Windrush in Wandsworth
Caribbean migrants who arrived on MV Empire Windrush ship in 1948 had nowhere to live due to a lack of housing post-World War II.
The solution? To house 236 of them in a war bunker, and Tube ventilation shaft underneath Clapham South Tube. They paid for the pleasure of living underground.
They arrived on the MV Empire Windrush, a passenger liner that docked at Kingston, Jamaica in 1948 on the way to Britain from Australia, in order to pick up serviceman on leave.
A new law that gave those living in British colonies the right to citizenship was soon to pass in Parliament and enterprising Jamaicans seized the opportunity to come to the "mother country", many expecting to stay for only a few years. There was lots of room available on the ship so places on the Windrush were advertised in local newspapers: £48 cabin class; £28 troopdeck. It was massively oversubscribed.
Just over 1,000 passengers arrived at Tilbery docks, east of London, with just under 700 of them intending to disembark and set up shop in the capital. But there was a problem: post-World War II London had a shortage of accomodation because of widespread bombing during the Blitz.
Going underground
And so began Wandsworth's connection to the "Windrush Generation" as officials figured out that they had room in an underground shelter connected to Clapham South Tube station, which has been kitted out with bunk beds and washing facilities so it could be used as a bomb shelter. And so 236 migrants were bussed to the shelter and offered food and lodging underground for six shillings and sixpence a week.
As you might expect, it wasn't exactly luxurious: the shelter was windowless, cramped and noisy. Trains serving the Tube station rattled overhead. One resident described it as "primitive and unwelcoming, like a sparsely furnished rabbit's warren".
Many of the new Clapham residents soon made their way to the nearest employment exchange on Coldharbour Lane in Brixton and started to settle in the area, leaving Wandsworth and entering Lambeth and bringing with them a vibrant Afro-Caribbean culture that still resonates in the area.
Visit the shelter
The shelter is still there on the corner of Clapham Junction, with a plaque commemorating the role it played in housing a generation of Carribean immigrants. Some of it is now used as an underground grow center. The London Transport Museum has opened up the deep-level part of it for tourists to explore on guided tours.