South Kentish Town tube station

South Kentish Town station stands on Kentish Town Road in north London, a short walk from Castle Road. It opened in 1907 on the High Barnet branch of the Northern line and closed in 1924 after only seventeen years. The surface building survives, now a retail unit with a yoga studio above. Inside, two lift-shafts and a spiral staircase show the original design by the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway. During the Second World War the station became an air-raid shelter during the Blitz. The station is worth the journey for its unusual history and the story by John Betjeman. In 1951 Betjeman wrote a short story about a passenger trapped in the disused station, based on a real incident when a train stopped and opened its doors by mistake. From 2021 the building has housed three escape rooms that use its heritage as both a former Underground station and a wartime shelter. The Leslie Green tiles inside still carry traces of the original Castle Road name, painted over before opening. A visitor finds the station building on Kentish Town Road near its junction with Castle Road. Inside the retail unit, the lift-shafts and spiral staircase remain from the 1907 design. Above, the yoga studio occupies the upper floors of the former station. The escape rooms below recreate scenes from Betjeman’s story and the station’s wartime use. Outside, the quiet street and surviving architecture recall a time when the station served far fewer passengers than planned.