Sunday Variety

 Colin Dale and Colindale

Yes, in his early days as a journalist, T E Lawrence (of Arabia) wrote under the pseudonym of Colin Dale - because he worked not far from Colindale station which is on London Underground"s Northern .line.

Now you wouldn't think a very "normal" underground stop, well away from the bright lights of London  town, would be worthy of an fbb blog.

Don't you believe it!

As is often the case with fbb's inane ramblings, what started as a simple news item has splurged uncontrollably through the old bloke's little grey cells; so much so that more blogs will follow in a week or so on the transport heritage of Collyn's Dene, later Colindale.

For today's haporth of Hendon's heritage and history, fbb will stick with Colindale's FIVE underground stations - which must be something of a record for an outer suburban non-interchange non-underground Underground stop.

The station opened on 18 August 1924 on the north side of Colindale Avenue, on what was then the 'Hampstead and Highgate Line', the first station of the second section of the extension to Edgware. The platform was located underneath the east–west road, not just on one side, and Station 1 had a classical style building designed by Underground Architect Stanley Heaps. 

The opening of the station spurred the development of Colindale as a suburb.

During the early years of WW2 this rather fine station was looking somewhat bedraggled.

Tragically, the building was destroyed in 1940 by a bomb, as commemorated by a plaque inside the present station.

Station 2 was a temporary wooden affair that remained "temporary" for some time!

It was not until 1962 that its replacement appeared. Station 3 was incorporated into a new block of shops and offices.

This edifice lasted well over 40 years, the longest surviving of any of the Colindale five! But in 2012 (ish) the big red block was demolished, leaving the single storey station exposed and not very lovely.

So it was that London Underground kept the building as above but re-fettled it significantly, so much so that it deserves the label of Station 4.

A peer over the overbridge reveals that the original 1924 platform appurtenances were largely undamaged and remain unchanged to this day. There is a covered footbridge to the island platform ...

... some splendid ironwork ...

... and a lovely scalloped edge to the platform canopies.

The facilities are all viewable on a picture from the very early days.

The company appears to have economised, however, as the original footbridge was unglazed!

Perhaps sadly, Station 5 has been announced, partly to make way for further housing development. It will move to a site above the platforms rather than to one side ...

... and will have lifts.

The current platform has a rather sweet waiting room which, you would guess, will disappear with the modernisation.

Here is an impression of the new enlarged entrance area ...

... and from inside.

And a view from above showing the bookend development on both sides.

Should you wish to explore the present Colindale station for yourself, you had better hurry.

Colindale station - temporary closure

Colindale station will be closed from Friday 7 June 2024

It will re-open in December 2024

During the closure, trains will not stop at Colindale Tube station

During the closure, we are advising people to use buses to connect with nearby Northern line and Thameslink stations

Bus

Use local buses or the additional bus route NL6 for nearby stations.

These buses stop at Tube and Thameslink stations nearby:

And of course, TfL has published the NL6 timetable for you to enjoy?

Of course not! This is all that is available.

Bus route NL6 

NL6 will run every 15 minutes on weekdays at peak times between Colindale and Hendon Central stations

All journeys on route NL6 will be free of charge

From Colindale, NL6 buses will start outside 121 Colindale Avenue, stop at Aerodrome Road / Colindale Gardens, and terminate at Hendon Central station (Stop G)

Towards Colindale, NL6 buses will start at Stop E opposite Hendon Central station, stop at Aerodrome Road / Colindale Gardens, and terminate at Stop CA opposite Colindale station

Thanks a bunch TfL!

Snippets

Welcome to the Woolwich foot tunnel!

We are so peased you can enjoy the Thames crossing.

Skating? Does it flood and then freeze over in the winter? Nasty!

Something Completely Different

Ideal for a snack whilst enjoying a bus ride! But why is it "pink" lemonade? fbb has enjoyed pink grapefruit but never seen a pink lemon.

Scalextric is for Big Boys

Just as in the model railway industry, companies are  now only too pleased to take old mens' money for unusual and expensive models. Here are a couple for your Skalextric slot racing circuit.

The Harry Potter Ford Anglia - £60

FAB 1 from Thunderbirds (Yus Me Lady!) - £70

Plastic Kits are for Wealthy Boys!

fbb was invited to order these by retailer Jadlam Toys and Models.

They are scale 1:8 whereas OO gauge is 1:72, so they are, to use an oft misunderstood technical term, BIG.

But the best/worst of all ...

Think of how well fbb could bodge one of these - glue all over the bodywork, wheels at funny angles and a good few bits left in the box!

Lego is for Crazy Boys!

fbb came across this video by chance when checking on a different YouTube item which mentioned Lego. This video is a bit longer than fbb's usual choice, but ...

Yikes!

It doesn't tell us how much it cost!

And what is "greebling"?

Basically, the greebles should look like they are functional, and sit in a logical place for that function. As an obvious and slightly far-fetched example, consider LEGO mosaics: are they usually greebled? Most often, no. Why not? Because it would look odd – the detailing would have no real purpose beside looking cool, and they would appear out of place. The same goes for putting greebles on all other MOCs – without purpose, they are just cool detailing that probably appear odd to the functional minded human eye.

Below are some examples of what I consider good greebling techniques. Some are the traditional kind, others not – but they all have in common that they are LEGO brick-built detailing..

We greeble to break up boring areas. This is probably the kind of greebling most people think about when they hear the word.

If course, how silly of fbb to forget!

Maybe "greebling" for model railways is all that detail that you cannot actually see but adds to the cost of the model?

The Press Delights Us Once More

Comment is superfluous!

Tomorrow, we are off, blog-wise, to the Cote d'Azur.

 Sunny South Sojourn blog : Monday 27th May