In the mid/late 1990s I did the steps, thinking I could race my workmate who was getting the lift up. Yeah I got that one slightly wrong in my head when he offered me the bet! I arrived 5 minutes late for work, £10 lighter and covered in (probably 100 year old) soot and dust! As I exited the station, crossing the junction of Hampstead High St and Heath St, Jurgen Klinsmann (of Spurs) was sat at the lights in a posh Mercedes SUV with the window down. He laughed at me of course (as I was also wearing my West Ham shirt - a brave move in the 90s, even in places like Hampstead). Anyway, the bonnet of his pristine car got a little bit of tube history wiped across it as I passed.
Smashing tale. I came out of the station in about 1988 to see a bloke sitting on top of the post box watching the world go by - he was probably waiting for someone and got bored standing normally. As I walked by, two rather dishevelled men pulled up in a very dirty ford escort and proceded to flash their warrant cards arrest him and cart him off. I thought it was a bit of an overreaction, but hey. It was long before social media, otherwise I could have filmed it all and bunged it on you tube.
For a moment there I thought you were going to say "Charles Tyson Yerkes has been featured on this channel so often he practically has his own mustache".
Oddly enough the Sutton Hoo helmet was on BBC4 last night. Its moustache is the tail of a bird whose body is the nose and the wings is the eyebrows. But on Yerkes he simply has a great pair of wings disappearing up his nostrils. I've no idea where the rest of the bird is but he looks rather tickled anyway,
Could you do a dedicated video talking about how the Northern Line was funded and built? It blows my mind how they funded and built the Northern line with the deepest from surface station and highest viaduct all with private funding. They also built the station to areas that weren't that busy compared to today and still built stations there. I don't think they would be able to build the Northern Line today even with our modern tech.
I’ve always found it ironic that the train goes from Hampstead (the deepest station) to above ground at Golders Green in one station! You can really feel the elevation travelling between them
@@RogersRamblings which would have been *even* deeper than Hampstead! 😲 The fact that the train goes deeper still underground before an incredibly steep incline into the open is incredible
Whato @@RogersRamblings The station's name was actually proposed as "North End". The pub, the "Bull & Bush" is still with us and I used to drink Ind Coope bitter there in the 1970s. Cheers!
I’ve done the steps from street level down to Bull & Bush platform and back again. There was an old rickety lift but none of us on the visit dared use it!
For all those doubters on UA-cam I am now a multi-billionaire due to my successful "Yikes it's Yerkes" branded merchandise! Including Tee-shirts, socks and top hats! Why the return on my "Yerkes disposable mustache" line was enough for me to finance the Barbie movie!
"...And you can tune in again next week for more of The Charles Tyson Yerkes show, when Frank Pick falls out with Harry Beck, while Albert Stanley forms a new alliance with Charles Holden. That's all coming up in next week's exciting episode, at the same time here on..." (With apologies to all my network continuity announcer friends).
Hampstead is the second deepest station, but the deepest open to the public. The deepest is North End Station AKA Old Bull & Bush (yet another Northern Line Station named for the local pub, after Angel and Elephant & Castle, and one could argue, Kings Cross too). Whilst it has platforms, stairs, and an above ground building it's for Underground staff only. It's 221 feet deep, whilst Hampstead is just 192 feet. North End was supposed to be opened to the public, and a proper platform, and one lift, if I remember correctly, were installed.
Indeed it was supposed to serve new housing but after a law was passed to preserve Hampstead Heath that was scrapped and the station while dug was never fitted out and abandoned
Meanwhile in NYC, the deepest station on the NYC Subway system is 191st Street on the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line at 173 feet/53 m below street level, so pretty close to Hampstead! It was built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and opened in January 1911 as an infill station along the city's first subway line (which originally opened in 1904, though wasn't extended through 191st street until 1906 and then 242 St in 1908). At the time, the surrounding neighborhood had a lower population than other areas, so they opted not to open a station at 191st Street, but when they decided to open one, interest in nearby real estate increased. When the station opened, people avoided it due to the topography. Officials knew that the area's hilly topography would make it hard to access the station, which is why they chose to build a pedestrian tunnel to save people a walk of a quarter to one-third of a mile (0.40 to 0.54 km) and a steep climb. The tunnel is used as a connector between western and eastern Washington Heights. Passengers using the 191st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue entrance need to take an elevator to access the station due to that intersection's height, but the elevators at that entrance are outside fare control, so it's considered a convenient way to traverse the neighborhood without walking up a hill! This tunnel is famous for its murals and graffiti, and was used as a location for the In the Heights movie.
I found recently there’s was a station that was meant to be deeper station than Hampstead station which never opened/completed called North End which was between Hampstead and Golders Green and you could still see the abandoned platform today. Edit: Due to its location near the top of a hill, the station would have been, at 221 feet (67 m), the deepest below ground on the entire Underground network. The current deepest is the adjacent Hampstead station to the southeast.
I worked on the Station for seven months in the early 90's as my first Supervisor job - it was necessary to put the lifts into service by running them without anyone in them first thing and that meant walking the damned steps for each lift......i was a LOT slimmer as a result!
I recommend taking the walk up he stairs at Hampstead if you want to get a bit fitter. Do it 151 times, and you have climbed Mount Everest. However, there is a sign which says don't climb the 320 steps unless it's an emergency, but who needs to pay any attention to that?
Much of the central part of the Northern line is very deep. I once read that the deepest part of the tunnel is near Chalk Farm station. Yerkes bingo. 😁 The station enterance was once used in an episode of The Professionals. My late father planted Acanthus in our front garden. It's a tuber that grows like a weed, gets everywhere. He planted it because it was a much loved Ancient Roman ornament as a plant and on architecture, and he was a classics scholar, who taught English and Latin, in his teaching career, plus being a keen amateur gardener. My house has a proper front and back garden, no car port ( we never had a car ) and an orchard.
Fascinating details yet again, thanks. While I realized the tiling patterns are unique, I would not have guessed the original intent was to let commuters distinguish stations in a blink.
