Having been stuck in a bit of a rut doing derp houses, I felt the urge to get underground again. It's safe to say this scratched the itch.
History
So Kingsway has been covered many times over the years. Access comes and goes, but it seems not much has changed inside.
"The Kingsway telephone exchange was built as a deep-level shelter underneath Chancery Lane tube station in the early 1940s, compromising two east-west aligned tunnels, one each side of the Central Line. Although intended for use as an air raid shelter, like many of the deep level shelters it was not used for its intended purpose and was instead used as a government communications centre. Material from the Public Records Office was stored there from 1945 to 1949.
The site was given to the General Post Office (GPO) in 1949. At the time, the Post Office was also responsible for telephones as well as postal system. The two-tunnel shelter was extended by the addition of four shorter tunnels, at right-angles to the original pair. This extension was completed by 1954, and in 1956 it became the UK termination point for TAT-1, the first transatlantic telephone cable.
Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, Kingsway Trunk Switching Centre (as it became known) was a trunk switching centre and repeater station with Post Office engineering staff totalling over 200 at its peak. Also located on site was the Radio Interference Investigation Group, whose function was to prevent television viewers and radio listeners in north and central London from suffering interference to their service from external sources such as thermostats, fluorescent tubes and injection moulding equipment. The country's first Radiopaging terminal was also installed on this site in the 1970s.
The site had a staff restaurant, tea bar, games room and licensed bar. Its bar claimed to be the deepest in the United Kingdom, located at approximately 200 feet below street level. The site contained an artesian well and rations to maintain several hundred people for many months, ensuring a safe environment in case of nuclear attack.
By the early 1980s the site was subject to a phased closure after large quantities of blue asbestos were found on the site. By 1995 only the main distribution frame was still in service. This reportedly has been removed.
In October 2008, British Telecom announced that the tunnels were for sale."
The Explore
Starting the evening in Spoons, we waiting for the dimming evening light before heading out and down into Kingsway. It's a bit of a maze and took a good few hours of wandering before I got my bearings of the network. It consists of two 1.5km long tunnels running parallel with tunnels off shooting in places. Unlike a lot of similar deep shelters, this still has loads of stuff still left to see. 4 hours was just enough time to see most the network but it's the kind of place where you could re-visit and see a bunch of stuff you missed the first time.
Photos
It's hard to get an idea of scale, but the size of this place is just huge. Most the lights are on, which is really nice. Bit weird seeing a fire escape sign saying the nearest exit was over 1.25km away lol.
There was some lovely big steel doors. This ones a right minter.
This ones on the lowest level and is partially flooded. Not sure where it leads but it looks like it is used as some kind of ventilation.
The remaining part of the telephone exchange. Just a stripped rack now, but the phone on the end was pretty cool.
The Restaurant/Bar Area. The 60s-70s decor was fantastic here. Interestingly this area is so close to the tube line running just above that the whole kitchen vibrates and shakes every-time a train goes by. You can hear the tube line through most of the Kingsway network but its noticeably louder here. I really liked the under-lit faded beach photo, proper fallout 3 vibes.
The decontamination showers, with clean and dirty entrances. Pectel Group seem to be specialist in Asbestos removal, but also do chemical showers. This must have been a later addition as the company existed from 1982 to 2008 before being bought out.
There was some great tunnel sections including a long cable run that went down and under the main sections. It was capped off on the other end but must have run for a couple hundred meters.
The large array of generators and pumps is impressive. There is still some power going to them as many of the cabinets seem to buzz. It wouldn't surprise me if many of they still worked.
The false walls of the offices parts made for a strange environment. They had false doors that opened up with nothing but the curved wall behind them. All of the offices were stripped out and empty, so not loads to see.
History
So Kingsway has been covered many times over the years. Access comes and goes, but it seems not much has changed inside.
"The Kingsway telephone exchange was built as a deep-level shelter underneath Chancery Lane tube station in the early 1940s, compromising two east-west aligned tunnels, one each side of the Central Line. Although intended for use as an air raid shelter, like many of the deep level shelters it was not used for its intended purpose and was instead used as a government communications centre. Material from the Public Records Office was stored there from 1945 to 1949.
The site was given to the General Post Office (GPO) in 1949. At the time, the Post Office was also responsible for telephones as well as postal system. The two-tunnel shelter was extended by the addition of four shorter tunnels, at right-angles to the original pair. This extension was completed by 1954, and in 1956 it became the UK termination point for TAT-1, the first transatlantic telephone cable.
Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, Kingsway Trunk Switching Centre (as it became known) was a trunk switching centre and repeater station with Post Office engineering staff totalling over 200 at its peak. Also located on site was the Radio Interference Investigation Group, whose function was to prevent television viewers and radio listeners in north and central London from suffering interference to their service from external sources such as thermostats, fluorescent tubes and injection moulding equipment. The country's first Radiopaging terminal was also installed on this site in the 1970s.
The site had a staff restaurant, tea bar, games room and licensed bar. Its bar claimed to be the deepest in the United Kingdom, located at approximately 200 feet below street level. The site contained an artesian well and rations to maintain several hundred people for many months, ensuring a safe environment in case of nuclear attack.
By the early 1980s the site was subject to a phased closure after large quantities of blue asbestos were found on the site. By 1995 only the main distribution frame was still in service. This reportedly has been removed.
In October 2008, British Telecom announced that the tunnels were for sale."
The Explore
Starting the evening in Spoons, we waiting for the dimming evening light before heading out and down into Kingsway. It's a bit of a maze and took a good few hours of wandering before I got my bearings of the network. It consists of two 1.5km long tunnels running parallel with tunnels off shooting in places. Unlike a lot of similar deep shelters, this still has loads of stuff still left to see. 4 hours was just enough time to see most the network but it's the kind of place where you could re-visit and see a bunch of stuff you missed the first time.
Photos
It's hard to get an idea of scale, but the size of this place is just huge. Most the lights are on, which is really nice. Bit weird seeing a fire escape sign saying the nearest exit was over 1.25km away lol.
There was some lovely big steel doors. This ones a right minter.
This ones on the lowest level and is partially flooded. Not sure where it leads but it looks like it is used as some kind of ventilation.
The remaining part of the telephone exchange. Just a stripped rack now, but the phone on the end was pretty cool.
The Restaurant/Bar Area. The 60s-70s decor was fantastic here. Interestingly this area is so close to the tube line running just above that the whole kitchen vibrates and shakes every-time a train goes by. You can hear the tube line through most of the Kingsway network but its noticeably louder here. I really liked the under-lit faded beach photo, proper fallout 3 vibes.
The decontamination showers, with clean and dirty entrances. Pectel Group seem to be specialist in Asbestos removal, but also do chemical showers. This must have been a later addition as the company existed from 1982 to 2008 before being bought out.
There was some great tunnel sections including a long cable run that went down and under the main sections. It was capped off on the other end but must have run for a couple hundred meters.
The large array of generators and pumps is impressive. There is still some power going to them as many of the cabinets seem to buzz. It wouldn't surprise me if many of they still worked.
The false walls of the offices parts made for a strange environment. They had false doors that opened up with nothing but the curved wall behind them. All of the offices were stripped out and empty, so not loads to see.
