Railway Ruins in Spitalfields

[@bruceknights8330]

The carved stone is part of the old Liverpool Street station. When it was redeveloped in the 1980s some nice stone bits were salvaged and installed near the line where you were. You can see them very easily on the south side from the Liverpool Street slow lines.

[@davyjones144]

4:07 the stonework shown is specifically from the either side gable of Harwich House facing onto Bishopsgate at Liverpool Street Station. There are also some brick ‘Lunettes’ depicting workers performing railway related tasks from the old East side train shed - a few have survived into the reconstructed Liverpool Street by the war memorials whilst others were transferred to Fawley Hill.

[@twailes8]

It does appear to be a building finial possibly from Bishopsgate removed or fallen from the fire in the 1960s or in the redevelopment as Bruce mentioned in the 1980s

[@v_0]

How do you even know this?! Great knowledge.

[@davyjones144]

@@v_0There’s a series of books called London’s Railway Heritage. There are bits of old Liverpool Street Station spread around. Some of the old ironwork is outside Frinton Station on the Essex Coast. Others are in Mangapps museum near Southminster.

[@vicsams4431]

@@v_0 I was there, when it was done ! I was working for Network South East (Great Eastern Division) when Liverpool Street station was modernised, and they relocated some of the fancy stonework and brick work here. If you look left, when descending the Up Electric Line (nearest to the former Shoreditch tube station), you can see some, but the site is overgrown and vandalised. Shame.

[@tonyhogwood4737]

When I was 16 in 1964 I remember seeing the goods yard burning, I think that it was on a Sunday as we were visiting Club Row and Petticoat Lane Markets as we lived in Shadwell which was close. In 1985 until 1990 I worked as a salesman in Spitalfields Market. Ahh the good old days.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Yes, you’re a hip young person we love to hear from and cheer us up with your videos.

[@tombennett5039]

4:06. That random collection of artefact's is from the renovation of Liverpool Street Station in the 1980's. That particular one is from Harwich house on Bishopsgate (plenty of pics on Google). These always fascinated me as a kid/commuter, but there's very little on them, seemingly they've been left to decay and be consumed by buddleia 😆.

[@tombennett5039]

I honestly thought you'd done a video on them 😅

[@TechnicalAnalysts]

I think perhaps that the other ones on the same site are also from Broad Street Station...

[@elegantmess6781]

Blimey, you were right outside my gaff for this one! The tracks on Hemming Street were actually dug up and the roadway replaced. Took 3 days of road closure.

[@Fractus]

That sounds remarkably fast honestly.

[@coop_coop007]

As part of the security efforts for the London olympics I worked for a time on a team which identified sites and locations from which ne'er do well's might launch some sort of attack from. When we started having no actual plan I identified all the places which had remained undisturbed in the recent past and were likely to remain so. Hence I spent a few months visiting site's which were of interest to me. Primarily railway related. As no dastardly plot were launched during the olympics I can only vouch for the effectiveness of this method. And jolly interesting it was to.

[@hairyairey]

As a Gamesmaker I appreciate your efforts very much! I was working in the Olympic stadium (on the scoreboard no less!) for the Paralympics. I didn't mind getting security checked every time I came in and the snipers guarding the site were a welcome sight, especially on the 40th Anniversary of the Munich attack.

[@coop_coop007]

@@hairyairey It was a great thing to be involved with, no temptation to 'accidentally' post other messages on the scoreboard? I still avidly await annual yellow snow warnings . . .

[@hairyairey]

@@coop_coop007 The scoreboard was actually quite simple, text only. But yes we could have put custom text on there. That was Omega's last event with a monochrome scoreboard. One night I was in the stadium with tickets. The scoreboard brightness needed turning down as the sun set so I texted my Omega colleague to remind him!

[@ian38018a]

"ne'er do well's" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@bostonrailfan2427]

you did a service: you actually were visually inspecting places that could be hit because nobody except those who knew about would go there and by coincidence were also places that could cause havoc of struck seriously, so many places a historic infrastructure aficionado would visit are actually choke points or places that have a huge psychological impact!

[@phaasch]

4:06 looks very much like decorative detail from the old Bishopsgate goods depot. Cupolas much like this are apparent in period photographs of the main entrance.

[@stevekeiretsu]

There have been attempts to redevelop the goodsyard for a good 15+ years. At the moment there is a scheme due to begin construction in 2024. It's imaginatively named 'The Goodsyard'. Lots of tall towers, although not as tall as originally proposed. That's why Shoreditch High Street station (and the tracks to/from it) were all built in a concrete box, so they can build towers around it without disrupting or endangering the Overground service. I believe much of the arches of the lower level is due to be retained and converted into a cool and trendy food market type of place, of the sort so enjoyed by the cool and trendy young people in the Brick Lane vicinity, such as your good self :)

[@532bluepeter1]

Thank you for this. I did wonder why Shoreditch High St. station is such a bunker whilst being elevated.

