Those of you who follow this blog will know that I get very excited at any opportunity to visit closed and secret places underground. Yesterday the chance to see the closed station of Aldwych tube (formerly The Strand Station) had me leaping out of my sick bed.Opened in 1907 it was never really a success as a station as the original rail plans for this area never really took off. The most significant use of this station was as a bomb shelter during WWII. To start with 300 people took shelter but as the war continued and more Londoners (especially those in the east End) were made homeless, a reluctant government had to install chemical toilets and bunk beds. By then 1500 people were sheltering in this station.
After the war a very limited service was reinstated to the station. It was not on any main route, but a branch of its own from Holborn Station, known as a spur. Finally closing in 1994, it is now a Heritage II site with very limited public access.
