The Anonymous Widower

An Expedition to the Deep South

London is a city split by the River Thames into two distinctly separate sub-cities.

If you were born and have lived a lot of your life in the north, then you rarely cross the river into the south.  I’ve got friends in the south, who feel exactly the same about the north.  Although, we would both admit that we might just cross the river to see the attractions just on the other side. I did think that this might be a white middle-class thing, but discussing it with a man of Caribbean extraction, who had lived most of his life in Tottenham, he felt exactly the same.

There are two big differences though between north and south.

The north relies heavily on tubes, such as the Piccadilly, Northern, Central, Victoria, and Jubilee Lines, whereas the south depends largely on the suburban electrics of the old Southern Railway, which wind their way everywhere in a pretty comprehensive manner. But the old Southern Railway never had the Underground’s organisation and welcoming corporate identity!

The north too, has a defined ring road, the North Circular Road, whereas the southern equivalent is just a signposted route on inadequate roads. So northerners going south, always end up getting frustrated and lost. Especially as most from the north only ever go to the south to get through it to go to places like Gatwick or Brighton.

You can also argue that most of the major attractions are in the north.  If you take major sports venues, only The Oval and Wimbledon are in the south and both can actually be reached using the Underground, so you don’t have to fathom out how the electric trains work!

So it was with trepidation that I set out from Canary Wharf to visit some friends, who live in the deep south near Croydon. Their nearest station is Anerley, so that would mean taking the DLR to Shadwell and then walking a few yards to the East London Line station of the same name.

Shadwell Station on the East London Line

The new station is functional and pleasant, but suffers slightly because of a cramped site, penned in between Listed buildings and the Thames Tunnel.

Shadwell Station looking North

The platforms looked a bit narrow and they are certainly not as wide as those on the North London Line.  But I suppose they are well within safety limits.

I had to wait about twenty minutes for my train to West Croydon, as I had just missed one, but soon I was off south through the Thames Tunnel and on to Annerley.

It was at Annerley that my problems started, as all the old prejudices about the impenetrable jungle of South London kicked in.  I misread the map at the station and instead of turning left out of the station approach onto the main road, I turned right and walked a couple of kilometres before I called my friend for rescue.  At least he realised what I’d done wrong and thankfully came to get me in his car.

So there was no harm done and a couple of coffees warmed me up and got me ready for the return.

July 25, 2010 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Docklands Light Railway, East London Line, London, London Underground, Thames Tunnel