When I first moved here, I used to spend hours reading the Tune map and marvelling at all the strange names. So I thought I'd share the joy - and the reality - of my favourite London place names. Here's the first instalment.
Kentish Town (Northern Line)
The vision
For some reason, this evoked thoughts of a quaint village back in medieval times, with maids dancing around a fire and small thatched cottages.
The reality
A fairly grim, noisy and tightly packed cluster of flats and shops sandwiched between Camden Town and Highgate. No maids to be found anywhere.
Cockfosters (Piccadilly Line)
The vision
Need I say anything, really?
The reality
A tidy, orderly suburb with rows of white houses and... nothing really spectacular!
Shepherd's Bush (Central Line)
The vision
Fields with sheep, and one bush where the poor shepherd takes shelter when it showers.
The reality
Busy and noisy with giant roundabouts and now with the biggest in-town mall in Europe! The shepherds have long since fled.
Whitechapel (Central Line)
The vision
A white, er, chapel.
The reality
Wide, busy roads lined with kebab shops. More mosques to be found than white chapels.
3 comments:
This is great! What delightfully charming names, and how interesting to know the truth behind them. btw, I loved the book trailer. Are you totally living your dream?
I always like seeing Cockfosters as the train pulls in... Sounds like a great beer name :-)
LOL- love the names. And Deniz- Cockfosters does sound like a beer name!
Thanks for the great post!
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