Bob the Brit

If you’ve ever travelled on the London Underground, you will be familiar with the phrase “Mind The Gap”. The curved nature of some station platforms means that the end of some carriages can be a slight distance from the platform edge, and you really don’t want to fall between the two.

The recordings were made in 1950, the announcer was Oswald Laurence, but they were replaced with more up to date, electronic recordings early in the new century.

Sadly, Oswald passed away in 2003 and his widow – Margaret McCollum – contacted Transport for London to request a copy of her late husband’s recording.

After becoming aware of the moving history, the company decided to restore the announcement at the stop near where Margaret lives, at the Embankment stop of Northern Line, where all passengers can listen today and hear Oswald Laurence’s voice.

Margaret can often be seen sitting on the platform listening to her late husband’s voice, it’s said that she visits every day.