The five Claphams

The place with the most stations named after it in London is Acton, with a very impressive seven - North, South, East, West, Town, Central, and Main Line. However, the place in south London with the most stations named after it is Clapham, which comes out with five. I'm always one for a walk around Clapham, so I decided to journey between the five; all in all, albeit with one bus in between, it took me about an hour. 

Clapham South

The first three stations on the trip are all served by the Northern line, though they didn't come about at the same time. Clapham South is the youngest out of its Northern line relatives, having been built as part of the 1926 extension down to Morden, however its name could have been rather different. One candidate was Balham North, for instance, and having walked from Balham to Clapham South before it's indeed quite difficult to tell when one ends and the other begins. Signs that you're entering Clapham, however, are obvious if you're aware of them:

• You're exiting Wandsworth, and entering Lambeth, along the boundary of Clapham Common;
• The A205 makes for a cunning border that indicates Clapham is up ahead.

Clapham South's station was designed by Charles Holden in his classic art deco style - the building is Grade II listed, in fact. The station sits on the Zone 2/3 boundary, the only Clapham to do so, what with the rest all snugly in Zone 2. The surrounding area is occupied with council blocks, and a nearby cylindrical Tesco, and thus has a more residential feel than the rather gentrified remaining sections of Clapham. For this reason, I'd also argue that Clapham South is my favourite area of the five stations, since it has largely managed to avoid the upmarket ingrowth of coffee shops.

From here, I took a lovely stroll through Clapham Common, preferring to not wander alongside the A24. Here resides a bunker which is connected to a large underground sheltering system, which includes the tunnels beneath Clapham South station. They were used during the Second World War - one of eight systems in London - to shelter 8,000 people; after the war, they were also used to house many who sailed on HMS Windrush from the Caribbean in 1948.

     

 

Clapham Common has various stories to tell, stories that I will never get to hear. There's the case of the boots left alone on a park bench, and the Lime bike, neglected to the grass. I was even nearly hit by a bike, what with the walkway doubling as a cycle path - a greener, safer, friendlier and cleaner alternative to CS7. There's also the bandstand which is still used for concerts during the summer, along with various ponds interspersed throughout the park which are used for fishing. At the northern end of the common lie various expensive properties, one once lived in by composer Edvard Grieg, and it becomes clear that you've entered the rather affluent side of Clapham. And not too far away from here lies the next Clapham station, which I reached after 17 minutes of dawdling.

Clapham Common

Originally, Clapham Common was the southernmost terminus on the Northern line, and it has a rather wonderful dome exterior befitting it. It's also famously one of two stations on the Tube with a single platform concourse, with trains in both directions using it. Compared to Clapham South, there are also many more options to escape elsewhere by bus, accessible across an intimidating-looking junction.

The area surrounding it includes the Old Town, a pedestrianised space seemingly consisting of independent shops and restaurants, with one resembling a local cornershop disguised as "always fresh" "chilled" "essentials". I can recommend the Clapham Picturehouse, I went there for a school trip many years ago. Yet it's not like even the rather middle class dogwalkers can't enjoy Pret and Waitrose, because by the station's entrance, they await.

From here to the next station, it's a simple walk along the high street. Peering in through closed nightclub doors, Clapham having a reputation for nocturnal outgoings, or walking past various supermarkets for seven minutes - there isn't much else to do before you get to the next station. 

Clapham North

Here lies the second station on the Tube with a single platform concourse - it shouldn't surprise you that it came along at the same time as Clapham Common. In fact, I'm very lucky that I took a photo of it as the one I took of the exterior isn't particularly great - owing to various people leaving it just as I got there, it's not particularly useful, and I had other stations to visit so I wouldn't be hanging around for too long.

There isn't anything else to note here, aside from two pubs outside the station - the Railway, with its scaled fish along its spine, and Clapham North, yes the pub is really called that. Otherwise, the place has a more gritty vibe, perhaps owing to the railway bridge that passes through the area, which to me serves as a reminder that you're about to head into Stockwell. 

The next station was only two minutes away, and is also not on the Tube:

Clapham High Street

Only two stops away from its terminus, which lies at a different Clapham, the exterior is exceptionally basic. Aside from businesses operating underneath the bridge, the region is purely residential and thus I have nothing to add. Its naming history is far more entertaining:

• Opened in 1867 as part of the almost always mentioned on this blog London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, under the name of Clapham.
• It also took on names like Clapham Road, Clapham Road and North Stockwell (which itself was a station which later closed in 1916), and Clapham Town around this time.  
• In 1937, it was renamed to Clapham, but became Clapham High Street in 1989.

1989 was also the year when the Daily Telegraph called it the worst station in Britain, owing to "filthy paintwork which is covered in graffiti" and litter, amongst other factors. It became part of the Overground in 2012, and is now part of the Windrush line set of routes. 

Originally, I was going to head to the last Clapham by train, since it's quite distant from Clapham High Street - but it was going to arrive in ten minutes. So I started walking, and made my way through the residential streets to the very nearby Wandsworth Road. The station is barely in Wandsworth, indeed I'm not sure if it even is, and it's not to be confused with the very distant Wandsworth Town station. After this I traded walking for the unpleasant New Routemasters of the 87, making my way down to my terminus.

I even beat the train to Wandsworth Town!

Clapham Junction

I don't like Clapham Junction much, it's probably my least favourite station. Nothing about its architecture is remarkable, it's extremely confusing to navigate even if you've used it often, and there are so many bloody platforms too. And yet it's also seemingly the busiest station in Europe by number of trains per hour - over a hundred, in fact. This is due to the sheer number of operators stationed here - South Western Railway run services from Waterloo, Southern work from Victoria, and the Overground has two lines meeting here. The station is famously called Clapham Junction because the designers thought it would be better for marketing, since Clapham was seen as a more pleasant area than Battersea, where the station is actually located. 

From here, I took the train far from Clapham, having lost myself in Clapham Junction yet again. I wouldn't wish such an experience on anyone. However, Clapham itself is a rather wonderful area, and I think it deserves the title of most stations named after it in South London...even if perhaps only three ought to be named for it.

Clapham count: 43 (8% of the post)