On 18th November 2022, I had the privilege of experiencing the tour at the abandoned Aldwych Station organised by the London Transport Museum. Once again, I met up with my friend Martin and we went exploring together, before getting to Aldwych (The Strand as it is was also known as). We started by going to Rayners Lane, where we could see the site of the former goods yard.
While passing through South Harrow (1st picture below), we were just in the right place on the train to be able to get a photo of the original station building, which is still there on the platform. This is still in use for maintenance teams. We then stopped at Acton Town (2nd & 3rd pictures below) to have a look at the abandoned platform, which is still there. This is from a time when there was a shuttle service running to South Acton. It has been said that a driver could put the kettle on at one end, do the journey there and back and the kettle would have just boiled, ready for a drink. I don't know how true this is, but could easily have been possible. This spur line is no longer in use and the tracks have now been lifted and there is not much evidence of the line being there at South Acton.
Next we went to Earl's Court and then a walk to see if we could find Lillie bridge Depot. Now as I write this, the depot is still used by TfL for the Underground, but there are plans for the area to be redeveloped.
Next stop was Baker street and then on to St John's Wood to see if could find the abandoned Marlborough Road station. We did the very unmanly thing of simply asking a staff member which way to go. I am glad that they knew what we were talking about, as there have been times where Underground staff are not aware of some of the unused things around them.
Our next stop was trying to find the location of the former Lord's station. There is evidence of this station at track level and we could see a little by peering over a wall and we found the mystery doors (middle picture below) that are still used as emergency access only.
Next we went back to Baker Street for a train to Charing Cross and then a walk to find Aldwych. On arrival, the lights inside could be seen through the glass windows, but it was all locked up. Soon afterwards, we were greeted by the friendly team, who allowed us to step inside ready for the safety briefing. where we started was the old exit, so we walked down a corridor to the original lifts, which are in an amazing condition considering their age. I noticed that there is a "Gentleman" toilet, which the door was open at first, but a member of the team closed. I wanted to have a peek inside to see what it looked like, but was not allowed.
Before we knew it, we were descending down the spiral staircase towards the platforms. I have made a video, which can be seen on YouTube here. I took far too many photos to add to this blog! We were taken to the first disused platform. The station was never completely built and was one of the first stations on the network to have a platform disused. This was used to store artefacts during the war. We were given the opportunity to freely explore the platform, which was amazing and I didn't feel rushed at all. It wasn't long before we were taken over the "running rails" which are no longer in use. The history of the station and more information can be seen in the Hidden London Hangouts video on YouTube here.
I have decided to create a Google link for anyone who would like to see the rest of the photos and this can be found here. The tour was quite physical as there was quite a bit of walking, but it was amazing to have the opportunity to be able to explore the station and this was the one that I wanted to do the most. There were some parts of the station that closed off when the station was in use, so we couldn't get close to the former telephone booths, but could see them. I really enjoyed this exploration and if you have an interest in things related to the Underground, I would recommend doing this tour, if you get the opportunity.
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