Introduction

For this tour think of your Oyster as a Time Travel card. The tour is based on the Piccadilly Line, coloured dark blue (officially “Corporate Blue”), a deep level line stretching from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Cockfosters, south west through to north east London. It takes between 1 hr 39mins and 1hr 54mins to complete the journey, or about 350 years depending on your perspective!

The Londown Under-ground tour starts at Hounslow West and ends at Kings Cross and takes in Australian sites of interest accessible from the blue timeline. The tour involves some walking from the selected stations which you will alight from. With the inevitable deviations to see other points of interest allow half a day for this tour.

For your time travel tour on the Piccadilly Line you will need to adopt a tube attitude – one which cheerfully accepts an invasion of personal space, a willingness to move seats if someone insists on eating smelly foods next to you and a considerate attitude to all your fellow passengers. Similarly, you need to trust that you will find your way in the sometimes-chaotic reality of the idealised map of the underground. Its ordered lines and angled River Thames are a fantasy – be prepared for twists and turns along corridors, up and down stairs, escalators and lifts. Trust in your ability to follow signs – this is all you must do! Enjoy this quintessential experience of London whilst travelling through time to the Antipodes beneath.

Stop 1 - Hounslow West - 1919 Air race

At Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 station you scan your Oyster Time Travel pass and today’s date briefly flashes on the screen, you are reassured. From Heathrow you alight after three stops for your first Aussie encounter. As you tap out the date of 12^th November 1919 flashes up. Exit the station, turn left and walk along Bath Road. Turn right into Martindale Road and follow this road until it meets Staines Road. As you walk along Martindale you will glimpse on your right the imposing structure of the old Cavalry Barracks, built in 1793 in response to the perceived threat of the French Revolution. The Barracks were served by the previous iteration of Hounslow West, Hounslow Barracks and this station opened in 1884.

At the end of Martindale, turn right and the expanse of Hounslow Heath opens on your left-hand side. Today it has largely reverted to an open public space and nature reserve. There are various memorials scattered around the Heath, marking its role as London’s first aerodrome (1914-1920). Before that it was a military training ground for the nearby barracks and prior to that a notorious hangout for highway robbers. Walking on the Heath today has an isolated eerie feel, no doubt due to the many ghosts there.

On the Heath side of the road, just next to the bus stop, you will find what you are looking for. It is in a rather dilapidated state I’m afraid. If you are an aviation buff with lots of money, perhaps you would consider sponsoring its renovation. The memorial commemorates the first flight to Australia, which departed from Hounslow on 12^th November 1919. As London’s first passenger aerodrome, Hounslow saw the first commercial flights to Paris and was a popular place to go on a joy ride.

With the constant stream of aircraft making their approach to Heathrow Airport overhead it is interesting to reflect on this first successful flight, piloted by the Ross brothers, which took 26 days to complete the journey, winning the prize of £10,000 for the first Australians to do so. The flight stopped at Lyon, Rome, Cairo, Damascus, Basra, Karachi, Delhi, Calcutta, Akyab, Rangoon, Singora, Singapore, Batavia and Surabaya before reaching Darwin at 4.10pm on 10 December 1919.

Other entrants to the race were not so successful. A Sopwith Wallaby, which had departed two weeks earlier crash landed on Bali, although both pilots survived. An Alliance P2 Seabird only got as far as Surbiton where it crashed killing both pilots. A week later a Blackburn Kangaroo took off optimistically, but crash landed at Suda Bay, Crete ending up against the fence of the local mental hospital. Both pilots managed to walk away from the plane with minor injuries.

The award for sheer grit and determination must go to Lieutenant Ray Parer who, with his co-pilot Lieutenant John McIntosh, departed Hounslow Heath on 8 January 1920. Already aware that the Ross brothers had won the prize, they set off in their single-engine plane. If they could manage it, they would at least be the first single engine plane to do so. Well they did manage to get to Australia, but it took them all of 206 days! This earned Lieutenant Parer the moniker “Battling Ray” but at least was awarded a consolation prize of £A 1,000. The achievement was also a good advertisement for the chief sponsor of the project Peter Dawson, a whiskey manufacturer.

