The Tunnel Through Time: a New Route for an Old London Journey

Crossrail, London's new tube line which will open in 2018, is simply the latest way of traversing a very old east-west route through what was once countryside to the old City heart and out again.

Gillian Tindall, who has had a lifetime involvement in the history and growth of London, traces the course of some these historic journeys along roads which, however altered in appearance still follow the same patterns. Our ancestors spoke the names of ancient farms, manors and slums that today belong to our squares and tube stations. They endured the cycle of the seasons as we do; they ate, drank, laughed, worked, prayed, despaired and hoped in what are essentially the same spaces we occupy today. Archaeology uncovers actual remains, GT brings to light vanished lives. More details on the book here.

Tindall's The Fields Beneath, the History of One London Village first appeared forty years ago and has never been out of print since. She has written novels and short stories, and a biography of George Gissing, but this was her first venture into urban history. Since, that has become my dominant theme, not just on London but on Paris and Bombay too. She has also written a biographic study of the engraver Wenceslaus Hollar, and a book about the growth of rural France. She and her husband Richard have lived in their house in Kentish Town for over fifty years.