Travelling the Back Roads – Derry

The group I’m touring with is called Back Roads Tours except in North America where it’s called Blue Road Tours. Apparently North America already has a Back Road Tours company and this isn’t that one.

The tour company is from Australia, which explains why most of my travel pals are Aussies. There are two other Canadian couples for a total of 5 Canadians and 13 Aussies. Jack is the other lone male traveller and we often get to sit together.

I haven’t got everyone’s name sorted yet but I’m working on it. This is an extremely friendly and intelligent group of people and they make wonderful travelling companions. It also doesn’t hurt that we have been staying at some fabulous hotels and had some amazing meals. I would say all so far have been 5 star.

Our tour guide Peter is a local fella as is our driver Ray. Peter is also a farmer but has been doing this tour bit for years. He adds a ton of information as we travel along and manages to aim us in the right direction for pubs, restaurants and tourist haunts. Ray is also a local fella and seems to know his way around this country. When they call it Back Road Tours they aren’t kidding. We have, so far, been to the back of beyond and then back on many roads that a bigger bus would not even try. He’s also quite adept at missing the occasional sheep that’s parked on the double yellow line.

Another point I should add is that our other tour guides, those who show us around specific locales, have been not only incredibly knowledgeable but quick to make everyone chuckle. I’m sure there will be more to come along those lines.

And…just a word of thanks to Peter and Gayle who put me on to this group. Very much appreciated.

I should get back on the trail as we are about to head to Derry then further up the North Irish Coast. We are going to return to the Redcastle this evening so we don’t need to pack our bags. Time for a bit of washing and quick drying while we’re on the road.

Londonderry or Derry, depending on you persuasion, has it’s original walls in place running completely around the old part of town. It’s the last city in that part of the world to have the complete city walls. It was these walls that held back the English when they tried to capture Derry.

As the story goes the Apprentice Boys ran out and closed the gates when the city was being attacked by a Jacobite force. This was seen as “rebellion” against James II and resulted in the siege of Derry. Today they celebrate that act of rebellion by having the “Shutting of the Gates” parade and the “Relief of Derry Parade”. As with most Irish stories I’ve heard so far, the history of Derry is very complicated and not a story I can recount in full here.

It was suggested that Derry did not suffer as much during the Troubles and I would suspect it was related to the marching and bonfires, that, while occurring in Belfast, did not occur in Derry. Even the “Shutting the Gates” parade is more about city pride that rubbing the citizens face in it.

Of course no trip to Derry would be worth it if we didn’t mention the “Derry Girls”.

Some time ago I watched the series on Netflix but I’ve managed to find it again and I’m re-acquainting myself with the show. It takes on a different tone and I understand a few more things having been to the city itself.

We’re off again on the road, this time heading North and North-west to the coast.

We’re heading for the Isle of Doagh and a visit to the Famine Village. This is an interpretive centre that explains what life was like for poor catholic families prior to and then during the famine. It was not uncommon for families to be evicted from their home because they didn’t own the land. The police would nail wood across the door the batter a wall down or burn the roof or both in order to evict the family

For families with only a small plot of land, the potato became a major part of their diet. When the crop failed in 1845 these families, who also had no money to purchase other available food, either starved to death or left Ireland. It is estimated that about 1 million died while another 1 million left the country.

The village is a major complex based on an actual village. Our guide at the village had actually lived there and the first stop was the house he grew up in. No question at all about the historical accuracy of the place.

Our tour guide Peter, believes that it was the failure of the government to support people that resulted in such a loss of life and massive immigration. There are several examples of food being exported to other countries, at a time when people were literally dying on the street. There we some make work projects, such as building un-needed walls, that gave people some money and when they had money there was no famine. The famine ended in 1852 and simply added another historical incident that did not speak well of the English and fanned the flame of Irish Independence.

Another site well worth the visit for it’s historical significance but it’s time to head back to Redcastle for a wee break.

Stand down

Belfast, April 23, 2024

I’m not quite sure how to describe our morning tour of Belfast. It was both stunning and disturbing to be walking the streets where so many people hated and feared each other enough to go on a killing spree for 30 years. By the time the peace agreement was signed in 1998 there were 3,532 dead and over 47,500 injured.

For this excursion we had 3 vehicles and 3 drivers, all of whom had lived through “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland and Belfast in particular. We visited some of the primary sites of “action”, Shankill Road, Bombay Street and the gates and walls “of Peace” that dot the city.

I won’t try to explain the history that led to the August 1969 riots, burnings and killings and the beginning of “The Troubles” but, if you do venture to learn more I’d suggest going back much farther in time, because a lot of it starts with the victory of King William III, of Orange, a protestant, over King James II of England, a catholic.

As one of our tour guides said, how would you like it if, after loosing a football match to your dreaded rivals, the winning team held huge marches and bonfires, all over the country for the next 300 years. All just to remind you who the winners and losers were.

