Such a shame how so many tunnels simply get filled in - especially when you consider the blood sweat and tears that the navies put in to building them all that time ago. It amazes me just how easily humans can change the landscape to suit them. First digging large cuttings through the landscape, then tunnelling deep underground, only to eventually fill it all back in again a century or more later. It's all this kind of stuff that interests me so much in our railway history.
Much rather watch yous two than any football, i used to work for BR as train crew and their Bardic lamps aren't much better, light wise. Walked back through a couple of 1,000 yard tunnels, not fun. Avoiding the juice rail. Were those tunnels built as railway tunnels originally? As some of ours on Network southeast were adapted canal tunnels. One in particular was a chalk tunnel and when the railways bought out the canal tunnel,( which was built of puddled clay), but they just filled it with ballast and chucked down the track. Then when it rained heavily the tunnel flooded, railtracks answer was to install fans to dry it out, but the chalk dried out, shrunk and ten tonne chunks of chalk fell onto the tracks.
Nice bit of traction current up one’s leg ooooof. Not good. Bardic lamps eh :) These were bespoke railway tunnels. Drewton had brick arched roof but it was found the chalk walls were so strong the navvies didn’t brick line them fully :)
I left BR still in the days of paraffin lamps. I remember the lamp room at (new) Euston Station and as the new electrified trains wizzed through Watford Junction one could see the poor old flame in the tail lamp simply fighting for life.
Fascinating that when these tunnels,arches, were built the bricklayer assumed that only the railway workers, would ever see them, yet they took great pride in their work, wonderful to see!
There are more buried railway tunnels than we might expect. About 25 years ago, after a lot of rain, a huge crater in a field on a friend's farm appeared overnight, the owners went down there, they said it went for quite a distance and was full height. It was subsequently filled in. Cannard's Grave, Somerset, where they now plan to build nearly 700 new houses with amenities....hope there isn't another land slip!!
I lived at Cannards Grave for some time while based at Shepton Mallet. It was a lonely spot suitable for the gibbet where the road forked. I used the S&D when it was operating and apart from the impressive viaduct just south of Cannards and the bridge under the Great Western at Shepton, there was no tunnel until north of there when one came to Winsor Hill tunnels.
I you go onto NLS maps in Scotland (I think there's UK version for the United Kingdom through .Gov I think) And you can see where all the railways were, what tunnels and bridges, it's really interesting. Type in Cannard's Grave and select the OS One Inch 1919 1930, and there's three bridges around the farm, that look like they have been filled in.
Shame that they damage history like those beautiful tunnels. They are trying to restore part of the old east coast line near ludborough so they can extend the heritage line that runs there
Lived local as a kid and used to explore through all those tunnels in the 80s and early 90s on bikes as kids, remember them filling up the entrances first time back then.
Drewtojn tunnel was around 1 mile long, I have drove a willy jeep down it when ice was hanging from the roof, in my youth we used to camp around there with army cadets, also there is complete underground bunkers from the war intact and complete with equipment found by the old game warden of Drewton Manor, he showed me a working Brent and Enfield rifle he took and kept in his armoury, this will be well over 45yrs ago now
I would like to se some of these tunnels preserved, and kept in a good order, especially some of the deeper tunnels as they could be used to save a lot of people if there was a nuclear war. The way the world is going at the moment, it won't be far away, and we need something like this where we can go to try and be safe, other countries have them for their citizens, so why not for us. There is plenty of these tunnels dotted about the countryside, and they know where they are so let them be saved and put to good use for our future and our kids futures.. Great video guys.
I went there in summer. Sugar Loaf Tunnel was still totally open. Drewton could be entered, but I could not get down the pile of chalk waste as it got rather moist. The East portal may still be open, but the farm adjacent to it has a slurry pool immediately outside. Unless you want to walk through s**t... I have no idea how friendly the farmer may be nowadays. All you can do is explain who you are. I guess he may have had a trespass problem So the quarry got wise to how the explorers were getting to Drewton Tunnel. The tiny signal box was on the left side as you face Three Arches. basically it was a block post I rode a crappy moped through tall three tunnels in 1986. None were blocked in any way then.
I'm sure others have explained - but the dated cement areas look to me like "tell-tales" and show if anny cracking is taking place. The date shows when the patch was made, and if the bricks have not moved, you can see how long the structure has remained stable. A common device on all brick-work where movement was suspected.
For many years there was a superb viaduct on Eppleworth Road, in a low valley out of Cottingham. It had [was known as] "Five Arches". In keeping with modern vandalism, it was eventually demolished . . .
Spent days and days around that area as kids in summer holidays. C1985/87. We used to camp on a flat area on the opposite side of the railway bed to the springs. That was our water source. The two smaller tunnels where accessible but a bit of rubble at the entrance to what we called mile tunnel. No torches, just the light from the ventilation shafts, which meant most of it was in darkness! We used to lay in the long grass and sun on the side of the cutting above sugarloaf for a rest, thought we’d walked miles haha. We didn’t know it was called that. Then back home through spook wood!😂 Halcyon days.
Andy, that sand and cement date is a tell tale, basically you bridge the crack with the mortar, write the date, then check to see if a new crack appears, if it does then you know there is movement.
