Russian transportation fan here ;-) The station at 2:08 is Komsomolskaya on the Line 5 that was opened in 1952. The stations of the original line opened in 1935 were decorated a bit more modestly (check out the photos of the Komsomolskaya, Krasniye Vorota and Kropotkinskaya stations on the Line 1). But this was still revolutional. The actual station that could've inspired the architects of the Gants Hill could be the "Охотный Ряд" (Okhotny Ryad) station that was opened in 1935. If you try to compare the architecture of two stations you will find many similarities -- for example, the celling. The station in Moscow also had torch-like lights in the middle of the platform. Sadly. those were later replaced with ball-shaped lamps on the celling. Probably it happened because of passenger traffic getting more and more intense. P.S. Спасибо, товарищ Яго. Привет из Москвы.
Komsomolskaya is actually the wallpaper on one of my laptop screens - gorgeous station, but then there are many beautiful stations in Moscow. Hard to name my favourite, maybe Taganskaya? Based on a very brief visit to Moscow I had guessed Pushkinskaya as the nearest to Gants Hill, though there are many stations with that layout, just decorated differently, but yes Okhotny Ryad is closer.
@@cr10001 Well, Pushkinskaya was built in 1970s. But it was also a kind of a breakthrough in the architecture of Soviet metro stations: In 1956 or 1957 Khrushchev has decided that it was a time for less expensive and more firm architecture. New stations started to open more often and construction works have become much less expensive, but the architecture... Well, check out stations like Voykovskaya, Akademicheskaya or Vodniy Stadion -- spacious, but VERY similar to each other, much more simple and cheaper. No decorations, functionality first. Stations like Pushkinskaya and Kuznetsky Most has become one of the first to be decorated once again -- Kuznetsky Most had those spark-like lamps and Pushkinskaya -- flower patterns and quotes of A. Pushkin on the walls. Later on many other elements started to appear at the stations -- mosaics, bas-reliefs and so on...
@@lyricaltockareff I just looked at Voykovskaya, Akademicheskaya and Vodniy Stadion on Google Images. Yes, much simpler, though they still have marble facing on the columns and floor. I do like the dark marble on the columns, and the 'random' shapes of the floor slabs, at Vodniy Stadion. So even on a budget, the designers did the best they could to make the stations visually interesting.
@cr01 I know I'm almost a year late and necroing, but check out some of the new stations on the northern part of light green and the new outer circle lines. A lot of futuristic polished metal combined with stained glass in some places, and Fonvizinskaya is just something you should see.
Random question; did he do Elephant and Castle underpass too? Its only that I swear they have the same colour scheme (but they are quite far away from each other).
@@kanedaku He may well have, I know he was contracted to do a lot of stations, both underground and over ground. Also places like the houses of parliament, Trellick Tower too I think. He was in high demand and worked with his son. In fact, he tiled my kitchen floor with left over tiles from the ITN canteen!
I recently took some photographs of Newbury Park Bus Station, including the Festival of Britain award plaque, and the large roundel sign outside it. Some of these were taken on black and white film. On the picture of the roundel I can see a slight red colour on the circle, and a slight blue one on the bar. There is no colour in the image, so I think that what must be happening is that my brain is filling in the colours which it expects to see. I found an earlier photo which I had taken of the Stratford footbridge from the Stratford City end, which happened to include a bus stop sign. In this case the circle and bar were both red, and so would have been exactly the same shade of grey in the photograph, unlike the Newbury Park example, and I could see slight traces of colour in that as well, but they weren’t as strong as in the other case, where the bar was a different shade of grey. Can anybody else see this in black and white photographs of the roundel? What about versions of it which were in other colours originally?
This must have happened in the last days of Stalin. Interesting that Kruschev was the man tasked with carrying out the research. I am already subscribed, comrade, but I clicked the like button like a good little sputnik.
I grew up 10 mins walk from here. My Dad always tells me about the Moscow subway inspriation - he's going to be very pleased when he sees this video! The old Odeon cinema used to be right next to the station on the east side between the A12 and Perth Road. A bit of my childhood was lost when that got turned into flats.
Me too! I lived in Highcliffe Gdns, nearer Redbridge station than Gants Hill, but I started my working life at Jessups next to the roundabout. My dad's older sister worked for Plesseys in the tunnels during the war.
One comrade saw an opportunity for witty remarks, and immediately went to the censorship bureau to get permission to broadcast this message from the workers paradise. I left a like, as good workers do, and am a member of the channel.
@@Boric78 My Mum grew up in Ilford, and had a schoolfriend whose father was a member of the Communist Party. I think she actually helped up with some leaflet deliveries for them in her teens.
And of course another mustachioed man inspired the Moscow Metro to be built at an extremely deep level to provide shelter during air raids (as the London Tube was also doing thanks to said same mustachioed man), and as Jago just said, the architecture of the Moscow Metro inspired the architecture of at least one Tube station.
Thanks very much for reviewing my home station when I was living in the UK. Strange you never mentioned the Art Deco influence though. I always loved the look of this unique station and it was a welcome sight after a long day at work and rush hour traffic. Those who use this end of the Central Line know what I'm talking about. You are packed like sardines until Stratford when half the passengers get off. Then, a further percentage of the carriage get off at Leyton and a few more at Leytonstone. The carriage then becomes holds only a third of its former capacity. The train waits at Leytonstone, humming and making that cranking sound like someone winding up a giant clock. Then, the doors swish close and the train begins its descent into the tunnel hurtling at great speed towards its black mouth like an Acorn Elite ship being launched into the darkness of space. Soon we are at Wanstead and you feel the stress of the day lifting from you. Redbridge is next. Only one more stop. Finally the doors open at Gants Hill and you exit the confines of the carriage to the palatial wide open space of the grand hall. Pure joy.
I've always wondered why Gants Hill had such a magnificent station, and now I know. Anyone who knows that are of London knows that it's dominated by the roundabout and is particularly pedestrian unfriendly, and I have rarely used it, but it truly hides a subterranean marvel.
I believe it's Geoff Marshall who does the lost railways of London (and possibly East Prussia). I'd love to see him walk the distance, though. "This used to be the border between the German Empire and Poland, but it's been turned into a car park now."
