London Can Take It!

The war ended over 80 years ago and the Blitz has all but vanished from our collective memory, yet warfare and its devastating impact has left an undeniable mark on London. Out of the bomb craters and rubble-strewn terraces came flyovers, indoor shopping centres, multi-storey car parks and modernist housing developments such as Golden Lane Estate and the Barbican.

The latest Curious London guide, War and Defence is designed to put readers in the centre of historic events with a tour that ducks the doodlebugs and returning Ack-Ack fire to reveal both the ingenuity and stoicism of London’s wartime defence network. Find the most solid bunkers of the high command, mourn ruined medieval churches, encounter lost pillboxes and gun batteries and sample the cool, dusty atmosphere of a deep-level shelter.

Here are just a few of our favourite London war landmarks.

1 Shelter signage, Westminster

Casualties during the Blitz would have far higher had it not been for London’s many bomb shelters: in designated public buildings, deep inside the underground network or, like here, in ordinary coal cellars or private basements. The faded signs spotted on homes in Lord North Street, located just a few hundred metres from the Houses of Parliament, really do evoke the Blitz era and, decades later, still refuse to desert the Georgian brickwork behind them. No doubt they saved a few lives in the process!

2 Christ Church Greyfriars, ruined City church

London’s churches lay in ruins after the Blitz, the most famous of these being the iconic St Paul’s Cathedral. Nearby Christ Church Greyfriars was another of Sir Christopher Wren’s 52 City churches but lost much of its original structure during the devastating attack of December 29^th, 1940. Today, the space offers City workers a beautiful green oasis with hedgerows and flowerbeds where the congregation once sat.

3 The Vincent Street fireplace

Perhaps the most poignant reminder of this challenging time for Londoners is the incongruous-looking fireplace just off Vincent Square in Westminster. Originally part of a house at 109 Vincent Street, the

property along with several surrounding ones was devastated by a ‘doodlebug’ attack in August 1944. This humble brick fireplace found at the entrance of a 1980s housing development, is the sole remnant of what was once a family home.

4 The Stairway to Heaven

London has over 5,500 war memorials from national landmarks like the Cenotaph to more localised monuments and plaques. Not all of these recognise military sacrifice, and the unfortunate civilians caught up in the Bethnal Green tube disaster are honoured by Bethnal Green’s Stairway to Heaven. On the night of 3^rd March 1943, residents mistook the sound of a nearby Ack-Ack gun for an enemy bomb and, in sheer panic, fled down the public staircase only for there to be a fatal crush which left 173 dead, including 62 children.

5 Stretcher fences

In anticipation of civilian casualties, the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) produced thousands of metal hospital stretchers, many of which were re-purposed as railings for London’s housing estates after their original cast iron ones were sacrificed for the war effort. These distinctive black mesh stretchers are a real home front oddity. You can find examples today in Tabard Street and on Long Lane near Borough High Street.

Curious London, Issue Three,

‘War and defence’ (Rosaville Publishing)

Available from all good bookshops or via www.copycreativelondon.com

RRP £5.99

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