London Underground anagram map is a parody map of the London Underground with the station and line names replaced with anagrams. The anagram map was circulated on the web in February 2006.
The map was featured on thousands of blogs before a Transport for London lawyer requested that the map be removed. It inspired some people to create anagram versions of their hometown's metro system with similar legal repercussions. The fact that it was appreciated internationally, despite some not knowing the stations behind the anagrams, is a recognition of Harry Beck's iconic Tube map design.[ citation needed ]
The map was created by 'Barry Heck' using a photoshopped Tube map and an online anagram generator, on 7 February 2006. It was originally shown in a thread on the Thingbox chat forum and, after being submitted by one of the site owners, appeared on BoingBoing a couple of days later receiving 31,000 hits within the next six days. (The name Barry Heck is a pseudonym chosen because it is an anagram and spoonerism of Harry Beck.)
The idea came from The Great Bear, a 1992 artwork by UK artist Simon Patterson on display at Tate Modern in London, but it was not until Dorian Lynskey's music genre tube map appeared in a newspaper in 2006 that Barry Heck decided to make it.
In 2000, Scottish artist Mark Campbell created the Glasgow Anagram Tour [1] which involved a large light box anagram map of Glasgow and Pop-out Maps with anagrams of Glasgow's cultural establishments which were for sale to commemorate Scotland's Year of the Artist 2000.
Transport for London claimed the image was a copyright infringement and had one of their lawyers ask for the map to be removed from the web. The site hosting it complied and it was removed on 22 February 2006 with the action being reported on BoingBoing again.
Transport for London also censored other websites that hosted the image such as the www.geofftech.co.uk site. But an online backlash against TFL's lawyers meant that many other websites made mirrors of Geoff's page, thus resulting in more copies of tube map "mash-ups" on the internet.
The owner of the site – Geoff Marshall, was interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live by Chris Vallance about "map-mashing" (making parody maps) in which the London Underground anagram map was discussed. This was broadcast on 14 March 2006.
BoingBoing has reported that Washington, Toronto, Amsterdam, Chicago, Oslo, Boston, New York City, Atlanta, Sydney, and Vienna had anagram maps created for their metro systems, inspired by the London map.
The anagram map was featured in thousands of blogs and its progress can be tracked at Technorati.com. Because of similarities with Neverwhere it was mentioned in the letters page of author Neil Gaiman's blog, with his fanbase ensuring over 1,700 others linked to it. But nearly 21,000 other blogs linked to BoingBoing's article alone.
Blackwall and Hornchurch stations could not be properly anagrammatized and instead were split into their component words and reversed to produce "Wall Black" and "Church Horn" respectively. Burch Chow/Chow Burch (from the gynaecological Burch procedure) was rejected as an anagram for Bow Church, because of a dislike for uncommon proper nouns, leaving it reversed as "Church Bow". Bank was anagrammatized into 'nabk', the edible berry of the Ziziphus lotus tree.
Not all derivatives for other cities followed this pattern. For Toronto, the impossible stations were named after streets, so the namesake's designation as "Avenue" or "Street" was appended before anagramming (Queen became Queen Street became Queerest Ten). [2]
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The Tube map is a schematic transport map of the lines, stations and services of the London Underground, known colloquially as "the Tube", hence the map's name. The first schematic Tube map was designed by Harry Beck in 1931. Since then, it has been expanded to include more of London's public transport systems, including the Docklands Light Railway, London Overground, the Elizabeth line, Tramlink, the London Cable Car and Thameslink.
Oval is a London Underground station in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is on the Northern line between Kennington and Stockwell stations and is in Travelcard Zone 2. It opened on 18 December 1890 as part of the City and South London Railway and is named after The Oval cricket ground, which it serves.
Arsenal is a London Underground station located in Highbury, London. It is on the Piccadilly line, between Holloway Road and Finsbury Park stations, in Travelcard Zone 2. Originally known as Gillespie Road, it was renamed in 1932 after Arsenal Football Club, who at the time played at the nearby Highbury Stadium. It is the only tube station named directly after a football club. Although Highbury Stadium closed in 2006, the station retains its name and is still used by spectators attending matches at Arsenal's nearby Emirates Stadium.
