London's WWII shelter tunnels to become new tourist attraction
Tunnels built to shelter Londoners during World War II bombings by Germany are set to be transformed into the British capital's biggest new attraction, says on Jan. 29, 2025 by the company tasked to bring the sprawling network of passages back to life. The tunnels, which are a mile (1.6 km) long and tall enough in parts to fit a double-decker bus, lie under Holborn, in central London. They were dug by hand starting in late 1940, when German planes were bombing the city almost every day and night in what was known as the Blitz. Angus Murray, a former investment banker, hopes to turn the tunnels into part museum, part exhibition and part entertainment space. that will cost around 120 million pounds ($149 million). His company hopes up to 3 million people a year will pay over 30 pounds ($37) to visit the space which he says will be ready by late 2027 or early 2028.
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Tunnels built to shelter Londoners during World War II bombings by Germany are set to be transformed into the British capital's biggest new attraction, says on Jan. 29, 2025 by the company tasked to bring the sprawling network of passages back to life. The tunnels, which are a mile (1.6 km) long and tall enough in parts to fit a double-decker bus, lie under Holborn, in central London. They were dug by hand starting in late 1940, when German planes were bombing the city almost every day and night in what was known as the Blitz. Angus Murray, a former investment banker, hopes to turn the tunnels into part museum, part exhibition and part entertainment space. that will cost around 120 million pounds ($149 million). His company hopes up to 3 million people a year will pay over 30 pounds ($37) to visit the space which he says will be ready by late 2027 or early 2028.
REUTERS VIDEO
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NewsTranscript
00:00So these are a network of tunnels that were built in the 1940s and then expanded the 1950s.
00:27Basically the deep level shelter to protect British citizens against the bombing of what we know as the London Blitz.
01:28If you notice we've got a wall around the tunnels, etc.
01:46Can you turn the light on?
01:49Our main aim is to respect and restore these tunnels and bring them back to life for what they represent for Britain.
01:58So there were 43,000 people that died during that time, so it's a memorial, a story for those people.
02:03But given the vast space we've got here, they're over a mile long, we can certainly reactivate the deepest licensed bar,
02:10which would be the deepest licensed bar in a city, and we can open up as an arts and culture section.
02:16So it's a very large space for up to 3 million people a year.
02:46Ian Fleming would have been in these tunnels in early 1944, leading up to D-Day,
02:56and so along with the Special Operations Executive, which was a branch of MI6 which was in these tunnels,
03:02therefore Ian Fleming was in these tunnels associated with Special Operations Executive, or the Special Operations Executive,
03:09and that inspired him to create Kew Branch from James Bond.
03:12So this truly is the location of Kew Branch from James Bond.
03:15I think it's a large, well, it would certainly be the last major,
03:20I think it's a large, well, it would certainly be the last major,
03:25I think it's a large, well, it would certainly be the last major,
03:28I think it's a large, well, it would certainly be the last major,
03:31I think it's a large, well, it would certainly be the last major,
03:34I think it's a large, well, it would certainly be the last major,
03:37I think it's a large, well, it would certainly be the last major,
03:41I think it's a large, well, it would certainly be the last major,
03:45large scale, history and heritage tourist attraction that can ever be opened in London.
03:49And we know the London Eye, which was highly successful and very well managed,
03:53opened at the end of 1999.
03:56Nothing really new of this scale has opened since then,
03:59so we hope, therefore, it's a benefit to London.
04:02So overall, overall, this is part of a historic experience,
04:06London's a fantastic city for tourism and I think and hope this adds to something that
04:25people come and see.
04:26If I was in London and I want to come and see the history of London, this is definitely
04:30part of that history.