I travelled to Holborn Underground for my tour of the station with Hidden London. This was my first Hidden London tour since before Covid when I had visited Charing Cross and Euston stations. I had visited the Leake Street arches before catching the underground to Holborn. Just like Waterloo, the station was supporting the British Legion Poppy Day with soldiers selling poppies.
After the tour behind the scenes of Holborn station I walked to Piccadilly to join my evening workshop around Soho.
Holborn and Hidden London
The meeting place for the tour was at the corner of Kingsway and Gate Street. I sat on the bench outside the very busy coffee shop .
The tour started when we were checked off the attendee list after showing a photo ID to one of the guides. Then we received a TfL visor badge to hang around our neck. Inside the station we passed through one of the wide barriers before going through a door and descending down the circular staircase.
One of the original lift shafts had been converted into rooms accessed by landings off the staircase.
We then went onto the busy platform and walked to a door at the end.
Through the door were now walking towards the abandoned platform and tracks.
Then we came to the one of the abandoned platforms. This space had rooms built to one side. We learnt that this was were staff used to eat and sleep in WW2. The space above us had had a mezzanine floor which held offices.
At the end of this space we came to a door and went through to the open abandoned platform.
Then rough another door, this one was extremely thick. We learnt that this was to protect the spaces we had left in case the tunnels had flooded in the war.
We were now in the abandoned tunnel and could see the Aldwych Crossover.
On the wall at the side of us was a plan of the the tunnels where we were under Holborn.
Then we went back to the platform with the rooms to explore.
Next we watched a presentation about upgrading the platforms. How the platforms had been extended around the existing tunnel before removing the original tunnel lining. We were shown clips Holborn being used in music videos and even as a scene from a Superman film where it was supposed tob New York’s system!
Then it was back to explore some more places.
Mind your head!
Then we were back out on the platform again. This time we were on our way to where the Aldwych shuttle service ran.
Then just to “confuse” we looked at the signage when the platform had been used fpr trials.
This is one of only two signal boxes left on the Underground. This controlled the shuttle as it carried backwards less than 400 passengers a day!
I waited until we could see a Piccadilly Line train pass.
Then it was back through the station and up the deep escalator to hand in our badges and leave the station.
As I set off on my walk to Piccadilly I passed the building that had held the entrance to the other stion that was meged into Holborn (called Kingsway).
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