We finally got round to visiting the Bridge exhibition at Museum of London Docklands yesterday. Although smaller than I expected, it’s well worth the trip, with a great selection of images and features.
It starts off a bit pretentious, with a sound installation by artist Scanner. There's a load of old radio speakers hanging from the ceiling, with various recordings from around the world being played. Nice idea, but they are perhaps clutching at straws a bit with what it all means, especially in relation to London bridges.
Once you enter the exhibition proper, what you are shown is a mix of paintings, sketches, engravings and photographs spanning hundreds of years. The focus is largely on the various different versions of London Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge throughout history, but the scope of the collection also spans way out to the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at the Dartford Crossing, and to the beautiful bridge at Richmond.
A highlight is the projection of Beating the Bridges, a brilliantly sureal short film showing a drummer playing along on a boat, as it glides down the Thames and under 30 of its famous bridges.
Here’s a small selection of my personal favourite images on show:
Tower Bridge, taken from above London Bridge station.
Central London bridges.
Paining of Waterloo Bridge.
Rare image of Metropolitan District Railway construction.
The Bridge exhibition is free to enter, and runs until November 2. The Museum of London has also created an infographic titled A Short History of London Bridge. See it here.
Bad planning and laziness means that every year we somehow end up missing the good bits of Open House weekend, and this year was the same. Too late for 55 Broadway, too late for the Crystal Palace Subway, too late for Abbey Mills Pumping Station. Never mind.
There are plenty of sites that require no advance booking though, and we decided on Village Underground, a.k.a. the disused Tube train carriages on top of an old viaduct in Shoreditch. I’ve always wanted to go up there, especially as some of the trains are pictured on the cover of Do Not Alight Here.
There are four old carriages; some used for event space, and others as creative design studios. One still has the driver’s cab preserved and intact, which is enough to bring out the über-Tube nerd in anybody. A special shout out goes to the old bloke who decided to sit in the driver's seat and proceed to pretend he actually was a driver, refusing to budge and allow anyone else a go.
The trains sit on a disused section of the Kingsland Viaduct, formerly used by trains terminating at the demolished Broad Street station (closed 1986). From where the old carriages are located, you can see how the viaduct continued on, with the Broadgate Complex now sitting where Broad Street once stood.
Here’s a selection of photos from the visit.
Disused Tube carriage, now used as event space.
A designer at work in another of the old carriages.
View of the disused vaiduct from driver's cab.
Controls and dials inside the cab.
Jubilee line destinations, includng Charing Cross.
Disused Kingsland Viaduct, heading towards the former Broad Street station.
Office space inside an old carriage.
We also bumped into fellow London nut and blogger Emily Pulham, who was mid-way through a packed day of Open House visits. See here for her blog.
I finally managed to get inside the famed Thames Tunnel today, having just missed out on the last set of rare tours in 2008. As perhaps the most ambitious engineering project of the Victorian era, it has fascinated me for years, and I've written about it in each of my books.
I visited the converted former entrance shaft in 2012, but this time got to walk through the tunnel itself, thanks to engineering work and a weekend of tours arranged by the London Transport Museum. Ironically, the engineering work that enabled the tours also made getting there harder, but it was worth the extra trek. Tickets sold out fast (much like they do for Aldwych tours), but I managed to get some for myself and Mrs P. It also happened to be my birthday, making for quite the present.
Here's a selection of photos from the tour. For those who couldn't make it, don't forget that you can catch a glimpse of the tunnel from the platforms at Wapping and Rotherhithe Overground stations, and even ride through it on trains between the two. For those unfamiliar with the tunnel's history, see here.
Copies of my new book Working the London Underground have been journeying along the Tube network all week, as part of the Books on the Underground project. The idea is simple. Find a copy of a book on the London Underground. Take it, read it. When you are done, leave it on the Tube to be discovered by someone else.
I'm a big fan of social book lending schemes like this (there are several incredibly creative ones running across London), but this one in particular has obvious appeal for me, on account of my obsession with all things London Underground. The new book is about the history of the network, so it seemed like the perfect title with which to take part.
These photos show the book on the Metropolitan and Central lines. I've yet to stumble across a copy of my own book during my travels, or indeed a copy of any other title that has been 'dropped' by the team that runs the project, but the thought of someone finding something that I wrote whilst travelling on my beloved London Underground itself gives me great pleasure.
If you do see a copy I’d love to hear about it. You'll know if you find one, as each copy is marked with a special 'Books on the Underground' sticker on the front cover. Copies will be dropped until the end of the week, and hopefully the ones given out so far are already being enjoyed and passed on as they continue their journey along the world's most iconic railway.
