History - left luggage offices and self service lockers

[bendevlin]

Hi there - am a writing looking to be correct with a plotline. In 1981 were there still left luggage offices at Victoria and Kings Cross rail stations? Were you able to leave a small suitcase for a month? Perhaps there were lockers - with a key you could take? I was 14 at the time - have no real relocation .... in my novel a young man stores his suitcase for a month. Any help would great for those that know. Many thanks, Ben

 

[Ken H]

Hi there - am a writing looking to be correct with a plotline. In 1981 were there still left luggage offices at Victoria and Kings Cross rail stations? Were you able to leave a small suitcase for a month? Perhaps there were lockers - with a key you could take? I was 14 at the time - have no real relocation .... in my novel a young man stores his suitcase for a month. Any help would great for those that know. Many thanks, Ben

There were a load opposite the ticket counter in Leeds Station. Where the TVMs are now. You found one with a key in. Put your stuff in, put a coin in and that allowed you to lock it and take the key. If you used the key to open the door than it wont lock again without a further coin for the fee. Dont think there was a time limit.
Some horrid crimes of people depositing body parts in them and throwing away the key. Nobody noticed till it started to smell!
Think they went when the IRA were bombing railway stations.

 

[Magdalia]

I'm a bit older than you, and I have very vague recollection of the existence of left luggage lockers at major railway stations. But I wouldn't be able to say when they were installed or removed.

I can't remember where they were at Kings Cross or Victoria, and I used both for commuting at various times in the early 1980s. This suggests to me that they had already gone by 1981. Their removal would probably have been linked to the "troubles" in Northern Ireland, so I'd suggest that as a line of research. In the period 1973-76 IRA bombs in London were frequent and quite a few of these were at or near railway stations. Left luggage lockers would have been seen as a significant security risk.

 

[Titfield]

It probably doesnt help but there was a left luggage office at Victoria Coach Station in the 1980s. You handed over your case to the staff, were given a numbered receipt in exchange, paid the fee for how long you wanted the case to be stored and that was it. IIRC it was 15p per day in 1981. You claimed your case back by handing over the receipt paying any excess charges due (ie if it had been left longer than the period originally paid for).

 

[REVUpminster]

We used to have Left Luggage lockers at Embankment, then Charing Cross, and they were paid daily by the user; often vagrants. Every morning at the same time the booking clerks would check the number dial and if still the same as the day before make a new key remove the contents to a store for claiming later by the user on payment of the owed sum. The booking clerks received %10 or even %20 of the revenue; I forget which.

The IRA in the seventies and bomb hoaxes meant the police wanted all lockers open to check the contents and soon all the left luggage lockers at underground stations were removed and their were a lot of them at central London stations.
Left Luggage offices such as at Whitechapel soon closed as well.

 

[The exile]

Don’t think leaving luggage in a locker for a month would ever have been possible- they were time-limited (24 hours?) - and while paying an excess was possible for a bit, they would have been cleared to “lost property” before the month was out (or am I recalling more modern continental versions)

 

[ChiefPlanner]

As I recall, any luggage etc deposited had a search done , before being accepted.

 

[The exile]

If your character is deliberately trying to leave luggage for a month, might sending Red Star from elsewhere and then just not picking it up work? I can remember picking up a trunk from the international parcels office at Victoria in 1989 and the dust on some of the other things suggested they’d been there a while!
Incidentally, the onward journey of that trunk from Victoria to Bath (via Barnham) courtesy of Red Star took longer and was more expensive than its rail journey from central Germany to London!

 

[Magdalia]

As I recall, any luggage etc deposited had a search done , before being accepted.

That's not what I remember. At Cambridge I recall coin operated lockers near the buffer stops of platforms 2 and 3 that were unsupervised.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's not what I remember. At Cambridge I recall coin operated lockers near the buffer stops of platforms 2 and 3 that were unsupervised.

There are still a few of them about e.g. at remote Scottish stations like Fort William and Kyle.

 

[SargeNpton]

My experience is from the late 1970s at Northampton. Left-luggage was part of the parcels office duties. As has been posted above, the unattended lockers were for 24 hours only; any luggage left longer than that was removed, with the owner then have to pay an excess fee.

Over the counter left-luggage was not routinely searched at the time, but we did ask the owner whether it contained any dangerous/prohibited/perishable items.

