I've been concentrating a lot on infrastructure around London lately, and this tunnel was high on my list. So as soon as I saw that Kevin Arnold had recently cracked it, it became priority and decided to do it that weekend... Unfortunately the idea of killing a few hours in Battersea beforehand failed a little, and soon enough we realised it was 5am, and we had to get out before the sun came up...
Weekend after, we decided that would be the night it definitely got done; so myself, Analepsis and Half Life went South-West, visiting Lots Road before hand.
I'd wanted to see this one since I first came across it a year or so ago; the idea of crossing the Thames in an uncharted tunnel sounded good to me
The tunnel itself starts off as a square, lit, concrete tunnel with a few bends in it, before reaching the shaft. I didn't get any pictures of this part unfortunately; I didn't get my camera out before I reached the shaft, and on the way out my feet were wet, and time was getting on. So it was time to get up the tower before everyone woke up.
The tunnel was built originally to carry excess steam from Battersea power station to the Churchill Gardens Estate. When the power station closed, purpose built boilers were constructed to keep the estate heated.
Nowadays, I believe the tunnel just carrys watermains. So it's a little soggy down there
The shaft leading down:
And the tunnel section that runs under the Thames:
View attachment 395127
View attachment 395128
I first thought it'd just be two shafts at either end, with the tunnel joining it. Apparently not. There were four shafts in total, with some more modern concrete tunnels joining them up.
View attachment 395130
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View attachment 395133
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View attachment 395136
And back up again..
View attachment 395138
The estate accumulator tower:
View attachment 395139
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View attachment 395142
View attachment 395144
View attachment 395147
By this point I could see lights flicking on around the estate as the residents gradually woke up. So it was time to call it a night before anyone spotted us...
Thanks for looking.
Weekend after, we decided that would be the night it definitely got done; so myself, Analepsis and Half Life went South-West, visiting Lots Road before hand.
I'd wanted to see this one since I first came across it a year or so ago; the idea of crossing the Thames in an uncharted tunnel sounded good to me
The tunnel itself starts off as a square, lit, concrete tunnel with a few bends in it, before reaching the shaft. I didn't get any pictures of this part unfortunately; I didn't get my camera out before I reached the shaft, and on the way out my feet were wet, and time was getting on. So it was time to get up the tower before everyone woke up.
The tunnel was built originally to carry excess steam from Battersea power station to the Churchill Gardens Estate. When the power station closed, purpose built boilers were constructed to keep the estate heated.
Nowadays, I believe the tunnel just carrys watermains. So it's a little soggy down there
The shaft leading down:
And the tunnel section that runs under the Thames:
View attachment 395127
View attachment 395128
I first thought it'd just be two shafts at either end, with the tunnel joining it. Apparently not. There were four shafts in total, with some more modern concrete tunnels joining them up.
View attachment 395130
View attachment 395132
View attachment 395133
View attachment 395135
View attachment 395136
And back up again..
View attachment 395138
The estate accumulator tower:
View attachment 395139
View attachment 395140
View attachment 395142
View attachment 395144
View attachment 395147
By this point I could see lights flicking on around the estate as the residents gradually woke up. So it was time to call it a night before anyone spotted us...
Thanks for looking.