Fantastic vid. I too biked the tunnels back 87/88 time when me and my mates where 12/13. I remember the tunnel entrances had pushed up ballest and chalk on both.... And east end of dewton had a fence and cow slurry in. But inside both had ballest in with dips where the sleepers had been lifted out. Just looked on Google maps... Yes it's filled in now. Now I use to work alongside NR engineers doing disused tunnels all over UK.....but never did a inspection on these.
I can understand why they filled it, but that doesn't make it any more of a shame since this tunnel was still a marvel and important part of a long lost railway's history, a hallmark of an era long since gone. I really wish that more people cared about this sort of thing because I do think preserving the past like this is important, even if much of what used to be is lost to time.
Thing is that this kind of casual in-filling does nothing to stabilise the tunnel from subsequent collapse. It's being used as convenient landfill here, something that's of dubious legality.
Great video Andy, but utterly devastated that they’ve buried that great tunnel portal 😢 I first visited Weedley & Sugar Loaf tunnels in winter 2006 and then went back to photograph them again in summer 2007 along with the Drewton West portal which was still quite visible then. Ever since I bought my first drone two years ago, it’s been on my list to fly over it, but that chance has now obviously gone forever. Such a shame. Dreadful that such history is allowed to be buried - an insult to the memory of those who toiled to build such a magnificent structure, some even losing their lives in the process 🙁
I’m very disappointed too. The drone footage I put in this video is all I have too. The destruction of history is moving to sugar loaf tunnel too now :(
@@ALWResearchTeam Dreadful. I've seen Sugar Loaf in a nearly blocked state and then almost clear over the years. I wish Stoneledge would just leave it all alone and clear off!
I'm currently laid under my bed watching your presentation. If my siblings or my parents find out I'm watching this kind of 'filth' i will, for sure be the laughing stock of the village. There is in one location, close to the village, one longish tunnel in which a steam locomotive and tender/coal supply carriage still stay. The tunnel is well ventilated despite being easily accessible. There is little to no water or moisture present, and everything is in good condition.
You were in the right place, i was there just over a year ago and made a video on it. Its gone and buried for certain. The other end has fencing around were the farmer breeds pheasants.
I'm old enough to remember riding my 125 trail bike, in the mid-70s, over the Eppleworth viaduct and through the cutting you mention. It was impressively deep with white chalk walls which were so steep, it was virtually impossible to climb them. The tracks had been lifted by then and it was a straight run through to Little Weighton station.
Looks like Autumn Andy, btw we will lose football match 2-1😢😢😢 Love this tunnel beautiful portal. Weedley. Nice memories for you Andy. Hope this doesnt get filled in as well. Sugarloaf tunnel is a fab name. Very quiet area hard to believe track & signal box use to be there. Oh stunning b & w photo of the viaduct, train & tunnel. Wow we have some fab history in this country. Thanjs for the explore Andy & Ben. ❤😊👍
Great re-visit to the HnB , as for the filling in of the portal this could be illegal as there are bat colonies in there ,i will ask my mate who is a member of the bat conservation trust to look in to this ,You will have to ask the person who let you in last time for a re-visit ,as for the other tunnels they are lovely pieces of work a pity you did not see the eastern end of Brierley tunnel as this had a totally different portal with sweeping brick work and capping ala box tunnel ,now buried under the Hemsworth by-pass
Eyup Andy, Originally tunnels and bridges were maintained by the BRB subsidiary, however in 2013, it was dissolved. They are maintained by National Highways. I also have the original six HBR postcards and the envolope they came in. Think they were printered 70s/80s time. Really sad to see how theyre just letting it be filled, should have been approved for a nature walk. Search: National Highways HRE.
In Cumbria, (Kirkby Stephen area I believe), Highways Agency filled a former road bridge railway cutting with foamed concrete for 'safety' reasons, so they don't have to repair the sandstone arch. The Local Authority have enforced the removal of the concrete and re-instatement, but not sure if it has been actually done yet. The authority said it was important to maintain the former trackbed/RoW.
We walked through Drewton tunnel in about 1998 which is eeire when your in the middle 1/2 a mile from each entrance. Just a spot of light in each direction. It was still an open portal and track bed at the west end but sure enough when we got to the East end we had to scale a fence and then plod through mud (not a sess pit) to then sneek past the farm to get back to a road to return. Good fun.
That view of the 3 arch bridge is exactly like Harbury cutting and tunnel in Warwickshire. Still a busy ex GWR main line. I worked for Network Rail until 2008 so I got the same prospective view as your video shows. I think that Harbury cutting is the deepest hand cut one in the UK. It's very steep and constantly slipping due to the inclined strata of blue lias clay and limestone.
Back in the 70's "we" entered the cutting from Eppleworth road to marshall on a local rally. Stoneledge filled it with waste at a huge profit no doubt.... In the 90's I used to MTB into the tunnels and have a nosey.... Then climb back out to the Northern side of the line.... lung busting effort required.
Funny that me and few mates biked all that back in 88/87 back then, Wheely tunnel was open both ends. The other tunnels was sort of blanked off with bushed up mounds of ballest and chork. But the mile n half tunnel was same on west entrance, east Portal was fenced off with cow slurry filling entrance.