 

[Gloster]

I think that there were some lockers that were longer than 24-hours, but even they were no more than a couple of days. I have a couple of times (when abroad) arranged to leave a bag at a hotel when I stayed there and collected it again when I stayed there again a fortnight or so later. However, I had used the hotel a few times over the years and so was not a complete unknown.

There probably were places where you could leave luggage for a while, but the legacy of the boyos in the seventies is that with anyone unknown the bag would be likely to be searched.

 

[Clarence Yard]

There were no self use lockers at major London Termini in 1981 - they were all removed in the mid 1970’s. Left luggage then became a Parcels responsibility but was strictly time limited and subject to inspection, usually with a bomb detector - in the case of KX, a small (ish) hand held device which fitted into an attaché case. The detector was made by a firm in Watford. As I lived in Watford, I used to collect and deliver them when they were being serviced/repaired - a nice little overtime earner!

I feel your plot line will need altering as I don’t think you would have been allowed to store such an item in the Parcels for a month. It had become really unfashionable in those wary times for people to leave or accept left luggage so the request would have probably been regarded as very suspicious.

 

[Taunton]

As described above, the left luggage lockers were removed from I think all stations, for many years, due to terrorist issues,.

But there was definitely a left luggage staffed counter at Victoria, as I recall using it one afternoon in what must be Spring 1982 (it was the time of the Falklands war) on returning from Paris. It was a notably popular facility on the arrival of the hovercraft connection from Dover, and a bit of a mob scene on the customer side, which presumably the staff were used to. I said to Mrs Taunton Senior, who was with us, that I would deposit all our several heavy bags, take her to Paddington for a train to Taunton, get the Tube home, get the car out and drive back to Victoria later that evening, and load the bags to go home. Alas just as I am lifting them up to the counter Mrs T Snr says in the piercing voice I had known all my life "Are you sure those will be safe, dear, with all those bottles of drink inside", followed by hand-to-mouth on realising that everyone on both sides of the counter had swivelled eyes to her. It was a moment we smiled at for years afterwards.

Well done counter staff - the bottles were completely safe when collected later!

 

[Whisky Papa]

Older members may recall a TV sitcom called The Upchat Line, in which the main protagonist (played by John Alderton in a serious waste of his talents) kept his belongings in a luggage locker at Marylebone. This was made in 1977, so probably just before they started disappearing from London.

I made a Rail Rover trip around Scotland in early 1982 and I'm sure I used them in some cities. I was definitely surprised when I found there were none at Stranraer, presumably due to the terrorist threat.

 

[bendevlin]

Thank you all for such interesting replies - all useful and appreciated. Ben

If your character is deliberately trying to leave luggage for a month, might sending Red Star from elsewhere and then just not picking it up work? I can remember picking up a trunk from the international parcels office at Victoria in 1989 and the dust on some of the other things suggested they’d been there a while!
Incidentally, the onward journey of that trunk from Victoria to Bath (via Barnham) courtesy of Red Star took longer and was more expensive than its rail journey from central Germany to London!

This is a very clever workaround - thank you - am unfamiliar with Red Star but will investigate. So, a case could be sent for collection, gathering dust for a month! Ben

As described above, the left luggage lockers were removed from I think all stations, for many years, due to terrorist issues,.

But there was definitely a left luggage staffed counter at Victoria, as I recall using it one afternoon in what must be Spring 1982 (it was the time of the Falklands war) on returning from Paris. It was a notably popular facility on the arrival of the hovercraft connection from Dover, and a bit of a mob scene on the customer side, which presumably the staff were used to. I said to Mrs Taunton Senior, who was with us, that I would deposit all our several heavy bags, take her to Paddington for a train to Taunton, get the Tube home, get the car out and drive back to Victoria later that evening, and load the bags to go home. Alas just as I am lifting them up to the counter Mrs T Snr says in the piercing voice I had known all my life "Are you sure those will be safe, dear, with all those bottles of drink inside", followed by hand-to-mouth on realising that everyone on both sides of the counter had swivelled eyes to her. It was a moment we smiled at for years afterwards.

Well done counter staff - the bottles were completely safe when collected later!

