Greetings everyone and apologies for the slight delay today but I had a couple of domestic errands to attend to. We're back in my manor today and are standing by the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, designed by Sir Alexander Binnie + opened in 1902. Today, the approach from the Greenwich..

end has been widened and fully pedestrianised so as to cope with the large numbers of tourists that ply the area. TV viewers perhaps unfamiliar with London will perhaps recognise the area from watching the London Marathon as the runners head past the Cutty Sark as they head into

Central London. The Cutty Sark hasn't always been here however, having only arrived in her purpose-built drydock in 1954 for her new life as a museum ship. Prior to that, the area was a typical Thames-side industrial landscape, enlivened by the magnificent Royal Naval College,

which was flanked by two imposing pubs, The Trafalgar Tavern dating from 1837, which in normal times is still very much in business and The Ship Tavern, the most recent incarnation of which dated from around 1851. Both establishments were noted for their whitebait suppers, which

were frequented by major figures from the political, legal and literary worlds. However, as this series of 'before, after and now' photos show us, (including an extract from "Hitler Passed This Way"), the Ship Hotel was destroyed on 1 Nov 1940 (the date in the book is wrong)...

and the hotel was completely wrecked. The site remained vacant for a number of years after the war but when a fitting site at the heart of Maritime Greenwich was required for the Cutty Sark to begin her new life as a museum ship, this was the natural place to build the dry dock.

The brick portico of the Foot Tunnel which contains the stairs and the lift mechanisms, contains several splinter scars most probably caused by the same two HE bombs which destroyed the Ship Tavern but it is only when we descend the 100 stairs, or take the lift down into the..

foot tunnel itself, that we can see some more substantial evidence of wartime damage. As we near the northern end of the tunnel, before we make the ascent up to Island Gardens, the bore of the tunnel suddenly becomes noticeably narrower. To give one an idea of exactly how narrow

the repairs are, I am 6' 6" tall (on a good day) and I have to duck through this section to avoid giving myself a headache and I would think anyone much over 6' tall would have a similar problem. What we are seeing here is a wartime repair. On "Black Saturday" 7 September 1940..

at around 17:30, the foreshore above was hit by no fewer than four HE bombs, one of which exploded around 12 yards from the river wall directly on the line of the tunnel. The tile and concrete lining of the tunnel immediately collapsed and the ARP Incident Log for Poplar borough

reported the tunnel "as damaged and leaking." It was immediately closed to the public and by 14 September, had completely filled with water. Ten days of continuous pumping lowered the water level sufficiently for repairs to be carried out, which consisted of a series of cast iron

collars bolted into position and then sealed with concrete shuttering in the void between the original tunnel and the new sections. This work took some three months to complete and the tunnel was re-opened in early 1941. These repairs were intended to be temporary but were so

substantial that they are still in place today and will celebrate their 80th birthday in September of this year! As we take the lift up to Island Gardens, it is but a short walk from here to the interestingly named Mudshute Farm, now an urban farm but which also houses another..

relic of the Blitz, this time a substantially complete anti-aircraft gun site. This was once Site ZE8 for the London Air Defence Region manned by 154 Battery, 52nd (London) Heavy AA Regiment, Royal Artillery, which operated a battery of 3.7" guns from this site. The emplacements

are substantially complete and one has been restored with a gun on display to show how this battery once looked. The other emplacements are now the home to various farm animals, who seem quite at home within the concrete emplacements. There is an interesting information board..

that tells the story of Captain WJS Fletcher, the commander of the battery on 8 September 1940. At the height of the raid a Parachute Mine destroyed his command post, which also put the remote control firing of the guns out of action. Fletcher then went around his battery, to

encourage his gun crews to keep firing manually, which they did, even though this was their first time in action for many of the young crews. Fletcher also led some of his crews later into the surrounding streets to help tackle fires and deal with unexploded ordnance. Rather...

unusually, Fletcher was awarded the Military Cross for his actions, the only one awarded on British soil. The entire battery was commended for their bravery on this night. That concludes our mini-walk for today. Join me again on Friday, when we'll look at some of the plaques....

and memorials in London that commemorate our wartime past, starting with one not far from where we are standing now. Enjoy the rest of your day and stay safe./END