@@SeverityOne"And as we cross the border into Lithuania from Kaliningrad, which obviously wasn't here when the line was built, we can see the border fence barge straight through this allotment like a high speed shopping trolley through the beer alley at Tesco Express..."
My favourite video ending from you so far! Also in Russian most of our words for railway infrastructure comes from our early study of British examples, our word for station is «вогзал» which comes from Vauxhall station as it was where tsarist engineers learned how to construct a railway station. As well much of our early locomotives and rolling stock were British or based on British designs
I'd noticed 'Voksal' (can't do Cyrillic on this keyboard, sorry) on the Trans-Siberian, and wondered about that, but Vauxhall seemed a very odd station to have been chosen, since it was always overshadowed by Waterloo a couple of miles away. I suppose there must be some historical reason why Vauxhall was selected at the time. (Anyway, since I grew up on the South Western main line though long after the London & South Western had been absorbed, I feel kind of gratified that Russian stations are named after 'my' railway :)
Also for anyone else reading this who isn’t familiar: the Russian and British royal families were intimately linked. In fact, King George V and Nicholas II look almost identical! (Load up their Wikipedia articles and compare the header portraits!) I forget their exact relation but it was close, they were something like cousins. They regularly visited each other and had each other’s backs in international matters, and Nicholas regularly asked George for examples from Britain as he recognised it was further along in industrialisation than Russia.
@@cr10001 the Russian word ВОКЗАЛ (VOKZAL) is indeed a wringled English Vauxhall, but has a little to do with the Vauxhall Station and a lot to do with Vauxhall Gardens. The thing is that the first ever railway in Russia connected St Petersburg with Pavlovsk, where a pleasure park, a la "Vauxhall" was set up right near the station. Or rather the Pavlovsk Station was a part of this a la "Vauxhall" park, with live music concerts, buffets with refreshments etc. Almost immediately the word "Vauxhall" was adopted in Russian language (in form of "VOKZAL") as a name for a larger train station.
@@kgmakogon That's excellent information. And it's a more satisfying explanation, in that Vauxhall Gardens were much better-known and more prominent (among gardens) than Vauxhall was (among stations). So thanks!
@@deyesed Talking of breakfast, which we weren't, on station road in Chingford is an old fashioned butchers that sells the best bacon I've ever tasted.Thought I'd mention it as Chingford isn't a million miles from Gants Hill and apart from a Jago Hazzard video what beats a bacon sandwich on a Sunday morning!!
@@simonwinter8839 Chingford to Gants Hill needs better public transport, a decent radial better bus to Romford than the intermittent 66 from leytonstone
And the design is very intelligent too ! The one way tunnel connections between stations without people in opposite directions, brilliant ! While I was there for a visit, nobody touched me even during rush hours ...! Super respectful, not to compare with London.......
@@aoilpe I've never used the Moscow metro but I bet boarding passengers 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 don't try to push their way aboard before folks get off the ****** train.
@@elyjane6078 With the Tube, it's often the other way round - Gants Hill being a good example. Many of the more ornate UndergrounD stations are in the suburbs, obvious ones would be the Sudbury stations, Arnos Grove and a favourite of mine - Loughton.😁
If I found myself at this station, I would think I’m back in my hometown! Amazing! Tbh Moscow metro is not only beautiful but so much more spacious and comfortable to use than the London Underground. But the Tube ha so much history to it :)
Thank you very much! Maybe, Komsomolskaya station you show as example is like this one in constructions but not in decoration - some more moderate stations in Moscow, like Okhotny Ryad (1935) or even newer Rimskaya (1995) look more like this one.
Fascinating stuff. I always knew that Gants Hill looked a bit like a Moscow station - never knew that they were so closely linked together. It must win the award for most exciting station at most boring location on the network.
Maybe on a major birthday anniversary of his sometime in the future they could do a Gareth Southgate and temporarily rename the station to Pickadilly Circus in his honour. That would be cool. Confusing for non-londoners, but cool.
@@chrisoddy8744 Charles Tyson Yerkes, the father of modern-day shonky business practice, errr, I mean the Underground, would be a little harder to work into station names by way of a similar tribute.
@@baxtermarrison5361 Harry Beck on the other hand, aside from his memorial at Finchley Central, could have a DLR stop (or two even!) for sure. Not so sure about Charles Holden but, well, Arnos Grove is basically his already
@@rodjones117 I was actually supposed to be starting a job setting up for Nitro Circus at Earl's Court, we were already running late when we hit traffic. There was me, another lad and the driver. He said let's jump out and take the tube. So I hopped out and ran with him into the station. When I got to the ticket vendor thing, I realised I had left absolutely everything in my bag, and my bag in the van. So I'm there, in Gants Hill underground station. Alone, penniless phone on 5%. I made a call to my friend who suggested I turn my phone off and make my way to Victoria Coach station, when I eventually got there, I turned my phone back on and called my friend back who booked me a coach home
It looks like stations in Prague, which were inspired by Moscow stations, which were inspired by London underground system designers, who designed this station, which looks like...
The stations on the 'Metro' (sorry, that's what they call their underground!) in Moscow are stunning! Definitely worth visiting if you have the chance!
There are some other nearby gems too - one stop eastbound to Newbury Park and the amazing bus canopy. Barkingside is classical railway beauty, Loughton full of sweeping deco style...
It's a bit silly as a Londoner that I've been to Moscow and used their Metro, but not been to Gants Hill 😁 The design with a separate concourse in the middle is a big improvement, as with so many central London stations it takes an eternity to get off the platform. Indeed on the Victoria Line sometimes the next train will have arrived before you've left the platform. The rebuilt Northern Line platforms at London Bridge show the benefit of the central concourse, they can now handle a lot more passengers safely.
Loving the combo of rail history, station trivia and also the walk about London highlighting non train stuff. Makes me miss London. Sniff. Your channel is a winner, sir. Keep calm and carry on
Pauly P Your Grandmother was a true heroine. Just think of the risk of explosion dealing with munitions. Probably the first section of the Underground to impose a smoking 🚬 ban. And I managed to avoid the word "Hazzard " as a pun !!
