HOLLOWAY ROAD Piccadilly Line
Mainly for those interested in architecture. Some oddities old and new. 
From the Tube turn right and walk as far as Chillingworth Road. Here is the first jaw-dropper - a bright red building with tall classical portico. The former church is now used, among other things, as a retraining centre by Camden Council. Turn left into Liverpool Road, right into Mackenzie Road, past the Children’s Centre, with its imaginative ‘living wall’ of plants, right into Lough Road and then right again into Georges Road - in other words, go round the block! In Georges Road you will find St. James School. This is a somewhat scarey Italianate pile with its foundation date, 1854, displayed on the façade. About to undergo a change of use.
A bit further on, the low green buildings are all that is left of The George Road Works that once supplied electricity to the area. Walk to the end of the road to reach the Holloway Road again. Across the road, a few steps to the right, is the splendid Islington Central Library (1905-7) complete with statues of Spenser and Bacon in niches either side of heavily Mannerist windows. Now go back past the Tube Station for something very different.
Soon you will see an angular heap of stainless steel on the other side of the road. This mysterious and exciting construction is the Graduate Centre of The Metropolitan University of London. It was designed by deconstructivist architect Daniel Libeskind (he of the V&A extension plan that was refused funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund). It was erected in 2004 and is a typical Libeskind creation.
A glance down Hornsey Road a few steps further on reveals more examples of contemporary architecture in the form of colourful flats Keep walking and you will soon see yet more contrasting styles: the restrained Cunard deco lines of the Coronet cinema (now a pub), and the not very restrained French Chateau style of the adjoining block, quietly echoed by a Post-Modern Waitrose. 
Not a great deal of interest after this. A few blocks of Council flats give way to parades of small shops. On the corner of Seven Sisters Road the late Victorian Bathhurst Mansions takes up the French theme again with balustrades and delicate iron railings on the roof However, soon after Parkhurst Road comes the imposing Odeon Cinema. Although its lines clearly indicate a 1930’s building, it is eclectic, having a façade adorned with classical columns, some Art Nouveau tile details and a stripped-down Italianate upper storey. I did go down Parkhurst Road to look at Holloway Prison, but it’s quite a long walk and is now a totally modern red brick fortress, the Victorian buildings having been replaced in the1970’s. Intriguing to some, perhaps, but not everyone’s cup of tea.
Probably the best thing to do at this point is to catch a bus from the Holloway Road to Archway Tube Station the entrance to which is almost completely hidden at the bottom of a tall office block.
Note: you might want to check for Arsenal football fixtures as the Holloway Road Tube Station is one of those used by fans to get to the nearby Emirates Stadium.
MAP
Holloway Road is just one walk from the many to be found at London Tube Rambles. There are architectural gems, beautiful country views, historic places and whacky buildings to be found, even in the most unpromising areas covered by the Greater London Underground stations. Usually the places listed are within a mile of the Tube - often only five minutes walk away. If you reached this as an individual page via a search engine, you might like to go to www.londontuberambles.co.uk to see the other destinations explored . You'll be amazed at what's out there!
© DR2007