21 July

ARCHIVE

Hamo Thornycroft archive

Underground map, 1919, ©London Regional Transport by Permission of London Transport Museum

h 27.5, w 43.5 cm Donated by Mrs Elfrida Manning, 1982

The map was initially chosen because its current location in the
archive does not have any obvious reasons anymore. It is visually
striking and yet it is so different from the current underground
map. Part of the Northern Line for example is red instead of black
and does not go any further than Golders Green. All these
differences make it possible to date the map exactly as being made
in October 1919. On the back there is some tourist information. It
very prominently feature the docks and riverside wharves. Some
people say you have to spend time when you travel to experience the
changes in landscape and climate. They say it is no good just
stepping into an aeroplane and getting out again at the other end.
But in the limited amount of time we have these days it is
impossible to go where we would want to go if we did not do this.
Modern day travel and the changes it brings. Perhaps one of the
first dramatic change in the way we travel was the underground.
Changes came much earlier than most people realise, the underground
started in 1863.