Lost on London Transport

Strange things found in the TfL Lost Property Office

Yesterday, I was kindly sent the very diverting Book of Lists: London, as the publishers, Canongate, happened to come across some of my pictures on Flickr and wanted to use them to illustrate their book.

Amongst the 180 lists of London which would keep a London pub quiz team happy for weeks, I found 14 of the weirdest things left on public transport. How some of the items would have even fitted on public transport, let alone left behind, beggars belief:

1. Two and half hundredweight of sultanas
2. Lawn mower
3. Breast Implants
4. Theatrical coffin
5. Stuffed eagle
6. 14-foot long boat
7. Divan bed
8. Park Bench
9. Garden Slide
10. Jar of bull's sperm (how they identified it as belonging to a bull is beyond me, one assumes it was labelled)
11. Urn of ashes
12. Dead bats in a container
13. Vasectomy kit
14. Two human skulls in a bag

If you were sitting across from any of the people carrying these items, wouldn't you think of calling them back and saying "Oi, you've left your dead bats behind", or "Excuse me madam, I think you've dropped your breasts". But if these people were travelling on the Northern Line weirdness is just part of the journey.


I'm always surprised about the number of people I've seen carrying computers on the Tube. But sadly they never seem to forget them.