Visited with Analepsis.
Info from Wikipedia, all the drawings nicked from www.subbrit.org.uk
Ever since I visited the Battersea tunnels I have a soft spot for tubes that go under the Thames. For some reason the fact that you walk under the River adds excitement to the exploration, even though once in a tunnel there's no way of knowing what's above you... Apparently there's more than 20 tubes of various kinds under the Thames and I've only been to a few of them, so I'm always looking to add more of those tunnels to my list of visited places.
Tower Subway is a bit special. There's a lot of history to this place and whenever underground London is spoken of, the Subway gets a mention. It was the second tunnel to cross the Thames (first one being Brunel tunnel) and since in the first weeks there was a cable pulled train operating in it, the Subway is considered a fore runner of the deep level tube railways. Technology developed during the digging of the tunnel (Greatshed shield) and experience gained from it made it possible to construct the City and South London Railway 20 years later. Unfortunately the train wasn't very popular with customers so it was removed shortly after the opening and the tunnel was turned into a pedestrian subway. It was much more popular and used for 18 years until the construction of the nearby Tower Bridge sealed its fate. Not only was the bridge more convenient to use, it was also free, while the Subway was not.
The subway was then bought by London Hydraulic Company which used it to run water pipes under the Thames. Nowadays it's used as a cable subway as well although there's just a small bunch of them.
The history of the Subway is described in detail in many books and on many websites (Sub Brit being probably the best online resource). One thing that stands out in those reports is an almost complete lack of contemporary photos. I've seen literally 1 or 2 pics from some permission visits. Which obviously made me want to see the place even more, to find out what's inside.
Long story short - we did it and it was a bit meh haha. Nowadays it's a rusty tunnel with a couple of pipes and some cables. There aren't many traces left of its previous use. I didn't expect to find a buried cable train with skeletons in victorian dresses but I though there'd be at least some remains of the ancient machinery that powered the train and the lifts. Sadly it wasn't the case, the tunnel doesn't have too many features nowadays. Still I'm glad I could see it for myself. I took quite a lot of pictures as well, since I wanted to document the place properly. As I mentioned, there's almost no photos of the Subway online, so remember, you've seen it here first
As you can see, it's concrete, so it's definitely not the original southern shaft. The subway was modified a few times over the course of its existence, the shaft and the first concrete section are an example of that.
The modern concrete bit. There are lamps on the wall and wiring looks good and there was a switch on the wall labeled "Tunnel lights" and annoyingly it did nothing
After a few dozen meters there's a turn.
And then it joins the original Tower Subway tube. I was shocked to see how small it was!
The original Tower Subway
That's probably the most well known drawing of the pedestrian subway. The tunnel looks much bigger in it than it is in real life. I'm 1.8m and I'm wearing a hard hat in the below picture and I was touching the ceiling. Obviously the pipes are a later addition, they weren't there in the pedestrian period but still the place must have been very claustrophobic.
The lowest part of the tunnel is a bit flooded. There's maybe 20cm of water. There are pumps in here as well and they start without warning.
A touch of class. The first pipe subway I've done that had tiles on the floor. I imagine they're original ones from the pedestrian period of the tunnel.
Just before the end, a section of a wider diameter. It's about 10-20m long. I assume that in the first weeks of the Subway, before they got rid of the train, the waiting lounge was here:
Here's a couple of pictures of the train. The first one is a joke and must come from some promotional materials of the company that run the Subway lol:
No way there would be that much space inside of the carriage unless people in that picture are some kind of hobbits.
I believe this is a more realistic illustration:
And that's the northern shaft. It's old and rusty and has annoyingly tight caged ladders and hatches so I couldn't be bothered to take any pics inside of it. You emerge inside of the well-known kiosk next to the Tower of London. There's nothing of interest inside, just a few road cones:
So that's Tower Subway. It's surprisingly small and doesn't have lots of features and the lights don't work. But at least now we know it.
Info from Wikipedia, all the drawings nicked from www.subbrit.org.uk
Ever since I visited the Battersea tunnels I have a soft spot for tubes that go under the Thames. For some reason the fact that you walk under the River adds excitement to the exploration, even though once in a tunnel there's no way of knowing what's above you... Apparently there's more than 20 tubes of various kinds under the Thames and I've only been to a few of them, so I'm always looking to add more of those tunnels to my list of visited places.