There is a lot of graffiti on walls and buildings around the city but this is organized and done by professional artists. Of prominence of late are murals in support of the Palestinians in Gaza, but you can also find all sorts of images supporting all sorts of things.

Over time, walls and gates have sprung up to keep the unionists and the loyalists away from each other and even after the “Good Friday Agreement” of 1998, some of the gates are regularly shut at night. All 3 of our drivers agreed that things were immensely better and continue to get better as time passes. When asked when they thought the longest section of wall would come down, one of the drivers said when a teenager can no longer get good wi-fi reception…that’s about it.

After this most interesting visit to parts of Belfast, we were dropped off at the town centre and allowed to roam around a bit.

It’s a modern “English” city, still using the “pound sterling” after Brexit and looking much like any other English town of the same size. I was amazed at the size of the City Hall, which is probably 3 times bigger than the one at home.

We headed north from Belfast along the Causeway Coastal Route, hugging the shore for miles. We stopped at Carnlough to grab a sandwhich and something to drink. We had a chance to stretch our legs and I discovered this wee stairway into the harbour which was apparently used as one of the settings for Game of Thrones.

We also stopped at the Portaneevy Viewpoint to see the Carrick a Rede rope bridge that connects the wee island to the mainland.

This other shot is looking out from the viewpoint to Rathlin Island and Scotland beyond hidden in the mists.

I tried to capture some of the stunning coastal scenery as we were whizzing along in our bus, but it didn’t always work out. You can see the trees whizzing by in this interpretation.

The trip up to the Giant’s Causeway from Belfast was long but definitely worth it. I’d seen the other end of the causeway on the Isle of Staffa off the west coast of Scotland but this was more impressive, even if more crowded. It was a long walk down from the interpretive centre but even that offered impressive views.

The causeway itself was festooned with people and I didn’t feel comfortable stepping from stone to stone so I just hung back and enjoyed the view.

Heading back up I did take advantage of the shuttle bus that went up and down the cliff-side and that was a “pound” well spent. Our day was winding down as we zipped through Derry and up the west coast of the lough to the Redcastle Inn. It’s not really a castle and it’s not red but it is very fine accommodation and the meal we were treated to was first class.

More about accommodations and my travel pals in the next instalment.

Stand down.

On to Belfast – April 22, 2024

A bit of a correction before we proceed. Cat has advised that the app to find more and/or cheaper flights in the UK is called “Skyscanner”…not whatever I called it. Don’t forget to send your corrections along folks….I need all the help I can get.

Monday, April 22nd, and we’re up and on the road by 08:00 heading from Dublin to the site of the Battle of the Boyne, near Drogheda. I’d read a bit about the battle itself but I didn’t know that much about the reasons for the battle and the implications for English and Irish history. While the battle was successful for the English under William III, the war raged on for some time before James II ran off to France. William, being protestant and James being catholic, this set the stage for clashes between the two religions that still go on.

In the north, celebrating King Billy and the use of “orange” by the protestants, all reflect the impact William’s victory has had on Northern Irish history.

The interpretive centre is quite nice and the laser depiction of the battle is very unique and puts the whole event in perspective. There are also life size displays of uniforms and weapons and rather unique presentation by the tour guide of certain “implements” used to care for the wounded.

There is also a very nice wee café that overlooks the large garden area and we took advantage of that before loading up on the bus and heading to Belfast.

We arrive on the outskirts of Belfast at the dock area, and the actual site where Titanic was built, to see the incredible building that is the Titanic Museum. The four corners of the building are shaped like the prow of the Titanic and are the same height. It’s a stunning first sight.

As you wend your way through the museum you go from the planning and design stages, to the construction of the ship, it’s launching (which was a major event in Dublin and around the world), then on to the voyage, the disaster that happened (including a wall with the name of every survivor and those lost) and finally you end up with the story of the finding of the remains. There is a “ride” that takes you through the shipyards as the ship is being built and exhibits which display what the ship looked like on the inside. Quite a memorable experience and well worth the visit.

We are staying in Dublin for the night at the Malone Hotel. Our ever resource full tour guide, Peter, has offered to show us the way to his favourite Belfast pub, The Crown. It’s a bit of a walk, essentially through the campus of Queen’s University at Belfast, down to the town centre. The Crown is an amazing place, recently refurbished and totally packed with Belfastians. Just as we’re ordering a few pints of Belfast Black, a group exits the “snug” next to us and we all pile in. Not all as we’ve lost a few due to the treck and the possibility of a good nights sleep.

The Belfast Black is a stout and only available in Belfast. It is one of the smoothest drinking pints I’ve ever had and the group of us demolish quite a bit of it. This is actually where the neglect of the blog gets it’s start as, by the time we get back to the Malone, I’m knackered and head to bed.