My aunt did the same work, in the same place, for the same company! She was making electrical components for Spitfires (according to my late father, her brother). When she got home at night, her overalls would be so stiff from the lacquer she used on the components, they would stand up on their own when she took them off. I spent most of my life less than a mile from Gants Hill, and my first job was in a car dealers within sight of the roundabout. The apartment building to the right at 1:29 was built on the site of the dealer's showroom.
I was fortunate enough to work in Moscow in 2013 and travel on the beautiful metro system. I do remember that it only seemed to have two speeds, stop and go; you had to hold on tight!
I’ve lived here my whole life and hadn’t considered the station at all special. Now this video has given me a new perspective never thought I’d hear Gants Hill and Canary Wharf been compared! 🤣
Add on to the Barrel Vault subways,the Washington Metro,as those stations are replete with that type of architecture! Also some IRT stations in New York,have barrel vaults,an example,City Hall on the number 6,line,( Lexington Avenue local)! There may be others,so this information is incomplete 😳! Keep it up Jago,your meandering through London,gets more interesting,every week,as you findings of the more obscure,seemingly never stops! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND EFFORT! As it definitely enlightens us,fellow travelers,ha! Red line,ala,Boston!! Who knows,only the Shadow knows,and he ain't talking!! 😇😇😇😇😇😇😀😀😀😀😃😃😀🚉🚉🚉🚉🚉🚉🚉
Spent a very happy half hour here on my way back from a wedding at Valentine's, just along the road. It truly is a stunning bit of design and well worth a visit.
@@dmitrybelyakov: from what I can recall, it was when the Tzar (or perhaps it was his ambassador) were invited to travel on this amazing new form of transport. The Tsar (or ambassador!) wanted to know what to call the thing the train had pulled into, which was Vauxhall station. Somehow it got a bit lost in translation, and instead of answering the question “What is this?”, someone simply said “Vauxhall!” I expect the person answering the question assumed they would know what a station was and figured they meant “what place is this?” And so as no one corrected the mistake, so the word “vokzal” (вокзал) entered the Russian language! 😂 Пока, друг 👍
Slightly off-topic, I've been told by people who have worked there that the word for "lorry" in Oman is Bedford. I suspect a bit like "Biro" or "Hoover" in the U.K. I've been to Moscow and the stations do put Holland Park or Alperton to shame.
About a decade ago I and my mum were visiting some of her friends in Moscow. Stations were beautiful and spacious, the trains less so. In my country, we don't have underground, so I didn't know that elsewhere in the world stations are not so spacious or grand as in Moscow.
@Jago Hazzard - Having been to Moscow and St Petersburg (Leningrad), I can tell you that some of the Metro stations in both cities have the sliding doors on the platforms as seen on the Tube's Jubilee line (or at least that's where I saw them when I was last in London a few weeks ago).
When I saw the sign at the end that the tubes were cleaned daily with antiviral disinfectant, my first thought was to wonder if it was a sort of firewall to block social media.
Another excellent episode comrade Hazzard. Clicking the like button does indeed exploit the underlying contradictions of capitalism and use them to undermine it from within.
This should have been uploaded 16 days earlier on May Day! While I was student in London during the 1990s, a friend of mine used to stay in Gants Hill, and I used this station a few times. I was always impressed by the architecture, and loved the lamp posts and the benches between the two platforms!
Interesting video. I live in Ipswich and sometimes bring my car into London and park at Gants Hill as it's at the bottom of the A12 and use the Tube straight into the City from here. Wondered why a relatively quiet station was so ornate.
There are three Charles Holden stations on the Hainault branch of the Central Line that are of high quality, drawing on the Moscow Metro model (it is claimed). Wanstead, Redbridge, and Gants Hill. Wanstead and Redbridge have Holden-designed surface buildings with concourses. Gants Hill is below a large roundabout on Eastern Avenue and its concourse is below ground, with only subway entrances on the surface. Wanstead as well as Gants Hill has a vaulted central space between the platforms, though not as impressive; it is similar to Gants Hill though not as grand. Redbridge was built by 'cut-and-cover' being just below the surface, so looks different, but is equally impressive. All three are well worth a visit, as I found a few years ago. Wanstead's surface-level building needs cleaning and refurbishing to restore its original impressive appearance.
I was very keen to view your Soviet edition of the story of Gants Hill tube station. I lived near it once, for a couple of years, and always thought that it was a fine, generous design. Several decades ago, the pedestrian ramps and the walkways around the underground ticket office area were in very dirty condition, and lots of the small wall tiles fell off. But it was all excellently rebuilt, and you have shown one of the ramps with the multi-coloured mini-tiles now fitted. I always thought that the whole section of line (part of the Central Line) including Wanstead, Redbridge and Newbury Park had very attractive stations.
Love the puns. Like many underground stations the name has little to do with the actual area that it's located in. A friend of mine lives right around the corner from GH , and it is called Barkingside. I grew up near Dollis Hill station , more accurately Gladstone Park or Dudden Hill (latter station closed in the 1920s). It could have been renamed' Grunwick ' after the 1970s famous strike and Union recognition dispute at the photo processing factory next door. Oh do make a vid on the Central Line Plessey avionics works Comrade Jago. Might they have supplied aircraft components to the USSR during the war?
Привет, товарищ (Privet, tovarishch - Hello, Comrade). Most interesting video - you must do a series on the Moscow subway system - I have seen quite a few pictures and the stations look stunning. I have gone into the city of London (driving down the M11) and using Gants Hill (who was Gant?). Never too busy and (at least when I use it) and easy to use. Many thanks.
You're at least the second person to say that and, funny thing is; before Jago (and perhaps Geoff) started making these videos, I doubt if two people on YT had heard of Mr Yerkes.😁
Thanks for the history and images of this interesting station - but I'm going to go out on a limb and claim that the basic approach to the station is not really all that revolutionary (ahem); essentially the same approach had already been used by Pick and Holden for the deep-level stations on the Cockfosters extension of the Piccadilly line, where at the foot of the escalators one immediately reaches a passenger concourse with direct access to the platforms on either side (by direct in this context I mean via very short and reasonably wide tunnels, with concourse and platforms all at the same level). The contrast is with the older stations, where once you reach the foot of the escalators (/lifts) you're typically faced with a rabbit-warren of cramped, twisty tunnels and stairways before you reach the actual platforms at an even lower level. At Gants Hill the only real difference from (say) Bounds Green or Southgate is that the concourse is larger and grander, and the access from there to the platforms has been opened up further. In short I think GH (also in a rather different way Redbridge) seems to be an intermediate stage in the development from the Cockfosters extension stations to the sort of thing we get on the Piccadilly Heathrow extension, the Jubilee extension, the Northern Line Battersea extension, and the box-constructed stations on the Elizabeth Line, where the platforms and the concourse have all been amalgamated into effectively a single space. (The mined EL stations seem to me to return more to the Cockfosters extension pattern, except of course much bigger - as someone who grew up using Bounds Green I find they seem pretty familiar in their basic approach.)
