I have recently booked my fourth Hidden London Tour, Moorgate: Metropolitan Maze, which follows my previous tours, Euston Underground: The Lost Tunnels, Dover Street: Alight Here For Green Park and Aldwych: The End Of The Line.
In this article I will look back at my first tour, Euston Underground: The Lost Tunnels, which I went on back in 2023. I will also include a brief history of Euston Mainline Station and Euston Underground along with photos I took during the tour.
Euston Station opened in July 1837 as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR). The original station was demolished in the 1960s and replaced with the modern style new building. During this work the original Euston Arch was also demolished, although the two original Portland Stone lodges still stand on the original site as a reminder of times past.
The demolition was described by the Royal Institute of British Architects as, "one of the greatest acts of Post-War architectural vandalism in Britain."
The replacement building has been described as a,"dingy, grey, horizontal nothingness" and lacked any of the sense of adventure that the original Victorian building gave to the traveller.
Richard Morrison, writing in The Times, felt that even by the bleak standards of 1960s architecture Euston was, "One of the nastiest concrete boxes in London, devoid of any decorative merit and a blight on surrounding streets." He went on to say, "The design should never have left the drawing board - if, indeed, it was ever on a drawing board. It gives the impression of being scribbled on the back of a paper bag!"
Back in 2009 the Euston Arch Trust revealed plans to rebuild the arch in front of the station but so far it just remains a topic of discussion.
Over the years the station and railway, the gateway from London to the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland, has been operated by a number of companies. Between 1837 and 1846 it was owned by the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) and from 1846 to 1923 The London and North Western Railway (LNWR). Other companies to operate from Euston were, The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) (1923-1948), British Railways (1948-1994), Railtrack (1994-2002) and currently by Network Rail.
Euston Station was not served well in the early days of the London Underground Network. The closest underground station was on The Metropolitan Line, around five to ten minutes walk away, in Gower Street.
It would be 1907 before a permanent connection was made to the mainline station when, in May, The City & South London Railway (C&SLR) opened the extension from Moorgate on what was known as the Bank Branch of the Northern Line.
The entrance to the station was on the corner of Seymour Street (now Eversholt Street) and Dorie Way. Designed by Sidney Smith it was Morrocan in style and covered in white tiles. The building was demolished in 1934 and a new one built, Euston House, which was the head offices of the British Railways Board.
The following month The Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR) opened an adjacent station. This was on the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line.
Situated to the west of the mainline station, on Melton Street, it was a Leslie Green style building with the familiar ox blood tiles and arched windows.
A deep-level passageway ran between the two stations with lift shafts taking passengers up to the mainline station. There was also an interchange ticket office situated in the passageway, the only one on the whole of the London Underground Network. In the early days of the London Underground the various companies only sold tickets to stations on their own lines.
This meant that passengers travelling on the City & South London Railway (C&SLR) who needed to transfer to the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR) to continue their journey would have to purchase another ticket. Having a ticket window between the two stations would save passengers having to exit to the mainline station to purchase a ticket.
New lifts were also installed which surfaced in the main station. However, it soon became clear that running three different entrances to the underground was unnecessary and both the Melton Street and Seymour Street buildings were closed leaving just the one entrance to the underground situated inside Euston Station.
Meanwhile, in 1909, with the recent construction of the two new underground stations, Gower Street Underground Station was renamed Euston Square.
In September 1968 the first section of the new Victoria Line, the first new underground line in more than fifty years, was opened and ran between Walthamstow Central and Highbury & Islington.
The new line was designed to provide the maximum amount of connections to the existing services, both underground and mainline, and to relieve the pressure which was becoming a major issue on other lines. It would give an alternative route through the centre of London.
With the construction of the Victoria Line, which passed through both Euston and Kings Cross/St Pancras Mainline Stations, it was necessary to expand and remodel the existing Euston Underground Station. This work included new platforms, cross-platform interchanges, a new ticket hall and new escalators.
During this work many of the old passages were closed off with some subways retained for ventilation shafts.
This brings us to my visit to the Lost Tunnels of Euston Underground. In the advertising London Transport describe the tour... 'This exclusive guided tour takes you into the labyrinths of
secret passageways that are hidden within Euston Tube station. You’ll uncover
time-capsules that haven’t been seen by passengers in decades, but which still
stand as witnesses to the changes that were made to London’s transport
infrastructure over the years.'
They go on to say, 'Explore secret parts of Euston Tube station, including two
former passenger galleries that have remained frozen in time since their last
commuters passed through in 1962 and 1967. Uncover the vintage advertising
posters that still adorn the walls, experience the atmosphere of a bygone age,
and spot adverts for famous film productions of that era.'
