Archive for the ‘Dan’ tag
Cut and Cover #1 – Mark Lane
April 2010
With the London Underground having been neglected by so many for so long, the ever prolific Siologen’s excellent tales of hitting up the LU began to surface around March 2010. The community began to sit up and take notice of the accessibility of these tunnels and stations, and as such, knowledge about Mark Lane station began to trickle out and around, as if it was the only one out there to see.
Creeping.
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KRT – October 2010
The latest in a string of tall buildings in London to play on, this follows Southwark Tower, London Bridge House and Temple Court as my ‘High London’ experiences. What made this different was the ease of which it could be explored and ascended.
‘Here’s us doing it’ – August 2010
‘Up the junction’
“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail”, said somebody wise once. Benjamin Franklin, to be precise. Although not explicity related to the practice of ‘going in the drains’, the theme still stands. Usual kit for these expeditions is: Waders, Torch, helmet, hi-viz jacket, drain keys, camera, tripod. Take away the waders, you get wet. Take away the torch, you can’t see. Take away the Hi-viz and helmet and you’re suspicious. Take away the drain key and you can’t get in. Take away the camera and you can’t take photos. Take away the tripod and you get wobbly ones.
The Runs – April-August 2010
The sewers of London serve the city’s bowels; the nervous system is catered for by the miles of fibre optics found beneath the city in these tunnels and more. The lifeblood that keeps the city going is the cable runs, a network of subterrannean tunnels carrying gas and electrical supplies. Take any of these away and the city shuts down, just as the body does if you take away any of the functions giving life. Just as we rarely see inside the human body, we rarely see inside the city.
Map and Ladder
The River Fleet – August 2010
The River Fleet is the best known of the ‘lost’ London rivers, being the one that was most central to the City of London. We’d dipped our feet in the waters of the Tyburn, Counters Creek and the Westbourne, but hadn’t really given much effort to The Fleet. I couldn’t say why. Danny had identified a set of lids which may have yielded, and the first we tried set us into the River. We headed downstream.
Deep Level #1 – City Road
Covered in soot and tube dust I emerged elated from City Road tube station, my companion Danny following me out into the cool and quiet London night. The past two hours had been a nervy affair, our first deep level tube line and abandoned station. The site was scoped out a few days prior, the night we returned we were fully prepared and were soon in the tunnels beneath.
A night in The ‘Don – May 2010
We just can’t stop ourselves, we keep going back: Every time we visit London we pass a crane on the A4 at Brentford, a big red bastard we can see for miles before. We practically go underneath it, but we never pull off and stop. Always other things to do, places to see.
Battersea Powerstation – Dec 2009
You can’t ignore it from the Chelsea Embankment. A brooding brick hulk decaying since the 1980s.
Quest for the Westbourne. May 2010
Wednesday
Having got accustomed to the ways of the drains, we prepped for the Westbourne as best we thought possible, with a handful of maps printed from google. With a rough route highlighted along the roads the underground river allegedly followed, we trekked through Knightsbridge in our civvies, heading south towards Chelsea through mews and terraces.
London Highs – March 2010
Beneath London, above London, in London. Get it all here. We approached the capital with vague intentions of hitting something high. We discussed various sites we didn’t even go near, took the piss out of Nebba’s noddy car and upset taxi drivers by driving erratically. First site was the delightful Temple Court, a medium sized block close to Bank. In fact, it’s right next to New Court. Easy as pie, comical almost. Only downside was the presence of the wind, which knocked Nebba’s tripod over before he’d even opened his bag.
