Blackwall in East London is named after a 14th-century or earlier dark-coloured, protective river wall built along the Thames to protect the low-lying marshlands of the Isle of Dogs from flooding.
Why is it called 'Blackwall'? The tunnel takes its name from the historic area Blackwall, on the north side of the Thames. As early as the 1300s, there was an artificial bank here protecting the marshland from the river water. The name may have come from the dark colour of the river wall.
The Blackwall Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London, England, linking the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and part of the A102 road.
Originally used by horse-drawn carts, cyclists, and pedestrians, as vehicular traffic grew so did congestion in the tunnel, forcing authorities to build a second Blackwall Tunnel, which opened to the public in 1967.
Black Wall Street Established in Tulsa, Oklahoma | Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre | History
How many corpses are in the Thames?
There isn't a fixed number of bodies in the Thames, but around 30 bodies are recovered annually, with figures ranging from the low 20s to over 30 in recent years, primarily due to suicides or accidents, though some are from unexplained deaths. The Metropolitan Police Marine Policing Unit (MPU) handles recoveries, but other agencies like the RNLI also assist.
To help spread traffic levels more evenly and reduce congestion, a peak charge applies during the busiest times (06:00-10:00 northbound and 16:00-19:00 southbound weekdays). An off-peak charge applies at all other times and during weekends 06:00 to 22:00, and is only available to customers registered with Auto Pay.
The Blackwall Tunnel isn't straight because its bends were designed to align with existing wharves (Northumberland & Ordnance) and avoid obstacles like a major sewer and buildings, but a popular legend also says they were added to stop horses from bolting at the daylight at the end, a common practice in Victorian tunnels, although the actual reasons were more complex engineering and land use decisions.
What were to happen if an earthquake were to strike along the English Channel and severed the Chunnel? Water would seep in little by little until the pressure is too great to withstand in the structure. The structure would then collapse/explode and ruin the underground connection between Britain and France.
The tour now includes a trip down to the White House basement where you will enter an unmarked storage closet that leads to the secret White House tunnel system. Visitors will have access to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) which is located within a hardened bunker deep below the East Wing.
At the execution, as Mornay stands before the noose, Blackwall steps up to the platform, admitting to have given the order to Mornay, revealing his true identity as Thom Rainier and impersonation of Blackwall. He is arrested by the guards and brought to the Val Royeaux prison.
idioms. break the fourth wall, to violate the conventional separation between the world of a play, movie, television show, video game, or literary work and the world inhabited by the viewer. The actor's periodic asides to the audience break the fourth wall and elicit much-needed laughs.
Blackwall was historically part of the Hamlet of Poplar, an autonomous area of the Manor and Ancient Parish of Stepney in Middlesex. The Hamlet of Poplar became an independent parish in 1817. The civil parish of Poplar had a vestry committee which organised services such as poor relief and road maintenance.
As with many ghost stories, the haunting of the Blackwall Tunnel is rooted in tragedy. During its construction, it's said that seven workers lost their lives. These untimely deaths planted the seeds of spectral tales that would haunt the tunnel for decades.
Formerly an independent kingdom, Cornwall was annexed by the Anglo-Saxon kings in the 9th century AD, to be integrated into the English feudal administration. Since then, and until today, it has retained a distinct territorial identity: first as an earldom, and then as a duchy.
What does the Eurotunnel look like underwater? This may be a disappointing answer, but you can't actually see the sea from the Eurostar. When you go through the tunnel and look out of the window, all you can see is your reflection in the glass because it's quite dark outside.
Luck and quick action saved the dam and thousands of lives that year, but it isn't always so. In 1975, the Banqiao Dam in China collapsed, and an estimated 171,000 lives were lost, the worst dam failure in history.
How did they build the Eurotunnel without water getting in?
They built the Eurotunnel without massive flooding by digging deep under the seabed in strong chalk, using giant waterproof Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) that simultaneously excavated and lined the tunnel with concrete rings, and by injecting grout to seal cracks, with some water leakage managed by pumps and drainage. Key methods included creating pressure-balanced tunnels, using specialized TBMs to manage wet conditions, and ensuring the tunnel structure could withstand pressure, even allowing for controlled leakage.
The original Blackwall Tunnel took 6 years to build, and when it opened in 1897, it was the longest underwater tunnel in the world. It was an expensive process, with 600 people rehoused in order to clear the site in Greenwich, and total costs reaching £1.4million.
All buses are zero-emission at the tailpipe. For the safety of both cyclists and drivers, cycling and walking through the Silvertown and Blackwall tunnels is not be permitted. Find out more about the cycle shuttle.
Petrol cars: Must meet Euro 4 emissions standards. Diesel cars: Must meet Euro 6 emissions standards. Motorcycles and mopeds: Must meet Euro 3 emissions standards. Electric vehicles (EVs): Fully exempt from ULEZ charges, as they don't produce any emissions.
