The Thames crossing challenge continues. Here's the latest sketches.
Rotherhithe Tunnel
The tunnel was built to link the Limehouse and West India Docks to the north with the Surrey Commercial Docks to the South. The construction largely copied that of the Blackwall Tunnel, although the diameter was wider and there were claims that it was the largest subaqueous tunnel in the world when it was built. Speaking of its construction, one of the great claims to fame of the Rotherhithe Tunnel was that the safety precautions for the men building it were so comprehensive that not a single person was fatally injured during its construction, which was a rare occurrence indeed for tunnels built in the late 19th and early 20th century.
The Rotherhithe Tunnel is unusual inasmuch as it carries motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians all within a single bore. The portals at either end of the tunnel are now grade II listed. The tunnel has fairly sharp bends and the carriageways are narrow, and this means that there is a ban on vehicles more than 2 metres high or 2 metres wide. There is a speed limit of 20mph in operation throughout the tunnel. Originally the walls of the tunnel were faced with glazed tiles, with a band of brown tiles marking the boundary between northern and southern halves of the tunnel. There were problems especially with the tiles on the southern half and the tiles were removed in 2011. It’s a shame, since for my money this has done nothing for the tunnel’s aesthetic appeal.
Maybe this has something to do with the tunnel’s virtual abandonment by pedestrians. This has dwindled to the point where the current estimates suggest that the average number of pedestrians using the tunnel each day is 20. Personally I think it probably has more to do with the really unpleasant fumes inhaled by those who brave it. By 1997 over 34,000 vehicles were using the tunnel each day, which is far more than it was ever designed for. Restrictions since have kept that figure from rising, as this is seen as pretty much the tunnel’s full capacity.
I will be honest. Although I have driven through the Rotherhithe Tunnel I have never been tempted to cycle through it or heaven forbid, walk through it. Generally it is felt to be really unpleasant, and some have even suggested unhealthy. Just google ‘walking through Rotherhithe tunnel’ and you’ll find plenty of first hand accounts that say as much.
Jubilee Line – Canary Wharf to Canada Water
It was always intended that the Jubilee Line would be extended, but several plans were considered, then changed, then rejected, before work finally began on the extension south of the river and into London’s Docklands redevelopment. New platforms were built at Westminster, Waterloo, London Bridge, West Ham and Stratford, and 6 brand new stations were built including Canada Water and Canary Wharf.
The new Jubilee Line Extension stations have been rightly praised for the imagination that their architects have shown in their designs. Even as I write a quarter of a century after their opening they seem fresh, and new and in the case of Canary Wharf in particular, a vision of the future. Not that building the line between the two stations was by any means an easy thing to do. It was complicated by the presence of the foundations of some of the tallest office buildings in the UK in Canary Wharf and a 19th century railway tunnel. Despite this the line opened on schedule in 1999, which shows you the contrast between Britain in the 1970s and the 1990s.
Cards on the table – I like the Jubilee Line. I’ve used both Canada Water and Canary Wharf stations and both have proven to be a very pleasant experience.
Okay, confession time. I really liked the photograph I found and used for the picture, and it wasn't until I was about half finished that I suddenly asked myself - where are the doors? For the Jubilee Line has glass walls with automatic doors between the platforms and the trains. The answer is that it isn't the Jubilee Line platforms, it's the Overground. Canada Water serves both Underground and Overground. The station at the other end of the Jubilee Line tunnel under the Thames here, Canary Wharf doesn't serve the Overground, but does serve the DLR and is very close to the Elizabeth Lne station of the same name. There you go.
Docklands Light Railway Tunnel – Island Gardens to Cutty Sark
The growth of Docklands saw the DLR extended during the mid 90s, to connect with the Underground at Bank, and out into East London. It was Lewisham Borough Council that first mooted extending the system via a tunnel beneath the Thames between Island Gardens and Greenwich, extending out to connect with Lewisham’s existing British Rail Station. They commissioned a feasibility study which was enthusiastically received by Parliament. Consent was given and work began in 1996.
One consequence was that it was necessary to resite Island Gardens station. The new station is a shallow subsurface one, after which the line enters the tunnel under the Thames. The next station is Cutty Sark, after which the tunnel ends at Greenwich station. The extension opened in 1999.