Hello Taunton - and thank you. Just to pick away at your memories a bit. Did they not sneak a peek before accepting your case? Do you happen to remember the cost and how long you left it at Victoria (train Station). Thank you, Ben

It probably doesnt help but there was a left luggage office at Victoria Coach Station in the 1980s. You handed over your case to the staff, were given a numbered receipt in exchange, paid the fee for how long you wanted the case to be stored and that was it. IIRC it was 15p per day in 1981. You claimed your case back by handing over the receipt paying any excess charges due (ie if it had been left longer than the period originally paid for).

Hello Titfield - really useful. So, this was an office, rather than lockers. Did they search items before taking them? Don't suppose yu remembered what the receipt looked like - lols! Ben

 

[Taunton]

Hello Taunton - and thank you. Just to pick away at your memories a bit. Did they not sneak a peek before accepting your case? Do you happen to remember the cost and how long you left it at Victoria (train Station). Thank you, Ben

I'm pretty sure bags were not opened for search. Otherwise, apart from delaying the crowd all trying to deposit them, we wouldn't have wanted those bottles of cognac to be apparent! They were just there for the afternoon/evening.

It didn't cost a lot in those times (hence the popularity of the service); just a few years ago it was convenient to leave a large case at Paddington for a few hours at the now privatised bag service, and I was astounded how the price has now skyrocketed.

Sending items by the (then) railway parcels service was a common way for items to be shipped/stored for you. In old times commercial traveller salesmen, without cars, used to send their goods off to various points before starting their weeks' travels, then each day go to the local station, collect that day's items, come back in the evening with anything unsold, ship them back to base, then get the train on to the next place. Once finally back home, go to their local station and collect them all.

 

[Clarence Yard]

The point of issuing those bomb detectors to each major station was to obviate the need for physical searching, which would have been time consuming, intrusive and frankly staff shouldn’t really be going through people’s belongings if they didn’t need to.

My recollection at KX was that the sweep was done after the luggage/parcels had been accepted, not at the counter or entrance with the customer present but different staff may have had other ways of doing the check - it’s all a long time ago now!

 

[WesternLancer]

This is a very clever workaround - thank you - am unfamiliar with Red Star but will investigate. So, a case could be sent for collection, gathering dust for a month! Ben

Picking up on this theme (and if you need specific info ref BR Red Star Parcels service people on here will be able to detail it I am sure) - this personal recollection may be of interest.

In 1988 I and a friend took a car to Europe with the intention of touring about / camping etc - we had AA continental motorcar travel insurance which provided for generous cover if things went wrong. They did. The car was c15 years old and a mechanical failure in Germany resulted in a seized engine. The insurance provided for repatriation of the car / belongings and onward travel by other means. We opted to buy all line rail rover tickets for Germany and Italy, buy rucksacks to carry the belongings we needed and could physically carry, and box up the rest of the possessions to send the rest of the stuff back to the UK (empty car left in location for AA's low loader to collect). Insurers paid for all of this - even the rucksacks IIRC!

I seem to recall (unless I am totally muddled up!!) the best option to send the boxed up belongings back to UK was by rail from the local station where we had broken down in Germany. They seemed unable to send these to any UK station with a parcels office, but they could be sent to London Victoria station - where they were held for us for about 4 or 5 weeks until we got home to the UK and then went to Victoria to collect them. I suppose they could have been subjected to some sort of checks/ X ray checks / customs searches etc during transportation.

As an aside I think the whole thing was one of the biggest insurance claims I have ever made! I noted some years later that the equivalent AA continental insurance was no longer was available on vehicles more than, I think, 10 years old!

 

[The exile]

This is a very clever workaround - thank you - am unfamiliar with Red Star but will investigate. So, a case could be sent for collection, gathering dust for a month! Ben

Not officially, of course!

 

[bendevlin]

I'm pretty sure bags were not opened for search. Otherwise, apart from delaying the crowd all trying to deposit them, we wouldn't have wanted those bottles of cognac to be apparent! They were just there for the afternoon/evening.

It didn't cost a lot in those times (hence the popularity of the service); just a few years ago it was convenient to leave a large case at Paddington for a few hours at the now privatised bag service, and I was astounded how the price has now skyrocketed.

