A few months ago I had the rare opportunity to explore Aldwych Disused Tube Station and it was a fantastic experience(which you’ll be able to read about in the next issue of the Anglotopia Magazine in a few weeks). Many people asked how they can take a similar tour – well the London Transport Museum have announced the next line-up of tours. Tickets go on sale April 20th, you’ll need to book right away as they’ll sell out. Sadly Aldwych is not in this round of tours.
Here are the details for each tour:
Euston station – Lost Tunnels
Think you know Euston station? Think again. Join us for a tour exploring a century of the station’s history, from its humble beginnings on the corner of Melton and Drummond Streets, to its vulnerable future as part of the ever-growing national railway network. You’ll discover a labyrinth of dark and disused passageways which were once used by the travelling public and a gallery of preserved vintage advertising poster fragments that have been concealed for over 50 years. This hidden space is located below a busy Tube station that serves almost 42 million passengers each year and Euston national rail station.
Dates: Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 26 May – 19 June 2016 and 22 Sept – 30 October 2016
Times: various
Tour duration: 75 minutes approx.
Location: Euston, NW1 2EA
Tickets: Adult £35.00; Concession £30.00 (+ £1.50 booking fee per transaction)
55 Broadway – London’s First Skyscraper
Visitors will enjoy and expert led exclusive tour inside London’s first skyscraper, 55 Broadway. Considered radical and offensive when unveiled in 1929, this Grade I listed structure is now a marvel of Art Deco London. Your tour will give you elite access to London Underground’s former headquarters and a new perspective on the capital city as you journey up 14 stories of beautifully detailed offices, grand meetings rooms, and stunning rooftops views.
Dates: Saturdays and Sundays on 7/8 May, 4/5 June, 2/3 July, 13/14 August, 8/9 October, 19/20 November, 3 /4 December 2016
Times: various
Tour duration: 90 minutes approx.
Location: 55 Broadway, SW1H 0BD
Tickets: Adult £32.50; Concession £27.50 (+ £1.50 booking fee per transaction)
Clapham South Subterranean shelter
Journey 180 steps underground to explore one of eight eight Second World War deep-level shelters that exist across London. Opened to the public in July 1944, Clapham South deep-level shelter has over a mile of subterranean passageways that reveal the extraordinary stories of those who sheltered here, from Londoners seeking refuge during the Blitz, to hopeful Caribbean migrants arriving on the Empire Windrush, and even thrifty visitors to the Festival of Britain.
Dates: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 14 July – 21 Aug 2016 and 2 March – 26 March 2017
Times: various
Tour duration:
Location: Clapham South deep-level shelter
Tickets: Adult £35.00; Concession £30.00 (+ £1.50 booking fee per transaction)
Down Street – Churchill’s secret station
Get an intimate peek into one of London’s most intriguing hidden spaces. Located in Mayfair between Hyde Park Corner and Green Park stations, Down Street had a short life as a working station from 1907 to 1932, but became critical to winning the Second World War when covertly transformed into the Railway Executive Committee’s bomb-proof bunker. Experience the warren of narrow tunnels where the nation’s railways were coordinated and Prime Minister Winston Churchill took refuge secretly at the height of the Blitz.
Dates: Wednesdays, Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 4 August – 11 September 2016, 24 November – 18 December 2016 & 11 January – 5 March 2017
Times: various
Tour duration: 90 minutes approx.
Location: Down Street, Mayfair
Tickets: Adult £75; Concession £70 and £1.50 booking fee per transaction
Advice on snagging tickets
Tickets to these tours are in VERY high demand so it’s important to be ready to book the minute they go on sale. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10am British Time on April 20th, 2016. However, if you sign up right now for the London Transport Museum newsletter, you can get access a day early and priority booking. Do this.
Having gone through this process before, you must be quick. Tickets cannot be resold or transferred. Once they sell out, they’re sold out until the next round of tours. Be flexible in your dates. Down Street will probably sell out first, so if that sells out, try for the others.
Good luck!
Author: Jonathan Thomas
Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile who launched Anglotopia.net in 2007 to channel his passion for Britain. Londontopia is its sister publication dedicated to everything London.
Wow, for us South Africans to go and see one of these will be pretty expensive seeing that our exchange rate is R20.62 to a pound.