Yes, really.
London down and dirty. But seriously, ever wonder what's
"down there"? You're in luck. Here's a quick guide. Starting
at the bottom of the photo - the bright blue plastic piping - is
the new water mains being put in, all over London. It's replacing
the old cast-iron Victorian mains. Moving up the photo, the gray flat
one (with lots of dirt on it and the wooden handle of the hammer
resting on it where it meets the wall of the ditch) is the BT (British
Telecom) "pipe". Then you get two smallish "pipes" running
almost parallel to the BT packet (and crossing the old cast-iron
Victorian water main) - they carry the electricity. Then still
further up the photo you can see a "package" with a green
cover - through it run the fibre optics (cable television, the
broadband connection that's handling this website operation,
etc.). Finally, near the top of the photo you can see a yellow
pipe. It carries the gas for the gas central heating. You can't
see it in this photograph but at the bottom of the trench you
can just make out some brickwork. That's the top of the
Victorian sewer. It's big. Very big. Big enough for a man
go on that particular walk! And then beneath the Victorian
brick sewer - the tube. There's a whole world down there
in troglodyte London - a world undreamt of in most of
our philosophies. On second thoughts, undreamt of but
perhaps nightmared!
Photograph was taken on 23 February 2008. In
Kingsgate Road NW6 - very near London Walks
GHQ. Almost certainly
Jean will have crossed
Kingsgate Road at some point on her Kilburn Walk
today - because the Kilburn (the cold stream) flows
beneath it at a certain point. She says there's one
point - that's where she will have headed for - where
you can look down through a grate and see it and hear it.
Update on the "blue plastic" for the new water mains. It's
polyethelene. Advantages are... Well, for one, the old
Victorian cast-iron ones get "acted on" by the acids in the
ground. It eats away at them. And on the inside - believe
it not they get worn down by the friction of the water - and
"the other stuff" going through. Bits of this and that (doesn't
bear thinking about it, does it?). Worn down, but also
"built up", because of "deposits" - in effect, barnacles.
Don't get any of that with the polyethelene. For the
record, its walls are about half an inch thick. They put
what they call a "pig" down there. It's basically a
big sponge and expands - they push it through -
and it cleans the inner surface of the main - "cleaner
than your and my freshly scrubbed faces! Bit
reassuring that. Apparently in the old Victorian
cast-iron ones they've found bottles, bits of wood,
etc. Doesn't bear you-know-what about.
And this is just "local", here in West Hampstead.
How about this for a bit of "fascination". The
next time you're watching the Changing of the
Guard in front of Buckingham Palace, you might
like to bear in mind that directly beneath the
soldiers is a 24 inch gas pipe. And how does it
get cleaned and repaired? "A man on a skate-board"
was the term that was used. Gas is shut off. Fresh
air pumped in. He goes in lying on this little
trolley (the "skateboard") with a gas-mask
(oxygen tank on his back) and does the needful.
"You get top dollar for that". Which somehow
didn't come as a surprise.
Other thing about the polyethelene is that its
joints get tested - they can withstand up to
five and a half tons of pressure exerted on
them. The pipes themselves have some
natural flexibility. Which is needed because
things are moving down there. The earth
moves. Sounds like Hemingway. Ground
freezes. Thaws. Etc. etc. So the flexibility
in the pipes is just the ticket. The problem is
the joins. By definition they have to be rigid.
They start "budging" you're going to get a
leak. They have to be rigid. And they have
to be strong. Very strong. Five-and-a-half
tons of pressure or exertion brought to bear
on them-strong.
So now you know.