PS After a bit more thought (and consultation of plans) I've now realised that the type of station design I was talking about (with passenger concourse at the foot of the escalators and flanking platforms at the same level) is actually older than the Cockfosters extension, since it was first used on the Bakerloo extension from Edgware Road to Queen's Park in 1913-15. All four intermediate stations (Paddington, Warwick Ave, Maida Vale, and Kilburn Park) have this layout. I believe they were the earliest ones to use it, and I expect it's no coincidence that they were also the first stations on the system to be designed with escalator rather than lift access from the start, rather than having escalators retro-fitted.
I used to live close by to this station and as a five/six year old because I remember walking through the pedestrian concourse underneath the roundabout above to go and from Gearies Infant school. I can still remember the “underground station” smell.
Gants Hill is not the only part of the tube that has Soviet influence. Angle station on the Northern Line somewhat has a Eastern European design from it's very long escalaters and the Soviet style concourse from its squares roof .
Thank you, Comrade Hazzard. Your hard work will not go unnoticed!
Hmm. I notice you did not say nice things would come of his work being noticed . . . .
I'll bang my shoe at a table to make sure Jago will hear our statement!
@@thomasm1964 That goes without saying.
@@gilles111 Good call Comrade Gilles.
Glory to artzotska
Everything can be traced back to Stalin
That guy!
Hopefully not everything!😁
Or forward.
As a kid I thought it was "Giants Hill" and got rather nervous when we drove past on our way to Westcliff.
A tall story, Jack.
Russian transportation fan here ;-)
The station at 2:08 is Komsomolskaya on the Line 5 that was opened in 1952. The stations of the original line opened in 1935 were decorated a bit more modestly (check out the photos of the Komsomolskaya, Krasniye Vorota and Kropotkinskaya stations on the Line 1). But this was still revolutional.
The actual station that could've inspired the architects of the Gants Hill could be the "Охотный Ряд" (Okhotny Ryad) station that was opened in 1935. If you try to compare the architecture of two stations you will find many similarities -- for example, the celling. The station in Moscow also had torch-like lights in the middle of the platform. Sadly. those were later replaced with ball-shaped lamps on the celling. Probably it happened because of passenger traffic getting more and more intense.
P.S. Спасибо, товарищ Яго. Привет из Москвы.
Komsomolskaya is actually the wallpaper on one of my laptop screens - gorgeous station, but then there are many beautiful stations in Moscow. Hard to name my favourite, maybe Taganskaya? Based on a very brief visit to Moscow I had guessed Pushkinskaya as the nearest to Gants Hill, though there are many stations with that layout, just decorated differently, but yes Okhotny Ryad is closer.
@@cr10001 Well, Pushkinskaya was built in 1970s. But it was also a kind of a breakthrough in the architecture of Soviet metro stations: In 1956 or 1957 Khrushchev has decided that it was a time for less expensive and more firm architecture. New stations started to open more often and construction works have become much less expensive, but the architecture... Well, check out stations like Voykovskaya, Akademicheskaya or Vodniy Stadion -- spacious, but VERY similar to each other, much more simple and cheaper. No decorations, functionality first. Stations like Pushkinskaya and Kuznetsky Most has become one of the first to be decorated once again -- Kuznetsky Most had those spark-like lamps and Pushkinskaya -- flower patterns and quotes of A. Pushkin on the walls. Later on many other elements started to appear at the stations -- mosaics, bas-reliefs and so on...
@@lyricaltockareff I just looked at Voykovskaya, Akademicheskaya and Vodniy Stadion on Google Images. Yes, much simpler, though they still have marble facing on the columns and floor. I do like the dark marble on the columns, and the 'random' shapes of the floor slabs, at Vodniy Stadion. So even on a budget, the designers did the best they could to make the stations visually interesting.
Xd
@cr01 I know I'm almost a year late and necroing, but check out some of the new stations on the northern part of light green and the new outer circle lines. A lot of futuristic polished metal combined with stained glass in some places, and Fonvizinskaya is just something you should see.
"As with so much in life, it comes down to..." - I was definitely expecting you to say 'Charles Tyson Yerkes' at that point.
I'm pleased to see that I'm not the only one who was anticipating Yerkes to show up yet again.
Sweet Home Chicago!
Nah, this station was much later.
Plus, the Central London Railway was not under Underground Electric Railways.
Masterful wordplay at the end
My father in law from my my first marriage was the tiler who did the under pass here as well as many other stations. He was a true artist!
@A. Fox Now that has made me pmsl just before I mount the PJ's and hit the sack :-)
That’s amazing to know! Gants Hill is my favourite station because of the tiling! 👍
Random question; did he do Elephant and Castle underpass too? Its only that I swear they have the same colour scheme (but they are quite far away from each other).
@@kanedaku He may well have, I know he was contracted to do a lot of stations, both underground and over ground. Also places like the houses of parliament, Trellick Tower too I think. He was in high demand and worked with his son.
In fact, he tiled my kitchen floor with left over tiles from the ITN canteen!
@A. Fox he obviously liked a night on the tiles then... 💁🏼♂️ 🍺 😂
Beautiful roundel clock at 1:15!
Having the clock itself be a roundel would have so meta
I recently took some photographs of Newbury Park Bus Station, including the Festival of Britain award plaque, and the large roundel sign outside it. Some of these were taken on black and white film. On the picture of the roundel I can see a slight red colour on the circle, and a slight blue one on the bar. There is no colour in the image, so I think that what must be happening is that my brain is filling in the colours which it expects to see.