[@stephendavies6949]

Another excellent video, Mr H. When I was a lad growing up in the Merthyr Tydfil area there were remnants of railways everywhere. Researching these lost lines gave me a lifelong interest in our industrial history in general and railway history in particular.

[@wilsonlaidlaw]

An area I am very familiar with, having worked in Folgate Street most of the time from 1982 to 2003, when I retired. There used to be a number of interesting businesses in the arches below the goods yard, like one selling catering equipment and another for dies for making jigsaws.

[@TheEarlofK]

I do hope that Spitalfields manages to keep some remnants of its industrial past. Having worked in the City, many moons ago, it never ceases to amaze and worry me about its gargantuan appetite for spreading eastwards; it's a constant struggle to prevent the whole area being subsumed under glass and steel monstrosities, but thankfully Spitalfields still has some influential voices to raise objections to the City Corporation.

[@DM-hp7ct]

Thank you very much for your research. Fascinating and very worthwhile.

[@JasperJanssen]

Spitalfields was the site of absolutely *massive* archeological digs back in the 80s - I believe they found a bunch of cemeteries slash mass graves from the Great Fire and plague eras, but don’t quote me on that, I was very young when I visited. “Spitalfields” derives from hospital fields, as in burial fields.

[@davidpeters6536]

Interesting theory, but was "hospital" really an old name for cemetery?

[@nikolausbautista8925]

So glad you did this video. Very jolly good, and Spitalfields a marvelous looking place too.

[@alanbudgen2672]

In the 90s we organised a walk along the line from Broad Street to Dalston, and our guide later took us along parts of the Bishopsgate goods viaduct. I have some good photographs of the remains. Also looking down into Shoreditch ELL station.

[@patrickl2195]

It’s always a pleasure to hear something from the hip, young world of 19th century railways, Mr Hazzard :-) Personally, I’m so unhip, it’s a wonder my bum doesn’t fall off.

[@iankemp1131]

Spitalfields also had an important role in helping keep traffic out of Liverpool Street moving in steam days. If the Liv St signalman spotted a train struggling out of the platforms they phoned the yard pilot which nipped out to the junction. If the train stalled on the 1 in 109 the pilot then nipped out and hauled it up the bank. Good news - it only took about 17 minutes. Bad news - in that time 6 trains couldn't get out of Liv St on the Down Through and 6 couldn't get into platforms; about 10000 commuters gnawing the heads of their umbrellas. The details come from Gerard Fiennes' "Fiennes on Rails" from his own personal experience when he was doing firing duties as part of his management training and had not done as good a job of rebuilding the fire during the turnround as the driver and fireman had assumed.

[@christophernoble6810]

I visited the area a few years ago and was amazed these old structures had not been demolished and replaced by expensive housing. Thoroughly enjoyed your video, fascinating.

[@iankemp1131]

Granaries, silos and flour mills do indeed go bang surprisingly often, due to dust explosions. These things seem harmless in bags but are highly combustible when dispersed in air. An entire sugar factory in Georgia, US blew up in 2008 (Imperial Sugar). Poor housekeeping; a small initial explosion stirred up lots of sugar dust lying around and led to a chain reaction.

[@WabbitHunter68]

My ex-MIL used to work in a biscuit factory. She once told me that they would regularly have to evacuate the site because there was too much flour in the air and there was a high chance of an explosion.

[@Jim-Scott]

Most mills will have big flappy doors in the floor/ceiling between each floor through which sacks of grain were hoisted up to the top level to begin the gravity fed process of cleaning and milling the flour. Almost more important than the access, these flappy doors also acted as an (almost) unrestricted escape route for any explosion straight up and out through the roof, should any spark ignite the dust in the air on any of the levels.

[@davidcronan4072]

During my flame-proof and explosive training in the gas industry we were told that flour mills were probably the one of the most hazardous environment anywhere, even worse than coal mines or the gas industry. Therefore the standards for such things as light switches and electrical equipment in flour mills are more stringent than in those aforementioned industries.

[@JBLewis]

The Mill City Museum in Minneapolis, MN is built in the ruins of a flour mill that exploded.

[@iankemp1131]

@@JBLewis Thanks, very interesting. Had a look at the Wikipedia entry and it seems that the mill exploded once and burnt down twice over a period of just over 100 years!

[@malthuswasright]

I always assumed the tracks were private ones for the brewery that was nearby. Interesting to hear what they actually were.

[@vicsams4431]

The Truman Brewery in London E1, did have its own railway.

