That Challenge is complete

Time is getting on. In a couple of days I’m off on the great summer Sketchpedition of 2024. This has give me some oomph to finish off the tunnels. Here they are:-

Woolwich Foot Tunnel

You know, when you hear the word Woolwich, you might not have anything specific come to your mind, especially if you’re not from London or the South East. But if the name does mean anything to you, there’s a number of things that might be, depending on your age. You might be interested in the fact that the very first McDonalds in the UK opened in Woolwich – and it’s still there. If you’re of an older generation you maybe think of the Woolwich Ferry. Well, we’ll see about ferries in the fulness of time. Most likely, if you thought anything you thought Barrier, since Woolwich is home to the Woolwich Flood Barrier across the Thames.

Well, the foot tunnel has nothing to do with this.

The Thames Flood Barrier at Woolwich does have a tunnel linking the gates and the banks of the river, but it’s certainly not open to you and to me, being a service tunnel and therefore not part of my remit.

No, we’re here in Woolwich to look at the Woolwich foot tunnel. Like the slightly earlier Greenwich Foot Tunnel, the Woolwich tunnel was the result largely of energetic lobbying by working class politician Will Crooks. The Woolwich tunnel is longer than the Greenwich Tunnel, and it has about 1000 users a day on average compared with the 4000 on average who use the Greenwich Tunnel each day.  Like Greenwich the tunnel walls are lined with white glazed tiles, although there’s none of the  temporary war damage repairs which are still so glaringly obvious in the former. The entrances to the tunnel are similar to Greenwich, but the lack of a dome means that I prefer the Greenwich entrances.

I only ever used the tunnel once, forty years ago so I can’t say if this is in anyway unusual but on both crossings I was the only person in the tunnel.

In 2010 the tunnel was closed when structural weaknesses were discovered. At its deepest point the roof of the tunnel is less than 10 feet below the riverbed. It reopened late in 2011.

One thing I can’t tell you is whether you can cycle in it officially. I’ve read several websites saying you can at off peak times, but the official Woolwich Tunnel website states categorically that cyclists are expected to dismount at all times. So, I guess you pays yer money and takes yer chance on that one.

Elizabeth Line Tunnel – Custom House to Woolwich

Right then. When I was a kid, life was a lot simpler. You had London Underground trains, the Tube as we called even the above ground sections, and you had British Railways. Yes, it was complicated a little by the Waterloo and City Line which looked like a tube line, appeared on the Tube map, but was actually a British Rail line, but since this was only one tiny line between two stations we could forget about it for most of the time. Nowadays we have the London Underground, the London Overground, the Docklands Light Railway and the Elizabeth Line, all under the same Transport for London branding, yet all separate entities. The Underground spends more of its time overground than underground while the Overground goes underground in places. It can all be quite confusing. Ironically the Waterloo and City Line is now part of the London Underground network, so let’s at least be grateful for small mercies.

The Underground Lines of London built in the fifty years before the First World War, still form the core of the network in Central London but were never designed to cope with a population of nearly 9 million people. Even with the various extensions to the network since and with the additions of the Victoria and Jubilee lines, even before 2000 it was obvious that the network was struggling to cope with the volume of passengers. The Crossrail Project to alleviate the problem was first discussed in 2001. In 2008 the route was settled and Parliamentary Approval secured. Work began on what would become The Elizabeth Line in 2009.

Boring of the tunnels took 7 years, which is hardly surprising considering how congested Central London is. Crossrail was the largest engineering project in Europe at the time. The original opening of the line was scheduled for 2018, but this was delayed and then delayed again due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The line opened in 2022.

There are many differences between the Elizabeth Line and the lines of the London Underground. The tunnels have a wider diameter, and the trains are longer, bigger and carry many more passengers. At the time of writing in 2024 it is such a success that it’s estimated that one in seven of all rail journeys in the UK are taken on the Elizabeth Line. The line passes through Central London but it’s much longer than any Underground Line, stretching from Reading in the West to Shenfield in the East, and there are plans and proposals to extend it as far afield as Southend airport. Its 41 stations compare with 60 on the District Line for example, and the greater distances between stops allow the trains to travel at a higher average speed than the Underground.

