The subterranean passage below Albertopolis

Heading to The Royal College of Music last week, it was a bit wet and windy* above ground so I made use of the pedestrian tunnel that links South Kensington station to approx mid-way up Exhibition Road. 

The tunnel is accessed directly from the station's ticket hall. At the station end there is there's a sharp right turn. On previous occasions I have been busy dodging groups of tourists and noisy schoolkids, but this time I happened to notice a brass marker set within the floor ahead of me:

Hmmm... interesting... I hadn't seen this name before. However, I have spotted a couple of Aberdeen Adamant signs in my travels such as the one below (where was this?!) – there also a similar one in Crouch end near the YMCA). 

I've paired it here with a pic from Borough High Street in Southwark, where embedded brass letters are gradually disappearing.

Back to the tunnel... I tried a quick online search for Roadamant but so far have found nothing. The address, 65 London Wall, is at the time of writing shrouded in scaffolding and plastic. Fingers crossed that the gorgeous substantial Art Nouveau railings that surround this huge building will be retained after renovations are complete. When/if I find out more information about the company I will add it here.

Along the same dog-leg section of the passage, just a few metres ahead, there is another company name embedded into the floor, bearing the name of Wilkes & Co.

Again, as per Roadamant and Nettlefolds from my last post, this is also name I have never noticed before. Devonshire Square is adjacent to Petticoat Lane market and today the site is mostly high rise glass-covered buildings.

Turning left into the main long stretch of the tunnel, the same Wilkes & Co markers are repeated at intervals. Then, at the entrance to The Natural History Museum gardens, another version is included which shows more information:

I've discovered that Wilke's Metal Flooring Co Ld (not Ltd., how nice!) seemed to work in conjunction with, or be one and the same as The Eureka Flooring Company, being as both companies were based in Devonshire Square and are shown a contractors for the grooved and channelled flooring installed at ground level within stable buildings that were at 63 Clerkenwell Road shown here in 2008 but demolished and replaced a few years later. Again, more information about this company needed. 

The quality of the tiles along the tunnel is impressive. I kept my eye out for maker's marks on them but, although I am pretty sure there must be at least one bit of evidence along there, I didn't manage to spot anything that day. Mind you, I only started looking from half way and I suspect any marks might be at the station end. I will check next time I am there.

Something I did notice, however, was the strange indentations within the skirtings. These are approx 40 paces apart, say 32 metres. They are an irregular elliptical shape and look to have been infilled. I mused that they possibly be access points for some kind of chain/pulley system or cables. Or, possibly, these are holes left where brackets were removed, leading me to wonder if, due to the size and shape of this tunnel, it might have been created for vehicles of some kind. A niggle in my brain told me I had read about that somewhere. 

Well, whoop-de-doo – it turns out that Ian has already written about this subway here, although he hasn't made reference to Roadamant or the elliptical recesses.

Any further info is most welcome. 

*Fun with words. This is windy as in the weather, not as per a country lane which, on a blustery day, could be described as a windy windy lane or a windy winding lane. I am reminded of Windy Miller who lived in a windmill – Camberwick Green's opening credits feature a little character winding a handle to show each page of information. This should not be confused with winding a baby.