Thames Tunnel, Rotherhithe to Wapping

The plaque at Rotherhithe station.

London is a city layered with history, and some of the most fascinating stories lie beneath its surface. One such story belongs to the Thames Tunnel, an engineering marvel that was the first tunnel ever successfully built beneath a navigable river and a project so ambitious it took nearly two decades to complete.

Today, you might speed through it on the London Overground, barely giving a second thought to the brick arches passing by your window. But in the 19th century, this passageway connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping was the scene of drama, innovation, and, for a short time, one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.

By the early 1800s, London's docks were booming, but the River Thames created a huge bottleneck. Building a new bridge downstream of London Bridge would have blocked the passage of tall-masted sailing ships. The only solution was to go under the river.

Several attempts to tunnel beneath the Thames had failed disastrously. The soft, treacherous ground beneath the riverbed made traditional mining techniques impossible. Enter the brilliant French-born engineer, Marc Isambard Brunel.

Brunel’s genius lay in his invention of the tunnelling shield. The idea, allegedly inspired by watching a shipworm bore through wood, was a revolutionary concept in civil engineering.

Keilyn at the bottom of the tunnel shaft. Notice the soot mark, from steam trains, still on the wall.

Patented in 1818, the shield was essentially a massive, rectangular, cast-iron frame divided into 36 compartments. Miners would work inside these individual cells, digging away a small section of earth in front of them while the surrounding frame held the unstable ground in place. Once a small segment was dug, the shield would be moved forward, and bricklayers would immediately line the new section of the tunnel behind it. This method was the key to conquering the soft, wet subsoil.

Work began in 1825, but the project was far from smooth sailing. It was a harrowing 18-year ordeal, plagued by financial crises, poor air quality, and most terrifyingly, repeated floods as the river burst through the thin crust of ground above.

Tower Hill Scaffold Site

On the western edge of Trinity Square Gardens, you will find a small square with a horrific history. This was almost the exact site of the Tower Hill Scaffold, where more than 125 people were put to death.

Executions took place at this site from around the 1380s through to 1780, when executions were moved to Tyburn.

Although Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury and Sir Robert Hales are listed as having been executed here, in 1381, the official records state that Sir Simon de Burley, K.G., was the first person executed here, in 1388.

The executions were highly ceremonial, with the ceremony often beginning the night before. Often prisoners would be taken by horse and cart, through the streets, being fed ale or mead, on their way to the scaffold. People would line the streets, often hurling vegetables, sometimes stones, at the poor wretch who was about to die.

Once at the scaffold site, hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people would gather with their families, to witness the execution.

All of these were public executions, with various methods being employed to dispatch the condemned.

London's Postboxes

A replica 'Penfold' type postbox, beside Tower Bridge.

Normally overlooked because of how common they are on the streets of the United Kingdom, the humble postbox can tell you a lot about an area. Each postbox also has a Royal cypher, which helps denote its age. Although, occasionally, postboxes are created without a cypher. These are called 'anonymous' postboxes.

So, let us look at the evolution of the British Postbox.

Like so many other iconic things the Postbox was created in the Victorian era, with the first postbox being installed on Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, in 1852.

In 1853, the first postbox, on the mainland, was installed in Carlisle.

London's first postboxes were installed in 1855.

During the 19th century there was no standard to postboxes, with those in the east and west being markedly different from those in the north and Ireland. The aperture, for the letter, was often vertical, rather than the now standard horizontal, and they were all of different shapes and sizes. One is believed to have been 2.4 metres (7.8 feet), tall. The only constant was that they were made off cast-iron.

It wasn't until 1857 that the Post Office launched a competition to standardise the shape and size of the postbox. Unbelievably, one of the original designs was designed with no aperture for the letters. This was remedied and the 'London Ornate Box' came into use, between 1857-1859. It was green with gold trim and had an enamel compass on its top. In fact, all postboxes were green, si that they blended with the landscape. It wasn't until 1884 that they would be painted the now familiar red.

A 'Wall Box' postbox.

