My great-great uncle was Operating Manager of the London Underground and was brought out of retirement to direct the use of stations as wartime shelters
I grew up living on Lawn Road and went past the huge drum shaped shelter every day at Belsize Park. It was painted various colours over the years including, I believe, blue.
Nice one. Literally millions of people must walk past these each day, without noticing them. The writers of the classic 1960's Doctor Who story, 'The Web Of Fear' obviously knew about them: they based the army's defence force at 'The Goodge Street Fortress'. This was because the robotic Yeti were using the tube to infiltrate London. If the siting of the army bunker was a guess, you must admit, it was a damn good one. Another great video. Cheers.
I'm going to guess that there's not much to see down there but LTR still want you to pay for the hidden London tour so you're only disappointed once you've left!
I've been on the tour at Clapham south and it's quite good it still looks somewhat like they must have done in the war with all the old signs down there and the old bunks but in more recent years it was used (yep you guessed it) document storage before been opened up for public tours so it's been well maintained London transport museum have put up displays down there showing the history. but be warned there are a lot of stairs to climb not for the faint of heart but other wise a great tour it is a little expensive but worth it.
used to work in Carpenters Place in Clapham in the 1970's.The shelter entrance used to have a fence with hoardings on it.Was taken down to see inside one day by some tube workers in 1977.It was a big empty space with nothing in it except the light fittings. They explained to me what it was for as until then I'd assumed it to just be a ventilation shaft for the Northern Line.London sure is full of interesting history.New Zealand over & out.22 Feb 2017 @ 11-40 am.
The map at 0:42 is wrong. The deep level shelters were built to the diameter of train running tunnels, not stations, so the locations of the shelters you see today would not be where the stations would have been built. There probably would have been a "Clapham" station somewhere between Stockwell and Balham, but it would be in a new location.
I used to work in the one at Clapham Common when it was owned by a document storage company. It was a very strange experience down there. It was like being in something between a time capsule and an anechoic chamber. There was still a lot of detail from it's original war time use, like the red fire buckets which had one containing water and one containing sand. Definitely a place I would be in no rush to revisit.
Thank you. I had no idea the sand bucket was for that. It being the 80s it mostly had cigarette butts in it that weren't even meant to be smoked down in a document storage facility. I wouldn't wish a visit to the place on anyone. I remember when you were halfway between the two lift shafts the silence was overwhelming. Thankfully I now work in a place above ground with a window.
A message to TFL: If you ever have the ability to do so, please make the express northern line a thing. That would be so good. It would be sort of like Crossrail 2, just in tube form and following the Northern Line.
H0ll0aloio the tunnels between the shelters were never built.....it would cost billions to do. CrossRail 2 would actually serve more people and be of more use than an express Northern Line. Also the splitting of the 2 branches and extension to battersea should help too.
Actually yeh, thinking about it, if they haven't built the tunnels between the stations theres probably not much milage to it. Only liked the idea because an express Northern Line being built off an old Shelter Network would be really cool.
you made a mistake. at 0:42 balham station is not after stockwell and you listed balham twice. and one question how is the deep level shelter at clapham south is the easiest to find out of the 8 stations if the one at stockwell is visible from the station?
If so much infrastructure was built for the express Northern line, why are TfL not going the little bit extra to finish the project now, especially at a time when every bit of extra capacity is needed on the Tube?
Love these videos, thank you! I wish there were series done like this for other British cities - I live near Leeds and I bet that's got plenty of hidden history.
Did you know Leeds almost had an underground tramway with a big art deco station beneath City Square to link with the rail station, but the War got in the way? You can probably find a cutaway drawing on Google
OMG I used to live across the road from the Buck Street one. I could tell it was a tube related building but never realised it was the entrance to the shelter: I just assumed it was a ventilation shaft or the mech room for the escalators. History is now coming almost full circle and the new entrance to Camden Town station is going to be built on Buck Street.
Being a fan of the tube and Doctor Who. I built the London Underground on a Doctor Who minecraft server. I also included Goodge Street shelter as it was in The Web of Fear.
0:43 | Why does Balham appear twice?, & once in-between Clapham North & Stockwell, where there is no station in real life. I have a hunch at some point they will make a film about growing cannabis in a shelter.
I went down Belsize Park in the 80s.It's very much like the others een in photographs, but with stacks of documents. Why do we never see pictures of the inside of Goodge St.?
I have JUST read an amazing novel called DEEP SHELTER by OLiVER HARRiS... It is an amazing story which is based around these fascinating hidden marvels! It was strange to see the Bellsize Park one, it was EXACTLY as I envisaged it from the book!
Why are the buildings drum shaped? More resistant to explosions or less likely to entomb people in the shelter if they collapsed? Inquiring minds want to know...