I know where there’s a tunnel filled in an not many people know about it in Barnsley near my house, it goes under road , am thinking about digging it out on sly an make a Secret entrance , nobody can see me it behind a big stone wall, it was for a old steam train that moved coal that went through and up towards Mapplewell
I lived not far from here back in the 70's. Back then, the cuttings both ends of the tunnel were completely intact for some distance with no mud, just chalk. I believe you could walk from Little Weighton station all the way along to the main tunnel back then. The brick guard huts were still there at the tunnel entrances, along with some of the telegraph wiring and even some of the old porcelain insulators along the cutting. After sneaking down the hedges past the farmer we'd scramble down into the cutting with our bikes and ride all the way through the main tunnel, hang out, ride back, explore, etc. It was pretty dry inside and the only damage visible then was a few bricks and hay bales that'd been dropped down the airshafts, a couple of railway sleepers kicking about, and the chalk walls of some of the refuges that had collapsed and sloped a couple of feet into the tunnel. The last time I went there, probably around 1980, the east side cutting was filled in up to around 20 yards from the east tunnel entrance, and the chalk cutting at the west end had started to slide in both sides at the tunnel entrance, meaning we had to climb over a mound of chalk to get into the tunnel, just under the top of the entrance arch. There used to be a farm track down the side of the east cutting down onto the track bed at the east end, a few hundred yards from the main tunnel. One time we were there, we heard vehicles coming so hid in the trees at the side of the cutting thinkng the farmer was after us. Four army landrovers full of squadies appeared and drove up the cutting to the east end of the main tunnel. They all got out and had a look around for half an hour, but didnt go in far. Dont know what that was about. Shame it's not been preserved. The whole line would have made a brilliant cross country bike track through the Wolds.
I've freeze framed and studied carefully satellite images of Drewtons quarry portal , I think it's highly likely that due to the very steep sides of the surrounding land immediately next to the portal that the land has inevitably slipped and naturally filled in the void and settled, last couple of years has seen very heavy rainfall and chalk soil when saturated simply flows and levels itself out ,coupled with constant vibrations from quarry excavations and passing heavy dump trucks etc it was always only a matter of time, i don't think the quarry owners would have filled it themselves because they do not own it. The only way to be sure would be to gain permission from the farm owner to go in the remaining open portal and see how much more slurry has slipped inside.
The way the soil in the tunnel slopes it even looks like it's flowed in. Also, it's a bit odd that it was wet at the top of the slope, as the roof of the tunnel was reached, which suggests there's a lot of water in that soil. From the video, it looked like water was seeping through the bricks which - if that is happening - would account for the damage to the bricks inside the open entrance.
the dates are to do with what looks like monitoring of the cracks in the brick work, they cover the joint cracks with a glass depending on weather or not it's moving the glass will break if it is, well that's my interpretation !
:-) I remember it too :) good memories. I thought of dad when I walked through Drewton tunnel in 2021 as he had walked with Roy I believe in the 1970’s x
Walked through all of those about 40 years ago. Stoneledge/Ashcourt have ruined a lot of land round here with their criminal landfill. Have a couple of H&BR souvenirs in the garden.
Gutted that they have filled Drewton tunnel. In the mid-90s me and two mates walked it. Straight through Sugar Loaf with no fence or anything and straight into Drewton. The eastern end was fenced off so we couldn't get out, we just turned round and went back through. As a few commentators have said it was full of bats, I had to throw my shoes away after as it proved impossible to get the smell of bat excrement off them!!
I wish I owned the land and had the funds. I would convert this into a heritage railway and reopen it. It would benefit the community on the whole I think.
Probably the property owner doesn'r want anyone screwing around and getting hurt. If they let people just walk around and go through the tunnels they might also have to pay for inspections and maintenance.
Not completely sure, but those “drill holes” in the Sugarloaf Tunnel may be post construction weepholes. They may have been original or after the fact to relieve water pressure behind the brick wall portion. Again, just a guess. OR, maybe the farmer who owns the tunnel now (i assume, don’t know British property laws and easements, but here in the US, property used by defuct railway lines revert back to the previous owner, if still alive)and owns the liability for any injuries or deaths on (or in) hus property.
They've beefed up the blockage of Sugar Loaf, when I went a couple of years back you could easily get in round the fence, it didn't extend to the wall. There was hardly any backfill then but it seems the quarry company have gone to town on it. I got some very nice photos from on top of the viaduct too.
The pressure that's needed to restore railways is for everyone to campaign to have their cars taken away, at least as far as the nearest arterial road car park. That doesn't seem very likely. People are angry that choices glossily marketed to them which they fully buy into keep making them worse off and aren't making the connection.
The tunnel and former railway line should be opened up as footpath and cycle route combined as a nature reserve etc. The tunnel was built to a very high structural standard. Far too much abandoned railway infrastructure across Britain not put to good use.
There is a long cutting south of a tunnel on the H&B where locals still hear occasionally an engine whistle. The reason for the whistle is unknown. I have a privately published geological monograph dating from just before the opening of the line with good maps so I shall unearth that and find the tunnels.
