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.
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.
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??
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.
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.