition with such erudition. I think I just did an accidental half rhyme there.
I'm getting really annoyed at how quickly Friday morning comes around each week, all emphasised by Jago's videos!
😉😁
Perfect timing Jago 👍🏽with my breakfast tea & crumpets
That's the breakfast of champions! ☕
You're so British ✊😄👍
This is one of my favourite stations... good to photograph, nice light, and you can get good shots of the trains from that elevated bridge section… The east side entrance has a Doctor Who Tardis type vibe… Oh and the junction right outside the station on the other side is also another good street photo spot.
... What I always say: forget your Harry Potter and what not fantasy books and discover the truly adventurous and weirdly mystical reality, reality as in "real everyday life"! 😉
Great story, like always. 👍🏻
I loved " wrong said the engineers .. "
Of course they were right! ✌🏻🚀
Aldgate East is a lovely little station, the cream and blue tiling, the Stabler tiles, the LT sign and the platform level signs too. Spacious too boot. What's not to like?! Another great video - thank you.
THAT'S MY LOCAL STATION!!
Well, almost, I live closer to Whitechapel so tend to use that instead. But have been through Aldgate a LOT over the years. And many more trips to that KFC or the cafe near it after a long day of lectures (I study at Barts and the London). Still remember the days in first year when about 5 of us would get the H&C from our halls to Whitechapel for lectures, but without fail, every time we had a test it would NEVER come. So took the circle or met to Aldgate and legged it to campus. Or being stuck on that infernal curve between Liverpool Street and Aldgate at peak rush hour, for at least 10 minutes due to "congestion". Every. Single. Day. The view of Aldgate from the track is pretty cool though :)
Never noticed the tiles before, will definitely go have a look at them soon! Also so cool that the Griffin is the mascot of London transport, cause it's also the mascot of my university! Our student union is called the Griff Inn, just down the road in Whitechapel. If you're in the area again, would love to meet up over a pint and talk trains :)
Excellent! I want to do a video about Whitechapel station when lockdown ends, there’s a lot of history to it.
@@JagoHazzard For sure! The whole area has a lot of history. You can see the new station from my garden, it's coming along really nicely. Made all the construction noise over the summer worth it!
Looks like the Student Union has moved, it used to be next door to the Aldgate East Station Entrance from Memory, only went a couple of times. Most of the College buildings were rented or on short leases apart from one freehold and some leases from the John Cass Foundation were restricted to educational use, quite interesting.
Well I'm guna go and look out for the hooks now , then I can reflect on the toil and sweat of the engineering involved ! Many thanks for this information jago !
Daily commute until March last year. Definitely one of my favourite District Line stations.
At last! Years of travelling and wondering and now I know what the tiles represent! Could they put up a list somewhere, which would also show appreciation for the history? We're getting careless about details like this, tourists love to selfie in front of them!
3:57 Aldgate East is historically in Middlesex.The crests for for both Middlesex and Essex were the same until a crown was later added above the Middlesex seaxes, so perhaps the tile crest at Aldgate East represents Middlesex?
Both were shown, I was thrown by the County of London ( I had forgotten the LCC)
@@highpath4776 yes, you are correct (at 5:00). I posted the above before watching it all the way through, as wasn't paying enough attention when the Middlesex one briefly appeared!
@@CaseyJonesNumber1 Posted before watching it all - See the moans in one of techmoans videos (cannot remember which one)
We could discuss, somewhere (does need a Foreman and Hazzard collaboration) of would England be a better place if the old counties were restored, including Wessex. Or should they just lie as needed to bestow on minor royals peerages of defunct administrations.
The great sexes. Essex. Middlesex, Sussex. Wessex and Northamptonshire. ( well you need a North Hampton in Beds )
Aldgate East, Aldgate Out - one of my late dad’s favourite lines. Couldn’t wait - other Harold Stabler tiles are to be found at St. John’s Wood, Swiss Cottage, Bethnal Green - including a few duplicates of those at Aldgate East. More ‘covid induced digging’ revealed that the arms at 4.14 in fact represent part of those of the City of Westminster - the water being the Tyburn; the birds are heraldic martlets - connected with the Abbey and King Edward the Confessor. The arms of the tile at 4.58 represent the County of London).
If you write a time like this: 4:14, RUclips will make it a link.
Spent many hours on there in the early 90s when I was student.
There is a similar situation on New York-MTA,Metro-North! In Mount Vernon,there are two stations,one on the Harlem line(ex-NYC),and the New Haven. One is East,and the other is West,and they very close to one another! Also there are some subway stations,that would fit the same criteria. Example- 161st Street-Yankee Stadium. Upstairs is the IRT,4 line,downstairs is the IND,B&D lines,and both lines are 3 tracks for rush hour expresses! Nearby is Yankee Stadium,and the Bronx County Court House,and one very impressive hill!! Worth visiting,as that part of NYC,is better known to the natives,but not the tourists!! Thank you for,again,an interesting video! Go,Jago,go!!!
Used to have spring and toggle points at this station.
Not all of those relief tiles are original. When the station underwent renovations in 2007-2009 by Metronet- they attempted to remove many of them on the Eastern entrance and eastbound platform but didn't realise they were physically concreted into place and a number were damaged beyond use. So they were forced into making new ones in an identical style. I believe though cant confirm the "new" designs were made at the original Poole Pottery but the designer was "in house" TfL staff.
