Walking Through The Rotherhithe Tunnel
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- The Rotherhithe Tunnel is just for cars... right? Wrong! There is a pavement that allows pedestrians through it too. But why would you want to? And what's it like walking through there? We ventured down there to find out.
Note: it's not a good idea to walk through the tunnel if you suffer from breathing difficulties.
Walk the Rotherhithe Tunnel once in your life!
Okay, I'll just wait 10 years when most cars are already electric and avoid the pollution.
sorry for you, we think you must wait EV car at least 20 tears...
@@miyamotomiyamoto5705 a
I want to pressure wash those walls so badly...
Close it for a day to wash the walls and blow all the bad air out - then have the marathon routed through there :)
Gustav Svärd your right
The tunnel goes on for ages
No offence to the girl but I would suggest never walking through this tunnel and avoiding it at all costs if you're a pedestrian. How she made it through ok I don't know, I guess because I was dithering around taking photos. But I had to start running with my t-shirt over my face as I started to feel sick, dizzy and got a headache. The fumes are far far worse than she's making out. A stranger actually stopped in his car and told me to get in as he saw how badly affected I was, and drove me to the other side. I sat for quite a while at Limehouse feeling faint and rather ill. AVOID, that tunnel is pure poison and should be off limits to pedestrians. Here's to the new bridge they're proposing!
Just walked through this today - it's nowhere near as dangerous as a lot of the comments here are suggesting. The fumes/pollution are pretty unpleasant though.
out of generosity they should reopen the intermediate entrances.
I've cycled through Rotherhithe Tunnel, albeit about 50 years ago. I've also ridden through on a low-powered moped, holding up all the traffic as I crawled along in the road. I don't think I'd try anything like that today, though. When cycling I always cycled on the pavement; I think everybody did!
It was fun when you first entered because the extraction fans tended to suck you in towards the centre. However, once you passed the centre, the opposite applied and it was like trying to cycle up a steep hill. I believe there's a slight downward gradient towards the centre, too, which added to this effect.
They've changed the lighting since I was last there. There used to be wall-mounted lights on either side rather than the centrally-mounted ones which appear to be there now.
Yes, it was incredibly noisy and I dread to think what the fumes and pollution would have done to my lungs. My Dad used to cycle through this tunnel 6 days a week, morning and evening, living in East London and working in the South. Can't have done him very much good, either.
They was hard back then though, not like the pathetic babies now.
Oh god don't walk through that. When driving, I close all my windows as the fumes are horrendous. The tunnel itself is tight and so many vehicles clip the kerb. There's a reason why no one walks the tunnel.
Someone at Londonist is trying to off Daniela, only reason why you would send anyone that way is because you hate them.
I think the noise alone would drive me crazy
I ran through here a few times when I lived in Bermondsey. It's really not pleasant. Somebody once through a McDonalds pack of sauce at me from a car while I was running through. The only time in 8 years anything's ever been thrown at me while running. The footpath is so narrow and the two corners are very tight, and yes it is hard to breathe. Once a driver stopped beside me in the tunnel and asked if I wanted a ride through to the other side. I'm glad I did it but I really prefer going the bit extra and running down to cross at Tower Bridge.
What flavour sauce?
Sweet and Sour from memory!!
The only other time I walked through the tunnel was when I got to Bermondsey Tube Station to get to my job at Canary Wharf, found the Jubilee Line closed due to train stuck in the tunnel and so just walked to work through the Rotherhithe Tunnel because I was too cheap to pay the 1 or 2 GBP for the Hilton ferry.
somebody threw at you whilst running, nice! there are some lovely human beings at large!!
For tunnel running, I'd recommend starting at Woolwich, then returning via Greenwich foot tunnels. Traffic free, so more pleasant air!
It's confusing to keep swapping between metres and yards.
Welcome to Great Britain. A country where you buy petrol in litres, but work out how much petrol you need to buy in miles-to-the-gallon.
Not sure if that better or worse than Canada's "Everything is officially metric, but we'll build everything in imperial"
Mixing systems keeps people's minds sharp. Maybe.
