Amazing New view in Paddington

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The old staircase, Going Going Gone…

Many of you will have seen the view down into the deepest section of Level 4 from the viewing points of Level 3, whilst some of you may have been lucky enough to go down into Level 4 in the early days.

Well Paddington has just seen the biggest update since we finished our excavation 2 years ago. As we dug down deeper into Level 4 we had to install a temporary wooden staircase as the chamber deepened.

The staircase has over time became unsafe so couldn’t be used, therefore it has been our wish to install a more permanent metal staircase. We explored the possibility of having a galvanised staircase made, but due to the complexity and size of the staircase needed we would be looking at a great deal of money.

We then explored further options, which would be just as effective, but at a more reasonable cost. Our good friends at Cheshire Scaffoldswww.cheshirescaffoldsltd.co.uk stepped in and said they’d help us with the supply and fitting of the staircase. We have now ordered it from Cheshire Scaffolds, who very kindly are supplying it at Cost Price and unbelievably they have agreed to fit the staircase free of charge too.

Our close colleagues at Subterranea Britannicawww.subbrit.org.uk who follow our progress, said that they may be able to help us in the form a grant. We have now applied to SubBrit for the grant which will be put towards the purchase of our new staircase.

Before we can fit a new staircase, the old wooden one had to be removed. This took a lot of planning, to come up with a method where the structure could be removed safely. Then over an incredibly short three days, a small team of volunteers set about removing the old stairs. This went very well, and the old structure was soon gone, revealing the most amazing view within,

A view that no one would have seen of this chamber being completely empty. Probably the last people to see this unobstructed view would have been the quarry men themselves followed by the people that would have filled the chamber with the many tons of infill that we would later remove 150 or so years later.

This magnificent view will not be permanent, as soon the new metal staircase will be installed. Once this staircase is in place, we will once again be able to take visitors down into this amazing cathedral like chamber. So, if you have never been into Level 4 and looked up at the arch roof 12 metres above you, watch this space, you soon will be able to.

The staircase has been ordered and our grant application has been submitted, So stay tuned to Twitter, Facebook and of course right here for updates.

We are very grateful to both Subterranea Britannica and Cheshire Scaffolds for their continued help and support.

subbrit

Cheshire Scafolds

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The new unobstructed view in this staggering Chamber
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The new unobstructed view in this staggering Chamber
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The new unobstructed view in this staggering Chamber
6th-Feb-2019
The Liverpool Echo’ feature FoWT with this great news story…

2 comments

  1. Thank you for the update it looks qiute remarkable would love to do a tour of the tunnels.You are all doing a wonderful job.

  2. I first found and visited your original site, probably around 2001 or 2002. I found it fascinating, exciting, and very interesting. I was doing, I’m sure, some sort of key word search for tunnels, on Google. I am a transit enthusiast, from New York, with an interest in the history and operations of our subway here, your Underground, the Liverpool Overhead, the Paris Metro, and various other cities.
    Anyway, I emailed your site, expressing my compliments and enthsiasm. I ordered your current newsletter at the time and all its back numbers.
    I read through them avidly, returned to your site a few more times, and then regular daily life stuff took precidence over my priorities, immediate family, working two jobs at the time, life events, and your site and project were filed away in my memory.
    Serendipity was in the wind this evening however, in the strange way it always is when your thoughts run free with association. I could not find a long time friend’s email at my directory page; but I did come upon an email address where his should have been.
    It was a for guy in England who had a music (mostly jazz) website. I checked to see if his site was still up after all these years and it wasn’t. But since it was around the same time period I found your site, it suddenly hit me, ‘I wonder if Williamson’s Tunnels project and website is still going, so I Googled the name and here I am.
    I plan to spend the next while or so, enjoyably exploring your more recent, and enlarged site, and view the further project your society members have made in restoring, researching, and exploring, this very unique underground network.
    Best Regards,
    Ed
    [details are below]

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