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The Thames Tunnel was the world's first underwater tunnel, excavated beneath the River Thames in London between 1825 and 1841 and opened on 25 March 1843. It was built by Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel. 35 feet wide (11 m), 20 feet (6 m) high and 1,300 feet (396 m) long, it runs between Rotherhithe and Wapping at a depth of 75 feet (23 m) below the river's surface at high tide. It was originally designed for horse-drawn vehicles, but the tunnel company ran out of money to construct the ramps down to the tunnel and it was opened as a pedestrian tunnel.
In 1863, the tunnel was purchased by the East London Railway company for conversion to a railway tunnel. The first trains ran through the tunnel in 1869. From 1884 Metropolitan Railway and District Railway services used the tunnel and it later became part of the London Underground's Metropolitan line and finally it's East London line. In 2007 the tunnel was closed whilst the East London line was converted to become part of the London Overground network. It was reopened in 2010. Recognising its architectural and engineering importance, the tunnel is a Grade II* listed building. (Full article...)
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Selected biography
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Stanley Heaps was an English architect responsible for the design of a number of stations on the London Underground system as well as the design of train depots and bus and trolleybus garages for London Transport.
In 1903 Heaps became assistant to Leslie Green the architect for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) and aided him in the design of the station buildings for the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway, the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR) and the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway; all distinctive with their striking red glazed terra cotta façades and semi-circular windows at first floor. Following the early death of Green in 1908, Heaps became the UERL's architect. His first independent station designs were for the four new stations on the Bakerloo line extension from Edgware Road Underground station opened in 1913 and 1915; the first stations on the system designed specifically to use escalators rather than lifts.
After World War I, Heaps designed the stations for the 1923-4 extension of the CCE&HR from Golders Green to Edgware, giving them a suburban style in keeping with the new housing developments that were expected to grow around them. After the Edgware extension stations, Heaps concentrated on the design depot buildings, although he designed new stations at Osterley, Boston Manor and St. John's Wood. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
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- ...that the original carriages on the City and South London Railway were nicknamed "padded cells" due to their high backed cushioned seats and very small windows?
- ...that an estimated half a million mice live on the Underground system, and can often be seen running around the tracks?
- ...that at 44 tons, the locomotives of the Central London Railway's first underground trains were so heavy that they shook buildings as they passed 60 feet below and were scrapped after three years?
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Image 1Sailing ships at West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the Canary Wharf development.
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Image 3Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
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Image 4Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 5Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 8Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
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Image 9The multi-level junction between the M23 and M25 motorways near Merstham in Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 10Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 11Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
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Image 12Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
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Image 13The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
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Image 14The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
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Image 15The newly constructed junction of the Westway ( A40) and the West Cross Route ( A3220) at White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 16Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 17Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 18Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
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Image 19View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
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Image 21The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
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Image 22Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 23The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 24The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
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Image 26A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 27Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
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Image 28London Underground A60 Stock (left) and 1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 30Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 31Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 32London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 33Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 34TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
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Image 37Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
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Image 38Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
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Image 40Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
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Image 41Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
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Image 42Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
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Image 43Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 4555 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
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Image 48"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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Image 49London General Omnibus Company B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during World War I, this vehicle was operated on the Western Front.
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