London’s amazing graffiti art tunnel

On a recent visit to London, I went on walkabout one morning in search of coffee and adventure. I headed in a new direction on this Saturday morning, and as luck would have it, I found both coffee and adventure! I was staying in the County Hall area of the city, not far from the London Eye. I’ve stayed in that area many times before, but I had never seen the Lower Marsh neighborhood, which is actually quite close by.

First I found coffee at a local café, then began exploring side streets to see what I might find. In short order I found several new restaurants, cafes and pubs, as well as a bed and breakfast and other local shops you’d expect find in a walking community.

At one point I saw a darkened alleyway that seemed to lead beneath the Waterloo railway station. It looked intriguing and foreboding at the same time. There was a turn not far from where I stood, so I couldn’t really tell what lay beyond. But curiosity pulled me down the path – and my spirit of adventure was rewarded richly!

I emerged into a broad tunnel that did indeed run beneath the train station, but instead of a dank, dungeon look, I saw walls and a ceiling covered with graffiti art.

It was mystical.

The old brick walls had been covered, again and again with graffiti. And it is all sanctioned. This is the graffiti art tunnel in Lower Marsh.

On this day, many artists were at work on the walls. Some had paint trays filled with white paint and were painting over existing graffiti to set a clean backdrop for their creative work to come. Others were busy with spray paint doing their thing – making some fantastic art.

The air in the tunnel carried the sweet aroma of spray paint, mixed with that slightly burning leaf aroma of cannabis. Passersby such as myself wandered along admiring the work, trying not to trip over spent spray cans, backpacks and beer bottles.

This truly is a sight to behold.

A few restaurants operate in the tunnel, and there’s also a hidden conference space, rather large, that on this day was accommodating a fundraising event for breast cancer research. As part of the effort, an artist had painted a part of the wall with logo and colors of the local breast cancer support group, known somewhat ironically as Coppafeel.org. Very creative, right?

Although I must admit that in the era of the #metoo movement I had to think a long time before accepting that Coppafeel is a real thing. But it is. The campaign aims to encourage women to do regular breast exams to check for anything abnormal that might indicate a cancer taking hold.

It’s easy to wile away an hour down in the tunnel watching the dynamics and seeing individual artists working on their products. It’s also a bit of a photographer’s dream, with so much rich content and the challenge of capturing the creativity, energy and activity in a single frame.

Below is an overview map showing the art tunnel not far from the London Eye and Waterloo Station.