Howzat!!!!
| Saturday 22 May, 2004 |
I've always been bowled over by The Oval tube station. Boom Boom. I don't know if it’s the recently renovated canopy as you approach the entrance; it could be the oval design of the ticket hall, mirroring the larger Oval open space just up the Harleyford Road; or perhaps it's to do with The Oval being the only London tube station that pays homage in mosaics to celebrity tea drinker (and occasional wicket keeper) Jack Russell.
Knocks me for six, every time.
Originally opened in 1890 (probably with delays on the Northern Line) as one of the six stations on The City and South London Railway, The Oval combines traditional Victorian tube station design down below with the recently renovated ticket hall up above.
All we need now is for the (semi) Oval cricket ground to sort out the building site mess that will disrupt most of this summer, and the area should be in fine form for the arrival of the Aussies and The Ashes in 2005.
 Estate agents sell the area as 'West Chelsea' |
If you're not a fan of willow on leather (then first of all piss off), the Oval is a nothing more than a nightmare road junction, especially so for cyclists. There's a comedy club that always seems closed; there's a street full of shark like estate agents trying to sell the area as 'West Chelsea' (yeah, right...) and there's that funny looking old chap who sits outside the tube stattion all day long wearing a skin tight white T-shirt and sporting a Jimmy Saville 70s style feather haircut.
Howzat!!!! ....about that then, guys and gals. Er er er er er...
(click on thumbs to see large image)
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