FREE UNDERGROUND LONDON: TRAVELS BENEATH THE CITY STREETS PDF Stephen Smith | 416 pages | 24 Apr 2009 | Little, Brown Book Group | 9780349115658 | English | London, United Kingdom Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets by Stephen Smith | LibraryThing Yet, until recently, authorities have remained conspicuously secretive about them. Innewly published Land Registry data revealed 4 million km of networks and telecommunications lines underneath London, many of which were secretly constructed by the Post Office, British Telecom and the Ministry of Defence. These mysterious Cold Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets tunnel systems and underground chambers, which number in the hundreds, have been a source of fascination for decades. Yet, until recently, authorities remained conspicuously secretive about them, many owned by the Ministry of Defence and never publicly acknowledged. It was built to Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets machinery and communications from the threat of atom bombs in the Cold War, and the bunker emerges into the basement of the Old War Office, once used by Winston Churchill. The two-tunnel shelter was extended by the addition of four tunnels at right angles to the originals to become the termination point of the first transatlantic telephone cable, and was spacious enough to boast a staff restaurant, tea bar, games room and licensed bar. Its bar claimed to be the deepest in the UK, located approximately 60m below street level under Chancery Lane tube station. While there is no public access to any of these newly uncovered tunnels, there is one underground bunker in Whitehall that the public can see for themselves: the Cabinet War Roomsopened to visitors in Guy Shrubsole, who mapped this Land Registry data and revealed some of these secret tunnels on his blog Who Owns England and later in his eponymous bookwent down the tunnels at High Holborn with the help of some urban explorers while doing research. While Shrubsole was only able to get access to one part of the tunnel systems, he said there is Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets a much bigger network. There was much more of a need to use the spaces below the city than there had been pretty much anywhere else. Project Iceberga collaboration between the Connected Places Catapult formerly Future Cities Catapultthe 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. There are more than 1. While the initial focus of the British Geological Survey has been on utilities — that is, gas, electric, water pipe networks, and so on — there are cultural and historical aspects of the underground that are not being explored. More than ever there is increased public interest, in the UK and elsewhere, to unearth the secrets, both literally and metaphorically, that have for so long been hidden under our feet. Rumours abound that the Westminster 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 Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets discovered. In a high surveillance, highly watched city like London, the underground becomes the place to bury secrets. Such as the escape tunnels rumoured to have been built into various tube lines, including the Jubilee line, for the Royal Family to escape Buckingham Palace were it ever to be raided. Is it true? One day it will all come to light, Ovenden said. Unearthed is a BBC Travel series that searches the world for newly discovered archaeological wonders that few people have ever seen. If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc. Travel Menu. Untold America. Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Share on Reddit. Share on WhatsApp. Share by Email. Share on StumbleUpon. By Natasha Khullar Relph 6 October It is an astonishing time capsule down there These mysterious Cold War-era tunnel systems and underground chambers, which number in the hundreds, have been a source of fascination for decades. beneath the streets seattle underground history tours Goodreads helps you keep track of books you Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets to read. Want Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Underground London by Stephen Smith. Underground London by Stephen Smith. It's a journey through the passages and tunnels of the city, the bunkers and tunnels, crypts and shadows. 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'. Stephen Smith uncovers the secrets of the city by walking through sewers, tunnels under such places as Hampton Court, ghost tube stations, and long lost rivers such as the Fleet and the Tyburn. This is 'alternative' history at its best. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published February 3rd by Abacus first published More Details Original Title. Other Editions 4. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Underground Londonplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of Underground London. Jan 07, Annie rated it really liked it Shelves: books-on-my-shelvessecret-gardening-plot-1non-fiction. Lights the dark places I was worried about reading a Travel book. Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets divides the book Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets historical periods and takes the reader on appropriate journeys in each. Thus, after introductory ch Lights the dark places I was worried about reading a Travel book. Thus, after introductory chapters looking at The Vertical City and Monster Soup the rivers of Londonhe guides us through the city of the Romans, the Anglo Saxons, Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets folk, the Tudors, Guy and his Gunpowder plot, the Plague years, the Victorian era and into the modern arena with the Underground and finally, the Cold War of the s. Each chapter has its gems. And Smith as man-in-the-street man-below-the-street? 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. Did you Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets there are at least 13 tributaries of the Thames? He turns out to look nothing like this! Anecdotes could stretch from here along all miles of sewers built or revamped by engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette in The only one I shall repeat here is that in Custom House there exists a collection of artefacts confiscated by HM officials through the ages. One such exhibit is a statue of one of the Seven Dwarves, hollowed out for use as a container of hashish. My only reservation with the book is that it comes with no pictures, diagrams or maps. All of these would far enhance the great descriptions. An occasionally rewarding read, but one that doesn't quite live up to either its title or the blurb on the back. The narrative is supposed to be a thorough exploration of all things subterranean in London, but many of the chapters are to do with other extraneous things: London's waterways, politics and most jarringly a trip up the A1 at one point. 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. 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 stations and explores catacombs beneath Kensal Green. These chapters are engrossing and atmospheric, allowing the reader to picture the locations in places and feel - almost - as if they were there. More of this and less of the other material would have made for a greater read as a whole. One other thing that becomes apparent as you read is that Smith doesn't seem to be a very nice guy. He makes disparaging comments about the appearance and behaviour of the many people helping him in his research; one guy is described as "roly poly" and another "tending towards corpulence". Another guy has the mickey taken out of his voice. I can't imagine these subjects thought much of the author when they actually got around to reading his book. The icing on the cake is a long-winded digression where the author becomes a Freeman, which has nothing to do with the subject matter and everything to do with ego. Sep 01, Alisa Kester rated it did not like it Shelves: non-fiction. This should have been such an excellent book; combining history, london, and the dark places underneath, it's such a perfect match to my tastes.