Perhaps I’ll catch up tomorrow.

Dublin on a Sunday – April 24, 2024

It was just getting light at 05:00 when Cat and I got up to head to Heathrow. I had to be at the airport for an 08:00 flight, which was too bad as Cat pointed out other flights that left later in the day…why didn’t I find one of those…she asked? She also suggested that next time I should use Skytrax which is better than Expedia for flights, in the UK anyway. Oh well, not a lot of traffic so we arrived with plenty of time and I was able to get a nice breakfast after getting through security and the inevitable extra scan.

The flight itself was short and sweet, we actually made it in just over an hour. At the Dublin airport I figured out which bus to get and that too was relatively short and sweet and I was dropped off a Heuston Station in the city centre, which is just across the river from the Ashling Hotel, where I’ll be staying for the night. The Ashling is located via what3words at ///myself.sock.liner.

I was able to check my carry-on at the hotel but my room wasn’t ready so it was time for a walkabout. I should point out that the weather is quite unbelievable, sunny and relatively warm. The big advantage is that there is no biting wind like there was in Dorking. I had really not expected this kind of weather and I sorely wish I could remember what I did with my sunglasses.

I walked east along the river, the Liffey, and took a couple of snaps, especially of this weird shaped building on the other side with strange lettering…Guinness…not quite sure what that stands for but I’m sure I’ll find out shortly.

It was getting past repast time but I couldn’t see anything resembling a restaurant or a pub. A block north of the R148 I spotted a corner shop that had a large group of young people standing around outside. It was worth a look so I headed that way. The place was called “Wuff” and it was hard to say what it was as it had a tiny door at the corner and essentially bars on all the windows. It turned out to be a very nice wee restaurant full of very young people, but with a table and chair just right for Moi.

Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich, with double fried chips, and a pint of….you guessed it…Guinness. What a treat the pint was and the food was quite nice too. It was a bit pricey, especially when the transaction machine decided to tell me what it was in Canadian dollars…whince…whince…but what the heck…I’m on holiday.

I was getting a bit knackered, probably that magic brew, so I headed back to the Ashling, got my room and had a lie down until 17:00. The tour group was meeting at 18:00 so after a refreshing shower I went down and joined them.

I didn’t meet all of them in any detail but most of them are from Australia while there are two couples from Canada, so a friendly group. After handshakes all around we headed to the dining room which allowed for a bit more intimate chatting with seated neighbours. I sat across from Peter the tour guide, who in his spare time runs a cattle farm in Ireland. He’s been doing the tour bit for about 20 years so I think we are going to be in good hands.

Irish stew for dinner and it was really quite good…even the carrots. I didn’t have another Guinness as it was getting on and I was hoping for a good nights sleep to start the trip well refreshed. So..after instructions from Peter about breakfast and the departure routine for the morning, it was off to bed at 20:00. Tomorrow we head off to refight the Battle of the Boyne and then head to Belfast to the Titanic Museum. Sounds good.

Stand down

A Lazy Day in Dorking

The trip to the old sod was uneventful but a bit uncomfortable in some ways. A city bus to the intercity bus and some wonderful views from the top of the double decker Megabus on the way to Toronto. It’s amazing what you can see along the 401 when you have the height.

Security and check-in at Pearson was easy but I had a bit of a wait as I arrived several hours before the flight. It was enough time to grab a bite and a pint and read a couple of chapters. I highly recommend “Horse” by Geraldine Brooks. An enjoyable and fascinating mix of pre-US civil war slavery, horse racing, art, horology and osteology.

The flight itself was quite uncomfortable. I had hoped to doze a bit but I couldn’t seem to settle in. The young lady beside me had her earphones on with wave lapping sounds, she put on an eye shade and that was it…she woke up in London/Gatwick. I didn’t watch any movies as nothing appealed but I read a bit and played solitaire….oh I also made googly eyes at a 6 month old across the aisle. I got him laughing a couple of times before he too took the hint and fell asleep. Not sure whether I hastened that or not.

Some of you know about “what3words” so here’s where I am while in Dorking., ///limp.strong.holds.

Thursday was a wipe out as I was tired and for some reason got chilled. Cat and Neil decided to celebrate my birthday so after a wee afternoon snooze on the couch, we walked around the corner to the “Queen’s Head”. I enjoyed a traditional fish and chip dinner and a pint of Fuller’s London Pride. That just about did me in and when we got back to The Highlands it wasn’t long before I headed to bed and had a very fine sleep.

I got up at 07:00 on Friday to a lovely view of the back garden. Since Cat and Neil are re-doing the guest rooms I got the luxury of using their room. The room has double windows facing the back yard and the sun was shining and it looked gorgeous out. That didn’t stop me from snuggling under the duvet for another few minutes.