I find it intresting these rail lines are long gone but you can still Trace the path even the mud sometimes stays the same Always showing how the lines curved The way the tunnels are near the others if you know
Very interesting I love the old railway lines I find them safer to walk my dog with no other people, those tunnels will have cost a fortune to build I bet there will be a book somewhere detailing this like we have on the swept away lines in the Lake District
What saddans and sickens me is people back fill these beautiful tunnels. The amount of work that goes into building railways (cuttings/embankments/viaducts/stations and of course, tunnels) yet they desroy it in no time at all Take the West Meon railway that ran from Alton to Fareham. 2 tunnels and a viaduct and all the hard work done by men and horses. Opened in 1903, closed in 1955. All that work, cost and effort to close down so soon after opening. 52 years is nothing. I believe West Meon tunnel is bricked up (anyone know please say). As for these tunnels in this video, leave them open for rail and history lovers to enjoy. It choked me when I saw the atrocious disrespectful way they've just dumped waste there, almost hiding what should be in full view. They are too nice to cover up, not only that, don't bury history.
13:33 I somehow can't imagine today's railway planners even giving the notion of building any sort of bridge that close to a tunnel. No way squire, you can use the little track we'll put in for you right around the tunnel portal. But back then, certain Squires had more clout, I suppose.
Is it possible for someone to rappel down the vent to enter the tunnel and record the condition of the tunnel for future reference? Perhaps the portal could be excavated in the future for historical context. It’s sad that a historical site is being destroyed by modern indifference.
When you think of all the human man hours it took the navies to dig those tunnels and cuttings, and now the machines that disgracefully fill them back in again. More of our nations railway history obliterated. Can guarantee in future they'll say "We could do with this line now", long after it's far to late. JG.
Hello there, it sure is madness. Drax power station was built next to the line whilst the line was being closed and torn up. When the power station opened they paid to have a section of the line put back in again. All at the public cost.
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We need to form a pressure group to get these pieces of heritage opened up as a public right of way. This is historic heritage and must be preserved
Such a shame how so many tunnels simply get filled in - especially when you consider the blood sweat and tears that the navies put in to building them all that time ago. It amazes me just how easily humans can change the landscape to suit them. First digging large cuttings through the landscape, then tunnelling deep underground, only to eventually fill it all back in again a century or more later. It's all this kind of stuff that interests me so much in our railway history.
Hello there 100SteveB It sure is a tragedy to see history being deleted by poor management and greed.
Much rather watch yous two than any football, i used to work for BR as train crew and their Bardic lamps aren't much better, light wise. Walked back through a couple of 1,000 yard tunnels, not fun. Avoiding the juice rail. Were those tunnels built as railway tunnels originally? As some of ours on Network southeast were adapted canal tunnels. One in particular was a chalk tunnel and when the railways bought out the canal tunnel,( which was built of puddled clay), but they just filled it with ballast and chucked down the track. Then when it rained heavily the tunnel flooded, railtracks answer was to install fans to dry it out, but the chalk dried out, shrunk and ten tonne chunks of chalk fell onto the tracks.
Nice bit of traction current up one’s leg ooooof. Not good. Bardic lamps eh :)
These were bespoke railway tunnels. Drewton had brick arched roof but it was found the chalk walls were so strong the navvies didn’t brick line them fully :)
I left BR still in the days of paraffin lamps. I remember the lamp room at (new) Euston Station and as the new electrified trains wizzed through Watford Junction one could see the poor old flame in the tail lamp simply fighting for life.
You aren`t alone, I too would relish being in an isolated signal box with the wind whistling by looking after the block section, ting ting ting 😆
@@angelsone-five7912 Have you seen The Signalman? 👻 😂
Fascinating that when these tunnels,arches, were built the bricklayer assumed that only the railway workers, would ever see them, yet they took great pride in their work, wonderful to see!
They sure are a masterpiece
He was probably more worried about the bridge and tunnels inspector and the work specifications that were dictated to him.
@@alanmusson8710 all slave labour time to get rid of the elites
Watching this 5 am on a Friday and I have absolutely loved it . Well done guys you are keeping history alive .
Thanks so much:)
There are more buried railway tunnels than we might expect. About 25 years ago, after a lot of rain, a huge crater in a field on a friend's farm appeared overnight, the owners went down there, they said it went for quite a distance and was full height. It was subsequently filled in. Cannard's Grave, Somerset, where they now plan to build nearly 700 new houses with amenities....hope there isn't another land slip!!
I lived at Cannards Grave for some time while based at Shepton Mallet. It was a lonely spot suitable for the gibbet where the road forked. I used the S&D when it was operating and apart from the impressive viaduct just south of Cannards and the bridge under the Great Western at Shepton, there was no tunnel until north of there when one came to Winsor Hill tunnels.
Out of sight and out of mind eh? Until a sink home develops..
I you go onto NLS maps in Scotland (I think there's UK version for the United Kingdom through .Gov I think) And you can see where all the railways were, what tunnels and bridges, it's really interesting. Type in Cannard's Grave and select the OS One Inch 1919 1930, and there's three bridges around the farm, that look like they have been filled in.
Now they’ll need to let more immigrants in to fill up the houses.
Thank you for taking us along!
Thank you so much and you're welcome :D
Shame that they damage history like those beautiful tunnels. They are trying to restore part of the old east coast line near ludborough so they can extend the heritage line that runs there
Lived local as a kid and used to explore through all those tunnels in the 80s and early 90s on bikes as kids, remember them filling up the entrances first time back then.
