History Shorts: snippets of local history

Old railway sign , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. A relic of the Metropolitan railway at Gloucester Road station.

South Kentish Town disused tube station on Kentish Town road featuring the distinctive ox-blood facade of a Leslie Green designed building. It first opened in 1907 but was abandoned in 1924 as a result of low passenger numbers - a timely strike at a local power station took the station out of use and it wasn't returned to operation. During the Second World War, it served as an air raid shelter while in 1951 it featured as the subject of a short story written and performed by John Betjeman on the BBC Home Service. Retail units now occupy the surface building that once led to the underground railway. Its basement currently hosts an Escape Room . The Abandoned Stations website has photos from inside the former station.

Back on the street, I had to take a photo of the Eisenhower bunker on Chenies street. Used during the Second World War as a deep level shelter and by Eisenhower as a command centre, it was more recently used to store documents and television news footage.

Strand entrance , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. This was the entrance to the Strand/Aldwych underground station on the Strand itself.

Aldwych station , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. First called Strand station, then Aldwych station, this Tube station was closed in 1994. During the Second World War it served as an air raid shelter. It has also been used for testing Tube services and as a filming location. This photo was taken on Surrey Street.

Down Street , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. This disused Tube station was on the Piccadilly line. During the Second World War it was used as an air raid shelter, including by Churchill's War Cabinet. The frontage is Leslie Green era.

Alleged secret passage door , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. The door up close.