Return to the Catacombs

(Disused Eurostar Terminal at London Waterloo Railway Station)

 

Having tunnelled into the catacombs back in August in the vain hope of sneaking a peep at the disused Eurostar station at London Waterloo, ever hopeful Wolfie returned in September….it wasn’t exactly successful lol but possibly a slight improvement on the first attempt. No joy getting permission to tour it or sneaking in through the back door either but probably the best that can be hoped for given the current state of affairs on the global terrorist scale, pretty much guaranteeing Wolfie will be arrested instantly the moment she makes any official request to get inside!

London Waterloo is a big, busy railway station and perhaps as a consequence nobody seemed worried about a thrill-seeking Wolfie padding around sniffing hopefully around the decidedly inaccessible Eurostar bit of it doing her poor best to enjoy a little covert photo shooting!

Turns out this time it wasn’t quite so boarded up….the somewhat imposing all-consuming gates blocking the way in were seriously frustrating but where there’s a Wolfie will there’s a Wolfie way…of sorts….

               

So near yet so far!! The Wolfie paw wouldn’t stretch very far but the trusty mobile phone camera proved a handy little chappie for doing what Wolfie’s paw on it’s own couldn’t….

 

 

 

 

Thought about sending it in on it’s own to go touring for me…it’s only small…nobody would notice a little bouncy mobile phone toddling around the disused Eurostar section on a private, unauthorised photo shoot on Wolfie’s behalf would they? Well…maybe not…

Not wishing to look too suspicious Wolfie decided to look away…at something else…

…..distract the racing mind from it’s various wicked ideas about gaining entry… best wander away and have a look outside perhaps…

It didn’t really work! 

Wolfie just got braver and embarked on some covert..or not lol scouting and photo shooting whilst debating whether it was likely to attract the kind of attention from the station staff that might get me where I really wanted to be…

That didn’t work either!

Best go round the side and have a look outside…

Better still…go for a walk! Shake off the apocalyptic cravings! Have a think about what to do next…maybe there’d be a naughty entrance Wolfie hadn’t spotted so far…

To be continued…..

 

Battle of Waterloo 2015!

 

WATERLOO STATION/EUROSTAR TERMINAL

Never a dull moment in London! Strange things happen when Icewolves head out for a planned photo shoot involving the disused Eurostar terminal at London Waterloo railway station. Yes…well…strange location too perhaps but I like that sort of thing and besides which it would have made a great setting for a creepy, apocalyptic blog post!

Not too surprisingly it didn’t go quite to plan…it was locked off, boarded off, patrolled by railway security and the unavoidable presence of uniformed police officers and a whole bunch of CCTV cameras, making it just about impossible to sneak a way in without getting thoroughly and utterly arrested on the spot. And believe you me I gave it my very best shot! I really, really did want to have a look! So Plan A didn’t work…didn’t even get a photo or two of the odd glimpses I did get!

Attribution: Stacey Harris  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. / © Copyright Martyn Davies and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence. Site link: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/613020

 

 

 

However not to be deterred…onto Plan B! Plan B consisted loosely of “let’s try sneaking in unnoticed through the ‘back door!’ “ Essentially this meant a tour round the outside of the station and a hike up a busy London street to find a side-route into the back streets which led to the back side of the station and Eurostar Terminal…needless to say that didn’t get me anywhere either…

NOTE TO TRANSPORT FOR LONDON

And if anyone from Trabsport for London/British Rail/Eurostar chances on this post by some remote and inexplicable chance…”It’s not fair!!! I only wanted to have a little look, take a few photos for my blog post and explore a unique and interestingly eerie environment to kick start my starved imagination into producing a zombie apocalypse type masterpiece to post on my blog!! Not a lot to ask was it? But you wouldn’t let me in! I think next time you should give me a guided tour! “

 

 

 

 

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DISUSED TUNNELS – LEAKE STREET – BATTLE OF WATERLOO

 

Mission very much not accomplished there was only one thing for a darkly disappointed Icewolf to do…go explore the disused tunnels! What I didn’t expect to find was “The Battle of Waterloo” well underway in “The Tunnel” – located in the disused Leake Road, road tunnel far, far below in the depths under Waterloo station this “designated legal graffiti area” has not been used as a road tunnel since the closure of the Eurostar terminal at Waterloo station in 2007.

 

BANSKY – CANS FESTIVAL

One year later at The Cans Festival organised by famous street artist Banksy a murals and art exhibition was held in Leake Street tunnel leading to “The Tunnel” becoming a well-known “graffiti hotspot.” Well…not that well known! Wolfie knew nothing about it till now! But hey! What’s a little ignorance amongst friends? 😉

 

 

As the street artists at “The Battle of Waterloo 2015” show very clearly the Leake Street Tunnel has been very successful at maintaining its prestigious position as a graffiti hotspot.

  BATTLE OF WATERLOO/CHROME & BLACK

The Battle of Waterloo 2015 – biggest graffiti event of the summer, presented by “Chrome & Black.”

“Chrome & Black – London’s leading spray paint specialists – deep rooted history within the London Aerosol/Graffiti art world which is reflected in the art and clothing we stock, much of which will be exclusively solely to us. We also work with a large number of skilled artists some of who have had little or no exposure on the commercial scene.

www.chromeandblack.com “

 

“Up to 40 artists compete in the tunnel to win cash prize – paint, food, music and drinks – best paint jam in UK.” (www.chromeandblack.com)

 

Wolfie was delighted to discover in the course of the Icewolfie travels that there was even an underground Jamaican food stall available to supply the hungry masses…In the absence of a properly functioning photo album inserter – upside down photos are not the most inspiring sight! – these four images are the best that can be provided of this happy discovery…. the oddly flattened rectangular shape of them is not Icewolf, it is the dodgy blog editor!!!!