All in all, a great example of accessibility being useful to more than originally intended! And an example of how beautiful accessibility measures can be, when integrated into the whole design with thought and care (rather than added at the end in a soulless box ticking exercise).
2:07 A moustache followed by a great Yerkes. I've no idea if there is a lesser one, but it sounds interesting anyway. Best keep your pets indoors. In one of these you tube worm holes I found a link to a site with a written piece on an underground signal cabin around Kings Cross. They were quite singular places to work in and would be worth a video. Could our Jago blag a visit to a site in a tunnel- pull some strings with bribery and a cunning disguise. Ah, Sundays. The long dark tea time of the soul. My mind wanders too much.
Jago, you'll be pleased to hear geography is no barrier to being a tube nerd. Our daughter lives in Yorkshire and has just visited us in Surrey. Finding the coach down terminated at Finchley Road, she eschewed the convenience of the Jubilee line straight to Waterloo and instead walked to Hampstead to get the northern line so she could take the steps both ways just so she could say she'd done them, before descending again to get the tube. I pointed out Hampstead is the deepest measured surface to platform, but the Jubilee platforms at Westminster are the deepest measured sea level to platform. So going home by train, she takes the Jubilee from Waterloo via Westminster changing at Green Park for Kings Cross. So deepest tube stations by both measurements duly visited! She also throws down the gauntlet claiming 3 minutes 9 seconds for the climb wearing street clothes and a rucksack!
I used to think the stairs at Hampstead were hard going until recently visiting Doai station in Japan. 462 stairs and they are the only method of accessing the platform from the ticket hall!
Interesting part of the world. You've got Ampstead Eaf, then there's Eyegate and Ornsey. A bit dahn there is Hislignton. If you apppen to be from sarf of the river.
I believe the shaft at North End/Bull and Bush is deeper - even if it was never fully commissioned. It was a proposed station between Hampstead and Golders Green. The platform is there in the dark just before you exit the tunnel to Golders Green.
Thanks again Jago for an informative video. My 12yo son goes to Belsize Park daily and ONLY uses the stairs when exiting and entering the station. Every day. Refuses to use the lift! 189 steps!
I used to always use the stairs at Covent Garden when I was 13. Even used to run up them sometimes to race against pals. Definitely can’t do that anymore!
I have a phobia on sharing lifts, hate the bloody things. It's impossible at our local hospital as there are always about 5000 people waiting, and no stairs in some parts.
I swear I hear Charles Tyson Yerkes name so much on this channel it's like a game of 'whack-a-fraud-mole' that is near endless. Love these videos, as always.
Se have a station under construction here in the Stockholm underground that will be the second deepest in téhe world at 105 meters. The station will be on the Blue line extension and will be named Sofia. Due to the depth it will only feature elevators and not escalators as is customary. It’s supposed to be opened in 2025.
@@paulsengupta971 They are extending it from the current terminus at Kungstradgarden via sodermalm and connect it to the current green line to hagsatra. That part of the green line changes color to blue and new stations are built at Sofia, Hammarby Sjostad and an underground platform at Gullmarsplan where the other green line southern branches meet up. The station Globen is closed and replaced by a new station under ground called Slakthuset
@@paulsengupta971 To Nacka. The extension will continue from Kungsträdgården, and will split in two after Sofia, with one branch going towards Nacka and the other towards Gullmarspan and Hagsätra, taking over the green line branch. One of the southern branches will go to Hjulsta, the other to Akalla.
Getting to Hampstead from East Finchley, I had three choices: (1) bus: the 102 to Golders Green then the 210 to Hampstead; (2) tube: down to Camden Town and back on the Edgware line to Hampstead or (3) riding my bike if I was in a running late.
I love Hampstead and its tube station. The first time I visited London I managed to find some affordable accommodation in the area up Heath St. It was 1993…
Jago, if you take all stations into account, the deepest station on the system is Bull & Bush. Platforms were built, but not the rest of the station. There is a building behind a fence that looks just like any private building, but inside is a spiral staircase dropping to track level.
There's also the remains of the London flood control system, that was housed there and used by Civil Defence operatives during the cold war. Strangely, Flood Control was, for a while, based in Kingsway Tram tunnel - which is a stone's throw from the Thames. Someone was not paying attention that day, I think.
Good stuff Jago. Any chance of coming up here to look at the world's oldest deep level stations, Liverpool James Street and Birkenhead Hamilton Square?
Surprisingly two stops south from the deepest lift shafts on the UndergrounD is the shortest at Chalk Farm. (61 feet to platform. ) I have worked there on the lifts and you could work on the bottom of one lift from the roof of the other with them both at the landings. If you missed a descending lift it was quicker to walk down the emergency stairs than wait for the next.
Two memories of this station when I briefly lived in Hampstead Hill Gardens in 1970. The old wooden ("stand clear of the gates"!) lifts frequently out of service, and having to use the stairs. I had a double whammy once when the similarly venerable lifts at my daily destination, Goodge Street, were also unusable. Anothe, using the ticket office, requesting a ticket to Neasden, the clerk exclaimed: "nah, what d'you want to go there for. It's an 'orrible place!"
The Pyongyang Metro is famously deep! The Pyongyang Metro is among the deepest metros in the world, with the track at over 110 meters (360 ft) deep underground. Due to the depth of the metro and the lack of outside segments, its stations can double as bomb shelters, with blast doors in place at hallways. Construction of the metro network started in 1965, and stations were opened between 1969 and 1972 by Kim Il Sung. Most of the 16 public stations were built in the 1970s, except for the two most grandiose stations, Puhŭng and Yŏnggwang, which were constructed in 1987. Another famously deep Metro system is the St. Petersburg Metros. The St. Petersburg Metro had to be built very deep as the marshland on which St Petersburg lies is not very conducive to building secure underground tunnels. The first metro line was opened in 1955 and ran between Avtovo and Ploshchad Vosstaniya. Saint Petersburg's unforgiving geology has frequently hampered attempts by Metro builders. The most notable case took place on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line as while constructing the line in the 1970s, the tunnelers entered an underground cavity of the Neva River. And like the Pyongyang and Moscow Metros, they double as fallout shelters as these systems were built during the Cold War.