[@mickpowell8503]

At the corner of Commercial St and the A10, there was a ramp up ro the old goods yard where in the 80's and early 90's you could park your car. It's all blocked off now.

[@roderickmain9697]

Yup, I enjoy these hip trendy up-to-the minute videos from young Jago. Always fascinating. Capture it while its there because will soon be gone.

[@gbeeken1964]

There are many other parts of the old Liverpool st stored in the arches last time I was around there. That was circa 2011. I had access as I was working on that line at the time.

[@al3k]

I'm pretty sure I remember sliding on those damn old tracks a few times as I couriered around there in the 90s. Thanks for the vid, nice memories. Doesn't look like it's changed that much recently.

[@rosiefay7283]

2:19 020 numbers, as we all know, should have a space after the 020. But some people put it after the next digit instead. This is the first time I've seen it put *two* digits late.

[@bingbong7316]

There were numerous depots East of Fenchurch St. station; Haydon Square, Goodmans Yard and Commercial Road on the North side, with a couple of other company's coal yards on the South. Very little remains of any of these.

[@mcarp555]

My first thought is the thing at 4:06 is a water fountain, similar to one in the garden at Old St. Pancras churchyard. Other than that, I haven't a clue.

[@franz-georgleopold-pagel3018]

Maybe something from a church or a cementury? Sometimes they copie the top of a churchtower to put it somewhere as a low creativity monument.

[@martynnotman3467]

This was my thought too

[@vicsams4431]

Nope. It came from the roof, when Liverpool Street was rebuilt 1986.

[@qaphqa]

Thank you for this inspirational tale

[@JagoHazzard]

I hope it provides much joy and positivity.

[@Fuzzbrain61]

Another little gem of railway history. I think that little cupola you mention was part of the original Bishopsgate which was an actual gate on the edges of the city.

[@ZGryphon]

I don't know what the thing at 4:09 is, but it reminds me of the decorative caps people sometimes use to dress up the ventilation stacks for underground spaces. There used to be something similar, if much less elaborately built--it looked like the cupola at the top of some kind of buried gazebo--ventilating an underground vault that was part of my hometown's water system, before the water company built a kind of shed over the whole vault to stop people from messing with the vent or the manhole.

[@vicsams4431]

They came off Liverpool Street station when it was redeveloped @ 1986.

[@jimboyd1277]

Drinking fountain?

[@vicsams4431]

@@jimboyd1277 Nope. Roof ornament.

[@andrewpinner3181]

Thanks again Jago. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year !

[@SuperMatty247]

I'm actually amazed to learn that Granary box isn't already a food package delivery service

[@mikestringfellow7999]

I was waiting for the sponsor message

[@pleappleappleap]

Yeah, the kind of thing where you have a specific breadmaker, and Granary Box periodically delivers new artisan flour and yeast combinations for you to have different bread every week!

[@stashedawayman1521]

I shall hold Jago personally responsible when, if the next time I drive into town in my old oil burner, my wing mirrors are forcefully removed by some young turk elbowing his way past on a scooter or battery encrusted electric velocipede festooned with an insulated box emblazoned with the ad "Granary Box".

[@hedgehogm6203]

@@stashedawayman1521 now then that's a cracking idea I might do it, plenty of muppets who will buy dry hard over priced bread. 😁

[@kellydalstok8900]

Or a breakfast cereal delivery service

[@captaincodpiece3263]

Very much enjoyed, it’s good to preserve this bits of rail heritage even if just on video, although some archaeologists in the future may well uncover them. A few years back I came across a short exposed section of track in docklands, running across the entrance to a factory parking area. Some years ago there were rails across a fairly major road in Enfield, no signs either side of the one time level crossing of the rest of the adjoining railway. I’ve been back since and it’s been removed or tarmaced over. There used to be a wood yard in the area that had a steam loco on display by the roadside but that too has now gone. In Edinburgh too I came across what appear tram tracks exposed in a backstreet near leith, while a few sections of track are visible near Great Yarmouth station, where a bridge once carried track from the station, and towards the docks a broken road surface exposed track buried a few inches beneath. There’s probably quite a bit of train and tram tracks below the tarmac or concrete beneath the roads and walkways of London and indeed many other cities across the UK. London seems particularly bad in preserving its railway heritage. There’s a preserved railway Epping to Ongar but in London itself I doubt you’d ever see a heritage railway using redundant track. I recall travelling on one some 20 years ago at woolwich, even riding the footplate, but that’s long gone.

[@MrDavil43]

I don't know whereabouts in Enfield you mean, but there used to be a connecting line at Brimsdown to take coal to the power station a few hundred yards to the east. When I look at old maps of where I live now, near Reading, there were many branches off the local lines to all sorts of industries. I try looking for any remains now but mostly without success.

