Long term readers may recall that I am slowly researching the history of the Waterloo and Whitehall Railway - a short lived attempt to build a pneumatic railway in an iron tube running under the River Thames between Great Scotland Yard and Waterloo Station.

I haven’t been able to do much with the project frankly as I got somewhat diverted, but I haven’t completely forgotten it.

I was therefore quite excited to get an alert that a document had come onto the market, and one which is not in the National Archives - so I brought it and it arrived last week. The document is a short 4 side document which is the Authorisation by the Board of Trade to wind up the failed company in February 1871.

In addition to being a nice addition to my collection of relics from the railway - it also added a few extra notes which I was unsure of. Most notable was that while I knew that the construction of the iron tubes had started by the Samuda Brothers in Docklands, I was unable to get any further information - save a lithograph from an issue of Scientific American which confirmed that at least part of one tube was built.

I now know that one entire length (out of four) was indeed completed in full - with the brick linings etc., and a second length of tube was cast, but not assembled.

Due to the complete lack of any detailed information about the shipyard, I have been unable to find out what happened to the iron tubes once the firm was wound up - alas.

I still aim to do a write up one day - and the arrival of this document in the post has encouraged me to post off some letters (again) to various possible sources for information in the hope that a second letter might get answered.

Related postings:

Waterloo and Whitehall Pneumatic Railway

How the Bakerloo Line created a Water Jet in the Thames

A few months ago, when collecting leaflets in the (now closed) tourist board centre in Greenwich, I purchased a book of Docklands history, published by The Island History Trust - mainly as it had two maps which really caught my attention.

I’ll mention the second on another day, but the inside cover had a map of the fortifications along the Thames in the time of the Spanish Armada - coincidentally exactly 420 years ago.

The bit which really caught my eye though were two piers across the river at Blackwall - which very nearly sealed off the river, and would seem to have had cannons mounted on the very ends of the piers. Any ship which had managed to get past the Tilbury barrage would then face going up river right into the face of cannon fire.

The below is a scan of the map I stole copied from the book

A larger version is available here
(notice how North and South are reversed?)

There is also this larger scale map - found here

The ever excellent Survey of London mentions that there is no evidence that two large star shaped forts which were placed at the landside of each pier were actually built. It notes that there were claims that the piles for the piers were discovered later on, but seems dubious about the reliability of the source.

Amazingly, there were plans drawn up about a decade later to construct a full bridge across the river at Blackwall - which I suspect may have been a plan to link up the two piers (if they actually existed) with some form of drawbridge (to allow ships to pass though), but nothing came of that - alas.

It’s a fascinating little snippet, made doubly so for being related to such an important era in English history - but I am also quite amazed at the size of the battlements built to protect London. It is worth noting that during WW2, a series of battlements were also built in the Thames - this time far out in the estuary and anti-aircraft guns mounted on top of them to try and shoot down German planes which tended to use the Thames as a convenient route to London.

You can still see these “modern” defenses by taking a boat ride out to them with Bayblast (diamondgeezer took a trip recently, and I went out a couple of years ago)

If you ever want a giggle, check out the House of Commons Early Day Motions for a laugh. Most are sensible, but quite often a howler is lodged and this morning I found the following EDM proposed by Ian Gibson MP.

That this House praises Robert and William Kett who were both executed on 7th December 1549 for being leaders of the Norfolk Rebellion under the reign of King Edward VI; recognises these courageous leaders for their contribution to the long struggle of the common people of England to escape from a servile life into the freedom of just conditions; and calls on the Government to recognise that both men were not traitors as charged.

I am not a huge expert on the Norfolk Rebellion (also known as Kett’s Rebellion), but that EDM just didn’t sound quite right, so I Google’d around a bit and my suspicions were confirmed.

Far from being an uprising by poor serfs who were seeking equal rights, it was a religious battle organised by a very rich man.

