From that first smoky ride beneath the Marylebone Road, the London Underground has evolved into a labyrinthine network of seven deep-level tube lines and four subsurface routes processing up to four million journeys a day. Londoners use it to commute into work, visitors to dip in and out of central London as quickly possible, without giving it a second thought.
But next time you sit scanning the ads for cold cures and language schools between glancing anxiously at your watch, let your eyes slip over to the Tube map. Consider its farther reaches, and promise yourself that this will be the year you go there.
For the Underground, which spans 34 miles at its widest point, reaches out to some of the south-east of England's finest open spaces – and despite the fare increases just announced, it's still good value. For just £3.90, outside peak times, an Oyster Card will whisk you on the Metropolitan Line from Charing Cross to Amersham in Buckinghamshire for the Chiltern Hills. Epping (for the Forest) on the Central Line is even cheaper, while the Northern Line can have you on Hampstead Heath 25 minutes after boarding at Charing Cross for just £2.10. Richmond on the District Line is perfect for river strolling and shopping as well as being on the doorstep of Richmond Park.
In your new-found spirit of freedom, consider another thing – that the Tube is also an aesthetic construct that tells us a lot about ourselves. Sam Mullins, the co-author of a new book on the subject aptly titled Underground, reckons that "London's probably been more shaped by the Underground, both economically and culturally, than almost any other agency".
Mullins is the director of the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, the main celebrant of the event it is calling LU150. Permanent exhibits – including an original steam loco – chart the history and evolution of the Underground. But, as museum officials point out, logistics tell only half the story. The Tube is also a people's art gallery – due largely to two monosyllabic heroes of the pre-war era: Beck and Pick.
Harry Beck devised the unimprovable diagrammatic map, a 20th-century design classic. Frank Pick (together with Lord Ashfield, the first chairman of London Transport) commissioned artists to create the unmistakable visual branding: preeminently, the circle-and-bar "roundel" and the clean Johnston typeface that are still copied and parodied the world over.
"Pick and Ashfield laid down a real cutting-edge design that has had a huge impact on the way London looks, and thinks about itself," Mullins said. "They had a vision for the civilising influence of public transport on London."
The artists, architects and sculptors who embellished the Underground – producing beautiful station designs, tile patterns, sculptures, light fittings, benches and poster art – were handing down a rich legacy. And this attention to detail has been swooped upon by the blogging generation, whose bulletins from the nether reaches of the Underground are becoming the 21st-century equivalent of Betjeman's billets doux.
Ian Jones, a 36-year-old web editor, blogs brilliantly at 150greatthingsabouttheunder
ground.com. One of his posts – on the fake houses at 23 and 24 Leinster Gardens that hide an old steam vent dating from before the full electrification of the Tube in 1905 – was viewed 100,000 times in one day. When we met for a chat and a stroll around central London stations, Jones pointed out a simple example of what inspires him: the Art Deco flourishes either side of the clock in St James's Park station.
Meanwhile, the millions who have to use it day in, day out are apt to feel less charitably disposed towards a system that can be unreliable, overcrowded and unbearably hot in summer. "Londoners have this marvellous ambivalence, don't they, about the Tube?" said Mullins, and proceeded to imitate a commuter moaning about his latest journey. "But if someone from outside says the same thing, they'll fight for it."
The London Underground may be a monster, sclerotic and tangle-limbed, but it's our monster – so say Londoners to the rest of Britain and so says Britain to the rest of the world. As it reaches a significant milestone, it would be churlish not to celebrate by buying an Oyster card to ride.
Anniversary events
The London Transport Museum (pictured above; 020 7379 6344; ltmuseum.co.uk), on Covent Garden Piazza (nearest tube Covent Garden), is open daily 10am-6pm except Friday (11am-6pm): adults £13.50, concessions £10, under 16s free. Keep up to speed with anniversary events through the museum's website. The following are confirmed:
January 13 and 20
Re-run of first Underground service (sold out).
January 21, February 25, March 25
Three talks by the authors of Underground: How the Tube Shaped London (see What to read).
February 15-October 27
Poster Art 150, a celebration of vintage London Underground advertising.
April 8-12 and October 28-November 1
Behind the scenes at the London Transport Museum Depot in Acton, with talks and workshops.
April 13-14 and November 2-3
Annual open weekends at the LT Depot. See the restored Metropolitan steam train. Book through the museum website.
What to read
Underground: How the Tube Shaped London (Allen Lane) by Sam Mullins et al; Underground, Overground (Profile Books) by Andrew Martin; The Subterranean Railway (Atlantic Books) by Christian Wolmar.
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