When is a church like a ship?

Loads of people walk past this building and don't really pay attention to it...

It's the Willesden and St Marylebone Sea Cadet Corps...
http://units.ms-sc.org/willesden/Default

More on the Sea Cadets here:
http://londonarea.ms-sc.org/Home

The amazing thing about this building is that it's designed like a church, is corrogated iron and concrete blocks, it's listed, and the interior defies all imagination.

The interior of the building is laid out like the exterior of a ship! TS Bicester!

It's true - if you are passing and there's a fete or anything on do do do take the chance to pop in - it's Cambridge Road, just up from Kilburn Park Tube station...

Inside the tube station...

I'm not sure that when Kilburn Park tube was built in 1915 that the impression of a hobbitt hole was intended.

But the architecture has an amazing level of charm - due to the cavernous tunnelling effect of the round.

Of course what is evident from these pics and day to day use of the station is the need for a serious lick of paint - at first I thought the station had been prepared for a new paint job - but nothing has happened for so long.

I have blogged about the station earlier on http://474towin.blogspot.com/2008/02/just-how-early-are-underground.html but the charm of this station continues to ooze out.

I can't help but think that there is a case for some kind of florist or grocers or fruit stall outside the tube station, but not sure at all how these things get made to happen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilburn_Park_tube_station

http://www.ltmcollection.org/images/webmax/34/9884934.jpg

I've been told by a mate of mine that you need permission to take pictures inside tube stations so enjoy the sedition whilst it lasts. :-)

Just how early are the underground extensions?

I've been using Kilburn Park tube station on the Bakerloo Line quite a lot since I moved and the most striking things about it is the tiling and the colour.

Having lived and worked in Stoke-on-Trent I have a very strong sense of admiration for the colours and types of glazing having seen something of the production methods and skill that went into this sort of process.

There is also the control box at the platform join at the bottom of the escalators, but the colours of the tiling are really strong and vibrant.

The control box is clearly of-a-type - it reminds me of the benches (was plural now singular) on Belsize Tube platform northbound), similar to the office at the top of Kilburn Park escalator on the righ as you come up and was probably the standard mahogany finish for the London underground in this era and that was maintained throughout and since.

Kilburn Park Tube is much earlier than many realise - it feels 30's, looks earlier (perhaps 20's) and in fact is very late edwardian (architecturally at least!).

The section from Paddington to Kilburn Park was opened on 30th January 1915 and the further extension from Kilburn Park to Queen's Park opened on 10th May 1915.