55 Broadway

 

Those who follow my Instagram account will know that over the last few years we have been thoroughly enjoying the London Transport Museum’s “Hidden London” tours - from the incredible history of Down Street, to the big and small screen connections of  Charing Cross - each and every one has been both unique and fascinating. The ”one that got away” however was 55 Broadway - for nearly 90 years the head office of London Transport and its forerunner and successor entities. Foolishly we had assumed that it would be a tour which would always be offered, and so we had put off doing it in favour of the more “directly involved” visits to actual stations - which meant that the announcement that TFL were moving out, and there would be no more tours came as a bit of a blow. Over the past few years I’ve looked on with envy as various social media influencer types have got to visit, all the while thinking that from our perspective, all hope was lost…

Just imagine my joy, if you will, when in the middle of March, we discovered an email saying that a visit had been arranged, if we might be interested…? Needless to say, we wasted NO time in responding,  and later that day had confirmed that we would indeed finally be getting across the hallowed threshold! I should add that I had in fact been into what is now the reception area many times as a small child, when my Nan took me in there to see this rather wonderful thing…

These are the old train interval indicators,  used to enable the frequency of the service to be monitored - until around 1989 these were in an area which just formed part of St James’s Park station and so were publicly accessible. I have to confess this was one of the things I was most excited about seeing - sadly they no longer work, but standing back in front of them I was astonished to realise that in spite of not having seen them for  well over 30 years, I could still hear in my head the distinctive noise of them recording the trains - a sort of “Swish-clunk” sound!  

Having met our guide in reception, we initially went outside to hear some of the history of the building - designed by acclaimed architect Charles Holden - at the time it was built it was the tallest office block in London.  Looked at from above the building forms a cruciform shape,  and from the ground the shape tapers upwards -  with the central tower culminating in a flagpole. It features sculptures on all sides, and various nice features like rainwater hoppers featuring the famous roundel. 

Back inside, and having heard a little more about the various materials used in the interior decoration - all very ornate, perhaps the nearest current tube station equivalent is Piccadilly Circus, we made our way to the upper floors. Unsurprisingly even the staircases are wonderful - with the most beautiful tile detail…

 The staircase then opens onto a lobby area from which the various wings of the building can be accessed, and also toilets, the lifts etc. Other features include  pedestal - probably for a vase of flowers or, as here, a plant - a water fountain and a clock. Indeed, there are clocks everywhere!  

We were ushered along a rather smart walnut panelled corridor to see the executive offices and the boardroom, and finally the Director’s office, which apparently featured the Director’s desk in the diagonally opposite corner to the door one had to enter through, meaning that if you had been summoned to see the great man, you faced an unnerving walk all the way across the office to stand in front of him! My favourite feature of the room was something I spotted as we walked out again…

That also gives you an idea of the beautiful panelled doors! Then, very excitingly, it was back to the stairs - or to be accurate this time, the lift and then more stairs…up to the very top of the building! The final couple of floors are purely functional, with plant rooms and finally a narrow steep metal staircase to reach the “flagpole level” - quite a climb but, oh, how worth it…

There you go - choose a London landmark and you can probably find it there somewhere - from Wembley Stadium to the Houses of Parliament, across to Epping forest in one direction and the Crystal Palace transmitter in the other - the whole city is laid out in front of you - genuinely one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen. 

We were incredibly lucky to be able to do this - not least as the building’s conversion to a hotel is due to start imminently, our guide said that he had a feeling that we really might have had one of the final opportunities to visit the building “as it is” although as it is Grade 1 listed the changes will need to be done sympathetically. Massive thanks to the London Transport Museum Friends who arranged the access, and to guide Ed, the TfL Heritage advisor and a thoroughly nice chap.

Robyn