View Full Version : Today, I went deep inside the Camberwell Submarine!
Pictures and report to come!
Minnie_the_Minx
13-04-2007, 19:28
Pictures and report to come!
:confused:
Diving? Isle of Wight?
Diving? Isle of Wight?Not diving. And it's Camberwell, SE5.
I descended about 30 feet to the bottom.
Minnie_the_Minx
13-04-2007, 19:45
Not diving. And it's Camberwell, SE5.
I descended about 30 feet to the bottom.
:confused:
Never heard of it. Feel free to enlighten me :o
:confused:
Never heard of it. Feel free to enlighten me :oSoon come!
Although I've just noticed that despite being known as the Camberwell Submarine, it's actually in SW9.
potential
13-04-2007, 19:57
myatts field, thingy in the middle of the road ???
its a big air vent innit ?
lang rabbie
13-04-2007, 20:02
Pictures and report to come!
What a tease you are;)
[/Green with envy]
Minnie_the_Minx
13-04-2007, 20:04
What a tease you are;)
[/Green with envy]
Isn't he. Now we're going have to sit here twiddling our thumbs in anticipation and I still don't know what he's talking about :mad:
Ladies and Gentlemen - meet the Camberwell Submarine!
http://www.urban75.org/london/images/camberwell-submarine-18.jpg
http://www.urban75.org/london/images/camberwell-submarine-04.jpg
http://www.urban75.org/london/images/camberwell-submarine-13.jpg
Full story here: http://www.urban75.org/london/camberwell-submarine.html
Minnie_the_Minx
13-04-2007, 20:30
So now I know. Can't say I've even seen it.
Where's the periscope?
and will that worker who let you in now get the sack?
Your next challenge is to get inside the Michael Faraday Memorial.
http://www.riskybuildings.org.uk/img/29faraday/01.jpg
Wicked :)I was dead lucky. There was a bloke working inside and I asked him if I could take a look inside - and he was happy to take me all around the place!
lang rabbie
13-04-2007, 20:34
I thought Mrs M reckoned on some previous thread that the boiler house was no longer in use because the flats now had individual central heating :confused:
I thought Mrs M reckoned on some previous thread that the boiler house was no longer in use because the flats now had individual central heating :confused:They were definitely working when I was in there - and there was quite a wind coming off the fans too.
They were definitely working when I was in there - and there was quite a wind coming off the fans too.
How can the council remove the vent(s) then :eek: :confused:
How can the council remove the vent(s) then :eek: :confused:I guess it wouldn't be that hard to come up with a design a little less intrusive. Or maybe they're not using so many boilers now so don't need the industrial scale cooling?
lang rabbie
13-04-2007, 20:48
One thing that's puzzled me each time when cycling through the area is where are the stop-taps at street level for oil tankers to fill up the fuel tank :confused:
One thing that's puzzled me each time when cycling through the area is where are the stop-taps at street level for oil tankers to fill up the fuel tank :confused:It's fuelled by "high pressure gas."
ska invita
13-04-2007, 23:33
Enjoy your photo pages ed. Can i recommend coming up to Horniman museum and gardens on a sunny day for a little pic feature? Gardens and views are spectacular and theres a fair amount of funny peeps out on a hot day to snap at...
I've been to the Horniman a few times and have got some photos somewhere too, but maybe another trip could be in order.
Wow! Brill pics, ec :cool:
I cycle past that thing on the way to work and have often wondered what it is.
It looks vast inside!
It would be nice if it was painted, to look like the loch ness monster, or something....:D
It would be nice if it was painted, to look like the loch ness monster, or something....:D
What colour is the Loch Ness monster? :confused:
likesfish
14-04-2007, 09:23
same colour as the boathouse at Hereford obviously :D
Though I'm not a fan of concrete structures I've always had a soft spot for the 'Camberwell submarine' (didn't know it was called that). Worth preserving IMO.
Though I'm not a fan of concrete structures I've always had a soft spot for the 'Camberwell submarine' Well, it is wonderfully daft!
London_Calling
14-04-2007, 09:49
Finally ! A boiler room, then.
Everyone I've ever spoken to about it has been totally baffled, except those who assumed it was a vent for the tube (forgetting that's about 1 1/2 mile away).
Still no idea why they vented it in the middle of a dual carraigeway, or with such a curious design.
A boiler room FFS !
Nice opportunism, btw.
That is well cool!
Glad to see it looks like a submarine inside too.
guinnessdrinker
14-04-2007, 10:24
Finally ! A boiler room, then.
Everyone I've ever spoken to about it has been totally baffled, except those who assumed it was a vent for the tube (forgetting that's about 1 1/2 mile away).
Still no idea why they vented it in the middle of a dual carraigeway, or with such a curious design.
A boiler room FFS !
Nice opportunism, btw.
apparently the story was that there was going to be an extension from the Northen line from Kennington down south toward Streatham, passing this way, which may have been the origin of the tube myth. and the man who told me that it was a defence room was well known for his conspiracy theory, only slightly more believable than a certain musical poster here.
guinnessdrinker
14-04-2007, 10:25
So now I know. Can't say I've even seen it.