Nice memories :)
Drewtojn tunnel was around 1 mile long, I have drove a willy jeep down it when ice was hanging from the roof, in my youth we used to camp around there with army cadets, also there is complete underground bunkers from the war intact and complete with equipment found by the old game warden of Drewton Manor, he showed me a working Brent and Enfield rifle he took and kept in his armoury, this will be well over 45yrs ago now
Ah interesting :) I've never met Mr Drewton but I hear he is a nice man.
I would like to se some of these tunnels preserved, and kept in a good order, especially some of the deeper tunnels as they could be used to save a lot of people if there was a nuclear war.
The way the world is going at the moment, it won't be far away, and we need something like this where we can go to try and be safe, other countries have them for their citizens, so why not for us.
There is plenty of these tunnels dotted about the countryside, and they know where they are so let them be saved and put to good use for our future and our kids futures..
Great video guys.
@@john45305 you really want to be alive after the nuclear holocaust……😱😱😢😢
I went there in summer. Sugar Loaf Tunnel was still totally open. Drewton could be entered, but I could not get down the pile of chalk waste as it got rather moist. The East portal may still be open, but the farm adjacent to it has a slurry pool immediately outside. Unless you want to walk through s**t...
I have no idea how friendly the farmer may be nowadays. All you can do is explain who you are. I guess he may have had a trespass problem
So the quarry got wise to how the explorers were getting to Drewton Tunnel. The tiny signal box was on the left side as you face Three Arches. basically it was a block post
I rode a crappy moped through tall three tunnels in 1986. None were blocked in any way then.
I know the local farmers. They’re all busy people but generally nice and totally genuine. It sure can be moist on site :)
Me too on bikes in the 80s as kids on bikes! Good times!
I'm sure others have explained - but the dated cement areas look to me like "tell-tales" and show if anny cracking is taking place. The date shows when the patch was made, and if the bricks have not moved, you can see how long the structure has remained stable. A common device on all brick-work where movement was suspected.
For many years there was a superb viaduct on Eppleworth Road, in a low valley out of Cottingham.
It had [was known as] "Five Arches". In keeping with modern vandalism, it was eventually demolished . . .
It’s Westfield road :)
Really crazy they filled it! great video folk keep up the great work :) ❤
Hey 👋
Thanks so much :)
Spent days and days around that area as kids in summer holidays. C1985/87.
We used to camp on a flat area on the opposite side of the railway bed to the springs. That was our water source.
The two smaller tunnels where accessible but a bit of rubble at the entrance to what we called mile tunnel. No torches, just the light from the ventilation shafts, which meant most of it was in darkness! We used to lay in the long grass and sun on the side of the cutting above sugarloaf for a rest, thought we’d walked miles haha. We didn’t know it was called that. Then back home through spook wood!😂
Halcyon days.
Good memories then :-)
My schoolmates and I walked all the way through Drewton Tunnel in 1973 several times. I remember the stalactites hanging from the top of the refuges.
It sure is a cool tunnel :)
Andy, that sand and cement date is a tell tale, basically you bridge the crack with the mortar, write the date, then check to see if a new crack appears, if it does then you know there is movement.
@@KingstonHomeMaintenance you beat me to that explanation!!. You are spot on.
Ah! Thanks for that, I've noticed this on walls before and wondered why it was dated. One in a Tesco car park near me actually.
Fantastic vid.
I too biked the tunnels back 87/88 time when me and my mates where 12/13.
I remember the tunnel entrances had pushed up ballest and chalk on both....
And east end of dewton had a fence and cow slurry in.
But inside both had ballest in with dips where the sleepers had been lifted out.
Just looked on Google maps...
Yes it's filled in now.
Now I use to work alongside NR engineers doing disused tunnels all over UK.....but never did a inspection on these.
Ah wow yes that brings back memories of the condition of them back then.
Just think in another 100 to 200 years “Time Team” can Rediscover all of this.
Wow, that photograph is awesome It shows you that I love that
I can understand why they filled it, but that doesn't make it any more of a shame since this tunnel was still a marvel and important part of a long lost railway's history, a hallmark of an era long since gone.
I really wish that more people cared about this sort of thing because I do think preserving the past like this is important, even if much of what used to be is lost to time.
Thing is that this kind of casual in-filling does nothing to stabilise the tunnel from subsequent collapse. It's being used as convenient landfill here, something that's of dubious legality.
Great video Andy, but utterly devastated that they’ve buried that great tunnel portal 😢 I first visited Weedley & Sugar Loaf tunnels in winter 2006 and then went back to photograph them again in summer 2007 along with the Drewton West portal which was still quite visible then. Ever since I bought my first drone two years ago, it’s been on my list to fly over it, but that chance has now obviously gone forever. Such a shame. Dreadful that such history is allowed to be buried - an insult to the memory of those who toiled to build such a magnificent structure, some even losing their lives in the process 🙁
I’m very disappointed too. The drone footage I put in this video is all I have too. The destruction of history is moving to sugar loaf tunnel too now :(
@@ALWResearchTeam Dreadful. I've seen Sugar Loaf in a nearly blocked state and then almost clear over the years. I wish Stoneledge would just leave it all alone and clear off!
I walked the tunnels in the early 1960’s. We used to cycle from Hessle and play in the tunnels. I would have been 11 or 12.
Very interesting. Thanks!
