Tufnell Park is the 42nd station on the Northern Line. I still have another 9 stations to visit on this line and am hoping to complete the line this year. This is one of the lesser used stations on this branch of the Northern Line. Before this station opened there was another station just along the road from here on the corner of Station road and Junction Road It was a very busy station bringing people to and from the Metropolitan cattle market. The station was open from 1872 - 1943 and demolished in the early 1950s. Although the two stations were close to one another , they were on different rail lines and there was no connection between the two. This station was opened in 1907 at the same time as the other stations on the High Barnet branch line.
The station was modernised in 2004 with new tiling.
Most of the stations on the Northern Line are deep level. This one did not have escalators but two lifts that take you to and from the ticket office.
Another Leslie Green station with its blood red terracotta tiling and semi circular windows. Even though it was a Saturday morning when I visited it was very quiet. People quietly chatting and even the cars seemed to drive more slowly. As soon as I left the station I noticed buildings of interest.
Across the road was the Aces and 8s bar in the old Barclays Bank building. I found the name of this bar more interesting than the building. I was not familiar with it but then I am not a poker player. It is the name given to a specific pairing of the cards and is also known as The Dead Man's Hand. The origin of the phrase goes back to Wild Bill Hickok who was reportedly holding two black aces and two black eights when he was shot during a poker game in 1876. I have no idea why the name was chosen for this bar which, as far as I could see, was not a casino. I found that it had previously been called 'Bar Lorca' and then 'Grand Banks' But both those ventures failed by 2004 leaving squatters to take over and set up 'Occupied Social Centre' offering cultural events. The squatters were evicted after 5 months. Aces and Eights opened about five years after that and seems to have survived so far.
Dominating the opposite corner of the crossroads is the Boston Arms. Rebuilt in 1899 it is a large pub featuring live music and a number of different seating areas.
This building runs alongside the Boston Arms.
In 1885 The Stanley Hall and Baths were opened. The building had a 20m pool on the ground floor and a public hall above. The swimming pool was converted into the Electric Theatre in 1909, renamed the Stanley Cinema in 1914. Probably due to WW1 it closed in 1916. It later became a school of ballroom dancing and also hosted events such as wrestling. In recent times it has been used as the Boston Music Room for the Boston Arms pub next door.
There is a row of decorative terracotta tiles below the windows.
I decided the best way of looking round the area would be to walk down each of the four roads that make up the crossroads outside the tube station. I had to take a picture of this sign as I have not heard that word for years. In Manchester, where I grew up, you always referred to a shop selling alcohol as the 'Offy'., shortened version of Off Licence.
A fast disappearing ghost sign.
A little further down Junction road is the official home of Shaolin Buddhism Temple and Kung Fu in the UK. The Temple is built on the grounds of an old London Underground depot. The main pillars of Shaolin culture are Chan buddhism, martial arts, Buddhist art and traditional medicine.
