WWII Bunker
 

I had read that there were some shelters built under some of the
central tube stations, but that the planned one at St. Pauls was never
actually built.

Now, I was passing through St. Pauls this morning on an eastbound
train, and happened to stand at the back (west), which is unusual for
me, and when we got to St. Pauls, I noticed that there seemed to be a
series of several black doors at the west end of the platform. I would
guess this is pretty close to where the old post office building was,
near the bombed church, and there seems to be a wierd blockhouse in a
similar position in the middle of the road on the surface.

Did they build it after all, as it would have been good for the Post
office, but keep it secret, or are these doors something completely
unconnected?

WWII Bunker
 

Could be something to do with the old lift concourse and ticket hall.

B2003

WWII Bunker
 

lonelytraveller wrote:
I had read that there were some shelters built under some of the
central tube stations, but that the planned one at St. Pauls was never
actually built.

Now, I was passing through St. Pauls this morning on an eastbound
train, and happened to stand at the back (west), which is unusual for
me, and when we got to St. Pauls, I noticed that there seemed to be a
series of several black doors at the west end of the platform. I would
guess this is pretty close to where the old post office building was,
near the bombed church, and there seems to be a wierd blockhouse in a
similar position in the middle of the road on the surface.

Did they build it after all, as it would have been good for the Post
office, but keep it secret, or are these doors something completely
unconnected?

According to our duty manager, who used to work on that group, the doors
do lead to what was going to be a shelter. He said that while the
excavating was taking place local people complained about the noise and
got the work stopped by finding some ancient law forbidding any
tunnelling under St Paul's Cathedral. The excavated area is now a
ventilation shaft and the block house thing you describe is the top of
it.
That was what I was told.....
--
Kat

WWII Bunker
 

The lift concourse is further along - by the escalators - you can
actually see one of the corridoors above the bottom landing of the
escalators, and the other one is just along the platform where the
black doors are.

The doors I mean are right at the western end, which is much further
away.

WWII Bunker
 

I didn't think the tube was as far south as the cathedral. Do you mean
a law about the bombed out church?

WWII Bunker
 

lonelytraveller wrote:
I didn't think the tube was as far south as the cathedral. Do you mean
a law about the bombed out church?

I did wonder about that too but I'm only repeating what I was told.
I did find this though; written by Nick who posts here regularly.
http://www.cwgcuser.org.uk/personal/...ra/lu/tuaw.htm
If you scroll down there's a bit about St Paul's.
--
Kat

WWII Bunker
 

In message , Kat
writes
lonelytraveller wrote:
I didn't think the tube was as far south as the cathedral. Do you mean
a law about the bombed out church?

I did wonder about that too but I'm only repeating what I was told.
It was the Dean 7 Chapter (ie the "Cathedral authorities") who
complained about the shelter tunnelling shortly after it began.

The complaint was actually about disturbance to the former churchyard, I
understand, rather than the fabric of the Cathedral per se.
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

WWII Bunker
 

"lonelytraveller" wrote in
message oups.com...

I didn't think the tube was as far south as the cathedral.
Do you mean a law about the bombed out church?

No. There is a law against tunnelling within a significant area around St
Pauls. AFAIK there is no such law concerning any other building, even Big
Ben.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

WWII Bunker
 

On Thu, 5 May 2005, Kat wrote:

lonelytraveller wrote:

I had read that there were some shelters built under some of the
central tube stations, but that the planned one at St. Pauls was never
actually built.

According to our duty manager, who used to work on that group, the doors
do lead to what was going to be a shelter. He said that while the
excavating was taking place local people complained about the noise and
got the work stopped by finding some ancient law forbidding any
tunnelling under St Paul's Cathedral.

Hang on - was this *during* the war? "Bomb shelter? No thanks, too noisy!
We'll just sit here with these nice quiet BOMBS FALLING ON OUR HEADS."?!?!

tom

--
The major advances in civilization are processes that all but wreck the societies in which they occur. -- Alfred North Whitehead

WWII Bunker
 

John Rowland wrote:

No. There is a law against tunnelling within a significant area
around St Pauls. AFAIK there is no such law concerning any other
building, even Big Ben.

So how did the CLR manage to get their tunnels in then?