I found an earlier photo which I had taken of the Stratford footbridge from the Stratford City end, which happened to include a bus stop sign. In this case the circle and bar were both red, and so would have been exactly the same shade of grey in the photograph, unlike the Newbury Park example, and I could see slight traces of colour in that as well, but they weren’t as strong as in the other case, where the bar was a different shade of grey.
Can anybody else see this in black and white photographs of the roundel? What about versions of it which were in other colours originally?
This must have happened in the last days of Stalin. Interesting that Kruschev was the man tasked with carrying out the research. I am already subscribed, comrade, but I clicked the like button like a good little sputnik.
Well, Uncle Joe lasted until 1953
Kruschev was Mayor of Moscow, so not that surprising really.
And here was I thinking you'd say "like a good little tovarisch" :)
I grew up 10 mins walk from here. My Dad always tells me about the Moscow subway inspriation - he's going to be very pleased when he sees this video!
The old Odeon cinema used to be right next to the station on the east side between the A12 and Perth Road. A bit of my childhood was lost when that got turned into flats.
Boo to redevelopment. I think a cinema would have brought a focal point that the area is currently lacking.
Me too! I lived in Highcliffe Gdns, nearer Redbridge station than Gants Hill, but I started my working life at Jessups next to the roundabout. My dad's older sister worked for Plesseys in the tunnels during the war.
One comrade saw an opportunity for witty remarks, and immediately went to the censorship bureau to get permission to broadcast this message from the workers paradise.
I left a like, as good workers do, and am a member of the channel.
My theory once again proved here - the underground was inspired and controlled by men with moustaches!
and Ilford is full of communists.......
When the Underground was built, everyone had moustaches. Even the women and children.
@@Boric78 My Mum grew up in Ilford, and had a schoolfriend whose father was a member of the Communist Party. I think she actually helped up with some leaflet deliveries for them in her teens.
@@trickygoose2 I knew I was right. All power to the Ilford Soviet!
And of course another mustachioed man inspired the Moscow Metro to be built at an extremely deep level to provide shelter during air raids (as the London Tube was also doing thanks to said same mustachioed man), and as Jago just said, the architecture of the Moscow Metro inspired the architecture of at least one Tube station.
Thanks very much for reviewing my home station when I was living in the UK. Strange you never mentioned the Art Deco influence though.
I always loved the look of this unique station and it was a welcome sight after a long day at work and rush hour traffic.
Those who use this end of the Central Line know what I'm talking about. You are packed like sardines until Stratford when half the passengers get off. Then, a further percentage of the carriage get off at Leyton and a few more at Leytonstone. The carriage then becomes holds only a third of its former capacity. The train waits at Leytonstone, humming and making that cranking sound like someone winding up a giant clock. Then, the doors swish close and the train begins its descent into the tunnel hurtling at great speed towards its black mouth like an Acorn Elite ship being launched into the darkness of space. Soon we are at Wanstead and you feel the stress of the day lifting from you. Redbridge is next. Only one more stop. Finally the doors open at Gants Hill and you exit the confines of the carriage to the palatial wide open space of the grand hall. Pure joy.
Finally! We get a follow-up to Thomas and the Class Struggle.
I've always wondered why Gants Hill had such a magnificent station, and now I know.
Anyone who knows that are of London knows that it's dominated by the roundabout and is particularly pedestrian unfriendly, and I have rarely used it, but it truly hides a subterranean marvel.
Great. Can't wait for the video on the lost line from Gants Hill to Leningrad. Another really interesting video, Jago.
I believe it's Geoff Marshall who does the lost railways of London (and possibly East Prussia). I'd love to see him walk the distance, though. "This used to be the border between the German Empire and Poland, but it's been turned into a car park now."
@@SeverityOne"And as we cross the border into Lithuania from Kaliningrad, which obviously wasn't here when the line was built, we can see the border fence barge straight through this allotment like a high speed shopping trolley through the beer alley at Tesco Express..."
Here today, built to last
In every city, in every nation
From Lake Geneva to the Gants Hill Station
East Bloc Boys and West Bloc Girls
more likely a line from Tooting to Leningrad, remember Wolfie and the Tooting Popular Front?
Brilliant comment!
My favourite video ending from you so far! Also in Russian most of our words for railway infrastructure comes from our early study of British examples, our word for station is «вогзал» which comes from Vauxhall station as it was where tsarist engineers learned how to construct a railway station. As well much of our early locomotives and rolling stock were British or based on British designs
I'd noticed 'Voksal' (can't do Cyrillic on this keyboard, sorry) on the Trans-Siberian, and wondered about that, but Vauxhall seemed a very odd station to have been chosen, since it was always overshadowed by Waterloo a couple of miles away. I suppose there must be some historical reason why Vauxhall was selected at the time.
(Anyway, since I grew up on the South Western main line though long after the London & South Western had been absorbed, I feel kind of gratified that Russian stations are named after 'my' railway :)
@@cr10001 if I recall correctly they studied Vauxhall due to it being more easily adapted given the state of industrialization in tsarist Russia
Also for anyone else reading this who isn’t familiar: the Russian and British royal families were intimately linked. In fact, King George V and Nicholas II look almost identical! (Load up their Wikipedia articles and compare the header portraits!) I forget their exact relation but it was close, they were something like cousins. They regularly visited each other and had each other’s backs in international matters, and Nicholas regularly asked George for examples from Britain as he recognised it was further along in industrialisation than Russia.
@@cr10001 the Russian word ВОКЗАЛ (VOKZAL) is indeed a wringled English Vauxhall, but has a little to do with the Vauxhall Station and a lot to do with Vauxhall Gardens. The thing is that the first ever railway in Russia connected St Petersburg with Pavlovsk, where a pleasure park, a la "Vauxhall" was set up right near the station. Or rather the Pavlovsk Station was a part of this a la "Vauxhall" park, with live music concerts, buffets with refreshments etc. Almost immediately the word "Vauxhall" was adopted in Russian language (in form of "VOKZAL") as a name for a larger train station.
@@kgmakogon That's excellent information. And it's a more satisfying explanation, in that Vauxhall Gardens were much better-known and more prominent (among gardens) than Vauxhall was (among stations). So thanks!
"not wanting to Rush in to anything..." LOL I saw what you did there
"As with so much in life, it comes down to Stalin."
I almost spewed out my coffee, thanks!
