So the Thames Tunnel at Rotherhithe is not normally open to the public, for the very good reason that it's usually the tunnel London Overground (/East London Line) trains use to travel between Rotherhithe and Wapping. However! For some reason they decided to open it this Bank Holiday Weekend, so I jumped at the chance and managed to convince my stepmum to come too ('will I need my camera?' 'well, it depends if you want to take photos of a brick tunnel. I mean, obviously I do, but you might not.' 'I think I'll leave it here.'). It was really interesting to visit and I'm quite pleased that I have now walked through the Greenwich, Woolwich and Rotherhithe foot tunnels.
Construction started in 1825, and it was the first tunnel under a river anywhere in the world. The tunnel was designed by Marc Brunel and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and it took almost 20 years to complete (workers could only do two hour shifts because of the conditions). When they ran out of money during construction a banquet was held in the tunnel to raise funds.
The tunnel was opened to the public in 1843, and quickly became a very popular tourist attraction, with shops opening in the tunnel and fairs etc being held there. However after twenty years the tunnel was sold to the East London Railway and used to run trains. The East London Line was eventually extended and then became part of the London Overground network.
Photos from the walk:
Some of the original arches, and some that were replaced after Rotherhithe was bombed during WW2.
Views down the tunnels:
And some other miscellanous pictures of things:
Sort of a doodle
There were regular signs on the floor showing the distance to the nearest station.
The thing with the two wires running over the circles is the tunnel telephone system for drivers to use.
View of Rotherhithe platform from an unusual angle.