There's an detailed account of the Chancery Lane Shelter here and some photos of what remains of its entrances. www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/k/kingsway/
They really aren't exactly secret. hidden possibly although many people know they are there and might have wondered what exactly they are there links to London transport is well know. Still a great video even without the click batey title like pretty much everything from this channel
I had a tour of Clapham South last year and was very lucky to have Geoff doing the tour!
My great-great uncle was Operating Manager of the London Underground and was brought out of retirement to direct the use of stations as wartime shelters
I grew up living on Lawn Road and went past the huge drum shaped shelter every day at Belsize Park. It was painted various colours over the years including, I believe, blue.
Nice one. Literally millions of people must walk past these each day, without noticing them. The writers of the classic 1960's Doctor Who story, 'The Web Of Fear' obviously knew about them: they based the army's defence force at 'The Goodge Street Fortress'. This was because the robotic Yeti were using the tube to infiltrate London. If the siting of the army bunker was a guess, you must admit, it was a damn good one. Another great video. Cheers.
The dialogue in the story even mentions the exit to the surface at Chenies Street.
Solar Penguin - Indeed it does. I read the novelisation and watched the DVD again over the weekend.
The robot yeti knew about the underground network from these videos..
Have you ever contacted LTR to ask if they'd consider letting you in these places?
Larry Bundy Jr yeah I'd really like to see inside them, though they may be unsafe?
Timothy Bridges Just go on a hidden London tour inside one at Clapham South. You'll have to pay though.
I'm going to guess that there's not much to see down there but LTR still want you to pay for the hidden London tour so you're only disappointed once you've left!
Ankdoeslego is it all dressed up like an exhibit down there with guardrails and the like? Or still authentic.
I've been on the tour at Clapham south and it's quite good it still looks somewhat like they must have done in the war with all the old signs down there and the old bunks but in more recent years it was used (yep you guessed it) document storage before been opened up for public tours so it's been well maintained London transport museum have put up displays down there showing the history. but be warned there are a lot of stairs to climb not for the faint of heart but other wise a great tour it is a little expensive but worth it.
Geoff makes this channel. Great!
If they are still there, the express northern line thing can still be a thing.
dangerouslytalented no. The shelters were to become the stations when the tunnels were built but that didn't happen.
castlegate2013 the old tunnels wouldn't be big enough for CrossRail 2 should it ever happen
I want to know more about the Express Northern Line.... Crossrail 3?
used to work in Carpenters Place in Clapham in the 1970's.The shelter entrance used to have a fence with hoardings on it.Was taken down to see inside one day by some tube workers in 1977.It was a big empty space with nothing in it except the light fittings. They explained to me what it was for as until then I'd assumed it to just be a ventilation shaft for the Northern Line.London sure is full of interesting history.New Zealand over & out.22 Feb 2017 @ 11-40 am.
The map at 0:42 is wrong. The deep level shelters were built to the diameter of train running tunnels, not stations, so the locations of the shelters you see today would not be where the stations would have been built. There probably would have been a "Clapham" station somewhere between Stockwell and Balham, but it would be in a new location.
Almost a Tom Scott, "things you might not know" video!
Tom recently made a video about Growing Underground, didn't he?
I used to work in the one at Clapham Common when it was owned by a document storage company. It was a very strange experience down there. It was like being in something between a time capsule and an anechoic chamber. There was still a lot of detail from it's original war time use, like the red fire buckets which had one containing water and one containing sand. Definitely a place I would be in no rush to revisit.
The sand bucket was for extinguishing incendary bombs as water made them burn hotter and faster as it provided extra oxygen.
Thank you. I had no idea the sand bucket was for that. It being the 80s it mostly had cigarette butts in it that weren't even meant to be smoked down in a document storage facility. I wouldn't wish a visit to the place on anyone. I remember when you were halfway between the two lift shafts the silence was overwhelming. Thankfully I now work in a place above ground with a window.
London need ceases to amaze me. More, please, More!!
A message to TFL:
If you ever have the ability to do so, please make the express northern line a thing. That would be so good. It would be sort of like Crossrail 2, just in tube form and following the Northern Line.
H0ll0aloio the tunnels between the shelters were never built.....it would cost billions to do. CrossRail 2 would actually serve more people and be of more use than an express Northern Line.
Also the splitting of the 2 branches and extension to battersea should help too.
Actually yeh, thinking about it, if they haven't built the tunnels between the stations theres probably not much milage to it. Only liked the idea because an express Northern Line being built off an old Shelter Network would be really cool.
I read about these about a year ago, genuinely one of the coolest snippets of history
I live in Clapham South
You can get a tour into the shelters by the London transport museum it’s called Hidden Underground.
Great stuff Geoff as always, I've heard the BBC use some of these shelters for storing tape archives. Keep up the great work!
