Tour of City Road and Angel Disused Stations
23 Sept 2001 - Tour as part of Open House weekend
Photos |
Handout |
Review |
Links
Photos taken on the tour:
 | The lift shaft at Angel Original image (full size) Processed image with more detail |
 | Descending a ladder to the platform at Angel Original image (full size) |
 | The old tunnel and siding at Angel Original image (full size) Processed image with more detail |
 | The leftmost tunnel at Angel, probably a siding Original image (full size) |
 | The rightmost tunnel at Angel, the old track Original image (full size) Processed image with more detail |
 | The platform at City Road Original image (full size) Processed image with more detail |
David Leboff's handout about City Road and Angel Stations:
Page 2 (595k JPeg)
Page 3 (550k JPeg)
Page 4 (638k JPeg)
Page 5 (573k JPeg)
LUL's press release about the tour
Review of the Tour
On Sunday 23rd September 2001, as part of Open House weekend,
London Underground offered free tours of both the disused
City Road and Angel stations, and of the new North Greenwich
station. I opted to go on the disused station tour. Ticket
hotlines were advertised in Metro newspaper on Friday 21st,
and by the time I could get through on the phoneline all the
tickets had gone. There were also tickets available to personal
callers at the Transport Museum, so I took a very early lunch
and went down to get some tickets.
On the Sunday I turned up for the 330pm tour as booked - the
last one of the day - and there were about 25 people, which seemed
to be more than LUL were expecting. As a result, what should have
been an hour long tour took 2 hours. People did try to join, but I
think only booked people were allowed; maybe one or two snuck in.
I hope I recall the following parts correctly...
We walked from the station to the old Angel station and went
in through a door in Torrens St. We saw some mess-room type rooms
and the extension which had housed the ticket office. We then
proceeded to the machine room upstairs, where there was not a lot to see
except a crumbled hole in the floor through which you could see
to the bottom of the lift shaft. Not one for anyone who doesn't like
heights! We went outside onto the
balcony to look at the brickwork and compare to old photos on
the handout we were given.
We then went down to the bottom of the lift shaft down spiral
stairs. The guide's lamp gave out, so I was lucky to have my
stick with me and I used it to feel my way like a blind person
for much of the way! After viewing the lift shaft we went down
a short ladder of about 14 feet and opened a door to appear on the new
Angel platform - to the surprise of waiting passengers. This would have
been the old island platform, however the platform is now extended to
cover the area where the old tracks would have been. We then went
along the platform to the other end and through a door there
onto the old track.
There were there two tunnels, one possibly a siding (I'm told that
Clive Feather thinks this
might have been for locos when they used to terminate there)
down which we walked, and the other for the old track - this is
now cut off by the new track layout. At the end was a mesh through
which we could see trains coming and going on the new track.
We then went back onto the platform (some people got to see
the signal box, but we were hurrying and unfortunately I didnt get to see
it) and took the escalator out of Angel station.
We walked to City Road and went in the side door, down a short flight
of steep stairs (again in pitch dark) and then down
a spiral staircase which was well lit. We saw the bottom
of the lift shaft, and then went down some more stairs
to see what was left of the old platform, through a grill.
The platform dropped away and had fallen into disrepair. People
pressed their noses to the grill to see - and ended up with a
sooty grill pattern on their faces!
Then we left City Road station the way we had come.
The tour ended with applause for David who was helpful and
enthusiastic despite having spent all day giving tours.
His handout was also interesting with a potted history,
old photos and tube map showing the stations, and further
reading suggestions.
The whole thing was extremely dark, especially City Road
which was in bad repair with the ceiling peeling, the walls
and white tiling entirely black, and smelling. However it
WAS a fascinating tour.
Although my camera is usually adequate the flash was just absorbed,
there is a limit to how much reflection you can get from
total matt-blackness!
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Links to other disused station tours
There is more train-related stuff in my trains section.
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