So you've checked off all those abandoned tube stations and deep-level shelters, but have you ever wandered into an old abandoned tram tunnel?
Trams used to be everywhere in central London, but their rumble hasn't been heard since 1952. Almost all the infrastructure has vanished, yet one huge remnant remains: the Kingsway tram tunnel.
You can't have missed its gaping maw if you've walked over the junction of Southampton Row and Theobald's Road. The great, gated-off slope leads down into a cut-and-cover tunnel heading south along Kingsway.
A very rare chance to explore the tunnel starts this spring. London Transport Museum is offering tours in May, June and July, with plenty of slots to meet the expected high demand.
It's an impressive space, and all. The tunnel seems to stretch on forever, with occasional remnants of platform, ventilation shaft and even the occasional vintage transport map.
It's a remarkable survival after all these years. The southern stretch was long-ago converted into an underpass for cars using Waterloo Bridge, but this northern section would still look familiar to anyone old enough to have caught one of the final trams.
Since it closed in 1952, the tunnel's been used mostly for storage and (counter-intuitively) part of the flood-defence controls, but it's also been accessed by film crews and artists. It was also used by the Crossrail project during the construction phase of that line, which passes underneath.
As with other tours in London Transport Museum's Hidden London strand, it don't come cheap. A standard ticket is £49. For that price, though, you'll get to explore a subterranean space that's usually off limits. And, as we all know, there's a huge appetite for such adventures. You'll also get half-price entry of one visit to London Transport Museum, any day up to a month after your trip.
Get tickets here, once booking opens on 11 March.
All images from the author's own trip into the tunnel in 2009, or else by then-colleague Dean Nicholas. Details may have changed.