In the afternoon I went walkabout in Dorking. I stopped at the model shop and had a nice chat with Andrew about model making and stuff. He asked why I was interested in the 25 pdr gun with quad tractor and limber so I told him about Dad and Italy. He replied that his Dad had also been in Italy with a British armoured unit. As it turned out he was captured near the Gothic Line when his tank lost a track in front of 2 Panthers. I gave him my blog address and he said he would enjoy the reminiscence.

I then ambled along the High Street to “Arto” a nice little café that I discovered on my last trip. Pancakes, with bacon and bananas and cappuccino for lunch. It rained a bit but I had on all my clothes so I wasn’t worried about getting wet. I also ventured into the local butcher and managed to find a scotch egg which I intended to have for lunch on Saturday.

Later in the day Cat and Neil took me to Leith Hill. It’s not far away and they both often run there or take their bikes. There are lots of trails for bikers, hikers and horseback riders, although we only saw the former two. From the car park we climbed up to the tower. Leith Hill is the highest “peak” in southern England and if it wasn’t for the hills to the south, you would be able to see the English Channel. Neil called me over to the north facing side and I was stunned to see London in the distance. It seemed a bit fogged in but the Shard and other buildings were clearly there. Neil said that was about the clearest it was going to get so I had to settle for the foggy view.

Another treat was in store as we drove back thru Coldharbour and visited “The Plough”, a lovely little pub with some very fine food. This time I had a Dorking Brewery Best Bitter and I hate to say it but it was better than the London Pride. It’s a good thing Cat agreed to drive home as the second pint put Neil and I in a deliciously warm frame of mind.

Saturday, April 20th, has been quite relaxing although the temperature has taken awhile to get up to 10 C. At 07:00 it was 3 C but sunny. Cat ran over to the Denbigh Winery to participate in the Saturday Park Run, while Neil and I drove over with Millie to cheer her on. It’s a 5 km run around the vineyards, quite hilly and there were tons of people out as this was the first dry day in quite a while. Cat was 3 seconds slower than her best time which is not bad given how cold and windy it was.

In the afternoon Neil and I had the option of going to the Dorking Wanderers football game or staying home by the fire and watching York play Solihull. York is Neil’s team and was facing relegation so it was an important game for them….also….it was still cool and windy out so we opted to stay home. The game was a bit of a bore as, according to the standings, a draw would have satisfied both teams. In the end Solihull scored with 4 minutes to go…after which York just passed the ball back and forth until the game ended.

The good news is that I got to eat my scotch egg for lunch.

The three of us are sitting in the living room with the fire blazing and we are not expecting to go anywhere else today. Cat is talking to her sister on the phone and Neil is getting ready to leave for a long bike ride. I plan on going to bed early as we will have to get up at 05:00 to travel to Heathrow for my early flight to Dublin.

Feel free to stand down.

Ireland and Beyond

Welcome back folks to another travel adventure. It’s been some time since I’ve written about my adventures although I have posted some videos on my YouTube channel so you might check some of them out.

Today I start my 78th trip around the sun, which in itself is something to celebrate. On Wednesday the 17th of April, only two days away, I’m heading off for a 6 week adventure to Ireland, Scotland and England. The first leg of this trip will involve a 2 week trip around Ireland, both the Republic and Northern Ireland, with Blue Road Tours. I’ve heard some good things about them and this will be my first organized tour with a group. In this case its a relatively small group of 18 people, with a small travel coach and excellent accommodations…at least that’s what they said in the brochure. There’s a good chance that some, if not most of them, will be Aussies as the tour company is Australian.

I’ll be leaving from Toronto and heading for Gatwick airport, south of London, then on to Dorking to stay with Cat and Neil for a couple of days. I have an early flight from Heathrow on the 21st to Dublin where the tour starts. It’s essentially a tour around the perimeter of Ireland, north and south, with a number of the stops being 2 day layovers so lots of time for rambling and photos. I’ll post more on that as the trip progresses. The tour is over on the 2nd of May and I hope to stay over in Dublin for a few more days as I’ve been advised that it’s worth the visit.

I’ll be flying from Dublin to Aberdeen, Scotland and taking the overnight ferry to Lerwick in Shetland. I’ve got accommodations’ booked in Scalloway and I’m hoping to spend 4 days there then off to Kirkwall in Orkney for another 4 days. After experiencing a bit of North Atlantic weather, I’ll head back to Aberdeen by ferry and take the train to Edinburgh. I’m not sure whether I’ll spend any time in Edinburgh as I do have plans to head south to visit my cousins, Colin and Moira, who live in Clovenfords, which is not far from Galashiels in the Borders Region.

After Scotland I’m heading by train to London for at least 4 days. I’ve got a room booked at the Victory Services Club and I’ve got a list of neighbourhoods I want to visit and photograph. If I can find another fun thing to search for in London, like the Deep Level Air Raid Shelters, I’ll do that as well.

