The Knightsbridge Mysteries (4a)

All Change Again - 2004

The corner entrance opposite Harrods was becoming very congested, so it reverted to being a part of a shop let ...

... and Zara moved in. The side road, Hans Crescent, was pedestrianised at its northern end, and a new entrance opened giving a easier run to an underground ticket hall at the junction. The totem sign is rather more modest than usual ...

... as is the station name at the new entrance.

From some directions you might miss it completely!

But it is there, honest!

And below is the view looking back towards Brompton Road with Harrods on the left,

All Change Again - 2010

This was when the new entrance opened on the north side of Knightsbridge, a date fbb missed in preparing an earlier blog!

All Change Again - 2022

This was a biggie announced in 2017 and partially delivered, two years late, in 2022. The old main entrance at the junction of Knightsbridge and Sloane Street (which appeared in 1934) ...

... was deemed, by whoever does the the deeming, to be dangerous. The pavement, the head deemer announced, was too narrow. So after approx 90 years of use (when very few potential passengers had been crushed by other passengers or errant road vehicles) it had to go.

Above we see it gone, now part of Burberry's posh emporium. (reminder : fbb must buy that Burberry trenchcoat before the winter arrives ...

... a snip at £1890!)

A new entrance was contrived a little further along Brompton Road ...

... where the pavement had already been widened, part of a remodelling of the Brompton Road and Knightsbridge Junction. There is just a flight of steps ...

... leading to a shiny corridor ...

... in turn taking you to the existing eastern booking hall ...

... which is largely unchanged.

fbb has roughly (VERY roughly) added the new corridor to the existing axonometric plan of the eastern end of the station. It is coloured a tasteful but shocking pink ...

... as it swings round and over the escalators. But, please note dear readers, that all this has been shoehorned into the basements and foundations of the huge block above.

For the record, the block that lies between Sloane Street and Hoopers Court ...

... is called the Knightsbridge Estate and covers about 3.5 acres of prime real estate. Below is the main block under which the main station stuff will be found.

If we spin the Google Earth image we get a view from the  Brompton Road side.

The old main entrance is bottom left; Hoopers Court archway is upper right and the new entrance is the right hand "window" of the white block next to the red brick frontage lower centre.

But the full might of the property extends all the way to Hans Crescent with Harvey Nicks at the east and Harrods at the west.

The Knightsbridge Estate has recently completed a major refurbishment of its asset and its website offers a whole range of good things to the public, but more particularly to the entrepreneurs desirous of a Knightsbridge address.

These recent station upgrades have cost £33.5 million, of which Transport for London provided a modest (?) £12 million.

Cost of Living Crisis, What Cost of Living Crisis? At least TfL got the whole job for a bargain price!

But that includes providing step free access to the platforms; and that will feature in tomorrow's portion of part four blog.

Please note : this blog has been split into two sections because of length and to accommodate the extra item below.

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The Camp Hill (etc.) Flyover : a P. S.

Remember the Midland Red bus about to climb up on to the celebrated Meccano flyover? It might have been one driven by Keith Shayshutt, author of those splendid books about Western and Eastern National bus history.

Keith writes ...

I have enjoyed your recent blog(s) on Camp Hill Flyover - I know it well!

I passed my PSV driving test with Midland Red and immediately signed up as a part time driver at Birmingham’s Digbeth depot. My first duty was as a crew driver with a BMMO type D9 to Malvern on the 144 from Birmingham.

My second duty, two days after passing my test, was being OMO trained on the X50 from Birmingham to Oxford. I departed Birmingham’s Bull Ring Bus Station with a Leyland Leopard, an S24 type ...

... with my Trainer standing in the footwell beside me. I didn’t even know the route. Next I saw in front of me this frightening looking narrow flyover - my trainer said “Up there”. Surely not I thought. Terrified, up I went, and then there was a kink in the middle at the top to get round. My trainer leant across and grabbed the steering wheel and guided me over this terrifying structure!

Thrown in at the deep end, thereafter I learnt quickly. Over the next few years I went over camp Hill flyover many times without incident even with a Daimler Fleetline. But that first time still haunts me!

Thanks Keith for your memory. You wouldn't get fbb up in one of those - ever!

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 Next Knightsbridge blog : Tue 20 May