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| Harry Beck's original 1933 Underground MapAdd caption |
Living in a town connected to central London via ‘The Tube’
is a new experience for us. Over the
Christmas holidays we used our ‘Oyster’ cards quite a lot so I’m wondering when,
and if, the novelty of going ‘up to town’
will wear off!
Yesterday the London Underground celebrated 150 years since its completion and today, 10th January, back in 1863, was the first day it welcomed fare paying passengers. The Amersham route into Baker Street is on the Metropolitan Line (deep purple – I’m trying to learn the colours!) – the oldest of the lines but one that didn’t arrive in our neck of the woods through extension until 1892.
I’ve been reading up on ‘The Tube’ and learnt it is the oldest underground in the world, now the fourth largest (those in Seoul and two in China are bigger) with 270 stations and 250 miles of track – interestingly of which only 45% is actually underground.
To help us get around all of us depend on Harry Beck’s diagrammatic, and now iconic, map – first published in 1933. The map, rather than reflect true geographical distances, was designed to give equal space between stations thus making it clearer to read and easier to use. It’s based on an electronic circuit board – not a bad template as the underground is fundamentally there to help us make ‘connections’.
I suppose it’s that sense of being ‘joined up’ to London as well as being close to the Bucks countryside that makes Amersham such an attractive and convenient place to live.
I walk by the station here almost every day – cutting through by crossing the red bridge over the tracks is the quickest way to get to the church and the shops. This week as I’ve made that journey I’ve been thinking of the importance of ‘connections’ in our lives.
Modern parlance might call it ‘networking’ whilst church-speak would say ‘fellowship’ – whatever we call it simply being with others enhances life and deepens it. I confess I could never become a hermit! I love my own company for limited periods of time but any day is made brighter, for me at least, by sharing it with others.
On Tuesday our LunchBreak programme recommenced after the Christmas recess and there was a wonderful buzz in The Alfred Ellis Hall as folk shared lunch together (special food this week as it was LunchBreak’s 7th birthday!) – there was a sense that folks were really pleased to become ‘re-connected’ after a few weeks off.
Then yesterday I attended my first URC Ministers’ lunch at Burnham. This was an opportunity to meet up with colleagues and get to know other ministers in the area – and it was great! Such gatherings are all about feeling ‘connected’ – a sense of mutually supportive belonging.
In a day and age of misjudged individualism a central message of The Gospel is that ‘community’, ‘connectedness’, ‘networking’ –whatever we call it – is fundamental to what it means to be a human being. It’s the reason Jesus gave us ‘the church’ because he knew that the journey of faith is better walked together.
With best wishes,
Yesterday the London Underground celebrated 150 years since its completion and today, 10th January, back in 1863, was the first day it welcomed fare paying passengers. The Amersham route into Baker Street is on the Metropolitan Line (deep purple – I’m trying to learn the colours!) – the oldest of the lines but one that didn’t arrive in our neck of the woods through extension until 1892.
I’ve been reading up on ‘The Tube’ and learnt it is the oldest underground in the world, now the fourth largest (those in Seoul and two in China are bigger) with 270 stations and 250 miles of track – interestingly of which only 45% is actually underground.
To help us get around all of us depend on Harry Beck’s diagrammatic, and now iconic, map – first published in 1933. The map, rather than reflect true geographical distances, was designed to give equal space between stations thus making it clearer to read and easier to use. It’s based on an electronic circuit board – not a bad template as the underground is fundamentally there to help us make ‘connections’.
I suppose it’s that sense of being ‘joined up’ to London as well as being close to the Bucks countryside that makes Amersham such an attractive and convenient place to live.
I walk by the station here almost every day – cutting through by crossing the red bridge over the tracks is the quickest way to get to the church and the shops. This week as I’ve made that journey I’ve been thinking of the importance of ‘connections’ in our lives.
Modern parlance might call it ‘networking’ whilst church-speak would say ‘fellowship’ – whatever we call it simply being with others enhances life and deepens it. I confess I could never become a hermit! I love my own company for limited periods of time but any day is made brighter, for me at least, by sharing it with others.
On Tuesday our LunchBreak programme recommenced after the Christmas recess and there was a wonderful buzz in The Alfred Ellis Hall as folk shared lunch together (special food this week as it was LunchBreak’s 7th birthday!) – there was a sense that folks were really pleased to become ‘re-connected’ after a few weeks off.
Then yesterday I attended my first URC Ministers’ lunch at Burnham. This was an opportunity to meet up with colleagues and get to know other ministers in the area – and it was great! Such gatherings are all about feeling ‘connected’ – a sense of mutually supportive belonging.
In a day and age of misjudged individualism a central message of The Gospel is that ‘community’, ‘connectedness’, ‘networking’ –whatever we call it – is fundamental to what it means to be a human being. It’s the reason Jesus gave us ‘the church’ because he knew that the journey of faith is better walked together.
With best wishes,
Ian
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