In my early tube exploring days, I went to Hampstead to see the heath - only to discover that the heath isn't actually at Hampstead! I emerged in an unexpectedly twee village (I had almost no idea of the geography of London in those days) and was totally bemused by the lack of actual 'heath'. I followed Heath Road, thinking the name might be a clue, and got as far as Whitestone Pond before giving up (Whitestone Pond might be very nice, as ponds go, but it wasn't my idea of 'heath'). I returned home puzzled and disappointed. Years later I discovered Hampstead HEATH station and realised , somewhat belatedly, the danger of assumption. Casual observers of TfL maps might wonder why it took me so long to find a station that is actually called Hampstead Heath, but I think true Londoners will sympathise with my problem. You see, Hampstead Heath isn't actually on the Underground! It's on that funny orange railway - one of those where you need to look at timetables. And that just wasn't going to happen...
@@craigthomson3621 the one time I used them (Sunday afternoon) it was a LOT less frequent! Fussy interchange between the underground and the overground too - makes what should be a simple trip to a fairly central part of London, that gets loads of visitors, unnecessarily complicated and time consuming.
I used to commute to Hampstead in the 1970s to school. There were two automatic high speed lifts that left your stomach behind when they set off, and four slow manual lifts that were only operated in the rush hours - or when the automatic lifts had failed. The automatic lifts were always failing, and the emergency alarm had to be pressed to get someone in the ticket hall to open the control panel and bring the lift to the surface. What you don’t mention is that in the 70s the platform lighting was replaced - and fluorescent tubes installed. The old lampshades were very attractive, but the platforms were much darker than they are now. If a bulb went, it was replaced using something that looked like a drain plunger on a very long stick - and the rubber plunger end was used to unscrew the old bulb - and then to screw in a new one.
They still sell those sticks, mostly marketed at Americans with very large houses and chandeliers that otherwise can’t be reached. I believe nowadays they use a small electric motor to turn the suction on, I imagine in the 70s, with batteries being what they were, it was hand-pumped!
If anyone's interested.. apparently, below sea-level, the deepest is Waterloo at 26m below, followed by Liverpool Street Elizabeth Line station at 23m below sea level.
In the early 1920s Evelyn Waugh was an unknown Bright Young Person, still reluctantly living in his parents' villa at North End. He would walk down the hill to the Hampstead Tube, hiding pennies along the way. Returning he would check how many had been nicked. He would always post letters in Hampstead Village bc he considered North End's postmark, Golders Green, was vulgar.
I was born in Hampstead some 60 years ago. I've never heard anyone call it a suburb! That name is reserved for Hampstead Garden suburb which is closer to Golders Green.
I loved Hampstead tube station and the village and most of all the heath. I lived in Belize park for many years and I would love to see that station featured at some stage in your wonderful tube ramblings. It was so often over looked, second deepest tube station, maybe viewed as not the most respectable suburb Hampstead was or as well connected as Swiss Cottage or Finchley Road, but it was a great place to live and I remember it very fondly.
Having never been to London, by watching your tube videos I feel confident in saying I think I know more about the tube than 50% of Londoners. That comes from your vast knowledge and the type of humour I appreciate. You inspired me to purchase a shower curtain that displays the map by Harry Beck designed in 1931! And what video of yours would be complete without everyone's favourite, Charles Jurkies, opps, sorry, Yerkes!
Jago, have you ever researched the lifts at Holloway Road? One of them has been out of service for ages, and they're clearly getting on in years. Wondered if they or other old lifts of their kind might have any stories worth telling?
@@JagoHazzard I think my curiosity about the lifts stems from this vintage BBC documentary ("40 Minutes - Heart of the Angel") about Angel Station: ua-cam.com/video/HuRWKb2Q1RQ/v-deo.htmlsi=nmmvjuPaBf67ehwu&t=173 , I've time-stamped the link to bring you to the relevant section.) This documentary talks about the frequent breakdowns of the lifts at the station - I believe at one point an engineer complains that the lifts were designed for office use, not constant day-in, day-out maximum occupancy public transport use. It struck me that the age of the lifts in use at some stations on the underground might be the cause of a lot of problems with them breaking down, as is currently the case at Holloway Road, where one of the two lifts has been out of order for the past few months at least. I imagine large-scale lift repair is almost impossible to carry out because the station is so busy, and I wondered if there have been any other instances of problems like this caused by the age of certain parts of equipment installed in busy tube stations.
@@JagoHazzard Thanks! I think my curiosity about the lifts was piqued by this vintage BBC documentary about Angel Stations ("40 Minutes - Heart of the Angel"), which details that station's problems with its lifts in 1989. At this point in the documentary ua-cam.com/video/6oZU_9_ORPk/v-deo.htmlsi=DolsXIikgXuPCPwm&t=121 an engineer explains that the lifts were designed for office use, not all-day maximum capacity public transport use. The inadequacy of the equipment, but the limited scope to do anything much about it, struck me as a real problem for the Underground. Because one of the two lifts at Holloway Road has been out of service for the past few months at least, I would imagine TFL are limited in what they can hope to repair given the busy nature of the station. I wondered if this particular problem might blight any other stations on the underground in a similar fashion?
I have had a strange illness of late, resulting in a red-tiled frontage in a shade of ox-blood. (I can send pictures if you like - my clinictian has some spare). I also checked and I have entrances on three different levels, but I thnk they have always been there but even out if I lie down sideways
might be worth mining the muesuem of london photos to see if there was a period when the external UndergrounD roundels carried the station name , as the stations on the south of the thames section of the northern line did c1962ish
Had North End (aka 'Bull and Bush') been completed, and not abandoned, then that would have been the deepest station on the tube. We have no drinkable alcohol in the house at the minute, so your mention of CTY meant that today, my liver was unscathed. 😆😆😆
I do remember getting on the tube at Waterloo, and dang that escalator was long! Second, in my experience, only to the one I rode at the San Diego Zoo.
