Dickinson College Humanities Program in Norwich

Today for our tube exercise, we were sent in search of Marleybone, an area just south of Regents Park.  We initially had trouble finding the Goodge Street tube station, because it is actually on Tottenham, near the intersection with Goodge.  It took us about fifteen minutes total to locate the stop, which is easily withing walking distance.  Emily found the entrances to the tube to be more maze-like than any US subways, but we were successful at navigating and switching lines once underground.  We got off of the tube at Oxford Circus, which is named because of its proximity to an intersection with the same name.  People probably travel to this stop mostly in their leasure time, and especially to shop.  However, we later realized that we could have gotten closer to our destination by taking the rout to Great Portland Street instead.

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Much of the area was devoted to shopping and restaurants.  We could tell that this was an expensive shopping district due to the foreign brand name boutiques, and diverse restaurants and cafes (mostly not fast food).  These shops and restaurants were all on the bottom floors of buildings that fit an older architectural style, that followed a certain uniformity.  We noticed that the area seemed populated with mostly young people, but also individuals and groups that were diverse, age-wise and ethnically. Most of these people there seemed to have time on their hands, since they did not seem to be in a rush.  They seemed more likely to be there for the afternoon than for a short lunch break.

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On one main street in this Marleybone, an entire block was lined with buildings with inscriptions such as “The Institute of Physics,” and “The Institute of Architecture.”  We were not sure whether these were currently in use as schools or parts of a university, but we did find evidence that schools have existed in this area for a long time.  A plaque on a tall red brick building that did not match up exactly with those around it dedicated a school to the father of the woman who founded it in 1863.  We would like to know more about the history in that area.

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