[@captaincodpiece3263]

@@MrDavil43 I’m not sure if it was the old line to brimsdown. There’s an old railway bridge across the Lea and another across one of the canals that lead into where the small arms factory was. I’m going to look at some maps see if i can work out where the crossing was

[@captaincodpiece3263]

I’m just wondering if I may be thinking of a road along the route of the old line that branched off just north of Angel Edmonton station, nr the north circular and headed north west to Enfield? That crossed some roads. I just found out Angel Edmonton station is no more!

[@highpath4776]

@@MrDavil43 must be the industry that is now where the likes of tesco and mcdonalds are

[@MrDavil43]

@@captaincodpiece3263 Ah, now I remember that line. When my mother took me shopping in Edmonton as a young kid I would hang around by the level crossing gates right by the shops in the hope of seeing something use that line (it was the original line to Enfield). Just once a diesel of D82xx type trundled along with what must have been a permanent way train.(1958 I think) I was so excited! Soon afterwards the line was taken up, and as you say, not a trace remains.

[@Ensign_Cthulhu]

The scene at 5:22 reminds me of the railway viaduct that runs along the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia. If you stand on Swanston Street and look south, you can (or at least could before the C O V I D struck) see a series of shops built into the viaduct.

[@andrewhotston983]

The old freight facilities visible between Liverpool Street and Stratford used to fascinate me when I was a commuter in the 1980s: the sand siding Mile End, and the Carless Oil terminal at Bow. Also, the place where the slow and fast lines separated and an incline led down to a goods depot. Two decades earlier there was so much more to see, but I was too young.

[@vicsams4431]

The Up Main and Down Main tracks at Bow were originally further over. You can still today see a disused viaduct which is overgrown with buddleia, if you know where to look. The land which the current Up Main and Down Main tracks stand on, was originally a ramp down to street level. Between Liverpool Street and Stratford there were three or four disused stations, if you have got a pre-1970 London A to Z map, it even shows the remains. Of course, there was also a line, below the GEML running north to south, to Old Ford Road, from Victoria Park (now Hackney Wick station) to Devons Road Depot, which was the first in Britain to get an allocation of diesel locos (Class 20s). Much of the Mile End sand traffic came from Marks Tey (near Colchester).

[@rayfisher3921]

@@vicsams4431 Devons Road wasn't the first depot to be allocated diesels but was the first to be converted from steam to 100% diesel.

[@vicsams4431]

@@rayfisher3921 Perhaps, I omitted the word 'mainline'. The Class 08, pre-dated the Class 20.

[@rayfisher3921]

@@vicsams4431 The 20s weren't the first mainline diesels. If we ignore shunters LMS 10000 of 1947 could be considered the first, though preceded by the Armstrong Whitworth experimental loco of 1933 as well as the GW diesel railcars also introduced from 1933. As I said, Devons Road is significant as the first steam depot to be converted fully to diesel, which I think is what you were referring to.

[@vicsams4431]

@@rayfisher3921 Okay. First 'production series' diesel loco. Experimental locos and karts don't count.

[@peabody1976]

It's really nice to hear about other aspects of London rail, such as the good depot. Very good! Jago, walking on Hemming Street: "Backstreet track, all right!"

[@williamkelly9350]

As a young boy I came from Hanbury Street old Montague Street and I can remember trains running across them lines that was in the 60s

[@DavidWilson-hh2gn]

It's always interesting to see abandoned remains of railways and industry and have a nose around the nooks and crannies and dilapidated places that usually surround them.

[@jonathansteele8891]

Thanks

[@lesliegprice6652]

A very Merry Christmas and happy New year to you , thanks for all the great content over the year really enjoy the videos , see you in 2023 all the best ⛄🎅🌈⛄❄️

[@brianmicky7596]

Hi , As history goes, My G.G.G.father lived where Liverpool station is now, (sun court, ) he worked in Spiterfield Market, in the early 1800s, And I worked all round Brick Lane , Good old memories Thank you, All the best Brian 😃

[@Nic-tg2ei]

I would love to see a video about Crystal Palace high level station. Used to live in the area and visited the old site, tunnel entrance/bat sanctuary, walkway etc, and seen it in the few films that used it as a location when abandoned.

[@bobstay1]

Thanks to those of you here who have explained the ornate stone thingys next to the approach to Liverpool St; i always wondered what they were👍

[@vicsams4431]

Ask a railwayman. Happy to help.

[@stephendavies6949]

Yes, and at least someone decided not to trash them!

[@UndergroundRolo]

I didn't know about the rails in Hemming Street so I thought I'd check out the site on Google maps. I was just about ready to leave a comment saying it had unfortunately been recently tarmacked over when you mentioned it yourself in the video, a shame to see another railway remnant lost for good.

