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Secret Passages

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Re: Secret Passages

Postby Katharine » 07 Mar 2012, 15:02

Julie2owlsdene wrote:Looks spooky! Wonder if it's haunted.

8)


Perhaps there's a spook train down there. :D
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby Lucky Star » 07 Mar 2012, 18:04

Moonraker wrote:Here are some fascinating pictures of Aldwych Station.


Aldwych was opened late last year for a few days of guided tours and I went. It was quite expensive at £20 per ticket plus, obviously, travelling expenses etc but it was well worth it. It really did feel like a trip back in time once we were in there. I'd love to see some of the really old ones, Aldwych is in realtively good condition as they still use it for filming and staff training. They had an old 70's era tube train parked down there the day I went.

As far as the health and safety thing goes the instruction sheet I received with my ticket stated firmly that all visitors would need to be capable of walking down and back up several hundred stairs as there are no working lifts left. On the day of my visit the gents toilets were also out of action so its probably just as well that the tour only lasted an hour. :lol:
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby Katharine » 07 Mar 2012, 18:11

Lucky Star wrote:As far as the health and safety thing goes the instruction sheet I received with my ticket stated firmly that all visitors would need to be capable of walking down and back up several hundred stairs as there are no working lifts left.


I think as long as it's clearly stated that an attraction has restrictions there shouldn't be a problem with health and safety. A lot of English Heritage castles etc. have limited access. I think it's important that new buildings are built with people's differing needs taken into consideration, but it's crazy to try and put disabled access into buildings that were built a long time ago, unless of course it can be done without ruining the original features.

I'm curious to know why all these branch lines and stations were closed. Was it anything to do with Beeching? I thought commuter trains were full to bursting and if anything there is a need for more rather than less?
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby Lucky Star » 07 Mar 2012, 18:18

Katharine wrote:
I'm curious to know why all these branch lines and stations were closed. Was it anything to do with Beeching? I thought commuter trains were full to bursting and if anything there is a need for more rather than less?


Aldwych was closed becuase it never made any money. There were other stations nearby to which everybody went. Appaerantly by the end of it's working life they didn't even have a working ticket office there; the lift operator sold tickets as he took you down to the platforms. I remember being surprised when told this as it's in a pretty busy area but it must be true I suppose. I would imagine most of the others were the same.
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby Moonraker » 07 Mar 2012, 19:10

My son works just opposite Aldwych station, and would love it still to be open!
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby Anita Bensoussane » 07 Mar 2012, 21:43

Lucky Star wrote:Aldwych was opened late last year for a few days of guided tours and I went. It was quite expensive at £20 per ticket plus, obviously, travelling expenses etc but it was well worth it. It really did feel like a trip back in time once we were in there.

Sounds good! I'm glad they still do tours once in a while.
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby Moonraker » 08 Mar 2012, 13:58

I'd pay £30 to go down! Someone queried with me where Aldwych station was, as the only picture had Strand on the sign. They are one and the same, Strand later became Aldwych, to avoid confusion with Charing Cross, at the other end of the Strand.
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby lwindrush » 19 May 2012, 11:51

A few years ago I took my daughter to the Natural History Museum in London, in the basement in the picnic area we took a wrong turning to find the loos and was in a backstage area belonging to the staff, we got lost and at the end of the corridor we emerged into what was the closed Geological museum. We spent an hour touring a closed shut down museum until I deduced we might get into trouble, so we both called for help until we got rescued by a museum guard, who was amazed to find us lost on a labyrinth backwater. For my daughter it was a thrilling adventure, "just like the Famous Five daddy"
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby Katharine » 19 May 2012, 12:58

Sounds like fun, I'm surprised you didn't trigger all kinds of alarms and have the place surrounded by armed police! :wink:
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby lwindrush » 19 May 2012, 13:04

Next time you visit the Natural History museum try it, but don't mention my name.
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby Katharine » 19 May 2012, 13:41

Next time? I've never been. I think I visited the Science Museum with my parents when I was about 10, and I've been to London Zoo, but other than that I've never done any of the sight seeing visits to London. Strange really as we are only just over an hour away by train.

Reading some of the posts on here about the markets and little book shops tucked away I think I must have lived a pretty sheltered life. I've never seen a London show either. Although I did go to the Royal Tournament several times - shame they stopped it.

However I have finally managed to attend the most important social event of all - The Enid Blyton Day. :D
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby Anita Bensoussane » 19 May 2012, 13:53

I've visited the Natural History Museum three or four times, but never stumbled across the "secret museum"! It's a beautiful building. The stuffed Great Auk always makes me think of Jack Trent.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

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Re: Secret passages

Postby Chrissie777 » 19 May 2012, 14:05

[quote="Viv of Ginger Pop"]
Passages under the sea (that weren't waterlogged), passages between castle walls...

Hi Viv,

I remember a castle in East Anglia from my 1995 trip to Cornwall, Devon & East Anglia. I think it's called Orford Castle or Oxford Castle and it had two outer walls in-between which one could walk along. It's located not far from the sea.
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby Fiona1986 » 19 May 2012, 14:09

Sounds exciting, Chrissie! Did you find any baddies hiding there?

In case you missed it when I said it before, if you're quoting someone and edit out part of the quote you need to leave [/quote] at the end of it, or the quote doesn't appear properly.
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Re: Secret Passages

Postby Katharine » 19 May 2012, 14:14

Orford Castle is in East Anglia. I went there last year, but I can't picture a bit with walls you could walk between. It's reasonably close to the sea - there's a good view from the top. There's also Languard Fort at Felixstowe which is right next to the water. There are a lot of underground passages there.

Mind you, we only had a flying visit to Orford Castle as we went there just before it closed, so it's possible we missed a bit.
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