Morning Jago,
Wonderful to wake up with you on a Sunday morning.
Hang on that doesn't sound right!!
Once again a brilliant video.
It sounds oh so right
@@deyesed Talking of breakfast, which we weren't, on station road in Chingford is an old fashioned butchers that sells the best bacon I've ever tasted.Thought I'd mention it as Chingford isn't a million miles from Gants Hill and apart from a Jago Hazzard video what beats a bacon sandwich on a Sunday morning!!
@@deyesed Forgot to mention that Stalin was a bit of a butcher !!
You are not alone. Sunday morning ritual for me. Jago and a cup of java. Heaven.
@@simonwinter8839 Chingford to Gants Hill needs better public transport, a decent radial better bus to Romford than the intermittent 66 from leytonstone
Your sign-offs are always good, but this one was excellent!
The metros stations in Moscow are something else - they were known as “people’s palaces” and the tour I did of these was breathtaking
And the design is very intelligent too !
The one way tunnel connections between stations without people in opposite directions, brilliant !
While I was there for a visit, nobody touched me even during rush hours ...! Super respectful, not to compare with London.......
@@aoilpe I've never used the Moscow metro but I bet boarding passengers 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 don't try to push their way aboard before folks get off the ****** train.
I agree the Moscow stations are stunning. But it is only the central stations in Moscow that are fab, as for the rest...
@@elyjane6078 With the Tube, it's often the other way round - Gants Hill being a good example. Many of the more ornate UndergrounD stations are in the suburbs, obvious ones would be the Sudbury stations, Arnos Grove and a favourite of mine - Loughton.😁
@@elyjane6078
The stations build between the opening of the first line in the thirty’s and the dead of Stalin in ‘53 ...
If I found myself at this station, I would think I’m back in my hometown! Amazing! Tbh Moscow metro is not only beautiful but so much more spacious and comfortable to use than the London Underground. But the Tube ha so much history to it :)
Thank you very much! Maybe, Komsomolskaya station you show as example is like this one in constructions but not in decoration - some more moderate stations in Moscow, like Okhotny Ryad (1935) or even newer Rimskaya (1995) look more like this one.
Fascinating stuff. I always knew that Gants Hill looked a bit like a Moscow station - never knew that they were so closely linked together. It must win the award for most exciting station at most boring location on the network.
I still like to labour under the misapprehension that Piccadilly Circus was in fact named after Frank Pick!
Maybe on a major birthday anniversary of his sometime in the future they could do a Gareth Southgate and temporarily rename the station to Pickadilly Circus in his honour. That would be cool. Confusing for non-londoners, but cool.
@@chrisoddy8744 Indeed, 'Frank Pickadilly Circus' it is, perhaps Mr H can start a petition as we speak! 😊
@@baxtermarrison5361 Maybe not just that but also have the Frank Pickadilly Line as well, because why not
@@chrisoddy8744 Charles Tyson Yerkes, the father of modern-day shonky business practice, errr, I mean the Underground, would be a little harder to work into station names by way of a similar tribute.
@@baxtermarrison5361 Harry Beck on the other hand, aside from his memorial at Finchley Central, could have a DLR stop (or two even!) for sure. Not so sure about Charles Holden but, well, Arnos Grove is basically his already
I got stranded there once, I ended up walking to Victoria Coach Station.
In case you didnt know, London is big
Jesus how long did that take
@@meandwhoism 4 and a half/5 hours ish, it was brutal tbh
How come? Had LT completely closed down or something? More details needed, because that's a very long walk...
@@rodjones117 I was actually supposed to be starting a job setting up for Nitro Circus at Earl's Court, we were already running late when we hit traffic. There was me, another lad and the driver. He said let's jump out and take the tube. So I hopped out and ran with him into the station. When I got to the ticket vendor thing, I realised I had left absolutely everything in my bag, and my bag in the van. So I'm there, in Gants Hill underground station. Alone, penniless phone on 5%. I made a call to my friend who suggested I turn my phone off and make my way to Victoria Coach station, when I eventually got there, I turned my phone back on and called my friend back who booked me a coach home
Even if I did go to meet my crew at Earl's Court, the time it took me to walk there they would have finished the job and be on the way home themselves
It looks like stations in Prague, which were inspired by Moscow stations, which were inspired by London underground system designers, who designed this station, which looks like...
The stations on the 'Metro' (sorry, that's what they call their underground!) in Moscow are stunning! Definitely worth visiting if you have the chance!
Yes, one of the few things I remember from my visit there 30 years ago.
In Minsk too, beautiful stations
And Kiev/Kyiv - Khreschatyk station in particular!
Don't bother with the ones in Brussels. They copied Soviet architecture alright but not the Metro designs!
The Metro in Tbilisi had it's charm. Some long rides on the escalators as well.
I think Prague was pretty much the cleanest.
You made this video on the 86th anniversary of the opening of the Moscow metro (which was yesterday, but still). Was it planned?
That’s a happy coincidence, but thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Thanks
Another gem of a station. Love how they all seem to have their own individual quirks, one way or another 😊
There are some other nearby gems too - one stop eastbound to Newbury Park and the amazing bus canopy. Barkingside is classical railway beauty, Loughton full of sweeping deco style...
Hopefully they will be the next batch of videos
Newbury Park is superb, brutalist architecture and a Festival of Britain plaque that is original.
Barkingside is out, Newbury Park shortly to follow...
Never knew there would be something so interesting about an otherwise kinda dull area. Love your videos.
Short, sweet, to the point and delivered in a charming manner! You earned a sub!
Спасибо за прекрасные презентации, товарищ
Colin Cheesman
Since yours is a very British sounding name,I'd love to know what it means in English.
@@simonwinter8839 "Thanks for the great presentations, comrade."
Try Google translate.
@@nicktecky55 Far too lazy.
I'll see if Mr. Cheesman responds !!
I got as far as thank you for comrade, but couldn’t make out the other two words. I rode on the Moscow Metro in March 1974.
Very cool station. I had never seen it before.Thanks Jago. Come the Revolution Comrade, you will be the minister for transport ! :-)
Thank you Jago Hazzard. This brought forth fond memories of visits on the Moscow Metro. I might pop into Gants Hill for a selfie soon.