The trip will eventually end in Dorking in the Surrey Hills where Cat, Neil, Carrot and Millie live. The latter two are new additions…meow and bark in that order.

Keep an eye on this blog for more rambling, photography and the occasional wee dram of Irish whiskey and single malts.

Wish me luck.

Ken

London’s Deep Level Air Raid Shelters Part 3

As threatened, here’s the final part of my adventure discovering and photographing the entrance ways to London’s Deep Level Air Raid Shelters.

I should preface this by telling you that finding the remaining eight entrance ways that are north of the Thames was not that difficult. The previous internet research and aerial searches using Google Earth made it quite simple to identify the entrance ways to Belsize Park, Camden Town, Goodge Street and to some extent Chancery Lane. The Chancery Lane shelter is actually not under the Northern Line but under an extension that went to St Paul’s and is now part of the Circle Line. It lies east of the Northern Line. More on that particular shelter later.

Another thing that made the search easy was the mapping software I use on my phone. I use Locus, which is really intended for hikers and bike riders, but which I find perfectly suited for other forms of transit. Locus was the main map based GPS app that I used during my three week trip to Italy. One of the beauties of it is that the maps are resident in the phone and I only need a GPS connection to pin point where I am and where I might want to go. As it turns out, while setting way points for the north of the Thames adventure, I discovered that Locus had already identified several of the sites as points of historic interest. Wish I’d known that a few weeks ago.

Tuesday dawned a bit overcast with a threat of rain but I set off up the Northern Line anyway. I decided to go to the furthest northern station first, Belsize Park, and work my way south, possibly with a walk between stations. This is part of London that I’ve never been to and I didn’t venture very far from Haverstock Hill which is the main road.

Belsize Park Tube Stop on the north side of Haverstock Hill

The northern and southern entrance ways are on the same side of the road as the tube station. The northern entrance is a few yards off the street but with easy access down a small alleyway.

Belsize Park northern entrance to the Deep Level Air Raid Shelter

The southern entrance on the other hand sits right on the street and is quite obvious. You will note the “Abbot Datastore” name and logo on the side. Most of the shelters were sold by the government to Transport for London (TfL) in the 1990’s and some, like this one, are used for archival storage.

Belsize Park southern entrance to the Deep Level Air Raid Shelter

It started to drizzle as I made my way back to the tube stop and apparently rained while I was traveling south to Cambden Town. When I emerged from that station the sky’s were clear and the crowds were abundant.

Camden Town Station on Camden High Street

You don’t have to wander far from the tube stations to find the entrance ways. The north entrance at Camden Town is just up the High Street and east along Buck Street.

North entrance to Camden Town Deep Level Air Raid Shelter

The south entrance is a bit trickier to find as it’s on the opposite side of the street down a narrow walkway and hidden beside a car park. It has a sturdy metal fence guarding it but I was able to squeeze the camera through the rails.

South entrance to the Camden Town Deep Level Air Raid Shelter

My daughter Cat had advised that if I was going to Camden Town I should wander around a bit as it is quite the funky part of London. She was absolutely correct and I will be putting together a slide show on my YouTube channel at some point but this is just an example of the sites you see along the High Street and Regent’s Canal.

Camden Town High Street
Food vendors along the Regent’s Canal in Camden Town

A good amble about then I’m off south on the tube to Goodge Street Station. This station has a series of “lifts” (elevators) to whisk you from street side to track side. I passed the stairwell which advised there were 189 steps leading back up to the top…and the Deep Level Shelters are below that.

At this point we are on Tottenham Court Road and the north entrance is just up the street. It’s located beside the American International Church and they seemed to be having some sort of fund raiser as there were food stalls and quite a few people milling about eating off of paper plates.

North entrance to the Goodge Street Deep Level Air Raid Shelter

I couldn’t resist having the BT Communications Tower in the background. It’s another iconic London structure.

The southern entrance is almost across the street from the station just down Chenies Street and it is currently used by Iron Mountain for archival storage of film.

The Eisenhower Centre aka the south entrance to the Goodge Street Deep Level Air Raid Shelter

The building is called the Eisenhower Centre to commemorate the fact that this, in 1942, was the headquarters of the Allied armies. This entrance was the access to this HQ. In the lead-up to D-Day, it was a signals installation used by the US Army Signal Corps, one of several in central London. There is a suggestion that Eisenhower used this site but it’s a bit of a controversy whether he was actually ever there. The locals seem content with the story though so there you are.

The monument in front of the building pre-dates the building of the shelter and is a Grade II listed memorial to The Rangers, 12th County of London Regiment, which dates from shortly after the First World War and includes additional inscriptions relating to the service of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC) in the Second World War.

