UNDERGROUND : TRAVELS BENEATH THE CITY STREETS PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

Stephen Smith | 416 pages | 24 Apr 2009 | Little, Brown Book Group | 9780349115658 | English | London, United Kingdom Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets PDF Book

Suddenly now seems the time to remedy that. For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by old buildings, abandoned places and the hidden aspects of city living. However, as construction was held up by the war, the plans were eventually scuppered altogether, and the old stations never had the rebirth they were due. These excursions were referred to as city visits and they always culminated in the ritual of tea with the Lord Mayor in Guildhall crypt. Add to Your books. Smith's writing style is very much that of a long magazine article in each chapter, which is nice if you want to pick up the book, read a few chapters, then set it aside for a bit. Free delivery in the UK Read more here. I was fascinated to find that during WWII, the authorities originally discouraged the use of the Underground system for bomb shelters and then ended up digging some additional shelters which have not been linked to the system and have had some interesting other uses. Another issue is that he gets into writing about something and you want to hear more then he changes tack and goes off on a tangent about something that feel totally irrelevant. In a city where 26 miles of fresh rail have been laid as part of the new Elizabeth line and where a Euston St. It sounds interesting, doesn't it, going underneath a city and finding out what is down there? About Stephen Smith. Down Street can be visited from time to time, too. Jul 23, The Final Chapter rated it it was ok Shelves: non-fiction Readers also enjoyed. I get the sense that no matter how profound my interest is in a chapter like the , or Roman Londoninium, if I ran into the author at a party he would bore me to tears. You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data. I had vivid childhood memories of visiting the Guildhall. Buy It Now. This spectacle was a curtain-raiser to the annual rite of beating the bounds, the marking out of parish boundaries on Ascension Day. Quick Links Amazon. The main barrier to overcome in reading this book is Stephen Smith's somewhat overblown style. For more help see the Common Knowledge help page. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the city or the esoteric as it contains a wealth of stories and details that I have not heard of elsewhere coal in Hampstead anyone? From the sewers, Smith goes back through history with the next bunch of chapters. Close cookie policy overlay. I registered a book at BookCrossing. It's a sorry old solipsist who goes around telling people that the way things hash themselves out was somehow fortold in his jammily opportune book. Smith offers an enjoyable guide to the subterranean parts of a great city All in a great book and one worth tracking down. The lifters have some great stories: p. But unfortunately the writer was so dry that it was a slog to finish. It has been landscaped out of sight. Smith is his own biggest fan, at pains always to show how clever he is, whether it's referencing the likes of Dante and Proust, or happily using a French phrase where an English one would have sufficed. Paul's, the Monument, the Stock Exchange. He begins with modern life, looking at what he calls "the vertical city": all the conduits that city needs: phones, power, sewers and so forth. All in all, a fun read, but in need of an editor to smooth things out a bit. Exploding coffins! Adore this book Absolutely love this book lent to friend didn't get it back, so repurchased. Yet, until recently, authorities remained conspicuously secretive about them, many owned by the Ministry of Defence and never publicly acknowledged. Rating details. It is an astonishing time capsule down there These mysterious Cold War-era systems and underground chambers, which number in the hundreds, have been a source of fascination for decades. The book assumes a working knowledge of the layout of London. Piccadilly line trains en route to rattle past every few minutes, and the little bookstore continues to sell titles far more interesting than any you'll find in an airport shop. Showing Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets Writer

We were all thinking the same thing. As well as being a contemporary tour of underground London, it's also an exploration through time: Queen Boudicca lies beneath Platform 10 at King's Cross legend has it ; Dick Turpin fled the Bow Street Runners along secret passages leading from the cellar of the Spaniards pub in North London; the remains of a pre-Christian Mithraic temple have been found near the Bank of England; on the platforms of the now defunct King William Street Underground, posters still warn that 'Careless talk costs lives'. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us. He also cited English authors that you may not have heard of, but those are usually in either the index or the bibliography. Mount Pleasant was where I had paused in my walk along the route of the buried Fleet [river] and learned from Jane the guide that the locale had been named ironically, after a high-smelling rubbish dump. While there is no public access to any of these newly uncovered , there is one underground in that the public can see for themselves: the Cabinet War Rooms , opened to visitors in The Parkland Walk path follows the furrows of the old track bed, today flanked by silver birches, sycamores and ivy-entwined fig trees. One uncanny story is of the Plessey aircraft underground factory -- a five-mile-long munitions workshop set up in then- unfinished Central line tunnels beneath Wanstead, Redbridge and Gants Hill -- a set of pre-ghost stations, if you will. If you already read a lot about London there will not be many new facts. Feb 11, Michael rated it liked it. And Smith as man-in-the-street man-below-the-street? I am glad I read it This pretentiousness extends to the d The subject matter is fascinating, but sadly marred by the writer's tone. My advice in approaching this book would be, if you are after a complete chronological history of London then this book probably isn't for you. In a city where 26 miles of fresh rail have been laid as part of the new Elizabeth line and where a Euston St. Share on Twitter. The child would be lowered so that his head was within a foot or two of the water. So far my favorite chapter is Lifting People which combines the stories of clearing the bodies in the crypt of Saint Andrew's , the team of "lifters" moving the bodies, and local history of the plague. Smith's writing style is very much that of a long magazine article in each chapter, which is nice if you want to pick up the book, read a few chapters, then set it aside for a bit. More filters. Every used book bought is one saved from landfill. Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets Reviews

