17 February, 2011

An alphabetical challenge

I've decided to attempt a self-devised London Underground-based mission.

Barring unforeseen developments, tomorrow - Friday 18 February - I'm going to try and visit, in order, a station for each letter of the alphabet.

Seeing as there are no stations beginning with the letters J, X, Y or Z, I've had to come up with vaguely-related alternatives. J, for example, will be covered by a visit to St John's Wood, while Z will have to suffice with Regent's Park, aka London Zoo. If anyone can think of better ones, speak up.

The challenge should be manageable in one day. I did consider attempting a stricter mission, involving visiting, in order, the first A of all the As, the first B of all the Bs and so on. This, however, would have required me to cross the entire Underground network from one end to the other several times in a row (Dagenham East to Ealing Broadway to Fairlop, for example) and taken at least 16 hours.

As it is, I still have to visit zone 6 thanks to the location of the only station beginning with I.

There are also some unkind diversions courtesy of the paucity of Ds and Vs.

But unless I run into trouble of a kind that adds up to hours of delays or station closures (you better damn well stay open tomorrow, Ickenham!), I should complete the challenge and be back home before the Underground network goes to bed.

By way of proof of my journey, I will take photos outside each of the stations, which I'll also be posting on Twitter as the day unfolds.

The fun, or possibly the foolishness, begins tomorrow at breakfast time at Archway.

1 comment:

Geofftech said...

i think the 'record' for doing this is about 5 or 6 hours. you should get round no problem...