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It s hard to believe that there could be any secrets left to discover in London. After all, it s teeming with 10million people and is one of the most visited cities in the world.
But this mesmerising metropolis hides plenty of unexpected treasures, as new book Abandoned London (www.amberbooks.co.uk) reveals.
Written by Katie Wignall - a London Blue Badge tourist guide and founder of the Look Up London history blog and walking tour company - the tome features images and detailed historical descriptions of more than 200 sites left to ruin. In it you can read about the subterranean Finsbury Park underground reservoir, a space capable of holding five million gallons of water and today used as an occasional movie location; the remnants of Highgate s overground steam railway station, now a protected bat habitat, and the Haggerston public baths, part of an early 20th century building programme devised to improve London s hygiene.
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Environmental activists are calling on a new tunnel under the River Thames to be scrapped despite construction already being underway on the £2billion project - dubbing it London Mayor Sadiq Khan s dirty little secret .
The Silvertown Tunnel in South East London is expected to open in 2025 having got the green light from the Government three years ago – but it has faced major criticism from local residents and green campaigners.
Transport for London first proposed the tunnel in 2005 to help ease the burden on the Blackwall Tunnel, through which up to 100,000 vehicles pass a day, and it was backed by Boris Johnson when he became mayor in 2008.
Crossrail has sparked fury after it s mural designed to celebrate East London made light of crime and murders in the area.
Angry residents blasted the £1million artwork as derogatory and a waste of money - which could have gone to community groups.
The 1.2-mile mural - which is thought to be the biggest in Europe - will run alongside the Elizabeth Line track.
Locals have expressed outrage over a section of artwork on Newham Trackside Wall in Woolwich, which included a poem that referenced the area s murder rate
The poem, Like A Village, which forms part of the £1m artwork, references the area s crime rate