In addition to many former power stations and gasworks, London
also once boasted a hydraulic power network that operated from the late 19th century until 1977.
As home to the Industrial Revolution; Britain was usually the pioneer in
Victorian engineering, but London itself was often lagging behind.
The notion of a hydraulic power supply was in
fact first introduced in Newcastle, and developed further in Kingston-Upon-Hull .
The principle was simple: Steam-powered engines were used to move water at high-pressure, which could then be used to power machinery. The water needed was taken directly from large rivers.
The
London Hydraulic Power Company (LHPC) was the first and basically only firm
to set up such a network in the capital, headed by Edward Ellington in 1882. It was used
primarily to power lifts for hotels, and stage components for theatres and
exhibitions. The Royal Opera House, Earls Court and the Savoy Theatre were just a few of the properties in London
which benefitted from the LHPC’s output.
There were more than 180 miles of mains pipes by 1927,
including those that crossed the river via Vauxhall, Waterloo and Southwark bridges, and under the water via the famous Tower
Subway. The system was operated by a number of different hydraulic power
stations close to the river.
The network closed after years of decline. Most of
the LHPC’s buildings have been demolished, but there are some traces left
today. Now home to the Wapping Project restaurant and gallery, Wapping
Hydraulic Power Station is well presereved and is located on Wapping Wall
(close to Wapping Overground station).
The former Wapping Hydraulic Power Station building
Some
of the former Renforth Hydraulic Power Station buildings also still exist, and
have been converted into apartments close to the southern entrance of the
Rotherhithe Tunnel (nearest station: Rotherhite).
The former Renforth Hydraulic Power Station chimney stack
Parts of the Renforth building are now apartments
The former entrance shaft to
the Tower Subway also still exists, and can be found opposite the Tower of London, next
to the ticket office. Once the world’s first deep-level railway tunnel under a
river, it was converted for use by the LHPC in the early part of the 20th century. Since closure, it has
been used by various communication companies for running wires below the
Thames.
Tower Subway
The
London Hydraulic Power Company and its former power stations are covered in further detail in ‘London’s
Lost Power Stations and Gasworks’, out now.
Battersea
Power Station has fascinated me for many years. That big hulk of a building,
just sitting there rotting away. I’m not alone of course. It’s a real London
icon, and most Londoners are familiar with its story since closure in 1983: Pink
Floyd. Failed redevelopment. Occasionally used for over-priced events.
I’ve
always had a burning desire to get inside, so when it was time to start working
on my latest book, and when it became obvious that Battersea Power Station
would be a running theme, it was the perfect excuse to try.
Being
too chicken to take the urban explorer route I instead made a few calls and
managed to get myself a private tour. This was last year, but I wanted to wait
until the book was published before I posted some of the photos I took.
First
a brief history. Construction started in 1929, built by the London Power
Company, who at the time was the most important player in the city’s electrical
supply industry. It was built as two separate buildings, although the plan was
always for it to eventually form one entity.
The
exterior was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott. His other work included the
famous red telephone box, and he would also later design Bankside Power
Station, which today is home to the Tate Modern.
The
first building, Battersea A, was completed in 1933. Battersea B was finished in
1955, finally giving the combined power station it’s four soon-to-be-iconic
chimneys. It closed as part of a decline in coal fired power stations but was
saved from demolition. Over the years there have been several botched attempts
to redevelop the building. It has also appeared on various TV shows, films and
album covers, giving it something of a cult status. Work is currently underway
on a brand new residential and commercial redevelopment.
To get up close and personal with a building I
had seen so many photos of was incredible. It’s even more imposing when you are
standing right next to it. The shell of the building isn’t in bad shape, but
inside lots of damage has been done since the roof was removed in the late
1980s as part of a failed bid to turn it into a theme park.
Much
of the inner workings of the building are still intact though, including two
beautiful control rooms with various dials, levers and other equipment still in
situ.
The
tour included being taken up in a lift to the base of one of the four iconic
chimneys. It’s not considered to be one of London’s tallest buildings but it’s
higher than it looks, and the view was incredible. It also allowed me to see
inside the building through what was once the roof. It’s apparent from
here just how much damage there is inside, and the scale of the redevelopment
work ahead.
Songstress Eliza Doolittle also recently went on a
similar trip and was filmed doing it. Here’s the short film, showing the same
sites I saw on my tour. Hat tip for the video goes to Obsessed with London. Note that tours are not available to the general public, and the building is now strictly off limits because of the redevelopment work.