The 90-minute tour started outside Euston Square Underground Station where we were met by staff from London Transport. Following safety information the guides gave us a short talk on the history and layout of the stations and how they were all linked together. We then took the short walk to the site of The Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway building on Melton Street, a few yards from Euston Mainline Station.
Although now due for demolition, due to the construction of HS2, and with work being carried out in the area, we couldn't enter the old building. It is such a shame that the station, a Leslie Green design with the ox blood tiles, will be, or already is, gone forever and the photo earlier in this article was taken by me a few years before I did the tour.
From here we entered Euston Station and headed for the southbound platform of the Bank Branch of the Northern Line where we would gain access to the disused areas through a door at the end of the platform. I noticed several passengers giving us strange looks and wondering where we were headed. I am sure many were envious and with good reasons.
We walked along what was the interchange tunnel between the two original stations with the blue and white tiles which would not have been updated in many decades.
After a few steps it was back in time when we came to the old ticket office used by passengers changing between the two different lines. Definitely one of the highlights of the tour and with the window open and surrounded by tiles and the In/Out signs still in place it was a photo opportunity not to be missed!
However, a real journey into the past was waiting for us next and was definitely the highlight of the tour for me.
Covering the walls of the next tunnel was a wealth of old movie and advertising posters from the 1960s. It was incredible to think these had been here for more than sixty years. Yes, some were torn or peeling off the walls and many were covered with other posters but it was still a sight to see. What was interesting to note was how many of them were still colourful and bright, a mark of the 1960s design and print.
There are too many to mention here but these are just a few worthy of mention. Movie posters, blockbusters and some less so, included Spartacus, Terror Of The Tongs, One Born Every Minute, The Errand Boy, Lonely Are The Brave, West Side Story and Hitchcock's Psycho. My love of the 1950s and 1960s 'Kitchen Dramas' was satisfied when I spotted the poster for John Schlesinger's 1962 A Kind Of Loving. The film starred Alan Bates and June Ritchie and portrayed disillusionment and desperation of modern life in the sixties.
There were posters for theatrical productions including Puss In Boots along with advertising for products like Brushwave (the first permanent wave for colour treated hair), Springbak (a ground-breaking fabric) and even a poster advertising the Theosophical Society, a quasi-religious, esoteric movement founded in 1887 by Russioan Helena Blavatsky! Finally a poster offered The True Story Of Coronation Street, which was only in its first season in December 1960 but would become the world's longest running soap opera.
It wasn't only old movie posters that could be seen. As we approached the corner of another tunnel there were three posters facing you, all of which related to British Rail. The first advertises the Midland Pullman, a first-class express service famous for its luxury that ran between St. Pancras and Manchester in the mid-1960s. In the middle is a poster advertising 'Travel Times Cut!', something many of todays passengers may not totally agree with.
Lastly is a poster offering 'Bargain Travel' and 'More Miles For Your Money', again something many of today's rail passengers might disagree with. Interestingly on this poster is the British Rail logo designed by Gerry Barney and launched in 1965. The two-way track logo was the new identity for Great Britain's rail network and utilised on trains, advertising and uniforms. The logo has often been ridiculed and referred to as 'Arrows Of Indecision' among other derogatory terms.
Leaving 1960's London behind us we were shown more tunnels and areas that were now being used for storage, ventilation and trunking for the many power cables serving the needs of the station network. Once again you could see the original blue and white tiles.
The next stop was the lift shaft which would have taken passengers up to the mainline Euston Station building. It was impressive looking up and seeing how high it was and the photo I took doesn't do it justice. The lift shafts have been capped and there is no sign of where the original lifts were located when you are inside the current mainline station.
Our final stop on the tour was the ventilation tunnel for the Victoria Line. Built in the 1960s and never intended for passengers to walk along. It was interesting to see that part of the tunnel was built like actual tube tunnels with cast iron segments.
Walking up a slight slope the tour draws to a close with the chance to look down, through the ventilation grills, at passengers waiting on the platforms below and oblivious to us staring down at them from above.
Since going on the tour and whenever I am waiting for a train on the platform, I will look up at the ventilation grills and wonder if there is a group of people looking down at me.
This bought our tour to an end and we returned to Euston Mainline Station where we said our goodbyes and thanks to the wonderful staff and headed home.
The Hidden London Tours are very enjoyable and interesting and I cannot recommend them highly enough. I'm planning on booking more tours and writing about my other tours in future articles.
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