Also creates gliders aircraft of big Boeings ("The Gimli Glider")
The Gimili Glider: Why it is important for people to be well trained in both systems, and understand how and why the values are different, and how to properly convert between the two.
Also see: Mars Climate Orbiter
The Gimili Glider: Why it is important for people to use one and only one system... so long as it's the same system.
Also see: Mars Climate Orbiter
Tried walking through about two weeks ago with a friend and half way through the police picked us up stating it to dangerous.
By all the health and safety in this county how is that possible to allow people walking in the tunnel when is quit clear not an healthy place
Wouldn't recommend anyone walking through this tunnel, first is very polluted, second it's too narrow for the cars and dangerous to any pedestrian walking in.
S-tech yeah
I don't really want to be that kind of pedant but the Victorian era finished with the death of Victoria in 1901. Those would be Edwardian stairs.
Fun video! I've run through there a few times (usually on my way home from Parkrun in Southwark park). It's a bit grim in terms of air quality as she says, but in terms of whimsical fun, it is something!
She's braver than she looks, personally it would give me the willies but then I hate walking anywhere. :>(
far better go for a walk in a park ;)
What! and risk getting sunburnt or frost bitten, or both, after all this is London we are talking about. :>(
If you are scared to walk then go see someone cuz that’s not normal I love walking better than driving, I take public transport as well it makes me feel more part of the city and also I don’t have to look for places to park
Hello from the other side
What's it like over there?
Londonist Ltd I've been on that tunnel about 4 months ago
Hi from 2017 amd lol
Would like to know more about the the emergency exits - where do they come out? Are there photos?
have a look on Google maps you can see evidence of the ventilation shafts well two of them anyways.
Rotherhithe: Corner of Brunel Road and Canon Beck Rd.
Shadwell: in the corner of King Edward VII Memorial Park.
paintedpilgrim - Thanks very much. will check them out.
Looks like great fun! I'll do this when I'm back in the UK.
I admire your bravery of walking through Rotherhithe Tunnel. I would never do that as it's too dangerous. Breathing looks difficult with all the traffic fumes.
Annoying pedant point here; the graphic added of round sign with a pedestrian figure in it actually means pedestrians are PROHIBITED. This, as seen, is not the case in the tunnel.
That is a remarkably small footpath!
it was never expected to be a massive pedestrian route given that close by you had the original foot tunnel designed by Brunel which links shadwell to Rotherhithe and is less than 400m away from the entrance to this tunnel.
You also have Tower Bridge and Greenwich Foot Tunnel a short bus ride away too.
Yeah. I'd fear another pedestrian coming from the opposite direction. That's not going to be the most comfortable of passes.
Statistics say about 20 pedestrians per day use the tunnel. I wouldn't be too worried about this happening :)
It's a really small tunnel even for a car. It's supper narrow. Btw I presume the reference the poster above made about the other foot tunnel between shadwell and rotherhite is the one that's become part of the london overground (formerly the east london line)? My city geopraphy's always been a bit rubbish
It's an inhospitable place for people!! You can taste the diesel. I once cycled it - never again! /watch?v=CBX8fmU5HAM
In the 1980s a tile fell and damaged a vehicle. In the weekends that followed, gangs of men had to tap millions of tiles to check for looseness.
I contemplated the walk a couple of years ago - I reached the Rotherhithe portal and thought - no thanks, so well done for risking your health - Also when we drove through at 20 MPH, we were tailgated, so guess speeding is an issue along with the air pollution...
Wow, I was recently thinking what it would be like to walk through there. Great job recording the stuff most of us wouldn't dare to try :)
Did this one night in 1978 to reach the Mayflower. God, I needed that pint.
Hope it was on them!