I'm currently laid under my bed watching your presentation. If my siblings or my parents find out I'm watching this kind of 'filth' i will, for sure be the laughing stock of the village. There is in one location, close to the village, one longish tunnel in which a steam locomotive and tender/coal supply carriage still stay. The tunnel is well ventilated despite being easily accessible. There is little to no water or moisture present, and everything is in good condition.
ooh nice. Rumour has it that Andy hides under his bed to edit sometimes.
You were in the right place, i was there just over a year ago and made a video on it. Its gone and buried for certain. The other end has fencing around were the farmer breeds pheasants.
Hi there :)
So sad it’s gone. Do you have a link to your video please?
The pride in the craftsmens' work is still evident, even after being abandoned for so long. Utterly disgusted at the actions of persons since.
Great video, well done. I understand that all disused railway structures have been handed to the Highway Agency to maintain.
Thanks for the info! That would explain the highways doing a lot of work in other tunnels
I'm old enough to remember riding my 125 trail bike, in the mid-70s, over the Eppleworth viaduct and through the cutting you mention. It was impressively deep with white chalk walls which were so steep, it was virtually impossible to climb them. The tracks had been lifted by then and it was a straight run through to Little Weighton station.
Looks like Autumn Andy, btw we will lose football match 2-1😢😢😢 Love this tunnel beautiful portal. Weedley. Nice memories for you Andy. Hope this doesnt get filled in as well. Sugarloaf tunnel is a fab name. Very quiet area hard to believe track & signal box use to be there. Oh stunning b & w photo of the viaduct, train & tunnel. Wow we have some fab history in this country. Thanjs for the explore Andy & Ben. ❤😊👍
Great re-visit to the HnB , as for the filling in of the portal this could be illegal as there are bat colonies in there ,i will ask my mate who is a member of the bat conservation trust to look in to this ,You will have to ask the person who let you in last time for a re-visit ,as for the other tunnels they are lovely pieces of work a pity you did not see the eastern end of Brierley tunnel as this had a totally different portal with sweeping brick work and capping ala box tunnel ,now buried under the Hemsworth by-pass
Well done guy's awesome video. Loved every minute. Thanks for sharing ❤
Our pleasure!
The dated mortar patches are where there's been cracks repaired. If they crack again it can be seen to be new movement.
Hello there TheSynthnut :) it does make sense. Thanks :)
Such a shame ! I was wanting to see explore this before it was gone !
But good to get clarification !
Great video
It sure is a shame
Pretty sure you had the right location to start with ....and yes, it looks like it has been buried. Was a good explore with IKS that day 👍
I remember going into the tunnels in the early '80 with my dad. Great memories
Hello there, im glad you have good memories there :)
I reckon I've been there there used to be ppl hiking all over the place you mention and me n my brother were coalmine engineers
amazing brickwork
Enjoyed that 👍👏
Glad to hear it :D
Local and Laarbruch, always very interesting to watch. Yet again you bring back some good memories. 👍
Hello there :) I hope you’re well. It sure was a moist walk this one but well worth it. Thanks :)
Eyup Andy,
Originally tunnels and bridges were maintained by the BRB subsidiary, however in 2013, it was dissolved. They are maintained by National Highways.
I also have the original six HBR postcards and the envolope they came in. Think they were printered 70s/80s time.
Really sad to see how theyre just letting it be filled, should have been approved for a nature walk.
Search: National Highways HRE.
Hello Bill, thanks for clarifying. It explains a lot about the refurbishment of the Barnsdale tunnel for use to store road repair vehicles
In Cumbria, (Kirkby Stephen area I believe), Highways Agency filled a former road bridge railway cutting with foamed concrete for 'safety' reasons, so they don't have to repair the sandstone arch. The Local Authority have enforced the removal of the concrete and re-instatement, but not sure if it has been actually done yet. The authority said it was important to maintain the former trackbed/RoW.
We walked through Drewton tunnel in about 1998 which is eeire when your in the middle 1/2 a mile from each entrance. Just a spot of light in each direction. It was still an open portal and track bed at the west end but sure enough when we got to the East end we had to scale a fence and then plod through mud (not a sess pit) to then sneek past the farm to get back to a road to return. Good fun.
Glad you got to see it
Remember going there was a hot day! I think we went in the opal manta. Great video. Mum x
Yes the Opel Manta was a cool car before it caught fire 🔥😂
That view of the 3 arch bridge is exactly like Harbury cutting and tunnel in Warwickshire. Still a busy ex GWR main line. I worked for Network Rail until 2008 so I got the same prospective view as your video shows.
I think that Harbury cutting is the deepest hand cut one in the UK. It's very steep and constantly slipping due to the inclined strata of blue lias clay and limestone.
Back in the 70's "we" entered the cutting from Eppleworth road to marshall on a local rally. Stoneledge filled it with waste at a huge profit no doubt....
In the 90's I used to MTB into the tunnels and have a nosey.... Then climb back out to the Northern side of the line.... lung busting effort required.
I used to frequent these tunnels regularly as a kid as i lived in south cave
The holes will be to stop water building up behind the tunnel sides and blowing out the brickwork .
Funny that me and few mates biked all that back in 88/87 back then, Wheely tunnel was open both ends.
The other tunnels was sort of blanked off with bushed up mounds of ballest and chork.
But the mile n half tunnel was same on west entrance, east Portal was fenced off with cow slurry filling entrance.
