Report - Battersea B & C Thames Tunnels, London - October 2020

[HughieD]

Shame you couldn't get into the power station itself but those tunnels are epic in their own right. Top stuff mate.

 

[Llama]

Shame you couldn't get into the power station itself but those tunnels are epic in their own right. Top stuff mate.

It’s a bit of a pity yes, although I’m not giving up on the chimney by any means. Cheers man

 

[Jane Doe]

Great report and Great photos

 

[Llama]

Great report and Great photos

Aye I appreciate that

 

[Jackdaw47]

History:
After the completion of the famous Battersea Power Station in 1933, 4 sets of tunnels were bored under the Thames. The first is known as "Battersea Steam Tunnel", which with the clue being in the title, was built to act as a surplus heat discharge outlet, as even when all 4 of Battersea's chimneys were pumping out, there was still occasionally an overflow which was then redirected through several pipes under the river and into a large steam shaft in Pimlico.
The other 3 were all built to help serve (ironically) power to the power station. These tunnels are known as "Battersea A, B & C Tunnels" and were all kitted out with cable trays which aided Battersea with the power it needed to produce energy at an effective rate.
These were constructed at a later date, post completion of the main power station, and it's believed that all 3 began to assist carrying electricity from the southern side of the river by the 1950s. However, 2/3 of the tunnels only remained active until the early '80s, when Battersea saw it's final output of power.
Despite Battersea B & C becoming abandoned and having their cables stripped out. Battersea A still remains much as it was at its time of completion, due to it not actually being disused. Today, the A Tunnel is still carrying electricity to the site of the power station after having the course of its cables redirected to serve different functions, most of which to do with the ongoing construction work.
Strictly speaking, B & C are both part of the same tunnel, as C is only a small offshoot from B, which is considerably larger in size. Nowadays, these 2 tunnels remain disused, with their cables stipped and lighting removed, serving only as a reminder of what was once London's main source of energy.

Battersea Power Station - 1968

The Explore:
After having attempted this set of tunnels back in January with @Urbex_fox, and then finding our planned point of entry to be sealed, I thought it was practically game over for this one. However, towards the end of the last month, some new information came to light, and it seemed that not all hope was lost.
I knew for a fact that it would only be a matter of time before someone cottoned onto the fact these were open, and inevitably re-seal them, and so I didn't exactly delay getting across town to take a look.
So, on an extremely wet night, myself, @James Cross and @Pinkman set off in its direction. Now, having arrived, it was all about timing and picking our moment, and after a brief wait, we all bundled in, and began to set off down the main "B Tunnel"​

It wasn't long before we hit the junction which leads to the "C Tunnel", and despite its title making it out to sound like another epic network. It's essentially a small tributary to the B section, leading up to a small ventilation outlet. Bearing in mind, this off-shoot was only half if not a quarter of the height of the main section, making it awkward to photograph, and with only 1 photo worth taking, we soon returned to the B section for our back's sake.

Now continuing on, the tunnel became a little featureless if truth be told. However, we did notice a significant amount of stalactites beginning to appear from the ceiling the lower we got into the tunnel. Unlike its nearby steam exhaust tunnel, this one isn't built in a straight line, as it cuts across at an angle to the Power Station from its shafts, and takes several twists and turns in its design.

By this point, we were less than 20 feet from the Battersea end, and all 3 of us were a little uncertain as to whether or not this was still an open way into the power station. However, we all found out almost within an instant of reaching the top of the stairs that this was no longer the case, and that the end of the tunnel had been sealed off. Not only this, but four sensors had also been installed on the walls about a foot from the sealed entrance.

All three of us made the wiser decision not to try and light paint the staircase leading up the sealed end, as there was still a few cracks of light where it had been plugged, and being uncertain of what was on the other side, that was one image we were sure as hell we'd sacrifice taking.
Now, it was time for the return trip back to the access point, but not before taking just one more shot that by all accounts really should go into the People Shots Thread.

And that, was that! another awesome night beneath our city, or more so under the river... This was definitely one of the more photogenic places to visit for sure, despite it being a little featureless here and there. But, If anything, this place in a way just goes to show how much there is going on under the murky waters of London's Thames. So next time you take a trip over Chelsea Bridge, just think what lies below... That's all for now!

- Thanks For Looking -​

Very interesting! judging by the smoke coming out of those stacks, Didn’t help the surrounding country.
Pictures are great! looks like the tunnels were built similar to the underground train tunnels Good viewing.

 

[Llama]

Very interesting! judging by the smoke coming out of those stacks, Didn’t help the surrounding country.
Pictures are great! looks like the tunnels were built similar to the underground train tunnels Good viewing.

Definitely interesting mate, there’s so much around London that still needs to be explored. It’s a proper maze up here

 

[Jackdaw47]

could you tell me, since they demolished the Power Plant (Battersea) where are they getting the power from to feed London! and the outer areas? you have Bradwell Nuclear plant! but I checked on that and its being decommissioned.
do you have any idea where the supply is. just being nosy

 

[Llama]

could you tell me, since they demolished the Power Plant (Battersea) where are they getting the power from to feed London! and the outer areas? you have Bradwell Nuclear plant! but I checked on that and its being decommissioned.
do you have any idea where the supply is. just being nosy

Well if you look online, there’s a new construction project going on known as the London power tunnels. It’s a beefy old project, but I’d say this is one of the main resources:

London Power Tunnels - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[GG]

could you tell me, since they demolished the Power Plant (Battersea) where are they getting the power from to feed London! and the outer areas? you have Bradwell Nuclear plant! but I checked on that and its being decommissioned.
do you have any idea where the supply is. just being nosy

The supply is the national grid, which connects all parts of the UK together. Power flows from areas of supply to areas of demand, and this changes all the time with a general North - South bias. There are thousands of power plants in the UK. Probably the closest is a mini gas powered combined heat and power plant in the basement of the hot water tower at the North end of the battersea hot water tunnels.

 

[GG]

Nice work @LashedLlama. I'm guessing the way in that was sealed is the one that involves that crawl and squeeze through ladder rungs?

 

[Llama]

Nice work @LashedLlama. I'm guessing the way in that was sealed is the one that involves that crawl and squeeze through ladder rungs?

You got it mate me and my mate @Urbex_fox tried it back in January to find it bricked up. Hey ho!

 

[mito]

Wow - That brings back some memories, thanks for sharing. I hope you don't mind me posting some from 2009...

 

[Llama]

Wow - That brings back some memories, thanks for sharing. I hope you don't mind me posting some from 2009...

Wow! good to see some older photos of this place man, interesting that the lights were still working 11 years ago haha. I was just 7 when these were taken haha

 

[mari_54]

so beautiful!

 

[Llama]

so beautiful!

Thank you