Where's the periscope?
and will that worker who let you in now get the sack?
Your next challenge is to get inside the Michael Faraday Memorial.
http://www.riskybuildings.org.uk/img/29faraday/01.jpg
any good conspiracy theories about the memorial?
. . . The Aphex Twin lives there!
lang rabbie
14-04-2007, 10:48
any good conspiracy theories about the memorial?
It's in the name stupid. :p It's actually a giant Faraday Cage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage).
For contingency planning against a high-altitude nuclear blast that would have acted as an E-bomb - generating a poweful electomagnetic pulse that would cripple all electronic systems - a "B" team of "top people" would have been inside the Memorial, along with a back-up generator and communications kit that wasn't attached to any external cabling.
London_Calling
14-04-2007, 11:04
Looking at the scale of the kit down below, I presume now the surface vents must be on hinges or otherwise open out so replacement boilers, etc. can be lowered on cranes?
I didn't see any hinge like openings there, but I guess there must be something.
guinnessdrinker
14-04-2007, 11:05
It's in the name stupid. :p It's actually a giant Faraday Cage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage).
For contingency planning against a high-altitude nuclear blast that would have acted as an E-bomb - generating a poweful electomagnetic pulse that would cripple all electronic systems - a "B" team of "top people" would have been inside the Memorial, along with a back-up generator and communications kit that wasn't attached to any external cabling.
so there must be a secret tunnel between the submarine and the cage, then...
The Pious Pawn
23-04-2007, 08:19
interesting thread , its good when you find out what something really is when you've been dreaming up allsorts of things about it . I remember when i was a kid i use to go on bike rides with my dad over the hills , We would come across this concrete box with a metal tube coming out . I use to think it was a pillbox from the war ( I swear me dad told me it was ) i was up the same place a few years ago and my dream were shattered when i discovered it was a old farming thing for storing water :o .
The Pious Pawn
23-04-2007, 08:21
Looking at the scale of the kit down below, I presume now the surface vents must be on hinges or otherwise open out so replacement boilers, etc. can be lowered on cranes?
You would replace the whole boiler , Imho youd only replace the bits which fail on a insurance mdt test . They last a good few years as well.
Structaural
23-04-2007, 08:35
Well I never - that's what it is! That's been a mystery to me for 20 odd years.
Excellent! I wonderd for years what that thing was...:)
gaijingirl
23-04-2007, 12:10
Wonderful - I cycle past that all the time and always wondered.
And now I have a pictorial clue as to what "gubbins" are too - although still don't know what they actually do - will have to google!
Nice report. :)
It's in the name stupid. :p It's actually a giant Faraday Cage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage).
For contingency planning against a high-altitude nuclear blast that would have acted as an E-bomb - generating a poweful electomagnetic pulse that would cripple all electronic systems - a "B" team of "top people" would have been inside the Memorial, along with a back-up generator and communications kit that wasn't attached to any external cabling.
Wot ? so the E&C box is part of a civil defence network thats designed to look like a memorial ?
wots in the middle of the box ?
Brilliant, always wondered what was down there, ta.
Gixxer1000
28-04-2007, 17:29
"A recent Lambeth Planning statement proposed removing one side of the dual carriageway and removing the "submarine vent shaft.""
:(
lights.out.london
28-04-2007, 18:23
Top thread.
Loupylou
01-05-2007, 22:54
Though I'm not a fan of concrete structures I've always had a soft spot for the 'Camberwell submarine' (didn't know it was called that). Worth preserving IMO.
It's not - it's called the 'Concrete Submarine' (i live right near it) & the area is Brixton.
Other than that small gripe, I;ve always wanted to know what it looks like so thanks for being so intrepid........
in BRIXTON !
It's not - it's called the 'Concrete Submarine' (i live right near it) & the area is Brixton. That's what the bloke who was working there told me it was called. It's also called that in The Smoke magazine.
it looks like a futuristic battle truck from an 80's sci-fi film!
cool tho init!
Brixton Hatter
04-05-2007, 13:04
nice one Ed, by using your wits and getting inside to take photos you have provided a valuable service to so many people! I live about a minute away from the submarine and always assumed it was some sort of air vent for the tube - thought the Kennington tube sidings were underneath or something. I emailed the link to your page to a few mates and it's totally made their day.
I am really jealous. :mad:
;)
What are the boilers for?
guinnessdrinker
04-05-2007, 13:26
What are the boilers for?
the editor's link at post 9 says it is to heat the local estates.
lang rabbie
15-12-2008, 22:52
The Camberwell Submarine is now a musical instrument :cool:
In spring 2008 I made some recordings of the machinery in the boiler room. These have been organised into a composition. I have filtered some of the sounds but no digital processing has been used.
http://www.touchradio.org.uk/touch_radio_36.html
HackneyE9
15-12-2008, 23:04
Fascinating.
Although I think for completeness' sake you should have included a snap or two of the luck estates that get their cockles warmed by said submarine!
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