Unseen London photos – London galleries

Midland Bank

It’s been nine years since any banknotes were dished out at the old Midland Bank on Poultry – the building is currently being redeveloped into a hotel, due to open in 2017. In the basement sits this huge vault with a 25-ton door, guarding 3,800 private deposit boxes. ‘It’s an awesome chunk of metal that’s gone rusty, but swings open and closed very easily,’ says Dazeley. ‘I expect they’ll probably turn it into a bar, won’t they?’ A pretty safe bet, we’d say.

Repton Boxing Club

‘This is a room that smells exactly how it looks’, describes Dazeley of the Bethnal Green club, which is housed within an old Victorian bathhouse. As well as still being a working club, Repton is regularly used as a location for films and photoshoots (including the poker scene in ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’). World Middleweight champ Darren Barker and former Olympic gold medallist Audley Harrison are among those who began their slugging careers in this artfully decaying sweatbox.

Battersea Power Station

There are two control rooms within Battersea Power Station: A (pictured above) and B (on the next slide). With its marble walls and art deco flourishes, the older Control Room A is the real looker. ‘I wasn’t alone when I shot this,’ reveals Dazeley. ‘I was surrounded by thousands of pigeons, rats, families of foxes and falcons.’ The power station is in the process of being redeveloped into luxury flats. Maybe check they’ve sorted out the wildlife situation before putting the deposit down, eh?

Daily Express Building

The opulent former HQ of the tabloid newspaper is consistently among the biggest hits during London’s annual Open House Weekend – which might have something to do with those snake-shaped handrails. ‘It’s wonderful to think that someone who worked in the media thought it was a good idea to have a serpent in the lobby!’ says Dazeley. Following the departure of the Express in 1989, the building is now occupied by investment banking firm Goldman Sachs. Still a pretty apt symbol, then.

The Armoury at the Honourable Artillery Company

Jiu-jitsu not bad-ass enough for you? Get yourself over to the Honourable Artillery Company on City Road. Here, mere metres from the twirly ‘taches of Media Land, you’ll find members of the Territorial Army learning how to deal out damage with maces and pikes. ‘It’s supposedly the oldest regiment in the world, except for perhaps the Vatican army,’ says Peter.

Tower Bridge

These days, the bascules of the city's most famous river crossing are operated by computers, hydraulics and counterweights, but back in the day it was all powered by steam. Though they've not been used since 1976, many of the steam-age instruments – such as these levers and gauges and the boiler on the next slide – remain in place for posterity.