Toxic fumes will be in your system equivalent to smoking 5000 cigarettes crazy
I've been through it on a motorbike many times, really nice thing to do, but I would rather shove wasps up my arse than walk through the tunnel 🤣
I walked through with my girlfriend in the 1970s. Traffic was just as heavy then, and a lot dirtier. We had no money or television, so exploring was our second favourite hobby.
love London :) great video :)
Only time I've been in that tunnel was on a bus. The traffic was completely stationary, took about an hour to get through, was so unpleasant it still makes me feel a bit off just remembering it. Can't imagine walking through there.
wow, she has such an amazing smile, should be only a matter of time before she becomes a toothpaste commercial star.
Brave girl all the fumes, yuk
Saw someone jogging through the tunnel today. Rather them than me 😷
I'd walk through there
"I just got off the Underground" Tube coming back to the East London Line confirmed.
I forgot this was a londonist video
Who's this girl, is she new? haha no offense just a serious question
Should have worn a mask 😷
Great video, keep them coming!
Grateful for your support :)
I watched another geezer do this yesterday and regretted it. Strangely enough not something I have ever fancied doing as I get headaches in enclosed spaces but I did like the Victorian staircases.
A true Brit . Brave lass. Not too good for her lungs, the dreaded tunnel. I'll give it a miss.
I will walk through that tunnel when they allow only electric vehicles and cycles to use it, and not before. She should have had an oxygen supply with her.
Would have been interesting to go through there with an oxygen metre, just to see how low it gets, toward the middle. That would explain whether the O2 runs low there, or whether Daniela's just unfit :-P
Might be ozone, actually, making her chest feel heavy. O3 is produced by hydrocarbon combustion, and lingers at ground level, irritating the lungs and eventually causing pulmonary disease. So who in the Londonist Office wants to volunteer to go down there and test for it? :-D
If you like your lungs, it's not a place to go. Was bad enough on a motorcycle.
Yeah, i wouldn't volunteer. I got chest cramps just visiting Hong Kong, when i passed through there, on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I have no idea how the locals cope.
If you don't stick to the speed limit it can be very dangerous as the curve in the tunnel creeps up on you
This video is informative but the speaking of Daniela needs to be a little more smooth flowing
White van 'shout-out' at 1:42!!
I am a true Londoner and I thank you for walking through the tunnel on my behalf!
I used to live close to the Limehouse end, and have known for a long time that's legal to both walk and cycle through it. I've never done so, and never will.
did you go to the brunnel museum at rotheride small place but worth a visit.
Whatever possessed you?
I used to walk this tunnel back in the early 80s, from East London to South London on a regular basis to visit my girlfriend in Rotherhithe. This was in the days of diesel and leaded petrol. I'm healthy today and doing very well , thank you 😀
Do you still have this girlfriend, or was she put off by the fumes brought with you on your visits?
@@haweater1555 yeh. What do you think 😀
😊
I remember the London bus route 82 going through the tunnel Surrey docks to limehouse back in the 60s when I was a kid living near the Surrey docks
The exhaust fumes must be so bad .
I'm a true Londoner and I go through on a Motorcycle occasionally which is unpleasant enough, screw walking through it, I may be a Londoner but I aint thick.
Hmm, yes: not the healthiest, bracing walk! But I used to live not far from there, in Bermondsey.
That van you see at 3:19 would now incur an overweight fine. Since you were there, the maximum gross weight has been reduced to 2 tonnes. (I know; I got a ticket for a van that was spec at just over that weight!)
And the spiral staircases were open in the 1960's; not sure exactly when they closed. They used to be a favourite Sunday afternoon walk, my late father took us on.
You didn't manage to sell it much. Maybe with a car, tho...
99% of cars have catalytic converters these days, most of the harmful toxins are severely reduced. Doubt it'd take more than a day off your entire life if you walked through three times a day for two decades. There's more harmful substances in cigarettes and people breath those toxins directly into their lungs, sometimes 30 cigarettes a day and they still live long lives if you take into account the age range of smokers and consider most of them started smoking as teens. I'd say that the person in the video is overreacting massively, that soot probably builds over years and its actually quite a small amount when you realize that over 30,000 vehicles pass through each day.
