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 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.
I set out on this trip to follow my Father and the men of 10th St Catharines Field Battery who spent 19 months from July, 1943 until February, 1945 fighing in Sicily and Italy. Along the way I visited the grave sites of the 5 gunners from 10 Bty who were killed in action and as a form of remembrance I left a stone from the Canadian Shield with a red maple leaf, on each man’s marker.
at Castello Lancellotti in Lauro during that time and I met a very dear man who helped me solve that mystery. I even managed to find the Grand Hotel in Riccione where my Dad had a 7 day pass in October of 1944.
We’re soon off and down by the Arno again crossing the Ponte alle Grazie. Cat has suggested visiting the Giradino di Boboli so we head that way. It’s a very steep and long climb up a narrow street to the top and when we get there we find it’s a trap. The only way forward is through the garden gate which is going to cost us E20. We decide it may not be worth it and anyway we want to see the Ponte Vecchio which we saw as we crossed the Arno…so back down the hill and an amble across this bridge which has a zillion jewellery shops on it. The buildings appear to have been former houses, much like the original London Bridge. All very quaint but somewhat spoiled by the glitter of gold and silver.
Our feet are aching so we head to the roof-top of the Luchessi as pointed out by the bus driver. The view is indeed quite spectacular and we are obliged to have a seat and a glass of white. Since we are guests at the Mulino we are entitled to a 10% discount, which I duly leave for the waiter who told us this.
We enter at Porta S. Donata and head to the centre. In one small square we find a fairly recent statue of Puccini and in the corner of the square a museum dedicated to his life. Around the square are a number of restaurants, Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Paris Boheme, well….you get the idea.
The size is quite amazing and it differs significantly from the austere look of the Commenwealth War Graves. This one has the same sort of perspective that exists in Washington D.C., looking up from the Lincoln Memorial. The crosses are on either side of a very long, wide grassed area with the statue of brothers in arms at the end in the centre of a memorial building. The building has a chapel on the left and on the right a room with a visual description of the American involvement in the Sicily/Italy Campaign.
It’s a University centre and all the young kids ambling around tell the tale. After settling in I went for a walkabout and I just love this place. Winding, narrow streets, cafes and tiny shops all over the place…a photographers dream. It would take quite a long time to discover all the hidden gems here. The receptionist gave me a great map and pointed out the outdoor escalator across the street that made climbing to the centro storico very much easier. He marked out a great little hour long route. Along the way I saw two other outdoor escalators. going from top to bottom. Ancient beyond belief with all the mod cons.