Following a lead about tunnels under the Thames from Battersea, Me and Stumpy met up with Citadel Monkey for some exploration of the Battersea to Pimlico Steam Tunnel.
After finding the tunnel entrance in Pimlico, we made our way into the hottest brightest steam tunnel. It was as hot as a sauna and dry as a desert. The tunnel started off as a square concrete tunnel, with virtually unlagged steam pipes. After a few turns, but not a small distance, it became a steel clad tube, and a bit cooler, but not much. At some points, you could hear the traffic, and at one drain cover, you could see the cars going overhead on the Embankment. We later saw this from the surface, lit up bright orange.
...and then it went down, a long way, multiple sets of ladders and the depth of the tunnels went below the thames... and on we went. At this point it was still the steel clad cylinder as before. On reaching the other side of the thames, there was a brick built chamber with a shaft going to the surface, with a couple of pipes running up there to the surface, but no way up for us. There was a glass tiled cap on this shaft, with the moonlight visible.
From this point, the tunnel became a concrete cyclinder, much newer, with GRP clad pipes and very well insulated. This led to two massive shafts to the surface. The first one was locked, so we moved on to the end of the tunnel. This was the end of the road, the pipes shot up vertically, and so did a set of ladders. I climbed up to the manhole cover, which I could see was in a fenced area, but there was no getting out here.
It's a shame we never got out of the tunnel at Battersea, but we did cross the Thames in an uncharted tunnel.
Thanks Stumpy and CM, good trip and a first to boot.
After finding the tunnel entrance in Pimlico, we made our way into the hottest brightest steam tunnel. It was as hot as a sauna and dry as a desert. The tunnel started off as a square concrete tunnel, with virtually unlagged steam pipes. After a few turns, but not a small distance, it became a steel clad tube, and a bit cooler, but not much. At some points, you could hear the traffic, and at one drain cover, you could see the cars going overhead on the Embankment. We later saw this from the surface, lit up bright orange.
...and then it went down, a long way, multiple sets of ladders and the depth of the tunnels went below the thames... and on we went. At this point it was still the steel clad cylinder as before. On reaching the other side of the thames, there was a brick built chamber with a shaft going to the surface, with a couple of pipes running up there to the surface, but no way up for us. There was a glass tiled cap on this shaft, with the moonlight visible.
From this point, the tunnel became a concrete cyclinder, much newer, with GRP clad pipes and very well insulated. This led to two massive shafts to the surface. The first one was locked, so we moved on to the end of the tunnel. This was the end of the road, the pipes shot up vertically, and so did a set of ladders. I climbed up to the manhole cover, which I could see was in a fenced area, but there was no getting out here.
It's a shame we never got out of the tunnel at Battersea, but we did cross the Thames in an uncharted tunnel.
Thanks Stumpy and CM, good trip and a first to boot.
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