At this point in my day I was getting a bit peckish and thirsty. I know where the Fitzrovia Pub is on Goodge Street and although they have Timothy Taylor Landlord on tap, there not serving food. The landlady very kindly directs me back to the high street and along to the Rising Sun…not the House of the Rising Sun as that surely spells disaster.

The Rising Sun is a quiet corner pub with a nice pint of Greene King Ale and scampi’s and chips…so all is well in the world. As I sit by the window watching Tottenham Court Road go by…the rain comes down, umbrella’s out and hoodies up. Fifteen minutes later it’s over and the sun has come out. That settles it for me…I need to walk off the pint anyway so I’m off on foot searching for the Chancery Lane tube stop.

It’s a pretty straight forward hike, down Tottenham Court Road to Oxford Street, east on Oxford to New Oxford and on to Holborn Road. I’m looking for 31-33 Holborn Road as this is the site of the original Chancery Lane Station.

I decided to take a side bar walk down Kingsway and over to Lincoln’s Inn Fields as I promised Neil the picture below. He had worked in the Chancery Lane area for years and went past the corner frequently but never spied this wee gem. It is suspected to be the same shop that Dickens wrote about as it dates back to 1567 and was in an area known as Clare Market. The building is now owned by the London School of Economics which has grown immensely around it.

The old tube station, Chancery Station House, is now an apartment building and home to some tax accountants. The station itself was the west entrance to the deep level shelters.

Original Chancery Underground Station and entrance to the Deep Level Air Raid Shelter

To the left of the station is Fulwood Place, a narrow walkway leading to Gray’s Inn Gardens. If you walk a few yards down that lane then turn around this is what you see.

One of the ventilation shafts of the Chancery Lane Deep Level Air Raid Shelters

This ventilation shaft is about all that’s left of the original entrance system and the reason for that is in the 1950’s the Chancery Lane shelters were converted to a deep level communications centre known as the Kingsway Telephone Exchange. This secure site was in response to cold war antics at the time.

The image below is a 1959 Land Registry plan that shows, in pink the layout for the west part of the Kingsway Telephone Exchange. Note the pink box at the corner of Fairfax House.

I believe that this entrance way, the only one on the north wall of the back of the old station, is that area in pink on the plan.

There is another ventilation shaft which formed part of the eastern entrance and it is further east and south on Furnival Street.

Entrance to Kingsway Telephone Exchange

This section of the land registry plan shows this entrance at 39 Furnival Street.

The plan also shows a tunnel leading across the street on an angle to this building on the corner of Furnival and Took’s Court. The main body of the exchange is below this building.

The plan also shows a tunnel going from the southwest corner of the building, on an angle, to Took’s Court. I believe that this “fire exit” on Took’s Court may be part of that tunnel exit.

So, there you have it. Another busy day of walking, photo shooting, pint drinking and scampi snacking.

I hope you have enjoyed the adventure. I certainly did and it made for a most interesting way to spend holiday time in a place you don’t really know. I’m now a tube traveler “sans pareil” and I know a few more things about London than many Londoners. As a reward there’s a pint of Fuller’s London Pride waiting for me and I don’t like to keep things waiting.

Ken

London’s Deep Level Air Raid Shelters Part 2

If you read the first part of this adventure you know that I discovered and took photos of three entrance ways to two of London’s eight Deep Level air raid Shelters (DLS). I had not really intended to go much further than that until the day I decided to go to Clapham Common for a walkabout.

Exiting the tube station and crossing the street to the east side of the road I ran smack into another entrance way.

The small plaque on the wall on the left confirms what this is a Clapham Common Deep Level Shelter entrance.

I really hadn’t expected this and wasn’t sure which entrance I was seeing. Given that there are four shelters south of the Thames and that each shelter has two entrances I had now discovered four of the eight shelter entrances. My blood was up for the hunt.

Since the original plan had been to walk north along Clapham High Street I decided to keep going to see what I could see. It was almost 3/4 of a kilometer before I passed the Clapham North tube entrance and further on encountered another deep level entrance, this one quite obvious and lovingly decorated.

Now I’m really very curious as I don’t know what I’ve just discovered. These two entrances are too far apart to be from the same DLS so they must form a north or south entrance to one of the other shelters.

I’m very quickly back to Google Earth to see what I can see. Using the Clapham South entrances as a guide I have a rough idea of how far apart they might be and that is about 600 feet. Using the entrance I discovered at Clapham Common I go 600 feet south and 600 feet north and on the north projection I can clearly see the outline of an entrance. Going to street view it’s quite obvious, so why did I walk past it without seeing it. The answer is simple…I was walking on the same side as the shelter and it’s just another wall at that point.

Photo taken from the west side of Clapham High Street, Clapham Common Deep Level Shelter north entrance.

It appears that I’ve uncovered the northern entrance to the Clapham Common DLS.