The current population of London according to Google is 8.63 Million, if you say 1200 are currently dying (not sure what you call dying, are they going to die in a week, a month, 10 years? please specify) of pollution related diseases then they only account for 0.013% on the entire population of London, that's not even half a percent. You're all over reacting. EDIT: By the saying of "pollution related diseases" that includes pollution factors other than air quality pollution, so my calculation would have produced an even SMALLER percentage if i'd have just factored air pollution disease victims.
If its every year then you'd still confirm that 0.01% is still an incredibly low figure compared to other death rates; heart disease - 614,348, Diabetes - 76,488, Stroke - 133,103.
You said "dying" without confirming what stage of the process they were at, If someone said they were just dying without a time frame, they could mean they will be dead in a month, dead in an hour, dead in 3 years.
It's a sad fact but were talking about statistics and numbers, taking into account loss of close life would degrade any argument with pity or bias caused by the death.
Air pollution, Water pollution, Soil pollution, Radiation pollution, Personal pollution. All of these factors could have been a part of the cause of death of the 1200 yearly. There is no way to tell that the cause of death was only Air pollution by exhaust gasses.
I'm not trying to console grieving people. How would you prevent it without substantially effecting the transport and logistics industries? It's politics, not counselling. The subject of the video is about the experience walking through a tunnel, even if air quality was mentioned a couple of times. Why should they tackle a problem only faced by 0.01% of the population of a single city when they could spend it to improve/save the lives of a higher percentage, the sad but honest fact that we have to sacrifice the few to help the many.
+Ronan Smith - It's becoming clear with all your endless spamming that you're just another shill for the auto industry. Are you being paid or are you just delusional?
I wouldn't risk carbon monoxide poisoning walking through that tunnel. I would only ever go down there on the bus. I've walked through the Greenwich foot tunnel and that's creepy enough.
Yeah. I've done this. Never again.
No thank you.
why does she act like she's climbing Everest?
If you walk though, the oxygen drops to about Mt Everest levels. Trust me.
The story given for the bends in the tunnels is an urban myth. The real reason is engineering based.
There are 4 ventilation shafts and you'll note that between each of them, the tunnel is straight. It's easier to tunnel in a straight line.
That's the reason the bends are so sharp. They're at the location of the shafts. Nothing to do with horses bolting. I would've expected Londonist to research this better.
Its not too bad cycling through - i normally did it on average in 6 minutes
It's bad enough breathing whilst driving through that tunnel. You'd have to be incredibly dedicated to walk it.
The Greenwich Foot Tunnel is like paradise compared to this. I used to suggest that if someone was with children who were playing them up they could take them down the Greenwich (or Woolwich) Foot Tunnel and point out the dampness on the walls - and if the brats did not behave the walls of the Tunnel would cave in and they would all drown! In the case of Rotherhithe the mere mention of it should subdue the brats into obedience... Yours, choking in the fumes.
That was great! I want to see the charming and lovely Daniela again.
I was surprised to hear that it is legal to walk through the tunnel. I thought it would be considered too dangerous for that. Narrow footpaths and exhaust fumes with risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Maybe doing it at a time with less traffic might be the go. Very early in the morning in summer or something.
true...Christmas Day morning say
What you dont know this Tunnel was used For WW1 AND WW2 and but part of it was demolished and a bunker for WW1 AND WW2
did you feel unsafe the traffic looks very close
speed limit of 20mph...traffic may be slower if busy. the main concern is the pollution...i would not suggest walking along there if have 'health issues'
It's not unsafe at all, I ride my bike through there regularly, people rarely walk through and the pavement at either side is a defacto bike line these days.
It's very safe traffic wise, but I would not walk it. Cycling can be ok but you really don't want to spend too much time in there, the soot, CO2 and fumes will ruin your lungs
What I would not like about walking through this tunnel is that you are very close to the traffic
How come it is called the rotherhithe tunnel and not the line house tunnel?
Well I'm never walking into rotherhithe tunnel but my cousin would
I've often wondered which tunnel was used in several music videos, and now I know. Thanks.
Brave!. Its bad enough driving through it, but to walk it!
It's spelt - RotherhitHe !!!
