South Kentish Town

[Deleted]

Am I right in thinking that some years ago a chap called Basil Green got stranded at South Kentish Town on the Northern Line, by some accident where the doors accidentally opened (I know this doesn't seem likely at an unlit station with no platform), and tried getting his way out by going up the emergency stairs with the aid of a lighter? I got told that he eventually flagged down a passing train with a newspaper. Is this true?

[DescendingSadlyguest]

I highly doubt a Tube driver would stop for a man in the tunnels with a newspaper...then again with it being such a rare event who knows?

The bit about the emergency stairs doesn't seem to farfetched though.

[Deleted]

I think I've heard something about this elsewhere and it was a very long time ago, not long after the station closed, so presumably still with platform intact. And it was a newspaper set alight that attracted the driver's attention!

[Deleted]

Bloody hell didn't thnk the story would be that old. SKT closed 81 years ago!

[q8]

SOUTH KENTISH TOWN
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Located between Kentish Town and Camden Town, its surface entrance is situated on the corner between Castle Road and Kentish Town Road. The station was originally to be named Castle Road, with this name being painted on the tiling at platform level, but the name was changed shortly prior to opening and the name on the tiling covered up.

Opened with the rest of the section of the line in June 1907, the station was not well used due to its proximity to Kentish Town, Camden Town and also due to the regular trams that ran on the road on which it was sited. It was closed during a power station strike on 5th June 1924 and never reopened.

During the Second World War, the lift shaft was blocked, the platform was removed, a wall was erected between the platform area and the track and a floor erected to make the station a two-story air raid shelter. All this was removed later since they restricted the speed trains could pass through the station and today the station area can clearly be seen through the windows of a passing train - if you're lucky you can still catch a glimpse of the original tiling, though now covered by grime!

A passenger accidentally alighted from a train at South Kentish Town soon after closure and although he soon realised his mistake and got back on the train, this inspired a published short story which expanded the story somewhat and told of a Mr. Brackett, who was trapped in the dark, deserted station for four days having stepped off a train stopped by a red signal.

When morning came he started on his hands and knees to crawl,
And made a lot of progress 'till his forehead hit a wall.
Then he sat and chewed a poster which was advertising "port",
But the paste upon it proved a most unsatisfying sort.
All day upon the platform Mr. Brackett quietly fumed,
His mind was full of pictures of the day he'd be exhumed;
(T.W., T.O.T. Staff Magazine)

[Deleted]

Where have I got Basil Green from? I'm certain I've read that somewhere .

[q8]

Me too Alex, but I have spent all night searching the net to no avail.

[Nick Booth]

q8 said:

Me too Alex, but I have spent all night searching the net to no avail.

You're thinking of Basil Brush.....

[john]

this story was include in a book called railway ghosts by j.a.brooks published in 1985by j published by jarrold publishing Norwich ISBN 0-7117-0245-4 but i would imagine it would be out of print by now but you never know.
it is by sir john betjeman

[john]

sorry about mess but to add yes it was a basil green

[q8]

You're thinking of Basil Brush.....
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Boom Boom !!!!!!

[Tubeboy]

Visited south kentish Town a couple of weeks ago, found no mr Green, or mr Brackett or indeed Basil Brush!. found some of the old tiling intact and it was extremely dirty, loved every minute of it. Even went on the platforms, well, where they used to be! This area is now covered in materials [it is used as a storage area] and there is a lot of water ingress around the station which is being currently remedied.

[mowat]

It was most likley a gate stock train if somone got off by accident, there's not much chance of this happning on air door stock is there.

[Deleted]

OK. The full story (or something approaching it) is in London's Disused Underground Stations by JE Connor (Capital Transport, 2003).

South Kentish Town opened on 22 June 1907. It was closed on 5 June 1924 because of a strike at Lots Road power station, and never re-opened.

It is said that, not long after closure, a train was stopped by a signal and a passenger got off. It seems he had little trouble in stopping a following train. (And, yes, it would have been gate stock in 1924.)

The story entered Underground folklore, probably improving each time it was told. The April 1933 issue of the staff magazine T.O.T had the poem quoted above about a Mr Brackett who got off a train of Standard Stock (which would have been difficult) and was stranded in the station for a week, eventually being rescued when he set light to some old posters and attracted a driver's attention.

On 9 January 1951, John Betjeman broadcast a story on BBC Home Service about a Basil Green, an income tax official, who got off a train by accident and could not get any following train to stop. After the end of train service, he was found by some gangers who accused him of trespassing.

And apparently there was a television program in 1997 which claimed that the whole story, complete with embellishments, was true.

The only thing missing seems to be Basil Brush. But, as there are foxes roaming around Highbury, it would not surprise me if Basil is lurking somewhere in Kentish Town. Boom, boom.