Paul Garbutt was born in Westcliff-on-Sea. He joined the London Scotland and Midland Railway on leaving school in 1934, joining London Underground after the Second World War. There had been criticism of the reinterpretation which had led to an increased angularity of the London Underground map (originally designed by Harry beck in 1931). Garbutt reinstated the curves and bends of Beck’s original, spreading out stations for clarity and reintroducing the interconnections between stations on different lines.