[@johnplampin7274]

They probably are just buried. Near where I live in Chicago a streetcar track, last used a long about 1950 periodically re-appears when the street gets potholes. They simply pave over and repeat the cycle.

[@jaywhoopee]

There is also a short section of track in the Spitalfields City Farm

[@MrDportjoe]

@@nonibbs Decent odds of that. Here in Seattle when they do street rebuild (rather than just patching), or install new light rail they often have to uncover then remove old brick streets and street car and or interurban commuter lines that connected Everett in the north to Tacoma in the south about 60 miles) a network of two or three lines (depending on how you count mergers and ownership groups).

[@bilburns1313]

@@johnplampin7274 Most of Chicago's streetcar system was just paved over. The last streetcar (tram) ran in June of 1958. Many routes were already paved over at the time. My dad says that most of Clark Street (a major street for those reading this who haven't been there) was not paved over till about 1967! If you took all the miles of track laid in the system from start to finish, and had them all available to use at once - I'm told it would have been the largest system in mileage in the world. Alas, since the mid to late1990's the city has more completely re-done roads, instead of simply paving over - pulling up streetcar track in the process. Till that time, pretty much all of the system remained under modern pavement - missing a few feet here and there where track was dug up for utility work in the streets.

[@KravKernow]

Speaking of things now covered in tarmac, could I invite you to consider a video on the London Stone? Unless you already have. I should probably utilise the search function here. Supposedly though there's a twin to the Stone at Totnes. The legend being some Trojan refugees arrived there. One called Curnow (or similar) went left and founded Cornwall. One called Brutus went right and founded Britain. But they'd brought a bit of Troy with them. Curnow presumably went "I'll just stake out this bit" and poor old Brutus had to lug his bit all the way to London.

[@michaelmiller641]

Fascinating area! I remember the Bishopsgate fire,I was travelling on the east London line at the time on a twin rover ticket riding on Q stock!

[@jennyd255]

worryingly1966 seems like yesterday to me, but of course that fact immediately tells you that, unlike you, I am sadly no longer a young and hip person... If indeed I ever was, oh well one can't win them all! Anyway Merry Christmas Jago, and thanks for all the year long entertainment. I'm hoping next year my finances may improve a bit and then perhaps I can join your proper supporters, but for now heartfelt thanks will have to suffice. I'm now off to order my Grannary Granny-Box!

[@SteamCrane]

In much of Pennsylvania, you can tell whether it's streetcar or railroad by measuring the gauge. PA had a law forcing streetcar lines to be unable to take standard freight cars in the streets, thus 5' 2-1/4' was required.

[@johnhanley1890]

Damn I thought you had the answer to something that has puzzled me also for years, those trackside monuments (4:08)? There are several along there, seen as I travel in from Suffolk. All the same a great informative video. Thanks

[@davidclare4983]

Thanks!

[@DaveTheTrain]

Didn't Bishopsgate yard have hydraulic lifts too? I drive trains into Liverpool Street and often look at the ruins of the viaducts on both sides. I believe a lot of the relics sitting in the arches are from the original Liverpool st from before it was redeveloped?

[@vicsams4431]

The platform to Bishopsgate Low Level is adjacent to the Up Electric Line and is accessed by a flight of steps, and Bishopsgate Upper Level is above the Up & Down Suburban Lines. When they installed the bridge for the East London Line, they also dug under the tracks to install a concrete box, to facilitate switching the Electric Line services to Platforms 1 to 9 on the west of the station. If you look under the raft off the end of Platform 1, you can see metal clips already in situ for the OHLE. I spent 16 working on East Anglia railways (GE, West Anglia, LTS, Intercity, Regional Railways) before moving to Euston HQ, as the National Operations Standards Manager in charge of GB railway operations. The only train I have driven was a six axled electric loco, called a V63 / 630 / Gigant in Hungary. The driver insisted I take over driving, and it seemed rude to refuse. That is my excuse, and I am sticking to it. LOL ! I have also operated the vacuum brake on a Class 105 DMU, in BR service, but that is another story, and one I cannot tell on the internet.

[@montedaestrada3563]

London's fabric is so very rich and sumptuous. Many thanks.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

4:07 An educated guess would be a folly, a fountain or the opening for the Chamber of Secrets.

[@vicsams4431]

Nope. Off the roof of Liverpool Street. Moved there in 1986.

[@grey8biker]

The section of track bringing the Liverpool Street extension up to the level of the Bishopsgate viaduct involved the demolition of most of St John Street which was parallel to the viaduct on the north side. This included the demolition of my great-great-grandparents’ pub the ‘Fighting Cocks’. The small bit of St Johns Street that remains today is now called Grimsby Street.

