WORKMEN DISCOVER POSTER ART IN LONDON'S UNDERGROUND

FROM THE GLOOM OF A LONDON UNDERGROUND PASSAGEWAY AN ASTONISHING ARRAY OF POSTERS EMERGES TO PROVIDE A WELCOME BURST OF COLOUR AND A FASCINATING INSIGHT INTO THE CAPITAL'S PAST. WORKMEN ONLY CAME ACROSS THE POSTERS A FEW WEEKS AGO WHEN THEY CARRIED OUT RENOVATION WORKS AT NOTTING HILL TUBE STATION IN WEST LONDON. IN THE 1950s ELEVATORS WERE TAKEN OUT AT THE STATION TO BE REPLACED BY ESCALATORS. THE POSTERS WERE ALL FOUND IN AN OLD PASSAGEWAY LEADING TO AN ELEVATOR. HOWARD COLLINS, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER FOR LONDON UNDERGROUND SAID: 'THIS IS A TRULY INCREDIBLE FIND. HERITAGE IS A HUGE PART OF LONDON UNDERGROUND'S IDENTITY AND THESE 1950s VINTAGE POSTERS SHOW WHAT A RICH HISTORY THE LONDON TUBE HAS HAD. THESE FASCINATING TREASURES WERE FOUND WHILE WORK WAS BEING CARRIED OUT TO UPGRADE THE STATION FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. UNTIL WE CAN FIND A WAY TO REMOVE THE POSTERS WITHOUT DAMAGING THEM, THESE DELICATE HISTORICAL PIECES WILL REMAIN WHERE THEY WERE FOUND. WE WILL ENSURE THAT THEY ARE KEPT SECURE AND WELL-LOOKED AFTER.' THE POSTERS ALSO SHOW THE STYLE OF ART USED TO GRAB THE ATTENTION OF PASSERBY. THE 50s DEVELOPED ITS OWN ADVERTISING STYLE WHICH FOLLOWED ON FROM THE EARLIER ART DECO MOVEMENT AND AWAY FROM THE STRIDENT PROPAGANDA PUT OUT DURING WORLD WAR II. IT ALSO GAVE ADVERTISERS AND DESIGNERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO DRAW THE PUBLIC'S ATTENTION TO CONSUMER GOODS AND CINEMATIC TREATS. NOTTING HILL IS WELL KNOWN TODAY BY FILM GOERS AS THE SETTING FOR THE 1999 FILM OF THE SAME NAME STARRING HUGH GRANT AND JULIA ROBERTS. THE DATES OF THE FILMS ADVERTISED INDICATES THAT THEY WERE PUT UP IN THE LATE 1950s.