The main prize-winning flight, in a Vicker’s Vimy, had an actual flying time of 135 hours 55 minutes (131.8 km/h or 81.9 mph). Today Qantas fly non-stop from London to Perth in just 16 hours 35 minutes (878.66 km/h or 546 mph). A plane lands or takes off every 45 seconds at Heathrow, about 1300 every day. Standing under the flight path, next to the crumbling monument, you can believe this.

I’ve been to cities that never close down
From New York to Rio and Old London Town
But no matter how far or how wide I roam
I still call Australia home

I'm always travelling
I love being free
And so I keep leaving the sun and the sea
But my heart lies waiting over the foam
I still call Australia home

For more information in Londown Under - here

Retrace your steps back to Hounslow West station and get back on the blue timeline, heading east, your direction for the day. It is a long trip from here to your next stop of Earl’s Court.

Out here the Piccadilly Line is primarily above ground. Trains seem to blink as they come the other way, suddenly emerging from the depths under central London to encounter bright sunshine. On gloomier days there is not much difference! By the time you arrive at Earl’s Court you will have read the whole newspaper, listened to a number of complete albums on Spotify and read half your novel. You will also have spent time observing people getting on and off at the many stations. You can entertain yourself imagining what everyone is doing and what kind of lives they lead.

Stop 2  - Earl’s Court – Kangaroo Valley

Your Oyster Time Travel card reads August 30^th, 1958 as you exit Earl’s Court Station. The station wouldn’t have changed much. It is here that the deep-level Piccadilly Line meets the older street level District Line. Exiting the station onto Earl’s Court Road you enter into 50’s London. This is where Australians, and others from the colonies, came to in the 1950’s and through the 60’s. You are heading for where the Overseas Visitors Club was housed. A song pops into your head:

I took a trek down the Earls’ Court Road
And into a pub I was lured
‘Where do you come from?’ said a nosey pom
As I downed the amber fluid
I told him straight ‘I’m Australian, mate!’
‘And I feel like getting plastered’
‘But the beers crook, and the Sheila’s all look like you, you pommy bastard’

This song was sung by Barry Mackenzie, another character invented by Barry Humphries. Trek down the road from the station and on your left, you come to Nevern Place, opposite the Kings Head pub. It was the publican here who, in the 1960’s, coined the phrase ‘Kangaroo Valley’ to describe Earl’s Court. Occupying numbers 1-7 Nevern Place was the Overseas Visitors Club. See if you can find some remnants of the important role this place played for Australian visitors to London through the 1960’s.

For more information in Londown Under - here

Stop 3 – Hyde Park Corner -  War memorial

Wander back along the Earl’s Court Road and get back on your blue line. Descend by lift to your deep-level line and pick up the journey eastwards. Alight at your next scheduled stop Hyde Park Corner. As you tap out your card reads, 11^th November 2003. Cross over the road to the central park around which the traffic circulates. There are numerous war memorials but the key one is the Australian War Memorial. You are here to witness its unveiling. Go up to the wall and examine the thousands of place names, each place a birthplace of those Australians who died in battle. In larger letters are the battles in which Australians fought – Gallipoli, Darwin etc. The memorial is a long grey wave with tiles appearing to slip down, like fallen soldiers.

Whilst here cross to the other side of the park to visit the New Zealand war memorial.

Go back across the corner and down underground again to re-join the Blue line.

For more information in Londown Under - here

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them

Stop 4 – Piccadilly Circus - Captain Cook statue

Surfacing from your subterranean world you arrive in the circular station of Piccadilly Circus. The date of 7^th July 1914 pops up on the screen. It is a beautiful station in the art deco style. You can walk right round. Exit Piccadilly south side and walk down any street that leads to St James Square, then continue south and cross Pall Mall ending up at the Mall. Turn left and on the opposite side of the street is what you are looking for. Captain Cook’s statue.

You will notice that Cook is standing on a rope, a no-no for any mariner. Captain Cook was the explorer who mapped the east coast of Australia and this led directly to the First Fleet going there in 1788 to establish a convict colony and the settlement of the continent. This is a controversial foundation story of Australia. January 26^th is seen as Invasion Day by Aboriginal Australians. Looming behind the statue is Admiralty House where decisions were made which affected Australia’s ‘discovery’ and settlement.