So, the Elizabeth Line’s cross river tunnel links Custom House, already a DLR station, with Woolwich, on a spur which ends at the next station at Abbey Wood. In the early days of the Crossrail proposal there was not going to be a station at Woolwich. However involvement with Greenwich Borough Council and the Berkely Homes Development Group with he cost of a new Woolwich station meant that Woolwich was included by the time that Parliamentary Approval was gained.

DLR tunnel – Woolwich Arsenal to King George

The Docklands Light Railway tunnel between King George V station and Woolwich Arsenal Tunnel is the furthest upstream crossing of the Thames in Greater London, and the end of our subterranean journey back and forward across the Thames. The next crossing is the Dartford Tunnel between Kent and Essex more than ten miles away.

Woolwich Arsenal station is shared between the DLR and national rail. The DLR platforms are underground and the end of this section of the DLR. Trains arrive at and depart from either side of an island platform. The station is the end of the line extending out to London City Airport which was built between 2005 and 2009, and opened in the latter year.

The DLR tunnel under the Thames to King George V is not without interest, since it curves around so much that trains departing Woolwich Arsenal head eastwards, while the tunnel curves westwards under the river.

As for King George V station in North Woolwich itself, well I don’t have a great deal to say about it. The station platforms are a distance from the tunnel and are above ground. The station was opened in 2005 even though it would be four years before the tunnel to Woolwich was completed and Woolwich DLR platforms were open. Every time I’ve visited the platforms have always struck me as a bit bleak and the exterior of the station is pretty uninspiring.

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I wasn’t done yet. Not quite. You see, I’ve missed out something obvious. The first tunnel beneath the Thames opened in 1840. The first London Bridge was built in about 50AD. In the 1990s remains of a Bronze Age structure from about 1500BC were found in the Vauxhall area, and this may have been a bridge to an island, although this is still a hypothesis rather than a proven fact. Yet for all this we can be pretty certain that the first people to cross the Thames did so in boats.

From the Saxon reoccupation of the walled Roman city of Londinium a settlement on the south side of the river around the southern end of the bridge called Southwark grew. A thriving and powerful community of Watermen took advantage of the increased traffic between London and Southwark. The boats they used were called wherries. In medieval times Southwark was not subject to the restrictions of the City and it developed a reputation as a place where people could enjoy the kinds of amusement and entertainment not permitted in the city– it was no accident that the Globe and Rose theatres of Shakespeare’s time were both in Southwark. The wherries had become water taxis, and the watermen vigorously opposed the building of any new bridges in London until Putney Bridge in 1729.

Various ferries have run across the Thames throughout the centuries. The proliferation of Bridges and tunnels in the central London area in the last two hundred years has drastically reduced the demand for ferries, but there are still a couple of scheduled ferry services across the Thames in the Greater London area, and so let’s add these to the challenge. The completist in me would never forgive me if I didn’t.

I have to be honest, I found it difficult to keep interest in the tunnels. Most of them were train station platforms and although none of them are identical, they’re pretty similar and it’s really a matter of straight lines and perspective. I don’t plan to do another one for a while, although I’m not rulig out the New York Subway. The ferries perked up my interest a bit, and I did the last two tunnels and all four ferries across just a couple of days. Here they are.

Hampton Ferry

The Hampton Ferry has a very good claim to being the oldest ferry service on the Thames in London. Mind you, it’s only just in Greater London. It runs from Hampton to Molesey. I’ve never used it myself so what I know about it is derived from what I’ve found online, and if there are mistakes, then I apologise.

It runs from March to October and judging by the photographs it only carries a small number of passengers. But you have to admire the fact that it has been ging since 1514.

Hammerton’s Ferry

Hammerton’s Ferry has not been running since the 16^th century. Again, like the Hampton Ferry I have never yet used Hammerton’s Ferry, so I apologise for any errors in what I have to say.

