THE TUNNEL TALES OF OLD LONDON TOWN

Our Blue Badge guides love quirky visits off the beaten track so the chance to combine such a visit with the rare opportunity to see the very latest archaeological finds from the Crossrail developments in a new jam-buster London itinerary is just too good to miss!

We begin with the iconic Brunels in Rotherhithe and visit Tunnel: The Archaeology of Crossrail at the Museum of Docklands.

Meet the guide on Rotherhithe riverside at 10.30am for morning coffee (included). Trade from the four corners of the world came up the mighty Thames in tall ships so it was decided that the only way to get cargo and people across a river which merchants claimed could take longer to cross than the Atlantic was by tunnel. To build the world’s first river tunnel the Victorian engineers Marc & Isambard Kingdom Brunel invented the tunnelling shield - an iron box divided into 36 cells each containing a worker with a shovel!

We visit the Grand Entrance Hall open after 145 years and the Engine House full of prints, watercolours, statues, peep Shows and models that tell the dramatic story of flood, death and disaster to triumphal opening of what was considered at the time to be the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Pre-book a group lunch in Rotherhithe or we’ll take the coach down to nearby Greenwich for folk to do their own thing. For the afternoon we head through the Blackwall Tunnel (built using the Brunel’s technology) to the brilliant Museum of Docklands to enjoy Tunnel: The Archaeology of Crossrail.

The massive Crossrail project has dug through the capital from East to West giving archaeologists the once in a lifetime opportunity to bring 8,000 years of London’s hidden history to light. In this one off special exhibition 350 of the oldest and oddest finds will take us on a journey through prehistoric forests and marshes from Mesolithic man to the modern capital. Visitors follow the map of the new Elizabeth line to find out who populated these parts of London and when against a backdrop telling the engineering story of Europe’s largest infrastructure project.

There’s time to buy tea on site before we head home at 4.30pm.

Adults & Seniors: £22

Available every day from

10 February to 3 September

Add lunch for £13pp

5 miles

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