There is always someone trying to stop the fun :)
I know where there’s a tunnel filled in an not many people know about it in Barnsley near my house, it goes under road , am thinking about digging it out on sly an make a Secret entrance , nobody can see me it behind a big stone wall, it was for a old steam train that moved coal that went through and up towards Mapplewell
ooh nice, id like to see that :)
@ am keeping it secret pal , I want to use it for something
This is really interesting but you're getting very wet in the rain 😊
We did indeed :D
I lived not far from here back in the 70's. Back then, the cuttings both ends of the tunnel were completely intact for some distance with no mud, just chalk. I believe you could walk from Little Weighton station all the way along to the main tunnel back then. The brick guard huts were still there at the tunnel entrances, along with some of the telegraph wiring and even some of the old porcelain insulators along the cutting.
After sneaking down the hedges past the farmer we'd scramble down into the cutting with our bikes and ride all the way through the main tunnel, hang out, ride back, explore, etc. It was pretty dry inside and the only damage visible then was a few bricks and hay bales that'd been dropped down the airshafts, a couple of railway sleepers kicking about, and the chalk walls of some of the refuges that had collapsed and sloped a couple of feet into the tunnel.
The last time I went there, probably around 1980, the east side cutting was filled in up to around 20 yards from the east tunnel entrance, and the chalk cutting at the west end had started to slide in both sides at the tunnel entrance, meaning we had to climb over a mound of chalk to get into the tunnel, just under the top of the entrance arch.
There used to be a farm track down the side of the east cutting down onto the track bed at the east end, a few hundred yards from the main tunnel. One time we were there, we heard vehicles coming so hid in the trees at the side of the cutting thinkng the farmer was after us. Four army landrovers full of squadies appeared and drove up the cutting to the east end of the main tunnel. They all got out and had a look around for half an hour, but didnt go in far. Dont know what that was about.
Shame it's not been preserved. The whole line would have made a brilliant cross country bike track through the Wolds.
Wow a nice historical moment for you :)
I've freeze framed and studied carefully satellite images of Drewtons quarry portal , I think it's highly likely that due to the very steep sides of the surrounding land immediately next to the portal that the land has inevitably slipped and naturally filled in the void and settled, last couple of years has seen very heavy rainfall and chalk soil when saturated simply flows and levels itself out ,coupled with constant vibrations from quarry excavations and passing heavy dump trucks etc it was always only a matter of time, i don't think the quarry owners would have filled it themselves because they do not own it. The only way to be sure would be to gain permission from the farm owner to go in the remaining open portal and see how much more slurry has slipped inside.
The way the soil in the tunnel slopes it even looks like it's flowed in. Also, it's a bit odd that it was wet at the top of the slope, as the roof of the tunnel was reached, which suggests there's a lot of water in that soil. From the video, it looked like water was seeping through the bricks which - if that is happening - would account for the damage to the bricks inside the open entrance.
Interesting hike / explore!
Thank you
Brilliant video. What a shame you can't go in them anymore!
Yes they’re being entombed forever
Great video, thanks for sharing x
You are so welcome :)
the dates are to do with what looks like monitoring of the cracks in the brick work, they cover the joint cracks with a glass depending on weather or not it's moving the glass will break if it is, well that's my interpretation !
Remember going there! Was a hot day. Think we went in the opal manta. Happy memories x
:-) I remember it too :) good memories. I thought of dad when I walked through Drewton tunnel in 2021 as he had walked with Roy I believe in the 1970’s x
First went there about 1970. Amazing atmosphere with the tunnels, portals and viaduct. Shame Drewton tunnel is being obliterated.
Hell yeah, that's awesome
Amazing footage guys
Thank You :)
A large black cat was belived to be in and seen around Drewton tunnel, hence the backfill, a small space was left for bat access
Walked through all of those about 40 years ago. Stoneledge/Ashcourt have ruined a lot of land round here with their criminal landfill. Have a couple of H&BR souvenirs in the garden.
Gutted that they have filled Drewton tunnel. In the mid-90s me and two mates walked it. Straight through Sugar Loaf with no fence or anything and straight into Drewton. The eastern end was fenced off so we couldn't get out, we just turned round and went back through. As a few commentators have said it was full of bats, I had to throw my shoes away after as it proved impossible to get the smell of bat excrement off them!!
Hello there, yes it maybe is. But they're trapped now
I wish I owned the land and had the funds. I would convert this into a heritage railway and reopen it. It would benefit the community on the whole I think.
Yes that would be nice :)
Why have t they made it a cycle jogging horse riders walkers and doggies walkers.. To keep it Close of breaks my hearts ...
Because the landlords a screwge
Probably the property owner doesn'r want anyone screwing around and getting hurt.
If they let people just walk around and go through the tunnels they might also have to pay for inspections and maintenance.
Very interesting. The history
Not completely sure, but those “drill holes” in the Sugarloaf Tunnel may be post construction weepholes. They may have been original or after the fact to relieve water pressure behind the brick wall portion. Again, just a guess. OR, maybe the farmer who owns the tunnel now (i assume, don’t know British property laws and easements, but here in the US, property used by defuct railway lines revert back to the previous owner, if still alive)and owns the liability for any injuries or deaths on (or in) hus property.