I came here to learn how Rotherhithe is pronounced ...
Interesting & entertaining - but I'll pass. Bunny sez no!
Rotherhite is beautiful, Rotherhithe thunnel is horrendous.
They should give it a spring clean at least once a year it not more often.
Wouldn't shock me if they're already giving it a washing once a month or so.
I worked in a warehouse where the trucks were loaded and stored inside (Canadian winter and full beverage containers do not mix well with loaded trucks parked outside.) Between the forklifts running and the half dozen trucks starting up and pulling out five days a week, the ceiling fans could build up as much as an inch of soot black dust by the time the next quarterly full cleaning cycle came around.
That many engines and rolling tires? That's going to build up terribly quickly.
well the tunnel and approaches are closed regularly for 'engineering work' and seem to remember the tunnel being closed Saturday night/Sunday morning when I lived in the area a number of years ago....whether that's the case anymore I don't know but would assume that as part of the "engineering works" there would be some sort of clean up too... but 35000 vehicles can cause a hell of a lot of soot and dirt....
I had no idea you were allowed to walk through...
Nice video, though you should walk on the other pavement on the other side, against the traffic - it's much safer if you think about it. The same rule as walking down a country lane. That way, a bikes are oncoming, leaving you with the option to walk out onto the road (when there is a break in traffic) so that the bike can pass.
I walked through that tunnel once at night simply or if curiosity, it was perpetual noise, cars, pollution and fluorescent lights...never going back in again
KM what country are you living in?
Why do they use yards considering Europe uses the metric system?
We sorta' switch between imperial and metric
Lived in the UK all my life and must admit the mixture of metric and imperial just seems natural. We buy our fuel in litres, in shops we buy our drinks in litres. But we use mph to measure our speed on the road, and we buy our beer in pints when in the pub. And despite buying our fuel in litres, we still talk about mpg (miles per gallon) when it comes to how much fuel our cars use! Seems natural to us, but must be confusing to others.
+Azzstuff We switch between both
Because Napoleon never made it across the Channel, so we still use yards and miles for distance signs. Continental friends of mine say that they find it seems to take ages to drive across England because they see a road sign saying 'Town X 25' and expect that to be km, but it is over 60% further.
Europe maybe but this is England, a land of contradictions and, but only grudgingly, considered to be near europe.
What a review, loved it. Biggest smile ever.
Great video Daniela, be great if you could get the audio consistent though :)
still working on it :)
brilliant video very informative
ive actualy walked that tunnel
It's grace from skins!
You should really walk on the other side
The tunnel is shut every Monday and Tuesday nights for cleaning the safest thing to do is remove the pedestrian walkways and widen the road surface
Best thing would be to remove the cars and have it as pedestrian/cycle.
Removing the "pedestrian" walkways would imply removing one of the few places that people in broken down vehicles can walk and use the emergency telephones, to be fair. Regardless of the 20mile/h limit I would not like to be in the middle of a road while calling for help...
(Edit: actually thinking about it, the Blackwall northbound Tunnel doesn't have a proper walkway, but it does have space to use the phones while remaining out of the road.)
google says its Rotherhithe not Rotherhite
Google says my local park, "Firs park", is called fires park :P
you can submit corrections to google maps
really? :o well that's me told xD finaly the park can have its true name!
I believe the correct spelling is Rathershite
SandyStarchild I live here it's Rotherhithe
I don't know why I always cycle this in the road when there's evidently enough pavement to cycle more safely on that.. I do definitely hate breathing when I'm down there
That looked unpleasant. Not even a curb for protection. She has a strange accent. British + something else.
It's bad enough walking along the Ashburton Road West in Trafford Park Manchester and that's in the open, can't imagine walking through that tunnel, nooooo thank you!!
God that is an unpleasant tunnel to walk through. I haven't done this but the 623m Mount Victoria tunnel in Wellington is pretty bad. At least there you are raised above the traffic, but everyone blows their horn due to a local superstition.
She's just like the protagonist from the movie "As Above, So Below" and like the protagonist, she likes exploring tunnels.
Spooky!