I love that Charles Tyson Yerkes could go from platform to street in 320 steps: that's the same as a 15-storey building! I feel as though Charles Tyson Yerkes is the Dame Thora Hird to your Last of the Summer Wine, Jago.
I remember a scene in The Day the Earth Caught Fire where fire engines were rushing to a fire on Hampstead Heath passing the station which I believe was called Hampstead Heath station at the time.
I know Hampstead station best. I lived in Golders Green for a few years near where I worked and it was the best place for a drink with about 25 pubs all in walking distance. I later moved to Highgate which also had a few good pubs but with a few exceptions like the Lamb and Flag (Covent Garden) it was the best area. I used to climb the stairs quite often as part of an exercise plan I had but rode the lifts with several "celebs" too.
I lived here back in the 80s, and recall the original pair of high speed lifts which are now long gone. They fairly hurled you to the surface, but as they slowed for the ticket hall, the negative G was enough to make you catch your breath, and really startle the unwary! Likewise, the downward plunge was not for anyone with spinal problems😬
I remember those lifts well from my school days in the 60s. If I had the lift to myself and I timed it right you could jump and get a second of near weightlessness!
When I was on Work Experience at Morden, I was told of two fun facts about the tunnels between Hampstead and Golders Green. Firstly, the Southbound tunnel, in the 1930's was fitted with a noise reduction lining that while it worked well as intended, as it was made of Asbestos, it had to be removed in the 1970's with trains using the Northbound tunnel in both directions with a much reduced service. Secondly, just north of Hampstead, the line runs through the deepest point on the underground below ground, where beneath Hollybush Hill, the tracks are 221 ft (roughly 67m) below ground level. Once again Jago, you've been the ventilation shaft to my tube tunnel :)
In the mid/late 1990s I did the steps, thinking I could race my workmate who was getting the lift up.
Yeah I got that one slightly wrong in my head when he offered me the bet! I arrived 5 minutes late for work, £10 lighter and covered in (probably 100 year old) soot and dust!
As I exited the station, crossing the junction of Hampstead High St and Heath St, Jurgen Klinsmann (of Spurs) was sat at the lights in a posh Mercedes SUV with the window down. He laughed at me of course (as I was also wearing my West Ham shirt - a brave move in the 90s, even in places like Hampstead). Anyway, the bonnet of his pristine car got a little bit of tube history wiped across it as I passed.
Smashing tale. I came out of the station in about 1988 to see a bloke sitting on top of the post box watching the world go by - he was probably waiting for someone and got bored standing normally. As I walked by, two rather dishevelled men pulled up in a very dirty ford escort and proceded to flash their warrant cards arrest him and cart him off. I thought it was a bit of an overreaction, but hey. It was long before social media, otherwise I could have filmed it all and bunged it on you tube.
For a moment there I thought you were going to say "Charles Tyson Yerkes has been featured on this channel so often he practically has his own mustache".
He he he!
Oddly enough the Sutton Hoo helmet was on BBC4 last night. Its moustache is the tail of a bird whose body is the nose and the wings is the eyebrows. But on Yerkes he simply has a great pair of wings disappearing up his nostrils. I've no idea where the rest of the bird is but he looks rather tickled anyway,
@@neilbain8736 Perhaps this famous photo is a mugshot. 🙂
*That's* how you grow a moustache?? No wonder so few people manage these days. ;)
YERKES! EVERYBODY DRINK!
I quite like the HampHazzard nature of this video. I'll see myself out now.
its a triple pun!
Could you do a dedicated video talking about how the Northern Line was funded and built?
It blows my mind how they funded and built the Northern line with the deepest from surface station and highest viaduct all with private funding. They also built the station to areas that weren't that busy compared to today and still built stations there.
I don't think they would be able to build the Northern Line today even with our modern tech.
I’ve always found it ironic that the train goes from Hampstead (the deepest station) to above ground at Golders Green in one station! You can really feel the elevation travelling between them
There was to be a station in between, Bull & Bush. The station tunnels are there but the surface buildings weren't built.
@@RogersRamblings which would have been *even* deeper than Hampstead! 😲 The fact that the train goes deeper still underground before an incredibly steep incline into the open is incredible
Yeah going up north end way from Golders Green station to the Bull and Bush and towards Whitestone pond is really steep
Whato @@RogersRamblings
The station's name was actually proposed as "North End".
The pub, the "Bull & Bush" is still with us and I used to drink Ind Coope bitter there in the 1970s. Cheers!
I’ve done the steps from street level down to Bull & Bush platform and back again. There was an old rickety lift but none of us on the visit dared use it!
Charles Tyson Yerkes Strikes again!!!
I wouldn't be that surprised if Yerkes' ghost turns up at Jago's house demanding royalty payments sooner or later.
He is a bit of a CAD isnt he
@@foxontherun6082 Which, or both I suppose🤔😁
The British got even by sending us Samuel Insull ;-)
DRINK!
A video with Charles Tyson Yerkes. 2:10 A man practically in the regular cast! My Sunday is complete. Thanks Jago.
You are still one of my favourites as I become increasingly picky and grumpy about what interests or amuses me. KBO.
Thank you very much!
For all those doubters on UA-cam I am now a multi-billionaire due to my successful "Yikes it's Yerkes" branded merchandise! Including Tee-shirts, socks and top hats! Why the return on my "Yerkes disposable mustache" line was enough for me to finance the Barbie movie!
It’s an enticing offer but I’m waiting for a discount code. Perhaps you could do some sponsorships.
How about Yerkes bingo cards and Yerkes drinking game (drink a slug of Hennessy every time Yerkes is mentioned) brandy glasses?
