Hidden Holborn

1st August

 

I went on another Hidden London tour, Holborn - The Secret Platforms, run by the London Transport Museum. This was I’m pretty sure the second day of running tours at Holborn tube station but the guides were already well into the swing of things and as usual it was all well organised and very interesting. Our group was met outside and after safety briefing, ticket and ID checks led through the ticket barriers and through a door into a swelteringly hot small space for the initial introduction by our enthusiastic lead guide Becky. this lasted only a few minutes but it was still a relief to move on to the slightly cooler spiral staircase and go down the 193 steps (I didn’t count them but I reckon that’s about the equivalent of a 15 storey building 😉 ) with walls still covered in original tiles in a white, brown, and blue combination unique to Holborn.

 

 

 

 After briefly emerging onto the eastbound Piccadilly Line platform we passed through another private door onto the disused platforms that formerly served the branch line to Aldwych. The first of which, that used to be the terminating platform, is now a row of disused offices and other spaces e.g. toilets. One of the rooms bore a sign for the “Central Line Model Railway Club”, sadly no longer used.

 

 

 

 At the far end of the platform we were able to get to down the the tunnel towards Aldwych, with the tunnel lights switched on else we’d have just been looking into a black hole. We had a shuffle round to take photos and a quick plug for the Hidden London Aldwych tour (I’ve already done that one back in 2018) before returning to the office/platform area.

 

 

 

 Before the station got too busy the disused platforms at Holborn were often used for filming. These days Aldwych or Charing Cross disused platforms tend to be used as they’re easier for film crews to access. We got a little film show here to remind us of some of the music videos filmed at Holborn and just how awful Superman 4 was, particularly the low-budget special effects!

 

Another short walk via tunnels and stairs took us past more original coloured tiles and a large fragment of early Piccadilly Line map to the other disused platform. This is the through platform, still connected to the tunnel in the photo above and to the live Piccadilly line to the north of the station so if you look down the tunnel in that direction and are patient you can get a view of the eastbound trains leaving the adjacent open platform. This platform has been used by TfL to test new platform decor so has some rather confusing signage.

 

 

 

 

 

The tour ended here with the customary round of applause for our four guides. It didn’t seem like about 90 minutes had passed which is the sign of a good tour and I even got used to the “Holl-born” pronunciation being used throughout, it’s always been “Ho-b’n” to me 😀. We returned to the ticket hall, thankfully not via the 193 stairs but taking time to appreciate the very long escalators instead. 

 

I took a lot more photos: Flickr Album

 

 

 

I’ve only given a brief outline of the tour here, there’s a lot more to discover by actually going there and yes, it’s not a cheap day out but it is worth it so if you fancy doing it yourself bookings are being taken for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday between now and November 10th with more dates to come in March 2025.