This afternoon I finally (after 3 years living in the area) made it along to Rotherhithe’s wonderful Brunel Museum. Time Out were advertising some special tours of the old entrance shaft to the Thames Tunnel, and that was the extra impetus I needed to visit.
The museum is basically all about the Thames Tunnel (that’s the one you go through if you take the London Overground line between Rotherhithe and Wapping). It explains how and why the tunnel was built and presents a fascinating story of what was, at the time, an incredible feat of engineering. I really enjoyed browsing the various exhibits showing how the tunnel was constructed and reading about treacherous conditions faced by the men who worked on it.
Having looked around the museum, we were then invited to descend into what used to be the entrance shaft to the tunnel, which was also where the tunnelling began. You may have seen the large round structure next to the museum – that’s where we went. It was quite fun to crawl through a short passageway into the cylindrical chamber. We then clambered down a scaffolded staircase to the concrete floor built a year or two ago that now separates the entrance shaft from the London Overground track 36 feet below.
Initially, I was a little disappointed. There’s not a great deal to see inside the entrance shaft. It is a large, fairly featureless cylindrical room, and pretty much empty. Fortunately, though, the highlight of our visit was about to come – what proved to be a very entertaining and informative talk about the history of the tunnel.
As our guide got into his stride, what we’d read about in the museum earlier really began to come alive. He transported us back to the Victorian years when the tunnel was being built and then opened to the public. We could imagine the tunnelers working away in the damp gloom and then how the tunnel must have looked when, at various times, it was home to an underground banquet, souvenir shops, and a funfair.
I don’t know if we were just lucky today, or whether a visit to the museum always includes such a wonderful talk, but either way, the Brunel Museum is a magical little place and the Thames Tunnel is fascinating to learn about. If you’ve been thinking about going, do make the trip. It’s worth it.
photo credit: Donna_Rutherford
