This account won’t cover the history of the tunnel to a great extent, as it has been covered much more eloquently and in richer detail than I could give you. Instead, here are a few photos of the evening, which we started by visiting the ‘Fancy Fair’ before commencing the tour of the tunnel itself.

The Fancy Fair promised to deliver a taster of the type of entertainment and attractions that took place in the tunnel before it was converted for use by trains in the late 1860s. There were acrobats, musicians and people in period costume, including a couple of prostitutes who proceeded to proposition me, much to my fiancée Katherine’s amusement! The strongmen, braving the cold in their outfits, were actually pretty impressive and entertained the crowd with their athletic ability.

There was also an opportunity to have a portrait taken in front of a picture of the tunnel. The strongmen seemed keen to get in on the act.

I think that our tickets for the Fancy Fair also included a brief tour of the shaft used to dig the tunnel, the top of which can be seen in the first photo above. However, a long queue and a pressing appointment to make our tunnel tour time meant that we had to give this a miss.

The new London Overground roundel, branded in Orange like everything else on the line.

There was a fair amount of people waiting to tour the tunnel, but we got in at the time scheduled on our tickets.

Suitably briefed on health and safety – which was surprising not that onerous – we were issued with latex gloves to protect against picking up Weil’s disease and promptly descended onto the newly refurbished platforms of Rotherhithe station.

The entrance of the tunnel.

It felt rather odd descending onto the tracks of a railway line!

Our tour guide stopped at several points along the walk from Rotherhithe to Wapping station and back. He was enthusiastic and told us lots of interesting detail over the construction of the tunnel. Here he paused under the shaft to give us an overview of how Marc Brunel’s tunnel boring process worked.

The two tunnels are separated by supporting columns. The gaps between these columns were used as market stall spots when the tunnel was in pedestrian use.

Our tour guide explained how the tunnel had to be coated in concrete during the 1990s restoration to prevent leaking. English Heritage successfully lobbied for the section near Rotherhithe to be maintained in its original state. The shots of the arches above gives you an idea of the difference between the original and the rendered version.

A signal. Definitely very weird to be walking in an underground railway tunnel!

Looking back along the tunnel from Wapping to Rotherhithe.

Wapping station has also been renovated. The line is due to open in April/May.

The northern portals of the tunnel.

Back at Rotherhithe station. Alcohol hand gel, souvenir book stamped to commemorate the tour, and homeward bound!

The stations of the Jubilee line extension (Waterloo to Canning Town) include some striking features, from the cavernous, cathedral-esque chamber of Canary Wharf to these impressive glass and tile features of Southwark station.

This foot tunnel connects South Kensington Tube station to the Natural History, Science and Victoria and Albert Museums.

St. John’s Wood tube station on the Jubilee line. I took this shot as the escalators are strikingly different to most on the Underground. They are very dark bronze in colour, rather than the usual silver. Also, I liked the lighting touches and the Way Out sign

This was shot on the Metropolitan line platforms of Baker Street station and shows the driver of this Met. line train heading to his cab.

Baker Street station is decorated with images of Sherlock Holmes, including these rather dated 1970s tiles that decorate the concourse between the Metropolitan and the Bakerloo/Jubilee line platforms.

The iconic London Underground roundel decorates every station, usually customised with the name of the station.

Another shot from Baker Street station, this time a view of the circle line platform from a footbridge crossing the platforms. A member of the London Underground staff assists a traveller.

I shot this exposure handheld, as tripods and flash are not permitted anywhere near the platforms for safety reasons.

Many of the underground stations beautifully combine a mix of the old with the more modern technology in use. Here in the Bakerloo line Edgware Road station. the original ticket office windows from 1907 are still in use.