If you’ve been following PODcast long enough, you’ll know I’m a bit of a street art fan. You’ll find a post on where to find the best street art in London here with a glimpse of the street art scene in Berlin on my travel blog, POD Travels. But I have to tell you about The Graffiti Tunnel, otherwise known as Leake Street Tunnel. Situated beneath Waterloo station in London, which thousands of passengers pass through every month, you might never have heard of it.
Leake Street tunnel is actually remarkably easy to find. If you stand on the station concourse with the clock and London Underground behind you, you’ll see the main station exit on your right with another exit straight ahead of you. Take the latter. Rather than following signs to the Southbank and London Eye, head down the first set of steps, following the road left around the side of Waterloo station. You only need walk for a couple of minutes before Leake Street comes up on your left. You’ll see an alley in front of you and that’s The Graffiti Tunnel.
Even in broad daylight, the tunnel is quite dark albeit illuminated with the light from the other end and the graffiti that adorns the walls and the ceiling. Pretty much every space is covered and much like street art, will be undoubtedly be replaced with new artwork on a regular basis. I always find this kind of place fascinating and although I was biding some time before catching a train (and I didn’t even have my camera with me!), I couldn’t have asked for a better pit stop. I even met a couple of Aussies along the way who had stumbled into Leake Street tunnel from the other end and were completely in awe. So if you’re hanging around Waterloo station in the near future and have 30 minutes or so to spare, you know where to go. Personally, I wouldn’t venture here at night but felt perfectly safe on my own during the day. I’ll be back there again when I can, next time making sure I have my camera with me.