In 1857 the 'Wall Box' was introduced as an economy measure, where space was a premium. These were usually in rural areas.

The 'First National Standard' postbox was unveiled in 1859. It was cylindrical, with a horizontal aperture beneath a hexagonal hood and was made from cast-iron.

A replica 'Penfold' type postbox, outside the General Post Office building.

The architect John Wornham Penfold designed a hexagonal model, in 1866, which would adopt his name and become known as the 'Penfold' postbox. These were cast-iron and stayed in use from 1866 till 1879. There were thirteen variations of this postbox, that were produced. Many of these postboxes, that you see today, are replicas of the originals and were introduced to historic places, such as Tower Bridge.

A Victorian 'anonymous' postbox, as it has no cypher.

In 1879, the 'Victorian Type A' and its smaller 'Victorian Type B' were introduced. It is this cylindrical design, with its circular convex top, that is still the most common style of postbox.

In 1896, the first 'Lamp Box' was installed, on an experimental basis. Much like the 'Wall Box', these were used where pavements were small, such as in rural areas.

In 1899, the first 'Type C' oval-shaped postboxes were introduced in London. These large, double-aperture pillar boxes were designed to increase capacity and pre-sort mail into 'London' and 'Country' destinations.

A postbox with a King Edward VII cypher.

In 1930, some 'Victorian Type B' postboxes were painted blue, to signify the 'Air Mail' service being offered. An 'Air Mail' sign was affixed to the top and the door showed both collection times and air mail charges.

Christmas Lights Switch-on, 2025

A Wicked Christmas Tree, at St Pancras International.

With Christmas fast approaching various areas of London will begin to switch-on their Christmas lights, which began this month.

With the switch-on London becomes a cluster of areas that bring their own Christmas style, as they all try to entice as many visitors as possible.

Christmas in Westminster.

Below is a list of places, with dates, that will be getting into the festive season from this month.

There are other places that have yet to announce their timings, so check your local listings.

All dates are subject to change and were correct at the time of writing.

November 1st.

Leicester Square

Piccadilly

St Martin’s Lane

St Pancras Christmas Tree

November 3rd.

Oxford Street

November 6th.

Carnaby Street

Regent Street

St James's

November 12th.

Bond Street

Covent Garden

Marylebone Village

Old Spitalfields

Strand

November 13th.

Hay's Galleria

Kensington, Churchill Arms pub

Leadenhall Market

St Katharine Docks

November 14th.

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Kew Gardens

Watford Metropolitan Underground station

Watford tube station.

Before we get started... I know that Watford is not in London. But, neither is Warner Bros Studios Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter. Nor are Gatwick, Southend, Stansted or Luton Airports, but they all have London in their name. There are countless more examples of this.

However, Watford is served by National Rail, the Lioness line and the Metropolitan line. It is also the station from where the majority of my trips to London begin.

So let's delve into its history.

Two different types of train at Platform 2.

By the early part of the 20th century, the Metropolitan line had already extended from London, through Hertfordshire, to Buckinghamshire, terminating at Verney Junction, Buckinghamshire.

In 1912 Parliamentary approval was granted for a branch line, between Sandy Lodge and Rickmansworth, that would serve Croxley and terminate at Watford.

However, clashes with Watford Borough Council and the outbreak of World War I delayed construction of the 2.5 mile branch line, with work finally beginning in 1922. As work progressed Sandy Lodge was renamed Moor Park and Sandy Lodge.

On November 2, 1925, Watford Metropolitan Railway station opened, and, in the first few months, was served by Metropolitan electric trains, to Baker Street, and LNER steam trains to Marylebone.

As the station was situated 1 mile from Watford Town Centre, the Metropolitan Railway operated a bus service from Watford High Street, in an effort to bring in more customers. This bus service ran for many years.

Celebrating 'Steam on the Met'.

The original 1912 plans, for the branch line, were to have continued the line through Cassiobury Park with a terminus on Hempstead Road, where West Herts College now stands. But, Watford Borough Council, having just bought part of the Cassiobury Estate, objected to trains running through the park and gardens.