Fullfilling a Lifelong dream AND doing something for Charity!

A few weeks ago I was notified that there would be a special walk through the Thames Tunnel this weekend. The proceeds would go to The Brunel Museum and the Railway Children Charity. Volunteers were asked for to walk the visitors through the tunnel.

Plaque on the wall at Rotherhithe Station

Now back in 1995, when the tunnel was closed for some very urgent repairs, I had wanted to go and see it before it was lined in concrete. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see it then, and the opportunity to see it at a later date seemed highly unlikely.



Then in 2010, lo and behold, they opened up the tunnel again for people to walk through. Everyone was told that this would be a one off event, never to be repeated. Again, circumstances conspired against me, and I was unable to visit the tunnel.

Inside the original shaft that lead to the Rotherhithe entrance. You can still see the recess where the stairs used to be.

When the request came for volunteers this weekend, for the first time, I was not at work, and had the opportunity to volunteer. So I quickly replied to the message that I would be able to help on any of the three days the tunnel walk were planned.

Another picture showing where the staircase used to be. The money raised this weekend, half goes to the Railway Children Charity, the other half goes to the Brunel Museum, where they hope to restore the stairway to this shaft.

I quickly received a reply asking me to volunteer for two days, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday. I was given the afternoon time slots, starting at 13:00, and finishing at 18:00.

My wife (luda) and my daughter (Anastasia) standing in front of the original tunnel entrance at Rotherhithe. Above, where the metal is, is where the shaft would have come down.

A few days later, I received another letter from the organisers stating due the unprecedented success of the venture, all tickets had sold out in 9 hours. They decided to do an extra hour of tours on Sunday. So we would finish at 19:00 instead. We were also told as a thank you, we would be allowed to bring two guests with us on a tour of the tunnel at 20:00. When I asked my wife and daughter, if they would like to go, they both said yes!

Myself and my daughter inside the tunnel. What you see is the 20cm thick concrete seal used to stabilise and reinforce the tunnel in 1995. The cost of this work was £23 million!

So, on Sunday, we left home and drove into London. We parked the car near where I work at Euston, and, as it was a glorious sunny day, we decided to walk to Rotherhithe. An hour and 45 minutes later, we arrived at Rotherhithe, where I entered the station to be briefed on what I was to do. Meanwhile My wife and daughter decided to explore the surrounding area, and return to Rotherhithe at 19:00.

Halfway through the tunnel!

The system the Brunel Museum were operating was very simple, they were allowing parties of no more than 25 people to go through the tunnel. Each group had two volunteers with them, one in the lead who would give the commentary as we walked through the tunnel, and the other would be at the back to make sure nobody strayed, or got left behind. The 'tail end Charlie' also carried a radio, and had to check in when we commenced going into the tunnel and once again when we came back out. The whole trip lasted anything from 35 minutes up to an hour, depending on how the commentator talked, or how much certain members of the party felt they just had to take pictures of every single object their beady eyes could see!

This was taken on the left side of the tunnel where the original tunnel ended and the new concrete lining was started. Note how the 20 cm lining has made the tunnel slightly smaller than the original.

The work wasn't very hard, you just had to be careful of certain equipment on the ground that could catch the unwary and cause a trip hazard. Fortunately only one or two people fell over each day, and no one was hurt. On the first day I was there, I was kind of pushed into being the guide up front, as none of the other volunteers felt confident enough to do it. The first two times I went through the tunnel, I was reading from the script we had been given. By the 4th time I went through, I was hardly checking my piece of paper at all!

This was taken on the right side of the tunnel where the original tunnel ended and the new concrete lining was started. Note how the 20 cm lining has made the tunnel slightly smaller than the original.

By the end of the first day, I was completely knackered. My daughter had blisters on her feet. My feet were extremely sore, but thankfully no blisters. My legs, though, felt like lead! By the time I got home at 22:00 I could just about managed to walk, stiff legged, upstairs and sink into a nice hot bath! As soon as I got out of the bath, I crawled into bed and was out like a light in seconds!

There are 60 arches like these through the tunnel. In 1843 when the tunnel opened, traders set up their stalls in these arches. So the tunnel became the first ever underground shopping mall!

This morning, when I awoke, I discovered my feet were still sore, but at least my legs were functional again. So once again I set off to Rotherhithe for the second day of volunteering.

This is the Wapping entrance to the tunnel. The golden portico entrance is still in tact, exactly the way the Victorians would have seen it in their day.

This time, the weather wasn't as good as yesterday. When I arrived at Rotherhithe, it was overcast, within an hour of my arrival the rain set in for the rest of the afternoon. On this occasion there seemed to be more volunteers than yesterday, so I was only called upon to lead three tours, and be the 'tail end Charlie' on my very last tour through. This gave me the opportunity to take some extra pictures, in case the pictures I took yesterday hadn't come out as good as I expected. I discovered my SLR camera had developed a fault of leaving a black shadow over part of the image, so I was glad I took some extra pictures with my mobile phone today. Unfortunately the only pictures I have of my wife and daughter in the tunnel were taken with the SLR camera!

The tunnel was used for pedestrians from 1843 until 1865, when it was sold to the railway. The single span tunnel above was constructed in 1869 to allow trains access to the tunnel.

We were told in 2010 that there wouldn't be another opportunity to walk through the Thames Tunnel, yet this weekend, the opportunity was made available again. When I asked the organisers if this would happen again, all they would say is they don't think so, but should circumstances like this weekend come into play (i.e. the line being closed for a weekend for engineering works), then perhaps the possibility may arise again.