Finally managed to get up there after months of waiting. Visited with Big Grea this morning. We took an alternative access route in which seemed a damn sight easier as we didn't have to navigate the steep embankment. There were two guys in orange Railway Hi-Vis clothes and piss pot hats coming out from the embankment so we waited till they'd gone. Someone had lit a fire too which was still burning away, tyres by the look and smell of it.
Its one of those moments where as the portal comes into view you're just in awe of its size! I found it a bit surreal, that i never knew it was there yet it curves under the road beside the pub and under the High Street.
On the street above, there is just road. But there are new houses between old ones. Obviously this is the section of the tunnel which was filled in prior to building those new homes. The tunnel (from what i've read) is between 250 and 300yds in length. It's hard to calculate while on the street above, where the wall is beneath you, though from looking round the whole area i reckon there's a good further 150yds of tunnel which was filled in to allow development.
I shot everything with a 50mm prime and it was my first attempt painting with light so the pics are a bit sketchy. You get the idea though.
It was fun, spooky, wet and a bit on the dangerous side if you're a shit climber. The brickwork is amazing, you have to remind yourself that the tunnel was built in 1906 and hasn't been used since the 50s when the M1 was built.
The only casualty of the day was a small rip in my Berghaus as i climbed back over the fence, somehow getting out proved harder than getting in.
Some photos:
External Shot
Man to Bore hole scale:
Over the fence
Inside the tunnel
Some lovely colours on the walls and on the floor...
Looking round the curve to the sealed Eastern end
and again...
...and finally, the wall. (courtesy of BigGrea)
Its one of those moments where as the portal comes into view you're just in awe of its size! I found it a bit surreal, that i never knew it was there yet it curves under the road beside the pub and under the High Street.
On the street above, there is just road. But there are new houses between old ones. Obviously this is the section of the tunnel which was filled in prior to building those new homes. The tunnel (from what i've read) is between 250 and 300yds in length. It's hard to calculate while on the street above, where the wall is beneath you, though from looking round the whole area i reckon there's a good further 150yds of tunnel which was filled in to allow development.
I shot everything with a 50mm prime and it was my first attempt painting with light so the pics are a bit sketchy. You get the idea though.
It was fun, spooky, wet and a bit on the dangerous side if you're a shit climber. The brickwork is amazing, you have to remind yourself that the tunnel was built in 1906 and hasn't been used since the 50s when the M1 was built.
The only casualty of the day was a small rip in my Berghaus as i climbed back over the fence, somehow getting out proved harder than getting in.
Some photos:
External Shot
Man to Bore hole scale:
Over the fence
Inside the tunnel
Some lovely colours on the walls and on the floor...
Looking round the curve to the sealed Eastern end
and again...
...and finally, the wall. (courtesy of BigGrea)