In Marton town not far from the sea
There was a young boy who grew up to be
A Yorkshire man in every way
From Whitby town to Robin Hood's Bay

At the age of 18, a labourer's son
Fit and strong and six foot one
He dreamed of a life on the wide-open sea
And knew that soon that's where he would be

He sailed from Plymouth away from England
Cape Horn, Tahiti then Botany Bay
On the good ship Endeavour and onto wherever
The coast of Australia showed him the way

For more information in Londown Under - here

Retrace your steps back to Piccadilly Circus station and back on to your blue line. Heading east again just one stop to your next destination Leicester Square

Stop 5 - Leicester Square - Establishment Club

As you exit Piccadilly station the date of January 1962 appears. Wander through Soho up to the old Establishment Club in Greek Street and the place where Dame Edna Everage launched her career

It was here that Edna had her rather disastrous debut - the critics gave her a bad review because they thought she was Barry Humphries dressed up as a woman. The Establishment Club was created by Peter Cook and notable performers included Frankie Howerd and Lenny Bruce.

A song by Edna:

Why do we love Australia?
Why does it haunt us still?
We’ve got so much on our plate here
The world wants to emigrate here
And one day I’m afraid they will
But still we all love Australia

Whatever Australia may be
Let our voices swell with pride
We are extremely satisfied
Australia you’re the land for me

The infamous photo of Christine Keeler was taken in the studio above the club. The photographer Lewis Morley went to Australia in 1971 and lived there until his death in 2013.

For more information in Londown Under - here

Walk back through different streets in Soho to re-join your blue line at Leicester Square. Go just one stop again and alight at Covent Garden.

Stop 6 - Covent Garden - Royal Opera House

Exiting Covent garden station, the date of June 1926 appears. In a similar vein to your last stop another mega Australian star, Dame Nellie Melba performed at the Royal Opera House. Her final performance was in June 1926. Whilst Ms Melba struggled to gain recognition initially, she won audiences over with her obvious talent and antipodean charm.

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home
A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there
Which seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere
Home, home, sweet sweet home
There's no place like home, there's no place like home.

For more information in Londown Under - here

Walk back to Covent Garden and get back on the now familiar Piccadilly Line. Travel two stops to Russel Square. Your stop to access the British Museum.

Stop 7 – Russell Square - Gweagal shield

Exiting at Russell Square a date of 29^th April 1770 appears. Walk through Russell Square and join the queue to go through screening for museum entrance. Once inside the Museum, head for the large room on your right. Down on the left-hand side you will come to objects from the Pacific and Oceania. You will see Aboriginal shields and boomerangs. One shield has particular significance.

[Story of Gweagal shield purported to be that taken by Captain Cook and kept in the museum since then. An exhibition with the shield and other artefacts toured Australia and there were many protests form Aboriginal people.

It was 1770 and the Gweagal people
Saw a strange white object floating on the waters of a calm bay
Watching as they come closer and closer to their shores
Closer and closer to their shore
White those men, Cook and crew
They embark and approach the hunter men
Spear and shields ready, spear and shields ready
In response they point their guns
Warra warra wake o hara wake, warra warra wake o hara wake
This is our country you not be alarmed
Warra warra wake oh hara wake, warra warra wake oh hara wake
This is our country you not be alarmed
Bring back the Gweagal shield the warrior cried today
Bring back the Gweagal shield to its tribal ways
Bring back the Gweagal shield, descendants of the red warriors cried today

For more information in Londown Under - here

Walk back to Russell Square (or to Holborn) and re-join your blue line. Travel two stops to King’s Cross.

Stop 8 – Kings Cross - Joseph Banks

Exiting King’s Cross station, a date of February 1743 appears. Exit the station onto Euston Road and cross it. Walk west along the road and then turn left into Argyle Street and locate number 30. This was the birthplace of Joseph Banks in February 1743. Banks travelled with Cook on his second voyage which mapped the East coast of Australia in 1770. He recommended Botany Bay as the site for the first Australian penal colony and acted as a key advisor to the government in the early days of the colony at Sydney Cove.

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Finish your tour with an Aussie meal at Granger’s – back to the present!

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The Land Down Under

Traveling in a fried-out combie
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said

Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover

Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six-foot-four and full of muscles
I said, "do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich
And he said

I come from a land down under
Where beer does flow and men chunder
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover, yeah

End of Tour