I am well aware that not everyone loves or even likes public transport. I will admit that after I moved to Port Talbot I developed a dislike for the local buses and trains – mostly to do with their irregularity and scarcity. I am glad to say that my opinion has changed since receiving my free bus pass. Returning to the point, I do think that for anyone with even a sneaking regard for public transport, a ride on the DLR is well worth your time. If you can, you should sit in the front of the driverless train and watch the spectacular vault of Canary Wharf station approach you.
Greenwich Foot tunnel
In Greenwich, by the riverside, not at all far from the Cutty Sark, is a rather curious looking circular, domed red brick building. This is the Greenwich entrance to the Greenwich Foot Tunnel and prior to the opening of the DLR Lewisham Extension it was by far the easiest way to cross the river between Greenwich and the Isle of Dogs.
I didn’t have much occasion to cross to the Isle of Dogs during my three years in Lewisham, but out of curiosity I did use it on a few occasions. It was over 80 years old, having first opened in 1902 and to be honest it felt like it. The original lifts were still in use and would continue until being replaced in the 1990s. The tunnel to my eyes seemed fairly narrow. Having grown up with the London Underground it only seemed natural that the tunnel should be lined with white tiles, but back then I recall there was a bit of a damp problem, and some of the tiles looked unnecessarily mouldy. Someway into the tunnel the tiles cease and you get what look like cream coloured exposed tunnel rings. These are actually repairs to the tunnel made following the explosion of a bomb nearby in 1940. If the rest of the tunnel felt narrow, this section felt almost claustrophobic. These repairs were only temporary, even though, over 80 years later they’re still there!
Well, let’s be a little kinder to the poor old Greenwich Foot Tunnel. I was impressed to read that once it really got into top gear, the tunnel progressed at a remarkable 10 feet per day. It is open all day every day and its still used by a average of four thousand people a day. I read that upgrade work was undertaken in the second decade of the present century to ameliorate some of the problems with dampness. Signs in the tunnel make it clear that you’re not allowed to ride your bike in the tunnel, but I did wheel my bike through it when I was on my way from Lewisham to relatives in Essex, and it was significantly quicker than cycling to Tower Bridge and crossing the river. . . and significantly healthier than riding through the Rotherhithe Tunnel.
Jubilee Line – North Greenwich to Canary Wharf
Yes, the Jubilee Line is the gift that keeps on giving. For once you’ve crossed from Canada Water to Canary Wharf, then you get to cross right back to North Greenwich.
One of the driving forces behind the Jubilee Line extension was facilitating access to what was at the time called The Millenium Dome in Greenwich. In 1851 The Great Exhibition was held in Hyde Park in the building which came to be known as The Crystal Palace. The purpose of the Exhibition was to showcase Britain's and other countries’ culture and commerce. It’s been credited as the brainchild of Prince Albert and whether that’s strictly true or not he was a primary mover and shaker behind it. The building itself was bought, dismantled and reerected at Sydenham Heights, where it stood until destroyed by fire in 1936, after being used for a variety of purposes.
In 1951, Britain staged the Festival of Britain. The original inspiration was the Centenary of the Great Exhibition. The Great Exhibition however was the first ever World’s Fair, while the Festival itself was a purely British affair, focused on Britain and its achievements. Festival events took place throughout the year and throughout the country. The focal point for the celebrations was the temporary complex built on the South Bank from early May until the end of September. At the end of the year almost the whole complex was demolished, although the Royal Festival Hall remained, and still does.
So, the Great Exhibition and the Festival of Britain served as inspiration to the John Major Conservative government of the mid 90s for a public exhibition to celebrate the Millennium. The Labour Government elected in 1997 took the plans and greatly expanded them. The exhibition was always going to be held in the Millennium Dome, built at North Greenwich. The Dome, which is supported by 12 100m tall towers, is still one of the largest in the world. The twelve towers spaced around the circumference of the dome are inspired by a clock face, a nod to Greenwich being the home of the Greenwich meridian. Curiously the Dome's footprint is almost exactly the same as that of the original Crystal Palace.
