This Woman Visits the Subway Every Day to Hear Her Late Husband’s Voice
There are many ways people hold on to the memory of someone they love. Some keep photos around the house. Some revisit favorite places. In London, one woman’s favorite place seemed to be the subway platform. For years, she often paused near the edge of the Embankment Station platform, watching as trains rolled in and out.
Her name is Dr. Margaret McCollum, and she kept coming back to hear a voice she knew better than anyone’s. Her husband, Oswald Laurence, recorded the “mind the gap” announcement decades earlier, and his message played on the Northern Line for years. Hearing it on the platform gave her a brief sense of his presence, something she wasn’t ready to let go of.
Margaret and Oswald met in Morocco in 1992 when he was working for a cruise company. They later married and built a life together until his passing in 2007. After he died, she found comfort in hearing that familiar message echo through Embankment each day. The brief audio clip let her hear the voice she missed.
A Voice With Deep Meaning
Soon after Oswald died, Margaret made Embankment part of her routine. She often waited on the platform for the next train so she could hear his announcement. Her trips had little to do with the trains themselves. Listening to that familiar voice gave her a sense of closeness she relied on.
Late 2012 brought a major change when Embankment upgraded its audio system. New recordings replaced older ones, and Oswald’s voice disappeared. Margaret arrived expecting to hear him, only to find a different voice coming through the speakers. She asked staff what had happened, and they were unsure at first.
After learning that the announcement belonged to her husband, the staff understood why she reacted so strongly. They told her they would check if the original recording still existed, though they couldn’t promise anything.
How TfL Restored The Recording
Oswald recorded the mind the gap announcement in the late 1960s, and over the years, several voices were used. Transport for London employees began searching through their archives to find the old tape.
Teams across different departments worked together to locate, repair, and prepare the audio so it could be used again. Engineers restored the sound quality, and digital staff worked out how to integrate it into the updated system.
Early in 2013, Margaret returned to the platform on her way to work and heard mind the gap spoken in the voice she knew. TfL also gave her a CD with the recording so she could keep it and listen at home. The moment resonated with people, particularly those who had gone through their own losses.