Elephant & Castle is a London Underground station in the London Borough of Southwark in south London. It is on the Bank branch of the Northern line between Borough and Kennington stations. It is also the southern terminus of the Bakerloo line and the next station towards north is Lambeth North. The station is in both Travelcard Zones 1 and 2. The Northern line station was opened in 1890 by the City and South London Railway (C&SLR) while the Bakerloo line station was opened sixteen years later by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway (BS&WR). There is an out-of-station interchange with the nearby Elephant & Castle National Rail station.
St. John's Wood is a London Underground station located in St John's Wood in the City of Westminster, north-west London. It was opened in 1939 as a stop on the Bakerloo line. Today St. John's Wood is served by the Jubilee line, between Swiss Cottage and Baker Street stations and is in Travelcard Zone 2. Essentially, St. John's Wood station is a local station with the nearby Metropolitan Line bypassing this station. A journey between St. John's Wood and Baker Street typically takes less than three minutes.
Stockwell is a London Underground station in Stockwell in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is located on the Northern line between Oval and Clapham North stations, and on the Victoria line between Brixton and Vauxhall stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 2.
Covent Garden is a London Underground station serving Covent Garden and the surrounding area in the West End of London. It is on the Piccadilly line between Leicester Square and Holborn stations and is in Travelcard Zone 1. The station is at the corner of Long Acre and James Street and the street-level concourse is a Grade II listed building.
Barbican is a London Underground station situated near the Barbican Estate, on the edge of the ward of Farringdon Within, in the City of London in Central London. It has been known by various names since its opening in 1865, mostly in reference to the neighbouring ward of Aldersgate.
Henry Charles Beck was an English technical draughtsman who created the first diagrammatic London Underground Tube map in 1931. Beck drew the diagram after being laid off by the Signalling Department of Underground Electric Railways of London.
Arnos Grove is a London Underground station located in Arnos Grove in the London Borough of Enfield, London. It is on the Piccadilly line between Bounds Green and Southgate stations and is in Travelcard Zone 4. The station opened on 19 September 1932 as the most northerly station on the first section of the Piccadilly line extension from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters. It was the terminus of the line until services were further extended to Oakwood on 13 March 1933. When travelling from east of Barons Court and through Central London, Arnos Grove is the first surface station after the long tunnel section of the Piccadilly line. The station has four platforms which face three tracks.
Boston Manor is a London Underground station at the boundary of the boroughs of Hounslow and Ealing. The station is situated on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line, between Osterley and Northfields stations, in Travelcard Zone 4.
Boing Boing is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twice won the Bloggies for Weblog of the Year, in 2004 and 2005. The editors are Mark Frauenfelder, David Pescovitz, Carla Sinclair, and Rob Beschizza, and the publisher is Jason Weisberger.
Mark Ovenden F.R.G.S. is a broadcaster and author who specialises in the subjects of graphic design, cartography and architecture in public transport, with an emphasis on underground rapid transit.
Art on the Underground, previously called Platform for Art, is Transport for London's (TfL) contemporary public art programme. It commissions permanent and temporary artworks for London Underground, as well as commissioning artists to create covers for the Tube map, one of the largest public art commissions in the UK.
A transit map is a topological map in the form of a schematic diagram used to illustrate the routes and stations within a public transport system—whether this be bus, tram, rapid transit, commuter rail or ferry routes. Metro maps, subway maps, or tube maps of metropolitan railways are some common examples.
StarShipSofa is a science fiction audio magazine and podcast from the United Kingdom hosted by Tony C. Smith. It publishes audio short fiction, commentary, essays, and anthologies of transcribed material. StarShipSofa was the first ever podcast to be both nominated for and to win a Hugo Award for Best Fanzine. It was also nominated for Best Fan Podcast in the 2007 Parsec Awards. StarShipSofa is free directly from the web site and is available for subscription and automatic download through iTunes.
Lawrence Edward Welz is an American cartoonist who created Cherry Poptart. He was an early contributor to the underground comix movement in the San Francisco area during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He graduated from Bakersfield High School.
Labyrinth is a 2013 artwork by the British artist Mark Wallinger which marks the 150th anniversary of the London Underground.
Geoffrey Marshall is an English video producer, performer, and author from London who runs a YouTube channel which is predominantly transport-themed. Born in London, he spent almost four years living in the United States between 2006 and 2009, and now resides in south London.