Jago, if you had said Gants Hill Station was the terminus of the London Underground in Moscow, I would not have been surprised.
It's a bit silly as a Londoner that I've been to Moscow and used their Metro, but not been to Gants Hill 😁
The design with a separate concourse in the middle is a big improvement, as with so many central London stations it takes an eternity to get off the platform. Indeed on the Victoria Line sometimes the next train will have arrived before you've left the platform. The rebuilt Northern Line platforms at London Bridge show the benefit of the central concourse, they can now handle a lot more passengers safely.
Loving the combo of rail history, station trivia and also the walk about London highlighting non train stuff. Makes me miss London. Sniff. Your channel is a winner, sir. Keep calm and carry on
I can’t get enough of this content. Sheer brilliance.
Thanks!
Cheers for the video, Jago. My grandmother worked in the Plessy factory in the tunnels during the war.
That's Plessey BTW.
Pauly P
Your Grandmother was a true heroine. Just think of the risk of explosion dealing with munitions. Probably the first section of the Underground to impose a smoking 🚬 ban.
And I managed to avoid the word "Hazzard " as a pun !!
@@simonwinter8839 Am not sure there were munitions were there? Thought it was electrical parts. I could well be wrong.
My aunt did the same work, in the same place, for the same company! She was making electrical components for Spitfires (according to my late father, her brother). When she got home at night, her overalls would be so stiff from the lacquer she used on the components, they would stand up on their own when she took them off.
I spent most of my life less than a mile from Gants Hill, and my first job was in a car dealers within sight of the roundabout. The apartment building to the right at 1:29 was built on the site of the dealer's showroom.
@@christopherdean1326 this comment is fantastic, it's this kind of feedback that makes the channel even more valuable
I was fortunate enough to work in Moscow in 2013 and travel on the beautiful metro system. I do remember that it only seemed to have two speeds, stop and go; you had to hold on tight!
St Petersburg metro has some similarly elaborate stations - including carved pillars, chandeliers, statues and tiled murals 😊
Simply marvellous, great work jago
Did you take my "out in the bundu" comment to heart Jago?
Excellent video sir. Very much appreciated. Ta.
A truly magnificent station. Loved this episode
It's always nice when public transport planners aren't shot by murderous despots
Отличный эпизод, товарищ Джаго Хаззард.
I've been to the Moscow metro and it's incredible. You'd absolutely love it there!
Authoritative, Interesting and Classily Humorous (as all of the stuff on this channel). I was in stitches with the closing remarks.
The reddest station on the red line? Such a slight on Redbridge... next stop less than a mile down the A12!
Another great video Jago. Thanks.
"It all comes back to, like so many things in life, Stalin." Brilliant. And, for me at least, arguably very true.
It is amazing what you can learn by listening !
I've never been to this station but it feels so familiar to me. Anyway another early Sunday morning treat. Nice video Jago.
...maybe it been used in a movie or two?
Thank you for this, dear comrade TGW!
Thanks for bringing back good memories. I always liked the station. So much space, when coming home.
What a delight. I never knew Gants Hill was so interesting.
Then again, this is why us nerds watch your channel 😃. Well done sir
Once again sir, you have outdone yourself.
I’ve lived here my whole life and hadn’t considered the station at all special. Now this video has given me a new perspective never thought I’d hear Gants Hill and Canary Wharf been compared! 🤣
Add on to the Barrel Vault subways,the Washington Metro,as those stations are replete with that type of architecture! Also some IRT stations in New York,have barrel vaults,an example,City Hall on the number 6,line,( Lexington Avenue local)! There may be others,so this information is incomplete 😳! Keep it up Jago,your meandering through London,gets more interesting,every week,as you findings of the more obscure,seemingly never stops! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND EFFORT! As it definitely enlightens us,fellow travelers,ha! Red line,ala,Boston!! Who knows,only the Shadow knows,and he ain't talking!! 😇😇😇😇😇😇😀😀😀😀😃😃😀🚉🚉🚉🚉🚉🚉🚉
Spent a very happy half hour here on my way back from a wedding at Valentine's, just along the road. It truly is a stunning bit of design and well worth a visit.
The Russian word for railway station is derived from Vauxhall. But then you knew that.
Beat me to it.
Wow, that was new to me, thanks!
@@dmitrybelyakov: from what I can recall, it was when the Tzar (or perhaps it was his ambassador) were invited to travel on this amazing new form of transport. The Tsar (or ambassador!) wanted to know what to call the thing the train had pulled into, which was Vauxhall station. Somehow it got a bit lost in translation, and instead of answering the question “What is this?”, someone simply said “Vauxhall!” I expect the person answering the question assumed they would know what a station was and figured they meant “what place is this?” And so as no one corrected the mistake, so the word “vokzal” (вокзал) entered the Russian language! 😂
Пока, друг 👍
@Martin R my comment was a bit presumptuous so deleted ...
Slightly off-topic, I've been told by people who have worked there that the word for "lorry" in Oman is Bedford. I suspect a bit like "Biro" or "Hoover" in the U.K. I've been to Moscow and the stations do put Holland Park or Alperton to shame.
Good morning, another gem hidden away under London... thank you for today's fascinating video 👏
When you feel the urge to purge find your salvation in a shiny new metro station.
About a decade ago I and my mum were visiting some of her friends in Moscow. Stations were beautiful and spacious, the trains less so. In my country, we don't have underground, so I didn't know that elsewhere in the world stations are not so spacious or grand as in Moscow.
Excellent work comrade jago, the motherland will reward you apron your return.
Wow! What a delightful station! Yet another gem that I didn’t know existed!
Man, that clock! I'd love to rush-in to get one of those! :)
Privet to you too! When i first visited london i stayed at a cheap hotel at gants hill and i was fascinated! Thanks!
@Jago Hazzard - Having been to Moscow and St Petersburg (Leningrad), I can tell you that some of the Metro stations in both cities have the sliding doors on the platforms as seen on the Tube's Jubilee line (or at least that's where I saw them when I was last in London a few weeks ago).
When I saw the sign at the end that the tubes were cleaned daily with antiviral disinfectant, my first thought was to wonder if it was a sort of firewall to block social media.
I still love your endings. They're so wonderful x3
Thanks!