[@-finalboss]

Great and very informative video! I lived in Shoreditch for some time (I'm back in Sweden now where I'm from) and always wondered about the history of the old brick walls/building just standing there forgotten in plain sight. I really hope they leave it because I would argue that they give the area that Shoreditch characteristic feel and look, industrial and "real"!

[@markfryer9880]

Hi, I stumbled upon your video and enjoyed it. When I heard about the hydraulic goods carriage lift a thought occurred to me. There are people who make miniature and micro model train layouts in various scales and create them in all sorts of shapes and sizes and footprints. Now, sometimes the problem can be how to move a car or an engine from one location to another and the Hand of God and a track cassette can be the only solution, but to know that there really was a prototype hydraulic goods car lift that worked across three levels is a very important solution to know about. Knowing that such a solution existed means that it can be worked into the story of a model layout to replace a series of long inclined tracks that the modeller may have no room for or desire to model.

[@hi-viz]

"You are the combustable goods to my storage facility." Okay, that's the best one yet 🤣

[@neville132bbk]

His wit is never just a flash in the pan....

[@GreenJimll]

If I were a speculative London based developer, I'd subscribe to Jago's channel just so that I could get a heads up on potential sites to get my claws into! 🙂

[@josephasghar]

Ah yes. They walk among us..

[@theenigmaticst7572]

You mean a "Mixed Development" creator? :P

[@interstat2222]

No more glass boxes and random plastic composite cladding and “affordable” luxury! Humanity’s suffered enough.

[@SS-qo4xe]

Brought back memories. I lived on Kerbela St. where I used to pay 3 quid a week for the top floor of a house is now luxury flats that start at 2 million!

[@paulgilbert9346]

Jago what a great video. It might be interesting to investigate the goods yards of railway companies that were not actually connected to their own networks. I know that there were many in London in th 19th C.

[@007JHS]

That odd little monument type structure... was it possibly a fancy vent top for something below???

[@PaulSmith-pl7fo]

Hi Jago. Those train tracks in the opening sequence (now gone!) were of a really narrow gauge (LOL)!

[@peterg.crosby6320]

Blimey I wish I was still young and hip - great video.

[@apolloc.vermouth5672]

Ooh, there are some similar rails in a similarly obscure side road in Battersea - must look into that.

[@jimmyviaductophilelawley5587]

4:10 looks like a miniature water tower to me

[@1shadoth]

Wow, I had a business in one of the network rail arches. I remember when the old station came up for sale, I think it sold for around the 600k.

[@PeterGaunt]

I must go back for a visit. I worked for 30 years in Bethnal Green and rode past this place every working day on my bicycle. During that time I watched it change. It has, of course, changed some more since I retired 13 years ago.

[@colvaughan9596]

I remember the old Liverpool Street station and the remodel. There used to be a big ramp you walked up to get out into the actual Liverpool Street at road level. lots of postal vans up and down mixing with the city gents

[@Andrewjg_89]

Spitalfields does have lots old remains including old tram tracks and old buildings. My mum was born in Hackney which has changed so many times. And I’ve been to some areas in East London including Bromley-by-Bow, West Ham, East Ham, Stratford, Bethnal Green and Canning Town. As always Merry Christmas Jago.

[@pras12100]

At 03:25 Jago said: "In 1919 ... the granary caught fire, which seems to be the fate of a lot of granaries". This is because granaries are dusty places and the dust, especially when airborne, is highly inflammable. See "Dust Explosion" on Wikipedia for instance. Just my "twopence" 🙂

[@neilbain8736]

The sheer size of it, on three levels is quite mind boggling, and there's an awful lot of height to be gained very quickly between any two them. It must have been terrifying, especially on unfitted waggons with no continuous braking. If you do the trick with custard powder and a lighter, you'll understand why mills and granaries occasionally explode. The miller at Heatherslaw Mill on the Scottish border had some stories about this plus why water mills are no good for generating electricity due to the low speed and high torque which would wreck gear boxes gearing up to get the speed. (This makes the DEPV Talisman, a diesel electric paddle vessel from 1935, more interesting as she was propelled by a single double ended electric motor with paddles directly on the spindle travelling at 40 odd rpm. The problem was just the same but opposite when starting from rest with the immense current draw. She could also stop in twice her own length which was unique).

[@irvinetam3454]

The Carpenters Arms on Whitfield Street is nearby and said to be on its last legs. Worth going to for a pint while its still going.

[@huwprice881]

The poor Carpenters Arms are on their last legs? I’m so confused….

[@elegantmess6781]

Don't you mean Cheshire Street?