"Springtime for Yerkes and UERL;
Winter for Hampstead and heath"
(With aplogies to Mel Brooks)
"...And you can tune in again next week for more of The Charles Tyson Yerkes show, when Frank Pick falls out with Harry Beck, while Albert Stanley forms a new alliance with Charles Holden. That's all coming up in next week's exciting episode, at the same time here on..." (With apologies to all my network continuity announcer friends).
Hampstead is the second deepest station, but the deepest open to the public. The deepest is North End Station AKA Old Bull & Bush (yet another Northern Line Station named for the local pub, after Angel and Elephant & Castle, and one could argue, Kings Cross too). Whilst it has platforms, stairs, and an above ground building it's for Underground staff only. It's 221 feet deep, whilst Hampstead is just 192 feet.
North End was supposed to be opened to the public, and a proper platform, and one lift, if I remember correctly, were installed.
Indeed it was supposed to serve
new housing but after a law was passed to preserve Hampstead Heath that was scrapped and the station while dug was never fitted out and abandoned
A deep video in all sense of the word, thanks for your detailed research Jago!
Great film! Someone should give Yerkes his own channel...
Meanwhile in NYC, the deepest station on the NYC Subway system is 191st Street on the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line at 173 feet/53 m below street level, so pretty close to Hampstead! It was built by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and opened in January 1911 as an infill station along the city's first subway line (which originally opened in 1904, though wasn't extended through 191st street until 1906 and then 242 St in 1908). At the time, the surrounding neighborhood had a lower population than other areas, so they opted not to open a station at 191st Street, but when they decided to open one, interest in nearby real estate increased. When the station opened, people avoided it due to the topography.
Officials knew that the area's hilly topography would make it hard to access the station, which is why they chose to build a pedestrian tunnel to save people a walk of a quarter to one-third of a mile (0.40 to 0.54 km) and a steep climb. The tunnel is used as a connector between western and eastern Washington Heights. Passengers using the 191st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue entrance need to take an elevator to access the station due to that intersection's height, but the elevators at that entrance are outside fare control, so it's considered a convenient way to traverse the neighborhood without walking up a hill! This tunnel is famous for its murals and graffiti, and was used as a location for the In the Heights movie.
I found recently there’s was a station that was meant to be deeper station than Hampstead station which never opened/completed called North End which was between Hampstead and Golders Green and you could still see the abandoned platform today.
Edit: Due to its location near the top of a hill, the station would have been, at 221 feet (67 m), the deepest below ground on the entire Underground network. The current deepest is the adjacent Hampstead station to the southeast.
I worked on the Station for seven months in the early 90's as my first Supervisor job - it was necessary to put the lifts into service by running them without anyone in them first thing and that meant walking the damned steps for each lift......i was a LOT slimmer as a result!
4:21 320 steps = 15 storey building!
I recommend taking the walk up he stairs at Hampstead if you want to get a bit fitter. Do it 151 times, and you have climbed Mount Everest. However, there is a sign which says don't climb the 320 steps unless it's an emergency, but who needs to pay any attention to that?
As a schoolboy I climbed it a few times. Now I couldn't!
Much of the central part of the Northern line is very deep. I once read that the deepest part of the tunnel is near Chalk Farm station.
Yerkes bingo. 😁
The station enterance was once used in an episode of The Professionals.
My late father planted Acanthus in our front garden. It's a tuber that grows like a weed, gets everywhere. He planted it because it was a much loved Ancient Roman ornament as a plant and on architecture, and he was a classics scholar, who taught English and Latin, in his teaching career, plus being a keen amateur gardener. My house has a proper front and back garden, no car port ( we never had a car ) and an orchard.
Reminds me of my grandmother’s mint bush, which went wild if it wasn’t trimmed every single day!
Sounding a little hoarse today Jago, take it easy
I noticed that too
Feeling a bit pony, no doubt.
I'll see myself out.
The little horse is no longer strictly necessary, due to the recent invention of the steam-boiler engine.
Fascinating details yet again, thanks.
While I realized the tiling patterns are unique, I would not have guessed the original intent was to let commuters distinguish stations in a blink.
It was very much the shorthand for me on the Victoria line, the themed decor left one in no doubt that it was your stop or not.
The tile styling was also devised to help illiterate people recognise their stop.
And the patterns were different at each station for the benefit of the colour blind.
All in all, a great example of accessibility being useful to more than originally intended! And an example of how beautiful accessibility measures can be, when integrated into the whole design with thought and care (rather than added at the end in a soulless box ticking exercise).
@@kaitlyn__L as a wheelchair user, amen to that.
2:07 A moustache followed by a great Yerkes. I've no idea if there is a lesser one, but it sounds interesting anyway. Best keep your pets indoors.
In one of these you tube worm holes I found a link to a site with a written piece on an underground signal cabin around Kings Cross. They were quite singular places to work in and would be worth a video. Could our Jago blag a visit to a site in a tunnel- pull some strings with bribery and a cunning disguise.
Ah, Sundays. The long dark tea time of the soul. My mind wanders too much.
Hurrah! Charles Yerkes is back! I've missed him!
Jago, you'll be pleased to hear geography is no barrier to being a tube nerd. Our daughter lives in Yorkshire and has just visited us in Surrey. Finding the coach down terminated at Finchley Road, she eschewed the convenience of the Jubilee line straight to Waterloo and instead walked to Hampstead to get the northern line so she could take the steps both ways just so she could say she'd done them, before descending again to get the tube.
I pointed out Hampstead is the deepest measured surface to platform, but the Jubilee platforms at Westminster are the deepest measured sea level to platform. So going home by train, she takes the Jubilee from Waterloo via Westminster changing at Green Park for Kings Cross. So deepest tube stations by both measurements duly visited!
She also throws down the gauntlet claiming 3 minutes 9 seconds for the climb wearing street clothes and a rucksack!
I used to think the stairs at Hampstead were hard going until recently visiting Doai station in Japan.
462 stairs and they are the only method of accessing the platform from the ticket hall!
So, not an Accessible station then.
