The Real London Underground Map

The London Underground map is perhaps the most iconographic symbol of London, appearing on everything from tea towels to boxer shorts to, well, London Underground maps. Designed in 1933 by Henry Beck, the map was a revolutionary view of subterranean London by presenting stations not in the awkward mass in which they actually sat, but in a tidy and easily readable, colour-coded grid.
Thing of beauty though it may be, the map is not without its flaws. Since it doesn't accurately depict the actual street-level topography of London, it can be quite confusing for tourists (and thus quite amusing for natives.) In his book Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson points out that:

An out-of-town visitor using Mr Beck's map to get from, say, Bank Station to Mansion House, would quite understandably board a Central Line train to Liverpool Street, transfer to the Circle Line and continue for another five stops to Mansion House. At which point they would emerge 200 yards down the street from the location they'd started at.

And for all you Londoners rolling your eyes at this entry because you know all this, we present to to you 50 Things You Didn't Know About the London Underground. So there.

THE MORPHING MAP

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