London Transport Museum launches new Hidden London virtual guided tour of Holborn (Kingsway)
Virtual visitors can Zoom in from the comfort of their sofas – which in these travel restricted times could be anywhere in the world – and be transported to a subterranean world of shadowy tunnels and secret spaces with Hidden London’s new virtual tours of the Holborn (Kingsway) area, Brompton Road station and King William Street station.
On these digital tours, guests will be walked through a gallery of contemporary photos, videos, never-before-seen footage as well as archival images from London Transport Museum’s collection while their expert guide reveals fascinating facts and tales about these ‘forgotten’ parts of London Underground and trams.
Some of these hidden locations such as Brompton Road station and King William Street will never be open to the public. This is because they have extremely limited access making public tours a practical impossibility. However, with these digital tours people get a chance to step into a forbidden part of London’s history.
NEW TOUR - Holborn (Kingsway): three sites in one tour
In 1898 the London County Council (L.C.C) decided to completely redevelop the area in London we now know as Kingsway and Aldwych. The area, then known for its high crime rates, slum housing and establishments of ill repute, was to become a new business district for London with wide boulevards and grand office buildings. This required new public transport to bring people to and from work and in response the L.C.C. built a tram subway underneath Kingsway itself, to facilitate interchange between south and north London trams.
At the same time, the Piccadilly line was burrowing its way through London, with a station at Holborn to serve the newly constructed district, and a branch line down to Aldwych to serve the many theatres of Covent Garden.
The Kingsway trio is a brilliant example of how public transport unlocked parts of London previously inaccessible at the turn of the 20th century, and how these spaces adapted and changed when they were no longer required to serve their original purpose, often in very unusual ways.
Led by an expert guide who will use never-before-seen footage, guests will join an exclusive virtual tour where three abandoned structures are explored; Kingsway – which includes the only underground tram tunnel in the country, Aldwych and Holborn. Participants will learn how this new infrastructure opened up what we know today as the West End.