Can remember the old lift attendants counting people in, always wondered if they included themselves in the maximum number of people.
Interesting part of the world. You've got Ampstead Eaf, then there's Eyegate and Ornsey. A bit dahn there is Hislignton.
If you apppen to be from sarf of the river.
You're not actually Aloysius Parker, from 'Thunderbirds', are you? 🤔 😆😆😆
They're a funny lot dahn there, steer well clear of 'em, I do 😋
I believe the shaft at North End/Bull and Bush is deeper - even if it was never fully commissioned. It was a proposed station between Hampstead and Golders Green. The platform is there in the dark just before you exit the tunnel to Golders Green.
Thanks again Jago for an informative video. My 12yo son goes to Belsize Park daily and ONLY uses the stairs when exiting and entering the station. Every day. Refuses to use the lift! 189 steps!
I used to always use the stairs at Covent Garden when I was 13. Even used to run up them sometimes to race against pals. Definitely can’t do that anymore!
@@kaitlyn__L That's exactly what he does! Then waits for them to come out of the lift!
I have a phobia on sharing lifts, hate the bloody things. It's impossible at our local hospital as there are always about 5000 people waiting, and no stairs in some parts.
What a lovely station! Fitting that the station holding this accolade should be a fine example of one.
Great video!
The stairwell height is equivalent to a 15 story building don't you know!
I swear I hear Charles Tyson Yerkes name so much on this channel it's like a game of 'whack-a-fraud-mole' that is near endless. Love these videos, as always.
Se have a station under construction here in the Stockholm underground that will be the second deepest in téhe world at 105 meters. The station will be on the Blue line extension and will be named Sofia. Due to the depth it will only feature elevators and not escalators as is customary. It’s supposed to be opened in 2025.
Where are they extending the blue line to? And which bit?
@@paulsengupta971 They are extending it from the current terminus at Kungstradgarden via sodermalm and connect it to the current green line to hagsatra. That part of the green line changes color to blue and new stations are built at Sofia, Hammarby Sjostad and an underground platform at Gullmarsplan where the other green line southern branches meet up. The station Globen is closed and replaced by a new station under ground called Slakthuset
@@paulsengupta971 To Nacka. The extension will continue from Kungsträdgården, and will split in two after Sofia, with one branch going towards Nacka and the other towards Gullmarspan and Hagsätra, taking over the green line branch. One of the southern branches will go to Hjulsta, the other to Akalla.
@@drsenseihugoThanks! My profile picture
I love Stockholm underground stations. They have an up escalator called 'Upp' and another one, presumably for Yorkshiremen, called 'Ej Upp'
With its history you could do a series of videos just about the Hampstead area
Superb as always Jago! A pleasure to watch your episodes 👍👍
2:12 Friend of the channel
One of my all time favourite tube stations.
Getting to Hampstead from East Finchley, I had three choices: (1) bus: the 102 to Golders Green then the 210 to Hampstead; (2) tube: down to Camden Town and back on the Edgware line to Hampstead or (3) riding my bike if I was in a running late.
Brilliant short video, one of your very best.
I lived in London in 2004; your videos take me back to that time, too much nostalgia. Thank you very much!
Thanks for another great in-depth video. So to speak.
Weather is very nice today, I am heading to there right now. See you 😂
Great video once again. Plus a cheery drink for Charles Yerkes
I love Hampstead and its tube station. The first time I visited London I managed to find some affordable accommodation in the area up Heath St. It was 1993…
it's fun because today Hampstead is not the first name that comes to my mind when hearing "affordable accommodation"...
@@gfhit7520 That’s right. I just lucked out maybe
@@gfhit7520 What's affordable accommodation..? Especially in London..!
Great video Jago
I do like these chats. Thank you.
Jago, if you take all stations into account, the deepest station on the system is Bull & Bush. Platforms were built, but not the rest of the station. There is a building behind a fence that looks just like any private building, but inside is a spiral staircase dropping to track level.
And a lift.
@@mickverrall3004 That's no longer in use. access by stairs only.
There's also the remains of the London flood control system, that was housed there and used by Civil Defence operatives during the cold war. Strangely, Flood Control was, for a while, based in Kingsway Tram tunnel - which is a stone's throw from the Thames. Someone was not paying attention that day, I think.
Good stuff Jago. Any chance of coming up here to look at the world's oldest deep level stations, Liverpool James Street and Birkenhead Hamilton Square?
Thanks for that, Jago. A fascinating video ,as usual!
Great video as usual. I used this station a lot between 1973 and 1976 when I was at university nearby.
Surprisingly two stops south from the deepest lift shafts on the UndergrounD is the shortest at Chalk Farm. (61 feet to platform. ) I have worked there on the lifts and you could work on the bottom of one lift from the roof of the other with them both at the landings. If you missed a descending lift it was quicker to walk down the emergency stairs than wait for the next.
Two memories of this station when I briefly lived in Hampstead Hill Gardens in 1970.
The old wooden ("stand clear of the gates"!) lifts frequently out of service, and having to use the stairs. I had a double whammy once when the similarly venerable lifts at my daily destination, Goodge Street, were also unusable.
Anothe, using the ticket office, requesting a ticket to Neasden, the clerk exclaimed: "nah, what d'you want to go there for. It's an 'orrible place!"
Always loved the lifts at Goodge Street, they were quite high speed in their day. When I could get one to myself, that is, which wasn't often.
The Pyongyang Metro is famously deep! The Pyongyang Metro is among the deepest metros in the world, with the track at over 110 meters (360 ft) deep underground. Due to the depth of the metro and the lack of outside segments, its stations can double as bomb shelters, with blast doors in place at hallways. Construction of the metro network started in 1965, and stations were opened between 1969 and 1972 by Kim Il Sung. Most of the 16 public stations were built in the 1970s, except for the two most grandiose stations, Puhŭng and Yŏnggwang, which were constructed in 1987.