Tower Subway is a bit special. There's a lot of history to this place and whenever underground London is spoken of, the Subway gets a mention. It was the second tunnel to cross the Thames (first one being Brunel tunnel) and since in the first weeks there was a cable pulled train operating in it, the Subway is considered a fore runner of the deep level tube railways. Technology developed during the digging of the tunnel (Greatshed shield) and experience gained from it made it possible to construct the City and South London Railway 20 years later. Unfortunately the train wasn't very popular with customers so it was removed shortly after the opening and the tunnel was turned into a pedestrian subway. It was much more popular and used for 18 years until the construction of the nearby Tower Bridge sealed its fate. Not only was the bridge more convenient to use, it was also free, while the Subway was not.
The subway was then bought by London Hydraulic Company which used it to run water pipes under the Thames. Nowadays it's used as a cable subway as well although there's just a small bunch of them.
The history of the Subway is described in detail in many books and on many websites (Sub Brit being probably the best online resource). One thing that stands out in those reports is an almost complete lack of contemporary photos. I've seen literally 1 or 2 pics from some permission visits. Which obviously made me want to see the place even more, to find out what's inside.
Long story short - we did it and it was a bit meh haha. Nowadays it's a rusty tunnel with a couple of pipes and some cables. There aren't many traces left of its previous use. I didn't expect to find a buried cable train with skeletons in victorian dresses but I though there'd be at least some remains of the ancient machinery that powered the train and the lifts. Sadly it wasn't the case, the tunnel doesn't have too many features nowadays. Still I'm glad I could see it for myself. I took quite a lot of pictures as well, since I wanted to document the place properly. As I mentioned, there's almost no photos of the Subway online, so remember, you've seen it here first
***
The whole story began on some mid-week night of fail, that saw me and Analepsis try to catch a last close glimpse of the A Stock trains on Metropolitan line. We failed miserably and ended up in Tower Hill around midnight. Shuffling along to the bus stop, I thought we could give the old Subway a quick look. I'd recently found a new bit of info regarding the location of the southern shaft which has always been more elusive than its well-know-and-photographed northern counterpart. We found the shaft, we got inside.
The whole story began on some mid-week night of fail, that saw me and Analepsis try to catch a last close glimpse of the A Stock trains on Metropolitan line. We failed miserably and ended up in Tower Hill around midnight. Shuffling along to the bus stop, I thought we could give the old Subway a quick look. I'd recently found a new bit of info regarding the location of the southern shaft which has always been more elusive than its well-know-and-photographed northern counterpart. We found the shaft, we got inside.
As you can see, it's concrete, so it's definitely not the original southern shaft. The subway was modified a few times over the course of its existence, the shaft and the first concrete section are an example of that.
The modern concrete bit. There are lamps on the wall and wiring looks good and there was a switch on the wall labeled "Tunnel lights" and annoyingly it did nothing
After a few dozen meters there's a turn.
And then it joins the original Tower Subway tube. I was shocked to see how small it was!
The original Tower Subway
That's probably the most well known drawing of the pedestrian subway. The tunnel looks much bigger in it than it is in real life. I'm 1.8m and I'm wearing a hard hat in the below picture and I was touching the ceiling. Obviously the pipes are a later addition, they weren't there in the pedestrian period but still the place must have been very claustrophobic.
The lowest part of the tunnel is a bit flooded. There's maybe 20cm of water. There are pumps in here as well and they start without warning.
A touch of class. The first pipe subway I've done that had tiles on the floor. I imagine they're original ones from the pedestrian period of the tunnel.
Just before the end, a section of a wider diameter. It's about 10-20m long. I assume that in the first weeks of the Subway, before they got rid of the train, the waiting lounge was here:
Here's a couple of pictures of the train. The first one is a joke and must come from some promotional materials of the company that run the Subway lol:
No way there would be that much space inside of the carriage unless people in that picture are some kind of hobbits.
I believe this is a more realistic illustration:
And that's the northern shaft. It's old and rusty and has annoyingly tight caged ladders and hatches so I couldn't be bothered to take any pics inside of it. You emerge inside of the well-known kiosk next to the Tower of London. There's nothing of interest inside, just a few road cones:
So that's Tower Subway. It's surprisingly small and doesn't have lots of features and the lights don't work. But at least now we know it.
