London Banter - View Single Post

Stephen Furley · October 24th 06, 10:07 PM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london

wrote:

There was also a ramp up to street level here as well as the subway
leading to the shopping centre - in fact it is still there albeit
disused. There was also another subway entrance leading to the loco
depot but I think this is now blocked.

That's right; the ramp had a curved roof, made of glass blocks I think;
skateboarders used to make use of it. I think there must originally
have been steps to street level within the building,; this would
explain the posters high up at the entrance. If you looked down at the
trackbed between 10 (now 10a) and 11 you could see where two subways
passed underneath; the 'old' one as I call it, and the depot one. I
think the passageway leading off to the East from the old subway must
have led into the depot subway, but I'm not sure. It was certainly in
use by staff when the old subway was open to the public.

There were various mystery doors leading off the old ticket hall as
well. One of them which was on your right as you left the station I do
know the function of; it led to a sump. I know this because many years
ago the pumps failed at a time when there had been very heavy rainfall,
and temporary portable pumps had to be brought in, with the hoses taken
in through this door.

Looking at this plan now it amazes me how tiny the original ticket hall
was compared to the current and proposed facilities! Thanks too for
jogging my memory about all the other passageways and stairs through
this amazing place.

Asmzing it certainly was, and is. It's a pity that the old part of the
station was allowed to decay so badly after it largely went out of use.
It's not only the station that's amazing; the whole area is. It has a
very important place in the industrial history of Britain, some fine
architecture, and the Bow Back Rivers are well worth exploring. I
first did so nearly thirty years ago, when they were so overgrown that
it was only just about possible to fight you way through the overgrowth
on the towpaths in the depths of Winter. There were major changes made
to the rivers under the River Lee (Flood Relief &c.) Act, (1930),
partly for flood relief, and partly to improve navigation; just about
in time to see the end of commercial navigation on most a the back
rivers! Quite similar in some ways to much of the modernisation of the
railways.

It's very difficult to get into, but the old Abbey Mills Pumping
Station is well worth a visit. The main 'A' station still contains the
8 electric pumps installed in the early '30s when the steam plant was
removed. At least I think they're still there on standby, they were a
couple of years ago. The Diesels in a couple of the other buildings
were removed at about the time that the new station opened. The old
station has some very fine cast iron work. The new station is quite an
interesting building from the outside, but there's nothing inside woth
seeing, everything except some large pipes is underground.

It has always seemed to me that these must have been provided in
anticipation of future extensions or alterations. From the plans it
appears the western end of the mezzanine will connect to the new DLR
platforms and the eastern end to a new entrance on the proposed
pedestrian link bridge.

I think they could have been used for small shops or stalls, exhibition
space, or maybe even a space for live musicians to perform; The area
has had a long history of involvment with the arts.