In this episode the team take a rare opportunity to discover the remains of the Southwark deep-level shelter. Once the short-lived running tunnels of the City & South London Railway, these lengthy dormant passageways were repurposed for civilian shelter during the Second World War. The team are joined in the studio by the Museum's Head of Retail, Laura Mullins, to talk about what they want for Christmas from the Museum shop!
The team open the doors to the Museum's own disused site, Clapham South deep-level shelter, part of our popular Hidden London tours programme. We take you behind the scenes of the tour to reveal fascinating places too difficult to normally visit using 3D scans, Chris explains his role as custodian of the site and we meet Martin, the Conservation Engineer who has restored many of the original systems from the Second World War.
In this one of a kind episode the Hangouts team visit South Stoke in Oxfordshire to follow up on a viewer's offer to learn more about bells after our episode on Whitechapel The team explore the bell tower and are taught to handle a bell in a single afternoon. We hear also the Whitechapel Road ringing method, from the artwork at Whitechapel station, played specially for this episode by the bell ringers of nearby St Thomas of Canterbury church, Goring. With grateful thanks to St Andrew's Church, South Stoke, Robert the Tower Captain and their wonderful team of bell ringers.
The team share a special Hidden London Hangup episode recorded live for our Patreons. Special guest Keith Valla, Driver Team Manager for the Elizabeth line joins Chris, Laura and Alex in the studio as we share cab footage shot on the Elizabeth line between Gidea Park and Liverpool Street earlier this summer. In the cab, Chris and Alex are given a master class in driving by Keith and Driver Sham Darr.