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Granary Box Advert - “Hey, do you like your food to come from obscure restaurants? Fear not, Granary Box is here for you.”

[@cigibso]

👍

[@saintofselhurst]

When I used to work in Hackney I used to get the Overground from Liverpool St and always thought whatever became of the branch off the East London

[@Sim0nTrains]

Is Granary Box for you? Absolutely! At first I was doubtful too... Granary Box reminds me of the Hello Fresh commercials on KZbin and now off the beaten track! Anyway great video Jago

[@tall1sobay]

I've often wondered about all that when I lived in London. I lived north of Shoreditch and would often walk around the Spitalfields/Liverpool Street Station area. Whilst walking around alone exploring one notices things like this, and I've always been curious.

[@patrickwoods254]

Internet, hold my beer, it's a Jago Hazzard video. Good evening sir.

[@ausbrum]

Paris transformed a similar above ground viaduct into a high line park . New York did something similar and in Sydney a walkway called The Goods Line is set above the former rail viaduct which serviced Darling Harbour

[@Fred-Wilbury]

Another fine piece of railway history for my appetite 👌😎 thank you Jago and a merry Christmas to you

[@carladean6117]

Very interesting. I love hearing about the history of really old places, area names and street names in the UK.

[@Clavichordist]

When I see stuff like this, I feel sad inside. For some reason this always bothered me even when I was very young. We have similar areas to this in and around Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. In Boston proper, the Back Bay section once hosted a large coaching yard for Boston and Albany (New York Central) and engine maintenance facility all where the Prudential Tower stands today. In the mid-1960s, the yard was completely and absolutely wiped out with zero traces of anything that may have been there. The Prudential Tower and surrounding plaza serve as a cap on top of the ground as if to bury the railroad history and erase any signs of it. The line is still a busy commuter line but is underground and has been reduced from the original 4-track multidirectional line to two. In the South Boston section of the city, there were once miles of tracks along the waterfront and in and around all the factories that once were active there. Today, there's one branch that barely sees any business if at all, and the rest appears as bits and pieces through the asphalt tarmac along with occasional cobblestones. What factory buildings are left have been turned into expensive lofts and offices. Across the Charles River in Cambridge, there were once extensive mills and warehouses along the river and in a section off of North Bennett Street. Today, most of the tracks are gone except for a single-track line that runs from the former Boston and Albany line that runs under the Prudential Tower, and connects the Grand Junction and tracks to the wharves in Chelsea and Charlestown. All of the tracks around North Bennett Street have been replaced by office towers, and housing projects associated with MIT and other big companies in the area. The tracks down along the waterfront in Chelsea and Charlestown are mostly gone as well and have been replaced by NIMBY condos.

[@vicsams4431]

Nice to hear a chap from across The Pond value railways, sorry, railroads. I have done Toronto to New York, New York to St Albans (Vermont), the entire Alaska Railroad, the White Pass & Yukon, plus every line in Canada (except one). Regards, from London, England.

[@Clavichordist]

@@vicsams4431 Originally, they were called railways but when they became railroads I don't know. I'm going to assume it was when there was a movement to change all our spellings to differentiate "American" English which took place in the early 19th century when we dropped vowels in common words such as colour and swapped some around such as in theater instead of theatre, although that one is still used today. Anyway, railway though has become part of corporate names instead and sometimes a company, a railroad/railway will change its name from a railway to railroad or vice versa. It's sad isn't it to see what's been ripped up all over and there are plenty of us here that value our rails. A lot more than what many think and we fight like crazy to keep the NIMBYs from ruining everything. I'm glad you enjoyed your trips over here. I have yet to ride the rails out in the west and have only done Boston (also north of Boston to Boston) to Philadelphia and Boston to Florida with a change in New York City.

[@Clavichordist]

