On a cold and desolate winters night, I met up with Zero. Times were different than when I'd last explored, our lives were being lived under a police state thanks to something we couldn't see with our own eyes, Covid-19. As such we were only supposed to leave our homes once a day, and only meet up with 1 other person. Handy, as Zero was the only person I hoped to meet. The early hours of the night were upon us, and we quickly set about getting down to business. Adjusting our face masks, we came closer and made our way down to the tracks. We'd both been here a few times before, many years ago, we did the Upper and Lower NCL sections (read about them ges087-ncls-upper-a-lower>here). This time we intended to see the rest of the tunnel, down to it's terminus at Moorgate. We didn't know of anyone else who'd done it, so were flying, or running as it happened, blind. 

The line started life as the Great Northern & City Railway in 1904, it was basically a branch line. Splitting off at Finsbury Park and heading down to Moorgate. Due to the tunnels being larger in diameter than the standard underground tunnels, it was known as 'Big Tube.' It certainly made running the 4 or 5 miles down to Moorgate easier. The line has been bounced around a bit, and was part of the London Underground network, starting as a Metropolitan Line, from 1913 to 1975. In 1976 it became part of the mainline network again, which it remains in to this day.
The map below shows the route south from Drayton Park, where it starts it's tunneled life. It passes the Lower NCL section of the tunnel, where the line was moved about to allow the Victoria Line to be built in the 1970s. Highbury and Islington Station was also rejigged, and left with disused tunnels either side of the current station. Passing Essex Road station, is the longest stretch between stations. The tunnel passes under the Grand Union Canal, where there is a vent that leads to the surface by the canal. Some crossover tracks lead into Moorgate station, the Terminus. Here lies the only example of the Greathead Shield, used to bore out these tunnels. Moorgate disused will be covered in Part 2 of this explore. 

It wasn't long after we passed the Lower NCL tunnels, that we entered new territory. This is the Northern section of abandoned tunnel that leads up to the Highbury and Islington Station. You can see how big the cavity is here, bearing in mind that the tunnels are bigger than normal tube tunnels.

Looking into the above tunnel, there wasn't much to see. A concreted over wall marked the last part of the tunnel.

We came upon our first station, we were going to have to run through it. The nerves began to tingle, and we became aware of any sounds that might give a clue of what lay ahead.

Running through a live station is never a fun thing to do as you never know who's at the station, or if the cameras are being watched. It's usually best to get through as quick as possible and hope for the best. We knelt here briefly like sprinter at the start of a 100m race. Ready, Set, Go! We ran past all the little openings to passage that lead off the platform, was someone there, would someone jump out at us.

Thankfully we made it through the station without being spotted, at least, we thought we had. We wouldn't know until a welcoming party awaited us at the next station, or we heard the sounds of an aggressive dog. Hopefully on it's leash.
We came to another large cavity, this is where the Southern end of the disused tunnel emerges. This camera is looking South here.

Turning around, the view back up to Highbury & Islington station. The end of the disused tunnel, broken in half by the station.

The disused tunnel leading back up to HIghbury & Islington station. Thin stalactites hang from the ceiling, and signs on the walls worn of asbestos...

A pile of gravel leads to the concrete wall that blocks off this section of the disused tunnel.

We carried on Southbound, heading towards Essex Road station. On the way we passed this unfortunate animal. I'm guessing it was a dog, no idea where it would have come from, or how it made it this far without being electrocuted or hit by a train. The latter looks the most plausible.

We arrived at Essex Road, and were a little disappointed to not be greeted by a welcoming party. Did we not matter? Oh well, another chance to get our collar felt, another chance for me to show Zero my impressive sprint.

We made it through again, obviously, as this would be a much shorter write-up. The nerves were still there, and the senses working overtime. Back in the tunnels, we now had the longest gap between stations, Essex Road to Old Street. We plodded off, the warmth of being underground and running, jogging, fast walking etc meant removing coats and pushing on.
We eventually came to the Old St Vent, next to the Grand Canal. I didn't know it was there, so it was a surprise. This shows the door to the vent.

The gap in the tunnels, allowing one to cross between the north and southbound running tunnels. The vent is off to the right of the picture. Keen to make time, we pushed on and didn't investigate the vent.

After getting bored of long unending tunnels, we finally made it to Old Street. As a busy station in the City of London, we were conscious of the fact that we might be spotted/stopped. We quickly got through it, and there was just one station left.

The crossovers outside Moorgate station came quickly enough, as it's a short gap between Old Street and Moorgate. The running tunnel ran into a large cavity where the tracks crossed over.

Looking into Moorgate, platform 10 on the left, and 9 on the right. When a train crashed into the buffers on Platform 9, it would have come speeding through here.

Looking northbound from outside Moorgate station.

It was then a long walk back to the fresh and chilly air again. A quick look at a short tunnel under the main road, in the distance is the start of the Canonbury Tunnel. A trip for another day!

Thanks for reading. Part 2 will cover a wander around Moorgate Station on the NCL.