Meet Jago – Favourite Station – Maida Vale
I’ve started a new branch of the Tube Mapper project exploring people’s favourite stations or stops on the London Underground Tube Map. I meet people at their favourite stations, taking photos and interviewing them to find out what makes it so special.
Meet Jago Hazzard, a YouTuber known for exploring trains, railways and London history. His favourite station is Maida Vale.
Why is it their favourite station?
Maida Vale opened on 6th June 1915 and is served by the Bakerloo line. This Grade II listed station isn’t actually a Leslie Green design, as many may assume. It was designed by Stanley Heaps, who took the style and dialled it up to 11, making it more ornate, more detailed and, in Jago’s words, serene.
It’s also Paddington Bear’s “local” station. For the first Paddington Bear live action film, the station was renamed Westbourne Oak, a combination of Westbourne Park and Royal Oak, but the visuals were filmed here at Maida Vale.
When the station opened during the First World War, it was staffed entirely by women due to a manpower shortage, marking a remarkable chapter of the history of the London Underground.
And then there’s the roundel. Originally created so station names wouldn’t be drowned out by advertising, Maida Vale’s version is often considered one of the most artistic on the network.