So what about the other one I discovered further up the road. This one has to be related to Clapham North as it’s too far away from Stockwell. Once again I’m at Google Earth extending a line north and south 600 feet. I can’t find anything that vaguely looks like the shape I’m looking for but the line 600 feet south is very close to the Clapham North tube stop. More research is needed to figure this out.

Meanwhile I’ll extend a line 600 feet from the Stockwell entrance to see what I can see. And what to my wondering eyes should appear but eight tiny….no…no… I’ve found the Stockwell south entrance from the air. It’s west of the high street behind some buildings and by going to street view on the street next over I can just make it out. It will need some exploring to find.

My internet search continues and reveals that the Clapham North south entrance is indeed near the tube entrance. It’s actually behind a bunch of buildings and it may not be possible to get a photo. A street view only shows a number of buildings and a high gate and fence. It also appears from the internet material that the only things left standing on the ground are the two ventilator shafts.

In summary to this point, I’ve discovered the north and south entrances to the Clapham South DLS, the north and south entrance to the Clapham Common DLS, the north entrance to the Clapham North DLS and the north entrance to the Stockwell DLS. Next challenge is to find the two remaining spots, Clapham North south entrance and Stockwell south entrance.

I’m soon off again starting at Clapham Common heading north this time on the west side of the high street. Soon enough I have my photo of the Clapham Common north DLS entrance.

As I approach Clapham North tube stop I veer across the road and down a side street to flank the next objective. There’s the large metal gate blocking the view that I want but the gate also has an opening for the huge chain that’s just big enough for my camera. The result??

This is all you can see of the Clapham North south DLS entrance. To the right is a second ventilator shaft.

As I move along the street I see a crack in the wood fence and I’m able just to see a second ventilator shaft. The crack is too small for a good image but I’m confident that I’ve found the Clapham North south DLS entrance.

Next stop is Stockwell but the Northern Line is experiencing delays due to activity further south and it takes 30 minutes before a train arrives to go to Stockwell. I could have walked it in that time.

Once at Stockwell I’m off around the corner and down the little side street that has seven police cars parked in a line. There is either a police station near or they’ve just raided the creche in the leisure centre.

Stockwell DLS south entrance.

I’m in luck and the picture is better than I expected. I certainly didn’t get the same picture from street view with Google Earth.

Well, that just about wraps up all of the Deep Level Shelter entrance ways that are south of the Thames. At some point on my bucket list will be a tour of the Clapham South DLS as these apparently are offered by arrangement. We’ll see about that.

I’ve already communicated my successful findings to my Facebook friends but they wouldn’t be friends if they thought I should quit here, so I’ve been challenged to see if I can find and photograph the eight DLS entrances north of the Thames.

Stay tuned, the adventure is hardly over.

London’s Deep Level Air Raid Shelters Part 1

I came to London, England on December 15th 2021 for a brief Christmas visit with family but circumstances have kept me here until late February. I’ve taken advantage of this “holiday” to do a bit of exploring of the City of London and I’d like to share one of the more interesting discoveries that does not typically appear in the guidebooks.

I’m staying in Balham which is in south London and in chatting with my son-in-law discovered that during the Second World War (WWII) the Balham Tube/Railway Station was bombed and 68 people were killed, one of the worst single bombing tragedies in London during the war.

This lead to other local oddities from the war and Neil pointed out a structure in Clapham South that is an entrance way to a Deep Level Air Raid Shelter. This, of course, piqued my curiosity as I knew that both my Mom and Dad had been in London during the Blitz and would have been very pleased to find a deep level shelter. I do know that Mom was a frequent night visitor to one of the tube stations during the Blitz.

An internet search revealed a number of facts about these shelters, specifically that there were eight of them, four located south of the Thames River and four located north of the Thames River. The shelters essentially follow the same route as the Underground Northern Line and had initially been built with a sense that they could be used as part of a future high speed tube line. This didn’t happen. It was also the case that construction began in 1940 but they were not completed until 1942 and by that time the blitz was essentially over. Each one of the shelters was approximately 1,200 feet long and could hold up to 8,000 people. There were two entrance ways, one north and one south and each entrance way also had at least one large ventilation shaft.

The locations south of the Thames are Clapham South, Clapham Common, Clapham North and Stockwell. In a rough line that would cover about three kilometers along Clapham Road and provide accommodation for 32,000 people. North of the Thames they were located at Chancery Lane, Goodge Station, Cambden Town and Belsize Park. This group would cover about six kilometers and again provide shelter for 32,000 people.

The Deep Level Shelters (DLS) did come in handy later in the war when the German’s launched their V1 and V2 attacks on the city. Some of them also served after the war as temporary shelters for immigrants, accommodations for the military or as a deep level communications centre (Kingsway Telephone Exchange) during the cold war.

