We often think of railway stations in terms of what we can see – trains, people, shops etc.

But how often do we see what really goes on at a station and view the parts which are normally out of sight?

I was fortunate enough to see behind the scenes at Brighton railway station on a two-hour tour as part of the Brighton Fringe.

We met our tour guide outside the main entrance to the station.

Jackie Marsh-Hobbs is an independent lecturer and tour guide who has been running these tours since 2001.

She explained that this was a special tour. It was the first since Covid and the first to be held during the week. Previous tours took place at weekends but have been switched to weekdays because of the large numbers of people using Brighton station at weekends for travel to nearby Falmer for Brighton & Hove Albion football matches.

And there was another very special aspect to the tour I was on.

It took place on 11 May and Jackie explained that purely by luck it happened to be the anniversary of the opening of Brighton station. The first train to leave Brighton was at 3pm on 11 May 1840 heading west to Shoreham-by-Sea.

(Note: the line to London opened in September 1841 and the line to Lewes opened in June 1846).

Jackie explained the architecture of the station and had some old station plans and drawings to show how it was built and extended into the hillside. The current blue and white colours for the pillars date from the 1990s when Connex had the franchise to run trains from Brighton.

Then the tour really began as we were given access to places normally locked up.

I must have walked past a doorway at the station hundreds – if not thousands – of times without thinking for a moment what lay behind.

Here were signs of the many changes of rail operator in the station’s 183 years of operation.

You needed to look down and look up at the same time to take it all in.

On the ground was a mat with the Network South East branding.

The doorway led to a cantilevered staircase with beautiful ironwork and fresh blue paint.

From there, we were led to a doorway in one corner of the station. It all felt very ‘Alice in Wonderland’ as we headed through a door, down some stairs and along a narrow corridor.

Where was this all leading, we wondered?

The answer was to a wide area beneath the station. It was cold and dark but we could just make out some shafts of light.

Here lay abandoned bikes, discarded supermarket trolleys, an old filing cabinet with the drawers open and hanging loose, lost walking sticks and umbrellas – all sorts of bric a brac.

I couldn’t help but wonder about the personal stories behind each of those items.

Who had ridden those bicycles? Where had they gone to and from? Why had they abandoned them at a station?

What information had been stored and locked away in those drawers? What details had they once kept safe?

Who had left their walking stick or umbrella on the train? Had they tried to reclaim them from lost property or just written them off as never-to-be-found?

From down here, we could hear the rumble of trains above and roar of car traffic outside. It’s not the sort of place where you would want to be trapped – too many ghosts in this subterranean world.

So it was with a sense of relief that we retraced our steps and back out onto the concourse – like Alice returning to normal height above ground.

Our tour took us on to more secrets behind doorways.

Anyone who used Brighton station before 2005 will be familiar with where this doorway (and another similar one the other side of the main entrance/exit) led to. Millions of pairs of feet must have trod on the beautiful mosaic tiles on the floor on the way to the Victorian toilets beneath the station.

Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed down so had to stand at the top of the stairs to take photographs. Others on the tour had vivid memories of using the toilets in days gone by.

Then it was outside and round the side of the station past the former goods yard and through more doorways and narrow corridors to a secret tunnel running underneath the station.

The puddle on the floor and the poor state of the flooring meant we were only able to get a glimpse of the former use of this part of the station.

Jackie told us it had been used as “war rooms” during World War II with a telephone, telegraph systems and kitchen – effectively a form of air raid shelter to enable the railway staff to continue to operate in relative safety during bombing raids.

She pointed out a set of green metal doors on a slider high up outside. These were covers to protect against shrapnel. The dark green paint dates the area to Southern Railway before nationalisation.

The tunnel – had we been able to go down it – leads to a rifle range which is still in active use by railway staff. How many passengers walking along the platforms to catch their train are aware that beneath their feet might be people shooting rifles at a target?

Back outside in the sunshine, Jackie wrapped up the tour with more historical and architectural information which was illustrated with more photos from the past.

The two hours just flew by – and we had only really scratched the surface of the secrets which Brighton station holds.

I was back at Brighton station the week after the tour and kept pointing out the doorways and openings around the building. My companion must have got fed up with all my questions:

“Do you know what’s down there?”

“Do you know where that leads?”

“Guess what’s behind that door?”

I now know so much more about the history of Brighton station and will never view it again in the same light (or dark if it’s the areas below platform level).

No white rabbits, mad hatters or Cheshire cats – just tunnels, tiles and trolleys to tell the story of the people who have walked before us.

:: Thanks to Jackie Marsh-Hobbs for conducting the tour, Southern Railway for granting access and Brighton Fringe for organising. All the station tours for this year’s fringe are sold out. The reintroduction of the tours after a four-year gap and the positive reaction from tour participants may lead to further tours at other times so watch out for any announcements.