We're Growing Underground

Those pounding the pavements above might not realise it, but acres of micro herbs are being grown deep beneath the streets of south London, finds Julia Platt Leonard

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WHAT do you do with a disused, underground Second World War bomb shelter? London is dotted with them—eight in total—each built to house up to 8,000 people. In one of these shelters, a stone’s throw from Clapham Common Tube station in south London, two stairways spiral downwards, forming a double helix, leading to a set of 1,640ft-long tunnels built nearly 140ft below ground.

The tunnels are large (70,000sq ft), watertight (they’re constructed of steel and concrete), maintain a steady temperature and have a powerful ventilation system. Indeed, they had everything needed to keep Londoners safe during bombing raids. Strangely enough, however, these characteristics are also ideal for growing sweet-pea shoots, baby coriander and rocket as well as a score of other micro herbs.

Today, this shelter—almost 80 years after it first opened— is busy again and home to Growing Underground, the world’s first underground farm. The unusual concept was dreamt up by two friends—Steven Dring, who was previously in logistics for a furniture company, and former filmmaker Richard Ballard.

The pair met in secondary school and, on meeting again later in London, discovered a shared concern about climate change and environmental sustainability. ‘We’d sit in pubs and argue about the future: cities, employment, democratisation of energy and smart grids, as well as water and food scarcity,’ Mr Dring recalls.