Right. Up until the 20^th century the land on either side of the Thames a this point of the river between Teddington and Richmond was privately owned. During the 1900s Marble Hill House and Park on the north side were purchased for public use, and the footpath on the southern side near Ham House became a public right of way. A local resident called Walter Hammerton began hiring out boats from a boathouse opposite Marble Hill House, and by 1909 he was operating a ferry service carrying up to 12 passengers, each paying one penny.

Despite legal challenges and appeals to Hammerton’s right to run the ferry service which finally ended when he House of Lords upheld Hammerton’s side, he continued to run the service for 38 years. I don’t know if this is true but sincerely hope it is that world famous musician Phil Collins is Walter Hammerton’s grandson. I know Phil Collins is a West London boy, so you never know.

The ferry is still in private ownership. Hammerton’s original ferryboat is on display at the Museum of London Docklands. The current ferry still operates on the original route from near Marble Hill House to near Ham House. The current ferryboat was manufactured in 1997 and is called Peace of Mind. It operates on weekends all the year round and also on weekdays from February until October.

Transport For London River Bus

Yes, include the Transport for London River Bus services. Strictly speaking most of these routes aren’t counted as ferries, but what the hell, it’s my game and we’re playing by my rules or I’m taking my ball and going home.

London River Services Ltd. are part of Transport for London. They don’t actually run the three London river bus services, but manage them by licensing the services of operators. This had its roots in an initiative by Labour’s Transport Secretary in the 1997 Government, John Prescott. Prescott was also the Deputy Prime Minister so he had a lot of clout within the Government and could get things done. This resulted in the creation of London River Services. It directly manages 8 piers, and has tied in branding with the rest of TfL.

Route RB1 goes from Battersea Power Station Pier to Barking Riverside Pier , which is also the destination of RB2 which starts at Putney Bridge. There is currently no RB3. RB4, which I used twice in 2016, is the shortest route of all and is essentially a ferry between Canary Wharf and the Doubletree dock by the Hilton Hotel. There is no RB5, and RB6 operates at peak times on weekdays between Putney and Canary Wharf.

Woolwich Ferry

So, the ferry between Canary Wharf and the Doubletree dock is licensed by London River Services Ltd. and officially designated River Bus Route RB4. The Woolwich Ferry is also licensed by London River Services Ltd. and officially designated the Woolwich Ferry. Personally I think that this is a bowing to the inevitable. The Woolwich Ferry has been the Woolwich Ferry since 1889, and even if it was officially called route RB whatever the hell you like, people would still call it the Woolwich Ferry.

The first mention of a ferry on this part of a river is in a paper dated to 1308. In 1320 the ferry was sold for 100 silver marks. No, I don’t have the first idea how much that is in 2024 money, but you can bet your life it was a pretty penny back then.

The Royal Arsenal was established in Woolwich in the 1670’s which only increased cross river traffic at this point of the Thames. So much so that the Army created its own ferry service in 1810. Various commercial ferries operated in the mid 19^th century, but bowing to public pressure the Metropolitan Board of Works agreed to provide the infrastructure needed for a free, public steam ferry service and this opened in 1889.

Like may of the bridges and tunnels across the Thames, at different times there’s been concern over the capacity of the Woolwich Ferry Service. Demand continues to be high especially with modern HGVs unable to use the Rotherhithe and Blackwall Tunnels.

The Ferry service has seen a number of owners in its time. Just two days before it opened for business in 1889 the Metropolitan Board of Works was replaced by the London County Council. This in turn was replaced by the Greater London Council (GLC) in 1965. The GLC was abolished in 1986 when responsibility passed to the Ministry of Transport. The Secretary of State passed operating responsibilities to the London Borough of Greenwich, then TfL took over asset ownership and responsibility for operating the service. Several operators have been licensed by TfL over the years, but the current operator is London River Services Ltd. themselves. There you go.

Finally, this morning for the sheer hell of it I also sketched the Thames flood Barrier at Woolwich – you can see it partly in the sketch of the Woolwich Ferry.