Marylebone

This is the next station in my series on 'Above the Underground' Marylebone is the10th station on the Bakerloo line travelling northwards.

It used to be called Grand Central and you can still see the old name at the end on the North bound platform.
No other underground lines stop at Marylebone but as well as being an underground station it is a mainline Central London Terminus for Chiltern Railways.

Close to the station is Harewood Avenue with its mixture of modern and old buildings.

This sculpture is outside the BNP Paribas building

Across the road is a Grade  II listed building of a church.









This is St Edwards Convent of The sisters of Mercy. The sisters built a school for the needy here in 1851. More classrooms were added  in 1897 when they received money from the requisition of their land to build Marylebone station.

A few minutes walk away is the Regent's Canal.

Such beautiful reflections today.

Walking back towards the station I spotted this old petrol station which has a new life as a flower station.

The Seashell is an upmarket fish and chip shop which has been serving this popular meal for over 40 years.

Public houses seem to be round every corner. This one dates back to the 1880s.

When is a church not a church? When it has been  deconsecrated  and converted into offices.

This is Alfie's Antique Market in Church Street. Prior to opening in 1976 it was an old department store and was given a facelift of the Egyptian style art deco facade. Inside it has over 100 antique dealers trading there and is one of the largest antique arcades in the country.

This is the old Marylebone Grammar School. Originally founded in 1790s as the Philological school it moved to Marylebone Road in 1827.

The original aim of the Philological school was to have 40 students, ten for religious orders, ten for the navy and twenty for mechanics. Boys were not admitted unless they could read and they had to remain at the school until the age of fourteen, when they would choose their occupation. The school had a number of generous subscribers to pay for the boys' education.

On the corner of Marylebone Road and Harewood Avenue is this art deco building, once the headquarters of Woolworths.

At the top of the building is this colourful plaque with the 'W' for Woolworth

between a man and woman holding a flagpole.

At either side of the building are these reliefs depicting sunrise and sunset.

Above the door is a sculpture by Bainbridge Copnall showing a man holding a globe to represent the world wide trade of Woolworths.

Dorset Square garden. It was here that Thomas Lord established the first cricket ground in 1787 until it moved a short distance away to Lisson Green Estate in 1811

























                                    Lisson Green Estate now.

These art deco apartments were built in 1935. The sculptor Eric Gill carved the reliefs.

My exploration of the area has now gone full circle as I return back towards Marylebone Station.

Sharing with James at Weekend Reflections

Baker Street.

This is the 9th station travelling North on the Bakerloo Line. Baker Street has another four lines stopping here - Jubilee, Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith and City. With 10, it has the most platforms of any London tube station.

219 Baker street known as Abbey House is now a residential block owned by Ability Parkview. Originally built in the 1920s, it was the headquarters of the Abbey Road building Society headquarters from 1932 to 2002. The art deco frontage has been kept by the new owners.


The site owned by Ability Parkview also includes 221B, the fictional home of Sherlock Holmes. However the address only came into existence when Baker Street was extended in the 1930s long after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the books.


       

Just across the road is Regent's Park

Madame Tussauds is a wax museum on Marylebone Road displaying wax figures from the world of music,sport, film to the Royal family and famous historical figures. It was started by the wax sculptor Marie Tussaud and is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in London.The domed building next door used to be the Planetarium but is now part of the wax museum. The only Planetarium in London is a new state of the art one at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

The very busy road junction outside Baker Street tube station.

This is St James's Church with a view of the Manchester Mews in the foreground. Mews are converted stables and in this area they are numerous. The church is always referred to as St James's, Spanish Place although it is not in Spanish Place.

The unusual association with Spain dates back to the reign of Elizabeth I when the bishops of Ely let their Palace and chapel to the Spanish Ambassador and representatives of the Court of Spain. Until the reign of Charles I the chapel was used by English Catholics and became a sanctuary for them. Hence the Spanish connection.

Octavia Hill (1838-1912) who was the co-founder of the National Trust started her work here in Gabutt Place.

Around the corner in Grotto Passage is one of the Ragged Schools built in 1846. A ragged school was for the poorest of children in London and were built in the slum areas. Founded by entrepreneurs of the 19th Cent, approximately 300,000 children attended these schools duing the mid 1800s.

Paddington Street Gardens were formed during the 18th cent as an additional burial ground for the Marylebone Parish Church. There are probably around 80,000 graves in this small garden and so is still consecrated ground. A list of names taken from the tombstones  can be found in the Westminster City Archives. In 1885 the gardens became a recreation ground and the tombstones were removed

but this mausoleum was left due to its excellent design.

Next door to  Baker Street Station  is the Lost Property Office for London Transport. This is where you will find your lost item if it has been found on a tube, bus or black cab. In 2013, 246,241 items were handed in, including 12,000 umbrellas, 11,000 sets of keys and 35,000 articles of clothing. If unclaimed after 3 months they are sold at auction.

                                           Statue outside Baker Street station.

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