I was very curious about the entrance way structures as it appeared that they could all be seen at street level so I started to do a bit more internet research and aerial searching using Google Earth. From the air these structures have a very distinct shape and I was able to spot the one at Clapham South very easily. Google Earth is a great way to do such reconnaissance. You can spot what looks like a likely subject then go to street view to see if the aerial view matches whats on the ground.

Using this technique I also discovered the southern entrance to the Clapham South shelter. Neil informed me that there is one at Stockwell and it too is quite easy to spot using Google Earth. Not content to find them on a map I wanted to see them up close so I’m soon off up the Northern Line to Clapham South then Stockwell.

The distinctive ventilation shaft is on the left.

The southern entrance way to the Clapham South Deep Level Shelter has been integrated into the lines of the building that has been built over and around it.

A ride up the Northern Line to Stockwell and just outside the tube station is the entrance way located at the Stockwell Memorial Garden. The building itself has been decorated by high school students as a memorial to Britain’s war dead…and apparently James Bond.

The Bronze Statue is also part of the Stockwell Memorial Garden and is the first statue of an African-Caribbean woman in the UK. It celebrates both motherhood and the mother’s ethnic origins. The theme is taken from a poem by Caribbean poet Cécile Nobrega who lived in Stockwell and wrote the poem “The Bronze Woman” about 50 years ago.

This has been most interesting to me but I’ll leave it there for now. You should know however that this adventure has really just begun.

Until next time.

Whisky and such.

I thought I would take a stab at introducing the third issue that interests me and that is whisky…so here goes with a bit about me and my introduction to whisky.  Later on in some of the blogs I’ll chat about the drink itself.

When I was a lad I knew my father liked to have a tipple or two.  He didn’t drink a lot but he did enjoy a whisky of an evening as he sat in his favourite chair and read his latest book.  He was quite well read and made regular trips to the local library.  We never had a lot of books around the house but Mum and Dad always had a book at hand.

Dad had two favourite tipples, one was The Famous Grouse and the other was Bells. These are both fine blended Scotch whisky’s.  I doubt that he ever had a single malt and he would only consider rye whisky if it was in a glass with lots of ginger ale.  I know for a fact that rye and ginger was a staple in the Sergeant’s Mess and Officers Mess at the Lake Street Armoury in St Catharines.

I never developed much of a taste for whisky as I grew up, I stuck to beer.  I really like beer and although beer doesn’t like me as much today I still really enjoy a fine English bitter or proper IPA.  The Kingston Brewing Company has one of the nicest IPA’s around and Fuller’s (yes that’s right) London Pride or Best Bitter is right up there as well…not to mention Tank House Ale from Toronto…but this could go on for quite a while.

My first real experience with whisky happened some years ago, after my Dad had passed in 1997, when my sister and I took Mum back to the old country for a visit.  We were on our way north in Scotland and stopped in Inverary for a “tea and pee” break.  I had need of either so walked down the main street (which is actually called “Main Street”) toward a tartan shop I’d seen on the way in….fancied myself in a kilt didn’t I.

As I ambled along I came to a shop that had nothing but bottles of whisky in the windows.  I was intrigued so wandered in to look around.  Loch Fyne Whiskies was indeed nothing but whisky, wall to wall.  I didn’t know there were that many different whiskys.  The owner finally asked if I needed help and I said I was just browsing but he wasn’t letting me get away with that.  “What kind of whisky do you favour?”  I mentioned the Grouse and Bells and he indicated they were fine blends but what about malts…what about malts indeed.

I confessed to knowing nothing except that I did try some McClelland from Islay and that I really liked the smoky stuff, at which point he reached under the counter and pulled up a bottle of Ardbeg.  He poured a dram and said “Try this”.  The nose alone was enough to tell me that heaven wasn’t far off.  I took a sip and immediately went there.  Where had this stuff been all my life?

We chatted quite a bit, he told me how to pronounce “Islay” and he gave me a copy of his newsletter and a “price list” which was really more of a catalogue explaining the benefits of each item.  I ended up buying two wee bottles, the kind you get on an airplane, one of Oban since we were going that way, and the other of Talisker, since we weren’t going that way.

That evening in a B&B looking over the harbour of Oban I had my very first private nosing of two very fine single malts.  A week or so later we ended up in Leicster, England and while Mum, my sister and my cousin Carol were sipping red wine, I was provided with a very nice bottle of Highland Park 12 year old, part of my late cousin Ivor’s collection.  In this very short period of time I had sampled whisky from Islay, the West Highlands, Skye and the Orkney’s, as diverse a range as you could fine…and I was hooked…and I still hadn’t even heard of the Spey River Valley.

I’ve sampled quite a few malts since then…even had some Port Ellen…which is to die for. I joined one of the local Single Malt groups in Kingston and have done a few nosings of my own.  I also have an extensive personal cupboard…but I don’t think I’ll forget the kind treatment I got at Loch Fyne Whiskies or that special evening all alone with two new friends.