In between Whitechapel and Aldgate East stations (Westbound to your left, Eastbound to your right) you can still see part of the St Mary's platform and also one end of the St Mary curve, which comes out just south of Whitechapel station on the Overground line. While the curve was no longer used as part of the passenger route it was being used to transfer trains from the Metropolitan Line to what was then the East London Line (now Overground), which formed part of the Met Line. It was only in the last few years they totally decommissioned the curve when the tracks were lifted. I believe there is organised tours of the tunnel should anybody be interested.
I look at those tiles every day 😊 great video. Thank you.
Love the sculptured tiles. I often think Joe public often over look such details on the tube.
Aldgate East. Ah, that was my stop for training days at Happy Computers, where they gave out ice creams at the afternoon 'tea' breaks.
I've been held up many a time between Aldgate East and Tower Hill. Looking at Aldgate whilst a Circle line train crosses the junction between Tower Hill and Aldgate.
Jago showing his cockney origins here me thinks. The station is of course within the sound of Bow bells.
Perhaps, just perhaps, with the City deserted due to covid, but normally?
@@rodjones117 Certainly don't listen out for noises coming from Bow
@@rodjones117 Winds normally there is a westerly wind . There is a map of the supposed area.
@@highpath4776 I don't need a map - I know where Bow Church and Aldgate are, thanks. I worked in the City for decades, and you won't hear Bow bells at Aldgate on anything like normal circumstances, wind or no wind.
@@rodjones117 But there is the possibility the reference was to being within earshot of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry where they would have been made (and no doubt regularly tested)
I live near Truro and you cannot go a mile without seeing a "Passmore-Edwards" something or other
You got the Thumbs up for the "Take a butchers at the hooks"
Nice relaxing video after a stressful day at work. Lovely.
East is East oh wait i did it too Jago. Fantastic look at a enigma of the railway. Interesting to see the line suspended and must have been scary being a passenger.
The platforms of St Mary's are still in place on both sides, to which you can see while passing on the train. The orignal Aldgate East stairwells over the tracks are still there, along with one platform remaining. The old station lights are still hanging from the ceiling.
Interesting bit about Aldgate station. Behind the buffers on both tracks of the Metropolitan line, there are tunnels that lead directly towards the Hammersmith line. I don't know if these where going to be used to link the two stations.
Those decorative tiles are rather nice. I'll have to keep an eye out for them in future videos!
Nothing wrong with saying "East" multiple times; after all I'm from East Anglia, from the north-eastern corner of Suffolk where I lived on the east side of the town. See, Jago's got me doing it now. And our house faced east. ARGH!
😂😂😂
My favourite bit of the London underground. Don't know why, just is..
Nice one JH. Ta.
Thanks again Jago. Another brilliant video.
I absolutely love these videos.
"Butchers" at the "hooks" . Very good.
A "butchers hook" at 3:10.... Nicely done sir.
This is about the sixth time I read a comment referring to this... could anyone explain, please? I'm not a native speaker and I don't get it...
@@mquietsch6736 Right, here goes. At 3:10 Jago said “..have a butchers at the hook..” referring to the hooks attached to the ceiling. What he meant when he said “.. have a butchers..” was “..have a look..”. This is because “butchers”, which is shortened from “butchers hook”, is cockney rhyming slang for “look” (butchers hook - look). I believe that Jago was being deliberately witty with his choice of words here.
We also have many other examples of rhyming slang including apples and pears - stairs, but that’s another jackanory for another video (hopefully).
@@skf957 Thank you. No wonder I didn't get it. I know the concept of rhyming slang, but so far I've never seen it in action. Pretty creative kind of slang, I think. It sounds a bit like a crossword clue to me. Either you know how to deconstruct it, or you don't, and in this case you're lost. Well, live and learn...
Thanks for this, knew about this but hadn’t seen a video on it yet! Great as always 👍🏼
Thanks for another great train trip.🚆
Always fun and full of good things !!!
Thanks very much for this interresting History of tube-stations🙏🏼👍☺️
Next: a video about ticket halls that are underground -- and face East. And the link to churches. Anglican, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches face East.
Ooh seconded!
Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus perhaps the most famous, I Like Bond Street.
@@highpath4776 Was Bond Street also a circus?
I shall take a good butcher's hook at the hooks. Moving Aldgate East east. There's a terrible echo in here. Hear hear.
Yes! My ears are ringing with that sound. It keeps saying "East!"
Great video jago, very interesting, love the tiles👌👍😀
I would have loved to see the temporary sort of underground suspension bridge with trains running across it with work going on around and under it.
Aldgate East is like a time-warp; it doesn't look any different to what I remember it being like as a local kid in the early 70's. I can imagine a 5p Poppets sweet machine still there on the platform wall. I think at one time, Aldgate East Station was up there amongst the highest death rates on the Underground; albeit many of those poor souls were probably intoxicated; as this part of Whitechapel/Aldgate was poverty-stricken and had a number of homeless people. That said, it's such a depressing station, it's probably fair to say that it could generate suicidal thoughts into the happiest amongst us! Must go........now where did I put that razor?
Your dry wit brightens my day as I sit in south EAST England not l -EAST
Thank you Jago 👍
loved the relief tiles
There was a campaign to rename it "Brick Lane Station" which I think would be a lot better...
Newton Abbot also has a Passmore Edwards library
Just about every other resident in South Devon is a Passmore (my relatives married two of them), . unless they are a Pridham.
Those tiles really are great. Imagine back in the 30’s (I think you said 30’s), some artist, hand making those moulds. It must have been months of work for someone.
Create a wooden positive, a plaster negative then the clay positive.
Thanks fir explaining the hooks