The Brick Development Association (BDA) have announced their support of the Purple Frog Tube Challenge to be held on 9th November in aid of Sue Ryder Care.

Their sponsorship of one of the teams trying to visit 270 London Underground stations in 1 day neatly brings together modern day fundraising challenges and Victorian underground brick architecture.

During the day, 10 teams will travel through the entire London Underground network exiting each and every station to take photos of the entrance as proof of check in. The Brick Development Agency will also be setting a secret challenge for their team to complete during the day. Let’s all hope it isn't to count how many bricks were used in the entire tunnel network!

To see the progress of the teams on the day visit the challenge page www.facebook.com/purplefroguk.

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The story of the London Underground began with Charles Pearson, the first in a succession of underground visionaries. It was he who first proposed the notion of ‘trains in drains’ in 1845, when the railway was a relatively new invention and his persistence helped persuade the House of Commons to approve a bill in 1853 to build a subterranean railway between Paddington and Farringdon. Excavation began in 1860, with a shallow trench dug and brick walls built beneath Euston Road and then covered over.

This became the initial route for the Metropolitan line and was instantly hailed a success, with 11.8 million passengers (the population of London was about 3.2 million) braving the foul, smoke-filled conditions in its first year. As the Metropolitan expanded westwards, it opened up new areas for Londoners to move to, and the overcrowded city slowly started to expand.

The success of the Metropolitan led to the building of the District Line along the Victoria Embankment, and then the creation of a Circle Line to link the two. The completion of the Circle Line marked the last of the sub-surface lines, built by the simple, cut-and-cover method. Advances in tunneling and the use of electrified rails now allowed for the building of deep-level lines that gave birth to the phrase ‘tube’ and allowed London's network to really connect the dots beneath the capital.

If you wish to support the challenge you can donate by mobile : Text TUBE50 £2 to 70070.

You can also donate via JustGiving at www.justgiving.com/purplefrog-tube-challenge.

(CD/BMcC)