Back in the game with a permission visit to London’s Aldwych Station with Hidden London on what’s turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far.
After navigating an easy route into London, spotting other relics along the way and a quick coffee in a nearby cafe we made our way over to meet up with the rest of the tour group and our Hidden London tour hosts.
Keeping the story short and breif and not wanting to ruin the experience for anyone else, I would highly recommend booking a tour with them. My own disappointment was in not fully seeing the entire station as the other ticket hall seemed to be shut off from the tour. But was great none the less.
Also given a different photo standard to the usual with these, all pictures taken on a Galaxy Note shooting in RAW. They’re without a doubt not the usual quality but impressive for a phone and an old phone at that.
Some brief history pinched from Wikipedia as always, though if you’re here then I suspect you may already know the story.
Aldwych is a closed station on the London Underground, located in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was opened in 1907 with the name Strand, after the street on which it is located. It was the terminus of the short Piccadilly line branch from Holborn that was a relic of the merger of two railway schemes. The station building is close to the Strand’s junction with Surrey Street, near Aldwych. During its lifetime, the branch was the subject of a number of unrealised extension proposals that would have seen the tunnels through the station extended southwards, usually to Waterloo.
Served mostly by a shuttle train and having low passenger numbers, the station and branch were considered for closure several times. Service was offered only during weekday peak hours from 1962 and discontinued in 1994, when the cost of replacing the lifts was considered too high for the income generated.
Disused parts of the station and the running tunnels were used during both world wars to shelter artworks from London’s public galleries and museums from bombing. The station is the work of Leslie Green and has long been popular as a filming location, appearing as itself and as other London Underground stations in a number of films. In recognition of its historical significance, the station is a Grade II listed building and is an example of the Modern Style (British Art Nouveau style).[2][3]
