We love this: the Tube map as redrawn by a 54-year-old systems analyst from Blackpool. James Wannerton tastes words when he reads or hears them thanks to a neurological condition called synaesthesia that links senses which are normally experienced separately.
He first noticed each underground station created a distinct taste when travelling to school with his mother from the family home near Willesden, north London. And he’s spent the last 50 odd years cobbling it all together.
“It is incredibly consistent. These tastes and textures never change,” he says. “All I did was traverse the underground lines. It was very natural and involuntary; when the taste popped up I made a note of it.”
So what does Kentish Town smell of? Erm, a fish finger sandwich. Kentish Town West? Fish finger and chocolate sandwich. Tufnell Park? Sliced beef. Gospel Oak? Tomato ketchup. Archway? Yorkshire pudding. Camden? Dolly Mixtures (he also experiences this taste at Caledonian Road overground). And Chalk Farm? Love Hearts.
But Upper Holloway tasting of fuzzy felt and ketchup? C’mon already…
What does your nearest station taste of?