The Belsize Park one features in a fiction book called Deep Shelter written by Oliver Harris. Well worth a read.
Michael Richards oh, I just posted that too!
I read it last week, what a weird coincidence eh?
Brilliant book!
you made a mistake. at 0:42 balham station is not after stockwell and you listed balham twice. and one question how is the deep level shelter at clapham south is the easiest to find out of the 8 stations if the one at stockwell is visible from the station?
Growing "herbs"
They sell them to local restaurants. It's really -green- (oh no) environmentally friendly because they aren't trucked all over the country.
*weed*
i done a days work at the goodge street site; quite an experience working underground and u hear the trains pass you by every couple of minutes
If so much infrastructure was built for the express Northern line, why are TfL not going the little bit extra to finish the project now, especially at a time when every bit of extra capacity is needed on the Tube?
Love these videos, thank you! I wish there were series done like this for other British cities - I live near Leeds and I bet that's got plenty of hidden history.
Did you know Leeds almost had an underground tramway with a big art deco station beneath City Square to link with the rail station, but the War got in the way? You can probably find a cutaway drawing on Google
Andrew Bulman wow, I'll definitely look for that.
OMG I used to live across the road from the Buck Street one. I could tell it was a tube related building but never realised it was the entrance to the shelter: I just assumed it was a ventilation shaft or the mech room for the escalators.
History is now coming almost full circle and the new entrance to Camden Town station is going to be built on Buck Street.
If I get to go to London one day I will definitely go on the Hidden London tour. It seems so cool.
You should do a vid on this proposed Express Northern line. And whether it was ever considered again post war. Sound very interesting!
Good work Geoff and the Londonist team - another interesting and informative vid.
The very thought of an 'Express Northern Line' renders me speechless, life could've been much more different right now.
Being a fan of the tube and Doctor Who. I built the London Underground on a Doctor Who minecraft server. I also included Goodge Street shelter as it was in The Web of Fear.
Do these shelters connect up underground? I assumed they did if there was a plan to form an express tube link but perhaps not.
Yes... I grow my "herbs" indoors too :-D
0:43 | Why does Balham appear twice?, & once in-between Clapham North & Stockwell, where there is no station in real life.
I have a hunch at some point they will make a film about growing cannabis in a shelter.
Great video - very informative and well put together.
good that they spread out the shelters.
I wondered what that colourful thing was at Stockwell.
I love your channel! Another great video
I went down Belsize Park in the 80s.It's very much like the others een in photographs, but with stacks of documents.
Why do we never see pictures of the inside of Goodge St.?
If these were designed with the Northern line express in mind would they have been linked together?
there seems to be some interlacing in the video especially when Geoff is recorded at the beginning
Geoff, can you show me how to make an animated diagram like the ones you make?
I love stuff like this, thanks.
Good Video Geoff. I like that,
oh, the eisenhower center is right beside my work. very exciting.
Just had to write the 100th comment!
This is a nice video about some of the strange things in London, thanks Geoff!
I really enjoy your videos. I wish you would take your time with them though. They sound so hurried. As soon as you're getting into it, it's finished.
I have JUST read an amazing novel called DEEP SHELTER by OLiVER HARRiS...
It is an amazing story which is based around these fascinating hidden marvels!
It was strange to see the Bellsize Park one, it was EXACTLY as I envisaged it from the book!
Always fascinating! :)
Nice glimpse of street art by Anna Laurini
Why are the buildings drum shaped? More resistant to explosions or less likely to entomb people in the shelter if they collapsed? Inquiring minds want to know...
How,do you edit your videos and record your video plz reply
Geoff uses editing software and a video camera to record them
Londonist Ltd what editing software and camera
Thank you very much.
Very cool.
nice video
There's an detailed account of the Chancery Lane Shelter here and some photos of what remains of its entrances. www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/k/kingsway/
Great. Thanks.
I'd like to see a crossover featuring Geoff Marshall and Matt Parker.
Or Geoff Marshall and @Jay Foreman.. what infotainments could those two bubble up!
mcbain23 Geoff & Jay teamed up briefly recently for a road trip.
what does it have inside???????????
some pepole don't know what is in there.
Amazing video as always! I really wish you could take us on a tour inside....Would be amazing.
thanks
Interesting.
Can’t they built the line that was planed after the war in 2019
that shelter sounds interesting untill I visited the site and it was sold out
People use the under ground space to grow herbs huh ;)
They really aren't exactly secret. hidden possibly although many people know they are there and might have wondered what exactly they are there links to London transport is well know. Still a great video even without the click batey title like pretty much everything from this channel
Growing herbs and document storage eh... More like secret service business lol
tring
🏦
16th!! :P
My.playgmroumd in 60s
Super cool