@Vasili Timonen Yes, I've noticed that too with "street railway" but that's not always true but then again, it's mostly true. I suppose that it depended upon their aspirations of becoming a bigger empire. ;-) Check out some of the big companies such as the Chicago, Northshore and Milwaukee. (Get ready for a box of tissues too.) The Penn Central was one of the saddest corporate messes to ever come about. Without going into details and taking up pages, they were a merger of two big companies that hated each other. The Pennsylvania and the New York Central. The "Hartford" railroad you mention was the New York, New Haven, and Hartford (New Haven). This ran between its namesake cities and was innovative in electric power, and its mainline makes up a portion of the current day Northeast Corridor. The New Haven (NH) was hacked and sacked many times and the final president went to jail when he did the same to the Boston and Maine. He got caught selling the new streamliner for scrap and pocketing the money! I highly recommend reading about the company and its innovations. It's sad how the rich used the company as a play toy. They were a friendly rival to the Boston and Maine (more about them briefly below), and worked with the B&M to electrify the Hoosac Tunnel with future plans but due to JP Morgan and his shenanigans that ended. This company was merged into the Penn Central and PC's management did whatever they could to kill it again because the NH was competitor that took business away from the PC by routing the freight traffic off their lines via competitors. When the Poughkeepsie Bridge burned, a major link across the Hudson River, that killed the through traffic on the line and basically the railroad. The PC became Conrail and continued to do the same to the competitors the Erie Lackawanna, and the Lehigh Valley, and the management moved on to destroy other companies... Our local railroad became Guilford Transportation Industries. A holding company that busted unions and ran everything to the bones. Their owner was Timothey Mellon from Mellon Bank. His VP running the show was David Fink. Fink came from the Penn Central. Fink and crew destroyed the Maine Central, Delaware and Hudson, and the Boston and Maine. Like the PC, mainlines were down to 10 mph or less outside of commuter territory, and there were standing derailments where freight cars (wagons) fell off the tracks in the yards. As you said, names changed when companies bankrupted and reformed. Guilford, after destroying everything, changed its name to Pan Am Railways. After they bought up the holding of Pan Am Airlines. They ran an airline operation briefly but that was forced to shut down due to poor maintenance just like their rail railway.

[@vicsams4431]

@@Clavichordist Very probably. Sadly America and Britain are not alone in ripping up tracks. It is fairly universal. Hopefully when we discover high speed rail, America and Britain will see a revival.

[@vicsams4431]

@Vasili Timonen Thank you.

[@highpath4776]

The question of replacing two goods depots does rather bring the question, what became of them ?

[@iamlinxx_]

I love London and its history. Take yesterday for instance I learned that GWR used to own airlines and one of those airlines aircraft crashed into houses in Ruislip in the 1940s not too far from where my nan lives. I found images of GWRs plane just purched on the roof

[@mcdon2401]

There were many places similar to this where I grew up, on the outskirts of Glasgow. The old rail line ran along the Clydeside, serving all the various shipyards and engineering works (and a granary 😉), with many of the old tracks laid into the cobbles on South Street. An extra branch ran from South Street, up to where Anniesland is today. All of the rails on South Street are long gone, but I remember them well from my childhood. Almost all of it is now either cycle track or, in the case of the granary, some very expensive flats. I find it strange that such up market housing was built directly opposite Fairfields, which along with Yarrows, is part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, and are two of the three active yards still left on the Clyde.

[@calmeilles]

What's this? at 4:05 - complete guess but perhaps a bit of the decorative stonework neither preserved nor re-used when Liverpool Street was rebuilt in the 80s? I know there are other bits scattered about, including along side the tracks outside the station.

[@JohnNorrisMetalSculpture]

4.10 .. there are a couple of these in Brighton ... they are ornate cappings to ventilation shafts above tunnels that went under the city. Is there a tunnel under here?

[@bubbleentity]

Honestly that stonework looks to me to be a rather ornate top cap fairing from a ventilation stack. Perhaps grabbed speculatively from a demolition somewhere with an intent to reuse it. It's easy for such things to be forgotten in time

[@lukefictitious]

Hi there the small structure you are wondering about at 4:06 was probably a public drinking fountain. There is better example of the one in victoria park in my Electric Wave video. I also have seen what looks like one near the houses of parliment.

[@london52uk]

the station platform below the goodsyard can be brought back into use as a DLR type shuttle service between Liverpool St and Brick Lane to serve the market

[@robertsmme]

I commuted past there for 6 years thanks for answering a question I had always wondered about

[@dianekivi5349]

I'm standing at a bus stop, in the city centre for the 39 bus, they run from here to Ongar every 10 minutes.

[@rainyfeathers9148]

Look @1:42, what a nice colour on that new route master😍. It's nice to know that things get preserved even if it's just a photograph. I know I'm grateful for the pictures of my old housing estate🤗

[@thestreakpodcast]

Another solid video Wrighty.

[@18robsmith]

Given the propensity of smoking I'm somewhat surprised that more combustible goods storage facilities weren't combusted.

[@deeperconversationswithchad]

Great channel mate . 🇬🇧 ❤️

[@andyhall7032]

please investigate the headstones ( tombstones ? ) clearly seen on the old broad street lines just as you enter liverpool street thanks.

[@janehigh5279]

Wonderful video, thank you

[@raphaelnikolaus0486]

What a happy accidental or coincidental finding (one by stumbling over it, one by finding the info through other research).

[@Aengus42]

That street name raised a few questions for me too!

[@SuperEwokk]

I used to work in Folgate St. In the 60's & 70's and noticed that the item you show appeared, along with other pieces of masonry during the refurbishment of liverpool station following the IRA bombing of the station.