Sending items by the (then) railway parcels service was a common way for items to be shipped/stored for you. In old times commercial traveller salesmen, without cars, used to send their goods off to various points before starting their weeks' travels, then each day go to the local station, collect that day's items, come back in the evening with anything unsold, ship them back to base, then get the train on to the next place. Once finally back home, go to their local station and collect them all.

So interesting - thanks

 

[trebor79]

I'm a bit older than you, and I have very vague recollection of the existence of left luggage lockers at major railway stations. But I wouldn't be able to say when they were installed or removed.

I can't remember where they were at Kings Cross or Victoria, and I used both for commuting at various times in the early 1980s. This suggests to me that they had already gone by 1981.

There was definitely left luggage facilities at Kings Cross as I can recall the attendant scamming me out of £10 there.

 

[Magdalia]

There was definitely left luggage facilities at Kings Cross as I can recall the attendant scamming me out of £10 there.

Interesting, can you remember where in the station the left luggage was located?

 

[trebor79]

Interesting, can you remember where in the station the left luggage was located?

You entered from outside, at the front towards the right hand side of the building. I think it was in the "temporary" building that occupied what is now a plaza in front of the train shed.
I also have recollection of a left luggage facility that was located inside the station, you went down some stairs, there was a bag search and then you took your bag to a locker, and obtained a printed ticket with the code to unlock it when you returned. Distinctly remember that the ribbon in the printer must have been very worn as you could barely see what was printed on it!

 

[Clarence Yard]

Now you are striking some bells - I think I need to see some pictures of the 1970’s concourse to refresh my memory but I am wondering what was on the rhs (coming from the Euston Road) past where Smiths was latterly - I should really know but it’s all too long ago now! I know at one stage there would have been no public access to any lockers and any external lockers (which I can’t remember at KX post 1976) would have been removed.

The date will be crucial - 1981 would have been quite a strict era for security.

 

[Magdalia]

You entered from outside, at the front towards the right hand side of the building. I think it was in the "temporary" building that occupied what is now a plaza in front of the train shed.
I also have recollection of a left luggage facility that was located inside the station, you went down some stairs, there was a bag search and then you took your bag to a locker, and obtained a printed ticket with the code to unlock it when you returned. Distinctly remember that the ribbon in the printer must have been very worn as you could barely see what was printed on it!

Now you are striking some bells - I think I need to see some pictures of the 1970’s concourse to refresh my memory but I am wondering what was on the rhs (coming from the Euston Road) past where Smiths was latterly - I should really know but it’s all too long ago now! I know at one stage there would have been no public access to any lockers and any external lockers (which I can’t remember at KX post 1976) would have been removed.

The date will be crucial - 1981 would have been quite a strict era for security.

The "1970s concourse" opened on 25 June 1973 and closed on 30 October 2012. Railway Magazine August 1973 has some pictures, though I'm not sure that they help much!

The concourse was a strange shape, a bit like half of a hexagon. The ticket office and travel centre were on the St Pancras side. On the Pentonville Road side there's two shops, which also face out onto what was then called the pavement, and what we now call the piazza or plaza. This is where, in the 1980s, I remember WH Smug and Casey Jones.

Is that where we're talking about? If yes, there's not much space behind the counter.

As for going downstairs, apart from the route down to the deep level tube, I only remember the stairs down to the gents toilet halfway along platform 8.

 

[Rover]

This is a very clever workaround - thank you - am unfamiliar with Red Star but will investigate. So, a case could be sent for collection, gathering dust for a month! Ben

I worked in Red Star, you could do this yes, but there was a time limit for collection, it was over 30 years ago so I can't remember how long now, one month seems about right but I can't be sure, after that there was a storage charge per day but again I can't remember how much. The smaller stations also dealt with left luggage which in the late 80s was charged at £1.50 per day. If a parcel remained uncollected after the time allowed we were authorised to open it to ascertain the consignee or senders details.

 

[bendevlin]

I worked in Red Star, you could do this yes, but there was a time limit for collection, it was over 30 years ago so I can't remember how long now, one month seems about right but I can't be sure, after that there was a storage charge per day but again I can't remember how much. The smaller stations also dealt with left luggage which in the late 80s was charged at £1.50 per day. If a parcel remained uncollected after the time allowed we were authorised to open it to ascertain the consignee or senders details.

Thank you so much - am now armed with two options - Victoria left luggage office and Red Star collections! B