Hello there, that’s great info. Thanks :-) 🇺🇸 🇬🇧
I live not too far from Burdale tunnel which is collapsed and in poor condition, shame these old relics of history are being lost forever.
Hello there, we would have gone to the Burdale Tunnel but the rain had been too heavy. Ill take ben next time
Hi . I know someone who works on the quarry and I was told they had to dig it out to leave a gap for wild life bats etc
Unfortunately that isn't happening
The mortar with dates could be to show movement ie if the mortar cracks it will show that movement occurred after the date on the mortar .
Ahh thank you :D
They've beefed up the blockage of Sugar Loaf, when I went a couple of years back you could easily get in round the fence, it didn't extend to the wall. There was hardly any backfill then but it seems the quarry company have gone to town on it. I got some very nice photos from on top of the viaduct too.
Can you still walk the viaduct?
Yes 🙌
Good times and I’m glad you got chance for a look around
The pressure that's needed to restore railways is for everyone to campaign to have their cars taken away, at least as far as the nearest arterial road car park. That doesn't seem very likely. People are angry that choices glossily marketed to them which they fully buy into keep making them worse off and aren't making the connection.
This railway should be restored as part of the national network or converted into a cycling route on the c2c.
The tunnel and former railway line should be opened up as footpath and cycle route combined as a nature reserve etc. The tunnel was built to a very high structural standard. Far too much abandoned railway infrastructure across Britain not put to good use.
Absolutely
Someone was trying to get the Drewton tunnel vents protected a few years ago
There is a long cutting south of a tunnel on the H&B where locals still hear occasionally an engine whistle. The reason for the whistle is unknown. I have a privately published geological monograph dating from just before the opening of the line with good maps so I shall unearth that and find the tunnels.
👻 🚂
I remember all the open tunnels in the 90s. 😢
Im glad you got to see them :)
Great video on that line and tunnels. What gives them the right to infill / the tunnel portal.
Stoneledge have a licence it seems
I find it intresting these rail lines are long gone but you can still Trace the path even the mud sometimes stays the same Always showing how the lines curved The way the tunnels are near the others if you know
Yes, i often follow them on google maps :)
Very interesting I love the old railway lines I find them safer to walk my dog with no other people, those tunnels will have cost a fortune to build I bet there will be a book somewhere detailing this like we have on the swept away lines in the Lake District
Yes they were all closed way too early and without proper future planning.
What saddans and sickens me is people back fill these beautiful tunnels. The amount of work that goes into building railways (cuttings/embankments/viaducts/stations and of course, tunnels) yet they desroy it in no time at all
Take the West Meon railway that ran from Alton to Fareham. 2 tunnels and a viaduct and all the hard work done by men and horses. Opened in 1903, closed in 1955. All that work, cost and effort to close down so soon after opening. 52 years is nothing. I believe West Meon tunnel is bricked up (anyone know please say). As for these tunnels in this video, leave them open for rail and history lovers to enjoy. It choked me when I saw the atrocious disrespectful way they've just dumped waste there, almost hiding what should be in full view. They are too nice to cover up, not only that, don't bury history.
13:33 I somehow can't imagine today's railway planners even giving the notion of building any sort of bridge that close to a tunnel.
No way squire, you can use the little track we'll put in for you right around the tunnel portal.
But back then, certain Squires had more clout, I suppose.
It certainly is a interesting area of architecture :)
The council should turn it into a bike path. That's what they do here in the US.
Absolutely 🇺🇸
It oils be great if they could open these up like they have on the monsal trail….
Hiya - What a great explore - shame how they in-fill these old tunnels - should never happen 😐🚂🚂🚂
😀it sure is a shame
The hand car is called a Gandy Dancer
Ah thank you
@@ALWResearchTeam Atleast that's what they called it here in the US
Or a Bogey. My great-grandad worked/lived on the railway's at Hollym (Hull to Withernsea)
You could have a proper good rave in that sugarloaf tunnel.
Definitely :)
August 2019 I visited and sugarloaf tunnel was clear and you could get through it unobstructed. It a shame about the back fill
Yes the barrier appeared in the convid lockdowns
Is it possible for someone to rappel down the vent to enter the tunnel and record the condition of the tunnel for future reference? Perhaps the portal could be excavated in the future for historical context. It’s sad that a historical site is being destroyed by modern indifference.
It sure is a shame. I filmed inside the Drewton tunnel a couple of years ago; th-cam.com/video/rbXhxsJVJnY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=ECdSnRTaEK8zL-TK
HE IS STILL INSIDE...huh? Who is still inside?
Ben was but he got out eventually
That tunnel looks like the same tunnel used in an episode of silent witness i believe.
Interesting. I have not seen that episode.
it could be a community repair ,
Shame some of this old line can’t be made in to a proper cycling and walking route
When you think of all the human man hours it took the navies to dig those tunnels and cuttings, and now the machines that disgracefully fill them back in again. More of our nations railway history obliterated. Can guarantee in future they'll say "We could do with this line now", long after it's far to late. JG.
Hello there, it sure is madness. Drax power station was built next to the line whilst the line was being closed and torn up. When the power station opened they paid to have a section of the line put back in again. All at the public cost.
Poor Henry, He's been filled in this time
He got out in time :)
Situated in the village where I live
A nice village indeed :)
Cool video.
Thanks Anthony:)
33:10 - It could have been 112 years ago, October 1912.