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The Thames Tunnel was the world's first underwater tunnel, excavated beneath the River Thames in London between 1825 and 1841 and opened on 25 March 1843. It was built by Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel. 35 feet wide (11 m), 20 feet (6 m) high and 1,300 feet (396 m) long, it runs between Rotherhithe and Wapping at a depth of 75 feet (23 m) below the river's surface at high tide. It was originally designed for horse-drawn vehicles, but the tunnel company ran out of money to construct the ramps down to the tunnel and it was opened as a pedestrian tunnel.
In 1863, the tunnel was purchased by the East London Railway company for conversion to a railway tunnel. The first trains ran through the tunnel in 1869. From 1884 Metropolitan Railway and District Railway services used the tunnel and it later became part of the London Underground's Metropolitan line and finally it's East London line. In 2007 the tunnel was closed whilst the East London line was converted to become part of the London Overground network. It was reopened in 2010. Recognising its architectural and engineering importance, the tunnel is a Grade II* listed building. (Full article...)
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Selected biography
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Charles Henry Holden (12 May 1875–1 May 1960) was an English architect best known for his designs of some of the 1920s and 1930s stations on the London Underground, but who was already a distinguished architect before then, notably for his Imperial War Graves Commission cemeteries in Belgium and northern France.
Among his early architectural works at the beginning of the 20th century were Bristol Central Library and British Medical Association building in Strand. From the 1920s to the 1940s Holden was architect for numerous projects for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London and later London Transport. The earliest of Holden's commissions included stations on the southward extension of the Northern line to Morden in 1925-6 and a new company headquarters in 1927-9. The 1930-3 Piccadilly line extensions gave Holden the chance to develop a new type of station. Aiming for a striking and inviting modern appearance, he produced a set of designs based on simple, geometric forms built of brick and concrete. A number of these stations are listed buildings.
Many of Holden's later designs for Underground stations went unrealised or were scaled back because of World War II with only East Finchley representative of a series of stations planned for the cancelled extension of the Northern line to Bushey Heath and with stations on the Central line's extension into east London being scaled back by post-war austerity. Modestly believing that architecture was a joint effort, Holden twice declined the offer of a Knighthood. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
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- ...that the cause of the Moorgate tube crash in February 1975 was never satisfactorily determined?
- ...that at 44 tons, the locomotives of the Central London Railway's first underground trains were so heavy that they shook buildings as they passed 60 feet below and were scrapped after three years?
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Image 1Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
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Image 3Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
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Image 6Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
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Image 7Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 8Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
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Image 9London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 10The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
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Image 11The newly constructed junction of the Westway ( A40) and the West Cross Route ( A3220) at White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 12Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 13Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
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Image 15Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 16Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 17Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 19Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
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Image 20Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
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Image 21A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 22The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
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Image 23The multi-level junction between the M23 and M25 motorways near Merstham in Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 24London General Omnibus Company B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during World War I, this vehicle was operated on the Western Front.
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Image 25Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 28Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 30The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
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Image 31London Underground A60 Stock (left) and 1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 32Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 33Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
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Image 34The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
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Image 35The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 36TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
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Image 37View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
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Image 38Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
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Image 40Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 41Sailing ships at West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the Canary Wharf development.
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Image 4455 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
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Image 46"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 47Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 48Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
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Image 49Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
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