London Underground Helps Widow Deal With Grief By Playing Her Late Husband’s Voice At Embankment Station

Dr Margaret McCollum, a general practitioner, met Oswald Laurence in 1992 on a tour to Morocco. He had just left acting and was working for a tour and cruise company. The two fell in love, got married, and had been living together in north London until Oswald’s death in 2007.

“It was devastating to lose him,” Dr McCollum told the BBC. “He had a great zest for life.”

One of the things that helped the widow in dealing with the grief was hearing her late husband’s voice in the tube. You see, Oswald’s voice was used on the northbound Northern Line to tell passengers to “mind the gap.”However, it was eventually phased out until only Embankment station used it.

Dr McCollum said she traveled a lot via Embankment. “Since he died I would sit and wait for the next train until I heard his voice.”

But one time she was stunned it wasn’t there anymore.

“I inquired and I was told there was a new digital system and they could not get his voice on it.” But that wasn’t the end of it.

A recent Twitter thread revisited the heartwarming story, reminding us about the faith-in-humanity we sometimes need to restore to ourselves. Told by historian John Bull, it perfectly captures the feelings of love and loss, which often go together.

Image credits: garius

Image credits: bbc

Image credits: garius

Image credits: bbc

Image credits: garius

Image credits: bbc

Image credits: garius

Image credits: bbc

Image credits: garius

Image credits: Paul Wilkinson

Image credits: garius

Image credits: Ewan Munro

Image credits: garius

Nigel Holness, the former London Underground director, confirmed the story. “Transport for London were approached by the widow of Oswald Laurence to see whether she could get a copy of the iconic ‘mind the gap’ announcement her husband made over 40 years ago,” he said. “We were very touched by her story, so staff tracked down the recording.”