Another famously deep Metro system is the St. Petersburg Metros. The St. Petersburg Metro had to be built very deep as the marshland on which St Petersburg lies is not very conducive to building secure underground tunnels. The first metro line was opened in 1955 and ran between Avtovo and Ploshchad Vosstaniya. Saint Petersburg's unforgiving geology has frequently hampered attempts by Metro builders. The most notable case took place on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line as while constructing the line in the 1970s, the tunnelers entered an underground cavity of the Neva River. And like the Pyongyang and Moscow Metros, they double as fallout shelters as these systems were built during the Cold War.
In my early tube exploring days, I went to Hampstead to see the heath - only to discover that the heath isn't actually at Hampstead! I emerged in an unexpectedly twee village (I had almost no idea of the geography of London in those days) and was totally bemused by the lack of actual 'heath'.
I followed Heath Road, thinking the name might be a clue, and got as far as Whitestone Pond before giving up (Whitestone Pond might be very nice, as ponds go, but it wasn't my idea of 'heath'). I returned home puzzled and disappointed. Years later I discovered Hampstead HEATH station and realised , somewhat belatedly, the danger of assumption.
Casual observers of TfL maps might wonder why it took me so long to find a station that is actually called Hampstead Heath, but I think true Londoners will sympathise with my problem. You see, Hampstead Heath isn't actually on the Underground! It's on that funny orange railway - one of those where you need to look at timetables. And that just wasn't going to happen...
London Overground trains serve Hampstead Heath station on average every 8 minutes in each direction - so reasonably frequent.
@@craigthomson3621 the one time I used them (Sunday afternoon) it was a LOT less frequent! Fussy interchange between the underground and the overground too - makes what should be a simple trip to a fairly central part of London, that gets loads of visitors, unnecessarily complicated and time consuming.
Er, the top of the Heath does start at Whitestone pond. The entrance footpath is on the other side of the road.
Lovely video and story. Thanks again for this.
I love the announcment on the tube for this station as it always sounds like "Hamster Teeth" :)
Its such a beautiful place to walk around. Be sure to have some drinks/eat at the Holly Bush pub.
Found myself letting out a cheer whenever Yerkes appeared on screen. He's literally your channel mascot at this point
The jubilee extension always seems to be deepest
I knew it was going to be equivalent to a 15 story building. 4:22
I used to commute to Hampstead in the 1970s to school. There were two automatic high speed lifts that left your stomach behind when they set off, and four slow manual lifts that were only operated in the rush hours - or when the automatic lifts had failed. The automatic lifts were always failing, and the emergency alarm had to be pressed to get someone in the ticket hall to open the control panel and bring the lift to the surface.
What you don’t mention is that in the 70s the platform lighting was replaced - and fluorescent tubes installed. The old lampshades were very attractive, but the platforms were much darker than they are now. If a bulb went, it was replaced using something that looked like a drain plunger on a very long stick - and the rubber plunger end was used to unscrew the old bulb - and then to screw in a new one.
They still sell those sticks, mostly marketed at Americans with very large houses and chandeliers that otherwise can’t be reached. I believe nowadays they use a small electric motor to turn the suction on, I imagine in the 70s, with batteries being what they were, it was hand-pumped!
Loooooooong live, Sir. Jago Hazzard and his ‘Tales From Da Tube’.
When going from platform to street level in the lift you can feel your ears "pop" a little due to the difference in air pressure.
A Horse Bus from Hampstead to Hendon (and especially Colindale!) would be useful this year!
If anyone's interested.. apparently, below sea-level, the deepest is Waterloo at 26m below, followed by Liverpool Street Elizabeth Line station at 23m below sea level.
In the early 1920s Evelyn Waugh was an unknown Bright Young Person, still reluctantly living in his parents' villa at North End. He would walk down the hill to the Hampstead Tube, hiding pennies along the way. Returning he would check how many had been nicked. He would always post letters in Hampstead Village bc he considered North End's postmark, Golders Green, was vulgar.
I was born in Hampstead some 60 years ago. I've never heard anyone call it a suburb! That name is reserved for Hampstead Garden suburb which is closer to Golders Green.
.." out of the depths of Underground history comes" . . . . Jago reaches a whole new level here
I know it should've been obvious, but no one man has been influencial the Underground more than Charles Tyson Yerkes.
*more influential
Watkins ? That South Eastern Railway Chap, The promotors of the City and South London Rly.
USA! USA!
I half-expected this to be sponsored by Jamiroquai.
I'm surprised it's so deep at Hampstead considering the line then surfaces at the next station north that being Golders Green.
True, although it’s a little less surprising given the hill you need to climb to get to Hampstead from Golders Green.
Local bus station at Golders Green.
4:33Do you mean that none of them was named Yerkosaurus? I think one of them ought to be now in the old fellow's honour
Took my children there last weekend. One of my favourite stations; a proper step back in time 💚🩷🧡
Your videos are the deep level station to my sub-surface station. Thanks xo
I loved Hampstead tube station and the village and most of all the heath. I lived in Belize park for many years and I would love to see that station featured at some stage in your wonderful tube ramblings. It was so often over looked, second deepest tube station, maybe viewed as not the most respectable suburb Hampstead was or as well connected as Swiss Cottage or Finchley Road, but it was a great place to live and I remember it very fondly.
From Belize to Hampstead must have been a hell of a commute!
Surely Belsize Park is a poor man’s Hampstead 😛
Belize Park? Is that a new long distance extention on the Northern Line?! 🤣
@@MrDavil43 you jest, but I live in Belsize Road, and I once had post misdelivered to Belize (it found its way back eventually)
Damned autocorrect strikes again!
Having never been to London, by watching your tube videos I feel confident in saying I think I know more about the tube than 50% of Londoners. That comes from your vast knowledge and the type of humour I appreciate. You inspired me to purchase a shower curtain that displays the map by Harry Beck designed in 1931!
And what video of yours would be complete without everyone's favourite, Charles Jurkies, opps, sorry, Yerkes!
You’re videos are getting much deeper!