The rebellion started in July 1549, when the town of Wymondham illegally celebrated the life of St Thomas Becket - and this turned into a riot. The crowd attacked a nearby landowners estate and he bribed the mob to attack his neighbour. The mob being both rightous and filled with religious anger actually decided that the bribe was most generous and proceeded to Robert Kett’s estate instead.

However, rather than turfing them off his land as most landowners would have done - he actually joined the rebellion and lead it thereafter.

A week later the mob had reached Norwich and the mayor realising that bribes seemed to work on this lot promptly tried the same trick again - but alas it failed.

In late July (or August), the King sent 14,000 men to attack the rebels - and they won the battle. So the King sent battle hardened commanders, lead by the Earl of Warwick and the next battle was won by the King’s men.

Kett fled but was later caught and charged with High Treason in the Tower of London.

He was convicted and his body was hung over the walls of Norwich Castle, while his brother shared a similar fate and his body was dumped over the side of  Wymondham Abbey.

—

Now, were the two men traitors - absolutely, they attacked a city and defied the King. However, the key is that these were rich land owners and their motivations seemed to have nothing to do with the claims in the Early Day Motion about freedom and just conditions. I also think the EDM would do better next year - which would be the 460th anniversary of the rebellion.

An irony to finish off with - is that despite fighting for the King, the Earl of Warwick was himself executed for treason just four years later when he was involved in the plot to prevent Queen (Bloody) Mary from taking the throne.

In the world of Harry Potter is a place - a magical place full of Dickensian shops for the convenience of magicians and students - a place called Diagon Alley. Would it amaze you to learn that such a place actually exists in London?

There is an alley in London which I have known about for some years and wanted to take photos of to write about - but alas, whenever I am near and remember I invariably don’t have my camera, and logically, when I have my camera I tend to forget. Today, man and machine were as one - and I finally remembered to take some photos of this delightful, and historic little alley way.

Dear readers - welcome to the real Diagon Alley.

To get here though does not need a magic wand, but just a set of sturdy shoes. Wander along to St Martins Lane, and on the Eastern side you may spy a small dirty alley entrance with a sign to Goodwin’s Court. Do not fret about the squalor, but venture inside with a brave heart and upon turning a slight corner - you shall come upon the delight which is straight out of a Dickens novel (or a Harry Potter book).

One side is frankly, not that impressive - but the other side is, to my amateur eyes a row of Georgian houses with wonderful wooden bay windows, and even more delightfully is still lit by gas lamps.

Some of the doors have still the lions-head knockers you should expect of such heritage and despite being in the very heart of Theatre land is surprisingly devoid of pedestrians. This could be partly due to it frankly not being much use as a short cut so not something people are going to use.

According to the Survey of London, Goodwin’s Court first appears in the ratebooks in 1690, replacing Fishers Alley which had occupied a similar position in preceding years, and it seems probable that the houses in the court and those on either side of it, i.e. the present Nos. 55 and 56, St. Martin’s Lane, were erected in that year.

It is therefore a true relic of London history - but I have been unable to find out much more about it alas. However, this is an alley which is worth visiting, not for quaint historic reasons, but for a small dose of nostalgia.

A few photos on my usual Flickr account.

I wandered up to Greenford in North East London this morning to have a look at one of London Underground’s little novelties. Greenford Station, on the Central Line is notable for a couple of reasons - it has the only (working) escalator on the tube network which takes passengers directly from the street level to the platform, which is novel but hardly exciting.

What is interesting though is that particular escalator is also the last one remaining on the tube network with wooden slats on the steps.

Following the Kings Cross fire, all the old and rather nice wooden escalators were removed as a fire hazard - except the one at Greenford. I presume that as it is not only above ground but also has two static stairs next to it that the requirement to remove it is not a priority.

So, today I wandered up to have a look at this last relic, and while it lacks any of the charm of the old 1930s underground stations, there is still enough of the original structure to remind us of the old escalators. There is still the bronzed end plates and the old signs at the top indicating that Otis were the manufacturers.

The station itself is also notable for having a split running down the centre of the tube line platforms where an overland train terminates and then returns back down to Paddington Station.

A few more photos on my Flickr account.