Underground London - Stephen Smith

...of the history of London underground with a vignette about miners - these may well be Welsh and North England coal miners, but here in London they dig for space below the city, space that can be used for utility conduits and that most massive of subterranean projects, the London Underground.

With regard to the London Underground, again the truth is far more fascinating than at first glance. Smith talks about Beck's map of the Underground ...
...feeds and is fed by underground streams and currents of all sorts. Also, there are areas of London that have water supplies independent from the rest - the Vale of Hampstead was termed 'the Vale of Health' because it had a water supply separate from the rest of London, so it escaped the worst ravages of the plague when it swept through. Like many things in London, much of the surface tributaries and streams of the city have gone underground, but ... more

It is somewhat hard to see London as the 'flower of cities all' from dozens of feet beneath the surface. However, some of the most intriguing bits of London fall well below the surface on which most people live. London is in many ways like a Middle Eastern tell - hills that contain the ruins of cities, built up in multiple layers over time, such that the stratification can be seen and identified in ever-increasing age the deeper one goes. London isn't quite so evenly distributed, but the idea is still much the same - there are layers of the city from Roman times to the present, and the more one digs, the more one finds.

This can sometimes cause havoc in a city like London, which has a concern both for the success of present-day business and the preservation and study of its often-glorious past. When construction workers and miners find something of archaeological and historical interest, often work stops for time, and particularly in the city of London, time is money. Author Stephen Smith begins his survey of the history of London underground with a vignette about miners - these may well be Welsh and North England coal miners, but here in London they dig for space below the city, space that can be used for utility conduits and that most massive of subterranean projects, the London Underground.

With regard to the London Underground, again the truth is far more fascinating than at first glance. Smith talks about Beck's map of the Underground (a rather ubiquitous sight in London, and a popular tourist item of memorabilia in its own right), and the way in which it gives just a surface glimpse (if you'll permit the expression) of what is down below. There are dozens of disused tunnels, both from redesign as well as structural flaws, and many no-longer used stations, most of which still have maintenance staff assigned to them - Smith highlights the Aldwych Station, which was in use off-and-on until 1994; even this station had secrets while it was functioning, as part had been closed in 1917, and another major section (about as large as the functioning part) was never opened in the first place.

After looking at this criss-cross of mines and tunnels, Smith looks at the London water supply - the Thames is a mighty river flowing through the midst of London, but is far from the only water source, and both feeds and is fed by underground streams and currents of all sorts. Also, there are areas of London that have water supplies independent from the rest - the Vale of Hampstead was termed 'the Vale of Health' because it had a water supply separate from the rest of London, so it escaped the worst ravages of the plague when it swept through. Like many things in London, much of the surface tributaries and streams of the city have gone underground, but are remembered in place names, building titles, and street signs.

After this two-chapter introduction, Smith progresses in a more or less chronological fashion (drawing in modern features as warranted in the discussion). He breaks the chronology into Roman London, Anglo-Saxon London, Medieval London, Tudor London, Victorian London, and Cold War London. Mixed in with these chapters (in more or less the proper spots chronologically) are sections devoted to The Gunpowder Plot, The Plague, London's Treasures, the London Underground, and even London's Lost Railway.

As Smith states in the introduction to this last chapter, 'If the dead stations of the Underground exert a fascination, how much more so an entire subterranean railway running the breadth of central London, decommissioned and shut down but still in perfect working order beneath the streets of the city? This deserted line I all the more intriguing for being pint-sized, a scale model, a miniature railway.' No, this wasn't some railway enthusiasts idea of a practical joke or a toy train hobbyist gone mad - it is the Mail Rail, part of the transport system for the Royal Mail throughout London, operated independently of the Underground, British Rail or other major transport systems.

Among the more fascinating bits of information, given the recent Hurricane Katrina disaster, is the discussion of the problem of flooding in London, a city which is very slowly sinking into the sea (along with the rest of southeast England). The Thames Barrier, the Embankment, and other such defences might be adequate, but the city has never had to face such situations, and what becomes of underground London in such a catastrophe is a cause for concern. The terrorist bombings of the summer of 2005 showed how easily disrupted the normal flow of things can be.

There are a few oversights in this book. H.G. Wells is perhaps the most of literary artists to explore the idea of Underground London carried to extremes in his work 'The Time Machine', in which the Morlochs, descended from those who went to work in the smoky, grimy time of Victorian London, menaced the 'upper' class of people who lived on the surface - however, Wells' name cannot even be found in the index of Smith's book. There are times that the connects are a bit tenuous with the time periods he intends to illustrate, and sometimes his own tours of places are a bit lacking (as someone who worked in the Palace of Westminster / Houses of Parliament, I know there are things that could be highlighted about the underground facilities there that Smith left off, but he did mention the chapel in the Undercroft, and so gets high marks for that).

This is a travelogue more than anything else, and those who have a deep and abiding love of London will find this an interesting tale, possibly with new information and certainly with new perspectives.

Were I given the option, I would award 4-and-one-half stars, a bit of a deduction for the lack of photographs.
 

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