Edit: 25/02/2021:
You can now watch our Living and Loving Underground films on YouTube
February is LGBQT+ History month. To mark it, we’ll be releasing a series of videos revealing the role the Thames Tunnel played as a space where people, including gay and bisexual men could meet each other in the 1850s.
Completed in 1843, the Thames Tunnel was the first tunnel underwater anywhere in the world. Popular with tourists when it first opened to the public, by the mid 1850’s the tunnel was known for crime and poverty. Due to its underground nature and perceived den of sin, the tunnel earned the nickname ‘Hades Hotel’. It gathered a reputation for attracting sex workers and their clients.
The films have been researched and created by historians Sacha Coward and Sheldon Goodman, two experienced tour guides who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. The three films will be released over three consecutive days in February, from Tuesday 23 February.