He charts the fetid and pestilent nature of this city's past, from the horrific demise of Richard the Raker who fell into a cesspit in and drowned in excrement, to the '' of which drove Disraeli from the Houses of Parliament in pure disgust. A landlord called Jimmy Shaw claimed to buy 26, rats a year, at 3d each, from farm labourers in Enfield and Essex. In a city where 26 miles of fresh rail have been laid as part of the new Elizabeth line and where a Euston St. From this precarious and tortuous position, he would then batter the river with a bamboo pole. From the Tube to the sewers. Of course the author's really after the truth about secret government tunnels and the like as well. Error rating book. In that case, we can't Lights the dark places I was worried about reading a Travel book. This is 'alternative' history at its best. Smiths writing is easy going, fact filled, fun and above all enjoyable almost in a Bill Bryson sense and it seems somewhat of a wonder that this book did not spur further ones to print. As well as being a contemporary tour of underground London, it's also an exploration through time: Queen Boudicca lies beneath Platform 10 at King's Cross legend has it ; Dick Turpin fled the Bow Street Runners along secret passages leading from the cellar of the Spaniards pub in North London; the remains of a pre-Christian Mithraic temple have been found near the Bank of England; on the platforms of the now defunct King William Street Underground, posters still warn that 'Careless talk costs lives'. Nov 10, Cat. He pieces together his exploration of underground London with funny tales and colourful characters. The station made it 20 years before falling foul to an extension toward the Docklands and the Millennium Dome. Audible 0 editions. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. What would it look like? Indeed, one of the great delights of this book is his depictions of these people, as much as the stories they reveal about those pars of London usually hidden from sight. The book assumes a working knowledge of the layout of London. Aug 06, Dale rated it it was amazing. Google Books — Loading These were thin enough but also sufficiently hardy and discreet to be slotted into apertures in the caskets. A different view of history with some interesting and quirky facts. Open Preview See a Problem? When it does get to the London parts, it becomes a thoroughly fascinating read, particularly when the author visits some of the old disused Underground An occasionally rewarding read, but one that doesn't quite live up to either its title or the blurb on the back. Mostly, one of the trips to the sewage department smells like laundry detergent. The Edwardian oxblood tiles of South Kentish Town tube station, designed by renowned architect Leslie Green, jar with the brash branding of a Cash Converters now living inside.

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About Stephen Smith. Rumours abound that the tube station was only built after the government had rejected a lot of routes, without explanation, presumably because of the existence of a network of covert tunnels that connected government buildings in the area, as was later discovered. Show more Show less. I would love to see a map of the underground rivers superimposed on the road system; a map of the Roman Wall over the current London map pointing to places where bits of the wall can be seen today; a map of known plague pits; etc. While I was expecting a book focused on history and archaeology Underground London di This was not what I expected. It was built to protect machinery and communications from the threat of atom bombs in the Cold War, and the bunker emerges into the of the Old War Office, once used by . Project Iceberg , a collaboration between the Connected Places Catapult formerly Future Cities Catapult , the British Geological Survey and the Ordnance Survey, attempts to aggregate subterranean data which, in London, includes transport tunnel information, geological records and maps of underground utilities. Join us on a month journey to see them all Go to the best beaches. If you've been leafing through this book in the hope that subterranean London will be a respite from the vulgarity of the world above, I'm afraid I can only apologise. Original Title. The Hairy Dieters: Fast Food. In a few minutes, one of their peers, by tradition the smallest boy among them, would be dangled upside down over the river from a barge linked to no less a London personage than the Lord Mayor. We were all thinking the same thing. But I was left in the dark as to what the ICA is and how someone becomes an anorak when he was obviously not becoming a parka. One such exhibit is a statue of one of the Seven Dwarves, hollowed out for use as a container of hashish. We were all thinking the same thing. Additional information Sku GOR Wikipedia in English None. Making this book feel a little bit disjointed. I'm going to have to make a list now of obscure places the book mentions because I know eventually I'm going to want to refer to them. They recalled a previous job, in which they had been engaged to lift bodies from beneath the car park of Guy's Hospital near London Bridge. In Stock. Paperback , pages. The books "Londonist Mapped" and "Londonist Drinks" are available to buy now. This evokes the subterranean regions of the capital from the murky depths of the sewage system to the buried treasures of the centuries of inhabitation of this stretch of the Thames. It seemed a well-meaning tribute not to readers or the subject matter but to a guide who had done Smith a big favor in letting him tour a normally off-limits area, nevermind that it didn't turn out to be as worthwhile as rumored. Preview — Underground London by Stephen Smith.

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