Mind the Gap...

Apr 24, 2017

Now then, if I ask you students of English both past and present :”What do you know about the London Underground system (The Tube) invariably one of you will say to me: “Mind The Gap”,

which is often heard when the train doors open. All but one of the stations have the same recorded announcement to warn passengers that the track is curved but the platform is straight and so there is a gap between platform and carriage. The exception is Embankment station on the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line. Here the announcement is the original 1960s version by Oswald Lawrence.

Oswald died in 2007 but his widow Margaret has often travelled to Embankment just to hear her husband’s voice. However, a year or so ago, they replaced Oswald with the modern recording. Margaret was so upset that London Transport reinstated the 1960’s announcement of Oswald Lawrence saying “ Mind The Gap”.

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