Visitors will get the chance to experience an ‘abandoned’ Tube station and discover what secrets lurk beneath our busy streets at a new Hidden London exhibition opening at the London Transport Museum on Friday 11 October 2019.
Hidden London – The Exhibition will take people on an immersive journey of some of
London’s most secret spaces. These ‘forgotten’ parts of the Tube network have incredible stories to tell about Britain’s wartime past such as the Plessey aircraft underground factory which had 2,000 members of staff, mostly women, working in the two 2.5 mile-long tunnels on the eastern section of the Central line during the Second World War.
Adults and children will be able to discover how Winston Churchill took refuge in
the Railway Executive Committee’s bomb-proof headquarters deep underground at Down
Street station in Mayfair.
London Transport Museum has recreated the dining-room used by Britain’s great wartime leader with replica tables, chairs, wine bottles, menu cards and ashtrays like those Churchill would have used.
Visitors will be transported to a bygone era as they enter Aldwych station’s recreated historic ticket office with an original ticket booth from the station dating from the 1930s, famous Leslie Green tiles from the station, as well as a newspaper stand advertisement announcing the station’s closure on 30 September 1994.
Some objects will be on public display for the first time such as a 1939 architectural drawing of Down Street station before it was converted into a secret bunker.
It is the first time such a large number of archive photographs, objects, artworks, diagrams and heritage posters relating to disused stations have been displayed together.
King William Street, on the first deep-level electric Tube railway that opened in
1890, became redundant in 1900 when the platforms were found to be pointing the wrong
way. A new northward tunnel was built in 1900, bypassing King William Street which was then left abandoned. Today, this disused station is not open to the public.
London Underground has served as a location for movie makers since the 1920s and is still
used for filming today. Although most of Charing Cross Tube station is still used by
thousands of passengers on a daily basis, various scenes in the Skyfall (2012) blockbuster
were filmed in the disused sections of Charing Cross Underground station.
Film fans will love the section of the exhibition featuring vintage film posters through the
ages from an unused poster artwork for the 1972 film Death Line to the film poster for V for Vendetta (2005), a dystopian drama in which the hero V is holed up at a decaying Aldwych station.
Those wishing to take a bit of disused station history home can treat themselves to a new
illustrated Hidden London book (Hardback, £25) published by Yale University Press which
will be on sale from 10 September at London Transport Museum’s shop in Covent Garden,
online at www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk and other stores nationwide.
At the Museum’s exhibition launch Friday Late event on 11 October, guests can be the first
to visit Hidden London – The Exhibition, meet the people behind the Hidden London tour
programme
Kids go free and adult tickets allow unlimited entry to London Transport Museum’s galleries
and temporary exhibitions for a whole year. Adult online tickets start at £16.50 online.
Hidden London – The Exhibition closes in January 2021.
Visitors wishing to continue their Hidden London experience can also join exclusive tours of
disused stations such as Aldwych, Charing Cross, Clapham South, Down Street, Euston, 55
Broadway and Highgate.
A limited number of tickets are currently available for a special Charing Cross tour with a
delicious Afternoon Tea at the Amba Hotel above the station. From 17 July to 4 August,
Wednesday to Sunday. Visit www.ltmuseum.co.uk/hidden-london
Look out for new Hidden London events and experiences by subscribing to the Museum’s
newsletter. A new range of products to accompany the new Hidden London exhibition will be launched in autumn 2019 to complement the Hidden London range of exclusive gifts and
souvenirs, which currently include stylish crockery inspired by beautiful station tiles.
What did the officials say?
Chris Nix, Assistant Director for Collections and Engagement at London Transport Museum,
said:
“Visitors will love being transported to our recreated secret station subterranean world. People will be able to step in to a stage set of the dining room at Down Street where Winston Churchill sought refuge at the height of the Blitz, thanks to the Railway Executive Committee which was responsible for the bunker in the then disused station. For the first time we’ve brought together a large number of historic posters, archive photos and footage, secret diagrams and decorative tiles about disused spaces on the Underground – all in one place.”
Matt Brosnan, Head Curator at London Transport Museum, said:
“We’ve tried to emulate the look and feel of life deep underground with a disused ticket office and an eerie stairwell for visitors to climb. Visitors can also rise to the challenge of being a war-time Telephone Exchange Operator connecting multiple callers at once – while racing against the clock.”
Where Next?
News Homepage
For the Latest Railway News
RailAdvent Online Shop
Framed Prints, DVD’s / Blu-Ray’s and more
LocoStop Community
Come and share your railway pictures
London Transport Museum
Visit their website