Jago, have you ever researched the lifts at Holloway Road? One of them has been out of service for ages, and they're clearly getting on in years. Wondered if they or other old lifts of their kind might have any stories worth telling?
There’s a separate video on Holloway Road, including the strange story of the spiral escalator.
@@JagoHazzard I think my curiosity about the lifts stems from this vintage BBC documentary ("40 Minutes - Heart of the Angel") about Angel Station: ua-cam.com/video/HuRWKb2Q1RQ/v-deo.htmlsi=nmmvjuPaBf67ehwu&t=173 , I've time-stamped the link to bring you to the relevant section.) This documentary talks about the frequent breakdowns of the lifts at the station - I believe at one point an engineer complains that the lifts were designed for office use, not constant day-in, day-out maximum occupancy public transport use. It struck me that the age of the lifts in use at some stations on the underground might be the cause of a lot of problems with them breaking down, as is currently the case at Holloway Road, where one of the two lifts has been out of order for the past few months at least. I imagine large-scale lift repair is almost impossible to carry out because the station is so busy, and I wondered if there have been any other instances of problems like this caused by the age of certain parts of equipment installed in busy tube stations.
@@JagoHazzard Thanks! I think my curiosity about the lifts was piqued by this vintage BBC documentary about Angel Stations ("40 Minutes - Heart of the Angel"), which details that station's problems with its lifts in 1989. At this point in the documentary ua-cam.com/video/6oZU_9_ORPk/v-deo.htmlsi=DolsXIikgXuPCPwm&t=121 an engineer explains that the lifts were designed for office use, not all-day maximum capacity public transport use. The inadequacy of the equipment, but the limited scope to do anything much about it, struck me as a real problem for the Underground. Because one of the two lifts at Holloway Road has been out of service for the past few months at least, I would imagine TFL are limited in what they can hope to repair given the busy nature of the station. I wondered if this particular problem might blight any other stations on the underground in a similar fashion?
Thank you for this video, Jago. I live in Golders Green, so Hampstead i pretty local to me. Any chance of a video on Golders Green?
Another in depth report by Jago.
I have had a strange illness of late, resulting in a red-tiled frontage in a shade of ox-blood. (I can send pictures if you like - my clinictian has some spare). I also checked and I have entrances on three different levels, but I thnk they have always been there but even out if I lie down sideways
The cream, green and ox-blood really do make an elegant palette.
The tiling at 4:12 put me in mind of the Coronation Scot, albeit inverse.
2:02 Oh, there it comes...
2:09 Called it!
might be worth mining the muesuem of london photos to see if there was a period when the external UndergrounD roundels carried the station name , as the stations on the south of the thames section of the northern line did c1962ish
don't forget in the 1970's some trains terminated at Hampstead. There is a crossover in one of the tunnels to facilitate this.
Had North End (aka 'Bull and Bush') been completed, and not abandoned, then that would have been the deepest station on the tube.
We have no drinkable alcohol in the house at the minute, so your mention of CTY meant that today, my liver was unscathed. 😆😆😆
I appreciate the specifying of drinkable, so we all can rest easy knowing you’re not out of methylated spirits 😉
@@kaitlyn__LThere's always Listerine... 🤣
I do remember getting on the tube at Waterloo, and dang that escalator was long! Second, in my experience, only to the one I rode at the San Diego Zoo.
Where's the escalator at San Diego Zoo..? I was there a few years back but I don't remember one..?
I love that Charles Tyson Yerkes could go from platform to street in 320 steps: that's the same as a 15-storey building!
I feel as though Charles Tyson Yerkes is the Dame Thora Hird to your Last of the Summer Wine, Jago.
I remember a scene in The Day the Earth Caught Fire where fire engines were rushing to a fire on Hampstead Heath passing the station which I believe was called Hampstead Heath station at the time.
Probably a different station. 'Hampstead Heath' is on the North London line, now part of the London Overground.
@@davidkimmins8781 Yes I considered that but as far as my memory goes I'm sure it was the tube station.
I know Hampstead station best. I lived in Golders Green for a few years near where I worked and it was the best place for a drink with about 25 pubs all in walking distance. I later moved to Highgate which also had a few good pubs but with a few exceptions like the Lamb and Flag (Covent Garden) it was the best area. I used to climb the stairs quite often as part of an exercise plan I had but rode the lifts with several "celebs" too.
A most excellent episode, many thanks Jago. Beneath the Heath,
The Yerkes plushie is surely on the cards by this point...
Good one Jago 👍
Excellent, Jago. Have you ever climbed the stairs there though?
Ha ha ha no.
The drainage objection is still in good use. It is currently being used against the Japanese maglev line and it was used to try to stop Stuttgart 21.
I lived here back in the 80s, and recall the original pair of high speed lifts which are now long gone. They fairly hurled you to the surface, but as they slowed for the ticket hall, the negative G was enough to make you catch your breath, and really startle the unwary! Likewise, the downward plunge was not for anyone with spinal problems😬
I remember those lifts well from my school days in the 60s. If I had the lift to myself and I timed it right you could jump and get a second of near weightlessness!
@@michaelcosgrove5654 Ha! So I'm not the only one to do that!
I'm sure there are a few of us out there!@@phaasch
2:05 "..anyone in britain..." *is it going to be Yerkes?*
"The promoters head over to america"... *gotta be Yerkes*
2:09 Yerkes!!
Just like a good book, another good episode
When I was on Work Experience at Morden, I was told of two fun facts about the tunnels between Hampstead and Golders Green. Firstly, the Southbound tunnel, in the 1930's was fitted with a noise reduction lining that while it worked well as intended, as it was made of Asbestos, it had to be removed in the 1970's with trains using the Northbound tunnel in both directions with a much reduced service. Secondly, just north of Hampstead, the line runs through the deepest point on the underground below ground, where beneath Hollybush Hill, the tracks are 221 ft (roughly 67m) below ground level.
Once again Jago, you've been the ventilation shaft to my tube tunnel :)