I am currently in the middle of writing my third book, which
is due to be published this October by The History Press. It is called Working
the London Underground, and will cover how the London Underground network was
built, from the original Metropolitan Railway in 1863, all the way up to today.
The second half of the book then moves on to explore how the
network is run, including the various different jobs that help keep it running.
I am therefore looking for input from current and past London Underground staff;
to get their stories.
It doesn’t matter what you do or did for LU - I would like
to speak to drivers, ticket office staff, cleaners, engineers, construction
workers, general station staff and everything in between. For former staff, I
am particularly interested in people who worked in roles no longer used, such
as train guards. If you can help and would be interested in contributing, I
would love to hear from you.
You can get in touch in several ways, but ideally via the
Comments section below. Alternatily, you can contact me via Twitter or the Do
Not Alight Here Facebook page. I will follow up, and discuss via email.
It’s important to note that the book is in no way a critical
look at the network. The book is neither an expose nor a discussion piece, and will
therefore not include debate about issues such as pay, strikes or safety
concerns. Therefore, anyone interested in contributing should have no fear that
they will be asked anything negative or controversial.
It is simply a way of celebrating some of the wonderful
people that work/have worked for London Underground. Having said that, if
anyone contributing wants to stay anonymous, then that is fine too - I’ll
simply change your name, and state in a disclaimer that some names have been
amended where necessary.I may in fact decide not to include names at all - this is yet to be determined.
Many,
many thanks in advance to those that who get in touch. Your input will be acknowledged
in the notes, and I will be very grateful for your insight. I look forward to
hearing from you soon. The book is listed on Amazon here, but there isn’t much
in the way of detail yet, as there are still a few months until publication. It will be
updated with more information closer to the release. You can also read about my
second book while you are there, which comes out in April.
With the 150th anniversary celebrations well
underway, it’s an exciting time to be a London Underground
geek. I've been looking forward to the various planned events
for months, but actually managed
to miss the anniversary itself because of a trip abroad with the day job. The trip was
to The Bahamas, so I can’t really complain, but I was gutted to miss the special steam runs
last weekend. They ran again yesterday however, and this time
not even a day's worth of snow was going to stop me.
It was tricky deciding where
to go and watch (even with the aid of the helpful guide from IanVisits), but we decided to head for Moorgate first, as this is where the steam runs were starting/ending. The London Transport Museum also had a pop-up shop there, and
I'm a sucker for Tube
merchandise.
The disused platforms at Moorgate were dressed for the occasion, including a few old
roundels. It was a nice touch, and one of the many examples of how far TFL have
been willing to go in order to promote the anniversary. The pop-up
store was also a
great idea, and managed to relieve my wallet of £22 in a matter of minutes. The book section also had copies of Do Not Alight Here, which is
always nice for me to see.
The IanVisits guide had actually advised against Moorgate, and a helpful
police woman confirmed Ian’s
suspicions that we wouldn’t get to see much from here. We headed for Barbican instead, which ended up being a great
choice. No
dressing-up of the disused platforms this time, but the heavy snow and cold air
somehow managed to enhance the scene.
The first run
had the train being hauled by the restored
Sarah Siddons locomotive, with the Met Locomotive No. 1 steam engine at the rear. It returned
soon after, this
time with the engine leading. It provided the packed platform with some great photos, and plenty of confused
faces from those waiting patiently in the freezing cold for their delayed Hammersmith
& City line train.
We also wanted to see
the train in one of the original stations though, so headed to Baker Street for the next run. With an hour to spare, it was only right
that we popped into the Metropolitan pub in the Baker Street complex to kill some time (and eat
some questionable food).
Back on the Circle/Hammersmith & City line
platforms we saw
the steam engine pass through again. On an original
platform like
this, with restored carriages, minimal billboards or modern signage and smoke-filling
the air, the scene looked just like the old illustrations I've seen in so many books. Incredible scenes.
The first of
three sold-out talks by the authors of the new book Underground: How the Tube
Shaped London
also took place today, at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. It’s already become my favourite book of all the ones I own about the Tube (and I own a lot), and comes highly recommended.
Tonight's talk was by David Bownes, who
covered how the
first underground railways were conceived and built, plus the first few decades
of use. It was an extremely
interesting and
insightful talk, and particularly helpful for me, as I am currently in the middle of writing
my next book about
London Underground history.
The other two co-authors will be giving their own talks in February and March. I have tickets
for those too, and will aim to cover them after. In the meantime, tickets also went on sale today for more 150th anniversary events, including special walks with Mark
Mason (author of Walk the Lines).
