h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is nearly an entry in itself, so feel free to edit! I started with this one, as its closed it's the easiest!

Opened as The Strand station in 1907, it was designed to be the terminus of the Great Northern and Strand Railway which would link the river with King’s Cross and Finsbury Park. That line merged with the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus Railway (eventually becoming known as the Piccadilly line) leaving The Strand stranded on a dead end.

In 1917 one set of tracks was removed, leaving the station as a two carriage shuttle from Holborn. Because of the small amount of use it got, it was largely ignored by station upgrades and so it still has much of its art nouveau style intact. The lifts are still the wood paneled originals with art nouveau ventilations screens. It was the £3 million cost of replacing these lifts that led to the station closing in September 1994. Although still in good working order, they did not meet the safety standards of the day with exposed moving parts and high voltage components.

The name was changed to Aldwych as there was some confusion as Charing Cross station went through a number of name changes – one of these being ‘Strand’ for the Northern Line platforms from May 1915 to 1973. Aldwych became the new name the same day.

It was closed to the public for seven years during WW2, becoming a bomb shelter for artifacts from the British Museum and children.

The station is now used mainly as a film set, with the ticket hall being used for book launches, as an art gallery and for private parties. It was used as a set for the BBC production of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and for Prodigy's FireStarter video. Lara Croft herself visited Aldwych in one of her many Tomb Raider adventures.

The ‘Aldwych’ sign has been removed, and the front of the station is its original red terracotta tiles with The Strand displayed in black on a white background.

*s off to add huge chunk of text to entry*

Hopefully PR will sort it out to make it look a little tidier.

I can have a go at cleaning things up too, y'know...

I've added it A3660851

The original plan for the Jubilee Line extension was that it would go east from Charing Cross and call at Aldwych, and make it into a 'proper' station open all the time. But times and politics changed, which is why the route that got built went through South London and called at the Millennium Dome.

Oh that means I can pick on you then.

The thing about the name of the line changing needs the 'eventually' in there because it was renamed at least once more before becoming the Piccadilly line. I was trying to keep it short.

The rest is wonderful.

Interesting snippet Number 6 - If I was still in London I'd have been peering through the front gates to see if I could add anything, or trying to wangle a visit. Shame!

By the way, sorry for forgetting to give you credit Mina - you're now listed on the main page of the guide.

Ta very much!