Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

THENationalRailway Museum’s

summer seasoncould be hitby

strikeaction afterunionmembers

votedtos tagewalkoutsover a

paydispute.

ScienceMuseumGroup (SMG)

members of theProspectunion

backedwalkoutsby 4-1 in

protestat apay rise of 1.5%.

Thedisputeinvolves

severalhundred staffat the

ScienceMuseum inLondon,

the NationalScienceand

Media Museum in Bradford,

the Museum ofScienceand

IndustryinManchester,Blythe

House inLondon and the

NationalCollectionsCentre in

Wroughton,Wiltshireaswell as

the NRM inYork.

Union spokesmanSharon

Brownsaid:“This isaverystrong

result in favour of industrial

action and shows the strength

of feeling within the SMG.Our

membersinSMG love whatthey

do but theycanno tcarryon

with year af teryear ofreal terms

paycuts.”

“SMG covers some of the

toptouristattractions in the

countr ywith morethan five

million people visiting its sites

in 2017/18.People will be

astonishedat howpoorly its

staff arepaid, especially when

theysee thatthe directorhas

seen his payincreaseby athird

in justfour years.”

Museumreaction

An SMG statement said :“We are

disappointedbythe outcome

of Prospect’sballot and will

seek to minimiseany disruption

to the public’s enjoyment

of our museumsshould the

union decide to go aheadwith

industrial action.

“Our pa yoffer includeda6.9%

increaseforthe lo west paid

staff as partofasettlementthat

sawall employees rece ivean

increase ofat least 1.5%.Overall

the settlementrepresentsa2.7%

increase in salarycostswhich we

believe wasareasonable offer,

giventhe challengingoverall

financial picture.”

Thepay settlementcameinto

effec tinA pril 2019,following

discussions with trade unions,

and 23% of employees who

have benefited from the pay

settlementrecei vedthe 6.9%

increase.

Museum

staffvote for

walkouts in

supportof

payclaim

Above:Facto ry

workersat the

Plesse ywartime

factoryint he

Centra lline

tunnels.TFL

Right:Onbunksin

adeeplevelshelter

inanUndergro und

stationin1944.TFL

Ta lesofdisused Undergroundto

be showcasedinmajor exhibition

ByRobin Jones

ANEW exhibitionunveiling secretsof
disusedLondon Undergroundstations,
manyfor the first time,istoopen on
Friday, October 11.
TheHiddenLondonexhibitionat
LondonTransportMuseum inCovent
Garden will presentthe largest
number ofrare archivephotographs,
objects,vintage posters,secret
diagrams and decorativetiles from
disused stations thathave been
broughttogether in one location.
Visitors will get the chanceto
experiencean‘abandoned’Tube
station underworldand learn
about stories from Britain’s wartime
past,such as thePlessey aircraft
underground factory which had 2000
members of staff,mostlywomen,
working in thetwo2½-mile tunnels
on the easternsection of theCentral
line during theSecond WorldWar.
Visitors will be ableto discover
howWinston Churchillltook refuge
in theRailway Execut iveCommittee’s
bomb-proof headquarters deep
undergroundat DownStreetstation
in Mayfair.At22metres (72ft) below
ground,DownStreetwassafe
from airraids and protectedfrom
gas attacks.Therewerelavatories,
washrooms,atyping pool and
dormitoriesforaround 40 staff.
Objects on public displayfor the
first time includea1939architectural
drawing ofDown Street station
beforeitwas convertedintothe
secret bunker.
Visitors will be ableto enter
Aldwychstation’s re-created historic
ticket officewith an original ticket
booth from the station dating from
the 1930s,famousLeslie Green
tiles from the station, aswell as a
newspaper stand advertisement
announcing the station’s closureon
September 30, 1994.
Theexhibition uncovers whythese
‘lost’quirks of theTube network
exist.Changes in population, new
and expanding Underground lines
resulted in lowerpassenger numbers
at stations such asAldwych, while
economic priorities and political
pressures have allled to spaces
being abandoned.

Newleaseoflife

However, whilesome sections of

the Tube lie‘forgotten’, manyhave

beengivenanew lifeasfilm sets,

HiddenLondontours and evenfor

growing salad leaves. Forinstance,

scenes in the JamesBond 2012

blockbuster Skyfallwerefilmed in

the disused sections of CharingCross

Underground station.

King WilliamStreet, astation on

the first deep-level electricTube

railway whichopened in 1890,

becameredundantin1 900 when the

platformswerefound to be pointing

the wrongwayfor aproposed new

development–the result of theCity

&SouthLondonRailway deciding

to exte nd further north ofLondon

Bridge.Anew northward tunnel

wasbuilt in 1900,bypassingKing

WilliamStreet whichwasthen left

abandoned.Today, this disused

station is not opento the public.

Airraidshelters

Images ofKing WilliamStreet station

areveryrare; thefewthatexist will

be on display, includingadrawing

of theinterior of some of the station

in 1890 andadiagramshowing how

unfinished stationswereconverted

to airraidshelters.

During bothworldwars, Tube

stations provided natural shelter

from dropping bombs.Atthe

startofthe Second WorldWar,

sheltering wasinitially banned on

the Underground network,but

as the capital came under near-

continuous aerialattack,Londoners

flockedto Tube stations and this

policywas changed. Original shelter

tickets,advertising posterswarning

of the dangers of airraids,aswell

as agraph from 1941 showing how

infectious diseasescould spread

demonstratetotoday’svisitors the

harshrealities of lifeunderground

during this period of siege.

Lifeunderground

Head curator Matt Brosnan said:

“We’ve trie dtoemulate the look

and feel of lifedeep underground

withadisused ticket officeand an

eerie stairwell forvisitorsto climb.

Visitors can alsorise to the challenge

of beingawar-timetelephone

exchange operator,connecting

multiple callersat once–while

racing against the clock.”

Anew illustrated HiddenLondon

hardback book,written and

compiledby senior museum staff

and publishedby Yale University

Press at £25, will be on sale from

September 10at the museum’s shop

in Covent Garden oronlineat http://www.

ltmuseumshop.co.uk

Visitors who wishto continue their

HiddenLondonexperiencecan also

join tours of disused stations such

as Aldwych, CharingCross,Clapham

South, Down Street, Euston ,55

Broadway andHighgate.Moredetails

at http://www.ltmu seum.co.uk

Writetous:Heritage Railway,MortonsMediaLtd,POBox43,Horncastle, LincsLN 96 LZ. Heritagerailway.co.uk 33