As ever, the London Transport Museum seems to be
making a great job of running these events. TFL
staff were also very accommodating during the steam runs. Except that is for the man at
Baker Street who
insisted I stepped way back from the edge when the steam train
passed. Seconds later, he was stood with his camera in the exact same spot he asked me to move from.
Here's a video of the steam train passing
through Baker Street.
I spent the last two weekends going on guided walking tours by two London authors, both of which were a great way to spend a couple of hours exploring the city. First up was a walk led by Paul Talling, writer of perhaps my most favourite book about London, Derelict London. His latest book London’s Lost Rivers is a fascinating read that explores several buried rivers, and Paul has been running regular walks that follow the route of the most famous ones included in the book.
The walk I attended covered the River Fleet, which is the most famous buried river of all, with a long and colourful history along its full journey from Hampstead Heath to the Thames. Paul very kindly invited me along, as the route also passes by several sites included in Do Not Alight Here, in particular the area around Farringdon.
I’d walked much of the route from Blackfriars to St Pancras before, but Paul filled the journey with some incredible facts that were new to me, illustrated with archive photos. Highlights on the walk included the site of the old Bridewell Prison, the Clerk’s Well of Clerkenwell, and Holborn Viaduct. I was pleased to see that the route also passed by Smithfield Market, which allowed Paul to throw in some of the sites included in Derelict London.
Paul is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about his subject, and the walk was well organised, with a relaxed and casual atmosphere. We also ended up in the pub, where myself and other fans of Paul’s books got to chat to the man himself.
There are two more River Fleet walks coming up this month, before Paul then takes a break for the Olympics. The walks resume in October, and Paul also hinted at plans for a potential series of Derelict London walks next year, which I for one would love to see. Go to the London’s Lost Rivers site for tickets to the next walk.
The other walk took place last Saturday, and was led by Mark Mason. Arranged together with the London Transport Museum, it was one of a series being hosted by Mark to promote his book Walk the Lines - another of my favourites. For those who haven’t read it, the book is about Mark’s travels walking the entire route of every tube line, and this walk covered part of the route along the Piccadilly line.
Although my obsession with the Tube means I never tire of hearing Underground facts and trivia, it’s not enough to sustain a walk. Mark wisely therefore focuses on a wide range of other facts about buildings along the short route from Green Park to Covent Garden (the walk ended at the London Transport Museum itself, in classic exit-through-the-gift shop style).
As with the Paul Talling walk, I’d heard much of the trivia before, but there were some fascinating new bits. My personal favourite was the tale of a tiny hook on the side of a building next to The Photographer’s Gallery, in between Leicester Square and Covent Garden. The story goes that the building once had a loose nail sticking out of it, where policemen controlling traffic used to hang their coat. The nail was then removed, much to the annoyance of the policemen. The solution was to install a permanent hook, which still sits there today. There are more walks coming soon, including those covering other lines, and you can find out more at Mark’s website.
Both walks are highly recommended, and they have also made me realise its time I got my act together and started running similar walks from my book. It’s on my to do list for 2013, and I’ll keep you posted.
This past weekend I was in Quainton, near Aylesbury, for a trip to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. Not in London, I know, but its close enough to be considered Metroland, and it has ties with the London Underground that make it worthy of inclusion here.
I was there to do a talk and book signing, as part of a Steam Enthusiast weekend, but it was also chance to see another disused station that I’d read about but never actually been to (following on from the recent trip to Ongar).
The museum is located at the former Quainton Road railway station, opened in 1868 and closed for passenger services in 1963. Despite being around 44 miles from London, it briefly became part of the Metropolitan line in 1933.
Over the next 30 years, Met line services were gradually withdrawn from here and 13 other stations in the area, including several between Aylesbury and Amersham, and along branch lines to Verney Junction and Brill (originally known as the Brill Tramway), both of which branched off from the mainline at Quainton Road.
The old stations between Amersham and Aylesbury still operate today, run by Chiltern Railways on the route from Marylebone, but the stations along the two branch lines have pretty much disappeared without a trace. Quainton Road is still standing though, and has been lovingly preserved as one of the main attractions at the museum.
In addition to the old station, the museum also has a huge collection of rolling stock, old signs and artefacts.
The collection includes some Royal Mail train carriages, which the museum has tied in with a history of the Great Train Robbery. It's a bit of a tenuos link, seeing as most of that happened further down the line elsewhere in Buckinghamshire, but you can't really blame them for cashing in on the Biggs' legend.
The special weekend also included several steam engines running through the site. Take away the colour, and the photo of the engine and signal box seen here looks like it could easily have been taken 80 years ago.
