How to avoid the Tube in London

Simon Calder on the alternative ways to get around

Inaction stations: most Londoners are taking heed of the warning not to travel unless absolutely necessary (Simon Calder)

Until the world turned strange in 2020, one of the shining glories of London was the Underground: not just the world’s first subterranean railway network, but also the most extensive.

While the term “the Tube” strictly applies only to the deeper, narrower lines, from the Northern to the Jubilee, it is colloquially used to describe the whole mighty network.

The ultimate tribute was paid in diaries, which older readers may recall were popular in the 20th century. From Penzance to Thurso, anyone who bought a diary for the year ahead could find Harry Beck’s cartographical miracle printed inside.