Selected article
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The London Ringways were a series of four
ring roads planned in the 1960s to circle London at various distances from the city centre. They were part of a comprehensive scheme developed by the
Greater London Council to alleviate traffic congestion on the city's road system by providing high speed
motorway-standard roads within the capital linking a series of radial roads taking traffic into and out of the city.
The plan was hugely ambitious and met, almost immediately, with opposition from a number of directions including residents associations, London Borough councils, the
Treasury and the
Department of Transport. Despite this opposition the GLC continued to develop its plans and began the construction of some of the earlier parts of the scheme. In 1972, in an attempt to placate the plan's vociferous opponents, the GLC dropped parts of the two innermost ringways, but the scheme was cancelled in 1973 at which point only three sections had been constructed – the
East Cross Route, part of the
West Cross Route and the
Westway.
Significant sections of the report's proposals have also been built over the subsequent years including improvements to the
North Circular Road and, most importantly, the
M25 and
M26 motorways which were formed from an amalgamation of parts of the two outermost rings. (
Full article...)
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Selected biography
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Leslie Green (6 January 1875—31 August 1908) was an English
architect known for his design of iconic stations constructed on the
London Underground railway system in central London during the first decade of the 20th century. In 1903 he was appointed as Architect for the
Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) to design stations for three underground railway lines then under construction — the
Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, the
Baker Street and Waterloo Railway and the
Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway, which, respectively, became parts of the present day
Piccadilly line,
Bakerloo line and
Northern line.
The station buildings were designed to a uniform
Arts and Crafts style which was adapted to suit the individual station location and were clad in non-loadbearing ox-blood red
glazed terracotta blocks, with the ground floor divided into wide bays by columns and featured large semi-circular windows at first floor level and a heavy
dentilated
cornice above.
The railways were to open in 1906 and 1907 and the pressure of producing designs and supervising the works to so many stations in such a short period of time, placed a strain on Green's health. He was elected a
Fellow of the RIBA in 1907. but died in 1908 at the age of 33. (
Full article...)
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Did you know...
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- ...that the "
Mind the gap" announcement is played when trains stop at stations with curved platforms to warn passengers of gaps between the platform edge and the doors?
- ...that at 44
tons, the locomotives of the
Central London Railway's first underground trains were so heavy that they shook buildings as they passed 60 feet below and were scrapped after three years?
More Did you know...
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Related portals
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Selected pictures
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Image 3London Underground
A60 Stock (left) and
1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the
Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 4The original
Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 5
Hornsey Lane Bridge,
Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 6
Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the
Northern line.
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Image 7View of
Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by
Claude de Jongh.
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Image 10The western departures concourse of
King's Cross railway station.
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Image 13London Underground
Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the
traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 14Southern approach to the
Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the
River Thames in east London between
Rotherhithe and
Limehouse.
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Image 16Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former
Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 17Original stations on the
Metropolitan Railway from
The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 19
Qantas
Boeing 747-400 about to land at
Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue,
Hounslow.
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Image 20Helicopter landing at
London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the
River Thames in
Battersea.
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Image 22Planes waiting at
Heathrow Airport's
Terminal 4.
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Image 23
London General Omnibus Company
B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by
AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during
World War I, this vehicle was operated on the
Western Front.
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Image 24Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir
Jacob Epstein on the
London Underground's headquarters at
55 Broadway.
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Image 25A
tram of the
London United Tramways at Boston Road,
Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 26Tram 2548 calls at
Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the
Tramlink network centred on
Croydon in south London.
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Image 27The newly constructed junction of the
Westway (
A40) and the
West Cross Route (
A3220) at
White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 28
TX4 London Taxi at
Heathrow Airport.
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Image 29"Boris Bikes" from the
Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 30The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the
Inner Circle,
Middle Circle,
Outer Circle and
Super Outer Circle.
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Image 31Preserved
AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport
Green Line livery.
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Image 32
Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 33
Vauxhall Bridge across the
River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by
F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 35The
New Routemaster built by
Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the
Routemaster.
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Image 36
Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 37
55 Broadway, headquarters of the
UERL and its successors, is a Grade I
listed building in Westminster designed by
Charles Holden.
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Image 38
Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 39Archer statue by
Eric Aumonier at
East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 41The multi-level junction between the
M23 and
M25 motorways near
Merstham in
Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 42Sailing ships at
West India Docks on the
Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the
Canary Wharf development.
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Image 43Early style tube roundel in mosaic at
Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 44Escalators at
Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the
station box to reach the deep-level
Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 45The south façade of
King's Cross railway station London terminus of the
East Coast Main Line.
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Image 46
Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the
River Thames between
Chelsea and
Battersea.
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Image 47
Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the
River Thames in west London.
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Image 49Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the
London Eye.
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