You can use statistics to argue that the Millennium Experience in the Dome was either a huge success or a huge flop. In the 12 months it was open it attracted just over 6 million visitors, making it by far the most popular tourist attraction in the UK, by a factor of 3. On the other hand the Festival of Britain attracted 10 million visitors over a shorter time period. In the years following the Dome was sold, and has been renamed the O2 Area, where its huge indoor space has been used for multiple events, most notably as a sports arena and concert venue. I visited it myself to see the Treasures of Tutankhamen Exhibition in 2008.
So, in the same way that the Jubilee Line Station at Canary Wharf has tunnels crossing under the Thames on both sides of the line, so does North Greenwich. However, in between we have . . .
Blackwall Tunnel
By the 1880s, two fifths of London’s population lived East of London Bridge. Yet London Bridge remained their nearest river crossing. The same growth of London’s docks that made new crossings more necessary also meant that more bridges East of Tower Bridge were going to be too much of a restriction to shipping.
An Act of Parliament for the building of a Blackwall Tunnel was passed in 1997. This tunnel was the brainchild of Sir Joseph Bazalgette and would have composed of three bores, two for vehicles and one for pedestrians. However the Metropolitan Board of works, whose responsibility it would have been was abolished in 1889 when the London County Council was established. This ended Bazalgette’s involvement.
It didn’t end the tunnel as a concept, and the LCC’s chief engineer Sir Alexander Binnie designed a single bore tunnel that would be built using the Greathead tunnelling shield and compressed air method and it opened in 1897. By comparison with the slightly later Rotherhithe Tunnel, 7 men lost their lives during the construction. The original bore, the western bore, is now only used for northbound traffic. It has some sharp bends and there is a maximum height limit for vehicles of four metres.
By the 1930s it had become generally accepted that the tunnel was inadequate for the volume of traffic using it. It was not until 1938 that the required Act of Parliament for a new tunnel to be constructed was obtained by the LCC. As you might have deduced, work on the new tunnel was considerably delayed due to the outbreak of World War II and the subsequent period of post war austerity. It was not until 1958 that work commenced. That was only on the new approach roads. Work on the tunnel itself began in 1960 although the tunnel itself was not opened until 1967. It is wider than the original bore, and takes a shorter, more direct route under the river.
The northbound entrance to the original tunnel still stands and certainly in terms of appearance it puts me just a little in mind of what Tower Bridge might have looked like had it been built in red brick as Horace Jones originally intended. Out of interest, horse drawn traffic is banned in the tunnel, but the ban didn’t come into effect until 1947.
Being the easternmost road crossing of the river in Greater London the Blackwall tunnel is one of the most important crossings of the whole river, and has seen criticism for the amount of congestion around it for decades. There have been proposals over the years to build a third bore. Finally in 2018 the Government agreed to the proposal of a new tunnel between Silvertown and Greenwich. The opening of the new Silvertown Tunnel has been proposed for 2025. Watch this space. Charges will be imposed for using the Blackwall Tunnel for the first time when the new Silvertown Tunnel opens.
Jubilee Line – Canning Town to North Greenwich
I have to say that at first glance the Northern entrance, which is the main entrance to the station, looks tired and uninspiring. Concrete panels rarely look inspiring, and once they’ve had a few years to get dirty, as these have, they look even less appealing. Even the parts which make less conspicuous use of concrete and more use of glass and metal are flat and rectangular and speak more of dull bus station than imaginative tube station design. One thing it does have which is worth writing about is a huge memorial to the Thames Ironworks. Remarkably this claims to have been made from inscribed concrete panels attached to iron hewn from the hull of HMS Warrior. I’ve no doubt that it did originally come from HMS Warrior, but I just wish it explained how Warrior is still in existence, proudly standing close to HMS Victory in historic Portsmouth Dock. Curiosity makes me ask just when it was removed from the Warrior. I pause briefly for a flight of fancy in which the Warrior’s conservators arrive one morning to see a huge hole in the hull, scratching their heads and asking each other “Where the hell did that go?”
The station also has a southern entrance, and this is the one I’ve sketched. Okay, this is little more than a lift entrance, but blimey, it displays more imagination than the rest of the station put together. Curves always play well with me, and circular structures even more so. The glazed panels around the top of the drum below the canopy are a lovely touch, and the sort of thing which lifts this little part of the station and allows it into the ranks of those which have gone before.
From here the Jubilee Line stays north of the river, and goes on up to Stratford for a well earned rest.
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