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Ship Shape Tube By David Tupman |
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Opened two months before the outbreak of the Second World War, East Finchley's tube station was the latest in architecture. Resembling the bridge of a ship, its curved glass windows enclosed circular winding stairs to the staff's offices. Standing guard over the station is a ten-foot high archer statue by Eric Aumonier.
He is pointing his bow towards London and the start of the tube tunnel. This tunnel runs under the whole of London and emerges near Morden, Surrey. Until the building of the Channel Tunnel, it was the longest tunnel in Europe. Local architect, Miranda Newton, has researched the station and writes about its architect, Charles Holden: "Holden's work is said to be amongst the finest English architecture of the 20th Century and was said to have revitalised English railway station design. His most famous station is the new headquarters of the Underground network at 55 Broadway, near St James' Park. He was the principal designer of all the stations north of Highgate. He used a rational style of architecture, stripped of historical details but using classical proportions." "Holden is admired for his skills in composition and practical detailing, and his simple but elegant designs have worn well." |
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