WELCOME TO THE BAYLISS LINE. This blog has been created for my family. By "my family" I mean all those who are related to the Bayliss family either by blood, marriage or even relationship. There are, of course, other Bayliss families not related to us but this blog has at its heart a very specific family who had their origins in Gloucestershire. I am connected to that family because my mother was a Bayliss and it was her curiosity that started my research back in the early 1990's. So, what are you likely to see on this blog? Well, as it is a blog, I want it to be as entertaining as possible rather that a dry listing of facts (that is for Ancestry.com). I will, hopefully, be posting entries on our ancestors and relatives, on the places where they lived, and the historical times they lived through. I have an extensive collection of photographs of people and places which I will, of course, be sharing.

I'd like to ask anybody who reads this blog to give me some feedback. I'd really like this to be a two way thing. It sometimes unearths new information and, to be honest, it gives me encouragement. There will be two ways of providing feedback - either through the comment button (you will need a Google account for this) or via the e-mail address which appears on this page - alternatively, ring me. Now scroll down to read the latest entries.....and, of course, via Facebook.

Thursday 14 July 2011

GOING UNDERGROUND : ARCHWAY STATION

Archway Station Junction Road entrance
photographed in 2006

If, like me, you grew up in the Archway area, seeing it as it is now just increases the nostalgia for the past. Archway Undergrond Station (or "Tube Station" as we called it) played a very important part in our lives. My father actually worked there, met my mother there during the Blitz,  and it was the last place I ever saw him (Southbound platform), also it was, along with the buses, our gateway to a wider world. The Northern Line took us south to the West End - for pleasure and for work. I can still remember every station to Tottenham Court Road - Tufnell Park, Kentish Town, Camden Town, Mornington Cresecent, Warren Street, Goodge Street, Tottenham Court Road and if you press me I could go further. Between Kentish Town and Camden Town, if you pressed your face to the window and looked into the darkness you could catch sight of a disused station as the train sped through its ghostly, deserted platforms.  Archway Station with Uncle Arthur's wet fish shop opposite the Junction Road entrance, was originally known as Highgate Station - taking its name from the nearby streets which were known as Highgate New Town (I'll explain that more in my next post) - and only became Archway Station in 1941 when the Northern Line was extended and Highgate became the next station up the line near Highgate Woods. Here are a few wonderfully evocative pictures all taken at Archway Station over the years.

Almost the same angle as the earlier picture, this
shows the Junction Road entrance prior to the
name change.

Passengers on the Up escalator in 1932
The Highgate Hill entrance before the name change.

The ticket hall in the 1950's

*All photographs on this post are copyright of the London Transport Museum photographic collection and are intended only for illustrative purposes. Prints of any of these photographs may be purchased from the London Transport Museum Shop or from their website.

2 comments:

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  2. Probably explains why so many people said they lived in Highgate, if the name only changed in 1941. I had a friend whose worked in Walton's shop, and visited the Lloyd's Bank many times.

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