Secrets of the London Underground S03E06 - Leicester Square and Hyde Park Corner
Summary:
Tim and Siddy are exploring the station in the beating heart of London's theatreland - Leicester Square. It's a place adored by tourists and culture lovers but very few know of the secrets hidden below ground. Siddy reveals the extraordinary previous life of the station office - as a display cabinet for V&A antiquities. The pair then ride what was once the world's longest escalator at 54m, explore layers of the stations design history hidden in unassuming cupboards and see the unique wartime communication infrastructure still stored in abandoned lift shafts. Tim learns more about the work to preserve the networks heritage from TFL's Ann Gavaghan.
Siddy visits the tourist hot spot of Hyde Park Corner, where the stunning Oxblood Leslie Green station building has had a renaissance as a high-end hotel. She delves into its abandoned cross passages, adorned by stunning original tiles and reveals enormous fans and gloriously aging stair shafts.
Back at the Depot Tim admires some of the museum's iconic poster collection, enticing people to visit the theatre and crucially travel by tube during off-peak hours. Finally, Tim goes back in time with Assistant Director Chris Nix to explore innovations in station clocks.
art 2