Another excellent episode comrade Hazzard. Clicking the like button does indeed exploit the underlying contradictions of capitalism and use them to undermine it from within.
Another great video 'as with so much in life... ' lol 😆amusing and informative as ever keep 'em coming 👍🏻🤗
Spasiba for the outro made me snort laugh :DDD
love it.all the classic Jago items
This should have been uploaded 16 days earlier on May Day! While I was student in London during the 1990s, a friend of mine used to stay in Gants Hill, and I used this station a few times. I was always impressed by the architecture, and loved the lamp posts and the benches between the two platforms!
No, it was almost perfect fitting day - first Metro line was opened 15 May 1935
@@konstkaras Wow!
Interesting video. I live in Ipswich and sometimes bring my car into London and park at Gants Hill as it's at the bottom of the A12 and use the Tube straight into the City from here. Wondered why a relatively quiet station was so ornate.
Thank You Comrade Jago
There are three Charles Holden stations on the Hainault branch of the Central Line that are of high quality, drawing on the Moscow Metro model (it is claimed). Wanstead, Redbridge, and Gants Hill. Wanstead and Redbridge have Holden-designed surface buildings with concourses. Gants Hill is below a large roundabout on Eastern Avenue and its concourse is below ground, with only subway entrances on the surface. Wanstead as well as Gants Hill has a vaulted central space between the platforms, though not as impressive; it is similar to Gants Hill though not as grand. Redbridge was built by 'cut-and-cover' being just below the surface, so looks different, but is equally impressive.
All three are well worth a visit, as I found a few years ago. Wanstead's surface-level building needs cleaning and refurbishing to restore its original impressive appearance.
I was very keen to view your Soviet edition of the story of Gants Hill tube station. I lived near it once, for a couple of years, and always thought that it was a fine, generous design. Several decades ago, the pedestrian ramps and the walkways around the underground ticket office area were in very dirty condition, and lots of the small wall tiles fell off. But it was all excellently rebuilt, and you have shown one of the ramps with the multi-coloured mini-tiles now fitted. I always thought that the whole section of line (part of the Central Line) including Wanstead, Redbridge and Newbury Park had very attractive stations.
Thanks for a great video. This station is unique. It looks like many stations in Moscow.💞
Love the puns.
Like many underground stations the name has little to do with the actual area that it's located in. A friend of mine lives right around the corner from GH , and it is called Barkingside. I grew up near Dollis Hill station , more accurately Gladstone Park or Dudden Hill (latter station closed in the 1920s). It could have been renamed' Grunwick ' after the 1970s famous strike and Union recognition dispute at the photo processing factory next door.
Oh do make a vid on the Central Line Plessey avionics works Comrade Jago. Might they have supplied aircraft components to the USSR during the war?
Привет, товарищ (Privet, tovarishch - Hello, Comrade). Most interesting video - you must do a series on the Moscow subway system - I have seen quite a few pictures and the stations look stunning. I have gone into the city of London (driving down the M11) and using Gants Hill (who was Gant?). Never too busy and (at least when I use it) and easy to use. Many thanks.
@0:27 "as with so much in life, it comes down to..." I was expecting you to say "Charles Yerkes"
You're at least the second person to say that and, funny thing is; before Jago (and perhaps Geoff) started making these videos, I doubt if two people on YT had heard of Mr Yerkes.😁
Yerkes does have a substantial role in an upcoming video...
Your videos are absolutely fantastic 👍👍👍😆
You should have uploaded this on 1 May.
Thanks for the history and images of this interesting station - but I'm going to go out on a limb and claim that the basic approach to the station is not really all that revolutionary (ahem); essentially the same approach had already been used by Pick and Holden for the deep-level stations on the Cockfosters extension of the Piccadilly line, where at the foot of the escalators one immediately reaches a passenger concourse with direct access to the platforms on either side (by direct in this context I mean via very short and reasonably wide tunnels, with concourse and platforms all at the same level). The contrast is with the older stations, where once you reach the foot of the escalators (/lifts) you're typically faced with a rabbit-warren of cramped, twisty tunnels and stairways before you reach the actual platforms at an even lower level. At Gants Hill the only real difference from (say) Bounds Green or Southgate is that the concourse is larger and grander, and the access from there to the platforms has been opened up further. In short I think GH (also in a rather different way Redbridge) seems to be an intermediate stage in the development from the Cockfosters extension stations to the sort of thing we get on the Piccadilly Heathrow extension, the Jubilee extension, the Northern Line Battersea extension, and the box-constructed stations on the Elizabeth Line, where the platforms and the concourse have all been amalgamated into effectively a single space. (The mined EL stations seem to me to return more to the Cockfosters extension pattern, except of course much bigger - as someone who grew up using Bounds Green I find they seem pretty familiar in their basic approach.)
PS After a bit more thought (and consultation of plans) I've now realised that the type of station design I was talking about (with passenger concourse at the foot of the escalators and flanking platforms at the same level) is actually older than the Cockfosters extension, since it was first used on the Bakerloo extension from Edgware Road to Queen's Park in 1913-15. All four intermediate stations (Paddington, Warwick Ave, Maida Vale, and Kilburn Park) have this layout. I believe they were the earliest ones to use it, and I expect it's no coincidence that they were also the first stations on the system to be designed with escalator rather than lift access from the start, rather than having escalators retro-fitted.
I've never experienced Gants Hill but a splendid station. Nice to be reminded of the running dogs etc.
I drive over this every day with my 128. Never been down there though
It was so unexpected to hear Jago speaking Russian! And he manages to pronounce better than many others, I must admit!
Thanks! I was a little nervous about it.
xd
I used to live close by to this station and as a five/six year old because I remember walking through the pedestrian concourse underneath the roundabout above to go and from Gearies Infant school. I can still remember the “underground station” smell.
Undergrounds of the world, Unite!
You have nothing to loose but your trains?
Loved the outro, hilarious!
Gants Hill is not the only part of the tube that has Soviet influence. Angle station on the Northern Line somewhat has a Eastern European design from it's very long escalaters and the Soviet style concourse from its squares roof .
“As with so much in life, the answer comes down to Stalin”. It is this sort of whimsical remark that makes these videos unmissable!
Great video. Especially the comments at the end.
Спасибо товарищу за создание этого информативного фильма.