The Tunnel

Mulberry Harbour - The Tunnel

Mulberry Harbour

It may not be the longest tunnel on the network, but it often feels like it. The back tunnel exit from King's Cross was one I used to avoid, having been bitten once or twice by taking the wrong turning and ending up suffering the endless incline to the exit on Pentonville Road. But in time I've came to love it, and while working in the area for a year I started entering and exiting that way by choice every day of the week, even though it was less direct.

There were several reasons for this. Firstly, the experience of walking the tunnel - it was so tranquil and uncongested, certainly compared to the main exit where you have to cross all the streams of different poeple from different lines. A re-modelling of the main entrance did little to improve that. I also enjoyed seeing the odd tourist who'd chosen the wrong entrance/exit, pulling a suitcase along wondering where on earth they were going, where all the people had gone, and when it was going to end.

Then there's the aesthetic, reminiscent of the interior of space stations in programmes from the 70s, like Space:1999. The Flaming Lips could have come here and filmed the whole of Christmas on Mars. This aspect of the tunnel may not be around for much longer, sadly, as brighter lighting is being put in and the old yellow lining gradually replaced and painted with bright whites and blues.

Then finally, the architecture and the lack of human traffic combine to great acoustic effect. Tube announcements reverberate the length of the tunnel, bouncing off the walls. The clicking of a pair of heels will be amplified and distorted, and chatter gets passed along the walls like in the whispering gallery of a church. I took to having my mobile phone at the ready as I walked the tunnel, recording these sounds, and they now form the background and some of the rhythm of this new track.

Photo by Matt Brown